Links 9/3/2025

The real-life town behind The Truman Show now has an AI “concierge” – and it wants to come to your city too Popverse

Climate/Environment

The merchants of doubt are back The Climate Brink

The World Wanted a Plastics Pollution Treaty, but the U.S. Had Other Plans Foreign Policy

THE SURPRISING CLIMATE EFFECT OF LEGALIZING COCAINE Atmos

Climate triples heat deaths in Europe The Ecologist

Pandemics

Azelastine Nasal Spray for Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Infections: A Phase 2 Randomized Clinical Trial JAMA

Outbreaks of rabies seem to be rising across the U.S., CDC surveillance shows NBC News. “A 2023 study published in the journal Vaccine found in a nationally representative sample of Americans that nearly 40% believed canine vaccines were unsafe and 37% believed that vaccines could lead their dogs to develop cognitive issues, such as autism.”

Japan

The Myth of Japan’s Missing Millionaires? Part 1 Japan Economy Watch

Ishiba’s China policy increasingly contested after electoral setback Shin Kawashima

China?

Putin, Kim accompany Xi to Tiananmen Gate for Victory Day military parade South China Morning Post

What new weapons on show at huge parade say about China’s military strength BBC

Brazil will remain China’s preferred soybean supplier, not the US Asia Times

In Protest, He Turned the Camera on China’s Surveillance State New York Times

India

Cheaper Russian oil, more S-400 for India likely amid Trump tariffs: Report Hindustan Times

Syraqistan

Israel Massacres Gaza Children Fetching Water, Starves 13 More Palestinians to Death Common Dreams

Gaza’s Last Functioning Children’s Hospital Drop Site

Trump sides with the far-right in Netanyahu’s cabinet Alastair Crooke (Video)

Israel calls up 60,000 reservists for Gaza City occupation Anadolu Agency

Top IDF Commander Opted Not to Boost Security After Visiting Nova One Hour Before October 7 Hamas Massacre Haaretz

Pro-Palestine Political Prisoners on Hunger Strike Are Dying Counterpunch

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IAEA discovers traces of depleted uranium at Syrian sites bombed by Israel The Cradle

Old Blighty

Five members of group supporting Palestine Action ‘arrested in police raids’ The Independent

DWP quietly replacing new-style ESA with “Unemployment Insurance” The Canary

Disabled families use foil blankets to keep warm as energy bills keep surging: ‘We have to keep going’ Big Issue

Why We Need a National Network of British Stolovayas Class Consciousness Project

Food is power Food & Environment Reporting Network

Frostbyte10 bugs put thousands of refrigerators at major grocery chains at risk The Register

Africa

Report of Sole Survivor After Hundreds Killed in Sudan Landslide allAfrica

European Disunion

SAP to invest over 20 billion euros in ‘sovereign cloud’ in boost to Europe’s AI ambitions CNBC

Six AfD candidates have died ahead of municipal elections in Nordrhein-Westfalen. They are very unlikely to have been the victims of a covert assassination campaign. Eugyppsius

New Not-So-Cold War

Russia says China has agreed vast new Siberia gas pipeline FT

Did you notice the EU just lost its gas lifeline? Here’s what you should know RT

A gas breakthrough, if it’s not all hot air Meduza

Russia’s Oil Cargoes Flood to China as Tariffs Crimp India Flows Bloomberg

China’s SCO Summit Highlights West’s Growing Ideological Isolation, + Zelensky’s Desperate Gambit Simplicius

Europe to US: Coalition of the willing is ‘ready’ on security guarantees for Ukraine Euronews

Von der Leyen Is Lying About Russian GPS Interference Moon of Alabama

WWII Redux

80 Years Later, The War Against Exceptionalist Extremism Continues Karl Sanchez

Xi and Putin Weaponize WWII’s Legacy Joseph Torigian, ChinaTalk. Torigian is a fellow at Stanford’s Hoover History Lab and Professor at American University.

Nazification of the Memory War Azov Lobby Blog

SCO vs NATO? Julian MacFarlane

Amb. Jack Matlock: Western Leaders Became Ideological “War Criminals” Glenn Diesen (Video)

War In Our Time? Aurelien

L’affaire Epstein

Many of the Epstein case files that were just released by a House committee were already public PBS

South of the Border

US military ‘conducted a lethal strike’ on alleged ‘drug vessel’ in southern Caribbean, Rubio says CNN

Venezuela’s Defense Minister Denies Attack on Guyana Orinoco Tribune

Is a new war on terror kicking off in the Caribbean? Responsible Statecraft

The Great Hoax Against Venezuela: Oil Geopolitics Disguised as ‘War on Drugs’ Venezuelanalysis

Trump 2.0

Los Angeles Troop Deployment Was Illegal, Judge Says Ken Klippenstein

Trump says federal troops are headed to Chicago. ‘We’re going in.’ USA Today

JOHN KIRIAKOU: Former Prisoner is New BOP #2 Consortium News

Trump family’s wealth grows by $5 billion after crypto launch Semafor

Police State Watch

BIG TERROR E1: Patriot Act or Die Bleeding Edge

Why Trump is using national security to crush public unions UnHerd

Exclusive: ICE reactivated its $2 million contract with Israeli spyware firm Paragon, following its acquisition by U.S. capital All-Source Intelligence.

Make America Israel Again? Mother Jones

Groves of Academe

Mamdani

Can Zohran Make NYC a Union Town Again? Labor Politics

Immigration

Pentagon authorizes up to 600 military lawyers to serve as temporary immigration judges AP

Trump Admin to Financially Reward Police Agencies For Working with ICE Truthout

Sports Desk

$2.4 million for a rental: Rich tourists are already booking mega-mansions for the Olympics Los Angeles Times

AI

Meet the Guys Betting Big on AI Gambling Agents Wired

Hackers Threaten to Submit Artists’ Data to AI Models If Art Site Doesn’t Pay Up 404 Media

The Bezzle

Anthropic is now valued at $183 billion The Verge

Lawbreaking as a Method of Competition American University Law Review

Antitrust

DOJ & States Must Appeal Judge Mehta’s Act of Judicial Cowardice, Letting Google Keep Its Monopoly Power American Economic Liberties Project

A Judge Lets Google Get Away with Monopoly BIG by Matt Stoller

Chrome increases its overwhelming market share, now over 70% Neowin

Class Warfare

Americans Lose Faith That Hard Work Leads to Economic Gains, WSJ-NORC Poll Finds WSJ. Seems like this would be news if it was 30 years ago.

Told to Leave, No Place to Go Working Class Storytelling

Greyhound Orion Magazine

Antidote du jour (via):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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6 comments

  1. The Rev Kev

    “Six AfD candidates have died ahead of municipal elections in Nordrhein-Westfalen. They are very unlikely to have been the victims of a covert assassination campaign.”

    Sounds convincing but what would have happened if it was a different headline instead over the same time span of a fortnight?

    “Six CDU candidates have died ahead of municipal elections in Nordrhein-Westfalen.”

    “Six SPD candidates have died ahead of municipal elections in Nordrhein-Westfalen.”

    I know, I know – it would have been Russiadidit!

    Reply
  2. Earl

    Regarding Law Breaking as a Method of Competition I suggest the hiring of illegal migrants and child laborers as examples. My impression is that although there are renewed efforts to target illegal migrants, there is very little interest to enforcing the laws against hiring them. There is a high community cost to cheap labor.

    Reply
  3. The Rev Kev

    “Frostbyte10 bugs put thousands of refrigerators at major grocery chains at risk”

    So maybe, just maybe, they should go back to manual controls. They can still be digital but without any internet capacity whatsoever. With refrigerators at grocery stores, don’t they ideally set it for the best temperature and just walk away?

    Reply

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