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SCI/TECH

Civil Servants, Citizen Data and Generative AI: Four Years of Administrative Negligence

Prove you're 18 to use a chatbot. The chatbot already has your tax return. Sweden has just blocked ChatGPT and Claude on government computers. Nearly four years after ChatGPT went public, governments are discovering that their clerks could feed citizens' data into consumer AI accounts all along. If the state has been quietly running on AI for years, why hasn't it got any faster?

SCI/TECH

France Regularly Loses Its Hafnium - The Stuff Used in Nuclear Control Rods and Aerospace

In the night of 21–22 October 2026, several hundred kilograms of hafnium crystals were taken from the Framatome plant at Jarrie, Isère. The site is classified Seveso high-threshold and is France’s only facility that refines metallic hafnium. The loss is valued at several million euros. It is the sixth theft of this material at the same plant since 2019.

POLITICS

Brazil’s two-hour democracy - Rules changed, The Better Man Won, Brussels applauds

On Sunday, October 25, Brazil was supposed to finish voting at 5 p.m. Instead, the country witnessed an extraordinary last-minute judicial intervention. Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin, who previously served as Lula's personal lawyer, ordered voting extended until 7 p.m. Ursula von der Leyen wasted little time congratulating her friend Lula on his electoral victory.

POLITICS

Rothschild & Co Advising Ukraine on a Two-Bank Sale to Secure More Credit

With Washington no longer writing new Ukraine aid cheques on the Biden-era scale, Zelensky has been desperately looking for fresh money. The IMF's $8.1 billion programme comes with banking-sector reform commitments, including preparing two state-owned banks for sale. Meet London's Rothschild & Co and its longtime Ukrainian partner FinPoint.

MEDIA

The Dildo Of Consequences Rarely Arrives Lubricated - Live By The Sword

On October 21, tech journalist Kara Swisher, a Democrat journalist, who has spent three decades trying to figure out what Elon Musk actually does all day, sat down with *The Bulwark* and casually described the prosecution of a political opponent as an upcoming event once the right people hold the gavels.

SCI/TECH

PHP2Shell: Finally, a Breakthrough in Citizen Management

With personal data potentially already exposed, governments see an opportunity to simplify privacy, eliminate unnecessary consent discussions and introduce ABSOLUTELY SECURE™ Digital ID 2.0.

SCI/TECH

PHP2Shell: Even the Cybersecurity Agency Took Its Website Offline

The internet is burning. Government portals across Europe went dark on October 21. PHP2Shell. Two remote code execution holes in the language that quietly powers half the web. CVSS 9.2. Critical. Patch now or perish.

POLITICS

Libya’s Two Rival Governments Finally Agree On Where Turkey’s Imaginary Border Goes.

After twelve years of civil war, competing parliaments, and foreign mercenaries, Libya has achieved national unity. Both sides now support a maritime line that cuts directly through Greek islands.

POLITICS

Iran enters the US midterms: “The world will be amazed”

Iran is trying to influence US politics by threatening to cut undersea cables, strike AI centers, and broaden the battlefield to Europe. "We have new weapons and new targets", they say. What a lovely campaign messaging.

SCI/TECH

Austria, WEF’s Flagship Project, Takes Another Step - Introducing Electricity Billing by Stopwatch

In the WEF’s preferred European testbed, ordinary households are being turned into participants in an experiment nobody signed up for. After mandatory vaccination, a special package tax on top of the EU packaging rules, the highest inflation in the neighbourhood, and the inability to freeze vegetables grown by its own farmers, Austria is now introducing a network charge based on the highest average electricity demand recorded in any 15-minute interval during a month.