‘Knowledge is power’: new app helps US teens read books banned in school

Digital Public Public Library fights back against rightwing censorship with resource that works through geo-targeting

Maia Kobabe’s 2019 memoir Gender Queer is an after-dinner favorite in Jen Cousins’ house. The family lives in Orange county, Florida, and all four children read the book when their mother first brought it home two years ago. She had to; she couldn’t stop crying when she read the last page.

For Saffy, her second oldest, who is now 14, Kobabe’s memoir is more than an after-school read. It has become a lifeline. Saffy came out as non-binary two years ago and finished the book in just an afternoon. Looking up at their mom, they said they finally felt seen.

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Train drivers to strike on 1 September and not work overtime a day later, says Aslef

It comes a week after RMT said 20,000 members would take action on two consecutive Saturdays

Train drivers are to stage a fresh strike in their long-running dispute over pay, threatening more travel chaos for passengers.

Members of Aslef will walk out on 1 September and will be subject to an overtime ban on 2 September, the same day as a strike by rail staff.

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NSW transport minister was told to anticipate ‘jobs for the boys’ questions over Josh Murray

Exclusive: Talking points advised Jo Haylen to tell media ex-Labor staffer was chosen as transport secretary after ‘global search’

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The New South Wales transport minister, Jo Haylen, was warned to anticipate a “jobs for the boys” controversy as she prepared to announce that she had chosen a former Labor staffer to lead her department, talking points prepared for her reveal.

A trove of documents released through parliament this week also show Josh Murray was hired in the transport secretary role, worth nearly $600,000 a year, without having completed the required background checks.

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Former Covid medical officer Van-Tam takes role at vaccine maker Moderna

Pharmaceuticals company announce appointment of one of UK’s public faces of the pandemic on LinkedIn

Sir Jonathan Van-Tam, the UK’s former deputy chief medical officer who became a household name during the pandemic, has become a senior medical consultant to the Covid-19 vaccine maker Moderna.

Known by the initials “JVT” and remembered for the striking metaphors he used during Downing Street briefings on the progress of the virus, he took up the role as part-time clinical adviser to the American biotechnology company on 2 May.

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At least 500 Bahraini prisoners on hunger strike over conditions

Detainees at Jau prison that mainly houses prisoners of conscience began refusing food on 7 August

At least 500 prisoners are on hunger strike inside a Bahraini prison primarily used to detain prisoners of conscience, refusing food in protest at their detention conditions.

Detainees began refusing food on 7 August, and increasing numbers have joined since.

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Hurricane Hilary builds rapidly as it nears Mexico and California

Weather warnings issued for category 4 storm with sustained winds near 220km/h

Hurricane Hilary has grown rapidly to category 4 strength off Mexico’s Pacific coast and could bring heavy rain to the south-western US by the weekend.

The US National Hurricane Center said Hilary had sustained winds near 220km/h (140 mph) at midnight and was expected to continue its rapid intensification on Friday morning. It should start to weaken Saturday.

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The Arctic is literally on fire. The entire city of Yellowknife is being evacuated. Air Canada's response: New phone who dis? [Followup]

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Colombia’s leftwing president rocked by spiralling narco cash allegations

Drug money allegations involving Gustavo Petro’s son Nicolás could hamper progressive agenda

The lawyer representing a businessman accused of financing killings by paramilitary death squads has admitted that his client donated money to the campaign of Colombia’s first ever leftwing president, Gustavo Petro.

Alfonso Hilsaca knowingly gave 400m pesos ($95,000) to Gustavo Petro’s son as a donation for his father’s electoral campaign, his lawyer said this week – though he said Hilsaca had not expected Nicolás Petro to steal the money for himself.

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England fans to splash out on food, drink and TVs for Women’s World Cup final

Supermarkets, pubs and advertisers the winners as supporters prepare for match against Spain

• Latest Women’s World Cup news

Supermarkets, pubs and TV advertisers are preparing to enjoy a bumper weekend as football fans rush to celebrate the Women’s World Cup final on Sunday morning.

As many as 13.7 million people are expected to tune in when the Lionesses take on Spain in the highly anticipated fixture in Australia – the first time a senior England football team has appeared in a World Cup final since 1966.

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Our AI habit is already changing the way we build datacenters

If you thought a 700W GPU was hot, imagine what it takes to keep racks full of 15kW accelerators cool

Analysis The mad dash to secure and deploy AI infrastructure is forcing datacenter operators to reevaluate the way they build and run their facilities.…

Twitch will let streamers ban users from watching their streams

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Twitch is rolling out an update next month that will finally allow streamers to block banned users from viewing their streams. Currently, Twitch allows you to ban users from the chat section of a stream, but they can still view streams.

Twitch revealed earlier this week, during its Patch Notes stream, that a new setting will be available for streamers in September that will boot people out of chat and live streams in real time. Banned users will automatically be blocked from viewing streams, a long-requested feature that streamers have been waiting years for.

Image: Twitch

The new Twitch ban feature.

“At the time being it won’t stop them from viewing VODs or clips, but that is something we also want to include...

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Woodside faces Indigenous legal challenge to seismic blasting at WA gas site

Traditional owner alleges company failed to adequately consult on effect of Scarborough project blasting on sea country

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A traditional owner has filed a legal challenge to the approval of seismic blasting for Woodside’s Scarborough offshore gas project in Western Australia.

Mardudhunera woman Raelene Cooper is seeking a judicial review of the offshore petroleum regulator Nopsema’s decision to grant the approval despite concerns consultation with traditional owners had been inadequate.

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My view on Scottish independence has ‘moved’, says Kezia Dugdale

When asked how she would vote in a referendum, former Labour leader in Scotland says she will ‘decide at the time’

Former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale has said her stance on independence has “moved”, as she can no longer argue for staying in the UK with the same strength she did in the run-up to the 2014 referendum.

Dugdale said she felt that Scots will eventually get a second vote on the future of the UK but did not believe another referendum would take place within the next decade.

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The iPhone 15 might have faster charging speeds

Apple may need to ship the iPhone 15 with a power adapter to support the increased wattage from USB-C charging. | Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Apple is set to introduce the iPhone 15 in the next few weeks, and the device’s long-rumored transition from Lightning to USB-C may provide a boost to its charging speed. According to 9to5Mac, some of the new iPhone 15 models will support charging up to 35W, compared to the 27W speeds that the current iPhone 14 Pro is limited to.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo made similar predictions last year, claiming that Apple’s supply chain indicated the company would ditch Lightning in favor of USB-C in 2023. According to Kuo, the switch would enable faster charging speeds for iPhone 15 Pro models, but the feature may only be supported via Apple-certified cables. Apple stopped bundling its iPhones with power adapters back in 2020 to try and combat...

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Victorian council did not impede democracy by closing public gallery over disruptions, court rules

Supreme court dismisses case brought by Darren Dickson, who claimed council failed to meaningfully engage residents over urban design framework for Monbulk

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A Victorian council’s decision to hold meetings online did not prevent residents from participating in the democratic process, a supreme court judge has found.

In April, Yarra Ranges council announced it would close its public gallery for council meetings, citing verbal abuse and intimidation from some of those attending, including members of the conspiracist group My Place.

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Weather tracker: Nasa confirms world’s hottest July despite UK downpours

Global temperature was warmest on record last month as Britain faced cloudy and wet conditions

At the start of this week Nasa announced that July 2023 had the highest global temperature recorded for that month since 1880. It was also the warmest month on record.

Readers in the UK may find this hard to believe, given the wet and generally miserable conditions in the country that month. Britain received 19% less sunshine and 170% more rain compared with the 1991-2020 average.

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Badgers take a dip in Texas beach [Interesting]

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ET Chess Challenge, Bigfoot Attacks Motorhome, Loch Ness Monster Hunt Warning, Best Alien Big Cat Photo and More Mysterious News Briefly

Many people believe that Bigfoot’s preferred food is apples, including Tonna Carlo, who lives next to a "huge wildlife habitat" near Roy in Washington State and claims an 8-foot-tall Bigfoot attacked her motorhome when she didn’t leave apples outside for it to eat – she has photos of footprints and damage to her motorhome as proof and says she and her dog have seen the “big hairy human-like reddish brown critter” squatting to pick the apples up and eat them. Maybe she should leave out some hard apple cider and Sasquatch be in the mood to stick around and pose for some better photos.

UK Labour can be ‘pro-worker and pro-business’ says shadow education minister – UK politics live

‘We can be trusted to run our economy’, says Stephen Morgan, as party scales back its commitments to bolster workers’ rights

UK Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner was also drawn into discussion about what UK Labour has planned for workers when she visited Glasgow yesterday.

First minister Humza Yousaf had said on social media “Will Labour commit to full devolution of employment law should they form the next government?”

A pledge to boost the protection of gig economy workers was diluted by the party’s leadership at Labour’s national policy forum in Nottingham last month, according to people familiar with the matter and text seen by the Financial Times.

The text agreed last month will be published in the run-up to Labour’s annual conference in October and will form a menu from which it picks its manifesto pledges.

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Project Getajob [Awkward]

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Ukrainian drone shot down over central Moscow, say Russian officials

No casualties reported after air defences destroyed drone, which fell on building in Expo Center complex, say officials

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest news updates

A Ukrainian drone has smashed into a building in central Moscow after Russian air defences shot it down, disrupting air traffic at all the civilian airports of the Russian capital, Russian officials have said.

A Reuters witness who was in the area in the early hours of Friday described hearing “a powerful explosion”. Reuters images showed workers and emergency workers inspecting a damaged roof of a non-residential building.

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Australian police rejected Fifa requests for Gianni Infantino to be escorted during World Cup travel

Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria police turned down request for escort for Fifa president, which is normally reserved for foreign heads of state

Fifa asked Australian police in multiple jurisdictions to provide escorts for president Gianni Infantino during his travel for the Women’s World Cup, but was turned down.

Infantino asked Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales police to provide him with escorts, the Guardian has confirmed.

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Resilience is overrated when it's not advertised

Successful failover can sometimes be a failure

On Call Nothing ruins a weekend like failed failover, which is why every Friday The Register brings readers a new instalment of On Call, the column in which we celebrate the readers whose recreation is ruined by rotten resilience regimes.…

‘I don’t know why our boobs are so frightening’: why musicians in Spain are going topless as a radical gesture

Singer Eva Amaral this week created headlines by baring her chest at a festival, joining a string of other artists asserting this freedom in the name of defending women’s rights

In the middle of her performance at the Sonorama festival in the northern Spanish town of Aranda de Duero on Saturday, Eva Amaral was about to lead her band Amaral into her song Revoluciónwhen she took off her red sequin top and threw it on the floor.

“This is for Rocío, for Rigoberta, for Zahara, for Miren, for Bebe, for all of us,” she said, listing the names of fellow artists before uncovering her breasts. “Because no one can take away the dignity of our nakedness. The dignity of our fragility, of our strength. Because there are too many of us.” In a concert marking the Spanish band’s 25-year career, going topless was a way of defending women’s dignity and freedom to go nude, and “a very important moment”, Amaral later told El País.

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Mission Accomplished [Fail]

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