FTX Founder Bankman-Fried agrees to settlement, aids legal action against celebrities — news.bitcoin.com — 21 April 2024 (LINK)

— Sam Bankman-Fried's cooperation is poised to be a key asset in the class action suit targeting celebrity endorsers of FTX, including David Ortiz, Udonis Haslem, Orlando Bloom, Larry David, Katy Perry, Shaquille O'Neal, Gisele Bündchen, and Tom Brady.

Ransomware group 'Akira' hits over 250 organizations, nets $42 million in ransoms — cryptointelligence.co.uk — 21 April 2024 (LINK)

— Originally targeting Windows systems, the FBI has now identified a Linux variant of Akira's ransomware as well. Advisory says that Akira typically gains entry through virtual private networks (VPNs) that are not secured with multifactor authentication (MFA).

'Thank You America!': Ukraine's Zelensky and Israel's Netanyahu hail House passage of $95 billion foreign aid package — CNN — 20 April 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 21 media reports (LINK)

U.S.: House passes REPO Act giving President authority to confiscate $6bn Russian Government assets in the US and transfer them to Ukraine — reason.com — 20 April 2024 (LINK)

Kyiv claims bomber shot down at 308km range after crash in Russia. US House of Representatives moves closer to passing Ukraine aid; bureaucracy delays £500m in foreign assistance channelled through UK Ministry of Defence. What we know on day 787 — The Guardian UK ● — 20 April 2024 (LINK)

Explainer: Fourth Bitcoin halving completed: the block reward for 'miners' of the cryptocurrency will be reduced from 6.25 Bitcoin per 10-minute block creation to 3.125 Bitcoin per block. The halving happened on Apr 20 2024, 02:09:27 — coinmarketcap — 20 April 2024 (LINK)

Thousands protest in Spain's Canary Islands over mass tourism — Reuters ● — 20 April 2024 (LINK)

Disease experts warn flu is next most likely thing to spark a new pandemic but more than a fifth (21%) ranked an as-yet-unknown Disease X as having the highest pandemic potential, with another 14% ranking it second — source — 20 April 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 17 media reports (LINK)

Man, 110, still drives his car every day, gets coffee at the convenience store, buys his lunch. and lives independently — aol.com — 20 April 2024 (LINK)

WHO approves an updated cholera vaccine that could help fight a surge in cases — ground.news: 20 media reports — 19 April 2024 (LINK)

Ecuador president declares 2nd 60-day state of emergency over energy crisis — mercopress — 19 April 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 18 media reports (LINK)

Armenia and Azerbaijan agree on 'historic' return of villages — Al Jazeera — 19 April 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 33 media reports (LINK)

EU imposes sanctions against violent West Bank settlers — ground.news: 35 media reports — 19 April 2024 (LINK)

IAEA confirms no damage made to Iran's nuclear sites in Israel's attack — ground.news: 5 media reports — 19 April 2024 (LINK)

Man sets himself on fire in protest area outside Trump trial — ground.news: 244 media reports — 19 April 2024 (LINK)

The Harvard-Sanford-Simpsons conspiracy theory behind the self-immolation — thewrap — (LINK)

Croatia's top court bars President Milanovic from PM post — Reuters ● — 19 April 2024 (LINK)

Risk of bird flu spreading to humans is 'enormous concern', says WHO — ground.news: 47 media reports — 18 April 2024 (LINK)

US stops UN from recognizing Palestinian state membership — ground.news: 134 media reports — 18 April 2024 (LINK)

Olaf Scholz tells EU to send more Patriot batteries as Nato chief urges members to prioritize Ukraine's air defences; airstrikes on Chernihiv kill 17 — The Guardian UK ● — 18 April 2024 (LINK)

Google to provide AI tools to US military for better disaster response — coingape.com — 18 April 2024 (LINK)

Report — Former Team USA doctor Larry Nassar's sexual assault victims to get $100M from Justice Dept. — ESPN — 18 April 2024 (LINK)

Kenya helicopter crash kills country's military chief and 9 others — ground.news: 49 media reports — 18 April 2024 (LINK)

Nigerian woman rescued 10 years after kidnap by Boko Haram in Chibok, along with three children born in captivity — one of 276 schoolgirls taken in 2014 — ground.news: 11 media reports — 18 April 2024 (LINK)

UN appeals for $2.8 billion to help 3 million Palestinians in desperate need of food and other aid — ground.news: 30 media reports — 17 April 2024 (LINK)

14 troops, 4 civilians wounded in Hezbollah drone attack from Lebanon against northern border town — ground.news: 8 media reports — 17 April 2024 (LINK)

Death toll from 4 days of rains rises to 63, mainly in northeast Pakistan, with more rains forecast — ground.news: 20 media reports — 17 April 2024 (LINK)

Heavy rainfall kills 18 in Oman as Dubai Airport floods — nytimes ● — 17 April 2024 (LINK)

Climate change damage could cost $38 trillion per year by 2050, study finds — ground.news: 56 media reports — 17 April 2024 (LINK)

Swiss parliament rejects joining sanctions task force against Russia — Reuters ● — 17 April 2024 (LINK)

— Justice Minister Beat Jans said that in an increasingly polarized world, Switzerland had an interest in maintaining a degree of independence in international relations. "The advantage deriving from such a perspective can be seen, for example, with regard to the Ukraine peace summit, which Switzerland wants to organise and will organise," he said. "Not participating in the REPO task force will make it easier for our country to continue to offer its good services."

The country has frozen some $8.81 billion in assets belonging to Russians since the beginning of the war, the government said in December. That is but a fraction of the total wealth held by Russians in Switzerland, estimated by the Swiss Bankers Association to be worth more than $164 billion. — newsweek — (LINK)

— On 12 April, activists supported by 130,000 certified signatures submitted a petition for a new vote on their proposed "neutrality initiative," which would end Bern's involvement in international sanctions on Russia. The push is supported by the rightwing Swiss People's Party (SVP), which said in a statement: "The gradual dissolution of neutrality is a threat to Switzerland's internal and external security."

Nestlé adds sugar to infant milk sold in poorer countries, report finds — The Guardian UK ● — 17 April 2024 (LINK)

US reimposes oil sanctions on Venezuela as hopes for a fair presidential election fades — ground.news: 49 media reports — 17 April 2024 (LINK)

President of Brazil ratifies rejection of sanctions against Venezuela — telesurtv.net (in Brazilian) — (LINK)

Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from a Myanmar prison to house arrest due to heat wave — ground.news: 76 media reports — 17 April 2024 (LINK)

Israel has sped up settlement-building in East Jerusalem since Gaza war began — The Guardian UK ● — 17 April 2024 (LINK)

Uri Berliner, a National Public Radio senior editor who wrote a scathing online essay accusing the public radio network of harboring a liberal bias, said Wednesday he had resigned — CNN — 17 April 2024 (LINK)

Scientists make concerning microplastics finding while studying contents inside human gallstones: 'This underscores the need for greater awareness' — thecooldown.com — 17 April 2024 (LINK)

Low-carb diets work. Why does the American Diabetes Association push insulin instead? The American Diabetes Association takes millions from companies that stand to profit from our reliance on drugs. Is that affecting their guidance? — The Guardian UK ● — 17 April 2024 (LINK)

Evolution of the 385 hominims: climate playing a greater part in hominin extinction than speciation. By contrast, Homo is characterized by positively diversity-dependent speciation and negatively diversity-dependent extinction. The unusual and unexpected patterns of diversity dependence in Homo speciation and extinction may be a consequence of repeated Homo range expansions driven by interspecific competition and made possible by recurrent innovations in ecological strategies — Nature — 17 April 2024 (LINK)

Short summary — archaeology.org — (LINK)

Global ocean summit nets $10 bn in pledges: Greek PM — phys.org — 16 April 2024 (LINK)

EU announces $3.71 billion investment in ocean sustainability — ecowatch.com — (LINK)

UN raises $600 million for Ethiopia, falls short of target — Deutsche Welle — 16 April 2024 (LINK)

Indian police kill 29 suspected Maoist rebels in a gunbattle in central state of Chhattisgarh — ground.news: 35 media reports — 16 April 2024 (LINK)

UN envoy says of the threat to coral reefs: 'Are we faced with a colossal ecosystem tragedy? Yes' — ground.news: 18 media reports — 16 April 2024 (LINK)

Ecuador rations electricity as drought persists in the northern Andes — ground.news main source: AP, 13 media reports — 16 April 2024 (LINK)

Venezuela closes its embassy in Ecuador to protest the police raid on the Mexican Embassy there to arrrest former Vice President — ground.news: 46 media reports — 16 April 2024 (LINK)

Zelenskiy signs new mobilization law in effort to boost Ukraine's exhausted forces — The Guardian — 16 April 2024 (LINK)

Council of Europe unanimously votes to use seized Russian assets to fund Ukraine reconstruction, compensation — euractiv.com — 16 April 2024 (LINK)

Fox News peddles misleading report from nativist hate group on costs associated with immigration — mediamatters.org — 16 April 2024 (LINK)

— At no point did anyone at Fox acknowledge how much immigrants contribute to American society or how much immigration contributes to economic growth and prosperity.

Extreme Rightwinger 'J.D. Vance is dead wrong about Ukraine aid' — The Hill — 16 April 2024 (LINK)

From Florida to Australia, global coral bleaching could soon be worst on record — truthout.org — 16 April 2024 (LINK)

UN envoy says of the threat to coral reefs: 'Are we faced with a colossal ecosystem tragedy? Yes' — AOL — (LINK)

World faces 'deathly silence' of nature as wildlife disappears, warn experts — The Guardian UK ● — 18 April 2024 (LINK)

World donors pledge $2.1 billion in aid for war-stricken Sudan to ward off famine — ground.news: 70 media reports — 15 April 2024 (LINK)

Colombia's capital announces new measures to cut water consumption as dry weather persists — ground.news: 9 media reports — 15 April 2024 (LINK)

Ukraine war briefing: Chasiv Yar is Russians' next big objective, says Oleksandr Syrskyi. Capture would give Russians a high-ground advantage for further advance through Donetsk region. What we know on day 782 — The Guardian UK ● — 15 April 2024 (LINK)

Tesla to lay off more than 10% of staff globally as sales fall — ground.news: 207 media reports — 15 April 2024 (LINK)

Elon Musk Calls Trump Trial 'Obviously a Corruption of the Law' — ground.news: 6 media reports — 15 April 2024 (LINK)