(EUR) MESSAGING APP CEO ARRESTED

Pavel Durov, the Russian-French billionaire founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening (24 August), TF1 TV and BFM TV said, citing unnamed sources.

Durov was travelling aboard his private jet, TF1 said on its website, adding he had been targeted by an arrest warrant in France as part of a preliminary police investigation.

TF1 and BFM both said the investigation was focused on a lack of moderators on Telegram, and that police considered that this situation allowed criminal activity to go on undeterred on the messaging app.

The encrypted Telegram, with close to one billion users, is particularly influential in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the former Soviet Union. It is ranked as one of the major social media platforms after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and Wechat. More of this article (Euractiv) - link - more like this (France free speech) - link - more of this (free speech) - link - more like this (France) - linklink

(LSE) IT'S ALL OUR FAULT

Governments have developed a convenient habit of blaming social problems on their citizens, placing too much emphasis on personal responsibility and pursuing policies to ‘nudge’ their citizens to better behaviour. 

Keith Dowding argues that responsibility for many of our biggest social crises should be laid at the feet of politicians.

People are responsible for the choice they make from their menu of opportunities. And our past choices do affect today’s menu. But if we look at the opportunities available to each person in a society at any given time, that menu is set by society. And the government is the most important agent in society. Essentially, the way we live is the responsibility of the government. That is the argument of my new book, It’s the Government, Stupid: How Governments Blame Citizens for Their Own Policies. 

In the book, I look at five policy areas: gun crime, obesity, homelessness, gambling and recreational drugs. I explain how the massive gun-related death toll in the US is directly attributable to the nature of gun regulations there. The gambling industry has benefited from a widespread relaxation of regulations – which I generally support – but I argue that governments need to do more to prevent the harms caused by gambling: different regulation is required. Meanwhile, irrationally, recreational drug use is still subject to severe regulation. I argue for legalisation buttressed by strong regulations akin to those applied to medical drugs, alcohol, and so on.

More of this (LSE British Pilitics and Policy) - link- more of this (Keith Dowding) - link - photograph (Sky) - link - more like this (Labour) - link

(ICN) HOUSTON'S PLASTIC PILES UP

HOUSTON—When the news crew showed up outside a waste-handling business that’s failed three fire safety inspections and has yet to gain state approval to store plastic, workers quickly closed a gate displaying a “no trespassing” sign.

Behind the gate, deliveries of hundreds of thousands of pounds of plastic waste from residents’ homes have piled up over the last year and a half. Satellite and drone images reveal bags, bottles and even a cooler spread about, some of the plastic heaped high in bales next to strewn cardboard and tall stacks of wooden pallets.

The expanding open-air pile at Wright Waste Management, on the edge of an office park 20 miles northwest of downtown Houston, awaits what the city of Houston and corporate partners including ExxonMobil call a new frontier in recycling—and critics describe as a sham.

The Houston Recycling Collaboration was formed as a response to low recycling rates in the city, a global problem. Hardly any of the plastic products meant to be used once and tossed can be recycled mechanically—the shredding, melting and remolding used for collection programs across the country.

The Houston effort adds a new option alongside the city’s curbside pickup: Partners say people can bring any plastic waste to drop-off locations—even styrofoam, bubble wrap and bags—and if it can’t be mechanically recycled, it will be superheated and chemically processed into new plastic, fuels or other products.

Exxon and the petrochemical industry call this “advanced” or “chemical” recycling and heavily promote it as a solution to runaway plastic waste, even as environmental advocates warn that some of these processes pump out highly toxic air pollution, contribute to global warming and shouldn’t qualify as recycling at all. More of this article (Inside Climate News) - link - more like this (recycling) - link - LyondellBasell - link - more like this (Houston) - link - more like this (US recycling) - link

About the Houston Recycling Collaboration

On January 19, 2022, the City of Houston, ExxonMobil, LyondellBasell, Cyclyx International and FCC Environmental Services signed a memorandum of understanding to form the Houston Recycling Collaboration. More like this (ExxonMobil) - link

(CTJ) RIP FREEDOM OF SPEECH

John Adams wrote that the real war for American independence was won in the hearts and minds of the people, with the help of newspapers and pamphlets, which “enlightened and informed” public opinion. 

Freedom of expression, which the American colonists inherited from the British liberal tradition, was thus a catalyst for the creation of a new nation. In Britain today, however, the public seems to be losing interest in such liberty: a December 2021 YouGov poll found that 43 percent of respondents valued protecting people from offensive or hateful remarks over the right to free speech.

It’s no wonder that so many Britons feel this way—especially when their own police are out enforcing a new social-justice regime. When they’re not busy having their squad cars decorated in rainbow flags or virtue-signaling on Twitter about their pronouns, the police are busy telling the public how to think, having dedicated a vast amount of time, money, and resources into “raising awareness” and encouraging people to report their neighbors’ supposed hate crimes. In February last year, police in The Wirral showed up with a digital advertising van informing shoppers that “being offensive is an offence.” Meantime, a recent report found that in the last five years, almost 1 million burglaries have gone unsolved. More of this article (City Journal) - link - Noel Yaxley - link - The Free Speech Union - link - more like this (civil liberties) - link

(VNE) TRAN TO NGA

The Paris Court of Appeal's rejection of the lawsuit filed by Tran To Nga against U.S. manufacturers of Agent Orange is not a surprise for the French-Vietnamese woman, who said she will not give up but continue to pursue this lawsuit.

The Paris Court of Appeal on Thursday rejected the lawsuit filed by Nga against the U.S. chemical corporations that supplied AO/dioxin for the U.S. army to use during the war in Vietnam.

Talking to the Vietnam News Agency, Nga, who is a dioxin victim herself, said she is not surprised at this ruling, and that she will not give up but keep pursuing this lawsuit.

As Nga's representatives, William Bourdon and Bertrand Repolt from the Bourdon law office expressed their determination to stay on their client’s side.

The fight by their client does not end with this ruling, and they will take the case to the highest appeals court, the lawyers said, noting that judges of the Paris Court of Appeal held a conservative attitude that runs counter to the modernity of law, as well as international law and European law. More of this article (VN Express) - link - Paris Court of Appeal - link - more like this (Agent Orange) - link

What is Agent Orange?

Agent Orange was a plant-killing chemical (herbicide). 

The United States military used Agent Orange during the Vietnam conflict from 1962 to 1971 to clear trees, plants and vegetation from U.S. bases and to remove foliage used for cover. 

During this time, the U.S. sprayed 11 million gallons of Agent Orange over 20 million acres in Vietnam - link

What 11 million gallons looks like when not being deployed deliberately - link

(NAT) LIVING PLASTIC

When the going gets tough for certain bacteria, they form into spores that can withstand the harshest of environments. Scientists have now utilized that fact to produce "living plastic" that biodegrades – but only under specific conditions.

Spores are a dormant form taken by some types of bacteria, typically when nutrients are in short supply.

They are protected by a tough outer coating that allows them to survive high temperatures, high pressure, desiccation, and caustic chemicals. This makes them one of the most resistant of all life forms. They are able to remain in an inactive state for years or even centuries at a time, becoming active again only when triggered by the right environmental cues.

Some bacteria are also known to break down plastic waste, keeping it from persisting in the environment. Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have now taken spores of such bacteria and embedded them in solid plastic, which remains tough and intact until the spores are revived. More like this (New Atlas) - link - more like this (recycling) - link

(F24) AGENT ORANGE APPEAL DISMISSED

A Paris court Thursday rejected an appeal by a French-Vietnamese woman who has been trying to sue Monsanto and other makers of Agent Orange for the chemical's use in the Vietnam war.

Tran To Nga, who was born in what was then French Indochina, accused 14 agrochemicals firms of causing grievous harm to her and others by selling Agent Orange to the American military, which used the herbicide to devastating effect in Vietnam.

She lost her initial case in 2021, when a French court ruled that the companies enjoyed legal immunity from prosecution because they worked for a sovereign government.

The Paris Court of Appeal used the same argument in rejecting Nga's claim.

Her demands "come up against the companies' immunity status," the court said in its written ruling, seen by AFP.

Nga will now take her case to France's highest appeals court for a final ruling, her lawyers said.

The 82-year-old, who covered the 1955-1975 war as a reporter and has lived in France for the past three decades, also accused the companies of environmental damage.

Campaign groups estimate that four million people in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were exposed to the 76 million litres (20 million gallons) of Agent Orange sprayed by US forces to destroy ground cover and food sources in its battle with communist North Vietnamese troops between 1962 and 1971.

Vietnam blames the chemical for severe birth defects in 150,000 children. More of this article (France 24) - link - picture (Vanity Fair - brilliant article by Nick Ut who took the photograph on 8th June 1972 ) - link - Monsanto - link - in the footsteps of Monsanto - link - the glyphosate hangover - link -  more like this (Vietnam) - link

(MAG) ZHIYUAN ROBOTICS UNVEIL 5 NEW BOTS

Zhiyuan Robotics, the startup founded by former Huawei "genius youth" Peng Zhihui, unveiled five new commercial humanoid robot models during the “Zhiyuan Expedition Commercial Sailing” 2024 New Product Launch Conference. 

The company also announced plans to open-source key technologies and datasets to accelerate industry development.

Zhiyuan introduced two new product families designed to cover a wide range of commercial applications:

Expedition Series: The Expedition series consists of three robots tailored for different industrial and service roles.

The Expedition A2 is an interactive service robot designed for customer-facing environments like exhibition halls, reception desks, and business consultations. Standing at 169 cm and weighing 69 kg, it features over 40 degrees of freedom for natural movements and uses a large language model for voice interaction and multi-modal information processing. It can carry loads of up to 1 kg, walk at a speed of 1 m/s, and operate autonomously for 2 hours. During the event, the A2 served as the host, demonstrating its ability to perform light work tasks while interacting seamlessly with attendees. more of this article (maginative) - link - more like this (bots) - link

(NAT) UNITREE ROBOT GOES TO MASS PRODUCTION

China's Unitree Robotics is a relatively recent entry in the general-purpose humanoid robot space, but its $16,000 G1 model is already proving itself to be quite the performer. So much so that the company has now revealed a version that's ready for mass production.

Until December last year, robot development at Unitree was pretty much focused on producing four-legged robo-beasts like the Go2 and B2. And by the time the first biped humanoid made its video debut, there was already stiff competition from the likes of Tesla, Figure, Boston Dynamics and Sanctuary AI.

But progress has been impressive, and the US$90k first effort was soon joined by a much cheaper and more capable model called the G1. This one has a visor-like face instead of an air gap and sports three-digit hands where once were stumps. It also looks less like a development platform and more like something headed for production – and now it appears to be ready to make that leap - more of this (New Atlas) - link - more like this (bots) - link

(MOT) THE NEW FACE OF CLIMATE ACTIVISM

The atmosphere is more festival than crime scene. There’s an accordionist, and two men in beanie hats are playing the drums. It’s a clear spring day in the farmlands of western France. But the people gathered in this field are technically trespassing, and there are signs they expect trouble. Someone has a gas mask slung around their neck.

There’s a contingent clad in balaclavas. Others disguise their features with dark goggles or masks, and one group holds up a wide fabric canopy to obscure the view of police drones. At the center of the maelstrom stands Léna Lazare, holding a pickaxe.

The then-24-year-old’s long brown hair is untied; her face uncovered. That’s important, she says. It adds a sense of legitimacy to what she’s about to do. She drives the pickaxe into the ground as the crowd around her looks on. Again and again she strikes at the hard, dry earth. When she can’t dig any more, another person emerges from the huddle to take over. Several meters down, they find what they’ve been looking for: pipes.

Beneath the field is a network designed to carry water to a new “mega-basin”—a giant reservoir being built near the village of Épannes. The group is here to rip one of those pipes out of the ground. more of this (Mother Jones) - link - more like this (activists) - link

(ENG) SISTERS DOIN' IT

Among corporate America's most persistent shareholder activists are 80 nuns in a monastery outside Kansas City.

Amid rolling farmland, the Benedictine sisters of Mount St Scholastica have taken on the likes of Google, Target and Citigroup - calling on major companies to do everything from AI oversight to measuring pesticides to respecting the rights of Indigenous people.

"Some of these companies, they just really hate us," said Sister Barbara McCracken, who leads the nuns' corporate responsibility program.

"Because we're small, we're just like a little fly in the ointment trying to irritate them."

At a time when activist investing has become politically polarised, these nuns are no strangers to making a statement.

Recently they went viral for denouncing the commencement speech of American football team the Kansas City Chief's kicker Harrison Butker at the nearby college they cofounded. When Butker suggested the women graduates of Benedictine College would most cherish their roles as wives and mothers, the nuns – who are noticeably neither wives nor mothers – expressed concern with "the assertion that being a homemaker is the highest calling for a woman." more of this - Euro News Green - link - more like this (activism) - link

(GRE) WALMART ZERO DEPACK

As it moves towards its global zero-waste goal, America’s largest retailer has introduced a new tech solution to reduce the amount of expired food going to landfill.

As part of an ongoing partnership with Arkansas-based organic recycling company Denali, the retail giant is installing repackaging technology at more than 1,400 Walmart stores and Sam’s Clubs in over 16 US cities.

Called Zero Depack, the programme aims to keep food past its sell-by date out of the waste stream by repurposing it into useful products for farmers or converting it into energy with anaerobic digesters. The solution streamlines the unpackaging process of the expired food, separating 97% or more of all trash from organic food waste.

Denali’s machines have increased the volume of potentially reusable organic content from participating locations by over 60%, while reducing compactor trash by around 12%. This will lead to “cleaner waste streams, happier associates, and a host of potential sustainability opportunities”, according to RJ Zanes, VP of facility services at Walmart US. more of this - green queen - link - more like this (waste) - link

(DEZ) PHONES TO FURNITURE

Electronics accessory brand Casetify has launched a series of public art installations in five cities around the world using recycled phone cases as the key material.

These installations form part of the brand's 2024 Earth Month campaign Journey to Re/Birth, which invited local artists from the US, South Korea, China, Australia, and Thailand to create art and design pieces made out of discarded phone cases collected by the brand's Re/Casetify upcycling program.

"All of these are part of the brand's ongoing efforts to make sure the end of any phone case is the beginning of a new one in all possible ways," said Casetify. Dezeen - link - More like this - link

(IAN) OXFORD 204

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