Vance on Iran Negotiations: No Deal
April 11th, 2026Via: ZeroHedge:
Talks between the United States and Iran ended early Sunday without a peace agreement after Tehran refused to accept key US demands, including commitments on its nuclear program, US officials said.
US Vice President JD Vance said the 21-hour negotiations concluded without a breakthrough, despite good-faith efforts by Washington.
“We have not reached an agreement, and I think it’s bad news for Iran, much more than for the US,” Vance said.
Hezbollah Ramping Up FPV Drone Attacks On IDF In Lebanon
April 11th, 2026Via: The War Zone:
As Israel continues its ground offensive into Lebanon, it appears that Hezbollah is increasing its first-person view (FPV) drone strikes on IDF armor and personnel. The uptick in these attacks is the latest example of how the use of the small, fast and easy to maneuver weapons has proliferated from the war in Ukraine to battlefields across the globe.
While the militant Lebanese group has used FPV drones against Israel since 2024, it has ramped up these attacks for a couple of different reasons, according to Ryan Brobst, Deputy Director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD)’s Center on Military and Political Power.
“The IDF is currently operating further north with more troops than in previous operations, which increases the number and proximity of targets for Hezbollah to strike,” Brobst told us. In addition, there are indications that the Iranian proxy has followed additional lessons from the Ukraine war using fiber optic cables to guide the drones. As we have frequently reported, fiber optic cables mitigate the effect of electronic warfare efforts to jam radio signals as well as some of the limitations imposed by geographical features that can impede the line-of-sight radio connection between drone and operator.
OpenAI Backs Bill That Would Limit Liability for AI-Enabled Mass Deaths or Financial Disasters
April 10th, 2026Via: Wired:
OpenAI is throwing its support behind an Illinois state bill that would shield AI labs from liability in cases where AI models are used to cause serious societal harms, such as death or serious injury of 100 or more people or at least $1 billion in property damage.
U.S. Government Spending $88 Billion a Month in Interest on National Debt – Equal to Spending on Defense and Education Combined
April 10th, 2026Via: Fortune:
The problem with an increasing debt burden is that it costs more to maintain it: This is precisely the issue with which the U.S. Treasury is wrangling at present. As total U.S. national debt ticks over $39 trillion, the interest payments on that value are eye-watering: $529 billion for the first six months of the current fiscal year.
A new budget update from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released yesterday highlights that the government—according to preliminary estimates—paid out the near $530 billion between October 2025, when the fiscal year starts, and March 2026. This equates to more than $88 billion in interest payments a month, or more than $22 billion a week.
That means the service payments on public debt are roughly equal to spending for the same period on both the Department of Defense’s military budget and the Department of Education. These two outlays contribute costs of $461 billion and $70 billion respectively.
Mebendazole Polymorph for Treatment and Prevention of Tumors
April 9th, 2026Via: U.S. Patent US11110079B2:
Mebendazole is an antiparasitic drug with over 40 years of safe use. Recently mebendazole was repurposed for glioblastoma therapy. Three polymorphs of mebendazole exist, but the relative polymorph content for existing drugs varies, and the therapeutic anti-cancer relevance of the different polymorphs was unknown. As an oral drug mebendazole polymorph C is a superior form, and it reaches the brain and brain tumors in effective concentrations. Efficacy is further improved by combining mebendazole with a P-glycoprotein inhibitor. Mebendazole may also be used for therapy of other cancers, as well as a chemo-preventative agent.
China Produces “Baby Shahed” Kamikaze Drones For $500
April 9th, 2026War is hell. And then drones appeared on the battlefield.
Via: Zero Hedge:
China’s manufacturing base is now churning out short-range, low-cost kamikaze drones priced at under $500 per unit, which X user PLA Military Updates has described as “Baby Shahed” drones.
According to the post, the so-called Baby Shahed costs around 3,000 yuan (about $450), has a range of 20 to 30 kilometers, flies at roughly 200 kilometers per hour, and can be launched by hand or from a rack. These drones could even be launched from a box truck or shipping containers.
U.S. Will Automatically Register Men Aged 18 to 25 for Military Draft Pool Beginning in December
April 9th, 2026Via: Daily Mail:
The United States will automatically register eligible men aged 18 to 25 for a military draft pool beginning in December.
The rule change was submitted by the Selective Service System, which maintains a database of Americans who would be able to serve in the military.
‘This statutory change transfers responsibility for registration from individual men to SSS through integration with federal data sources,’ the agency’s website said.
Shipping Through Strait of Hormuz After “Ceasefire”? “There Is No Free Flow”
April 8th, 2026Via: What’s Going on With Shipping?:
Anthropic Mythos
April 8th, 2026Via: Ars Technica:
Anthropic has launched a new cybersecurity AI model to a select group of customers, including Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft, days after details about the project were leaked online.
Its new model, Claude Mythos Preview, would be available only to vetted organizations, including Broadcom, Cisco, and CrowdStrike, Anthropic said on Tuesday. The company added it was also in discussions with the US government about its use.
…
Mythos has been in use with partners for several weeks. Although it is a “general purpose” model with wider capabilities, it is the first time the company has limited release of a model due to its capabilities in cyber security.
Anthropic said the software can identify cyber vulnerabilities at a scale beyond human capacity, but it could also develop ways to exploit these vulnerabilities, which bad actors could use. The company said the model could “reshape” cyber security practices and does not plan a broad release.
…
In recent weeks, Mythos has identified thousands of so-called zero-day—previously undiscovered—vulnerabilities and other security flaws, many of which are critical and have persisted for a decade or more.
In one example, it found a 16-year-old flaw in widely used video software, in a line of code that automated testing tools had executed 5 million times without detecting the issue.
However, the model also displayed some issues during testing.
At one point, Anthropic found that it had escaped its so-called sandbox environment—designed to prevent it from accessing the Internet—and posted details of its workaround online.
Anthropic acknowledged it demonstrated “a potentially dangerous capability for circumventing [the company’s] safeguards.”
TPM – The Microsoft Choke Point – Age Verification and Identity Control
April 8th, 2026Most people don’t know (or care) about any of this.
Most will comply with everything asked of them without concern or complaint.
Financial services and government issued IDs will be how this comes down for people who are trying to resist. It will simply become impossible to exist without compliance with these systems.
I can see a scenario where people create “normie” devices in order to comply with device/biometric requirements to do banking or take commercial flights, for example.
Then, they might have their more privacy focused devices running Linux for everything else. Not, so much, because this would ultimately be effective. But more to feel a sense of at least having done something to resist.
Via: Rob Braxman Tech:
