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Nature, Published online: 05 September 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-02840-zRubidium atoms that are chilled to extremely low temperatures could emit bursts of particles called neutrinos.

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In the 1980s, when government lagged in its response to the disease, he solicited private support for prevention and treatment.

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Same-sex marriage continues to expand around the world, with several countries passing laws or court rulings in the last two years. These changes reflect steady progress, particularly in Europe and, more recently, Asia. Heres a look at the most recent nations to join the list, with dates when the laws took effect.Marriage equality newcomersEstoniaEstonia became the first former Soviet republic to legalize same-sex marriage after its parliament voted in June 2023. The law went into effect on January 1, 2024.GreeceOn February 16, 2024, Greeces parliament passed a bill opening marriage to same-sex couples. The move was historic as Greece became the first Orthodox Christian-majority country to do so.LiechtensteinThe tiny principality of Liechtenstein legalized registered partnerships for same-sex couples back in 2011. 14 years later, same-sex marriage became legal when its law took effect on January 1, 2025, after parliamentary approval in May 2024.ThailandAfter 20 years of advocacy from activists and several delays, Thailand legalized same-sex marriage. The law officially began on January 23, 2025, making Thailand the first Southeast Asian country and only the third in Asia, after Taiwan and Nepal, to allow marriage equality.CubaIn September 2022, Cubans voted on a new family code that included marriage equality. Nearly 67 percent supported the change, and by the end of the year same-sex couples could legally marry and adopt. It marked a major shift for LGBTQ+ rights in the Caribbean.SloveniaSlovenias Constitutional Court ruled in July 2022 that banning same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Parliament followed with legislation that fall, making Slovenia the first post-communist country in Eastern Europe to open marriage to all couples.AndorraThis small nation between France and Spain had been supportive of LGBTQ+ legal partnerships since 2005. However, in 2023, Andorra updated its family law to replace civil unions with full marriage rights for same-sex couples. The move brought the small European country in line with many of its neighbors. A year later, Andorran Prime Minister Xavier Espot Zamora came out as gay in a radio interview.MexicoMexico completed its long road to marriage equality in 2022, when the last state approved same-sex marriage. The process started back in 2010 with a court ruling in Mexico City and slowly expanded until all 32 states recognized marriage rights nationwide.Global contextAs of early 2025, 38 countries recognize same-sex marriage, with most concentrated in Europe and the Americas. The newest additions show cultural diversity and momentum, stretching from the Baltics to Southeast Asia.Marriage equality is far from universal, but the past few years underline how quickly change is possible. The post Global roundup: Countries that recently legalized same-sex marriage appeared first on News Is Out.

Its official: Benoit Blanc is back, and this time, hes stepping into his darkest mystery yet. Netflix just dropped a brand-new teaser for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, and if the first footage is anything to go by, the whodunnit kingpin Rian Johnson isnt holding back.From the jump, the teaser sets the stage for an impossible crime. As the head detective explains:A man gives a sermon, he then in plain sight of everyone, walks into a sealed concrete box, and 30 seconds later, that man is lying dead. A classic impossible crime.That impossible crime? Its just the tip of the iceberg.A Murder in the PewsWake Up Dead Man swaps out mansions and private islands for something even more dramatic: the church. The new case begins when young priest Jud Duplenticy (Josh OConnor) is sent to assist the fiery Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin). But when a shocking death rattles their flock, the holy setting becomes the backdrop for an unholy mystery.Enter Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), who teams up with police chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis) to solve a crime that seems to defy every rule of logic.Every time we make one of these films, its fun to think, How can this one explore a whole different corner of this genre? Johnson tells Tudum. For Wake Up Dead Man, he drew inspiration from detective fiction legend John Dickson Carr, best known for his mastery of the locked-room mystery. Its a side alley of the whodunit genre: the impossible crime. A corpse is found in a locked room, a knife in his back, he is alone, and there are no ways in or out, Johnson explains. With such a constrained premise, there are only a few real options to work with. Its the mystery version of a chess puzzle, with just enough pieces on the board and no more, and a few predetermined moves at your disposal.The All-Star CastThe teaser also gives us our first-look at the cast in action! Johnson has once again assembled a star-studded ensemble to bring the drama to life. Glenn Close appears as devout churchgoer Martha Delacroix, while Thomas Haden Church takes on the role of circumspect groundskeeper Samson Holt. Kerry Washington plays the tightly wound lawyer Vera Draven, alongside Daryl McCormack as her ambitious politician brother, Cy Draven. Jeremy Renner appears as town doctor Nat Sharp, Andrew Scott steps in as the smoldering bestselling author Lee Ross, and Cailee Spaeny plays Simone Vivane, a gifted cellist with secrets of her own. Together, the cast forms a flock full of red herrings, hidden motives, and shadowy truths waiting to be uncovered.Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery will open in select theaters on November 26, 2025, before premiering on Netflix on December 12, 2025. Written and directed by Rian Johnson and produced with longtime collaborator Ram Bergman, the film is shaping up to be the darkest and most ambitious chapter yet in the Knives Out saga.Source

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that could decide the future of conversion therapy bans across the country. The case, Chiles v. Salazar, challenges Colorados protections for LGBTQ+ youth and raises questions about the balance between free speech and the states authority to regulate health care.Whats the Case About?At the center of the dispute is Colorado counselor Kaley Chiles, who argues that the states ban on conversion therapy for minors violates her First Amendment rights. She filed suit against Colorado, naming Patty Salazar, head of the Department of Regulatory Agencies, as the states representative in the case.Colorado defends its law as a narrowly tailored regulation of health care that shields young people from practices shown to increase depression, anxiety, and suicide risk.What Exactly is Conversion Therapy?Conversion therapy refers to attempts to change a persons sexual orientation or gender identity. While often framed as counseling, the practices lack any medical legitimacy. Historically, they have ranged from talk-based approaches rooted in discredited theories to disturbing aversive techniques.Major medical organizations agree: theres no evidence conversion therapy works, and plenty of evidence it causes harm.Colorados ProtectionsColorados law is in line with more than 20 other states. It bars licensed mental health providers from performing conversion therapy on minors. Importantly, the law does not restrict religious counseling or prevent therapists from supporting clients in exploring their identities. The restriction applies specifically to efforts to direct a child toward becoming straight or cisgender.What the Research ShowsDecades of studies point to serious risks. LGBTQ+ youth subjected to conversion therapy are more than twice as likely to attempt suicide. They also face higher rates of depression, anxiety, substance use, and fractured family relationships. Survivors often report long-term trauma, guilt, and shame.Expert ConsensusFrom the American Psychiatric Association to the American Medical Association, every major professional group has denounced conversion therapy. Advocates argue that protecting minors from harmful pseudoscience is an ethical responsibility.Religious voices have also joined the call. Nearly 400 faith leaders worldwide signed a 2020 declaration urging governments to end conversion therapy, and many former ex-gay leaders have since condemned the movement.Public opinion reflects that shift. A 2025 poll found 56% of Americans support making conversion therapy on minors illegal.What Comes NextThis isnt the first time bans on conversion therapy have been challenged. Lower courts have consistently upheld them, and the Supreme Court has previously declined to intervene. But with this new case on the docket, the justices will now weigh in directly.If Colorados law is upheld, states can continue to protect minors from conversion therapy. If struck down, states may lose the ability to regulate the practice at all. The ruling could shape the future of LGBTQ+ protections nationwide.The Trevor Projects RoleThe Trevor Project, alongside the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the National Alliance on Mental Illness, submitted a friend of the court brief highlighting the harms of conversion therapy. Their filing included peer-reviewed research, national survey data, and first-hand accounts from survivors.For years, The Trevor Project has been at the forefront of advocacy against conversion therapy, working toward a future where LGBTQ+ youth are safe, supported, and free from coercive practices.Source

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The Jacksonville Jaguars are trading running back Tank Bigsby, who had five carries for 12 yards Sunday in a win over the Carolina Panthers, to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for 2026 fifth- and sixth-round picks, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

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Petitioner Yang Guoliang, whose family has been trapped in an increasingly tight noose of surveillance for the past 16 years, rests in his bedroom at his home in Changzhou, in eastern China's Jiangsu Province, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)2025-09-09T04:31:18Z BEIJING (AP) Across China, tens of thousands of people tagged as troublemakers are trapped in a digital cage, barred from leaving their province and sometimes even their homes by the worlds largest digital surveillance apparatus. Most of this technology came from companies in a country that has long claimed to support freedoms worldwide: the United States.Over the past quarter century, American tech companies to a large degree designed and built Chinas surveillance state, playing a far greater role in enabling human rights abuses than previously known, an Associated Press investigation found. They sold billions of dollars of technology to the Chinese police, government and surveillance companies, despite repeated warnings from the U.S. Congress and in the media that such tools were being used to quash dissent, persecute religious sects and target minorities.Most of the companies that responded said they fully complied with all laws, sanctions and U.S. export controls governing business in China, past and present. Here are key findings: America brought predicative policing to ChinaU.S. companies introduced systems that mine a vast array of information texts, calls, payments, flights, video, DNA swabs, mail deliveries, the internet, even water and power use to unearth individuals deemed suspicious and predict their movements. But this technology also allows Chinese police to threaten friends and family and preemptively detain people for crimes they have not even committed. The AP found a Chinese defense contractor, Huadi, worked with IBM in 2009 to design the main policing system for Beijing to censor the internet and crack down on alleged terrorists, the Falun Gong religious sect, and even villagers deemed troublesome. IBM referred to any possible relationship it may have had with Chinese government agencies as old, stale interactions: ... If older systems are being abused today and IBM has no knowledge that they are the misuse is entirely outside of IBMs control, was not contemplated by IBM decades ago, and in no way reflects on IBM today. Huadi did not respond. Stay up to date with similar stories by signing up to our WhatsApp channel. US tech enabled the Xinjiang crackdownAmerican surveillance technologies allowed a brutal mass detention campaign in the far west region of Xinjiang targeting, tracking and grading virtually the entire native Uyghur population to forcibly assimilate and subdue them. IBM agents in China sold its i2 software to the Xinjiang police, Chinas Ministry of State Security, and many other Chinese police units throughout the 2010s, leaked emails show. One agent, Landasoft, subsequently copied and deployed it as the basis for a predictive policing platform that tagged hundreds of thousands of people as potential terrorists. IBM said it has no record of its i2 software ever being sold to the Public Security Bureau in Xinjiang, was not aware of any interaction between Landasoft and that bureau and cut ties with Landasoft in 2014. Landasoft did not respond.Some tech companies even specifically addressed race in their marketing. Dell and a Chinese surveillance firm promoted a military-grade AI-powered laptop with all-race recognition on its official WeChat account in 2019. And until contacted by AP in August, biotech giant Thermo Fisher Scientifics website marketed DNA kits to the Chinese police as designed for the Chinese population, including ethnic minorities like Uyghurs and Tibetans. The Xinjiang government said that it uses surveillance technologies to prevent terrorism, and that Western countries also use such technology, calling the U.S. a true surveillance state. Companies pitched tech to control citizensThough the companies often claim they arent responsible for how their products are used, some directly pitched their tech as tools for Chinese police to control citizens, marketing materials from IBM, Dell, Cisco, and Seagate show. Their sales pitches made both publicly and privately cited Communist Party catchphrases on crushing protest, including stability maintenance, key persons, and abnormal gatherings, and named programs that stifle dissent, such as Internet Police, Sharp Eyes and the Golden Shield. IBM, Dell, Cisco and Seagate said they adhere to all relevant laws. American tech laid the foundation for Chinese surveillanceAmerican technology laid the foundation for Chinas surveillance apparatus that Chinese companies have since built on and in some cases replaced. Intel and NVIDIA helped Chinas three biggest surveillance companies make their camera systems AI-powered. Contracts to maintain existing IBM, Dell, HP, Cisco, Oracle, and Microsoft software and gear remain ubiquitous, often with third parties. And to this day, concerns remain over where technology sold to China will end up, with former U.S. officials and national security experts criticizing a deal struck this summer for NVIDIA to sell chips used in artificial intelligence to China, saying the technology would fall into the hands of the Chinese military and intelligence. NVIDIA said in 2022 that Chinese surveillance firms Watrix and GEOAI used its chips to train AI patrol drones and systems to identify people by their walk, but told the AP those relationships no longer continue. NVIDIA said it does not make surveillance systems or software, does not work with police in China and has not designed the H20 chips for police surveillance, and the White House and Department of Commerce did not respond to requests for comment. Big loopholes in sanctions remainSome U.S. companies ended contracts in China over rights concerns and after sanctions. IBM said it has prohibited sales to Tibet and Xinjiang police since 2015, and suspended business relations with defense contractor Huadi in 2019. NVIDIA and Intel also ended partnerships with Chinas top two surveillance companies in 2019. However, sanctions experts noted that the laws have significant loopholes and often lag behind new developments. For example, a ban on military and policing gear to China after the 1989 Tiananmen massacre does not take into account newer technologies or general-use products that can be applied in policing. They also noted that the law around export controls is complicated. A cautionary taleWhat started in China more than a decade ago could be seen as a cautionary tale for other countries at a time when the use of surveillance technology worldwide is rising sharply, including in the United States. Emboldened by the Trump administration, U.S. tech companies are more powerful than ever, and President Donald Trump has rolled back a Biden-era executive order meant to safeguard civil rights from new surveillance technologies. As the capacity and sophistication of such technologies has grown, so has their reach. Surveillance technologies now include AI systems that help track and detain migrants in the U.S. and identify people to kill in the Israel-Hamas war. China, in the meantime, has used what it learned from the U.S. to turn itself into a surveillance superpower, selling technologies to countries like Iran and Russia.Because of this technology we have no freedom at all, said Yang Caiying, now in exile in Japan, whose family has been trapped in an increasingly tight noose of surveillance for the past 16 years. At the moment, its us Chinese that are suffering the consequences, but sooner or later, Americans and others, too, will lose their freedoms. __Yael Grauer is an independent investigative tech reporter. AP journalists Garance Burke in San Francisco, Larry Fenn in New York and Byron Tau in Washington contributed to this report, along with Myf Ma, an independent investigative journalist, researcher and programmer in New York covering China.__ Contact APs global investigative team at [emailprotected] or https://www.ap.org/tips/ DAKE KANG Kang covers Chinese politics, technology and society from Beijing for The Associated Press. Hes reported across Central, South, and East Asia, and was a Pulitzer finalist for investigative reporting in China. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Petitioner Yang Guoliang looks through documents at his home in Changzhou in eastern China's Jiangsu Province, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)2025-09-09T04:30:13Z BEIJING (AP) American tech companies to a large degree designed and built Chinas surveillance state, playing a far greater role in enabling human rights abuses than previously known, an Associated Press investigation found. They sold billions of dollars of technology to the Chinese police, government and surveillance companies, despite repeated warningsfrom the U.S. Congress and in the media that such tools were being used to quash dissent, persecute religious sects and target minorities. The AP obtained tens of thousands of pages of classified and internal documents that show how U.S. companies designed and marketed systems that became the foundation for Chinas digital cage. (AP Video/Serginho Roosblad, Marshall Ritzel) The AP investigation was based on tens of thousands of leaked emails and databases from a Chinese surveillance company; thousands of pages of confidential corporate and government documents; public Chinese language marketing material; and thousands of procurements, many provided by ChinaFile, a digital magazine published by the non-profit Asia Society. The AP also drew from dozens of open record requests and interviews with more than 100 current and former Chinese and American engineers, executives, experts, officials, administrators, and police officers. American tech firms were by far the biggest suppliers, but German, Japanese, and Korean firms also had a role. Here are some examples: MILITARY ACCESS: A Chinese military contractor worked with Armonk, New York-based IBM in 2009 to design national intelligence systems, including a counterterrorism system, according to classified Chinese government documents. These systems were used by Chinas secret police, the Ministry of State Security, and the Chinese military. IBM referred to any such deals as old, stale interactions: ... If older systems are being abused today and IBM has no knowledge that they are the misuse is entirely outside of IBMs control, was not contemplated by IBM decades ago, and in no way reflects on IBM today. Stay up to date with similar stories by signing up to our WhatsApp channel. ANTI-TERROR ANALYSIS: IBM agents in China sold IBMs i2 policing analysis software to the Xinjiang police, Chinas Ministry of State Security, and other Chinese police units throughout the 2010s, leaked emails show. i2 software was subsequently copied and deployed by one former IBM agent, Landasoft, as the basis for a predictive policing platform that tagged hundreds of thousands of people as potential terrorists during a brutal crackdown in Chinas far west Xinjiang region. IBM says it ceased relations with Landasoft in 2014, prohibited sales to police in Xinjiang and Tibet since 2015, and has no record of any sales of i2 software to the Public Security Bureau in Xinjiang. ETHNIC REPRESSION: Dell and then-subsidiary VMWare sold cloud software and storage devices to police and entities providing data to police in Tibet and Xinjiang, even as late as 2022 after ethnic repression there was widely known. Dell addressed race in its marketing: In 2019, Dell said on WeChat it had teamed up with surveillance firm Yitu to sell a military-grade AI-powered laptop for Chinese police with all-race recognition. Dell, based in Round Rock, Texas, told AP it conducts rigorous due diligence to ensure compliance with U.S. export controls. Chinese policing systems, including in Xinjiang, also used software from Oracle, based in Austin, Texas, and from Microsoft, based in Seattle, according to procurements and a leaked database obtained by AP. FINGERPRINT RECOGNITION: Chinese defense contractor Huadi worked with IBM to construct Chinas national fingerprint database; IBM said it never sold fingerprinting-specific products to the Chinese government and that any possible misuse for fingerprinting purposes was done without its knowledge or assistance. HP and VMWare sold technology used for fingerprint comparison by Chinese police. Intel said in 2019 marketing material that it partnered with Hisign, a Chinese fingerprinting company that sold to Xinjiang police, to make their fingerprint readers more effective, and that the new reader was fully tested in an actual application scenario with a municipal police bureau. Hisign was still an Intel partner as of last year, according to Chinese media reports. California-based Intel said it has not had any technical engagement with Hisign since 2024, and told AP it would act swiftly if it became aware of any credible misuse. AI CAMERAS: IBM, Dell, Tokyo-based Hitachi, and VMWare promoted facial recognition for use by Chinese police. Japanese electronics giant Sony said on its official WeChat account that it wired a Chinese prison with intelligent cameras, saying it was widely trusted for surveillance projects. California chip giant NVIDIA and Intel partnered with Chinas three biggest surveillance companies to add AI capabilities to camera systems used for video surveillance across China, including in Xinjiang and Tibet, until sanctions were imposed. Relations with other Chinese surveillance companies continued more recently: NVIDIA posted on its WeChat social media account in 2022 that Chinese surveillance firms Watrix and GEOAI used its chips to train AI patrol drones and systems to identify people by their walk. NVIDIA told AP those relationships no longer continue. SURVEILLANCE RESEARCH: NVIDIA, IBM, and Hitachi staff collaborated with Chinese police researchers and companies on surveillance technology. NVIDIA said in a post dating to 2013 or later that a Chinese police institute used its chips for surveillance technology research. NVIDIA said it doesnt currently work with Chinese police but did not address the past. And in 2021, an IBM and a U.S. Army researcher coauthored an AI video study with a Chinese police researcher working at a sanctioned company, according to a paper unearthed by IPVM, a surveillance research publication. The U.S. Army told AP the Chinese police researcher only worked on the paper after the Army researchers work had concluded. DNA: Chinese police DNA labs bought Dell and Microsoft software and equipment to save genetic data on police databases. In 2021, Hitachi advertised DNA sequencers to Chinese police, and police labs bought pipettes from German biotech firm Eppendorf last year. And until contacted by AP in August, Massachusetts-based biotech firm Thermo Fisher Scientifics website stated that its kits are made for Chinas national DNA database and designed for the Chinese population, including ethnic minorities like Uyghurs and Tibetans, and featured the work of a Chinese police researcher who discussed using Thermo Fisher kits to identify ethnic Uyghur and Manchu populations at a 2016 conference. Thermo Fisher stopped sales in Xinjiang in 2021 and in Tibet in 2024, but still promotes kits to police elsewhere in China, including at a police trade show earlier this year. In a statement to AP, Thermo Fisher said its kits are designed to be effective across diverse global populations but do not have the capability to distinguish among specific ethnic groups.INTERNET POLICE: In 2014, VMWare said internet police in cities across China used its software, and in 2016, Dell said on its WeChat account that its services assisted the Chinese internet police in cracking down on rumormongers essentially promoting censorship. An undated IBM marketing presentation said that internet police in Shanghai and Guangzhou used its i2 software, with metadata suggesting it was from 2018. IBM held a conference in Beijing promoting i2 in 2018, according to its official WeChat account.ENCRYPTION TECHNOLOGY: Leaked government blueprints show Illinois-based Motorola provided encrypted radio communications technology to the Chinese police for handling sudden and mass events in Beijing. Motorola did not respond to requests for comment.AI DRIVES: Californian hard disk giants Seagate and Western Digital and Tokyo-based Toshiba sell hard drives specialized for AI video systems for use by Chinese police. In 2022, Toshiba wrote about how its surveillance hard drives can help police monitor communities to identify and control suspicious or blacklisted individuals. Theyre optimized and adapted for security systems, Toshiba sales director Feng Hao told AP. Last year, Western Digital touted its partnership with Chinese surveillance company Uniview at a policing trade expo, months before Uniview was sanctioned over complicity in rights abuses. And Seagate said on WeChat in 2022 that it sells hard drives tailor made for AI video systems in China for use by police to help them control key persons, and promoted their drives to police at a security trade association in China this year.MAPPING SOFTWARE: Blueprints show that in 2009, IBM, Oracle, and Esri, the creator of ArcGIS based in California, sold hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of software to build Chinas Police Geographic Information System, and in 2013, HP said it sold digital fencing solutions to Chinese police. Such systems alert Chinese police even today when Uyghurs, Tibetans or dissidents stray out of provinces, counties or even villages. The U.S. curbed exports of such mapping software to China in 2020. But the restrictions are narrow in scope, and Esri maintains a research center in Beijing that marketed to police and other Chinese clients. Esri denied involvement.POLICE GEAR: Chinese police patrol the streets equipped with foreign technology. Officers stroll the streets of Beijing with Motorola walkie-talkies, for example, while Korean electronics giant Samsung sells microSD cards for police body cameras, advertising them at Chinese police trade shows in 2023 and 2024. And in WeChat posts, Chinese state-owned company Jinghua said it cooperated with German electronics giant Philips on Chinas first AI-powered 5G police body camera and advertised Philips-branded recorders and cameras to Chinese police. In a statement, Philips said it had no partnership with Jinghua, did not authorize sales of Philips-branded body cameras in China, and would be contacting Jinghua over the posts.IBM, Dell, California network seller Cisco, Seattle-based Amazon Web Services, Seagate, Intel, Thermo Fisher and Western Digital all said they adhere to relevant export controls, laws and regulations where they operate. Eppendorf, Sony, and Hitachi declined to describe their business relationships in China but said they respected human rights. Oracle, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and California tech conglomerate Broadcom, which acquired VMWare in 2023, did not comment on the record. HP, Motorola, Samsung, Toshiba, Huadi, and Landasoft did not respond. Microsoft said it did not knowingly provide software for updates to Chinas main policing system.The Xinjiang government said in a statement that it uses surveillance technologies to prevent and combat terrorist and criminal activity and does not target any particular ethnicity. The statement said Western countries also use such technology, calling the U.S. a true surveillance state. Other government agencies did not respond to a request for comment.__Yael Grauer is an independent investigative tech reporter. AP journalists Garance Burke in San Francisco, Larry Fenn in New York and Byron Tau in Washington contributed to this report, along with Myf Ma, an independent investigative journalist, researcher and programmer in New York covering China.__ Contact APs global investigative team at [emailprotected] or https://www.ap.org/tips/ DAKE KANG Kang covers Chinese politics, technology and society from Beijing for The Associated Press. Hes reported across Central, South, and East Asia, and was a Pulitzer finalist for investigative reporting in China. twitter mailto

Nature, Published online: 09 September 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-02416-xPauses to some US graduate programmes have led universities in several countries to launch initiatives to entice would-be PhD students.

Tyler Glasnow, who struck out 11 and walked two on 105 pitches in his first career start against Colorado, combined with the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen to one-hit the Rockies in a 3-1 win Monday night, as the veteran starter improved to 2-3 this season.

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The Supreme Courts ruling stemmed from a prior conviction and was the latest blow for Thaksin Shinawatra.

A solution to Frances fiscal and political stalemate has been hiding in plain sight.

Security footage capturing the unprovoked stabbing in Charlotte became an accelerant for conservative arguments about the perceived failings of Democratic policies.

The ruling allowed immigration agents to stop people for reasons that lower courts had deemed likely unconstitutional.

This combination of photos shows logos of X, formerly known as Twitter, top left; Snapchat, top right; Facebook, bottom left; and TikTok, bottom right. (AP Photo, File)2025-09-09T04:22:56Z Nepals crackdown on social media companies, which led to protests and police killing at least 19 people, is part of a yearslong decline of internet freedoms around the world as even democracies seek to curtail online speech.The Himalayan countrys government said last week it was blocking several social media platforms including Facebook, X and YouTube because the companies failed to comply with a requirement that they register with the government. The ban was lifted Tuesday a day after the deadly protests.Whats happening in Nepal mirrors this broader pattern of controlling the narrative and controlling of stories emerging from the ground, said Aditya Vashistha, an assistant professor of information science at Cornell University. This has happened several times in the neighboring countries India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. So this is nothing new in fact, I would say this is taken from the playbook, which is now very established, of trying to control social media narratives. Not just NepalLike neighboring countries, Nepals government have been asking the companies to appoint a liaison in the country. Officials are calling for laws to to monitor social media and ensure both the users and operators are responsible and accountable for what they share. But the move has been criticized as a tool for censorship and punishing opponents who voice their protests online.Governments absolutely have a valid interest in seeking to regulate social media platforms. This is such a daily part of our lives and in our business. And it is certainly reasonable for authorities to sit down and say we want to develop rules for the road, said Kian Vesteinsson, senior research analyst for technology and democracy at the Washington-based nonprofit Freedom House. Stay up to date with similar stories by signing up to our WhatsApp channel. But what we see in Nepal is that wholesale blocks as a means of enforcing a set of rules for social media companies results in wildly disproportionate harms. These measures that were put in place in Nepal (cut) tens of millions of people off from platforms that they used to express themselves, to conduct daily business, to speak with their families, to go to school, to get healthcare information. Its not just Nepal. Freedom House has found that global internet freedom has declined for the 14th consecutive year in 2024, as governments crack down on dissent and people face arrest for expressing political, social or religious views online. While China consistently tops the list as the worlds worst environment for internet freedom, last year Myanmar shared this designation as well. The organization did not track Nepal. India passed a telecommunications law in 2023 that gave its government broad powers to restrict online communications and intercept communications, according to Freedom House. Three years earlier, a sweeping internet law put digital platforms like Facebook under direct government oversight. Officials say the rules are needed to quell misinformation and hate speech and to give users more power to flag objectionable content. But critics cautioned it would lead to censorship in a country where digital freedoms have already been shrinking.In January, meanwhile, Pakistans lower house of parliament passed a bill that gives the government sweeping controls on social media, including sending users to prison for spreading disinformation. Online freedom and democracyCalling internet freedom a pillar of modern democracy, Freedom House said a healthy 21st-century democracy cannot function without a trustworthy online environment, where people can access information and express themselves freely. Increasingly, though, governments are putting up roadblocks. Often, regulations are in the name of child safety, cyber crime or fraud, Vesteinsson said, but unfortunately, a lot of this regulation comes hand in hand with restrictive measures.In the Nepali law, for instance, the same provision of this law, directs social media platforms to restrict content relating to child trafficking and human trafficking and labor, a really important issue, he added. Two bullet points above that, it orders platforms to restrict people from posting anonymously. The Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday that the protests underscore the widespread concerns over Nepals ban on social media and the pressing need for the government to drop its order. Such a sweeping ban not only restricts freedom of expression, it also severely hinders journalists work and the publics right to know. Can VPNs help? The crackdown appears to have spurred a surge in use of virtual private networks, or VPNs, according to Proton, which provides encrypted services. Signups for Protons VPN service in Nepal have jumped by 8,000% since Sept. 3, according to data the company posted online. A VPN is a service that allows users to mask their location in order to circumvent censorship or geography-based online viewing restrictions.But experts caution that VPNs are not an end-all solution to government internet blocks. They can be expensive and out of reach for many people, Vashistha noted, and they can be slow and lead to lower-quality experiences when people try to access blocked social platforms.Google, Meta, X and TikTok (which registered and continues to operate) didnt respond to requests for comment.Vesteinsson said companies can take important steps to safeguard privacy of their users particularly human rights defenders and activists who might be a specific target for government repression in their countries. Its enormously important for social media platforms to be responsible to their users in that way, he said. ___AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan and AP Technology Writer Matt OBrien contributed to this report. BARBARA ORTUTAY Ortutay writes about social media and the internet for The Associated Press. mailto

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