Revealed: Leaked Chats Expose the Daily Life of a Scam Compound’s Enslaved Workforce

A whistleblower trapped inside a “pig butchering” scam compound gave WIRED a vast trove of its internal materials—including 4,200 pages of messages that lay out its operations in unprecedented detail.

Pentagon Exodus Under Hegseth, Venezuela Oil and Democracy, Clancy Trial Deadlocked : Up First from NPR

The Pentagon is losing experienced leaders under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, raising concerns about depleted weapons stockpiles and the military’s ability to manage a prolonged war with Iran.President Trump says Venezuela isn't ready for elections, while his Energy Secretary signs new oil deals in Caracas with the unelected government.In Massachusetts, jurors in the Lindsay Clancy trial told the judge they are deadlocked after five days of deliberations, raising the possibility of a mistrial in the case of a mother accused of killing her three children.Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Andrew Sussman, Tara Neill, Carmel Wroth, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Alice Woelfle.It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Nia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas.We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis and Patrick Murray. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.And our deputy Executive Producer is Kelley Dickens.(0:00) Introduction(01:57) Pentagon Exodus Under Hegseth(05:41) Venezuela Oil and Democracy(09:23) Clancy Trial Deadlocked

One Nation Under Blackmail: The Sordid Union Between Intelligence and Crime that Gave Rise to Jeffrey Epstein$dVol. 1

Cover Page -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Publisher's Foreword -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1) The Underworld -- 2) Booze and Blackmail -- 3) Organized Crime and the State of Israel -- 4) Roy Cohn's "Favor Bank" -- 5) Shades of Gray -- 6) A Private CIA -- 7) A Killer Enterprise -- 8) Clinton Contra -- 9) High Tech Treason -- 10) Government by Blackmail: The Dark Secrets of the Reagan Era -- Documents -- Index -- List of Abbreviations -- Acknowledgments -- Back Cover

Bleeding edge

New York City, 2001. Fraud investigator Maxine Tarnow starts looking into the finances of a computer-security firm and its billionaire geek CEO and discovers there's no shortage of swindlers looking to grab a piece of what's left of the tech bubble

How George Cottrell’s Reform UK Network in Montenegro Is Tied to Sanctioned Russian Oligarchs

Nigel Farage's criminal funder runs a Montenegro company whose corporate advisors work for a Belgrade Russian-arms dealer and individuals tied to Russian state-linked enterprises

The Oligarchs' Coup Against the Free Press Is Happening Now

The American information space is not merely changing; it is undergoing a hostile takeover. It is a deliberate, coordinated campaign by a new class of oligarchs out of Silicon Valley that includes Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, and Mark Zuckerberg acting in concert with a Trump-led authoritarian political project.

The Night Manager

Former British soldier Jonathan Pine navigates the shadowy recesses of Whitehall and Washington where an unholy alliance operates between the intelligence community and the secret arms trade. To infiltrate the inner circle of lethal arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper, Pine must himself become a criminal.

Issue 102 – The public will pay

Justin Sun buys his way out of an SEC fraud case, Iranian transactions on Binance draw DOJ scrutiny as the exchange sues the newspaper that reported on them, and crypto super PACs dump millions into Tuesday’s primaries in Illinois.

Corporate Bungling And Political Scandal Abound In Jesse Eisinger's New Book

Why don't crooked corporate CEO's go to jail anymore? Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jesse Eisinger uncovers culture of cowardice, incompetence, and corruption in both government and finance.

Japan’s Nikkei Hits New Record High

The Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.8% to trade above 63,700 on Thursday, setting fresh all-time highs as strong corporate earnings and upbeat guidance reinforced investor confidence, while sustained demand for artificial intelligence-related stocks continued to drive gains. Japanese equities also mirrored a tech-led rally on Wall Street overnight, even as accelerating US inflation fueled concerns that the Federal Reserve could still opt for another rate hike. At the same time, markets remained focused on the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, with discussions expected to prioritize trade relations. Among individual movers, gains were led by Kioxia Holdings (1.7%), Furukawa Electric (1.5%), Advantest (2.8%), Fanuc (10.4%) and Resonac Holdings (15.6%). In contrast, mining firm Mitsui Kinzoku fell 11.8% after issuing a weaker profit forecast for FY2027 despite projecting higher sales.

Computer Says Kill: The Toxic Love Triangle of Big Tech, Big War & Big Science w/ David Gray Widder

Academia, Big Tech, and the military are caught in a sordid love triangle — and their love language is money.

Who Gets War Right? Michael Kofman Responds

a debate about military forecasting, broken clocks, and magic wands

Elena Rossini 🌈 (@_elena@mastodon.social)

🚨 New post alert 📝 A deep dive into #WSocial with some fascinating findings: candid statements about their motives, a Greta Thunberg connection, potential AI plans (!!!) Why write about it again? I still had so many questions after publishing my first article. I spent 3 weeks watching every interview I could find and connecting the dots. I hope you'll enjoy this piece: 🔗 : https://blog.elenarossini.com/the-untold-story-about-w-social-unconventional-beginnings-strategic-pitches-conflicting-signals/ #blog #longread #privacy #DataMining #Europe

Inside AI negotiations at The New York Times | The NewsGuild - TNG-CWA

Our members at The New York Times Guild are currently bargaining their next collective agreement. What happens in these negotiations will impact the rest of the news industry. 

The Expert Trap and the Next War

what forecasting failure tells us about the future