Instead of relying on texting, experts say Android and Apple users should use fully end-to-end encrypted services to communicate with each other, like WhatsApp or Telegram. Hengartner personally recommends the app Signal, which he says “has a very good reputation in the security community.”
TorStar: Trudeau government unveils new target to cut greenhouse gas
Climate activists expressed disappointment over the target, with the organization Environmental Defence decrying the goal as a “failure” for Canada’s contribution to the global struggle against the climate crisis.
Caroline Brouillette, executive director of an umbrella group of organizations called Climate Action Network Canada, said the new target shows the federal government “has chosen to cave” instead of pledging to seriously address national emissions.
“This weak target is deeply disconnected from Canada’s fair share of the global climate effort, and from the level of ambition we are seeing in other countries,” she said in an emailed statement.
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Over more than 30 years of participation in international efforts to fight climate change, Canada — one of the world’s heaviest emitters and a major fossil fuel producer — has never hit a promised emissions-reduction target. Other wealthy countries also have more ambitious climate targets. The United Kingdom recently declared it would slash emissions to 81 per cent below 1990 levels by 2035.
TorStar: Suncor to increase oil and gas output by up to five per cent in 2025
Suncor says it is aiming to add more than 100,000 barrels per day of oil and gas production between 2023 and 2026.
And in related news…
UPI: U.S. fines foreign airlines $825K for designator code violations, flying in prohibited air space
U.S. authorities fined Etihad Airways $400,000 for using United Airlines designator code and Ethiopian Airlines $425,000 for using the code that belongs to JetBlue Airways.
“Ethiopian Airlines operated a significant number of flights carrying the United Airlines code between Ethiopia and Djibouti in airspace prohibited by the FAA to U.S. operators,” the Transportation Department officials said in a statement.
Guardian: ‘Unprecedented risk’ to life on Earth: Scientists call for halt on ‘mirror life’ microbe research
World-leading scientists have called for a halt on research to create “mirror life” microbes amid concerns that the synthetic organisms would present an “unprecedented risk” to life on Earth.
The international group of Nobel laureates and other experts warn that mirror bacteria, constructed from mirror images of molecules found in nature, could become established in the environment and slip past the immune defences of natural organisms, putting humans, animals and plants at risk of lethal infections.
Although a viable mirror microbe would probably take at least a decade to build, a new risk assessment raised such serious concerns about the organisms that the 38-strong group urged scientists to stop work towards the goal and asked funders to make clear they will no longer support the research.
Guardian: Gukesh Dommaraju becomes youngest world chess champion after horrific Ding Liren blunder
“I was totally in shock when I realized I made a blunder,” Ding said. “His facial expression showed that he was very happy and excited and I realized I made a blunder. It took some time to realize it.”
Guardian: Pompeii experts back Pliny’s account of Mount Vesuvius eruption date
The date on which Mount Vesuvius erupted, wiping out the lives of thousands in ancient Pompeii and other nearby towns, has long divided scholars.
But a study by Pompeii experts suggests that the Roman author Pliny the Younger probably had it right all along: the volcano erupted on 24 August AD79 and not later in the year as has been suggested.
Last Updated: 12.Dec.2024 23:58 EST
