By Power To The People Festival Fund

Kyiv is pressing the United States to impose sanctions on Russian and Chinese entities supporting the development of Rassvet, a low-Earth orbit satellite int...

As data center development adds new demand to the regional electric grid, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission is advancing proposed safeguards aimed at protecting consumers and preserving electric reliability during

The biggest news during last week’s Climate Week NYC came not from the United States but from Germany, where the government of the world’s third-largest economy committed to phasing out fossil fuels by 2045. It was the first time Germany has explicitly made such a promise, Fiona Harvey noted in _The Guardian_. Germany’s previous pledges, Harvey added, “were only for ‘carbon neutrality,’” an important distinction. Carbon neutrality allows continued fossil fuel use if the emissions are offset—for example, by additional clean energy or tree planting. But only a complete phaseout of fossil fuels can halt global temperature rise. Meanwhile, Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, the world’s fourth-largest economy, hailed his state’s decarbonization efforts, saying in an interview with Covering Climate Now that California has run on 100 percent clean electricity nine out of every 10 days so far in 2026. And as the costs of solar, wind, and batteries continue to fall, while the Iran war makes gasoline and diesel more expensive, “the markets are moving in our direction,” said Newsom, who’s widely expected to run for president in 2028. “Globally, people are realizing [that clean energy] is the better option.” An overwhelming majority of people around the world want their governments to take stronger climate action, the Associated Press noted in an article about the global oat milk company Oatly endorsing CCNow’s 89 Percent Project. “Companies should be taking much more responsibility, not only in reducing their own environmental footprint, but really working out how they can use their platform to drive a positive future,” Caroline Reid, senior sustainability director at Oatly, told the AP. Mirroring this public sentiment, Germany and California are key members of a “coalition of the willing” that emerged from last year’s COP30 United Nations climate summit, after petrostates vetoed calls from 80-plus countries to develop a global “roadmap” to phase out fossil fuels. Collectively, this coalition amounts to the biggest economic superpower on earth. In April, many of its members met in Santa Marta, Colombia, to begin discussing, in U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres’s words, how “to sequence the decline of fossil fuel investment with the rapid scale-up of clean energy.” Journalists have a critical role to play as governments work to phase out fossil fuels. That goal can only be achieved quickly—and speed is of the essence, scientists emphasize—if countries implement genuine climate solutions and shun false ones. News coverage that makes clear how well a given policy measures up to what’s needed, as Harvey did with her distinction between “carbon neutrality” and a fossil fuel phaseout, can keep the public informed and hold policymakers to account. France and The Netherlands are two more big economies that have released road maps to phase out fossil fuel use. If enough other countries present credible plans for doing so, it “would send an unmistakable message that the age of oil, gas and coal is ending, and the smart money is shifting,” Mohamed Adow, director of the nonprofit Power Shift Africa, said in an interview with _The Guardian_. As the costs of clean energy fall, humanity is in a “final battle” against the “evil forces” trying to keep the world dependent on fossil fuels, said Johan Rockstrom, the director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impacts Research in Germany, at a Climate Week event. Scientists at Rockstrom’s institute have studied which policies significantly reduce emissions and which don’t. A paper published in _Science_ evaluated “1,500 climate policies implemented … across 41 countries” and concluded that only 63 of them delivered significant reductions. There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution, but getting fossil fuel prices right—by slashing subsidies and otherwise challenging what U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse calls Big Oil’s “pollute for free business model”—is essential. Complementary research the Drawdown Institute released during Climate Week highlighted a number of supposed solutions that are anything but. The institute’s list of “weak ideas and greenwashing tricks” includes carbon capture and storage, direct air capture of carbon dioxide, blue hydrogen, and corn ethanol. A frequent topic of conversation at Climate Week was the U.S. midterm elections, which could curb President Donald Trump’s acceleration of climate breakdown if Republicans lose control in Congress, though most Democrats (with important exceptions like Newsom and Whitehouse) are saying little about climate change on the campaign trail. Considering that 80 to 89 percent of the world’s people, and 74 percent of Americans, want stronger climate action, why do so many politicians practice “climate hushing”? And why do so many voters end up backing candidates who are indifferent at best to tackling climate change? “We need to remember,” Rockstrom said, “that citizens have many other problems besides climate change, especially the cost of living. So we need to make it easy for them to choose clean energy options, and that requires good policy.” It also requires, Newsom said, talking plainly about both the dangers and the solutions to the climate crisis. Leaders need to “connect the dots” between the heat, drought, and other afflictions driven by climate change and “kitchen table” issues like the price of beef, coffee, and home insurance. “The cost of inaction,” Newsom added, “is incalculable.” _This article is published as part of the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now._

In water, soil and air all around us lives a free-living, single-celled organism called Acanthamoeba. Most of the time, Acanthamoeba keeps to itself. On rare occasions, though, the amoeba infects humans and can cause severe infections of the eyes, skin and even the brain. What's more, doctors can struggle to diagnose and treat the eye infection caused by the organism, called Acanthamoeba keratitis.

Ben Shapiro is making a pro-ICE movie about the murder of Renee Nicole Good. The Bulwark obtained a copy of a script from Shapiro’s right-wing Daily Wire __ media company that details an ICE raid in Minneapolis—and which spoofs the killing of unarmed protester Renee Good, who was shot four times by ICE agent Jonathan Ross earlier this year in Minneapolis. There have still been no charges filed in her killing, and her family moved to sue the Trump administration over her death on Thursday. The movie, titled _Pawn Shop_ , appears to be similar to the company’s recent _Run Fight Hide: Infidels_ , a lazy, ultraconservative fantasy that casts liberals as hysterical, “useful idiots” stopping the morally just right-wing from saving society and starred a post-cancellation Jonathan Majors. According to The Bulwark, this film opens with a character meant to be Good slamming her car into an ICE vehicle while other protestors try to stop them from arresting a man who is of course, revealed at the end to be an MS-13 kingpin. The Good character, named “Melanie, is described as being “fat” with “blue-hair,” is promptly shot and killed by agents. > Melanie reacts to the drawn gun with panic... > > She MASHES on the gas as she throws the car into reverse, accidentally SLAMMING Juan out of the way. He goes flying into the gutter, bleeding... > > And as the car reverses, Mike FIRES TWICE through the > > windshield... > > The first shot takes the [_sic_] Melanie in the neck, below her covid > > mask. The second in the head, above her covid mask. > > Blood SPLATTERS on her PASSENGER’s (40s, female, overweight) > > forehead and matching covid mask. The ICE agents are then chased by a mob, and barricade themselves into a pawn shop; the rest of the movie seems to use that as an arena for whatever tired conservative talking points Shapiro and producing partner Dallas Sonnier have to offer. This is an almost an identical structure to _Infidels_ , which I unfortunately reviewed last month. While it’s unclear when the movie will release, it has begun filming on location in Livingston, Minnesota—much to the chagrin of local residents.

Courthouse News reports: U.S. sanctions and visa restrictions have pushed the annual gathering of countries belonging to the world’s war crimes court out of New York and across the Atlantic. The International Criminal Court’s Assembly of States Parties will hold its 25th session in The Hague from Nov. 30 to Dec. 7 instead of at …

President Donald Trump dropped his final challenge to the $5.6 million payout to writer E. Jean Carroll, ending the case she won against him in 2023.Trump agreed to dismiss his appeal "with prejudice," meaning he can never bring it again, according to a Sept. 25 order from the U.S. Court of Appeals ...

Amid mounting concerns about its sprawling surveillance camera network, Flock Security told the press this summer that it operates more than 120,000 cameras nationwide. But a new map published Wednesday by a cybersecurity researcher reveals Flock’s nationwide reach is even bigger. Based on location coordinates from Flock’s own database, the map shows more than 170,000 cameras, plus more than 130,000 accompanying gadgets that play a part in the company’s expansive American surveillance network. Joshua Michael’s Flock Surveillance Map highlights the locations of what he says are 300,000 Flock surveillance devices spread across the country. His findings — which were cited in Wednesday’s Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism hearing on Flock — differ from existing maps of Flock’s automated license plate readers in scope and methodology. > “These cameras form a nationwide surveillance network that tracks where everyone drives.” Unlike crowd-sourced projects such as DeFlock, which are built on locations submitted by users, the Flock Surveillance Map relies on location data culled from a snapshot, archived by Michael in December 2025, of Flock’s own records. In addition to cameras, it maps supplemental devices — including 27,000 acoustic detection devices, as well as networking equipment that integrates third-party cameras — to illustrate the scale of Flock’s surveillance web. “These cameras form a nationwide surveillance network that tracks where everyone drives,” Michael told The Intercept, “so foreign nations don’t need to send spies to harm our country. They can simply watch where our soldiers, federal agents, and politicians go.” ## Most Read DoorDash Spent $1.4 Million Trying to Stop Mamdani From Becoming Mayor. Now We Know Why. Meghnad Bose, Macy Hanzlik-Barend Robert Kraft Claims His Donations Help Palestinians. Turns Out He’s Funding Friends of the IDF. Jonah Valdez Pink Supported Macklemore’s Firing. Now Activists Want UNICEF to Cut Ties With Her. Jonah Valdez The Intercept visited six random Arizona locations on Michael’s map; each location had a Flock camera present at the indicated coordinates. The Flock Surveillance Map also color-codes each Flock device according to its model — showing, for instance, whether the device is a Flock camera, known as a Falcon, or an accompanying processing unit known as a Picard. (Flock did not immediately respond to a request for comment.) The accompanying searchable dataset table also lists each camera’s individual name, as outlined in Flock’s database, which typically includes a street address and sometimes other identifying characteristics. A camera with the name “FBI Pilot Camera,” for example, is shown to be located at the J. Edgar Hoover Building — the FBI headquarters in Washington. ## Related ### Cops Are Using Flock to Spy on People for the Crime of Standing Around The map illustrates Flock’s national spread, but also its clustering in certain areas. For example, 860 Flock devices appear to be concentrated just outside Chicago O’Hare International Airport, at the Rosemont Public Safety Department, which provides police, fire, and emergency medical services in the Chicago suburb. Numerous Flock cameras appear to be installed inside detention centers. A camera titled “C-F-23 FOXTROT MALE HOLDING 2/SHOWERS” appears at the coordinates of the Silverdale Detention Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee. ## We’re independent of corporate interests — and powered by members. Join us. Become a member ## Join Our Newsletter Thank You For Joining! Original reporting. Fearless journalism. Delivered to you. Will you take the next step to support our independent journalism by becoming a member of The Intercept? I'm in Become a member By signing up, I agree to receive emails from The Intercept and to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. ## Join Our Newsletter ## Original reporting. Fearless journalism. Delivered to you. I'm in In November 2025, Michael discovered a novel way to identify the location of Flock’s devices. Trawling the company’s website, he realized that Flock’s servers were publicly leaking data in the form of an access token that could be acquired without needing to log in. With that token, Michael said he could query ArcGIS, a third-party geographic information system platform used by Flock, to retrieve the locations of Flock devices. Michael told The Intercept he promptly contacted Flock and described his findings. As Michael wrote in his initial email to Flock on November 13, 2025: “all testing was strictly non-intrusive, limited to open unauthenticated endpoints, and did not involve bypassing authentication, modifying data, or invoking any billable ArcGIS or Google operations.” Michael said he didn’t receive a reply, so he followed up with Flock the next day, and a third time several days later. After his third attempt to inform Flock of the discovered vulnerability, Michael received a reply from a Flock that said, “Thank you for the findings. We are internally triaging them and will reach back out with next steps soon.” ## Related ### License Plate Surveillance, Courtesy of Your Homeowners Association Michael said he never heard back about it from Flock. In December 2025, Michael downloaded the Flock device location data, and in January wrote an in-depth technical blogpost about his what he had found. After Michael’s post, it appears that Flock fixed the vulnerability. Despite being alerted of Michael’s findings in November 2025, Flock published its own blogpost the following January saying it hadn’t had any data breaches. “Flock has never been hacked, and there has not been a leak of Flock information,” the company claimed. “Flock Safety’s cloud platform has never experienced a data breach.” The Atlanta-based startup has faced mounting criticism for its practices and transparency in recent months. An American Civil Liberties Union report found “a pattern of Flock regularly misleading or even lying about its business practices, safety record, commitment to privacy, and efforts to protect vulnerable populations.” Michael told The Intercept that Flock’s recent claims about its data security record don’t reflect reality. Flock has publicly claimed multiple times that the company has never experienced a data breach, “and this was after I pulled their database of devices.” “That leaves two possibilities,” he said. “Either they knew and chose not to disclose it for fear of bad press, or they didn’t know I exfiltrated the data at all. The first is a transparency failure. The second is a detection failure with national security implications.” On Thursday, Michael was notified that Doppel, which describes itself as an “AI-native social engineering defense platfom,” filed a trademark infringement complaint regarding his site, claiming to be working on Flock’s behalf. Doppel says that the site is using the trademark “FLOCK SAFETY” without authorization, which “may cause customer confusion / harm.” Doppel requested the site be taken down. When he posted the Flock Surveillance Map, Michael included a pop-up disclaimer saying that the site is “not affiliated with or endorsed by Flock.” Share * Copy link * Share on Facebook * Share on Bluesky * Share on X * Share on LinkedIn * Share on WhatsApp _IT’S EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT._ What we’re seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government. This is not hyperbole. Court orders are being ignored. MAGA loyalists have been put in charge of the military and federal law enforcement agencies. The Department of Government Efficiency has stripped Congress of its power of the purse. News outlets that challenge Trump have been banished or put under investigation. Yet far too many are still covering Trump’s assault on democracy like politics as usual, with flattering headlines describing Trump as “unconventional,” “testing the boundaries,” and “aggressively flexing power.” The Intercept has long covered authoritarian governments, billionaire oligarchs, and backsliding democracies around the world. We understand the challenge we face in Trump and the vital importance of press freedom in defending democracy. ## We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us? $15 $25 $50 $100 $5 $8 $10 $15 One Time Monthly Donate **_IT’S BEEN A DEVASTATING_** year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history. We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking. In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow. **That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?** ## We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us? $15 $25 $50 $100 $5 $8 $10 $15 One Time Monthly Donate **_I’M BEN MUESSIG,_** The Intercept’s editor-in-chief. It’s been a devastating year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history. We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking. In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow. **That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?** ## We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us? $15 $25 $50 $100 $5 $8 $10 $15 One Time Monthly Donate ## Contact the author: Nikita Mazurov ## Related ### Apocalypse Now: Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor Investigate the End-Timers Alliance ### Facing Outraged Residents, Flock Got Help From Group That Uses AI to Rally Public Support ### Cops Are Using Flock to Spy on People for the Crime of Standing Around ### Flock Donations to Local Politicians’ Groups Skyrocket as Protests Against AI Cameras Mount ## Latest Stories Targeting Iran ### Congress Failed Again to Stop Trump’s Iran War. This Group Is Trying Through the Courts. Noah Hurowitz - Sep. 24 “It is all hands on deck to stop this full-blown constitutional crisis,” said the head of NIAC Action, which filed suit on behalf of Iranian Americans. ### Green Energy Is Coming for the Desert Joshua Frank - Sep. 24 Trump’s Bureau of Land Management is pushing to aggressively expand solar farms into the Mojave Desert, which advocates say would decimate its vast biodiversity. ### As the Pentagon Expands Across the Pacific, Guam Offers a Warning Anita Hofschneider - Sep. 24 The U.S. militarization of Guam has left its residents living with a legacy of pollution, environmental degradation, and cultural loss. Other Pacific islands may be next. Join The Conversation

U.S.-based magazine Mother Jones has reported details of the alleged interactions between Tumbler Ridge shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, in...