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The author said the government had again failed workers and families in its Budget, arguing it had missed an opportunity to put ordinary Irish people first and make life more affordable. After listening to Sarah and others, the author said they would continue to advocate for them. https://t.co/UfPg7E2SBO #Budget2023 #WorkersRights #CostOfLiving #IE

The author accused Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office of pursuing the Kremlin’s agenda of distorting history and fueling hatred between peoples. They said the office’s statement the previous day had claimed that Baltic collaborators exterminated more than 1.5 million. https://t.co/FMWEFb8gU3 #Russia #History #Hatred #RU #EE #LV #LT

"Translated from the Future" - Capsule event with Xia Jia, Milena Adam, and Wolfgang Tress moderated by Felix Meyer zu Venne October 14, 2026 | 8:00–9:00 PM | Otherland (Bergmannstraße 25, 10961 Berlin) Let us imagine we could bridge decades in cryosleep until incurable diseases are defeated. But what does it feel like to awaken in a world where our friends and relatives are no longer there? And what does a world look like where a pandemic has resulted in only children living there? On the third evening of "Translated from the Future," the question arises of how to translate feelings that one does not (yet) know. Time: 8 PM Location: Otherland Bookstore, Bergmannstraße 25 10961 Berlin Admission: Free - please register by emailing [email protected] Language: English Xia Jia writes science fiction, engages academically with the genre, and translates. She teaches Chinese literature at Jiaotong University in Xi’an as a professor. Her style is described as "Porridge Science Fiction" because her stories are sprinkled with numerous elements atypical of the genre, such as references to myths. Her short stories "In the Clouds," "Night Walk of the Dragon Horse," and "Tongtong’s Summer" have been published in capsule publications. Milena Adam is a translator and interpreter from French and English. For Matthes & Seitz Berlin, she has translated works by Sandra Newman, Eileen Myles, Ken Kesey, Alain Damasio, and Cal Flyn, among others. She lives in Berlin. Lucie Rico and Milena Adam were shortlisted for the PRIX Premiere #5 (2024/25). Felix Meyer zu Venne is a sinologist, translator, and Chinese teacher. Since 2018, he has been part of the editorial team of the science fiction magazine "Kapsel"; since 2021, he has been a co-editor of the magazine. He has translated works by Jia Pingwa, Xia Jia, Jiang Bo, Baoshu, Regina Kanyu Wang, and Chi Hui into German. Wolfgang Tress is a co-owner of the Otherland Bookstore in Berlin, which has specialized in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and role-playing games in German and English for over 25 years. His favorite quote is from Ursula K. Le Guin's essay "The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction": "The stories we tell ourselves create the reality in which we live." (translated)

The author said Russia had falsely accused the Baltic states of supporting neo-Nazism, adding that the allegations focused on history for now but could soon target the present. They described this as a typical tactic used by the Kremlin to attack other states and said such insinuations often served as a pretext. #Russia #BalticStates #NeoNazism #RU #EE #LV #LT

The author wrote that China had significant interests in the US-Iran standoff, but said abandoning its longstanding refusal to interfere in other sovereign states’ affairs would be a major gamble because, in their view, the US could not be trusted. #China #USIran #Geopolitics #CN #US #IR

The author accused Putin and wrote that the Smolensk catastrophe on 10 April 2010 killed Polish President Lech Kaczyński and 95 others. The author said a Polish government commission later alleged deliberate Russian interference and an assassination plot, adding that those claims remained disputed and that questions about the catastrophe persisted. https://t.co/npvuXcREBY #Putin #Smolensk #Polska #PL #EU #RU

Arthur Schopenhauer: Knowing too many truths about man, I cannot expect anything good from him. Absolute proof of the truth of this statement is the contemplation and possibility of realizing the greatest crime of the destruction of the Earth and all humanity by the ruling global elite, as well as the endless wars and genocides committed by it. What negative qualities in humans did Schopenhauer discover that deeply disappointed him? A blind, irrational, and insatiable drive that governs all people and pushes them towards selfishness and suffering. Inherent selfishness and malice Selfishness is the main driving force of man. It is the desire for one's own well-being, which is often limitless. A person is willing to sacrifice the happiness of others to satisfy even the smallest whims. Malice (malevolence): The desire to cause harm or suffering to another without any personal gain, simply out of envy or sheer cruelty. Schopenhauer believes that humans are the only beings that take pleasure in the suffering of their kind. Lack of true morality. Most people do not possess true compassion. They behave "morally" or "civilized" only out of fear of the law, public opinion, or loss of reputation. If these external constraints are removed, a person quickly reveals their true, savage nature. Intellectual superficiality and stupidity. Schopenhauer was deeply disappointed by the low intellectual level of the majority. According to him, most people are: Herd animals: Prone to blindly follow fashion, authorities, and public opinion rather than think critically. Incapable of higher spiritual pleasures: Satisfied only with material goods, sensory pleasures, and empty conversations. Hypocrisy and falseness The philosopher views social rituals and etiquettes as a mask behind which people hide their hostility and selfishness. Politeness is merely "artificial skin," protecting us from mutual harm with our true intentions. Insatiability and eternal dissatisfaction Humans are doomed to an eternal cycle between desire (which brings pain until fulfilled) and boredom, devaluation, and weariness (which occur immediately after the desire is satisfied). This psychological trap makes people eternally grumbling, ungrateful, and unhappy beings. (translated)

Thank you, Fischer Tor! A somewhat belated recognition of Andy Hahnemann's text on ten years of Fischer Tor. Thank you for the work, always the courage to try new things, all the conversations and attended events at Otherland. We Otherlanders are happy about every book from you! https://www.tor-online.de/magazin/mehr-phantastik/zehn-jahre-fischer-tor-ein-kurzer-rueckblick-aus-dem-lektorat (translated)

Brazil’s synthetic voters – when AI manufactures public opinion They look like ordinary street interviews. A reporter approaches a passer-by in a Brazilian square and asks a simple question: who will you vote for? A young voter explains why Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva deserves another term. An elderly woman says Brazil needs Flávio Bolsonaro because he represents political renewal and greater security. The locations look plausible, the microphones are visible and the answers sound much like the brief political opinions heard in television vox pops around the world. None of the people are real. Ahead of Brazil’s presidential election on 4 October, fact-checking organisation Aos Fatos identified at least 50 TikTok videos in which artificial intelligence was used to manufacture voters, reporters and apparently spontaneous political interviews. Together, the videos had accumulated around 7.4 million views by mid-August. Some promoted Lula, others Flávio Bolsonaro, while another group used synthetic characters to ridicule or stereotype supporters of one side. Aos Fatos found no apparent evidence linking the accounts producing the videos to either presidential campaign. The opinion poll that never took place The format is important. These were not conventional deepfakes in which a recognisable politician is made to say something he never said. Instead, the creators reproduced the visual language of the vox pop – the short street interview used by broadcasters and social-media creators to illustrate what ordinary people supposedly think. In pro-Lula videos, synthetic voters described themselves as beneficiaries of social programmes or credited the president with improving their lives. In videos supporting Flávio Bolsonaro, artificial interviewees associated him with political renewal, public security and fighting corruption. Other clips were openly hostile: AI-generated characters presented as poor or living in parts of Brazil’s north-east were shown in dirty clothes or run-down surroundings, declaring support for Lula because they supposedly preferred welfare payments to work. The deception is therefore subtler than fabricating a candidate’s statement. It manufactures something that political communication normally treats as evidence of public sentiment. A real vox pop may be unscientific, but the people interviewed at least exist. These videos created the appearance that identifiable social groups – young people, pensioners, welfare recipients or residents of particular regions – were spontaneously expressing political preferences when no such encounters had taken place. An electoral-law specialist interviewed by Aos Fatos described the technique as the fabrication of a “social fact that never occurred”. That captures the central innovation: AI is being used not merely to falsify political speech, but to manufacture the impression of grassroots opinion. Fifty videos, but not one proven network The available evidence does not support describing the 50 posts as a centrally controlled influence operation. Aos Fatos located them through TikTok searches and recommendations produced by the platform itself, then examined the accounts responsible for publication. Most had relatively small individual audiences, although their combined reach was substantial. The first examples identified by the investigation appeared as early as March 2026. Activity increased in June and was concentrated particularly in July and the first half of August as Brazil’s election calendar intensified. Some accounts specialised in AI-generated videos generally, including fabricated podcast-style material. Others were explicitly political or supportive of a candidate, but Aos Fatos found no apparent links between those profiles and the official Lula or Bolsonaro campaigns. That distinction is essential. The evidence demonstrates a common technique and a shared political environment, not a single command structure. Some creators may have been motivated by ideology, others by engagement or monetisation. Publicly available evidence does not establish who commissioned the individual videos or whether any coordination existed between the accounts. This decentralised model also creates a different enforcement problem from a traditional bot network. There may be no headquarters to expose and no infrastructure whose removal disables the entire operation. The format itself can be copied by anyone with access to inexpensive generative-video tools. When the algorithm mixes real and synthetic citizens Aos Fatos documented another important feature of the phenomenon: TikTok’s recommendation system placed AI-generated interviews alongside genuine street interviews. For a user scrolling quickly through the platform, the transition between an authentic citizen and an entirely fabricated one could therefore be almost invisible. In 18 per cent of the 50 videos analysed, there was no indication that the people shown had been generated using AI. After Aos Fatos provided TikTok with the videos, the company said it had removed all of them for violating its rules on edited and AI-generated media. TikTok said its policies require creators to identify synthetic content and prohibit manipulated media capable of misleading users about matters of public importance or impersonating genuine journalistic material. The issue extends beyond one platform. Factchequeado’s review of Brazil’s 2026 election campaign found that synthetic endorsements and other deepfakes had become one of the most visible forms of AI-assisted electoral misinformation, alongside fabricated candidate statements and invented scenes. Brazil already had rules for synthetic politics Brazil entered the campaign with unusually detailed electoral rules governing artificial intelligence. The Superior Electoral Court, the TSE, requires electoral propaganda using synthetic multimedia to disclose clearly that AI was used. More importantly for the fake-voter videos, its rules prohibit synthetic audio or video used to favour or harm a candidacy when it creates or alters the image or voice of a living, deceased or fictitious person. The difficulty is attribution and enforcement. When a synthetic video is published by an official campaign, responsibility can be relatively straightforward to investigate. When it comes from an apparently independent account with no demonstrated relationship to a candidate, lawyers interviewed by Aos Fatos said responsibility is more likely to fall on the individual creator, while imposing electoral sanctions on a campaign would require evidence of a connection. For the final 72 hours before the election and the 24 hours following it, the TSE has imposed additional restrictions on newly published or republished synthetic material involving candidates or public figures, reflecting the particular difficulty of correcting fabricated content immediately before voting. From deepfake politicians to synthetic electorates The Brazilian case illustrates a broader change in political manipulation. The first generation of electoral deepfakes concentrated on famous people: make a politician appear to say something damaging, or fabricate an endorsement from a celebrity. Synthetic vox pops reverse the perspective. The politician can remain completely authentic; it is the electorate around the politician that is fabricated. That changes the psychological proposition of the message. Instead of saying the candidate believes this, the video suggests people like you believe this. Age, clothing, accent, neighbourhood and social class can all be generated to construct an artificial constituency around almost any political claim. There is no evidence that the 50 Brazilian videos identified by Aos Fatos constitute a single centrally directed campaign, nor evidence that they changed voting intentions. What they demonstrate is a technique whose barrier to entry has become extremely low. AI no longer needs to forge the politician. #DISINFORMED #Episode14 #Brazil #BrazilElection2026 #Elections #ElectionDisinformation #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #GenerativeAI #SyntheticVoters #SyntheticMedia #AIAvatars #AIGeneratedVideo #VoxPop #FakeInterviews #Astroturfing #AIPropaganda #PoliticalDisinformation #InfluenceOperations #InformationWarfare #SocialMediaManipulation #TikTok #PublicOpinion #ManufacturedConsent #SyntheticPublicOpinion #DigitalInfluence #Deepfakes #ElectionIntegrity #TSE #AosFatos #FactChecking #OSINT #MediaManipulation #WRLD (translated)

Africa Daily Report — 6 October 2026 Major developments reported during the previous 24 hours. 1. Ethiopia — Airstrikes and artillery continue after federal forces retake Mekelle Airstrikes and artillery fire continued across northern Ethiopia after federal forces regained Mekelle. Reuters reported at least 17 deaths northwest of the Tigrayan capital, with additional casualties reported in Adwa and Sheraro. The renewed fighting is the sharpest escalation since the 2020–2022 war. Ethiopia accuses Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt of supporting the Tigrayan-led rebel alliance; all three deny involvement. Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/airstrikes-artillery-hit-north-ethiopia-after-tigray-capitals-fall-aid-sources-2026-10-05/ 2. Nigeria — Military ATR-42 crashes in Ondo State, killing all 32 aboard Importance: 10/10 — Critical A Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 flying from Benin City toward Lagos crashed near Igbokoda in Ondo State. Reuters reported that all 32 people aboard — 25 passengers and seven crew — were killed. President Bola Tinubu ordered the Air Force to investigate the cause. Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nigerian-military-helicopter-carrying-32-passengers-crew-members-crashes-2026-10-05/ 3. Senegal — Deadly floods hit Dakar and other regions Importance: 9/10 — Very High Heavy rainfall exceeding 100 mm in several locations caused flooding, casualties, injuries and major disruption in Dakar and other parts of Senegal. Reuters reported deaths and infrastructure damage; Senegal's Interior Ministry confirmed fatalities and injuries, while the government activated an emergency regional plan for Dakar. Further rain was forecast. Source: https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/heavy-rains-lead-to-senegal-floods-government-reports-several-deaths-2026-10-05/ 4. Ethiopia / Red Sea — Abiy reiterates demand for negotiated sea access Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed again said landlocked Ethiopia requires access to the Red Sea and argued that a negotiated, mutually beneficial arrangement is necessary. The statement comes amid deteriorating relations with Eritrea and renewed fighting in Tigray. Eritrea, Egypt, Sudan and Somalia have meanwhile stressed the sovereign role of Red Sea littoral states. Source: https://apnews.com/article/bad74909a59297de524fdf377f0605c2 5. Sudan — US envoy meets army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Egypt US Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos met Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Egypt. Boulos said Washington would continue working with Egypt and other partners toward a political solution to Sudan's war. The meeting came amid continuing US-backed diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire. Source: https://www.aol.com/articles/us-envoy-meets-sudanese-army-224042000.html 6. South Africa — Private-sector contraction deepens in September Importance: 8/10 — High South Africa's private sector contracted at its fastest pace since December, according to September PMI data reported by Reuters. New orders fell sharply while supply-chain disruption and higher costs, particularly fuel costs, added pressure on businesses. Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-africa-private-sector-contracts-fastest-pace-since-december-pmi-shows-2026-10-05/ 7. Somalia — IMF cuts 2026 growth forecast to 2.3% Importance: 8/10 — High The IMF expects Somalia's economy to grow by only 2.3% in 2026, citing sharp reductions in foreign aid, recurrent climate shocks, spillovers from the Middle East conflict and domestic uncertainty. Inflation is projected at 6.5%, while growth is expected to recover gradually in 2027 and over the medium term. Source: https://www.channelafrica.co.za/channelafrica/news/imf-cuts-somalias-2026-growth-forecast-to-2-3/ 8. Guinea — Opposition leader Aliou Bah released following presidential pardon Opposition leader Aliou Bah, head of the Liberal Democratic Movement, was released after receiving a presidential pardon. He had been detained since December 2024 and was serving a two-year sentence for offences linked to remarks about President Mamadi Doumbouya. His case had also reached the ECOWAS Court of Justice, which had sought his release. Source: https://www.africanews.com/2026/10/05/guinea-opposition-leader-aliou-bah-freed-after-presidential-pardon/ 9. Uganda / African security — Kampala hosts conference on emerging security threats Importance: 7/10 — High Uganda opened a four-day Conference on Military Operations Other Than War, bringing together defence and security representatives from African states and regional organizations. The agenda covers cybersecurity, AI, unmanned systems, terrorism, disaster response, climate security, maritime and border security, critical infrastructure and pandemics. Source: https://ubc.go.ug/2026/10/05/uganda-hosts-inaugural-conference-on-military-operations-other-than-war/ 10. West Africa — BCEAO authorises 175 institutions for interoperable instant payments Importance: 8/10 — High The Central Bank of West African States has authorised 175 institutions to participate in the region's interoperable instant-payment ecosystem. Participants include banks, electronic-money institutions, fintech companies and microfinance institutions, broadening the infrastructure for cross-provider digital payments across the West African Monetary Union. Source: https://techafricanews.com/2026/10/05/bceao-authorises-175-institutions-interoperable-instant-payments/ #Africa #AfricaNews #TopNewsOfAfrica #Senegal #Dakar #SenegalFloods #Floods #HeavyRain #ExtremeWeather #ClimateRisk #HumanitarianCrisis #SouthAfrica #SouthAfricaEconomy #PMI #PrivateSector #EconomicContraction #AfricanEconomy #Business #Ethiopia #Tigray #Mekelle #EthiopiaConflict #Airstrikes #Artillery #FederalForces #RegionalSecurity #HornOfAfrica #AfricanSecurity #Geopolitics #wrldorg

Nataliia Katser-Buchkovska of Green Resilience Facility said she could not imagine another system keeping the lights on after an attack of such scale, according to a post promoting a replay of a Climate Week NYC session. The post said she had discussed the Ukrainian grid’s ability to recover quickly amid 1,000 drone strikes a day. https://t.co/oKHg8Fb2oR #Ukraine #EnergyResilience #ClimateWeek #UA

The author thanked Virgilio Motori, Autoblog, another outlet mentioned in the post, alVolante, Auto Tecnica, and other media for discussing and talking about his proposal to introduce a speed limit of 100 km/h on EU highways. He added that, in his opinion, Europe was at war. https://t.co/Mmf76Q6pyZ #Italia #EU #Autostrade #IT #EU (translated)

The author wrote that Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups launched a large-scale terror attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, killing more than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals. The author said civilians were deliberately targeted and murdered in their homes. #Israel #Hamas #TerrorAttack #IL #PS

The author wrote that Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups launched what they described as a large-scale terror attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, killing more than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals. They said civilians were deliberately targeted and killed in their homes. #Israel #Hamas #Terrorism #IL #PS

I think this is very toxic for an alliance that relies on collective play. I believe this is about the US having favourites. I acknowledge that initiatives often come from smaller groups. I think these countries bring a certain desired mass — ground, air and maritime. I ask: why is the US picking some rather than others when this is not a policy exercise? I say that this introduces the notion that the US favours some allies and would be likely to defend those allies ahead of the rest. I believe it's probably the first time since NATO enlargement that there's a split between the US and the Baltics. We know that this US administration is far less fazed by Russian aggression. #NATO #Defense #Europe