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The European Parliament is considering introducing special solutions for Polish ceramic tile producers under the new system of allocating free CO2 emission allowances to support the sector struggling with high energy costs and import competition. #Ceramika #EmisjaCO2 #ParlamentEuropejski (translated)

𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 — 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗜, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 A newly exposed US political influence network appears to have been designed around a different target from most election propaganda. Its primary audience was not necessarily the voter reading a website, but the automated systems that search the web on behalf of AI chatbots. Threat-intelligence company VisionHeight initially identified 37 anonymous websites presenting themselves as state or local news organisations, opinion publications and national issue sites. By 15 October, the company's co-founder and chief technology officer, Nitsan Daniel, told CyberScoop that the investigation had expanded the observed footprint to 𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝟭𝟰 𝗨𝗦 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝟰𝟲𝟬 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀. The states identified were Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. The infrastructure shows unusually strong signs of coordination. All 37 domains in the original dataset were registered during a single evening; 36 were registered within approximately eight minutes. On 30 September alone, the network published roughly 𝟭𝟬𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲-𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 using common templates and four recurring layouts. VisionHeight assesses that the scale and production pattern strongly suggest extensive automation, although that does not by itself prove which generative-AI system, if any, produced the text. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗹. Candidate profiles can run to about 5,000 words, accompanied by similarly long voter guides containing 50 to 63 questions phrased in the style of queries someone might put to an AI assistant. Across the network, formulations such as a candidate being “the stronger choice” were repeated hundreds of times. One profile contained the phrase 34 times. In several voter guides examined by VisionHeight, the favoured candidate was named more than 110 times while an opponent appeared only six or seven times. The websites were also configured to make themselves unusually accessible to AI. Their crawler instructions explicitly welcomed 17 automated systems associated with companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Perplexity, Meta, Amazon and Apple. Some pages were marked in machine-readable metadata as news articles, while apparently separate publications cited one another. The result is a manufactured ecosystem in which several apparently independent local sources can reinforce the same conclusion. That is the central technique. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗜 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴-𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴. The more immediate objective appears to be manipulation of the retrieval and search layer: place highly optimised material online, make it easy for automated crawlers to index, create the appearance of corroboration, and increase the chance that an AI assistant retrieves those pages when answering a political question. There is evidence that the network crossed that boundary. VisionHeight says it confirmed that 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁𝘆 cited Tar Heel State Report as the first source in at least one response. Separately, one of the network's candidate pages reached third place in a Google search six days after publication, above Ballotpedia for the tested query. These findings demonstrate that the material can enter AI-relevant search and retrieval pipelines. They do 𝗻𝗼𝘁 demonstrate that the operation changed anyone's vote, nor establish how frequently major chatbots have used the network. The timing matters because AI has become part of the election-information environment. An AAPC Foundation survey of 1,568 likely US voters found that about one in five planned to use AI to investigate a race on their ballot, while 38 per cent reported having received election information through an AI-generated search summary. A separate NewsGuard audit found that leading chatbots frequently cited partisan websites disguised as local journalism without clearly identifying their political affiliations. The newly identified network appears to take that existing vulnerability one step further by constructing content specifically around the way machines search and summarise information. 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁? 𝗔𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿. VisionHeight has not attributed the operation to any individual, campaign, company, political party or foreign government. No confirmed name of an operator has been publicly established. Nitsan Daniel is the researcher who helped expose the network, not a person connected to its operation. Some components have explicitly partisan branding. VisionHeight's indicators include domains such as Affordability Democrats, Democratic Women House, Public Safety Democrats and Republican Incumbent Watch, while the live Affordability Democrats site promotes Democratic candidates across 11 competitive House races. That provides evidence about the political direction of some of the published material, but it does 𝗻𝗼𝘁 establish who commissioned, financed or operated the infrastructure, and it would be unjustified to attribute it to the Democratic Party or any particular campaign. The network also appears broader than congressional politics. The live Tar Heel State Report has carried material on county commission and judicial contests, illustrating why the method may be particularly effective in down-ballot races where established local reporting is thin. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲. Propaganda no longer has to persuade a human being directly. It can instead attempt to shape the information environment from which an apparently neutral machine constructs its answer. 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗦: Active / newly exposed and expanding as of 15–16 October 2026. 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗙𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘: High regarding coordinated infrastructure and AI-oriented design; moderate regarding the full current scale; attribution unknown. 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗖𝗘𝗦 VisionHeight — primary investigation, “Someone Is Manipulating Your AI to Swing Your Vote” https://www.visionheight.com/resources/someone-is-manipulating-your-ai-to-swing-your-vote CyberScoop — Derek B. Johnson, 15 October 2026 https://cyberscoop.com/ai-chatbots-election-influence-hyperlocal-networks/ Tar Heel State Report — live network site used for OSINT verification https://tarheelstatereport.com/ Affordability Democrats — live network site https://affordabilitydemocrats.com/ AAPC Foundation — 2026 AI Voter Study https://theaapc.org/release-foundation-research/ NPR — reporting on voters using AI chatbots for the 2026 midterms https://www.wusf.org/2026-10-05/people-are-asking-chatgpt-to-help-them-decide-how-to-vote-in-the-midterms NewsGuard — “Pink Slime Is Infecting AI Chatbots Ahead of the Midterms” https://www.newsguardtech.com/press/pink-slime-is-infecting-ai-chatbots-ahead-of-the-midterms/ 𝗞𝗘𝗬𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗦 #Disinformed #Disinformation #Propaganda #InfluenceOperations #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #AIChatbots #ElectionSecurity #USMidterms #USElections #InformationWarfare #CognitiveWarfare #OSINT #ThreatIntelligence #CyberSecurity #DataPoisoning #RetrievalManipulation #SearchManipulation #GenerativeAI #LLM #AIManipulation #PoliticalInfluence #FakeNews #LocalNews #PinkSlime #Perplexity #ElectionIntegrity #InformationIntegrity #DigitalPropaganda #AIsecurity

Scientists urge UK govt to launch inquiry into unequal health impacts of air pollution. Rivers polluted. Datacentres adding to pollution. Richest 1% produce up to 56 times more carbon emissions than the poorest 50%. Don't bear the social cost. Redistribution can save lives, cut healthcare costs.

Paweł Usiądek wrote that the Euro 7 standard could lead to immobilizing a car if the system detects too high emissions of exhaust gases. According to him, the regulations were set to come into effect on November 29, 2026, for new types of passenger and commercial vehicles, and a year later would apply to all factory-new cars of these categories. Usiądek assessed that such a solution would limit the ownership rights of drivers. The author described the onboard emissions monitoring system (OBM), which — as he wrote — was supposed to continuously check the composition of exhaust gases, including levels of nitrogen oxides and the efficiency of the particulate filter. According to his description, upon detecting a malfunction, the system would count down the distance traveled: after 1400 km, a message was to be displayed continuously, and after exceeding 2400 km, the procedure for immobilizing the vehicle would begin. Deleting the error would not stop it; after a reset, the counter would set itself to the lower of the two values: 2400 km or the current mileage. After repair, the vehicle would have to travel 400 km in a test mode, and the re-detection of the malfunction would set the counter to 2401 km. Usiądek noted that traveling abroad would not stop the countdown. Usiądek warned that a recurring malfunction could prompt mechanics to replace the engine, which in new, electronics-laden vehicles could mean a very costly repair. He also wrote that the implementing regulation 2025/1707 mandated the wireless transmission of some data to the manufacturer's servers, which would then be passed on to authorities in an anonymized form. Among the registered information, he listed speed, RPM, engine load, fuel flow, and parameters from the entire usage period of the vehicle. The author argued that the driver does not control the quality of fuel or oil, although — as he pointed out — they affect the composition of exhaust gases. In his opinion, the consequences of emission problems would fall on the driver, not the vehicle manufacturer. #emisiones #normaEuro7 #własność (translated)

The post author wrote that Chinese producers offered meat for even 1000 dollars cheaper per ton than competitors from Brazil and Thailand. According to him, overproduction in China was increasing poultry exports, and European producers were beginning to worry about new competition. #mięso #konkurencja #rolnictwo #CN #BR #TH (translated)

France is no longer at the forefront of anything, it is decadence even in its protest, from the 19th century. Despite the nostalgia for violence being eroticized (and the images being very beautiful), our tenants' union embodies civilized activism. And, above all, IT PRODUCES RESULTS. (translated)

Mona Keijzer wrote that the government would determine what farmers produce and what supermarkets purchase. She labeled that as communism and rhetorically asked what could go wrong. She used the hashtags #savefarmers and #savetheland. #reddeboeren #redhetplatteland https://t.co/z5mDIibtvg https://t.co/vLcTF0U49t #boeren #platteland #communisme (translated)

OfficialZero reported, citing data from the BIG InfoMonitor Debtors Register and the BIK database, that in August this year, the payment arrears of beverage producers exceeded 109.1 million PLN, recording a year-on-year increase of several percent. According to the entry, experts indicated that the deposit system caused difficulties for producers, and there were plans to extend it to so-called small bottles. The portal, as reported by OfficialZero, asked the Deputy Minister of Climate and Environment, Sławomir Ćwik, about this. The entry was signed by Katarzyna Dybińska. #finanse #długi #przemysł (translated)

The post highlighted Maria Pastukhova of E3G discussing the “oil endgame” and the structural risks facing petro-states as global demand neared its peak. It quoted her warning that an unmanaged decline could lead to a catastrophic group of failed producer states, and pointed readers to more coverage from Climate Week NYC on We Don’t Have Time.

Mickpl wrote that Stano boasted about Channel Zero's EBITDA at 25 million. He compared this amount with the results of BloomBit, a mobile game producer, and 11bit, which — as he noted — creates games outside the AAA segment. In his opinion, this is not much for a medium described as one of the greatest media forces in Poland, although he also acknowledged that Channel Zero is not a bad media product. The author pointed out that the problem of the Polish economy is, in his opinion, the lack of investors despite available capital. He assessed that the capitalization of the Polish stock market is low and depends on the decisions of Western investment banks. He also wrote that Poles invest money in apartments or keep it in non-interest-bearing checking accounts; according to him, half of the primary market in the seven largest cities goes to investment purposes. He compared the 19 percent tax on stock market profits with an 8.5 percent flat rate on rental income. Mickpl assessed that the economy relies on construction, despite the poor demographic situation and unfavorable forecasts. He stated that in the West, Channel Zero could already have three helicopters and a stock market debut behind it, and revenues from collaborations and royalties from YouTube would only be an additional gain. He presented this as an example, in his opinion, of a flawed system. #KanałZero #Gospodarka #Inwestycje (translated)

The author of the entry wrote that environmental organizations threatened to sue the owner of the Tefal brand, which was described as a leading French manufacturer of kitchenware. They accused him of failing to take action to remove so-called forever chemicals from products, which, as they pointed out, pose a threat to consumer health. #ekologia #zdrowie #Tefal #FR (translated)

The Norwegian company Lerøy Seafood Group and other salmon producers are starting to use chicken by-products in salmon feed in an effort to reduce costs, while fearing the reaction of customers who have long rejected fish fed with these ingredients. #losos #krmivo #vedlejšíprodukty (translated)

Charlotte Matteini said she was not surprised and attributed the surprise of some to the fact that in the past they had not wanted to see the problems. She wrote that for years entire categories of citizens had reported economic difficulties, schools in poor condition, and the rising cost of living, receiving indiffernce and formulaic responses in return. According to Matteini, when legitimate forms of protest did not produce results, violence did not arise from nothing, but from a lack of listening. She argued that power often only paid attention when the situation became heated, and that this was true for France, Italy, and Europe. #Democrazia #Ascolto #Politica (translated)

Chinese electric cars are significantly cheaper to produce than European models, mainly due to lower production costs and a stronger battery supply chain, putting pressure on European manufacturers to reduce their costs while also investing in new technologies. #BYD #elektrischeauto #automarkt (translated)

Chinese automakers can produce electric cars for up to 10,000 euros less than their European competitors, indicating a structural problem in the European automotive industry that partly arises from high production costs and reliance on foreign suppliers for battery materials. #BYD #elektrischeauto #autoindustrie (translated)