[…]thanks to cosmic geometry, a major chapter in world history has just now come to a close. As first highlighted last year on Reddit, the spring equinox on March 20 marked the sun’s passage over the celestial equator, kicking off half a year of darkness around the South Pole. And given last year’s deal with Mauritius, this means Thursday night at 10:50 PM EST (2:50 AM on March 21 in London), the sun finally, literally set on the British empire.
The spring equinox on March 20 prededed the British empire’s literal sunset. Credit: Reddit / TuTiempo.net
It didn’t stay dark for Britain too long, however. About an hour after dusky conditions on the Pitcairn Islands, light began to peek over the horizon roughly 10,000 miles away in Akrotiri and Dhekelia, two non-contiguous British territories located on the island of Cyprus.
Much of foreign aid is spent on goods that are shipped overseas: food supplies, medicines, or humanitarian assistance in emergency situations.1
But a surprising amount of what’s reported as foreign aid is not sent abroad; it’s spent domestically. Foreign aid budgets in rich countries can include the costs of hosting refugees, some scholarships to foreign students, and some administrative costs that are spent domestically.2 These domestic expenses are reported by countries to the OECD, which tracks and measures foreign aid allocations, so they are included in the widely quoted aid figures you’ll typically see. We’ll refer to these combined costs as “aid money spent at home”.
In 2023, 22% of total foreign aid for all Development Assistance Committee (DAC) countries was spent at home. The DAC countries are a group of 32 high-income countries; from this point onwards, we’ll refer to them as “rich donor countries”.3
In this article, we’ll look at how aid money spent at home varies across countries and categories, how this has changed over time, and what this means for the amount of money available for support overseas.
More foreign aid is spent domestically, mostly to host refugees
So, in 2023, 22% of foreign aid was spent domestically in rich donor countries. That was a record year, both in absolute and relative terms. Domestic spending has more than tripled from $14 billion to $48 billion since 2010. As a share of total aid, it has increased from 10% to 22%.
[…]The IT break-in occurred between April 20 and April 22, last year, according to a notification filed this month with the US state’s attorney general’s office. California Cryobank spotted unauthorized activity on certain computers on April 21, isolated the affected machines, and launched an investigation.
The sperm bank hasn’t disclosed how many individuals were affected, but says the files potentially accessed or acquired include names, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, financial account details, and health insurance information [PDF].
California Cryobank has touted itself as having the largest sperm supply in the world, distributing to all 50 US states and more than 30 countries internationally.
The biz did not immediately respond to The Register‘s questions about the break-in, including how many customers were affected and if the miscreants deployed ransomware and demanded an extortion payment. One wonders why it’s taken almost a year for this all to come to light, so to speak.
The Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) says a July 2024 “security incident” exposed sensitive personal data on more than half a million individuals, including financial and health info.
The nonprofit, which represents more than 178,000 education professionals in the US state of Pennsylvania, confirmed data was stolen during a July 6 attack. According to The Office of the Maine Attorney General, the breach affected a total of 517,487 people
[…]
The org’s disclosure notice stated: “…we determined that the data acquired by the unauthorized actor contained some personal information belonging to individuals whose information was contained within certain files within our network.
“We took steps, to the best of our ability and knowledge, to ensure that the data taken by the unauthorized actor was deleted. We want to make the impacted individuals aware of the incident and provide them with steps they can take to further protect their information.”
Although PSEA’s disclosure didn’t explicitly mention ransomware or extortion, it did say that steps were taken to ensure the stolen data was deleted — a claim that typically implies some level of communication with the attackers, often seen in double extortion cases.
Adding weight to that suspicion, the Rhysida ransomware gang publicly claimed responsibility for the attack in September 2024, suggesting ransomware was involved.
[…]
PSEA emphasized that not every individual had the same data elements compromised. The exposed information may include an individual’s full name in combination with one or more other type of personal data.
The possible data types stolen include the usual personally identifiable information (PII) such as full names and dates of birth, and identity documents such as driver’s licenses, state IDs, and social security numbers (SSNs).
In addition to basic PII, the nonprofit also said account numbers, account PINs, security codes, passwords, routing numbers, payment card numbers, card PINs, and expiration dates might have been taken.
The list doesn’t stop there: Passport numbers, taxpayer ID numbers, usernames and passwords, health insurance information, and finally medical information are potentially in the hands of cybercriminals.
HP Inc. has settled a class action lawsuit in which it was accused of unlawfully blocking customers from using third-party toner cartridges – a practice that left some with useless printers – but won’t pay a cent to make the case go away.
One of the named plaintiffs in the case is called Mobile Emergency Housing Corp (MEHC) and works with emergency management organizations and government agencies to provide shelters for disaster victims and first responders across the US and Caribbean.
According to court documents [PDF], MEHC bought an HP Color LaserJet Pro M254 in August 2019. In October 2020, the org used toner cartridges from third-party supplier Greensky rather than pay for HP’s premium-priced toner.
A month later, HP sent or activated a firmware update – part of its so-called “Dynamic Security” measures – rendering MEHC’s printers incompatible with third-party toner cartridges like those from Greensky.
When MEHC’s CEO Joseph James tried to print out a document, he got the following error message.
The same thing happened to another plaintiff, Performance Automotive, which purchased an HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M281fdw in 2018 and also installed a firmware update that prevented the machine from working when third-party toner cartridges were present.
HP is not shy about why it does this: In 2024 CEO Enrique Lores told the Davos World Economic Forum “We lose money on the hardware, we make money on the supplies.”
[…]
Incidentally, HP’s printing division reported $4.5 billion in net revenue in fiscal year 2024.
Lores has also argued that using third-party suppliers is a security risk, claiming malware could theoretically be slipped into cartridge controller chips. The Register is unaware of this happening outside a lab. He’s also pitched HP’s own gear as the greener choice, pointing to its cartridge recycling program.
MEHC, Performance Automotive, (and many readers) disagree and would like to choose their own toner.
Thus, a lawsuit was launched, but rather than fight its case in court, HP has, once again, chosen to settle the case privately with no admission of guilt.
“HP denies that it did anything wrong,” its settlement notice reads. “HP agrees under the Settlement to continue making certain disclosures about its use of Dynamic Security, and to continue to provide printer users with the option to either install or decline to install firmware updates that include Dynamic Security.”
Users of Microsoft’s email service might be feeling a distinct sense of déjà vu after the web version of Outlook last night blocked access to Exchange Online mailboxes.
According to Microsoft, the problem was due to “a recent change made to a portion of Outlook on the web infrastructure, that may have resulted in impact.”
Reverting the change did the trick, and service was restored, but the question must be asked – does Microsoft test its changes before deploying to production?
The problems, according to DownDetector, began around 1730 UTC on March 19 and appeared to be worldwide. The company admitted to them via social media shortly after, saying: “We’re investigating reports of an issue affecting users’ ability to access Outlook on the web.”
Half an hour later, the company admitted it made a change that might be responsible. That change was reverted, and services started returning to normal.
This sort of incident is becoming depressingly commonplace. A lengthy outage occurred at the beginning of March which Microsoft also blamed on some dodgy code.
What if you could listen to music or a podcast without headphones or earbuds and without disturbing anyone around you? Or have a private conversation in public without other people hearing you?
Our newly published research introduces a way to create audible enclaves – localized pockets of sound that are isolated from their surroundings. In other words, we’ve developed a technology that could create sound exactly where it needs to be.
The ability to send sound that becomes audible only at a specific location could transform entertainment, communication and spatial audio experiences.
[…]
The science of audible enclaves
We found a new way to send sound to one specific listener: through self-bending ultrasound beams and a concept called nonlinear acoustics.
Ultrasound refers to sound waves with frequencies above the human hearing range, or above 20 kHz. These waves travel through the air like normal sound waves but are inaudible to people. Because ultrasound can penetrate through many materials and interact with objects in unique ways, it’s widely used for medical imaging and many industrial applications.
[…]
Normally, sound waves combine linearly, meaning they just proportionally add up into a bigger wave. However, when sound waves are intense enough, they can interact nonlinearly, generating new frequencies that were not present before.
This is the key to our technique: We use two ultrasound beams at different frequencies that are completely silent on their own. But when they intersect in space, nonlinear effects cause them to generate a new sound wave at an audible frequency that would be heard only in that specific region.
Crucially, we designed ultrasonic beams that can bend on their own. Normally, sound waves travel in straight lines unless something blocks or reflects them. However, by using acoustic metasurfaces – specialized materials that manipulate sound waves – we can shape ultrasound beams to bend as they travel. Similar to how an optical lens bends light, acoustic metasurfaces change the shape of the path of sound waves. By precisely controlling the phase of the ultrasound waves, we create curved sound paths that can navigate around obstacles and meet at a specific target location.
The key phenomenon at play is what’s called difference frequency generation. When two ultrasonic beams of slightly different frequencies, such as 40 kHz and 39.5 kHz, overlap, they create a new sound wave at the difference between their frequencies – in this case 0.5 kHz, or 500 Hz, which is well within the human hearing range. Sound can be heard only where the beams cross. Outside of that intersection, the ultrasound waves remain silent.
This means you can deliver audio to a specific location or person without disturbing other people as the sound travels.
[…]
This isn’t something that’s going to be on the shelf in the immediate future. For instance, challenges remain for our technology. Nonlinear distortion can affect sound quality. And power efficiency is another issue – converting ultrasound to audible sound requires high-intensity fields that can be energy intensive to generate.
Despite these hurdles, audio enclaves present a fundamental shift in sound control. By redefining how sound interacts with space, we open up new possibilities for immersive, efficient and personalized audio experiences.
In a moment of clarity after initially moving forward a deeply flawed piece of legislation, the French National Assembly has done the right thing: it rejected a dangerous proposal that would have gutted end-to-end encryption in the name of fighting drug trafficking. Despite heavy pressure from the Interior Ministry, lawmakers voted Thursday night (article in French) to strike down a provision that would have forced messaging platforms like Signal and WhatsApp to allow hidden access to private conversations.
The vote is a victory for digital rights, for privacy and security, and for common sense.
The proposed law was a surveillance wishlist disguised as anti-drug legislation. Tucked into its text was a resurrection of the widely discredited “ghost” participant model—a backdoor that pretends not to be one. Under this scheme, law enforcement could silently join encrypted chats, undermining the very idea of private communication. Security experts have condemned the approach, warning it would introduce systemic vulnerabilities, damage trust in secure communication platforms, and create tools ripe for abuse.
The French lawmakers who voted this provision down deserve credit. They listened—not only to French digital rights organizations and technologists, but also to basic principles of cybersecurity and civil liberties. They understood that encryption protects everyone, not just activists and dissidents, but also journalists, medical professionals, abuse survivors, and ordinary citizens trying to live private lives in an increasingly surveilled world.
A Global Signal
France’s rejection of the backdoor provision should send a message to legislatures around the world: you don’t have to sacrifice fundamental rights in the name of public safety. Encryption is not the enemy of justice; it’s a tool that supports our fundamental human rights, including the right to have a private conversation. It is a pillar of modern democracy and cybersecurity.
As governments in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and elsewhere continue to flirt with anti-encryption laws, this decision should serve as a model—and a warning. Undermining encryption doesn’t make society safer. It makes everyone more vulnerable.
The data was stored in Google Maps’ Timeline feature, which – for those of you who let Google track you around the world – preserves a record of locations you visit. That sounds creepy and perhaps creepier still once you realize Google makes it possible for photos to appear on the Timeline too, so that users can have a visual record of their travels.
Over the weekend, users noticed their Timelines went missing.
Google seems to have noticed, too, as The Register has seen multiple social media posts in which Timelines users share an email from the search and ads giant in which it admits “We briefly experienced a technical issue that caused the deletion of Timeline data for some people.”
The email goes on to explain that most users that availed themselves of a feature that enables encrypted backups will be able to restore their Maps Timelines data.
Users who did not make those backups can’t restore their data. Those who did make backups need to manually restore their info using a procedure Google included in its email.
[…]
This isn’t the first time Google has messed up users’ historical data: In 2023 the company shortened its default data retention time for location info from 18 to three months, but some users missed the announcement and then complained as their data was purged.
China’s Cyberspace Administration and Ministry of Public Security has outlawed the use of facial recognition without consent.
The two orgs last Friday published new rules on facial recognition and an explainer that spell out how orgs that want to use facial recognition must first conduct a “personal information protection impact assessment” that considers whether using the tech is necessary, impacts on individuals’ privacy, and risks of data leakage.
Organizations that decide to use facial recognition must data encrypt biometric data, and audit the information security techniques and practices they use to protect facial scans.
Chinese that go through that process and decide they want to use facial recognition can only do so after securing individuals’ consent.
The rules also ban the use of facial recognition equipment in public places such as hotel rooms, public bathrooms, public dressing rooms, and public toilets.
The measures don’t apply to researchers or to what machine translation of the rules describes as “algorithm training activities” – suggesting images of citizens’ faces are fair game when used to train AI models.
The documents linked to above don’t mention whether government agencies are exempt from the new rules. The Register fancies Beijing will keep using facial recognition whenever it wants to as its previously expressed interest in a national identity scheme that uses the tech, and used it to identify members of ethnic minorities.
23andMe has capped off a challenging few years by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today. Given the uncertainty around the future of the DNA testing company and what will happen to all of the genetic data it has collected, now is a critical time for customers to protect their privacy. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has recommended that past customers of the genetic testing business delete their information as a precautionary measure. Here are the steps to deleting your records with 23andMe.
Log into your 23andMe account.
Go to the “Settings” tab of your profile.
Click View on the section called “23andMe Data.”
If you want to retain a copy for your own records, download your data now.
Go to the “Delete Data” section
Click “Permanently Delete Data.”
You will receive an email from 23andMe confirming the action. Click the link in that email to complete the process.
While the majority of an individual’s personal information will be deleted, 23andMe does keep some information for legal compliance. The details are in the company’s privacy policy.
There are a few other privacy-minded actions customers can take. First, anyone who opted to have 23andMe store their saliva and DNA can request that the sample be destroyed. That choice can be made from the Preferences tab of the account settings menu. Second, you can review whether you granted permission for your genetic data and sample to be used in scientific research. The allowance can also be checked, and revoked if you wish, from the account settings page; it’s listed under Research and Product Consents.
The Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) contract for NGAD is expected to be worth approximately $20 billion, although, across the life of the program, the company is in line to receive hundreds of billions of dollars in orders. Each copy of the jet, once series production commences, has been estimated in the past to cost upwards of $300 million. That is if the original concept for the aircraft has not changed.
A Lockheed Martin rendering of a notional sixth-generation combat jet. Lockheed Martin
The NGAD combat jet program evolved from plans for what was originally referred to as a Penetrating Counter-Air (PCA) platform, which emerged publicly in the mid-2010s. The PCA concept was an outgrowth of previous work the Air Force had done in cooperation with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). That includes the Aerospace Innovation Initiative, which was publicly announced in 2015 and produced at least one classified flying demonstrator design.
In contrast to previous fighter competitions, NGAD has been cloaked in secrecy from the outset. Indeed, for a long time, the Air Force didn’t even disclose which companies were in the running for NGAD.
[…]
Boeing has recently suffered some notable setbacks in both its commercial and defense businesses. Trump had previously slammed the company over its contract to build two new Air Force One planes, which are running behind schedule. In the context of NGAD, however, the company’s entire future as a fighter-builder could be at stake. Notably, the company announced back in 2023 that it was going to shutter the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet line and indicated it would refocus in part on advanced combat jet efforts. The firm has made significant investments in its St. Louis, Missouri, facility to prepare it for sixth-generation fighter production. Boeing — alongside Northrop Grumman — is still in the running for the Navy’s F/A-XX. As for tactical jet production, Boeing is currently building F-15 Advanced Eagles and the Air Force’s T-7 jet trainer and will be for foreseeable future.
[…]
Trump’s Air Force NGAD announcement comes at a time at which the president has been seeking to cut costs throughout the U.S. government, including slashing tens of billions of dollars from existing defense programs. NGAD has been a significant source of uncertainty over the past year, having been put on pause in May 2024 as the service reviewed its requirements amid concerns about the affordability of the aircraft, capability needs, and shifting priorities.
Ultimately, it seems the service’s need for a sixth-generation fighter in a potential Indo-Pacific conflict secured the future of the program.
“We tried a whole bunch of different options, and there was no more viable option than NGAD to achieve air superiority in this highly contested environment,” Air Force Maj. Gen. Joseph Kunkel, director of Force Design, Integration, and Wargaming within the office of the deputy chief of staff for Air Force Futures, said earlier this month.
[…]
According to Trump, an experimental version of the F-47 “has secretly been flying for almost five years.” This is in line with the announcement of September 2020, from Dr. Will Roper, then Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, that a previously undisclosed NGAD demonstrator had begun flight testing. Since then, it’s been reported that at least three NGAD-related demonstrators have flown.
The president also announced an aspiration to have the F-47 enter series production before the end of his term in office, which ends in January 2029.
[..]
Perhaps most surprisingly, Trump said that U.S. allies “are calling constantly” with a view to obtaining an export version of the NGAD fighter. He said that the United States would be selling them to “certain allies … perhaps toned-down versions. We’d like to tone them down about 10 percent which probably makes sense, because someday, maybe they’re not our allies, right?”
