World-first robotic hand to help cultivate baby corals for reef restoration  CSIRO

1. Who is Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick as secretary of defence?  Sydney Morning Herald
2. Pete Hegseth’s Path from Campus Provocateur to “Fox & Friends” to the Pentagon  The New Yorker
3. 'Frightening': Van Jones reacts to Hegseth's military ideology  CNN

1. CCTV reveals moments before 95yo killed  news.com.au
2. Jury shown footage of 95yo getting stuck in tree in weeks before being tasered by police officer  ABC News
3. Kristian White trial: CCTV reveals final moments before Clare Nowland Tasering in Cooma nursing home  Sydney Morning Herald
4. CCTV from the Cooma nursing home  The Age

1. 'Keep egos in check': Shahid Afridi hopes to see every team in Champions Trophy after India's refusal  The Times of India
2. Champions Trophy Row Escalates, Report Says Pakistan Government Asked PCB To...  NDTV Sports
3. ICC cancels key event for Champions Trophy amid scheduling dispute over India matches  The Times of India
4. Mohammad Rizwan's request for KL Rahul, Suryakumar amid Champions Trophy chaos wins hearts: 'Whatever PCB decides...'  Hindustan Times
5. Shahid Afridi asks India, Pak to put differences aside for CT 2025, cites Olympic's example | 'I hope to see every team in Pakistan for CT25' | Inshorts  Inshorts

1. Toptalent van Real zet op amper 19-jarige leeftijd punt achter carrière: "6 september 2022 veranderde mijn leven"  sporza.be
2. Real Madrid-talent (19) moet nu al stoppen met voetballen: ‘Ik ben bevoorrecht geweest’  AD
3. Zeer treurig nieuws uit Spanje: Real-talent (19) moet noodgedwongen stoppen  VoetbalPrimeur.be
4. Real Madrid-talent (19) gedwongen te stoppen: 'Ik heb alles gegeven'  Voetbal International

1. Vlaams Belang krijgt initiatiefrecht in 4 gemeenten, maar staat het cordon hier ook echt onder druk?  Het Laatste Nieuws
2. 1 maand na de verkiezingen: nog geen nieuwe burgemeester in 11 Vlaamse en 3 Brusselse gemeenten  VRT.be
3. Politieke soap met Vlaams Belang in Izegem duurt voort: breekt cordon alsnog?  Het Laatste Nieuws
4. Vlaams Belang komt vandaag in vier gemeenten aan zet, maar lijkt slechts in één gemeente écht kans te maken om te besturen  Het Nieuwsblad
5. Nog geen offi­ci­eel akkoord, maar 70 % kans dat we in zee gaan met Vlaams Belang” ( STIP  Focus en WTV

Of all the insane choices Trump could make for his cabinet, I didn't even see this one coming

Pete fucking Hegseth? He's been a TV asshole since 2014.

Over the years I've described this jackass as Trump's personal fluffer.

I'm not questioning his service, but this is fucking Looney Tunes.

Hegseth was a failed nominee for Trump for the position of Veterans Affairs back in 2018.

NewsHound Ellen wrote this article at the time: Fox Host Pete Hegseth Outed As Self-Dealing, Adulterous Hypocrite, Passed Over For VA Nomination

This twit even had the nerve to claim the term Redskins was a term of respect when the Washington football was embroiled in the name controversy. Fox's Hegseth: 'Redskins' Used Historically As 'A Term Of Respect'

Recently his claim to fame was to get war criminals found guilty by military courts pardoned by Trump.

It’s bad enough that Donald Trump seemingly plans to “honor” Memorial Day by pardoning a slew of war criminals, it’s even worse that the decision came after secret lobbying efforts by Fox & Friends host Pete Hegseth.

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THE DEFINITION OF PERVERSION playing with yourself in public

Some Syrian refugees were placed in the same hotel as a Furry convention for temporary housing after arriving in Canada. Syrian kids and furries alike made the best of what is undoubtedly a weird situation. The organizers of VancouFur made sure to alert the attendees to be extra kind to the newcomers and it looks like they did just that.

TELEFRIGERADIO yes, there was life before interwebz.

Sit back and enjoy as Dillon floats through the forest.
( Photos: 4, Comments: 2 )

Apple executives have defended the relocation of the power button to the bottom of its new M4 Mac mini, citing the computer's significantly reduced size as the driving factor behind the design change. In a Bilibili video interview, Apple's Greg Joswiak and John Ternus explained that the Mac mini's form factor, now half the size of its predecessor, necessitated finding a new position for the power button. The executives said that the bottom placement allows for convenient access despite initial user criticism.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The activation of autonomic and hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) systems occurs interdependently with behavioral adjustments under varying environmental demands. Nevertheless, laboratory rodent studies examining the neural bases of stress responses have generally attributed increments in these systems to be monolithic, regardless of whether an active or passive coping strategy is employed. Using the shock probe defensive burying test (SPDB) to measure stress-coping features naturalistically in male and female rats, we identify a neural pathway whereby activity changes may promote distinctive response patterns of hemodynamic and HPA indices typifying active and passive coping phenotypes. Optogenetic excitation of the rostral medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) input to the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG) decreased passive behavior (immobility), attenuated the glucocorticoid hormone response, but did not prevent arterial pressure and heart rate increases associated with rats’ active behavioral (defensive burying) engagement during the SPDB. In contrast, inhibition of the same pathway increased behavioral immobility and attenuated hemodynamic output but did not affect glucocorticoid increases. Further analyses confirmed that hemodynamic increments occurred preferentially during active behaviors and decrements during immobility epochs, whereas pathway manipulations, regardless of the directionality of effect, weakened these correlational relationships. Finally, neuroanatomical evidence indicated that the influence of the rostral mPFC->vlPAG pathway on coping response patterns is mediated predominantly through GABAergic neurons within vlPAG. These data highlight the importance of this prefrontal->midbrain connection in organizing stress-coping responses and in coordinating bodily systems with behavioral output for adaptation to aversive experiences.

The prefrontal cortex is critical for decision-making across species, with its activity linked to choosing between options. Drift diffusion models (DDMs) are commonly employed to understand the neural computations underlying this behavior. Studies exploring the specific roles of regions of the rodent prefrontal cortex in controlling the decision process are limited. This study explored the role of the prelimbic cortex (PLC) in decision-making using a two-alternative forced-choice task. Rats first learned to report the location of a lateralized visual stimulus. The brightness of the stimulus indicated its reward value. Then, the rats learned to make choices between pairs of stimuli. Sex differences in learning were observed, with females responding faster and more selectively to high-value stimuli than males. DDM analysis found that males had decreased decision thresholds during initial learning, whereas females maintained a consistently higher drift rate. Pharmacological manipulations revealed that PLC inactivation reduced the decision threshold for all rats, indicating that less information was needed to make a choice in the absence of normal PLC processing. μ-Opioid receptor stimulation of the PLC had the opposite effect, raising the decision threshold and reducing bias in the decision process toward high-value stimuli. These effects were observed without any impact on the rats’ choice preferences. Our findings suggest that PLC has an inhibitory role in the decision process and regulates the amount of evidence that is required to make a choice. That is, PLC activity controls "when," but not "how," to act.

OM Philippines partners with the local church to provide water and food in areas hit by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake on 15 October.

How OM Philippines is making a long-term difference in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan.

Cebu, Philippines :: Pastors and their wives who serve in the region affected by Typhoon Haiyan are invited on board for a time of rest and refreshment.

OM team in Turkey responds to refugee crisis by joining a church-led relief programme.

A story about a day in a refugee center in Athens.

Beyond providing basic relief items, one OM worker spends time with refugees passing through Greece, listening to their stories and hopes.

A long-term worker overseeing refugee relief work on Lesbos describes the people he’s met on the island, the chances he’s had to share his faith and how God has shown up during the crisis.

OM worker witnesses a new openness towards God and the Gospel amongst the thousands of refugees on their way to Europe.

Relationships form and opportunities to share Christ follow as OM workers minister to those seeking refuge in Athens and beyond.

OM seeks to love refugees like family members through starting sports ministry and cooking meals in camps.

Local man suddenly decides to become a believer, long after workers had given up on his spiritual interest.

Five years of displacement has taken its toll on Syrian refugees living in Lebanon, but many have met Jesus and discovered eternal hope.

When a small team decides to focus more on church planting, God brings people into their lives in unusual ways.

Syrian Kurdish refugee families profess faith in Jesus Christ.

Rose (Scotland) as been developing a growing ministry among residents at a local retirement community. What started with a single conversation has grown into a ministry that impacts many lives through friendship and community outreach.

(Source: Italian Evangelical Alliance) North African refugees flooding into Lampedusa are now being moved to various centres throughout Italy. The Italian Evangelical Alliance and their partner organisations are working to reach out to these displaced peoples.

Tesori Raggianti, OM Italy's anti-trafficking ministry, hosts a 'Nefarious' screening in a local theatre.

Meeting Christian refugees praying for European governments made a deep impression on a Transform participant. For another, the term ‘refugee’ got a whole new meaning.

Participants witnessed God at work through the Transform conference in Spain followed by outreach teams to the Mediterranean region and beyond.

The OM short-term team seek God’s will for their ministry after their move to the outskirts of Zurich. Recent encounters have encouraged and surprised them.

A woman has been arrested after leaving her son unattended along a road, allowing him to run off in the night following a tantrum and falsely reporting a kidnapping.

Nearly two million people have been affected by the recent flooding in Colombia. The torrential rains that hit the country in the past few months caused its worst flooding in 40 years. Over 240 people have died and many had to leave their homes behind, especially along the Pacific and Atlantic coastlines. OM Colombia is helping out with relief work.

Barranquilla, Colombia :: Logos Hope departs her second Colombian port, her crew having welcomed a landmark number of visitors and encouraged many local people.

Jude, project coordinator of OM's Refugee Relief Serbia describes her busy role, and how OM’s service can be a powerful practical witness of the love of Jesus to hundreds of refugees.

The BCCI recently informed the ICC of the Indian government's decision to not send team to Pakistan, thus proposing a hybrid model for India's matches.

Jeff Smith of LiveRamp explains the connection between customer identity and going beyond omnichannel marketing

1. Donald Trump appoints Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy to lead Dept of Government Efficiency | World News | Onmanorama  Onmanorama
2. DOGE days are coming for the US under Trump's two Musketeers  The Times of India
3. Donald Trump calls Elon Musk's department the 'Manhattan Project', know what was this project  India.com
4. When Vivek Ramaswamy was 18: School speech emerges as he readies for DOGE role  India Today
5. Internet reacts as Elon Musk debuts ‘super cute’ logo of Department of Government Efficiency: ‘What a time to be alive’  Hindustan Times

The Sandiganbayan has acquitted former Food and Drug Administration chief Nela Charade Puno of graft, which stemmed from a raid and closure by the FDA of a pharmacy and wellness center in Tarlac.

Nationalist Party officials says Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri should resign for covering up the squandering of €70,000 that could have benefited Gozitans when employing Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo’s partner Amanda Muscat as consultant

Eliminated Ateneo refused to easily let University of the East move on to Final Four of the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament. The Blue Eagles added to the woes of the Red Warriors with a 71-67 victory on Wednesday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion. “I was just very happy with the team today because they played with so much effort and resolve,” coach Tab Baldwin said. SCHEDULE: UAAP Season 87 basketball “When you haven’t been able to gel as well as we would like to as a team throughout the year, it really comes down to effort, and I […]...

Keep on reading: UAAP: Also-ran Ateneo thwarts Final Four hopeful UE

MANILA, Philippines — Former President Rodrigo Duterte has defied the appeal made by her daughter—Vice President Sara Duterte—that the ex-leader be excused from the House of Representatives’ quad committee hearing as it is already getting late. When the quad committee hearing on Wednesday was suspended at 9:10 p.m., Vice President Duterte approached lead presiding officer and Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez, Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr., and Deputy Speaker David Suarez to discuss something. READ: Ex-President Duterte shows up at House quad comm drug war hearing After some time, Barbers asked […]...

Keep on reading: Duterte defies VP Sara’s appeal to excuse him from hearing

MANILA, Philippines—Unlike in previous Gilas Pilipinas’ preparations under coach Tim Cone, the squad won’t be holding open practices to the public this time. Cone said the national team is pressed for time in its preparations for the second window of 2025 Fiba Asia Cup Qualifiers, so opening the doors to fans is out of the question. “I don’t know if we’ll have the time to do something like we have in the past in Philsports in front of the fans because we only have five days of preparation this time,” said Cone in a presser on Wednesday. READ: Kouame back […]...

Keep on reading: No public practice this time for Gilas before Fiba qualifiers