More than a dozen survivors accuse first lady of ‘shifting the burden’ on to them after she called on Congress to hold public hearings – key US politics stories from Friday 10 April

More than a dozen survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse have accused Melania Trump of “shifting the burden” on to them after she called on Congress to hold public hearings with victims of Epstein’s abuse.

“Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have already shown extraordinary courage by coming forward, filing reports, and giving testimony,” said a group of 13 people and the brother and sister of the late Virginia Giuffre, who was one of the most vocal Epstein accusers, in a statement. “Asking more of them now is a deflection of responsibility not justice.”

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• McIlroy skipped PGA Tour events to practise at Augusta

• Defending champion has six-shot lead after two rounds

Rory McIlroy has explained how scouting trips to Augusta National in the weeks leading up to the Masters have played a significant role in his domination of this staging of the major. McIlroy’s second round of 65 – which included six birdies in the closing seven holes – set a Masters record, with the defending champion the first man to lead the tournament by six at the halfway point.

Entering the Masters, it was assumed McIlroy’s three-week break from PGA Tour business was to conserve energy. Instead, he made smart use of his private jet as he looks to become just the fourth golfer to win back-to-back Masters titles.

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Kremlin orders temporary truce from Saturday afternoon until Sunday, a 32-hour period during which Russia would stop fighting ‘in all directions’. What we know on day 1,508

Ukrainians on Friday were wary of Russia’s pledge to pause fighting for an Orthodox Easter ceasefire – first proposed by Kyiv – this weekend. The Kremlin said it had ordered a temporary truce to be in effect from Saturday afternoon until the end of Sunday, a 32-hour period during which Russia would stop fighting “in all directions”. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy – who has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in the four-year war – said Kyiv was willing to reciprocate.

But in Kyiv there was scepticism over whether Moscow would keep to its promise. “No one believes in these fairytales anymore,” Yevgeniy Lamakh, an IT specialist, told AFP in central Kyiv. “The Russian military lie a lot, usually, as history shows. And in general, they say one thing, but in fact do something completely different,” the 29-year-old said. “Even today... Shaheds, missiles are flying at Ukraine. Well, come on then, start the ceasefire,” Dmytro Sova, a 42-year-old actor, told AFP in Kyiv on Friday.

Just hours before the Orthodox Easter truce, two night-time Russian attacks in Ukraine left one dead and 15 injured, authorities said. The fatal attacks included an “enemy drone attack” on a store and a cafe in the central town of Poltava, killing one person and injuring another, the regional head of the military administration, Vitalii Diakivnych, posted on Telegram. In the north-eastern region of Sumy, bordering Russia, drone strikes on residential areas wounded 14 people including a 14-year-old boy and an 87-year-old woman, according to Oleg Grygorov, head of the regional military administration there, via Telegram.

Moscow has rejected calls for a longer-term unconditional ceasefire, something that Kyiv has called for, saying it is instead pushing for a final peace settlement. Negotiations between the two sides, brokered by the United States, have stalled over the fate of Ukraine’s eastern regions, partly occupied by Russia and that Moscow wants Kyiv to cede. The two sides also held a ceasefire for the Orthodox Easter last year. But the respite comes amid deadlocked efforts to halt Russia’s invasion, with US attention now focused on the Middle East war.

US president Donald Trump’s administration is likely to extend as soon as Friday a waiver allowing countries to buy some sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The US treasury department has allowed purchases of Russian oil and products at sea since mid-March with a 30-day waiver that expires on 11 April, part of efforts to control global energy prices during the US-Israeli war with Iran. The waivers have been criticised by politicians in the US and abroad as they could complicate the West’s efforts to deprive Russia of revenue for its war in Ukraine and put Washington at odds with its allies.

A Russian court on Friday placed a journalist from the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper in pre-trial detention until 10 May, a day after police raided the paper’s Moscow headquarters. Oleg Roldugin was arrested on Thursday. He had reported on alleged corruption among top Russian officials including former president Dmitry Medvedev and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Russia has waged a crackdown on independent news outlets since launching its offensive on Ukraine in February 2022.

Nato member Estonia will refrain from detaining Russia’s “shadow fleet” vessels in the Baltic Sea, worried that seizing oil tankers and other ships sanctioned by the West could lead Moscow to defend them militarily, a senior commander said on Friday. Britain and other European nations, including France, Belgium and Sweden, have stepped up efforts to detain ageing tankers used by Moscow to secure vital funding for its four-year war against Ukraine. But Estonia, the northernmost Baltic state located close to Russia’s main oil and fuel export facilities in the Gulf of Finland, is practicing restraint after an unsuccessful attempt to board a Russian vessel last year.

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Researchers say the world's largest known wild chimpanzee community in Uganda fractured into rival factions and has been locked in a vicious "civil war" for the last eight years. "It is not clear exactly why the once close-knit community of Ngogo chimpanzees at Uganda's Kibale National Park are at loggerheads, but since 2018 the scientists have recorded 24 killings, including 17 infants," reports the BBC. From the report: [O]ver several decades, [lead author Aaron Sandel] said the nearly 200 Ngogo chimpanzees had lived in harmony. There were divided into two sets - known to researchers as Western and Central - but they had existed overall as a cohesive group. Sandel said he first noticed them polarizing in June 2015, when the Western chimpanzees ran away and were chased by the Central group. "Chimpanzees are sort of melodramatic," he said, explaining that following arguments there would ordinarily be "screaming and chasing" and then later, they would grooming and co-operating.

But following the 2015 dispute, the researchers saw that there was a six-week avoidance period between the two sets, with interactions becoming more infrequent. When they did occur, Sandel said they were "a little more intense, a little more aggressive." Following the emergence of the two distinct groups in 2018, members of the Western group started attacking the Central chimpanzees. In 24 targeted attacks since the split, at least seven adult males and 17 infants from the Central chimps have been killed, the study found, although the researchers believe the actual number of deaths are higher. The researchers believe many factors such as the group size and subsequent competition of resources, and "male-male competition" for reproducing may be to blame.

But they say there were three likely catalysts:
- The first, were the deaths of five adult males and one adult female -- for reasons unknown -- in 2014, which could have disrupted social networks and weakened social ties across the subgroups
- The following year, there was a change in the alpha male, which the study says coincided with the first period of separation between the Western and Central groups. "Changes in the dominance hierarchy can increase aggression and avoidance in chimpanzees," it explained
- The third factor was the deaths of 25 chimpanzees, including four adult males and 10 adult females, as a result of a respiratory epidemic, in 2017, a year before the final separation. One of the adult males who died was "among the last individuals to connect the groups," the research paper said. The study has been published in the journal Science.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Bruce66423 shares a report from the Guardian: The European parliament has blocked the extension of a law that permits big tech firms to scan for child sexual exploitation on their platforms, creating a legal gap that child safety experts say will lead to crimes going undetected. The law, which was a carve-out of the EU Privacy Act, was put in place in 2021 as a temporary measure allowing companies to use automated detection technologies to scan messages for harms, including child sexual abuse material (CSAM), grooming and sextortion. However, it expired on April 3, and the EU parliament decided not to vote to extend it, amid privacy concerns from some lawmakers.

The regulatory gap has created uncertainty for big tech companies, because while scanning for harms on their platforms is now illegal, they still remain liable to remove any illegal content hosted on their platforms under a different law, the Digital Services Act. Google, Meta, Snap and Microsoft said they would continue to voluntarily scan their platforms for CSAM, in a joint statement posted on a Google blog. Bruce66423 adds: "Child abuse as the excuse for avoiding privacy protections. Who would have thought it?"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

San Francisco police arrested a suspect after a Molotov cocktail was allegedly thrown at Sam Altman's home and threats were later made outside OpenAI's headquarters. "Thankfully, no one was hurt," said OpenAI in a statement to WIRED. "We deeply appreciate how quickly SFPD responded and the support from the city in helping keep our employees safe. The individual is in custody, and we're assisting law enforcement with their investigation." From the report: "At approximately 3:45am PT, an unidentified individual approached Sam's residence and threw an incendiary device toward the property. The device landed nearby and extinguished. There were no injuries and only minimal damage was reported," the message to staff reads. "Shortly afterward, an individual matching the suspect's description was contacted by security outside MB1," the message continues, referring to OpenAI's headquarters in San Francisco's Mission Bay neighborhood. "This person made threatening statements about the building."

OpenAI's corporate security team told staff it is cooperating with law enforcement on an investigation, and that employees may notice an increased police and security presence around the office on Friday. The security team said that the company's offices remain open, but employees were advised to "not let anyone tailgate into the building."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Greg Adams Photography posted a photo:

Vault Door, Closed Bank near Pittsburgh, PA

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

De vier astronauten landden zaterdagnacht veilig in de Stille Oceaan na een historische vlucht om de maan.

Mijn moeder lijdt aan de ziekte van Parkinson en woont in een verpleeghuis. Ondanks de parkinson heeft mam nog momenten dat ze zichtbaar geniet, mede mogelijk gemaakt door het…

hiroya.uga has added a photo to the pool:

A lone cherry tree in Ushinshiro, Shizuoka, illuminated by the first light of the day.
This is Mizumezakura, a single cherry tree standing quietly in the countryside.
I came here on my first photography trip, invited by a friend who taught me how to shoot.
We arrived before sunrise and waited quietly for this light.

SAN DIEGO (ANP) - De vier astronauten van de Artemis II-missie zijn na tien dagen teruggekeerd van hun ruimtereis. Het Orion-ruimtevaartuig waarmee zij achter de maan vlogen, landde om 02.07 uur Nederlandse tijd voor de kust van de Californische stad San Diego in de Stille Oceaan.

Zodra de astronauten met boten zijn opgehaald, worden ze medisch onderzocht om te evalueren welke impact de reis op hun lichaam heeft gehad. Missiecommandant Reid Wiseman meldde volgens NASA vlak na de landing dat hij en zijn crew het "uitstekend" maken.

Amerikanen Wiseman (50), Victor Glover (49) en Christina Koch (47) en de Canadees Jeremy Hansen (50) begonnen op 1 april aan hun vlucht. Het was de eerste keer sinds december 1972 dat mensen richting het hemellichaam vlogen.

He has finished in the points at the last two F1 races and will be looking to stay ahead of team mate Arvid Lindblad.

This illustrated book was created for a story written by Ruth Loosi and published by Baeschlin Publishing House in Switzerland. The story follows a young girl, Lisa, spending a late summer day with her mother and little brother. As they wait for the sun to appear in the sky, her mother suggests transforming the kitchen into a playful beauty salon. From this simple moment, the narrative unfolds into a gentle flow of conversations and fantasies, where Lisa reflects on the sun, the planets, and her dreams about the future. While reading the text, I found myself drawn less to the physical action or setting, and more to the emotional atmosphere it created. The story resonated with memories of childhood and the quiet, imaginative worlds many children build for themselves. I connected deeply with Lisa's dreams, which reminded me of my own early experiences. Through my illustrations, I aimed to capture this delicate space between reality and imagination. Rather than focusing on literal scenes,

Weer voor Rotterdam ☁️ - 11-04-2026 01:15 CEST

In één oogopslag:
• 9.0°C · Gedeeltelijk bewolkt ☁️ | Min 8.6°C / Max 12.4°C | Kans op neerslag 2%

Verwachting voor vandaag:
• Min 8.6°C, Max 12.4°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 2%, 🧭 1009.5 hPa ↘️ -6.0 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 25.6 km/u (7.1 m/s), richting: ↘ 306°

Uurlijkse voorspelling voor de komende 12 uur:

• 02:00: 9.1°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1015.5 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 11.5 km/u (3.2 m/s), richting: ↖ 122°
• 03:00: 9.4°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1014.7 hPa ↘️ -0.8 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 13.0 km/u (3.6 m/s), richting: ↖ 130°
• 04:00: 9.6°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1013.6 hPa ↘️ -1.1 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 13.3 km/u (3.7 m/s), richting: ↖ 125°
• 05:00: 9.9°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1012.4 hPa ↘️ -1.2 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 16.2 km/u (4.5 m/s), richting: ↖ 133°
• 06:00: 9.6°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1011.5 hPa ↘️ -0.9 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 16.6 km/u (4.6 m/s), richting: ↖ 127°
• 07:00: 9.8°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1010.7 hPa ↘️ -0.8 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 16.9 km/u (4.7 m/s), richting: ↖ 127°
• 08:00: 10.1°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1010.0 hPa ↘️ -0.7 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 16.2 km/u (4.5 m/s), richting: ↖ 138°
• 09:00: 10.6°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1009.4 hPa ↘️ -0.6 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 18.7 km/u (5.2 m/s), richting: ↖ 135°
• 10:00: 11.2°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1008.6 hPa ↘️ -0.8 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 19.4 km/u (5.4 m/s), richting: ↖ 136°
• 11:00: 12.4°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 2%, 🧭 1007.6 hPa ↘️ -1.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 18.4 km/u (5.1 m/s), richting: ↖ 140°
• 12:00: 13.4°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 5%, 🧭 1007.2 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 19.1 km/u (5.3 m/s), richting: ↖ 141°
• 13:00: 14.4°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 11%, 🧭 1006.1 hPa ↘️ -1.1 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 19.4 km/u (5.4 m/s), richting: ↖ 137°

Voorspelling voor de komende dagen:

• zondag 12 april: Min 8.4°C, Max 17.6°C (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 0.1 mm, Kans op neerslag 24%, 🧭 1013.6 hPa ↗️ +4.1 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 31.0 km/u (8.6 m/s), richting: ↑ 183°
• maandag 13 april: Min 6.9°C, Max 15.1°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 2%, 🧭 1012.6 hPa ↘️ -1.0 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 18.7 km/u (5.2 m/s), richting: ↗ 205°
• dinsdag 14 april: Min 8.8°C, Max 12.7°C (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 0.1 mm, Kans op neerslag 12%, 🧭 1017.2 hPa ↗️ +4.6 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 10.1 km/u (2.8 m/s), richting: ↓ 15°
• woensdag 15 april: Min 7.3°C, Max 13.4°C (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 0.3 mm, Kans op neerslag 10%, 🧭 1018.3 hPa ↗️ +1.1 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 10.6 km/u (2.9 m/s), richting: → 264°
• donderdag 16 april: Min 7.6°C, Max 13.0°C (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 1.5 mm, Kans op neerslag 6%, 🧭 1017.7 hPa ↘️ -0.6 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 13.2 km/u (3.7 m/s), richting: ↑ 172°
• vrijdag 17 april: Min 9.4°C, Max 13.9°C (Zware motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 4.8 mm, Kans op neerslag 10%, 🧭 1022.2 hPa ↗️ +4.5 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 18.5 km/u (5.1 m/s), richting: ↗ 242°

Details:
• 🌡️ Huidige temperatuur (om 01:15): 9.0°C (Gedeeltelijk bewolkt)
• 🤚 Gevoelstemperatuur: 5.7°C (-3.3°C)
• 💨 Windsnelheid: 11.2 km/u (3.1 m/s), richting: ← 104°
• 🌬️ Windstoten: 20.9 km/h (5.8 m/s)
• 💧 Luchtvochtigheid: 61%
• 🧭 Luchtdruk: 1015.5 hPa ↘️ -1.9 hPa/3h
• 👁️ Zichtbaarheid: 24.8 km
• ☀️ UV-index: 0.0
• 🌅 Zonsopgang: 06:56 · 🌇 Zonsondergang: 20:30

Luchtkwaliteit:
• AQI: 34 🟢 (Goed)
• PM2.5: 16.2 μg/m³
• PM10: 21.9 μg/m³

Gegevens geleverd door Open-Meteo

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