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Ukrainian drone attacks hit multiple Russian targets, including refinery

Al Jazeera

Ukrainian drones have struck energy and industrial targets across several Russian regions, Russian authorities say, in an escalating campaign of strikes against infrastructure. In Saratov, a region on the Volga River with several oil refineries that has come under regular Ukrainian attack in recent years, Governor Roman Busargin said on Sunday on Telegram that "civil infrastructure" had been damaged in the overnight strikes. In the Kirov region, northeast of Moscow and about 1,300km (800 miles) from Ukraine, Governor Alexander Sokolov said drones had hit a facility in the Urzhumsky district. The Ukrainian army confirmed the attack, saying it had also hit the Lazarevo oil-pumping station in the region. Governors in the Rostov, Voronezh and Belgorod regions, all of which border Ukraine, also reported strikes, and three civilians were injured in Belgorod.


I'm About to Go on a Date With a New Woman. I Know Something About Her--and She Doesn't Know I Know.

Slate

Unhinged I'm About to Go on a Date With a New Woman. I Know Something About Her--and She Doesn't Know I Know. I don't want to scare her away. I'm not sure what the proper etiquette is for acknowledging that you've recognized a mildly famous person when you match with them on a dating app. This is now the third time this has happened to me.


War or peace? Colombians choose destiny in high-stakes vote

The Japan Times

Bogota - Colombians vote Sunday in a presidential election that will determine the conflict-ridden nation's response to spiraling violence, either staying left and opting for dialogue or tacking right towards all-out war. The constitution forbids a second term for the country's first-ever leftist President Gustavo Petro, whose "total peace" strategy has failed to negotiate an end to conflict with armed groups. Despite his absence from the ballot, "the campaign revolves around Petro," said Yann Basset, political science professor at Bogota's University of Rosario. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right. With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories.


How Turkey Hacked the Hair Transplant Industry

WIRED

From specialized motors to the use of machine-learning algorithms, Turkey's billion-dollar hair-transplant industry is the result of a constant process of innovation. The astounding growth of the hair-transplant industry in Turkey is not just a medical tourism success story; it's also a tale of "hacked" medical equipment and algorithmic craftsmanship. From a biological and evolutionary perspective, human hair is often viewed as an unremarkable mass of keratin that still plays some important functions--protecting our scalps from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays and regulating our body temperatures--but, for the most part, is no longer essential to our survival. Yet, since ancient times, our subconscious perceptions of whether another person is healthy, young, or fertile have been based on visual cues such as skin radiance, the integrity of teeth, and hair density. Deep within our perceptions, hair has become one of the most powerful representations of our identity and self-confidence. Today, the global hair-transplant and restoration industry, which has evolved around this deep psychological and evolutionary need, has grown into a massive, multibillion-dollar industry. Various research firms have estimated the total size of the global hair-transplant market as sitting somewhere between $7.33 billion and $11.61 billion in 2024. And those figures don't include the underground economy.


Three Japanese opposition parties explore new alliance

The Japan Times

Junya Ogawa, leader of the Centrist Reform Alliance, attends a news conference on Friday in Tokyo. Moves to launch a new party have emerged among three opposition parties in Japan, sources said Sunday. The idea arose in the course of talks on the possible integration of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito into the Centrist Reform Alliance. The CRA and Komeito are keen about the new opposition party option. Some senior members of the CDP and officials of a major labor union supporting the initiative are also positive, according to sources familiar with the matter. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.


Turn massive video files into shareable clips in minutes with VideoProc for a flat 36

PCWorld

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. TL;DR: Get a lifetime license to VideoProc for Windows for $35.99 (MSRP $119.90) and simplify everything from video editing to file conversion in one easy-to-use app . Video editing can get complicated fast when you're bouncing between clunky software just to trim clips, convert files, or fix shaky footage. VideoProc keeps the process refreshingly straightforward, giving you one place to edit videos, resize files, enhance quality, record screens, and manage media without the steep learning curve. With a one-time payment of $35.99, you'll get lifetime access to features like trimming, converting, and compressing on up to five devices, all without the learning curve of other bulky editing programs.


Claim a full MS Office suite license with no subscription before this 30 deal ends

PCWorld

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. With a sale ending today, May 31 at 11:59pm Pacific, you can own a Windows lifetime license to Microsoft Office for $29.97, with no subscription required. Tired of paying monthly just to access your everyday work tools? Microsoft Office Professional 2021 gives you the core apps -- Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and more -- in a one-time purchase for $29.97 through May 31. This version is a solid choice for freelancers, business owners, students, and anyone who wants to create polished documents, presentations, and spreadsheets without juggling subscriptions or relying on cloud-only tools.


Embattled Nidec to suspend biz acquisitions

The Japan Times

KYOTO - Nidec President Mitsuya Kishida has said the major Japanese motor maker will suspend business acquisitions for the time being to focus its efforts on reconstructing the firm rocked by accounting and product quality fraud. Business acquisitions have been a growth driver for Nidec, based in Kyoto. "I will work on rebuilding our company's governance system," Kishida said in an interview Friday, showing a plan to spend ¥130 billion over five years on measures to prevent irregularities. A panel of outside experts that investigated the accounting fraud has concluded that excessive pressure from Nidec's founder, Shigenobu Nagamori, on company staff to meet performance targets was among the factors behind the irregularities. Pointing out that Nidec had "a corporate culture to pursue short-term profits," Kishida said, "We will build a system that makes it impossible to commit irregularities regarding accounting and product quality control." On future business management, he said, "We will review our operations, including the possibility of ceding what we have in our group to partner entities," suggesting that consolidating some of its existing operations could be an option.


Japanese cellist Kitamura wins 5th prize in Brussels contest

The Japan Times

Yo Kitamura won the fifth prize in the cello division of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels on Sunday. Brussels - Yo Kitamura of Japan won the fifth prize in the cello division of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels on Sunday. In the final selection process joined by 12 cellists, Kitamura, 22, who is from Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, played Russian composer Sergey Prokofiev's Symphony-Concerto and other works with the Belgian National Orchestra on Tuesday. "I couldn't make it to the top three, but I think it is a meaningful experience because I was able to grow so much," Kitamura told reporters. "I want to face my big dream of making the world peaceful with music." The winner of the cello division is Ettore Pagano, 23, from Italy.


Australian researchers teach brain cells to play 'Doom' video game

The Japan Times

Australian researchers teach brain cells to play'Doom' video game Scientist Brett Kagan looks at cortical and hippocampal cells on cell culture plates as they attempt to decode morse code, at Cortical Labs' Physical Containment Level 2 laboratory in Melbourne. Melbourne - Australian researchers have trained lab-grown brain cells on a silicon computer chip to play the '90s shooter game Doom and say they are just scratching the surface of what the neurons could be capable of doing. It's the science-fiction work of biotech boffins at Cortical Labs, who researched and developed the technology that harnesses the workings of the brain's networking system. Each so-called "biological computer" contains around 200,000 living human brain cells, grown from stem cells that were harvested from blood donations. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.