RSnake Report 20260426

Assassination attempt against Trump, SPLC indictment, etc

Author

Robert RSnake Hansen
April 26, 2026

What's In the News

Hello, and thanks for reading! It was a busy week of meetings and coding for me. I realized I might be getting kinda old when my optometrist asked me if I wanted to consider bifocals. Dear lord. I held him off for one more year, and even managed to keep my prescription, but oof, what a reminder that my eyes just aren't what they used to be! Then I got some sort of wrist pain from repetitive work I did on one project. So I've ended up coding a lot just so that I can use the microphone more often. What you might notice in this particular report, unless my editor is very careful, is new errors introduced by the fact that I'm using speech-to-text. I'll get into that a bit later in the tech section. 

On a lighter note, we were also invited to a very nice wine and cheese party, where the feast was flown in from Murray's Cheese in NYC at apparently no additional cost than buying it at the counter, without even having to risk getting mugged. So that was a delicious plus!

Let's start with Russia/Ukraine News. Russian military strategists stated that mobilizing 5 million citizens would result in 5 million fewer citizens after a year without gaining even 500 square kilometers of territory, as it would only increase casualties without altering the front lines. That's a pretty explicit omission that the war is at best a stalemate, and at worst, bleeding the country dry of its young men and economic power. And then there is the matter of the drones. When you have drones still striking deep into the heart of Russia, and the internet is out, it's gonna be hard to convince the average Russian that turning the internet off is somehow keeping them safe. That is to say, I think there is growing disillusionment even amongst the people most likely to be noticed by the government. Outspoken resentment is on the rise.

Ukrainian SSU drones struck the Samara oil station in Russia, causing a large-scale fire and damaging five tanks containing 20,000 cubic meters of crude oil; this facility is part of Russia's oil transportation network tied to Urals oil exports.

I saw a rather interesting new invention, this is a prop plane that's been outfitted with numerous FPV drones. So the pilot navigates near the Shahed drone, and the gunner effectively manages the FPV drone to the target, switching between FPV drones as they go. The An-28 aircraft, modified as a Shahed hunter with over 150 confirmed launches, now launches interceptor drones mid-flight. It does look a little risky, like the airplane could outrun the drones, but apparently, with that kind of kill ratio, it's doing okay.

Russia is constructing a massive CDAA radar, dubbed "Putin's Ear," in Kaliningrad, 25 kilometers from Poland and 1,600 meters in diameter, making it one of the world's largest facilities of its kind, and right near the Polish border. The purpose is yet unknown, but being so close to NATO, I suspect this largely is to spy on ELINT and SIGINT sources near the NATO border. 

A Russian Shahed drone struck a gas station in Shostka, Sumy Oblast, targeting three fuel trucks parked there. The trucks represent relocatable assets that Russian surveillance identified, leading to a daylight strike before relocation. This is actually kind of impressive because it means they can target vehicles in virtual real time since these trucks surely weren't there for very long, and yet the Shahed struck it perfectly. That's both an accuracy improvement and a real-time reconnaissance improvement.

Ukrainian units, including the 1st US Army, 414th Hungarian Birds, DPSU, SOF, and other Defense Ministry forces, struck the Yaroslavl oil refinery, known as Slavneft-YANOS, one of Russia's top five refineries, setting it on fire with damage assessment ongoing.

Ukrainian strikes engaged strategic targets including the Yaroslavl Oil Refinery, the Apatit Chemical Plant in Cherepovets, and unidentified objects in occupied Ukrainian territories. Russian reports noted air defense failures, internet shutdowns during drone flights, and confusion over launch origins, with damage confirmed to the refinery and plant alongside disruptions in Crimea.

Ukrainian EW expert Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, an advisor to the Ministry of Defense, was targeted at his house by multiple Geran-2 strike UAVs guided via a Russian radio mesh network. While awful, I think this is a fair game given the fact that Ukraine has also targeted Russian military and scientists. It does not appear that he was killed in this attack, but it's not clear about other people who were in the home.

The Security Service of Ukraine conducted a drone operation in Sevastopol targeting the Russian Black Sea Fleet naval base and Belbek Air Base, damaging or destroying the Ropucha-class landing ships Yamal and Filchenkov, the reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs, the Lukomka training center, air defense intelligence headquarters, the MR-10M1 Mis-M1 radar station, a MiG-31 interceptor, and technical facilities at Belbek. SBU official Yevhen Khmara stated these strikes methodically dismantle Russian military infrastructure, including fleet, aviation, intelligence, and air defense, to degrade control and offensive planning.

In related Africa News, which I could have also put into Russian news, given the subject matter, the Russian Africa Corps forces negotiated a withdrawal from a base outside Kidal, Mali, after rebels surrounded them, abandoning their Malian partners in the process.

Mali's Defense Minister Sadio Camara, a key Russian ally, died on April 25 from a suicide bombing near his home. Rebels are seizing cities and battling junta forces and Russian mercenaries, as Tuareg forces seek northern independence.

Rebel forces took full control of Kidal, with the situation deteriorating for Russian Africa Corps and Malian Armed Forces. A second Africa Corps helicopter was shot down by FLA and JNIM forces, killing the crew; mass surrenders of Malian forces to FLA occurred. 

During an assault on Gao, a Russian Africa Corps helicopter was downed by JNIM using a MANPADS in the Wabaria area, killing all crew and fire support team members. This is one of those situations where it's easy to root against the Russians until you realize that the aggressor here, JNIM, is actually just an Al Qaeda offshoot. There are no real good guys here that I want to root for. 

In related bad news for Russia, Syrian authorities under Ahmed al-Sharaa plan to reclaim the Khmeimim airbase from Russia, converting it into a Syrian army training center, humiliating Moscow. I think we can count that one as a win if it happens, given that Syria has become more moderate and sided against Iran. I think.

In European News, a UK safety investigation linked the £6.3 billion Ajax armored vehicle program to toxic gas exposure during Exercise Titan Storm, where 33 soldiers in 23 vehicles reported nausea, hearing issues, numbness, and muscle pain from mechanical faults, equipment problems, ventilation failures, and operational conditions causing carbon monoxide and dioxide buildup. Reminds me quite a bit of the F-35 issues when it first came out that ended up becoming much less of an issue over time, as I suspect this will as well. 

Aselsan’s KORKUT self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, using ATOM programmable air-burst rounds. This could be one of the most cost-effective solutions against drones and missiles. I have said a number of times that I really believe smart munitions that explode nearby targets are probably the most effective defense In terms of cost per round, unfortunately, they tend to be rather large rounds, so they don't make much sense on personnel, but make a lot of sense on self-propelled vehicles.

In South East Asia News, the EU plans to phase out components from high-risk suppliers in 18 critical sectors, including telecoms, energy, vehicles, drones, cloud services, medical devices, surveillance, space, and semiconductors, per a draft Cybersecurity Act revision addressing cyber attacks, foreign interference, and reliance on non-EU tech. The Commission did not name entities, but scrutiny targets Chinese firms like Huawei, with Germany banning Chinese components in 6G networks and the US restricting Huawei and ZTE since 2022. I remember betting $1 to a Gartner analyst in 2015 that in three years, after the first allegations of backdoors in Huawei's telecom systems, they would still be plagued by this view. And here we are, more like ten years later, and we continue to see additional issues. I never did get that dollar out of him, even after telling him twice to pay up. Leave it to analysts to be wrong and never have to pay for it! 🤣

For their part, Huawei criticized the origin-based limits as violating EU legal principles and WTO rules, reserving the right to challenge. Telecom lobby Connect Europe warned of billions in added regulatory costs. But then in almost the same breath, China sanctioned seven European defense firms in its first escalation over Taiwan, targeting German sensor and radar makers, Czech drone, satellite-intelligence, aerospace, self-propelled artillery, and rocket producers, plus Belgian small-arms suppliers key to Taiwan's infantry. The sanctions ban dual-use exports and prohibit third-country transfers of China-origin dual-use goods to these firms. So which is it? Sanctions or no sanctions, China? 😆

However, the most interesting news was old news, but still interesting. China's population shrank by 3.4 million in 2025, with births at 7.92 million. This is the lowest since 1949, when they began collecting records. Meanwhile, deaths reached 11.31 million, the highest since 1968. Fertility below 1.0 against a 2.1 replacement rate, while marriages fell to 6 million from 10 million in 2018. The working-age population (16-59) dropped 6.6 million to 851 million, while those over 60 rose 13 million to 323 million or 23% of the total. Beijing's incentives, like child subsidies, reduced kindergarten fees, extended honeymoon leave, and a 13% condom tax, have failed in part because of 18.9% youth unemployment. This will be a massive problem for China if it cannot automate its entire country to remove the need for employment.

In Middle East News, Iran's Supreme National Security Council approved "Internet Pro," a plan for global internet access in business sectors to sustain economic activity. The first phase granted access to commercial cardholders via the Chamber of Commerce, the second to production, industry, and trade organizations with security measures, and authentication now proceeds for smaller units.

Access to the global internet in Iran occurs via regime-controlled white SIM cards for unlimited unrestricted use, hunted Starlink terminals, or expensive VPNs routing through Starlink or white SIMs at $7 per GB. Activists are starting to figure out who is working for the Iranian regime because they are displaying their identity without criticizing the regime, and because of how prohibitively expensive it is, they almost certainly are using the white SIM cards as a mouthpiece. This is especially true given data costs for such movies on TikTok and X exceeding 95% of Iranians' $200 monthly income.

Iran claimed U.S. strikes exploited backdoors in Cisco and other networking equipment, causing failures despite blackouts, indicating deep sabotage. While this is certainly possible, there are a lot of actual exploits in these hardware stacks. But worse yet, the suppliers are likely not from the US, given Iran's OFAC status, but from shady third parties who aren't above inserting backdoors when selling to terrorist regimes.

Israel received notice that Trump's new deadline to Iran ends today, so I wouldn't be surprised if we see a renewal in hot conflicts this coming week, but likewise, I also wouldn't be surprised if the IRGC tried to do a more substantial attack against Israel or shipping to make a point.

U.S. forces conducted a right-of-visit, interdiction, and boarding of the stateless sanctioned M/T Tifani in the INDOPACOM area without incident, enforcing global maritime disruption networks supporting Iran. This was likely to show the Iranians that the United States can interdict any vessel anywhere, even if they do manage to pass through the blockade 

The UAE completed the world's largest underground water reservoir in Abu Dhabi's Liwa Desert using Aquifer Storage and Recovery technology, injecting desalinated water via 315 wells with 100 million liters daily capacity and 26 billion liters total storage, supplying the emirate for 90 days in emergencies at a cost of AED 1.61 billion. But this is a great idea, and if they were wise, they'd probably increase this capacity further. Conflicts can last years at a time, and having reserves that they can dole out to partner nations can be a big bargaining chip. Keep in mind, Iran is very low on water. Who said the movie Dune was Scifi?! No sand worms, you say?

Well, IDF troops dismantled another 800-meter underground terror tunnel in Gaza containing living quarters, military equipment, weapons, vests, and a rocket belonging to Islamic Jihad. These keep popping up, which just means that this is going to be the way of Hamas, until they can be relocated elsewhere or are killed entirely. I don't see a middle ground that they would accept.

Hezbollah released a video threatening Israel, stating that no place is safe, regardless of distance. Clearly, the ceasefire is not going very well. But one thing I think is interesting is that with all of the firepower they show off in this video, almost none of it will actually reach its target, especially compared to the handful of FPV drones that they've flown and how much more successful those were, by comparison. 

For instance, Hezbollah footage showed an FPV drone targeting an IDF Eitan armored personnel carrier in Ramyeh, southern Lebanon, possibly with a PG-7V(L) or PG-7-AT high-explosive anti-tank warhead. It really is tragic how inexpensive these FPV drones are compared to their destructive power.

Residents of seven southern Lebanese villages evacuated following IDF warnings issued in Arabic. So, I believe the chances of a successful ceasefire are effectively zero at this point, but maybe that was the whole point if the IDF can show their partner nations, who have signed the Abraham Accords or are on the fence that Iran and Hezbollah are irrational and can never be believed when they say that they want peace, this might greatly strengthen Israel's position in the region. 

However, mass population displacement from southern Lebanon to central and northern areas continues as Israel escalates operations against Hezbollah. Winning overwhelmingly does look bad to an international audience especially one who has been coddled to believe that peace really does have a chance when one party refuses to coexist. 

The big news region of the day was North America News, where a federal grand jury charged the Southern Poverty Law Center with wire fraud, false statements, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Here is a link to the indictment. The DOJ indictment alleges the SPLC secretly funneled over $3 million in donor funds from 2014 to 2023 to violent racist extremist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, American Nazi Party, Aryan Nations, United Klans of America, Unite the Right, National Alliance, National Socialist Movement, Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club, and American Front. These are the very same groups that the SPLC has told its donors they were attempting to stop. To conceal payments, the government alleges that the SPLC used fictitious bank accounts. Acting AG Todd Blanche and others have said the SPLC manufactured racism to justify its existence and profit from such groups. The Biden administration previously halted probes after bank flags on suspect activities. For their part the SPLC has said that they were just paying informants and that this is just a politically motivated hatchet job. More to come on this one, I am sure!


Shots were fired at the White House Correspondent'’ Dinner. Authorities arrested a male who has been identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen from Torrance, California, as the suspect in a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Allen holds a mechanical engineering degree from Caltech, researched at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, earned a master's in computer science from California State University Dominguez Hills in 2025, developed physics-based games like "First Law" and "Bohrdom," worked at C2 Education, and was named Teacher of the Month in late 2024. Teacher of the month here, ladies and gents! 🙄 He posted his whole manifesto, which was about Trump being a pedophile, a rapist, and a traitor, and ranted that the Secret Service wasn't doing their job by letting him check into the hotel with guns.

He donated to Kamala Harris in 2024, so he is likely left-leaning, especially because the only thing he is reported to have told authorities was that he wanted to kill Trump's staff, which means this was likely an attempted mass shooting, not necessarily just an assassination attempt. He traveled by train and had legally owned guns on his person. Trump described Allen as likely a lone wolf and a very sick person.

One secret service member was apparently shot, but not seriously injured, it seems. JD Vance was hustled out quite quickly, but Trump was much slower, and I suspect that will be a talking point amongst the pundits. 

The other thing that came up during Trump's follow-on address was that he thinks that this would not have been an issue if the White House ballroom had been built, and then lots of the MAGA influencers jumped on and said yes. I went back and took a look at it, because honestly, it has not been a thing I have spent any time looking at, and Trump may have a point, although not one he is clearly articulating.  If you look at the building, it is architecturally quite distinct and Byzantine. This is the best rendering of it I could find, where you could see the roofline and the general footprint (it's east of the White House, and this rendering, I believe, is facing southwest, approximately). 

One thing that has been rumored is that there is a huge complex below the building, and the building more or less just hides that fact. I suspect the ballroom is on the second floor, leaving an entire first floor for catering/security, etc. But there are two additional things that stand out about this, first is there is a half-floor above the second floor that doesn't really look like a floor but it's a massive structure just sticking out there, hidden only by the fact that it is designed to look just like part of the ceiling, that likely houses all sorts of interesting things. Also, the east-most part of this building is both further east and much higher up than the current east wing, giving it a far better angle on Lafayette Park to the north and the ellipse south of the White House. Either way, I suspect this building has a LOT of thought put into it that we aren't privy to. Good or bad, I don't think they just threw this thing together on the back of a napkin. I don't have much of an opinion on it beyond that, except to say that nutjobs have breached the White House grounds before.

This also brought up some anger about why this dinner exists in the first place. Why are Presidents and their staff schmoozing with the "fake news" outlets in the first place? And why is the press allowing itself to be charmed by the President? It's a strange event, for sure. But we shall see because they do plan to redo the event, and mark my words, when they re-do the dinner, Karoline Leavitt's comments about "shots fired" before the gunshots rang out will make it into the jokes.

In other news, Senate Leader John Thune announced the start of work on a reconciliation bill to fully fund DHS, including ICE and CBP, requiring only 50 votes plus the VP, bypassing all Democrats and moderate Republicans like Murkowski, McConnell, or Collins. Since this is just a reconciliation bill, it has a lower threshold than other bills that have been less successful as of late and are presumably easier to pass.

California startup XDOWN demonstrated its 5.2-pound STUD drone at a NATO base in Romania, attracting interest from over 500 allied military representatives; the hand-thrown system deploys in two seconds, carries up to 1.7 pounds of payload, and fits 8-12 units in a tactical backpack. We discussed this one before, and I don't think there's a whole lot more to say about this except that 1.7 pounds is shockingly small, but I suspect very effective against ground troops in particular. 

The U.S. Navy plans to procure nearly $1 billion in Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles for FY2027 to expand its long-range maritime strike strategy. This is almost certainly meant to scare China.

Also the USS Idaho entered the fleet this week. It is the most advanced ship we have built thus far. And if you have a few minutes, you gotta see the promo video they made, it's pretty irreverent, and I found it quite funny. Clearly, times have changed, and we aren't afraid of speaking our minds anymore!

In Tech News, and in news that apparently could not come at a more perfect time for yours truly, xAI launched Grok voice APIs for Speech-to-Text at $0.10 per hour batch and $0.20 streaming, and Text-to-Speech at $4.20 per million characters, supporting 25+ languages with real-time streaming, and undercuts competitors by 10x. Now it's got a few bugs, like it doesn't do casing particularly well as an example, but I have been using it fairly heavily and wiring it into a lot of my projects to save my wrist, and it has been pretty great, especially when speaking to LLMs who don't care about a lowercase "i" instead of "I" etc. My wrist thanks the LLM overlords!

The Checkmarx TeamPCP campaign spread to npm, compromising the @bitwarden/cli package (78,000 weekly downloads) in version 2026.4.0 to steal GitHub/npm tokens, SSH keys, .env files, shell history, GitHub Actions, and cloud secrets, exfiltrating them to private domains and via GitHub commits; the payload mirrors attacks on Checkmarx Docker images and VSCode extensions. Bitwarden contained a malicious package in its npm-distributed CLI tied to the supply chain incident. No user vault data or production systems were affected, but this is yet another example of an attempted attack on password vaults and one of the reasons I personally do not like them if they are commercial offerings. Just too juicy a target. 

Google Stitch open-sourced the DESIGN.md specification for exporting and importing design rules across tools and platforms, adding WCAG accessibility validation for agents to understand and verify color intents. I have used it for one project and found it did seem to add a bit more consistency. I am not sure if it's meaningfully important to have this ahead of time, but it's been working okay.

Okay, onto the articles!

Geopolitics

A bombing on the Pan-American Highway in southwestern Colombia has resulted in at least 14 fatalities and over 38 injuries. The attack is attributed to criminal groups linked to drug trafficking, escalating violence in a region that has seen multiple incidents in recent days, prompting calls for government action to improve public security.

  • At least 14 people were killed in a bombing on the Pan-American Highway in Colombia.

  • The attack is linked to illegal armed groups involved in drug trafficking, marking an escalation of violence in the region.

[RSnake: These groups are getting extremely brazen. At some point, we will have to come to terms with them or find some way to make peace. Terrorizing the population is not the answer.]

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/25/explosion-in-southwest-colombia-kills-at-leat-seven-state-governor-says?traffic_source=rss

A shooting incident occurred during the White House Correspondents' Dinner, resulting in chaos as attendees were evacuated, and President Donald Trump was escorted to safety. The suspect, identified as Cole Tomas Allen, was armed and has been charged with firearm and assault offenses. One security officer was shot but not critically injured, and Trump has expressed concerns about the venue's security.

  • A firearm incident disrupted a high-profile event in the U.S. capital, leading to panic among guests.

  • The security breach raised questions about the safety measures in place for events attended by top government officials.

[RSnake: He planned to only hit the Secret Service in the chest, thinking their body armor would just incapacitate them, and he could move on. He’s clearly seen way too many movies.]

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/shots-will-be-fired-karoline-leavitts-pre-dinner-comments-go-viral-after-white-house-shooting/articleshow/130526726.cms

Russia has conducted a prolonged missile and drone attack on the city of Dnipro, resulting in five fatalities and injuring at least 40 others, including children. Rescuers are currently searching for individuals trapped under rubble after residential buildings and civilian infrastructure were struck. The ongoing conflict has seen a rise in casualties across various regions in Ukraine, prompting calls for enhanced air defense systems.

  • A Russian attack on Dnipro lasted more than 20 hours, causing significant casualties.

  • Ukrainian officials are urging for urgent international support in strengthening air defenses.

[RSnake: All that work for only 5 civilian casualties. At some point, they really need to rethink this strategy. The only upside of doing this, other than demoralizing people, is spreading out air defenses.]

Source: https://euromaidanpress.com/?p=403331

Access to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is becoming essential for national security and economic interests, with significant implications for global space commerce. The United States is focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance its capabilities in space surveillance, tracking, and responding to threats, particularly from adversaries like China, which has advanced counter-space technologies. Control over the AI supply chain is critical for the U.S. to maintain its dominance in the emerging space economy.

  • LEO is a crucial chokepoint for global space activities and economies.

  • The U.S. aims to leverage AI for better space security and commercial advantages.

  • China poses a significant threat to U.S. operations in space with its counter-space capabilities.

[RSnake: The moon will be another interesting place if we can figure out how to manufacture components there. The problem is the waste heat, and yes, of course, the Chinese.]

Source: https://www.zerohedge.com/military/launching-ai-orbit

The U.S. Department of State has issued a Level 4 travel advisory for South Sudan, stating that Americans should not travel to the country due to significant risks, including unrest, crime, health issues, kidnapping, and landmines. The advisory emphasizes the dangers faced by U.S. citizens, such as armed conflict and violent crime, which have made emergency consular services limited. Somalia is experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis with 6.5 million people facing food insecurity due to prolonged droughts and rising costs, further exacerbated by conflict and displacement. The situation is critical for children, with 1.8 million at risk of acute malnutrition, while supply chain disruptions related to global conflicts are contributing to the worsening conditions and limited aid response.

  • The U.S. government advises against travel to South Sudan due to ongoing unrest and crime.

  • U.S. citizens may face significant risks, including kidnapping and health issues, while in South Sudan.

  • 6.5 million people in Somalia are facing severe food insecurity.

  • Rising costs and prolonged droughts have led to a critical humanitarian crisis, particularly affecting children.

Cybersecurity

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is now in effect across the EU, mandating strong credential management and authentication protocols for financial institutions to mitigate the risk of cyber incidents. Credential theft, accounting for a significant percentage of data breaches, poses a major threat to operational continuity, prompting regulators to enforce compliance with specific security measures to protect sensitive information.

  • DORA requires financial institutions to implement strong authentication mechanisms and least-privilege access policies.

  • Stolen credentials account for 22% of all data breaches, making credential security a critical area of focus.

  • The regulation includes strict reporting obligations for incidents related to compromised credentials.

[RSnake: MFA is hugely useful to prevent break-ins, but backups would also be wise!]

Source: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/dora-and-operational-resilience-credential-management-as-a-financial-risk-control/

CISA has mandated U.S. government agencies to patch a critical Microsoft Defender vulnerability known as BlueHammer, which is being actively exploited in zero-day attacks. Additionally, a malware campaign utilizing new exploits and supply-chain attacks is being reported, raising significant cybersecurity risks.

  • CISA orders federal agencies to patch a critical vulnerability in Microsoft Defender before May 7.

  • Active exploitation of multiple zero-day vulnerabilities has been confirmed, posing significant risks to security.

[RSnake: That makes sense. They are likely seeing this one in the wild. Though defender is not often the one being attacked, since it is designed to stop the malicious activity, not facilitate it.]

Source: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/cisa-orders-feds-to-patch-microsoft-defender-flaw-exploited-in-zero-day-attacks/

Researchers have identified a 21-year-old malware called Fast16 that alters critical software calculations, potentially used for state-sponsored sabotage, particularly against Iran's nuclear program. This discovery raises significant implications for cybersecurity and the reliability of affected computational systems, revealing a sophisticated method of engineering deception that could lead to failures in both research and industrial applications.

  • Fast16 is a piece of malware capable of undetectably tampering with calculations in engineering and research software.

  • The malware is suspected of being used in state-sponsored efforts to disrupt Iran's nuclear ambitions.

  • Researchers discovered Fast16's functionality through reverse engineering, revealing its capacity for stealthy sabotage.

[RSnake: 21 years old. Imagine what else we don’t know about! This was extremely targeted to physical sciences and meant to cause minor disruptions and introduce subtle errors.]

Source: https://www.wired.com/story/fast16-malware-stuxnet-precursor-iran-nuclear-attack/

A new self-spreading npm supply chain attack has been reported, targeting developer credentials by compromising packages within the Node Package Manager ecosystem. This attack can quickly propagate due to its worm-like behavior, extracting sensitive data such as authentication tokens and API keys. Organizations are advised to take immediate action to mitigate the risks associated with affected packages.

  • A new npm supply chain attack is spreading by compromising developer credentials.

  • The attack targets sensitive data associated with various development secrets, enabling rapid propagation.

[RSnake: Nasty. These npm packages are getting more and more scary to use. And the worst part is there isn’t any way to know which is which.]

Source: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/new-npm-supply-chain-attack-self-spreads-to-steal-auth-tokens/

Technology

Meta has entered a multibillion-dollar partnership with Amazon to utilize tens of millions of Graviton5 processor cores for AI workloads, due to overwhelming demand for computing power that exceeds its current supply chain capabilities. This procurement strategy involves over $200 billion in contracts with various technology firms as Meta aims to keep pace with its ambitious AI roadmap while facing intense competition in the market.

  • Meta is leasing vast numbers of Graviton5 chips from Amazon to meet AI compute demands.

  • The partnership is part of a larger trend where major tech companies are collaborating and competing simultaneously in the AI chip market.

  • Meta's capital expenditures are projected to reach up to $135 billion, reflecting the enormous scale of its infrastructure and AI projects.

[RSnake: I was wondering if Amazon would move into that space. This actually may make cloud computing a lot more expensive as shared resources are going to the highest bidder, so that low-value sites are edged out of the market purely because they cannot afford the computing. It will take a while to get there, and there is a lot of supply of the low-end compute still, so it may not happen, but it makes me think!]

Source: https://thenextweb.com/news/meta-amazon-graviton-chips-agentic-ai

Google is investing up to $40 billion in Anthropic, a leading AI company that is currently outperforming Google’s own AI model, Gemini, in the enterprise sector. This investment comes as both Google and Amazon ramp up their competition to secure AI technologies and capabilities in a market where Anthropic's revenue has rapidly surged, and its valuation has reached unprecedented levels.

  • Google's investment in Anthropic includes $10 billion in cash and $30 billion contingent on performance targets, alongside a commitment of five gigawatts of computing power over five years.

  • Anthropic's rapid revenue growth and market position have prompted significant investments from major tech companies, indicating a high-stakes competition for AI dominance.

[RSnake: Interesting choice. I think Anthropic still has a lead in terms of coding, so that is likely why. Better data would be useful for Gemini, which likely wants to get into that game. But dear lord, my kingdom for a Claude-like CLI tool that spoke pure JSON.]

Source: https://thenextweb.com/news/google-40-billion-anthropic-investment-gemini

Google has launched its Ironwood TPU, significantly increasing its computational capacity for AI and marking a strategic shift by separating training and inference chips in its eighth-generation architecture. This move is an effort to enhance efficiency in handling AI workloads in response to escalating demand, positioning Google as a competitor to Nvidia in the custom silicon market.

  • Google introduced the Ironwood TPU, which offers 4.6 petaFLOPS per chip and aims to dominate AI inference workloads.

  • The eighth-generation architecture will include purpose-built training and inference chips to optimize performance and cost efficiency.

  • Anthropic has become a major customer for Google's TPU chips, illustrating the critical demand and competitive dynamics in the AI hardware market.

NASA is set to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in September 2026, aiming to map the universe in detail and probe cosmic mysteries such as dark matter and dark energy. This multibillion-dollar mission is months ahead of schedule and under budget, expected to significantly advance our understanding of the universe by discovering tens of thousands of new planets and billions of galaxies. AeroVironment successfully demonstrated its LOCUST Laser Weapon System aboard the USS George H.W. Bush, marking a significant advancement in directed energy capabilities for military applications. The system was able to rapidly track and neutralize multiple target drones, showcasing its versatility across different platforms and environments.

  • The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will launch in September 2026, promising to map the universe and investigate factors like dark matter and dark energy.

  • The telescope will complete tasks within a primary mission timeframe, expected to discover tens of thousands of planets and billions of galaxies.

  • The LOCUST Laser Weapon System can transition seamlessly between various military platforms.

  • The system demonstrated effectiveness in a live-fire scenario against unmanned aerial vehicles.

[RSnake: I have a lot of love for these space telescopes. But the militarization of space is coming so getting them far away is probably wise. The gravitational lagrange locations.]

Source: https://militaryleak.com/?p=245243

Business

The US government currently holds a 9.9% equity stake in Intel, which has become significantly valuable due to a rise in Intel's stock price following strong Q1 earnings. Initially purchased for $8.9 billion, this stake is now worth approximately $36 billion, marking it as one of the most profitable government investments in US industrial history. The investment was made unexpectedly during the Trump administration as part of the CHIPS Act efforts to bolster domestic semiconductor manufacturing amidst ongoing geopolitical tensions related to chip production.

  • The US government's stake in Intel has generated a profit of approximately $26.5 billion.

  • Intel's improved financial performance is tied to its strategic partnerships and advancements in chip manufacturing.

[RSnake: That’s a big upside, but only if it realizes the gain. If the whole AI industry tanks, that’s not going to be a fun asset to try to divest.]

Source: https://thenextweb.com/news/us-government-intel-stake-36-billion-chips-act

Michael Truell, the 25-year-old CEO of Cursor, has negotiated a $60 billion acquisition deal with SpaceX, marking a significant milestone in technology and business. Cursor has grown rapidly, reaching a valuation of $30 billion by developing advanced AI coding tools and attracting major clients, including 67% of Fortune 500 companies.

  • Cursor was founded by Michael Truell and his MIT classmates, focusing on AI coding solutions.

  • The company is poised for a $60 billion acquisition by SpaceX or a $10 billion payout for its collaboration.

[RSnake: Pretty amazing for him. And probably not a moment too soon. There are a lot of competitive tools entering the market, and I am sure he was getting nervous.]

Source: https://fortune.com/2026/04/22/who-is-cursor-25-year-old-ceo-michael-truell-tech-startups-csuite-elon-musk-spacex/

Prosecutors presented evidence in court involving 40 terabytes of data linked to D4vd, including illegal material related to children. D4vd is facing serious charges, including murder and abuse of a minor, and has pleaded not guilty, with his legal team contesting the claims. The investigation has garnered significant public attention due to the nature and scale of the collected evidence.

  • Prosecutors hold 40 terabytes of evidence against D4vd, which includes highly disturbing content.

  • D4vd faces serious charges, including murder, while maintaining his innocence and planning to contest the allegations.

The FDA has approved the first gene therapy, called Otarmeni, designed to restore hearing in children and adults with severe or profound hearing loss associated with OTOF gene variants. The therapy was approved after a rapid review process and showed significant efficacy in clinical trials, with 80 percent of participants experiencing improvement in hearing. This breakthrough is seen as a significant advancement in gene therapy for a specific genetic cause of deafness.

  • FDA approves Otarmeni, the first gene therapy for hearing restoration.

  • 80% of clinical trial participants showed improvement in hearing after treatment.

[RSnake: Such a blessing if this all turns out to be true. Not much in this world that will really handicap you, but not being able to hear or see has got to be up there!]

Source: https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/fda-approves-first-gene-therapy-treat-deafness

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Full Disclosure: None of this is advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and my opinions. Please be careful, do your own research, and consult a professional before taking any action based on anything posted here.