Tech

Escape from the "Digital Gulag": How Russians Bypass Internet Blockages

"This device is called a 'node,'" says radio enthusiast Sergey <name changed for security purposes — The Insider>, holding out a rectangular box with a thick antenna on the side.

YouTube began removing videos advertising 'Alabuga'. At least 61 videos disappeared overnight

On the night of June 11, YouTube removed at least 61 videos containing advertising for the SEZ 'Alabuga' and its associated educational center 'Alabuga Politekh'. This was reported by blogger Alexey Gubanov (Jesus). Also, apparently, the official 'Alabuga' channel was completely removed from YouTube, but it is unknown by whom and when. The last archived version of the working account in Web Archive was on March 22, 2025.

Construction of the main tower of Sagrada Familia completed after 143 years. The temple becomes the world's tallest.

In Barcelona, the construction of the Tower of Jesus Christ has been completed – the central and tallest tower of the Sagrada Familia basilica, the construction of which has been ongoing for over 140 years. After the installation of the cross at the top, the height of the temple reached the planned 172.5 meters, making it the tallest Christian temple in the world.

NASA Announced the Crew for the Artemis-3 Lunar Mission

NASA named the four astronauts who will be part of the Artemis-3 mission crew: Commander Randy Bresnik, pilot Luca Parmitano from the Italian Space Agency, and mission specialists Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio. The announcement was made on Tuesday at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, reports The New York Times.

China to Spend $295 Billion on Data Center Network to Oust Nvidia and Lead in AI Race

China is preparing to invest approximately 2 trillion yuan ($295 billion) in building data centers across the country over the next five years, according to Bloomberg, citing informed sources. The plan is being developed by key departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The initiative involves creating a unified network of interconnected computing centers, the majority of which will be operated by state-owned carriers China Mobile and China Telecom.

European Commission ordered WhatsApp to provide users with access to third-party AI

The European Commission has obliged the messenger WhatsApp to provide users in Europe with the opportunity to use AI assistants from other providers for free. Currently, WhatsApp effectively only allows the use of Meta's AI, which, according to the EC, poses a risk of 'serious and irreparable harm' to competition in the AI assistant market. This is reported by Der Spiegel.

Pokemon Go Players Helped Train Navigation Systems for US Military Drones

Approximately 30 billion circular recordings, made by hundreds of millions of Pokemon Go users since 2021 for in-game bonuses, have become the basis for a navigation system for military drones. This is reported by the Dutch newspaper Trouw.

Mass burial of decapitated bodies in Slovakia 7,000 years ago turns out to be part of a Neolithic ritual, not evidence of a massacre

An international group of archaeologists from Kiel University and the Slovak Academy of Sciences has concluded that the mass accumulation of 7,000-year-old decapitated skeletons discovered in the Slovak settlement of Vráble-Veľké Lehemby is likely evidence of a systematic ritual practice, rather than a one-time massacre. The research results were published in the journal Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society.

Costs for German aviation due to airport disruptions caused by UAVs amounted to about €160 million for the year

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) calculated that in 2025, German airports were completely or partially closed 116 times due to drone flights, with at least 226 drone sightings in total for the year. The estimated losses for air traffic amounted to about €60 million, and when associated costs are considered, the damage increases to €160 million.

Microsoft removed 73 of its projects on GitHub due to a hacker attack, after which automation stopped working for developers worldwide

Microsoft disabled more than 70 of its own repositories on GitHub, including those related to the Azure cloud platform and AI agents, as part of an investigation into a supply chain attack, 404 Media reports.

Uzbekistan Massively Falsifies Scientific Articles, Admits President of the Academy of Sciences

Scientists from Uzbekistan are massively falsifying scientific articles – buying co-authorship for money, fabricating experimental data using graphic editors and generative AI. This is reported by the project 'Plagiarism Navigator' of the publication T-Invariant in an investigation into systemic violations in Uzbek science.

Satellites recorded a fire at an oil terminal near Novorossiysk. Krasnodar Krai was subjected to a drone attack

A fire broke out at the Grushovaya transit oil depot, which is part of the Shekharis complex. This is evidenced by data from the NASA Firms satellite fire monitoring service, which was analyzed by The Insider.