{"id":5032,"date":"2026-06-30T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ojars.kapteinis.lv\/?p=5032"},"modified":"2026-07-16T20:13:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T17:13:56","slug":"saites-29-06-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ojars.kapteinis.lv\/en\/2026\/06\/30\/links-29-06-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"links: 29.06.2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Times: The Generational Force Hollowing Out the Economy<\/a><\/p>\n

A New York Times opinion piece argues that the vast artificial-intelligence buildout \u2014 already more than a trillion dollars a year \u2014 is not propping up the US economy, as is commonly assumed, but on the contrary is strangling it: data centres are soaking up so much land, labour, chips, building materials and money that the rest of the economy is starting to run short of these resources. The starkest example is housing \u2014 land earmarked for new homes is being sold off to data-centre developers instead (a portion of a plot bought for $50 million was bought up by Amazon for $700 million).<\/p>\n

404 Media: Inside Cannes, the Advertising Industry’s Biggest Party<\/a><\/p>\n

A 404 Media journalist describes “Cannes Lions” in Cannes, France \u2014 the world’s biggest advertising-industry gathering, where everything is an advertisement for advertising. Tech giants and brands send thousands of employees there to wine and dine one another on yachts and in beachside pavilions over glasses of ros\u00e9; and although it is nominally an award for the most creative ads, the real point is to forge relationships. This year everything was overtaken by artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

Al Jazeera: Stealing from the gods: India’s Ram Temple hit by corruption scandal<\/a><\/p>\n

Al Jazeera reports on a corruption scandal at India’s Ram Temple in Ayodhya \u2014 one of Hinduism’s most important shrines, consecrated two and a half years ago by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and built on the site of the demolished Babri Mosque. The temple’s management is accused of embezzling donations worth several million dollars; police have already detained at least eight people, including those who counted the cash given by pilgrims, and the scandal could sway upcoming elections in India’s most populous state.<\/p>\n

NPR: Could neo-Nazi youth, or ‘active clubs,’ have played a role in Belfast riots?<\/a><\/p>\n

NPR examines whether neo-Nazi youth groups \u2014 bound together by combat-sports training whose aim is not fitness so much as preparation for political violence \u2014 took part in the early-June violence in Belfast that forced members of ethnic minorities to flee their homes. The unrest began after an asylum seeker from Sudan stabbed a man.<\/p>\n

The New York Times: Turtles All the Way Down to \u2026 What Exactly?<\/a><\/p>\n

The New York Times tells of the puzzle of the turtles’ origins, which scientists now seem to have finally cracked. For a long time it was unclear whether turtles descended from an ancient reptile with broad ribs that later fused into a shell, or are instead closer kin to crocodiles and birds. A new study supports the latter: turtles belong to the same reptile group as birds, crocodiles, pterosaurs and dinosaurs \u2014 and this time it is confirmed not only by DNA but also by anatomy.<\/p>\n

The New York Times: In San Francisco, Even $180,000 Tech Salaries Are No Longer Enough<\/a><\/p>\n

The New York Times reports that in San Francisco even six-figure salaries are no longer enough: a couple together earning more than $360,000 a year looked at 30 apartments over three months but could not find a single one-bedroom for under $5,000 a month, and gave up on staying in the city. The reason is the looming stock-market debut of the AI companies OpenAI and Anthropic, which will create a new wealthy elite \u2014 more than 20 new billionaires \u2014 who simply outbid other tech workers.<\/p>\n

Le Monde: Identitarian group N\u00e9m\u00e9sis funds itself through PayPal, which turns a blind eye<\/a><\/p>\n

Le Monde and its partners reveal that the French far-right group “N\u00e9m\u00e9sis” \u2014 which claims to “defend Western women” but is linked to neo-Nazis and voices hatred of immigrants and Muslims \u2014 funds itself by selling shirts and mugs with xenophobic slogans via PayPal. Although such goods breach the payment company’s own rules against incitement to hatred, PayPal does nothing about it \u2014 partly because the payments are small, and partly because in the company’s culture revenue has proved more important than enforcing its own rules.<\/p>\n

Wired: Meta Contractors Posed as Teens to Prompt Rival Chatbots About Suicide, Sex, and Drugs<\/a><\/p>\n

Wired reveals that hundreds of workers at a Meta subcontractor were instructed to pose as teenagers and test how rival chatbots \u2014 “ChatGPT”, “Gemini” and “Character.AI” \u2014 respond to dangerous prompts about suicide, sex, eating disorders and drugs. The workers created fake under-age accounts and sent more than 45,000 such prompts; many were shaken and feared they were themselves producing child sexual abuse material. Meta calls it routine safety testing, but experts argue it goes beyond standard industry practice.<\/p>\n

Meduza: The new Russian elite. Meduza has found more than a thousand war participants who have already taken posts in Russia’s system of power<\/a><\/p>\n

In a large investigation, Meduza has established that at least a thousand participants in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have already taken posts in state power structures \u2014 either by winning local and regional elections or by being appointed. Putin calls the war’s participants “the new Russian elite”.<\/p>\n