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港澳平:香港立法会选举不存在祝福名单

香港立法会将于12月7日举行换届选举,中国国务院港澳事务办公室发文指,香港新一届立法会选举将不存在任何祝福名单,所有合格参选人将在同一起跑线上进行角逐。

港澳办星期五(10月17日)在微信公众号发表署名“港澳平”、题为《选好立法会 再上新台阶》的文章。

文章指出,香港即将迎来第八届立法会选举,这是香港加快由治及兴进程中的一件大事。回顾过往、把握当下、展望前景,人们愈发坚定落实“爱国者治港”原则的制度自信,并对新一届立法会选举更好推进符合香港实际高质量民主充满希冀。

文章回溯第七届立法会选举形成过程时说,在此之前多届立法会选举中,反中乱港分子和外部敌对势力代理人利用原选举制度存在的漏洞和缺陷,进入立法会胡作非为、肆意破坏;滥用议事规则、操弄政治议题、制造对立撕裂,严重干扰特区政府依法施政,阻碍经济发展和民生改善,严重冲击香港宪制秩序,危害国家主权、安全、发展利益。

文章称,中央政府在紧要关头果断采取制定实施香港国安法和完善香港选举制度等标本兼治举措,推动香港局势实现由乱到治的重大转折。按照新选举制度,香港第七届立法会选举于2021年12月举行,“爱国者治港”原则得以落实,立法会运作得以重回正轨。第七届立法会履职尽责、担当作为,为香港从由乱到治走向由治及兴发挥了重要作用、作出了重要贡献。

文章提到,第七届立法会的实践,印证了新选举制度是符合“一国两制”原则,符合香港实际的好制度。所积累的好经验好做法,将促推第八届立法会选举进一步展现新选举制度具有的广泛代表性、政治包容性、均衡参与性、公平竞争性,让民主在更加公开、公平、公正、廉洁、有序的选举中得到更好保障和体现。

文章强调,在新选举制度下,选举回归选贤举能的本质,尤为突出公平竞争、良性竞争。任何参选人如经法定程序确认为合资格候选人,都将站在同一起跑线上展开竞争。不存在什么“祝福名单”,也没有谁享有什么“特殊待遇”。

上海市长见冰岛总统 望推动更多游客到对方旅游

中国上海市长龚正与冰岛总统托马斯多蒂尔会面时说,冰岛与上海经贸合作空间广阔,希望加强交流合作,并推动更多游客到对方旅游。

据上海市政府网站,龚正星期五(10月17日)与冰岛总统托马斯多蒂尔(Halla Tomasdottir)一行会面。

他说,冰岛与上海经贸合作空间广阔,上海愿加强与冰岛的交流合作,实现更高层次的互利共赢,并乐见两地企业携手,围绕绿色经济、数字经济、地热开发、生物医药等领域,加强广泛交流和务实合作,为推动绿色发展贡献力量。

龚正指出,上海也期待两地高校、科研机构等深化学术交流、人才培养和项目合作。他还说,冰岛被誉为“冰与火之国”,上海是全球重要的旅游目的地,希望推动更多游客到对方旅游,领略彼此风光,增进双方友谊。

根据中方新闻稿,冰岛和中国有很多互补性和共性,并希望将冰岛的创意创新与中国的市场规模结合,形成互利共赢。冰岛也期待与上海在可持续发展等领域有更多创新合作,共同提升竞争力。

何立峰与贝森特格里尔通话:同意尽快举行新一轮经贸磋商

中国副总理何立峰与美国财政部长贝森特和贸易代表格里尔进行视频通话,同意尽快进行新一轮中美经贸磋商。

据新华社报道,中美经贸中方牵头人、中国国务院副总理何立峰星期六(10月18日)上午与美方牵头人、美国财政部长贝森特和贸易代表格里尔举行视频通话。

双方围绕落实今年以来两国元首历次通话重要共识,就双边经贸关系中的重要问题进行坦诚、深入、建设性的交流,同意尽快举行新一轮中美经贸磋商。

贝森特在X平台发文称,他与中国副总理何立峰就美中经贸问题进行坦诚且详细的磋商。“我们将与下周面对面,继续进行讨论”。

综合外电报道,贝森特于当地时间星期五(17日)在白宫一场活动上说,他将于当晚8时半至9时与何立峰通话,并称两人可能于下周在马来西亚会面,为美中两国元首的会晤做准备。

亚细安峰会将于10月26日至28日在马来西亚首都吉隆坡举行。中美此次会晤将是双方的第五轮谈判,此前贝森特与何立峰曾在马德里、斯德哥尔摩、伦敦和日内瓦进行贸易磋商。

#116 墙国墙民,越狱自救

据说,中国有1亿多人翻墙出来看世界。最近,党国清网,很多翻墙软件失灵,墙暂时翻不成了。说翻不成墙是暂时的,因为技术问题,永远都是道高一尺,魔高一丈。翻墙软件更新之后,就又可以翻了。

建墙是中国的悠久传统,也是中国人最擅长的绝活。古代中国人建长城,从秦始皇一直建到明朝。互联网时代,中国又在网上建墙,被外界称为“The Great Firewall”—— 网上“防火长城”。这道网上防火长城,把中国跟世界隔开,把中国互联网变成一个大局域网。中国人要看世界,要用真正的互联网,不得不翻墙。

上期节目中,我们介绍周有光先生。他说文明不是静止不动的,而是像水一样流动。水都是从高处往低处流。文明也有高低之分,会像水一样从文明高地,流向文明洼地。在互联网时代,中国为什么动用巨量人力物力,建网上长城,把中国跟外界隔开,把中国人的世界分成墙内墙外?一个简单的答案:中国是个文明洼地。

文明洼地才需要建墙,把自己围起来,阻挡先进文明流入,延续国民的愚昧。只有国民保持愚昧,才能继续吸“5000年历史”、“民族复兴”之类精神鸦片,党国才能继续放开手脚,不拿他们当人,继续极限压榨他们。中国的统治阶层很清楚这一点。他们建墙把中国围起来,把中国人当家畜一样圈养,不把他们当成有头脑的,对是非善恶有分辨力的成年人,而是把他们当成没有头脑,没有分辨能力,没有判断能力的巨婴。

党国把中国建成了“墙国”,把国民变成了坐井观天的“墙民”。墙国墙民,这就是当今中国的现实。那些翻墙出来的中国人,之所以可赞,就在于他们身在墙国,但是不甘心做墙民,而且知行合一,主动翻墙出来,看更广阔的世界。

有句话,据说是中国作家巴金说的:“奴在身者,其人可怜;奴在心者,其人可鄙”。一个人无法决定自己生在什么地方,生在什么国家。做为中国人,一出生就在墙内,自己决定不了。这是一种天生的无辜。这是巴金说的“奴在身者”。但是,一个中国人,如果长大成人之后,习惯了墙内被圈养的生活,觉得那种生活是天经地义,而且主动去当党国的肉喇叭,做帮闲,做帮凶,像五毛、自干五之类,这种人就是巴金说的“奴在心者”。这种“奴在心者”不可怜,这种人只配被鄙视。

中国的问题,不是有亿万“奴在身者”,而是有亿万“奴在心者”,有亿万跟墙国相互匹配的墙民。正是这亿万墙民,让中国有别于其他专制独裁国家。墙国墙民,可以说构成了一种接近“完美“的独裁。牛津大学有位老先生,名叫Stein Ringen。他是挪威人,但在牛津大学教书。他有本书写中国,书名就叫《The Perfect Dictatorship: China in the 21st Century》——《完美的独裁:21世纪的中国》。

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蹭院士合影,替院士维权:101岁院士身边的闹心事

“钟院士100岁了,我们觉得是个很好的兆头,想去沾点喜气,就这么简单的一个动机。”

“照片是我拍的,你用了就是侵犯我的知识产权。玷污院士和学校的名声,那是坚决不允许的。”

“不在意,世界上的行人太多了,各走各的路。”

南方周末记者 郑丹 南方周末实习生 谢瑞瑞

责任编辑:何海宁

涉事的院士合影。受访者供图

杨炯(前排左一)发布在朋友圈里的院士合影。五人合影里,后排左一的男士为“躺枪”的院士学生。受访者供图

“如果他冒充我的学生,我装作不知道,就过去了。”2025年10月14日下午,101岁的钟世镇院士对南方周末记者慢悠悠地提起,有人假冒他的学生与其合照用于商业用途一事,他已经不记得了。

这位中国工程院院士,是中国解剖学创始人,如今年岁已高,身边一直需要有人照顾。负责照顾钟世镇的生活秘书说:“他这几天心情不太好,因为网上乱七八糟的事情。”

“乱七八糟的事情”,爆发于2025年10月11日,钟院士办公室向媒体公布一则严正声明,称钟世镇与杨炯不存在任何师生关系,落款附有钟世镇本人手写签字。

这份声明称:2024年8月,杨炯等人借钟院士百岁生日之时,冒充其学生,冒领专属服装,与其纠缠拍摄录制相片视频达十几分钟之久,并把一些未经授权的相片发布在其微信朋友圈和研究所等公开场合以炫耀,造成“师出名门、行业翘楚、学术权威”的假象,扰乱公众视线以达到商业目的。

声明一出,舆论哗然。业界泰斗竟以此罕见方式维权,舆论几乎一边倒地讨伐这种“蹭名人”现象。杨炯成为新闻焦点,他于2025年10月11日当晚报警,涉事相关人员已陆续前往警方做笔录。

2025年10月15日,杨炯向南方周末记者出具一份回应声明:自己纯属作为一名医务工作者对学术活动的积极参与,对德高望重院士的崇高致敬,没有其他任何意思。本人从未在任何场合声称是钟院士的学生。

“沾点院士的喜气”

几乎与此同时,还有一篇详述杨炯等五人与钟院士合照风波的说明也公开了,落款为钟世镇院士办公室。

该说明称:杨炯等五人千方百计预谋参加生日活动,先是通过钟院士身边工作人员求带入场,在遭到严正拒绝后,又采取哄骗手段,冒领了五套庆典服装和纪念品等,随后纠缠钟院士拍制视频和照片达十几分钟之久。

据公开信息,钟院士百岁庆典是中国解剖学会第二届全国解剖与临床学术会议暨钟世镇临床解剖学思想研讨会的环节之一,由中国解剖学会临床解剖学分会主办,南方医科大学承办。

按照会议流程,8月24日白天的两场解剖学会议后,举行钟院士生日晚宴。多位参与现场活动的人告诉南方周末记者,该会议“没有门槛”。在南方医科大学南方医院工作的医务人员李玲(化名)向南方周末记者回忆,会议海报提到欢迎学医的师生及医务工作者参加,她便邀请了四位朋友,包括杨炯。

60岁的杨炯形容自己性格耿直,喜欢操心,平日里帮人免费寻医问药,在广州温州商会里,也是风风火火地忙前忙后,被起了个外号“白求恩的弟弟:白求忙”。

他头衔颇多,据其介绍,除了广州温州商会发起人之一、粤港澳温州人才促进会秘书长,还包括中国人民银行广州疗养院肝病中心主任,并注明从事军队首长医疗保健工作24年。另有两个头衔已经失效:中华医学研究会肝病委员会主任委员、《医药世界》杂志编委。

工商信息显示,杨炯名下有两家公司:广东岭南肝病研究所和广州小心肝诊所有限公司,前者成立于2007年,后者成立于2023年。杨炯称,两家机构都没有行医资质,主要做医疗咨询业务。

“钟院士100岁了,

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校对:吴依兰

欢迎分享、点赞与留言。本作品的版权为南方周末或相关著作权人所有,任何第三方未经授权,不得转载,否则即为侵权。

贝森特称下周与何立峰在马国会面 为习特会铺路

在中美关系再度紧张之际,美国财政部长贝森特透露,他预计下周与中国国务院副总理何立峰在马来西亚会面,为即将举行的中美两国首脑会谈做准备。

综合法新社和彭博社报道,贝森特于当地时间星期五(10月17日)在白宫一场活动上说,他将于当天晚上8时半至9时与何立峰通话,并称可能于下周在马来西亚会面,为两国元首的会晤做准备”。

亚细安峰会将于10月26日至28日在马来西亚首都吉隆坡举行。中美此次会晤将是双方的第五轮谈判,此前贝森特与何立峰曾在马德里、斯德哥尔摩、伦敦和日内瓦进行贸易磋商。

中国上周宣布扩大稀土出口管制后,美国总统特朗普曾威胁对中国商品加征100%关税,并称将取消原定与中国国家主席习近平在韩国的会晤。

不过,特朗普在星期五发布的福克斯新闻采访片段中说,他仍将与习近平在韩国举行的亚太经济合作组织(APEC)峰会上见面。

贝森特也说,他认为美中两国关系“已经出现降温”。

中国军媒:何卫东和苗华等信仰坍塌、忠诚失节

中国军媒发表社论,指中共中央军委副主席何卫东、军委政治工作部原主任苗华等九名解放军将领信仰坍塌、忠诚失节,将他们开除中共党籍,显示中共中央、中央军委坚定不移把军队反腐败斗争进行到底。

中共中央军委机关报《解放军报》星期六(10月18日)刊发社论,称中共中央决定给予何卫东、苗华等九人开除中共党籍处分,将涉嫌犯罪问题移送军事检察机关依法审查起诉,再次表明了中共中央、中央军委将反腐败斗争进行到底的坚定决心,彰显了军中绝不允许有腐败分子藏身之地的鲜明态度。

社论指出,何卫东、苗华等九人严重违反中共纪律,涉嫌严重职务犯罪,数额特别巨大,性质极为严重,影响极其恶劣。身为中共和军队的高级干部,他们背弃初心使命、丧失党性原则,信仰坍塌、忠诚失节,严重辜负中共中央、中央军委的信任,严重破坏党指挥枪原则和军委主席负责制,严重损害部队政治生态,严重冲击全军官兵团结奋进的政治思想基础,给中共事业、国防和军队建设,以及高级干部形象造成极大损害。

社论称,腐败是中共面临的最大威胁,反腐败是最彻底的自我革命。中共十八大以来,全军和武警部队坚持全面从严治党、全面从严治军,以整风精神推进政治整训,坚持无禁区、全覆盖、零容忍,重拳惩贪肃腐,决心之大前所未有,力度之大前所未有,新时代政治建军取得历史性成就。

社论提到,何卫东、苗华等人的腐败问题是郭伯雄、徐才厚流毒的发酵变异,当前反腐败斗争是中共十八大以来正风反腐的延续、重塑人民军队的深化。对何卫东、苗华等人的深挖彻查,以无可辩驳的事实表明,不管职务多高、权力多大,在党纪国法面前一律平等,只要搞腐败就决不姑息,没有免罪“丹书铁券”,没有“铁帽子王”。

社论提及,对这些腐败分子的严肃惩处,是军队反腐败斗争不断向纵深推进的重大胜利,是中共和人民军队有力量的重要体现。在强军兴军的重要历史当口,及时把隐藏的毒瘤隐患清理掉,是为强固军魂、胜战打赢排雷清障。

社论强调,人民军队不容腐败,威武文明之师不容玷污,必须坚定不移把反腐败斗争进行到底。军队党员干部特别是高级干部要以被查处的腐败分子为反面教材,带头加强思想改造和政治锻造,解决好理想信念、党性修养、官德人品等思想根子问题,切实回答好入党为什么、当官干什么、身后留什么等基本问题,勤掸“思想尘”、多思“贪欲害”、常破“心中贼”,严守思想防线、用权底线、法纪红线、家风界线。

社论说,全军各级要始终不渝坚持中共对军队的绝对领导,始终忠诚核心、拥戴核心、维护核心、捍卫核心,充分认清反腐败斗争的光明前景,强化反腐必胜、正义必胜的信念信心,巩固零容忍、严惩处的高压态势,一体推进不敢腐不能腐不想腐,坚决打好反腐败斗争攻坚战持久战总体战。

中国国防部星期五(17日)通报,何卫东、苗华等九人“涉嫌严重职务犯罪”,被开除党籍、军籍。九人涉嫌犯罪问题将移送军事检察机关依法审查起诉,意味着他们很可能难逃牢狱之灾。

韩官员:中国制裁韩造船巨头美子公司 影响韩美造船合作

韩国防卫事业厅厅长昔锺健说,中国制裁韩国造船巨头韩华海洋旗下的美国子公司,可能扰乱中国设备与材料的供应,进而影响首尔与华盛顿在造船领域雄心勃勃的合作计划。

综合路透社和韩联社报道,昔锺健星期五(10月17日)在国会听证会上说,中国此举将对美国总统特朗普推动的“让美国造船业再次伟大”(MASGA)计划造成影响。

他说,美国造船业及配套产业长期衰退,使得在本土获得足够的零部件和原材料几乎不可能。“我看不出我们能在美国境内为费城造船厂制造所有材料和设备。如果必须从韩国向美国运送大量物资,而又受到制裁等各种限制,那最终肯定会对MASGA计划造成冲击。”

公司文件显示,韩华海洋在中国山东省设有一家船厂,用于生产船舶模块部件,并将这些模块运往韩国船厂进行最终组装。

此前,韩国承诺投入1500亿美元(1943亿新元)支持MASGA计划,协助美国重振造船业,以缩小与中国的差距。

分析人士认为,中国此举短期内影响有限,但可能预示未来采取更严厉措施,进而波及与美国合作的韩国造船企业。

另一方面,韩国国会国防委员会委员庾龙源(Yu Yong-weon)估计,中国的制裁将在未来两年让费城造船厂损失约6000万美元。他虽未说明具体计算方式,但指供应链中断及船舶交付延迟可能是主要原因。

庾龙源说:“这不仅仅是贸易问题,而是关乎我们经济安全与产业主导地位的严峻挑战。”昔锺健则指出,目前尚无关于具体损失规模的分析资料。

韩华海洋拒绝就损失预估置评,但它的美国子公司韩华美国在声明中指出,正审查中国的制裁细节,并称“韩华将继续为客户提供世界级的海事服务,包括通过我们在美国海事产业的投资,以及费城造船厂的运营。”

美国去年4月援引该国贸易法中的“301条款”,对中国海事、物流和造船业展开调查;今年4月宣布,所有与中国有关联的船只,自10月14日起停靠美国港口须按吨位缴纳费用。此举旨在促进美国造船业发展,并遏制中国造船业的主导地位。

中国商务部发言人星期二(14日)在官网公告,为反制美国301调查措施,经国家反外国制裁工作协调机制批准,决定将韩华海洋旗下五家美国子公司列入反制清单。公告指这些子公司“协助、支持美国政府对中国海事、物流和造船业开展301调查并采取措施。”

美国国务院发言人星期五(17日)说,“中国针对韩华的做法,是干预私人企业运营的不负责任之举,并破坏为重振美国船舶制造行业的美韩合作。中国的行为是它们长期胁迫韩国的最新范例”。

Zelensky guarded on Tomahawk missile talks with Trump after White House meeting

Getty Images Donald Trump shakes Volydmyr Zelensky's handGetty Images

President Volodymyr Zelensky appears to have come away empty-handed from a White House meeting after US President Donald Trump indicated he was not ready to supply sought-after Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine.

Zelensky said after the cordial bilateral that he and Trump had talked about long-range missiles, but decided not to make statements on that issue "because the United States does not want an escalation".

Following the meeting, Trump took to social media to call for Kyiv and Moscow to "stop where they are" and end the war.

The Trump-Zelensky meeting came a day after Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin and agreed to meet him in Hungary soon.

While Trump did not rule out supplying Tomahawks to Ukraine, his tone at the White House on Friday was non-committal.

"Hopefully they won't need it, hopefully we'll be able to get the war over without thinking about Tomahawks," the US president said, adding that America needed the weapons.

Trump said sending the missiles would be "an escalation, but we'll be talking about it".

Asked by the BBC if the Tomahawks had prompted Putin to meet Trump, the US president said: "The threat of that [the missiles] is good, but the threat of that is always there."

Trump tells BBC Putin 'wants to make a deal', cites threat of Tomahawks

The Ukrainian leader suggested Ukraine could offer drones in exchange for the Tomahawks, prompting smiles and nodding from Trump.

Zelensky also complimented Trump on his role in securing a peace deal in the Middle East, suggesting the US leader could build on that momentum to help end Russia's war in Ukraine.

Outside afterwards, Zelensky was asked by a reporter if he thought Putin wanted a deal or was just buying time with the planned meeting with Trump in Budapest.

"I don't know," he said, adding that the prospect of Ukraine having Tomahawks had caused Russia to be "afraid because it is a strong weapon".

Asked if he was leaving Washington more optimistic that Ukraine would get the Tomahawks, he said: "I am realistic."

Zelensky believes using Tomahawks to strike at Russian oil and energy facilities would severely weaken Putin's war economy.

In recent days, Trump had shown an openness to the idea of selling the Tomahawks, although Putin warned that such a move would further strain the US-Russian relationship.

On Thursday, Trump said "great progress" was made during a phone call with Putin, with the pair agreeing to face-to-face talks soon in Hungary.

Asked whether Zelensky would be involved in those talks, Trump said before his meeting sitting alongside the Ukrainian president that there was "bad blood" between Putin and Zelenksy.

"We want to make it comfortable for everybody," he said. "We'll be involved in threes, but it may be separated." He added that the three leaders "have to get together".

Watch: BBC Ukrainian asks Trump about upcoming meeting with Putin

Trump said his call, the first with Putin since mid-August, was "very productive", adding that teams from Washington and Moscow would meet next week.

Trump had hoped a face-to-face summit in Alaska in August would help convince Putin to enter into comprehensive peace talks to end the war, but that meeting failed to produce a decisive breakthrough.

They spoke again days later when Trump interrupted a meeting with Zelensky and European leaders to call Putin.

Back in Ukraine, the BBC spoke on Friday to a couple repairing the small store they own in a suburb of Kyiv, after it was obliterated by Russian missiles last month.

When the store-owner, Volodymyr, was asked about Trump's forthcoming summit meeting with Putin, he began to say: "We appreciate all support".

But he stepped away as tears welled up in his eyes. After a long pause, he composed himself and started again.

"Truth and democracy will win, and all the terrorism and evil will disappear," he said. "We just want to live, we don't want to give up, we just want them to leave us alone."

'Have a great life!' Trump orders prison release of disgraced ex-lawmaker Santos

Getty Images George Santos wearing a suit and sunglassesGetty Images

US President Donald Trump has commuted the sentence of George Santos, a former Republican congressman serving seven years in prison for fraud and identify theft, ordering his immediate release.

In a post on social media, Trump said Santos "has been horribly mistreated", adding: "Therefore, I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY. Good luck George, have a great life!"

The former lawmaker was only the sixth in US history to be expelled from Congress, after a damning ethics report in 2023.

Santos, who admitted to stealing the identities of 11 people - including family members, is currently serving his sentence at a minimum-security jail in New Jersey.

In April when Santos was sentenced a judge told him: "You got elected with your words, most of which were lies."

He reportedly cried in court and begged for forgiveness, saying: "I cannot rewrite the past, but I can control the road ahead."

Prosecutors argued that the novice politician had lied about his background and misused campaign funds to finance his lifestyle.

In his post, Trump justified the move by criticising a Democratic lawmaker, Senator Richard Blumenthal, whom he accused of fabricating his US military service.

"This is far worse than what George Santos did, and at least Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!" Trump wrote.

Trump has previously called for an investigation into Blumenthal over the claim. The Democrat has acknowledged that he misspoke on numerous occasions about his time in the military, but has said the mishaps were more than a decade old.

"This allegation of 15 years ago has been really rejected by the voters of Connecticut three times, overwhelmingly reelecting me," Blumenthal told CNN earlier this month.

A lawyer for Santos told the Associated Press that it remains unclear when his client would be released.

"The defence team applauds President Trump for doing the right thing," said Andrew Mancilla.

"The sentence was far too long."

Santos's downfall began after the New York Times in 2022 published an investigation revealing the freshman congressman had lied about his CV, including having a university degree and working for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.

From there, the lies continued to pile up, including allegations that he stole money from a fundraiser for a dying dog and that he lied about his mother surviving the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Shortly afterwards, local and federal officials began to investigate.

He was eventually charged with 23 federal felony crimes, and in 2023 he became the first expelled member of Congress in more than 20 years, and only the sixth in history.

A report from the House ethics panel accused him of misusing campaign funds for personal benefits, including Botox and subscriptions on the OnlyFans website.

Santos defeated a Democratic incumbent in 2022, flipping the district that encompasses parts of New York's Long Island and Queens, where he grew up.

Earlier this week, Santos published an open letter to Trump in the South Shore Press newspaper in Long Island, repeating his plea to be pardoned.

The letter, which was titled a "passionate plea to President Trump" asked for "the opportunity to return to my family, my friends, and my community."

He wrote that he had been kept in solitary confinement after a death threat in August, and apologised for his actions.

"Mr President, I am not asking for sympathy. I am asking for fairness - for the chance to rebuild," he wrote.

"I know I have made mistakes in my past. I have faced my share of consequences, and I take full responsibility for my actions.

"But no man, no matter his flaws, deserves to be lost in the system, forgotten and unseen, enduring punishment far beyond what justice requires."

Trump has issued pardons to at least two other former Republican lawmakers since re-taking office in January.

In May, he pardoned former congressman Michael Grimm, who pleaded guilty in 2014 to tax crimes.

He also pardoned former Connecticut Governor John Rowland, who pleaded guilty in 2004 to corruption and fraud charges.

The Papers: 'Andrew gives up titles' and 'Banned old Duke of York'

The headline on the front page of the Times reads: "Andrew gives up titles."
Most papers lead with Prince Andrew giving up his titles, including the Duke of York. The Times writes that the decision marks a "fall from grace" over his links to the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and alleged links to a Chinese spy.
The headline on the front page of Daily Express reads: "Andrew: I will no longer use Duke of York title."
Prince Andrew will retain the title of a prince because, as the son of a monarch, it is his "birthright", the Daily Express reports. His former wife Sarah Ferguson will no longer be the Duchess of York.
The headline on the front page of Daily Telegraph reads: "Andrew forced to give up royal titles."
In his statement, Prince Andrew wrote that he had agreed to stop using his titles because he had "always put my duty to my family and country first", the Daily Telegraph reports. King Charles III is said to be "glad" about the outcome, the paper reports.
The headline on the front page of the Daily Mail reads: "Andrew falls on his sword."
"Andrew falls on his sword" is the headline for the Daily Mail, which reports that Prince Andrew's decision came after "intense pressure" from the King. The prince will also be stepping down from membership of the Order of the Garter, which the paper describes as the country's "most ancient order of chivalry".
The headline on the front page of the Daily Star reads: "Banned old Duke of York".
"Banned old Duke of York" is the Daily Star's take. The paper says reports suggest the decision comes after the King reached "tipping point" over Prince Andrew's involvement with Epstein.
The headline on the front page of the Sun reads: "Banned old Duke of York".
The Sun also splashes its front page with the same headline, reporting that the Prince of Wales was also involved in telling Prince Andrew to give up his titles.
The headline on the front page of i weekend reads: "Palace forces Andrew to give up his titles and sends him into exile".
The i weekend says that while Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson will lose their titles, their daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie are unaffected. The paper reports that despite the move, a private lease agreement with the Crown Estate means the prince can stay in residence at Royal Lodge in Windsor.
The headline on the front page of the Financial Times reads: "Missile moves Zelensky in plea to Trump".
The Financial Times leads with the latest meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss ending the Ukraine war. It marks the pair's third meeting this year and comes a day after Trump held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The paper reports that Zelensky appealed to Trump to provide Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, saying the US leader "now has a big chance to finish this war".
The headline on the front page of the Guardian reads: "'We can't leave welfare untouched, says Reeves'".
Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she "can't leave welfare untouched" as the Treasury is considering axing up to £1bn in tax breaks for cars for disabled people, reports the Guardian. When asked about benefits, the paper quotes an interview Reeves gave to Channel 4 on Friday, saying, "We have to do reform in the right way and take people with us".
The headline on the front page of the Daily Mirror reads: "Gazza: I just can't give up boozing".
Finally, the Daily Mirror teases an exclusive interview with former England footballer Paul Gascoigne on his struggle with alcohol addiction.
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'Only sport we watch': Grand Sumo comes to London as search for fans beyond Japan pays off

Getty Images A view of the Royal Albert Hall, showing the crowds surrounding the ring, which has two sumos fighting in it, with the judge looking over them. Above that is the temple roof, which has tassles hanging down, and above that is the circular LED screen which has the match playing on itGetty Images
The ring sits in the centre of the hall, with a temple roof suspended above it, and a round LED screen above that

There are not many sports that can keep an audience enraptured through 45 minutes of ceremony before the first point is even contested.

And yet, the intricate traditions unfolding in a small clay ring - virtually unchanged in hundreds of years - managed to do just that.

Welcome, then, to the Grand Sumo Tournament - a five-day event at the Royal Albert Hall featuring 40 of the very best sumo wrestlers showcasing a sport which can date its first mention back to 23BC.

London's Victorian concert venue has been utterly transformed, complete with six-tonne Japanese temple roof suspended above the ring.

It is here the wrestlers, known as rikishi, will perform their leg stomps to drive away evil spirits, and where they will clap to get the attention of the gods.

And above all this ancient ceremony, a giant, revolving LED screen which wouldn't look out of place at an American basketball game, offering the audience all the stats and replays they could want.

Sumo may be ancient, and may have strict rules governing every aspect of a rikishi's conduct, but it still exists in a modern world.

And that modern world is helping spread sumo far beyond Japan's borders.

Getty Images Hoshoryu throws salt during day one of The Grand Sumo Tournament at Royal Albert HallGetty Images
Throwing salt, like Hoshoryu here, helps purify the ring ahead of the bout

It was a "random video" which first caught Sian Spencer's attention a couple of years ago.

This was quickly followed by the discovery of dedicated YouTube channels for a couple of the sumo stables, where rikishi live and train, waking up early to practice, followed by a high protein stew called a chankonabe, and then an afternoon nap - all in the service of bulking up.

Then she discovered the bi-monthly, 15 day championships, known as basho, and from there, she was hooked.

The London tournament was simply a "once-in-a-lifetime", not-to-be-missed, opportunity to see it all in real life, the 35-year-old says.

Flora Drury/BBC Sian, wearing a black top with long blonde hair and glasses, stands with Luke, wearing a plaid shirt and a skull t-shirt, in front of a picture above an entrance door showing a sumo wrestler staring into the cameraFlora Drury/BBC
Sian Spencer and Luke May travelled to London for the event

Julia and her partner Cezar, who live in Edinburgh, discovered sumo through a more traditional route: a trip to Japan six years ago.

"We saw it as a very touristy activity, but we actually ended up loving the sport," says Julia, 34.

"From there on, we tried to find communities, information, just to learn more and more about it," Cezar, 36, adds.

Colleagues, friends and family, they found, could be quite taken aback by their new passion.

"It's the only sport we watch," explains Julia - so they found like-minded people on messaging apps like Telegram.

"We found Italian groups, English groups," says Julia.

"Outside of Japan, online is the only way to interact with the sport," adds Cezar.

Going to Japan is almost the only way to see a top-flight sumo tournament.

This week's event in London is only the second time the tournament has visited the city - the first time was in 1991 - while the last overseas trip was to Jakarta in 2013.

But even going to Japan isn't a guarantee of getting a seat. Last year was the first time in 24 years that all six of the bi-monthly, 15-day events had sold out in 28 years, Kyodo News reported - fueled by interest at home, and by the tourist boom which saw more than 36m foreigners visit in 2024.

So for many, the London tournament is the first time they have watched sumo in person - and it doesn't disapoint.

"Seeing it up close, you get a sense of the speed and the power which you don't get on TV. It was incredible," says Caspar Eliot, a 36-year-old fan from London. "They are so big."

To win, one man needs to push another out of the ring or to the ground using brute strength. The majority use one of two styles to achieve this, often in split seconds - pushing, or grappling.

Either way, the sound of the two rikishi colliding in the first moment of the match reverberates around the hall.

Getty Images Onosato peforms his ring entry ceremony during day one of The Grand Sumo Tournament at Royal Albert Hall on October 15, 2025 in London, England.Getty Images
Yokozuna Onosato performs rituals before the bout
Getty Images Rikishi walk into the arena during day two of The Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert HallGetty Images
For many fans, this was the first time witnessing the speed and power of the rikishi
PA Sumo wrestlers, also known as Rikishi, during the opening ceremony on day twoPA
The rikishi all wear elaborate aprons known as kesho-mawashi during the entering ceremony
AFP via Getty Images Tamawashi (R) battles with Kinbozan (L) during a battle on day 2 of the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in central LondonAFP via Getty Images
The fights are not sorted by weight, which means a rikishi can come up against someone 40kg (7.8 stone) or more heavier than him

Caspar and his wife Megha Okhai had been among those lucky enough to get tickets when they visited Japan last year - only for them not to arrive in the post in time.

It didn't stop them falling head over heels, however, and they have watched every basho this year. So when it came to the London Grand Sumo Tournament, they weren't taking chances.

"I think we had four devices trying to book tickets," Caspar tells the BBC ahead of the event, displaying his sumo towels proudly - a must for diehard fans. "We got front row seats, on the cushions."

The cushions right next to the ring are of course highly prized - but also, a bit risky.

On Thursday, it was all 181kg and 191cm of Shonannoumi which went plummeting into the crowd - perhaps making those in the slightly cheaper seats breathe a sigh of relief.

PA Media Tokihayate and Shonannoumi in the Makuuchi Division bout against Kotoeiho on day two of the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall, LondonPA Media
Thursday's bout between Tokihayate and Shonannoumi resulted in both men falling into the audience below
PA Media Tokihayate and Shonannoumi in the Makuuchi Division bout against Kotoeiho on day two of the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall, LondonPA Media
The two weigh a combined 320kg
AFP via Getty Images Top shot of Hakuoho facing Oho during their bout on day 2 of the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in central LondonAFP via Getty Images
A six-tonne Japanese temple roof hangs over the ring

Of course, the size of the rikishi is one of the first things most people think of when they think of sumo. The Albert Hall's director of programming revealed to The Guardian earlier this week that they "had to source and buy new chairs which can take up to 200kg in weight".

But sumo - for all its sell-out events - is not without its troubles behind the scenes. A series of scandals over the last couple of decades around bullying, match fixing and sexism have dented its image.

And then there is the fact that last year - while being a bumper one for ticket sales - saw the lowest number of new recruits joining the stables.

Perhaps the strict life of a rikishi doesn't look as appealing as it once might have. Its popularity among young Japanese is also being threatened by other sports, like baseball. As Thomas Fabbri, the BBC's resident sumo fan, said: "My Japanese friends think I'm mad, as they see it as a sport for old people."

Japan's falling birthrate will also not help - nor is the Japanese Sumo Association's rule which restricts each stable to just one foreign rikishi. Despite this, Mongolians have dominated for the past few years - and one of the most exciting rising stars hails from Ukraine.

Dan Milne-Morey, Megha Okhai and Caspar Eliot with a few of their sumo towels - which represent their favourite rikishi
Dan Milne-Morey, Megha Okhai and Caspar Eliot with a few of their sumo towels - which represent their favourite rikishi

Not that any of this has worried fans in London.

"Seeing all this ritual and ceremony that goes with sumo is quite special," fan Sian says. "Now, seeing it in person, you feel like you are more part of it."

Julia and Cesar agree in a message the next day.

"It's a Japanese sport but we didn't feel out of place, so many people from all around the world around us."

For Megha, the drama "made it so incredible" - as did meeting the other fans.

"Getting out of a very niche Reddit community and being able to see all these sumo fans in person and being able to chat with other people who are just as into this as we are - it was worth every penny of sumo gold."

Additonal reporting by Thomas Fabbri

Want to watch? Audiences can tune in via BBC iPlayer, the BBC Red Button, the BBC Sport website and app.

为什么人心总是难满足?

KelleyV9:

不出意外的又和老婆吵架了 虽迟但到。每个月因为钱的事。分配比例 0.38 ,0.38 0.24 。

因为要还信用卡买了 iphone17 ,实际分配给到的金额是 5000 (包含小孩抚养费 1500 在里头)。每个月都在吵钱分配少了,可是按比例分配也是减去固定开支+还了信用卡之后的可分配金额才算做是可分配的钱啊,我真的累了!也想就这样算了。可是到下决定很难!

体验 2 天 Android(vivo X300 Pro),说说与 iOS 相比优缺点

CNN:

完爆 iPhone

  1. 蜂窝数据:iPhone 电梯无信号,vivo 有且能刷视频
  2. Wi-Fi:vivo 测速 980Mbps ( iPhone 940Mbps ),距离远一点 vivo 没啥影响( iPhone 降一半)
  3. 拍照
  4. 快充
  5. 全局侧边返回
  6. 截屏,三指下滑且编辑也方便
  7. 超声波指纹
  8. AI
  9. 应用双开

小爆 iPhone

  1. 屏幕双击息屏
  2. 文件夹无需进入二级菜单直接打开 App
  3. vivo 办公套件里镜像比 iPhone 镜像体验更好
  4. 极少杀后台

缺点

  1. 安卓 App 内触摸不灵敏,常遇到重复点按(这一点是体验最差的)
  2. 安卓 App UI 巨丑,很多“山寨味”
  3. 安卓 App 交互逻辑不佳,TG 就是典型的例子
  4. 安卓 App 体验不佳,例如抖音需上滑很大距离才会显示下一个视频
  5. 高刷选自适应,偶尔遇到掉帧
  6. 无生态
  7. 关闭 App 权限后依旧会弹出 2-3 次“确认”提示
  8. 录视频画质不如 iPhone ,这方便 iPhone 神级存在
  9. 各种反诈设置;各种隐藏很深的广告需要关闭,有些还无法关闭

总结:安卓的优点 iPhone 可以忍,但安卓的缺点 iPhone 忍不了。非必要不要入坑安卓,果子全家桶 yyds!

2025 人工智能报告出炉:万亿牌桌、中美对决、打工人饭碗还好吗?

chenguangwei:

《 2025 年人工智能报告》 来了!这份由 Nathan Benaich 和 Air Street Capital 出品的报告,就像是 AI 界的“年终总结”。

内容特别详尽,原文 313 页,里面写了关于 2025 年 AI 一年在 研究 | ⾏业 | 政治 | 安全 | 调查 | 预测 等维度的分析。 通过此报告大家可以详尽了解 AI 各个维度的现状。

里面提到了 AI 对各行业的冲击现状:报告里面也给出了一个不太乐观的信号——入门级岗位正在被挤压。特别是在软件和客户支持领域,年轻人的就业增长停滞。虽然有经验的资深员工暂时安全,但 AI 正在让“新手村”变得越来越难进。

为了方便大家查看,我转写了一个双语版本,626 页,内容特别详细,

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/N7LW0RdgDs5MAjvP-Eow_Q

大家想获取的,关注公众号 [一路同行 AI+] 后回复:"2025 年人工智能报告" 可获取到原版和双语版。

「张飞吃豆芽」一键原创或者改写热门文章, ComfyUI 自动配图,搞钱更方便了

gmuubyssss: 之前发过一个 AI 写作工具的帖子,收到了不少反馈。这几天我又给他更新了

不知道怎么无限薅 gemini api 羊毛的,先看 https://dashen.wang/8443.html

https://v2ex.com/t/1165245?p=1#reply39


✨ 升级后的核心玩法:

* ✍️ 一键改写与原创:这是本次最大的更新。你不仅能根据标题从零开始写,现在还可以直接丢一篇现成的文章进来,让 AI 帮你深度改写、扩写或润色,秒变一篇“原创”文章。

* 🎨 AI 智能配图:改写文章的同时,配图也全自动。它会根据新生成的内容,智能匹配图片。
* 打通了 ComfyUI:可以直接调用你本地的 Stable Diffusion 生成独一无二的 AI 图片作为文章配图。
* 也支持公共图库:懒人模式下,自动从 Unsplash 、Pexels 等图库抓取高质量配图。




* 📝 风格随心定制:内置了强大的 Prompt 模板,你可以轻松调教 AI 的改写力度和风格。想让文章更“知乎”还是更“小红书”?你说了算。

* 📄 一键导出 Word:所有内容(包括改写后的文章和新配的图片)都会自动排版,生成 .docx 文件,方便你检查和发布。


* 🔐 开源 & 本地运行:代码完全开源,所有东西都在你自己的电脑上跑。API Key 和你的文章内容都保存在本地,绝对安全。

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💰 全新的“赚外快”流程:

1. 寻找素材:去各大平台(知乎、公众号、头条)找一篇你觉得不错的、有流量潜力的文章。
2. 复制内容:把这篇文章的全部内容复制下来。
3. 一键改写:粘贴到「张飞吃豆芽」的输入框里。然后 AI 会自动改写或者根据标题原创文章,如果用 gemini-2.5-pro 还可以搜索最新的资料补充到文章里。
4. 挂机等待:启动任务,程序会自动完成改写 + 配图的全过程。
5. 发布赚钱:拿到 50 篇看起来全新、但核心观点不变的高质量文章,稍微检查一下(我从来不检查)就可以发布到你自己的自媒体账号上,坐等流量收益。

这个流程比之前单纯根据标题创作要高效得多,因为有原文打底,生成的内容质量和方向都更有保障。加入了 AI 配图,配三张图更容易被推荐。

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项目地址在这里,新功能刚上,热乎的,求个 Star 支持一下!

GitHub: https://github.com/cat9999aaa/zhangfei-eat-douya

用谷歌手机搭配 syncthing 备份照片有些小 bug~特来问一下

afkool: 小米(仅发送)
windows(接收和发送)
pixel (仅接受)

备份完以后,pixel 上传去谷歌相册,选择清理原图,然后 windows 上 syncthing 的进度会变成非 100%(比如 30%之类的)
pixel 上面就会提示一个覆盖本地修改
倒是不影响使用,但是一旦重启好像会重复写入?
是通过忽略规则搞还是?

这个如何解决啊?

要不要买个二手 iPad 打 FaceTime

hertzry: 小弟主力机是 se3 ,现在电池快不行了。秉承花费最少的原则,现在能想到的改善方法:

1. 手机卖了换个电池好一点的 se3 ,还是有一点烫,也考虑过官方换电池,没有自己换是因为出二手会贬值;
2. 买一台 mini5 ,爱回收电池 90+将近 800 ,A12 不知道还行不行,只打视频别的都不干;
3. 买个 mini6 ,性能好但是贵一倍,但是只打视频是不是浪费性能。

老哥们有没有别的好主意呢?

做了个小程序,想问下如何能快速的开通流量主

Jay628:

因为平时找素材可能会上抖音、小红书平台下载,以往都是去小程序搜去水印工具.

后来想想,反正有开源代码可以用,不如自己写点小程序代码自己做一个程序自己用,目前是完全免费的,如果能开通流量主还能赚点广告费之类。

以后也想着能不能裂变更多小程序出来,但是是第一次做,不知道流量主开通需要条件,有没有实践过的大佬可以给小弟支支招,感谢了

八小时工作制度对大企业的盈利至关重要

vasto:

这还不是因为它们的工人在八小时内做了更多工作。实际上,工人的平均实际有效工作时间还不到每天三小时。但八小时工作制度带来的是一个庞大的“追求消费”的群体。

工人必须花钱在很多能够节约 TA 们时间的便利性消费上,否则 TA 们的时间就不够用。剩下的钱,也不得不“自然”花费在能够在痛苦的工作之中带给 TA 们短暂快乐或短暂缓解的事项上。

没有时间又很痛苦,于是零碎的时间被用来看电视,但看电视就又等于是看了广告给电台免费打工让电台获得广告收入。而且,消耗殆尽的工人完全没有办法工作之外寻找人生的意义或者反抗那个让自己消耗殆尽的工作。

我们进入了一种让人疲惫不堪只能付钱寻求短暂快乐的文化,每个人都有所隐隐不满,但对这些不满究竟是什么又毫无头绪也无力思考,所以很自然的选择就是用买买买来填补这些不满。但买买买又不能真的填补这些不满,于是只能继续买。

'It's scary to think I could have died': How Americans are coming back from fentanyl addiction

Tim Mansel Kayla smiles for the cameraTim Mansel
Kayla says she became "instantly addicted" to fentanyl as a teenager

Kayla first tried fentanyl as a troubled 18-year-old, growing up in the US state of North Carolina.

"I felt like literally amazing. The voices in my head just completely went silent. I got instantly addicted," she remembers.

The little blue pills Kayla became hooked on were probably made in Mexico, and then smuggled across the border to the US - a deadly trade President Donald Trump is trying to crack down on.

But drug cartels aren't pharmacists. So, Kayla never knew how much fentanyl was in the pill she was taking. Would there be enough of the synthetic opioid to kill her?

"It's scary to think about that," Kayla says, reflecting on how she could have overdosed and died at any moment.

In 2023, there were over 110,000 drug-related deaths in the US. The march of fentanyl, which is 50 times more potent than heroin, seemed unstoppable.

But then came a staggering turnaround.

In 2024, the number of fatal overdoses across the US fell by around 25%. That's nearly 30,000 fewer deaths – dozens of lives saved every day. Kayla's state, North Carolina, is at the forefront of that trend.

Why fatal overdoses have fallen so sharply

One of the explanations is a commitment to harm reduction. This means promoting policies that prioritise drug users' health and wellbeing rather than criminalising people - a recognition that in an era of fentanyl, drug-taking too often ends with death by overdose.

In North Carolina, where Kayla still lives, and where overdose fatalities are currently down by an impressive 35%, harm reduction strategies are well-developed.

Kayla no longer takes street drugs. And she's a client of an innovative law enforcement assisted diversion (LEAD) programme in Fayetteville. It's a partnership between the town's police and the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition. Together, they work to divert substance users away from crime, and get them on the road to recovery.

Tim Mansel Ly Jamaal Littlejohn poses in front of a police carTim Mansel
Lt Jamaal Littlejohn watched his own sister deal with substance use disorder

"If someone's stealing from a grocery store, we run their criminal history. And often we see that the crimes they're committing appear to fund the addiction they have," says Lt Jamaal Littlejohn.

This might make them a candidate for the LEAD programme, meaning they can get support to tackle their addiction, and can start thinking about secure housing and employment.

The proponents of LEAD say it isn't about being soft on crime. Drug dealers still go to prison in Fayetteville. "But if we can get people the services they need, it gives law enforcement more time to deal with bigger crimes," argues Lt Littlejohn, who watched his own sister struggle with a substance use disorder.

Kayla has blossomed. She's such a long way now from the days when she used prostitution to fund her fentanyl habit. As part of the LEAD process, her criminal record has been wiped. She recently graduated as a certified nurse assistant, and is now working in a residential home.

"It's like the best thing ever. This is the longest time I've been clean," she says.

Critical to Kayla's recovery has been treatment. She's been taking methadone for nearly a year when she tells her story to the BBC. "It's keeping me from going back," she believes.

Methadone and buprenorphine are medications used to treat opioid use disorder. They stem cravings and stop painful withdrawal. Nationwide, treatment has played a role in puncturing the overdose fatality statistics.

In North Carolina, it's been a game-changer: more than 30,000 people were enrolled in a programme in 2024, with numbers climbing in 2025.

'You're still playing Russian roulette, but your odds improve'

Tim Mansel A worker sits behind a reception window at a clinic. Printed notices adorn the surrounding wallTim Mansel
This Morse Clinic experiences its busiest time soon after 05:30

At 09:00 at one of the Morse Clinics in the state capital of Raleigh, two or three people wait their turn in reception.

"The busiest time is 5.30am to 7am, so before work," says Dr Eric Morse, an addiction psychiatrist running nine clinics offering medication assisted treatment (MAT) in North Carolina. "Most of our folks are working - once they're sober, they show up to work on time every day."

The clinic runs a finely-tuned operation. After patients check in, they're called to a dosing window to receive their prescription. They're in and out in minutes.

They'll randomly be drug tested for illicit narcotics. Dr Morse says around half his patients are still testing positive for opioids bought on the street, but he doesn't see this as failure.

"Maybe you're using once a week and you're used to using three times a day… You're still playing Russian roulette with fentanyl but you've taken a whole bunch of bullets out of the chamber, so your survival rate goes up significantly," says Dr Morse.

This is harm reduction. So rather than be expelled from the treatment programme, patients who get a positive drug test are given extra support and counselling. Dr Morse says 80-90% will eventually stop using street drugs altogether. And in time, many will taper off their medication too.

The abstinence debate

Tim Mansel Mark Pless speaks to the BBCTim Mansel

Not everyone thinks this is the right approach.

Mark Pless is a Republican who sits in North Carolina's state House of Representatives, and used to be a full-time paramedic. He points out that illegal drug-taking starts with a choice.

And he doesn't believe in harm reduction. In particular he's against treating opioid use disorder with medications like methadone or buprenorphine.

"You're replacing an addictive product with another addictive product," he says. "If you have to take it in order to stay clean, it's still addictive. We've got to figure out how to get people to where they can do better – we can't leave them on drugs forever."

He favours abstinence treatment programmes, when drug users go "cold turkey".

But there's pushback from health professionals in North Carolina.

"I believe there are multiple paths to recovery," says Dr Morse. "I'm not pooh-poohing abstinence-based treatment - except when you look at the medical evidence."

Dr Morse references a Yale University study from 2023 analysing the risk of death for opioid users in a treatment programme compared to people not in treatment. The study suggested that someone in abstinence treatment was as likely - or more more likely - to have a fatal overdose as a person who wasn't in treatment and was continuing to use street opioids like fentanyl.

Treatment aside, another drug is helping.

Naloxone is widely available, and used as a nasal spray it reverses the effect of an opioid overdose, helping someone breathe again. In North Carolina in 2024, it was administered more than 16,000 times. That's potentially 16,000 lives saved – and these are only the overdose reversals that have been reported.

"This is as close to a miracle drug as we can ever imagine," says Dr Nabarun Dasgupta, a scientist specialising in street drugs at the University of North Carolina.

Tim Mansel Dr Nabarun DasguptaTim Mansel
Dr Nabarun Dasgupta hails the benefits of naloxone

Many users of narcotics like cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin want to know that what they're taking won't kill them. Some people use test-strips to check for fentanyl, because they know it's been implicated in so many fatal overdoses.

But the strips don't identify all potentially harmful substances. Dr Dasgupta runs a national drugs-testing laboratory. Users send him a tiny bit of their drug supply via local non-profit organisations.

"We've analysed close to 14,000 samples from 43 states over the last three years," he says.

A generational shift

Testing drugs for potentially dangerous additives is an additional weapon in the harm reduction armoury. Dr Dasgupta believes another reason for decreasing overdose fatalities in the US is that young people are avoiding opioids like fentanyl.

"We see a demographic shift. Generation Z are dying of overdose much less frequently than their parents or their grandparents' generations were at the same age," he says.

Dr Dasgupta isn't entirely surprised 20-somethings are steering clear of opioids. A shocking four out of 10 American adults know someone whose life has been ended by an overdose.

It was this epidemic of death, set in train in the 1990s by prescription opioids, that motivated North Carolina's former attorney general - now the state governor - to move against powerful corporations benefitting from so many Americans' dark spiral down into addiction.

Josh Stein picked up the phone to his counterparts in other states, and took a leading role in co-ordinating legal action against opioid manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

Tim Mansel Josh Stein speaks to the BBCTim Mansel
North Carolina Governor Josh Stein took a leading role in co-ordinating legal action against opioid manufacturers

"There was a Republican attorney general in Tennessee, I'm Democrat in North Carolina… But we're all caring about our people and we're all willing to fight for them," Stein reflects.

The upshot, after years of intense negotiations, was an Opioid Settlement totalling some $60bn (£45bn). This is money that huge companies have agreed to pay to US states, to be used for the "abatement of the opioid epidemic". North Carolina's share is around $1.5bn.

"It has to be spent in four ways – drug prevention, treatment, recovery, or harm reduction. I think it's transformative," says Governor Stein.

Meanwhile, funding from the national government is uncertain. The cuts to Medicaid included in President Trump's One Big, Beautiful Bill Act could have a tremendous impact on this area.

In the Morse Clinics in Raleigh, 70% of patients depend on Medicaid. If they lose health insurance, will they end treatment and become more vulnerable to death by overdose? Although North Carolina's drug fatality statistics look optimistic, thousands of people are still dying - and the state's black, indigenous and non-white populations haven't experienced the same rates of decrease.

And there remain other states that have witnessed a stubbornly slower rate of decrease in lethal overdoses - including Nevada and Arizona.

Tim Mansel Charlton Roberson speaks to the BBCTim Mansel
Kayla credits Charlton Roberson, her mentor at North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition, with being instrumental in her recovery

No one is complacent. Least of all Kayla.

In the grip of fentanyl for three long years, she never overdosed herself, but she did have to save her friends. Kayla's parents didn't know what to do with her.

"They kind of gave up on me - they thought I was gonna be dead," she remembers.

Kayla credits Charlton Roberson, her harm reduction mentor, as being instrumental in her recovery. Her aim now is to taper off methadone and become medication- and drug-free. She also wants to find a job in a hospital.

"I feel more alive than I ever did when I was using fentanyl," she says.

If you've been affected by the issues in this story, help and support is available via the BBC Action Line.

Mystery heatwave warms Pacific Ocean to new record

Kevin Carter/Getty Images  In an aerial view, people celebrate the Fourth of July along the coast of La Jolla's Windansea Beach on a warm summer day on July 4, 2023 in San Diego, CaliforniaKevin Carter/Getty Images
People head to the coast in San Diego on a hot summer's day

The waters of the north Pacific have had their warmest summer on record, according to BBC analysis of a mysterious marine heatwave that has confounded climate scientists.

Sea surface temperatures between July and September were more than 0.25C above the previous high of 2022 - a big increase across an area roughly ten times the size of the Mediterranean.

While climate change is known to make marine heatwaves more likely, scientists are struggling to explain why the north Pacific has been so hot for so long.

But all this extra heat in the so-called "warm blob" may have the opposite effect in the UK, possibly making a colder start to winter more likely, some researchers believe.

"There's definitely something unusual going on in the north Pacific," said Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at Berkeley Earth, a research group in the US.

Such a jump in temperatures across a region so large is "quite remarkable", he added.

The BBC analysed data from the European Copernicus climate service to calculate average temperatures between July and September across a large area of the north Pacific, sometimes known as the "warm blob".

The region extends from the east coast of Asia to the west coast of North America, the same area used in previous scientific studies.

The figures show that not only has the region been warming quickly over the past couple of decades, but 2025 is markedly higher than recent years too.

Line graph showing average sea surface temperatures across the north Pacific between July and September, each year since 1940. There is lots of variability from year to year, but temperatures have generally been going up this century. Temperatures this year are far above any previously recorded level.

That the seas are getting hotter is no surprise. Global warming, caused by humanity's emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases, has already trebled the number of days of extreme heat in oceans globally, according to research published earlier this year.

But temperatures have been even higher than most climate models - computer simulations taking into account humanity's carbon emissions - had predicted.

Analysis of these models by the Berkeley Earth group suggests that sea temperatures observed across the north Pacific in August had less than a 1% chance of occurring in any single year.

Natural weather variability is thought to be part of the reason. This summer has seen weaker-than-usual winds, for example. That means more heat from the summer sunshine can stay in the sea surface, rather than being mixed with cooler waters below.

But this can only go so far in explaining the exceptional conditions, according to Dr Hausfather.

"It certainly is not just natural variability," he said. "There's something else going on here as well."

Three maps showing sea surface temperatures in July, August and September in the north Pacific, which is marked by a box. Temperatures are unusually warm across almost the entire region in each month, marked by oranges and dark reds.

One intriguing idea is that a recent change to shipping fuels might be contributing to the warming. Prior to 2020, dirty engine oil produced large amounts of sulphur dioxide, a gas harmful to human health.

But that sulphur also formed tiny, Sun-reflecting particles in the atmosphere, known as aerosols, which helped to keep a lid on rising temperatures.

So removing that cooling effect in shipping hotspots like the north Pacific could be revealing the full impact of human-caused warming.

"It does seem like sulphur is the primary candidate for what's driving this warming in the region," said Dr Hausfather.

Other research suggests that efforts to reduce air pollution in Chinese cities has played a role in warming the Pacific too.

That dirty air did a similar job to shipping in reflecting sunlight away, while cleaning it up could have had the unintended consequence of allowing more ocean heating.

Possible impacts for the UK?

The north Pacific's marine heatwave has already had consequences for weather on both sides of the Pacific, likely boosting very high summer temperatures in Japan and South Korea and storms in the US.

"In California, we've seen supercharged thunderstorms because the warm ocean waters in the Pacific provide heat and moisture," said Amanda Maycock, professor in climate dynamics at the University of Leeds.

"In particular, there are things we call atmospheric rivers… bands of air, which contain very high amounts of moisture that fuel themselves from the ocean waters," she added.

"So if we have warm ocean waters… they can then bring a lot of moisture onto the land, which then falls out as rain, or in the wintertime can precipitate out as snow."

Reuters Two women use hand-held fans to cool themselves down. They both have dark hair; the woman on the left is dressed in pink and the woman on the right in blue.Reuters
The intense heat to hit Japan in August was likely amplified by Pacific Ocean heat, researchers say

Long-term weather forecasting is always challenging, but extreme heat in the north Pacific has the potential to affect the UK and Europe in the coming months too.

That's because of relationships between weather in different parts of the world known as teleconnections.

"Although the current warm conditions are located in the north Pacific, these can generate wave motions in the atmosphere that can alter our weather downstream into the north Atlantic and into Europe," said Prof Maycock.

"That can tend to favour high-pressure conditions over the continent, which brings us more of an influence from the Arctic, where we have colder air," she added.

"That can be drawn over Europe and bring us colder weather in early winter."

A colder outcome is by no means certain, as this is a complex area of science. Several other weather patterns also affect UK winters, which are typically getting milder with climate change.

And a warm north Pacific appears to have different effects later in the winter, favouring milder and wetter conditions in some parts of Europe.

Emerging La Niña in the tropical Pacific

Another factor to throw into the mix is what's happening further south in the eastern tropical Pacific.

There, surface waters are unusually cool - a classic sign of the weather phenomenon known as La Niña.

Map showing cooler surface waters, marked in blue, off the west coast of South America in September. They extend out into the Pacific.

La Niña, and its warm sibling El Niño, are natural patterns, although research published this week highlighted that global warming could itself impact the swings between them.

Weak La Niña conditions are expected to persist over the next few months, according to NOAA, the US science agency.

All else being equal, La Niña generally increases the risk of a cold start to winter in the UK, but also brings a higher chance of a mild end, the Met Office says.

"These two drivers in the north and tropical Pacific will be acting together this winter," said Prof Maycock.

"But since the La Niña is quite weak this year, the extreme warmth in the north Pacific could be more important for forecasting the winter ahead."

Additional reporting by Muskeen Liddar and Libby Rogers

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