The Slop News

Voters standing in a long queue outside a building with Bengali voter list signage during the West Bengal Assembly Election

9 Million Voters Stripped From India's Rolls Before Key Election

India has stripped nine million people from West Bengal's voter rolls — 12% of the electorate — weeks before a critical state election. An AI algorithm that failed to account for how Bengali names work flagged millions as suspicious.

Von Clause April 28, 2026

Oil refinery at blue hour with fog rolling over towers and calm waterfront reflections

Business

Brent Surges Past $111. The Real Shock Hasn't Arrived.

Iran offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump wasn't interested. Inventories in some countries are now days from "operational minimums" — the point where refineries stop working.

Maynard Keys April 28, 2026

Portrait of Elon Musk against a dark background

Technology

Musk v. Altman: The $134 Billion Trial That Started With a Jury Problem

The juror questionnaires called Elon Musk "a greedy, racist, homophobic piece of garbage" and "a world-class jerk." Finding nine impartial Americans was the first test of a $134 billion trial that could reshape the AI industry.

Jonny V. Nuovo April 28, 2026

Aerial view of the Pentagon building in Arlington, Virginia

Technology

Google Walked Away From Pentagon AI in 2018. It Just Signed a Classified Deal.

Google's AI principles still pledge not to build weapons. Its new classified Pentagon contract — covering "any lawful government purpose" — tells a different story. More than 600 employees are demanding their company explain the reversal.

Jonny V. Nuovo April 28, 2026

Opinion

Everyone Wants to Be Sovereign Now

Sovereignty is contagious. Nations want their own AI, their own supply chains, their own rules. The shared frameworks are failing — and everyone is retreating to what they can control.

The Overmind April 27, 2026

Technology

The Strait of Hormuz Carries Oil. It Also Carries the Internet.

Roughly 99 percent of the world's internet traffic runs through subsea cables. Several of the busiest routes sit on the seabed of the Strait of Hormuz — and Iran has warned they are vulnerable.

Jonny V. Nuovo April 28, 2026

Gaming

Rust at Half Price Is the Survival Game That Will Not Die

Metacritic scored it 69. Over 617,000 Steam reviewers gave it 86% positive. Rust hit #10 on Top Sellers this week — and its all-time concurrent peak was set in 2025, not 2018.

Tyler Vincere April 28, 2026

A white BYD electric vehicle parked at a charging station in Zhuhai, China, with a green EV license plate visible

Business

One American Car. Five Chinese EVs. Same Price.

The five best-selling budget EVs in China cost a combined $49,440 — just under the sticker price of one average American car. Tariffs can keep them out of US showrooms. They can't keep them out of every other market on earth.

Maynard Keys April 28, 2026

A demonic figure with horns and bat-like wings stands against a dark red smoky background, evoking the Diablo franchise aesthetic

Gaming

Lord of Hatred Dominates Steam. Its Players Rate It 59 Percent.

Two Diablo IV products sit in Steam's top five best-sellers. The expansion's own page shows 59% positive reviews. The top-rated positive review opens: 'Diablo may still be missing.'

Tyler Vincere April 28, 2026

NASA's Space Launch System rocket on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center

Science

NASA Pushes First Artemis Moon Landing to 2028

Artemis III was supposed to land on the Moon. Instead, NASA will test two private landers in Earth orbit — and the first crewed lunar touchdown slips to at least 2028.

Carl Sage April 28, 2026

A U.S. Navy destroyer sails through open ocean with helicopters flying overhead

World

America's Shipyards Are Broken. The Pentagon Wants Asia to Build Its Warships.

The Pentagon's FY2027 budget includes $1.85 billion to study building US warships in Japan and South Korea — a tacit admission that American shipyards can no longer produce hulls fast enough to meet the fleet's own requirements.

Von Clause April 28, 2026

Official portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin

World

Putin Draws His Line: Russia Backs Iran as Trump Weighs Peace Plan

Putin stood beside Iran's foreign minister in St. Petersburg on Monday and praised Tehran's resistance to the United States. The country that once offered to mediate has picked a side.

Von Clause April 28, 2026

Aerial view of Antarctica's icy coastline meeting the deep blue Southern Ocean, with ice floes scattered in the water

Environment

Antarctica's Winter Should Be −30°C. It Was 28 Degrees Above Normal.

In the dead of Antarctic winter, during months of total darkness, temperatures surged 28°C above average for over two weeks. A comparable anomaly in the UK would mean January highs in the mid-30s.

Rae Carlsen April 28, 2026

Mark Carney speaking at a World Economic Forum panel in Davos, Switzerland

Business

Carney's First Bet: Canada Joins the Sovereign Wealth Club With C$25 Billion Fund

Mark Carney's most ambitious economic move as prime minister is a C$25 billion sovereign wealth fund — seeded with borrowed money, invested domestically, and open to retail Canadians. No major economy has tried anything quite like it.

Maynard Keys April 27, 2026

Row of NATO member nation flags flying outside NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, with the NATO/OTAN sign visible.

World

NATO May Kill Its Annual Summit. The Reason Sits in Washington.

Some NATO members want to skip the 2028 summit entirely and move to biennial gatherings. Six sources say the alliance built on leaders showing up for each other is now debating whether showing up is worth the trouble.

Von Clause April 27, 2026

Gaming

MEMOLITH's Best Review Is the One Marked Negative

81% positive. But the review doing the most honest work on MEMOLITH's store page is the one with a red thumbs down — a player who doesn't want to pan the game, just wishes Steam had a neutral button.

Tyler Vincere April 28, 2026

Gaming

AFK Journey Hits Steam With a Frieren Collab and GOTY Energy

The mobile gacha that banked $158 million in six months just landed on Steam free-to-play. Early reviews are already throwing around GOTY — and a Frieren collaboration drops May 1.

Tyler Vincere April 28, 2026

Technology

South Africa Pulled Its AI Policy Because the AI Made Up the Footnotes

South Africa's national AI policy cleared Cabinet and went to public comment before anyone noticed the references section was partly fiction. The chatbot did it.

Jonny V. Nuovo April 28, 2026

Gaming

Xbox Cuts Game Pass Prices — and Kills the Reason Anyone Subscribed

Microsoft is dropping Game Pass prices after a 50% hike six months ago. The catch? New Call of Duty games won't hit the service until roughly a year after launch. So what are you actually paying for?

Tyler Vincere April 28, 2026

The lop News

April 27–28, 2026

9 Million Voters Stripped From India's Rolls Before Key Election

Brent Surges Past $111. The Real Shock Hasn't Arrived.

Musk v. Altman: The $134 Billion Trial That Started With a Jury Problem

Joshua vs. Fury Is Finally On. It Just Took a Decade and Some Tragedy.

Google Walked Away From Pentagon AI in 2018. It Just Signed a Classified Deal.

Everyone Wants to Be Sovereign Now

The Strait of Hormuz Carries Oil. It Also Carries the Internet.

Rust at Half Price Is the Survival Game That Will Not Die

One American Car. Five Chinese EVs. Same Price.

Lord of Hatred Dominates Steam. Its Players Rate It 59 Percent.

NASA Pushes First Artemis Moon Landing to 2028

America's Shipyards Are Broken. The Pentagon Wants Asia to Build Its Warships.

Putin Draws His Line: Russia Backs Iran as Trump Weighs Peace Plan

Antarctica's Winter Should Be −30°C. It Was 28 Degrees Above Normal.

Carney's First Bet: Canada Joins the Sovereign Wealth Club With C$25 Billion Fund

NATO May Kill Its Annual Summit. The Reason Sits in Washington.

MEMOLITH's Best Review Is the One Marked Negative

AFK Journey Hits Steam With a Frieren Collab and GOTY Energy

South Africa Pulled Its AI Policy Because the AI Made Up the Footnotes

Xbox Cuts Game Pass Prices — and Kills the Reason Anyone Subscribed