Leftovers

• New York Times ☛ David Copperfield Vanished. The Problem of His Penthouse Remains.

  Residents of the Galleria, a Midtown Manhattan apartment building, sued Mr. Copperfield, saying he left his once-ornate condominium in disrepair.

• Hackaday ☛ Creating Customized Diffraction Lenses For Lasers

  [The Thought Emporium] has been fascinated by holograms for a long time, and in all sorts of different ways. His ultimate goal right now is to work up to creating holograms using chocolate, but along the way he’s found another interesting way to manipulate light. Using specialized diffraction gratings, a laser, and a few lines of code, he explores a unique way of projecting hologram-like images on his path to the chocolate hologram.

• Hackaday ☛ You Can Get A Precision Instrument-Guided Landing Even In Antarctica

  Traditional airports spend big money to install instrument landing systems (ILS) to guide planes in safely. In places like Antarctica, though, it’s simply not possible to permanently install a massive antenna array for localization, particularly with all the ice shifting about on the regular. As covered by Flightradar24, the solution to this is to use a transponder landing system (TLS) instead.

• Science

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-20 [Older] Stranded Starliner: What space does to an astronaut's body

  • Science Alert ☛ Climate Recovery After Overshooting 1.5°C Is a Dangerous Myth, Scientists Warn

    Time to get real.

  • Science Alert ☛ Jamestown: DNA Solves Mystery of First English Settlement in America

    Every family has a few skeletons.

  • Science Alert ☛ Tardigrades Trapped in Amber Reveal Secrets From Millions of Years Ago

    Earth's tiny survivors.

  • Science Alert ☛ People in One English-Speaking Country Seem to Live Years Longer

    Eye-opening results.

  • Science Alert ☛ This Epic Monument From 6,000 Years Ago Is a Feat of Stone Age Engineering

    An incredible marvel of the ancient world.

  • Science Alert ☛ NASA Asteroid Collision Debris May Be Headed Toward Earth

    A human-made meteor shower?

  • Science Alert ☛ Wild Study Says a 'Black Hole Moon' Could Give a Planet Unlimited Power

    "The most efficient engine that I ever thought about."

  • Science Alert ☛ Drug That Induces Labor Shows Promise as Alzheimer's Treatment

    From the uterus to the brain.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Identify Likely Source of Weird Energy Around Fast Radio Burst

    New clues to a deep space mystery.

  • Science Alert ☛ Archaeologists Reveal Ominous Warning in Ancient Babylonian Tablet

    The oldest warnings of their kind.

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ High-tech industry legend leaves defective chip maker Intel board — Intel's stock dropped 6% since the announcement

    High-tech businessman Lip-Bu Tan leaves defective chip maker Intel board of directors amid incoming massive layoffs.

  • Hackaday ☛ Ethernet History: Why Do We Have Different Frame Types?

    Although Ethernet is generally considered to be a settled matter, its history was anything but peaceful, with its standardization process (under Project 802) leaving its traces to this very day. This is very clear when looking at the different Ethernet frame types in use today, and with many more historical types. While Ethernet II is the most common frame type, 802.2 LLC (Logical Link Control) and 802 SNAP (Subnetwork Access Protocol) are the two major remnants of this struggle that raged throughout the 1980s, even before IEEE Project 802 was created. An in-depth look at this history with all the gory details is covered in this article by [Daniel].

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Tedium ☛ When The Coffee Sweats

    Starbucks, which has devolved from laptop destination to coffee pickup counter, hires a burrito maven. The third place hangs in the balance.

  • CBC ☛ 2024-08-21 [Older] Sask. 'moving forward' with $1.15B Lake Diefenbaker Irrigation Project despite incomplete feasibility study

  • CBC ☛ 2024-08-20 [Older] IHIT probing death of woman, girl in North Vancouver balcony fall

  • New York Times ☛ How the Psychedelics Medicine Bubble Burst

    There’s an extraordinary hype that psychedelics will change how we treat mental illness. But the bubble may have just burst.

  • The Strategist ☛ No, China isn’t really suppressing its production of fentanyl precursors

    China has announced new controls over the production of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl, the deadly illicit drug that’s killing thousands of Americans every year.

  • CBC ☛ 2024-08-21 [Older] Can we grow veggies designed to combat diabetes? Manitoba researchers hope so

  • CBC ☛ 2024-08-20 [Older] Ontario bans supervised drug consumption sites near schools, child-care centres

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Citizen Lab ☛ A Global Treaty to Fight Cybercrime—Without Combating Mercenary Spyware: Article by Kate Robertson in Lawfare

      In an article for Lawfare, the Citizen Lab's senior research associate Kate Robertson analyzes how, in its current form,  the draft treaty is poised “to become a vehicle for complicity in the global mercenary spy trade.”

    • JURIST ☛ ACLU lawsuit challenges Oregon city police over surveillance

      The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Oregon filed a lawsuit against the city of Medford, Oregon, on Tuesday, alleging that the city’s law enforcement authorities have been surveilling and illegally gathering information on the complainants for years. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two local organizations and an individual activist.

    • Bruce Schneier ☛ Take a Selfie Using a NY Surveillance Camera

      This site will let you take a selfie with a New York City traffic surveillance camera.

    • Bruce Schneier ☛ Surveillance Watch

      This is a fantastic project mapping the global surveillance industry.

• Defence/Aggression

  • RFERL ☛ Iran Claims To Have Arrested 14 Members of Islamic State-Khorasan

    Iran’s Intelligence Ministry said its agents arrested 14 members of Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), which is a branch of the IS militant group based in Afghanistan.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-21 [Older] South China Sea tensions pose threat to international trade

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-21 [Older] Bosnia: At least 3 killed in shooting in school

  • New York Times ☛ Deadly Floods Strike Troubled Bangladesh

    Disaster has hit just weeks after mass protests led to a lethal crackdown and then prompted the abrupt flight of the long-serving prime minister.

  • Defence Web ☛ More weapons theft from SAPS facilities “a security crisis”

    Theft of, among others, stun grenades from an SA Police Service (SAPS) base in Eerste Rivier is, according to the Democratic Alliance (DA), part of a pattern of supposedly securely stored weapons “finding their way onto the streets”.

  • The Strategist ☛ New Caledonia crisis: a turning point in Pacific security

    New Caledonia is the most pressing issue in Pacific security right now. New Caledonia’s future is a black swan risk: waiting in plain sight, yet unknown to most.

  • Defence Web ☛ Rwanda Security Force carries out rotation in Mozambique

    The task of keeping Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province safe from insurgents is now in the hands of the country’s armed forces – FADM (Forcas Armadas de Defesa de Mozambique) – and a Rwandan Security Force deployment following the exit of a regional bloc mission.

  • Defence Web ☛ AU continental logistics base delivers for African peacekeeping missions

    Douala, the Cameroonian port city home to the African Union (AU) Continental Logistics Base (CLB), has and is a one-stop hub for deploying security, health and humanitarian supplies as well as related equipment.

  • Defence Web ☛ Police Committee, stakeholders agree on pathway to greater police accountability

    The Portfolio Committee on Police has announced an agreement with critical stakeholders within the policing portfolio to work together towards strengthen the accountability of the South African Police Service (SAPS) to enable effective policing.

  • France24 ☛ Five years without daylight: Hasina's 'enforced disappearance' of Bangladesh dissidents

    Bangadesh's interim government has vowed to investigate the cases of hundreds of dissidents abducted by security forces under the regime of ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina. FRANCE 24's special correspondents in Bangladesh Navodita Kumari, Léa Delfolie, and Khansa Juned met with one former detainee as well as with activists and families still hoping to be reunited with their loved ones.

  • France24 ☛ Israeli intelligence chiefs attend talks in Cairo as Gaza bombing continues

    The heads of Israel's Mossad spy agency and Shin Bet domestic security service were taking part in talks towards an eventual Gaza hostage agreement in Cairo on Thursday, an Israeli government spokesman said. Meanwhile, the Israeli military continued to bomb several locations in the Gaza strip, killing at least five people, according to the Gaza civil defence agency.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong civil servant loses legal challenge against decision to deny him Taiwan residency due to ‘security risks’

    A Hong Kong civil servant who was denied residency in Taiwan due to “security risks” has lost a legal challenge against that decision in a Taipei court, with a judge saying that his role with the Hong Kong government meant there was a higher chance he was a spy for Beijing.

  • JURIST ☛ Nepal to lift nationwide ban on TikTok

    The Nepalese government on Thursday decided to lift the nation’s ban on the social control media platform TikTok, according to local media. Local sources said Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli, who came into office in July while calling for all social networking sites to be treated equally, led the decision during a cabinet meeting.

  • New York Times ☛ Nepal Lifts Ban on TikTok, in a Likely Overture to China

    The move signaled that Nepal’s new prime minister, who has cultivated ties with China, would continue on that path.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-20 [Older] Congo: Failed cease-fire deepens humanitarian crisis

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-20 [Older] Germany upholds sentence of former Nazi camp secretary

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-20 [Older] India court orders doctors' safety panel after rape, murder

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-20 [Older] Myanmar's Rohingya caught in crossfire of civil war

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-20 [Older] S. Korea and US hold joint drills with eye on N. Korea

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-22 [Older] Oil tanker poses 'environmental risk' after Red Sea attack

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-22 [Older] Myanmar's poet-warrior shares a vision for democracy

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-22 [Older] Taylor Swift felt 'fear and guilt' over canceled Vienna shows

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-21 [Older] Germany reports sharp increase in illegal border crossings

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-21 [Older] Germany charges 'IS' supporters with Sweden attack plot

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-19 [Older] German federal police record number of officers attacked

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-21 [Older] Germany's federal police report rise in attacks on officers

  • CS Monitor ☛ Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza threatens its ties to the US

    There is no doubting Washington’s commitment to Israel’s security. But the war in Gaza has sharpened political tensions between the two partners.

  • New York Times ☛ Middle East Crisis: C.I.A. Chief Joins Cairo Talks in Push for Cease-Fire Deal

    Mediators plan to move ahead with a summit next week in pursuit of a cease-fire agreement, officials said. “The process is moving forward,” a White House national security spokesman told reporters.

  • New York Times ☛ Jake Sullivan, Biden’s National Security Adviser, Will Visit China Next Week

    A final meeting between President Biden and China’s leader, Pooh-tin Jinping, is also likely to come up.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Atlantic Council ☛ To understand NATO’s future, take stock of its centuries-long history

      The bonds on which the Alliance was founded stretch back much further than 1949, and they keep the transatlantic relationship strong today.

    • Latvia ☛ Three for the Weekend: Ukraine, Symphony, Hedgehog Fest

      As much as we don't want to admit it, this is the last weekend of August. Here are some tips on how to spend it!

    • Latvia ☛ Latvian company produces ready meals for Ukrainian soldiers

      Several Latvian manufacturers are involved in catering for the National Armed Forces, one of them is Kronis Ltd, which produces ready meals With the help of the charity organization "Ziedot.lv", these parcels also reach the soldiers in Ukraine, Latvian Radio reported on August 23.

    • Defence Web ☛ Still only one Mbombe 6 in Ukraine

      Privately owned South African defence equipment manufacturer and supplier, The Paramount Group, shot down reports of its Mbombe 6 infantry combat vehicle (ICV) being in widespread service with the ground forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

    • France24 ☛ ‘We gotta get out of here’: Pokrovsk residents flee strategic Ukrainian city

      Residents of eastern Ukraine's Pokrovsk resisted leaving home for months as fighting raged in the villages near the strategic Donbas city. But as Russian forces advance on the transport hub, many residents are now choosing to flee. FRANCE 24's Gulliver Cragg reports from Pokrovsk.

    • France24 ☛ Modi calls for diplomatic solution in Ukraine visit; Biden announces new US aid

      Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi used his first visit to Kyiv on Friday to again call for a diplomatic solution to more than two years of war with Russia. Also on Friday, the US announced a new military aid package for Ukraine, including air defence missiles, ammunition and mobile rocket systems. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.

    • RFERL ☛ Biden Voices 'Unwavering' Support For Ukraine With New U.S. Aid Package

      U.S. President Joe Biden on August 23 spoke by phone to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to reaffirm his country's unwavering support for the people of Ukraine.

    • RFERL ☛ U.S. Sanctions Hundreds Of Targets In Effort To Cripple Kremlin's Military Production

      The United States on August 23 added nearly 400 individuals and entities in and outside of Russia to its sanctions list as part of the U.S. effort to disrupt Russia's international supply chains, metal procurement, and financial services that support its war effort in Ukraine.

    • RFERL ☛ Moscow Orthodox Priest Defrocked Over Prayers For Reconciliation With Ukraine

      Russian Patriarch Kirill on August 23 enforced the decision to defrock Orthodox priest Andrei Kudrin over his prayers for reconciliation between Russians and Ukrainians.

    • RFERL ☛ India's Modi Calls For Peace During Historic Visit To Ukraine

      Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 23 again called for peace as he met with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during a historic first visit to Kyiv as the war triggered by Russia's unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine neared the two-and-a-half-year mark.

    • RFERL ☛ Burning Oil Depot In Russia's Rostov Region Struck Again, Reports Say

      An oil depot in Russia's Rostov region, which has been on fire for several days following a Ukrainian drone strike, was hit again on August 23, Russian telegram channels report.

    • RFERL ☛ Ukraine Repels Fresh Wave Of Russian Drone Strikes, Air Force Says

      Ukrainian air-defense systems shot down 14 out of the 16 attack drones that Russia launched overnight at 4 of its regions, Ukraine's Air Force said early on August 23.

    • Marcy Wheeler ☛ Ukraine, Russia, and the Long Shadow of Nuclear Proliferation

      A Cold War History and a Too-Hot Future It is hard to overstate the significance of the square at the heart of Kyiv, Ukraine, now called the Maidan Nezalezhnosti. The stones of the Maidan have silently endured generations of trouble and fights over what Ukraine should be.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Ukraine’s spiritual care for soldiers

      One answer to Russia’s assault on religions in Ukraine is an expanding corps of military chaplains who prove care and solace to fighters on the front lines.

    • New York Times ☛ As Ukraine Pushes Into Russia, Its Next Steps Are Unclear

      American officials are not convinced that Ukraine intends to hold its position in Russia long term.

    • New York Times ☛ U.S. Tightens Technology Controls to Target Russian War Machine

      The Biden administration announced new penalties on shell companies and suppliers that were feeding Russia’s war against Ukraine.

    • New York Times ☛ Indian Leader Visits Kyiv as Ukraine Pushes Diplomacy

      Ukrainian officials were portraying the visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India as a welcome show of support for their country during the war with Russia.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukraine Steps Up Strikes Into Russia as Moscow Pushes Ahead in the East

      Ukraine struck a port across from Crimea and damaged a cargo ferry. But Kyiv’s forces continued to struggle in eastern areas under a relentless Russian assault.

    • New York Times ☛ Russia Opens New Cases Against Journalists Who Covered Ukrainian Incursion

      Moscow said it was investigating three more reporters, including a CNN correspondent, who crossed into Russian territory to cover the fighting.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukraine Cites Modi Visit as the Fruit of an Emerging Diplomatic Push

      Officials say efforts to engage neutral nations like India along with the military incursion into Russia will strengthen Ukraine’s hand in any peace talks.

    • Meduza ☛ Pokrovsk under pressure As Ukraine expands its foothold in the Kursk region (despite Russian reinforcements), Moscow’s offensive in Donbas picks up speed — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Parents of Russian conscripts who disappeared amid Ukraine’s cross-border assault say pro-war activists are pressuring them to keep silent — Meduza

    • Security Week ☛ Russian Member of Karakurt Cyber Extortion Gang Charged in US

      Deniss Zolotarjovs was charged in a US court for extorting victims and laundering cryptocurrency as part of the Karakurt cyber extortion group.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Court Hands Prison Terms To 5 Participants In Last Year's Anti-Jewish Unrest In Daghestan

      A court in Russia's Krasnodar region said on August 23 that it had handed prison sentences to the first group of participants in anti-Jewish mob unrest in the North Caucasus region of Daghestan in October 2023.

    • New York Times ☛ Russia Quashes Deadly Prison Mutiny by Islamist Inmates

      The revolt is the latest in a series of terrorist attacks in Russia claimed by Islamic militants.

    • Latvia ☛ Schools re-open in Ukraine with Latvian help

      In Ukraine's Chernihiv region, three educational institutions have been able to re-open their doors after being reconstructed with co-financing provided by Latvia.

    • RFERL ☛ Memorial To Founders Of Wagner Mercenary Group Appears In Siberia On Anniversary Of Their Deaths

      Large portraits of Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, the deceased founders of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, appeared in Narym park in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk on August 23, the first anniversary of their deaths in a suspicious plane crash.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Donald Trump for president? This time, Russia says, ‘No thanks.’

      While Donald Trump may admire Vladimir Putin, Russia finds the chaos that surrounds the U.S. presidential candidate is more trouble than it’s worth.

    • RFERL ☛ China and Belarus Sign Free Trade Deal, Other Agreements On Security And Energy

      Sanctions-hit Belarus has announced that it will sign a free trade deal with China for services and investment, as well as agreements to strengthen cooperation in security, energy, and finance.

    • RFERL ☛ Arrest Warrant Issued For Navalny LIVE YouTube Channel Producer

      A Moscow court on August 23 issued an arrest warrant for Nina Volokhonskaya, a producer at the Navalny LIVE YouTube channel who is currently outside of Russia.

    • RFERL ☛ After Public Outcry, Russia Launches Probe Into Suicide Of Bullied Teen Athlete

      Russia's Investigative Committee said on August 23 that it launched an investigation into the suicide of teen athlete Ksenia Cheponova, which she apparently carried out as a result of a bullying over her ethnicity.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • JURIST ☛ Rail union challenges Canada government directive forcing binding arbitration

      The union representing Canada rail workers on Friday challenged the federal government’s directive imposing final binding arbitration to resolve labour bargaining, according to local media, and instead issued a strike notice set to commence on Monday.

    • Barry Kauler ☛ Custom trike rear extension

      Continuing the custom tadpole recumbent trike project, here are

    • Chain installed on recumbent trike — August 12, 2024

    The original trike came with a luggage rack; however, that was bolted onto the rear wheel fork. That means, all road corrugations will be transferred directly to whatever luggage is on the luggage rack or side panniers. Also, the effectiveness of the shock absorber is reduced; as much weight as possible needs to be above the shock absorber. So, one requirement was to move the luggage rack mounting above the shock absorber.

    The second requirement was framework for mounting the overhead solar panel.

  • New York Times ☛ South Korea Battery Plant Rushed Production Before Deadly Fire, Police Say

    The fire, one of the country’s worst industrial disasters in recent years, happened as the factory was rushing to fulfill a military contract, the authorities said.

  • H2 View ☛ Toyota, SinoHytec power up Beijing hydrogen fuel cell plant

    Toyota and SinoHytec’s 50:50 joint venture has opened a brand new hydrogen fuel cell R&D and production plant in Beijing, China.

  • CBC ☛ 2024-08-20 [Older] Would you buy an affordable EV made in China?

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-21 [Older] Canada's Two Major Freight Railroads May Stop Thursday if Contract Dispute Isn't Resolved

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-20 [Older] Fertilizer Canada Says Rail Stoppage to Cost Industry up to $63 Million a Day

  • CBC ☛ 2024-08-21 [Older] How a rail stoppage could affect freight, farming, french fries and more

• Wildlife/Nature

  • New York Times ☛ Scientists Made a List of Lost Birds and Now They Want Us to Find Them

    Some 144 bird species had not been seen in at least a decade, but a project by conservation organizations proposes they all may still be hidden somewhere in the wild.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-21 [Older] Sweden opens brown bear hunting season amid criticism

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-21 [Older] The most dangerous mosquito-borne diseases

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-20 [Older] A cultural history of pearls

Finance

• CBC ☛ 2024-08-20 [Older] Skip the Dishes, parent company laying off hundreds of employees in Canada

• Mexico News Daily ☛ Mexico City legislature tightens rent control, tying increases to inflation

  As the city faces an affordable housing crisis, lawmakers hope the new law will put a damper on rising housing costs.

• Breach Media ☛ How Conservatives turned the fight for airline workers’ rights into a PR stunt

  The ‘Fairness for Flight Attendants Act’ is part of a fake solidarity playbook Conservatives are mining to make inroads with working class voters

• CBC ☛ 2024-08-22 [Older] N.S. restaurants struggling to stay open amid rising food and operating costs

• CBC ☛ 2024-08-22 [Older] Loblaw piloting ultra-discount No Name grocery stores in Ontario

• Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-22 [Older] Why Germany has a development ministry

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

• Marcy Wheeler ☛ DNC Convention 2024: Day 4 — The Fight for the Future Begins

  The Democratic National Committee Convention 2024 wraps up at United Center in Chicago IL with VP Kamala Harris' nomination acceptance speech. Discuss the convention's final day and the work ahead here.

• New York Times ☛ Harris’s DNC Speech Seen by 29 Million, Slightly More Than Trump at RNC

  Overall, TV viewership of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago was up 14 percent from the Republicans’ event last month.

• New Yorker ☛ An Inside Look at the Democratic National Convention

  Photographs captured artifice, chaos, and ambiguity that weren’t as evident on TV.

• New York Times ☛ Kamala Came to Slay

  The Democratic presidential nominee was both smart and scorching on the final night of the party’s convention.

• France24 ☛ Watch: Kamala Harris accepts Democratic nomination

  US Vice President Kamala Harris wrapped up the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where she accepted her party's historic presidential nomination before a rapturous audience. The Democratic nominee promised to be a president "for all Americans", rejecting political differences to chart what she called a "new way forward". Watch her full address, which has been called the biggest speech in her political life – so far.

• New Yorker ☛ The Speech of Kamala Harris’s Lifetime

  The Democratic Presidential nominee leaves Chicago with her party united, but Donald Trump is not yet defeated.

• Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-18 [Older] Heiress Shinawatra takes office as Thailand PM

• Pro Publica ☛ Weatherford College’s Land Donation to Christian School Appears to Violate Law

  In 2004, a public junior college in North Texas abandoned plans to lease some of its land to a religious organization for $1 a month after the state attorney general warned that the effort could violate the law.

  Nearly two decades later, the college went further. After publicly posting only that Weatherford College’s board would meet to discuss property, members emerged from behind closed doors in November 2022 and voted unanimously to give a 38-acre property to Community Christian School. The property was valued at more than $2 million, according to the county’s appraisal district.

• RFA ☛ Cambodia says it will stop issuing passports at Seoul Embassy

  The move is likely a reaction to recent demonstrations organized by some overseas Cambodians.

• RFA ☛ Cambodia’s embassy in South Korea extends passport services for 60 days

  The notice comes 2 days after it said it would stop renewing passports for the thousands of workers in the country.

• RFA ☛ Harris says she will not cozy up to dictators like North Korea’s Kim

  The Democratic contender also took aim at Republican rival Trump, who has long boasted about his ties with Kim.

• RFA ☛ China's Pooh-tin praises Deng Xiaoping but won't continue his reforms

  'Signaling right but turning left,' Pooh-tin is engaging in political theater on Deng’s birthday, analysts say.

• RFA ☛ Top White House official to visit China

  The Nov. 5 US presidential election will be ‘in the background’ but ‘not the point’ of the three-day trip.

• RFA ☛ Bicycle built for who?

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Taiwan’s leader Lai Ching-te urges unity on 66th anniversary of Chinese attack on Kinmen islands

  Taiwanese must “unite as one” against the threat from China, President Lai Ching-te said Friday from an outlying island just a few kilometres from the Chinese mainland, on the anniversary of a deadly artillery attack.

• Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-22 [Older] US: New York resident charged with spying for China

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ 8 Taiwanese soldiers sentenced to up to 13 years in jail over spying for China

  Eight Taiwanese military servicemen were sentenced on Thursday to up to 13 years in prison for spying for Beijing, with the court saying they did it for the money. China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory and has ramped up military and political pressures on the democratic island in recent years.

• RFA ☛ In Pictures: 17,000 gather in New York arena to offer prayers for Dalai Lama

  Tibetan spiritual leader tells the crowd ‘I will live for more than 100 years.’

• JURIST ☛ US Supreme Court allows Arizona election law requiring proof of citizenship to go into effect

  The US Supreme Court on Thursday, in a 5-4 decision, allowed the enforcement of an Arizona election law requiring prospective voters to provide “satisfactory evidence of citizenship” upon registering to vote.

• Latvia ☛ Former president critical of political 'evasiveness'

  Observing the government's communication style about planned tax reform and other things, one has the feeling that Latvian politics is not dominated by indecision so much as by evasiveness, suggested former President Valdis Zatlers in an interview with LTV's "Morning Panorama" show August 23.

• Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-21 [Older] Thailand visa scheme opens door to digital nomads

• Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-20 [Older] Why did Vietnam's new leader To Lam visit China first?

• Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

  • Off Guardian ☛ How (and why) they sell X as a “bastion of free speech”

    Donald Trump is back on the app formerly known as Twitter. After almost four years in the “Truth Social” wilderness he sat down with Elon Musk for a 3-hour conversation.

  • Off Guardian ☛ Fascism 2.0 – Globalism and the subjects of interest

    This is Part 2 of Paul’s “Fascism 2.0” series, part one can be read HERE. In this second article in a series of three, I’m going to set the developments we have seen regarding Social Media censorship in the context of globalist power structures and suggest there is growing evidence the narrative manipulation...

Censorship/Free Speech

• Digital Music News ☛ Spotify, Fashion Company Apple Music Reportedly Removing ‘Glory to Hong Kong’ Anthem In All Territories Worldwide

  The 2019 anthem of the Hong Kong protests, “Glory to Hong Kong” is being reportedly being removed from Spotify and Fashion Company Apple Music across the globe. “Distribution companies in the U.K., United States, and Canada are kneeling down [to China],” DGX Music, the creative team behind “Glory to Hong Kong” writes on Instagram.

• BIA Net ☛ Court blocks social control media accounts of two Kurdish journalists

  The court provided “national security” reasons for the decision.

• Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-21 [Older] Iran: Political prisoners won't be cowed into silence

Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

• BIA Net ☛ Journalists killed in airstrike in Iraq’s Kurdistan region

  Kurdish media outlets named two journalists killed in the strike while earlier reports from the Iraqi media suggested that a senior PKK member was targeted. A KRG official has condemned the incident as Ankara remains silent.

Civil Rights/Policing

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong activist ‘Grandpa Chan’ to plead not guilty over showing banners atop Lion Rock without permit

  An elderly Hong Kong pro-democracy activist will plead not guilty to displaying an unauthorised banner atop one of the city’s peaks last year, local media has reported. Chan Ki-kau, 76, appeared at Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts on Friday for a pre-trial hearing.

• JURIST ☛ South Korea court orders Japan company to compensate victims of forced labor during WW ll

  The appellate division of the Seoul Central District Court ordered on Thursday that the Japanese corporation Nippon Steel pay 100 million won to the four children of a Korean citizen who was a victim of forced labor in Japan during the Second World War, local media reported.

• Pro Publica ☛ A Tennessee Student Pointed a Finger Gun. He Was Expelled for a Year.

  When Belle got a call last September that her 10-year-old had been sent to the vice principal’s office, she rushed over to the school. Her son Lee looked on anxiously as the vice principal explained the situation: The fifth grader had angrily pointed his finger in the shape of a gun.

• JURIST ☛ South Korea prosecution investigation team dismisses first lady Kim Keon-hee’s anti-graft charges

  A South Korean prosecution investigation team dismissed anti-graft charges against first lady Kim Keon-hee on Wednesday, according to local media.

• New York Times ☛ A History Museum Shows How China Wants to Remake Hong Kong

  A new exhibit calls for the city’s residents to be patriotic, loyal to the Chinese Communist Party and ever vigilant to supposed threats to the state.

• CBC ☛ 2024-08-21 [Older] B.C. developer, director fined $99K for causing 'consumer harm'

• Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-21 [Older] Romanian police raid Andrew Tate and his brother's houses

• Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-21 [Older] UK government targets violence against women and girls

• Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-22 [Older] Why are Nepalese shunning Gulf and Asia to work in EU?

Digital Restrictions (DRM)

• Digital Music News ☛ South Korea’s FTC Reportedly Targets Spotify, Netflix, and Others Amid Crackdown on Post-Cancellation Refund Policies

  South Korean regulators are reportedly cracking down on Spotify and other streaming platforms over their cancellation and refund policies. The Korea Economic Daily reported on this latest regulatory initiative from South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC), which has zeroed in on K-pop agencies’ sales practices, YouTube Music’s bundled offerings, and more throughout the past year […]