Leftovers

• University of Michigan ☛ ‘On The World With The World’: The power of voice and outsider art

  A new art exhibit, “On The World With The World,” debuted Saturday, Feb. 1, to a full house and an open panel discussion at the University of Michigan’s Institute of the Humanities.

• Rodrigo Ghedin ☛ Obsessions

  It’s not just my work’s fault, I think. My “information diet” — reading blogs who obsess over details like which app to use for this or that, watching YouTube channels that scrutinize phone models in such detail that a normal person wouldn’t notice the difference from the last five iterations etc. — pretty much created an alternative reality that initially seemed appealing but eventually turned suffocating.

• Brad Frost ☛ Buy the Overpriced Tourist Photos | Brad Frost

  The price paid — whether financial or social — to procure these photos is well worth it. These photos are invaluable, capturing a moment in time that will never happen again. Hanging on a fridge they’ll regularly bring smiles to faces. Popping up in an “On this day” social media or photo app, they’ll bring smiles to faces. And one day they might live in a frame sitting on a table at a funeral home, bringing tearful smiles to faces.

• Seth Godin ☛ Getting precise about tolerance

• Bozhidar Batsov ☛ Leaning OCaml: Matching Anything or the Lack of Anything

  The above example is a bit contrived, but I hope you get the idea. Also, you can totally use let () in the example above, although it seems to me that using let _ is more intention revealing in such cases.

• Science

  • New Yorker ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man’s E.P.A. Seeks to Deny Science That Americans Discovered

    It’s in this country that scientists, funded by or working for the government, came to understand the role of carbon in our atmosphere.

  • Stanford University ☛ Inefficient machines

    What comes to mind when a computer science student tells you she thinks technology is the antithesis of humanity?

  • Science Alert ☛ Destructive Forces of Ancient Glaciers May Have Given Complex Life a Boost

    The crushing power of ice.

  • Science Alert ☛ Science of Knots Could Help Us Imagine Our Universe's Weird Shape

    Geometry with a twist.

  • Science Alert ☛ First-Ever Detailed Footage Shows Polar Bear Cubs Emerging From Dens

    It took more than 10 years of monitoring.

  • Science Alert ☛ Vesuvius Eruption Turned a Victim's Brain to Glass. Here's How.

    "Never previously documented for human or animal tissue."

  • Science Alert ☛ Study Reveals How Earth's Orbit Triggers Ice Ages, And There's One in The Next 11,000 Years

    An amazing pattern emerged.

  • Science Alert ☛ Study Finds Humans Age Faster at 2 Sharp Peaks – Here's When

    You're in for a bumpy ride.

  • Science Alert ☛ Blue Ghost Captures Stunning Moon Footage Ahead of Historic Landing

    Hello, Moon!

  • Science Alert ☛ This Star Goes Nova Every 80 Years. Here's Where to Look For It in 2025.

    It's time.

• Career/Education

  • Justin Duke ☛ HQ1 · Applied Cartography

    At the same time, for the first time in my life that flexibility has become a little bit of a burden! It turns out it is very hard to concentrate on responding to emails when your alternative is to play with your daughter giggling in the adjoining room; similarly, as Buttondown grows and as more and more of my time is spent on calls, it turns out long-winded demos and onboarding calls are logistically trickier when it is Nap Time a scant six feet away. And, beyond that, it's felt harder and harder to turn my brain off for the day: when there is always more work to be done, it's hard not to poke away at a stubborn pull request or jot down some strategy notes instead of being more present for my family (or even for myself, in a non-work capacity.)

  • Lou Plummer ☛ What Were Your First Seven Jobs?

    As a kid growing up in a house where there wasn't much disposable cash, I learned early on that I had to figure out a way to hustle up some dough if I wanted spending money. In the 70s you could collect glass bottles and turn them in at the grocery store for cash. The going rate was a nickel apiece. My step-father was the editor of the local paper, The Harnett County News, and he let me sell newspapers on the street on the day the weekly edition was published. A couple of years later, aluminum cans replaced steel ones and a new opportunity for scavenging was born. I did that for a while, and then I finally had a job where I had pay taxes. I was 12.

  • The Straits Times ☛ In one Seoul neighbourhood, academic cramming begins at age 4

    South Koreans too young to hold a pencil compete to write essays to get into English kindergartens.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ Convert A Cheap Tube Preamp Into A Headphone Amp With Jenny

    Big-name tube amplifiers often don’t come cheap. Being the preserve of dedicated audiophiles, those delicate hi-fis put their glass components on show to tell you just how pricy they really ought to be. If you just want to dip your toe in the tube world, though, there’s a cheaper and more accessible way to get started. [Jenny List] shows us the way with her neat headphone amp build.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. Terminates Funding for Polio, H.I.V., Malaria and Nutrition Programs Around the World

    Here are some of the 5,800 contracts the Convicted Felon administration formally canceled this week in a wave of terse emails.

  • JURIST ☛ SCOTUS dispatch: Supreme Court considers constitutionality of state laws restricting DNA testing post-conviction

    Sharon Basch is a 3L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law filing occasional dispatches from Washington DC this semester. 

  • Use of greener anesthesia protects patients, environment

    A Michigan Medicine study reveals that the use of less polluting inhaled anesthetic agents reduced harmful health care-related carbon emissions by 50% in one year without impacting patient safety or outcomes.

  • NYPost ☛ Tiny animal known as ‘water bear’ produces radiation-resistant protein called ‘Dsup’ that can treat cancer patients: study

    The unique protein has been shown to drastically reduce radiation damage to healthy cells in mice while still allowing radiation therapy to target cancerous cells, researchers found.

  • Rubio accuses China of ‘reverse’ Opium War via fentanyl

    The US secretary of state said Beijing may be ‘deliberately’ flooding America with the synthetic opioid fentanyl.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Cartoon-shaped e-cigarettes, or toy pods, pose health risks to children, Thai expert warns

    Nicotine from toy pods can affect children’s health similar to general e-cigarettes, the expert warns.

  • University of Michigan ☛ Michigan Medicine tests new heart assistance device in clinical trial

    Cardiac surgeons and heart failure specialists at Michigan Medicine are testing a new left ventricular assist device developed by BrioHealth Solutions called BrioVAD. The trial, known as the INNOVATE Trial, opens up the possibility for future Food and Drug Administration approval of the device.

  The Engagement Rehab

  I’ve written extensively, in French, about my quest to break my "connection addiction" by doing what I called "disconnections". At first, it was only doing three months without major news media and social networks. Then I tried to do one full year where I would only connect once a day.

• Omicron Limited ☛ Employee burnout can cost employers millions each year

  Employee burnout is likely costing companies millions of dollars each year, ranging from approximately $4,000 to $21,000 per employee in the U.S., according to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. That means a 1,000-employee company in the U.S. would on average be losing about $5 million annually.

• Deutsche Welle ☛ Measles in Texas: A deadly disease that can be prevented

  In the 1980s, there were as many as 4 million cases of measles per year. By the early 2020s, infection rates were down to a few hundred thousand.

  But measles is not gone yet. And the WHO says that that is largely due to people — especially children — not getting vaccinated: "Where children are unvaccinated, outbreaks occur."

• CBC ☛ New bans target PFAS in clothing. Here's how to avoid exposure

  There's less toxic PFAS, or "forever chemicals," in raincoats and other products sold in Canada, thanks to new rules elsewhere. But where are PFAS still found? What are the rules here anyway? Should you throw out your old Gore-Tex jacket? And what should you do to avoid products with PFAS? Here's a closer look.

• The Straits Times ☛ People pose as mourners to try China funeral home’s rice noodles

  The dish became viral after a food blogger raved about the noodles served at the funeral home's canteen.

• The Straits Times ☛ Teen hiker survives on toothpaste, melted snow after getting lost in China’s mountains for 10 days

  Hikers are barred from the treacherous Ao-Tai crossing path after dozens of people died or went missing on the trail.

• Science Alert ☛ World's Most Common Painkiller During Pregnancy Linked to ADHD

  It was never tested for this.

Proprietary

• Tim Bray ☛ Safari Cleanup

  Like most Web-heads I spent years living in Chrome, but now feel less comfy there, because Google. I use many browsers but now my daily driver is Safari. I’m pretty happy with it but there’s ugly stuff hiding in its corners that needs to be cleaned up. This fragment’s mostly about those corners, but I include notes on the bigger browser picture and a couple of ProTips.

• Yury Molodtsov ☛ iPads Are Now Both Expensive and Useless

  And most of the limitations come from its software, both iPadOS and third-party apps. macOS also lacks some basic features, like a clipboard manager, and the Bartender app obviously has to be built-in. But at least on macOS, you can fix its shortcomings with apps made by other developers. This isn’t really possible on the iPad.

  Which is why defaults have to be good. Really good.

• Macworld ☛ PSA: Your Mac will eventually install that macOS update whether you want it or not

  Developer Howard Oakley has documented on his blog how macOS installs updates even when you have the setting to install updates turned off. In Oakley’s instance, he decided to stop updating his iMac Pro after a “slightly traumatic” experience with Sequoia 15.1.1. Oakley continued to get notifications for Sequoia 15.2, 15.3, and 15.3.1 which he subsequently declined. But he eventually received a notification to install the 15.3.1 update now or later, without any option to decline. A background activity was added to his Mac that scheduled the update to install in the middle of the night. Oakley posted the logs of the activity to show the process at work.

• Silicon Angle ☛ Autodesk announces 1,350 job cuts following strong quarterly earnings

  Computer-aided software design company Autodesk Inc. announced today that it’s cutting 9% of its workforce, or about 1,350 people, following its quarterly earnings report, which saw the company beat analyst expectations on all metrics.

• Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • The Conversation ☛ A robot nearly headbutted a festival spectator in China – here are four urgent steps to make the tech safer

    Humanoid robots are supposed to be our loyal assistants, but we saw another side to them the other day. Chinese robot manufacturer Unitree was demonstrating its latest H1 robots at a lantern festival in the city of Taishan, Guangdong province, when one walked up to the crowd barrier and seemed to lunge at an elderly woman, nearly headbutting her.

  • MIT Technology Review ☛ An AI companion site is hosting sexually charged conversations with underage celebrity bots

    When MIT Technology Review tested the site this week, we found popular user-created bots taking on underage characters meant to resemble Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, and Millie Bobby Brown, among others. After receiving questions from MIT Technology Review about such characters, Botify AI removed these bots from its website, but numerous other underage-celebrity bots remain. Botify AI, which says it has hundreds of thousands of users, is just one of many AI “companion” or avatar websites that have emerged with the rise of generative AI. All of them operate in a Wild West–like landscape with few rules.

  • Wired ☛ Stories We Can’t Stop Thinking About: Deepfakes, the Tesla Backlash, and All Things Chips

    We’ve been so busy at WIRED covering politics, science, culture, security, gear, and so much more that this week we decided to do something a little different—we’re talking through three stories from February that we just can’t stop thinking about. In today’s episode, we talk about the Tesla backlash and a saga involving deepfaked images, and we dive into the world of microchips.

  • Futurism ☛ This Emirati Prince Controls Four Times Elon Musk's Wealth

    The United Arab Emirates' so-called "spy sheikh" controls a whopping $1.5 trillion in wealth — and he's funneling a colossal stream of it into AI, making him one of the world's most powerful figures in the space.

  • Baldur Bjarnason ☛ AI and Esoteric Fascism

    So, one of my biggest regrets over the past few months is the degree to which I missed the fact that the “mainstream” “AI” movement is a fascist project.

    Sorry, let me step back a bit instead of jumping right in.

  • Pivot to AI ☛ PhD student expelled for using AI sues university, files pro-se suit using ChatGPT

    Haishan Yang was studying at the University of Minnesota for his second Ph. D., in health administration (his first was in economics). Before he could start his thesis, he needed to do a remote exam — an open-book test, writing three essays, with AI use explicitly prohibited.

  • Wired ☛ Boston Dynamics Led a Robot Revolution. Now Its Machines Are Teaching Themselves New Tricks

    Raibert is now looking to lead a revolution in robot intelligence as well as acrobatics. And he says that recent advances in machine learning at both Boston Dynamics and another institute he founded have accelerated his robots’ ability to learn how to perform difficult moves without human help. “The hope is that we'll be able to produce lots of behavior without having to handcraft everything that robots do,” Raibert told me recently.

  • Matt Birchler ☛ Who's using AI in the workplace?

    In terms of what they're actually doing, most people are using them to assist in research, edit things they've already written, and summarize meeting notes. Only 21% of people are generating images, which I think aligns well with what I see in my day-to-day as well.

• Social Control Media

  • Cybergeeks ☛ Russian campaign targeting Romanian WhatsApp numbers

    We advise users to not enter 8-character codes from dubious websites to access their WhatsApp account. We will continue monitoring the campaign and update the blog post if necessary.

  • Phoebe ☛ TikTok alternative RedNote (Xiaohongshu) fails basic security measures

    One of RedNote's APIs authenticates and functions in plaintext, such that an adversary can capture a packet containing authentication information and perform the API actions as the user. This API includes following, blocking, messaging and most likely other things too. This means we have both an account hijacking vulnerability and a general issue of security, since an adversary can also capture and record the actions someone is performing over this API. Additionally, this authentication bypasses the need for the account password which may be optionally setup in the app.

    A proof of concept of the vulnerability is available at this repository and a Wireshark dissector at this Wireshark fork.

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Meta issues apology after Instagram started flooding people’s feed with obscene content

    Meta Platforms Inc. today had to apologize after a glitch caused its Instagram Reels feature to inundate users with videos of real-life horror. “We have fixed an error that caused some users to see content in their Instagram Reels feed that should not have been recommended,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement.

Security

• Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

  • The Straits Times ☛ Tasered, beaten, long hours without pay: Malaysian man’s 11-month ordeal in Myanmar scam centres

    “I was sold and moved to three different companies with diffe­rent bosses,” said the 19-year-old.

  • New York Times ☛ Why Scam Centers in Southeast Asia Keep Flourishing

    A China-led crackdown on online fraud rescued thousands from Myanmar this month. But this massive business of grift keeps growing.

• Privacy/Surveillance

  • US News And World Report ☛ US Officials Must Testify About DOGE in Lawsuit Over Access to Agency Systems

    The judge is considering whether to issue a preliminary injunction blocking DOGE from accessing agency systems while the unions' lawsuit proceeds.

    The depositions, which are limited to a total of eight hours, must focus on DOGE's organizational structure, the roles and responsibilities of its employees, the extent of their access to agency systems and what measures have been taken to ensure security and privacy, Bates ruled.

  • Scoop News Group ☛ Here’s what Google is (and isn’t) planning with SMS account verification

    “In certain situations we’re replacing SMS when creating a new account, however we do plan to gradually do away with SMS,” a Google representative confirmed to CyberScoop. The company emphasized that this transition will be gradual, rolling out regionally with no specific timeline for when all users will experience the new verification flow.

  • Macworld ☛ Researchers hack Apple's Find My network to track any Bluetooth device

    Researchers at George Mason University have discovered a way to track just about any Bluetooth device using Apple’s Find My network. The hack, dubbed nRootTag, can be used by hackers to make any Bluetooth device into “unwitting homing beacons.”

    The researchers figured out a way around how an Apple AirTag changes its Bluetooth address using a cryptographic key, which protects the AirTag from being hacked. The researchers developed key search methods to create a compatible Bluetooth address that the key adapts to, bypassing the secure key.

  • Techdirt ☛ South Dakota Lawmakers Send Unconstitutional Age-Verification Bill To The Governor’s Desk

    Almost every bill contains the same wording because they’re all following the same special interest group’s wording: any site with more than one-third (33.3%) “pornographic” content is subject to the law. What’s left unexplained is how sites are supposed to calculate this percentage. Is it one-third of all content? Is it one-third of the total amount of hosted content in terms of storage space? Or is it one-third of all uploaded content, regardless of file size? No one knows!

    And those writing these laws don’t even pretend to care there are no useful metrics that might allow sites to attempt to comply with these laws. On top of that, these laws pass the entire buck to websites, demanding they engage in “reasonable” efforts to verify age, without providing any details as to what might be considered “reasonable” by legislators.

  • NYOB ☛ Swedbank refuses transparency in automatic interest calculation

    Nowadays, more and more banks set their interest rates automatically, and without any human intervention. But even the smallest inaccuracies can cost consumers thousands of additional euros. While EU law allows the use of such an automatic system in certain circumstances, companies must follow strict rules to protect people’s fundamental right to privacy. Banks, for example, would need to provide their customers with “meaningful information about the logic involved” in calculating their personal interest rate. But many banks don’t seem to care. Contrary to EU law, Swedbank (one of the largest banks in Sweden) rejected a Swedish citizen’s access request by claiming that the calculation was a “trade secret”. noyb has now filed a complaint with the Swedish Data Protection Authority.

  • EFF ☛ EFF to California's Supreme Court: Protect the Privacy of Internet Users' Communications

    The law is built on the principle that you have a reasonable expectation of privacy that providers like Snap and Meta will not disclose your communications to third parties, even though the providers have access to those communications as they are stored on their systems. In an amicus brief, we urged the court to uphold these privacy protections, as they have for the past 40 years. EFF filed the brief along with the Center for Democracy & Technology and the Mozilla Corporation.

  • BoingBoing ☛ Signal to leave Sweden if forced to create message backdoors

    The bill, which could pass next year, aims to give Swedish police and Security Service the ability to retrospectively review message histories of crime suspects. But Signal's leadership sees this as an impossible ask that would compromise their core security promise to users worldwide.

• Confidentiality

  • Tor ☛ A fresh coat for Snowflake: a website refresh to help more people get online | The Tor Project

    At its core, Snowflake is a piece of technology that transforms ordinary internet users into censorship-fighting allies. It's as painless and hassle-free as opening a new browser-tab, allowing anyone to open a lifeline for blocked internet users. That's why we've given the Snowflake website a much-needed refresh to make it clearer, more accessible, and easier to navigate.

Defence/Aggression

• New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Officials Split Over How Hard to Go on Mexican Cartels

  A Mexican delegation will meet in Washington on Thursday to finalize a security deal, as White House officials debate a strategy for fighting cartels and stemming the flow of drugs across the border.

• The Straits Times ☛ Australia discusses security, aid with Vanuatu amid competition with China

  Australia pledged another US$3.2 million (S$4.29 million) in direct budget support for Vanuatu.

• The Straits Times ☛ Kim Jong Un says it is N. Korea’s duty to be fully ready to use nuclear deterrence: KCNA

  Nuclear attack capability would ensure the most effective defence for the country, state media said.

• CS Monitor ☛ Trump overture to Putin rings ‘appeasement’ alarm in Europe

  For the Europeans, this is not just an exercise in historical commentary.

  They feel there are important lessons to be learned, chiefly about the danger of abandoning Ukraine to an expansionist Russia, which would pose risks to other neighboring countries and to the long-term security of both Europe and the United States.

• Common Dreams ☛ "Trump's Third-Term Talk Isn't a Joke," Stand Up America Warns on Anniversary of 22nd Amendment

  “His talk of a third term isn’t a joke or a slip of the tongue. It’s a test to see how far he can go in his quest for unchecked power.

• The Moscow Times ☛ ‘You Can't Trust Putin’: Chechens, Georgians and Belarusians Fighting for Ukraine Warn of Russian Betrayal - The Moscow Times

  “I’m not interested in politics anymore. All I can say is that Russia will never honor its commitments. It never has. Not in Georgia, not in Chechnya, not in Ukraine after the annexation of Crimea. So why would it now?” says the 60-year-old.

• Futurism ☛ Elon Musk's Guiding Principle Seems to Be Trying to Inflict as Much Cruelty as Possible

  In a 2018 essay, The Atlantic's Adam Serwer attempted to make sense of the political chaos unfolding roughly a year and a half into president Donald Trump's first term.

  His argument, that "cruelty is the point," became a common catchphrase among Trump critics, denoting his politics of demonization and exclusion, which seemed to be about intentionally inflicting pain. Serwer made the case that cruelty was central to the Republican Party, which incentivized fear and vindictiveness.

• US Navy Times ☛ NATO trials naval drones in Baltic Sea demo

  The trials took place in waters near Denmark from Feb. 17 to 20 and involved integrating manned and unmanned assets in live-firing events and tactical maneuvers.

• Los Angeles Times ☛ Opinion: It's a 'break glass' moment in Washington, but then what?

  Donald Trump hasn’t even reached the midpoint of his first 100 days, yet the constant, cruel and unconstitutional chaos he’s wreaking at home and abroad argues more strongly by the day that the nation is already at a break-glass moment.

  The question is whether there’s anything behind the glass to counter the emergency. Spoiler alert: There is — read on — but only because all the usual responders are failing.

• The Nation ☛ Trump’s FBI Is the Nightmare We All Feared

  But Patel’s historical consciousness, like his grasp of any non-MAGA-branded talking point, is extremely shaky. Indeed, in a blatant pre-confirmation legal trespass, Patel was evidently already plotting the dismissal of FBI staff involved in January 6 investigations even as he swore under oath that he was doing no such thing. So much for wiping out the scourge of politicized law enforcement.

• Wired ☛ DOGE’s [sic] Chaos Reaches Antarctica

  Daily life at US-run Antarctic stations has already been disrupted. Scientists worry that the long-term impacts could upend not only important research but the continent’s delicate geopolitics.

• The Straits Times ☛ China says Taiwan drills ‘routine’, as Taipei details surge in military activity

  Taipei also said the Chinese military had set up a zone for “shooting” drills in the Taiwan Strait.

• The Straits Times ☛ China says Tasman Sea navy firing drills ‘in line’ with international law

  Australia and New Zealand had voiced concerns that they did not receive adequate warning.

• The Straits Times ☛ China will not apologise for military drills off Australia’s east, ambassador says

  Australia and New Zealand have raised concerns on the rare live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea.

• The Straits Times ☛ Talks to sign South China Sea Code of Conduct ramping up: Asean sources

  Beijing wants to restrain other claimant states while showing the world it can keep the peace in its own backyard.

• The Straits Times ☛ New Zealand raises China’s surprise warship drills at high-level talks

  Australia and New Zealand have criticised China for springing the drills with little warning.

• The Straits Times ☛ Thailand sends 40 Uighurs back to China after decade in detention

  The move confirms a secretive pre-dawn deportation that the UN and human rights groups condemned.

• EXPLAINED: Thailand’s repatriation of 40 Uyghur refugees to China

  History suggests the 40 Uyghur men who spent a decade in limbo in Thailand will never be heard from again.

• JURIST ☛ Thailand deports 40 Uyghur asylum seekers to China, sparking human rights concerns

  The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) condemned Thailand’s deportation of 40 Uyghur asylum seekers to China on Thursday. The group stated that repeated requests to access the detained Uyghurs and secure assurances against forced returns were ignored, violating domestic and international human rights laws.

• The Straits Times ☛ US condemns Thailand’s return of 40 Uighurs to China

  Rights groups and some Western governments accuse Beijing of widespread abuse of ethnic minority Uighurs.

• US condemns Thailand’s deportation of 40 Uyghurs to China

  Rights groups said Uyghurs detained in Thailand were deported.

• Report: China has half a million Uyghurs in prison or detention

  Beijing has expanded its subjugation though it insists that normality has returned to the region.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China appears to confirm Uyghur deportations from Thailand following warnings from human rights groups

  By Matthew Walsh China appeared to confirm on Thursday that dozens of Uyghurs had been deported from Thailand, despite warnings from human rights groups that they face persecution on their return.

• France24 ☛ France threatens to review longstanding accords with Algeria

  French PM Bayrou threatened Wednesday to cancel a longstanding agreement with Algeria on free movement after a deadly knife attack in which the main suspect is a man of Algerian origin. FRANCE 24's Sharon Gaffney speaks to William Lawrence, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the American University, and North Africa Project Director at International Crisis Group.

• The Straits Times ☛ China says plans for talks with US military are in the works

  Talks between the armed forces of the world’s two superpowers could ease some mounting sources of friction.

• The Straits Times ☛ Asian Insider: China’s keen to move forward on South China Sea code | The ‘indescribable bliss’ of a hot spring soak

• Loved one missing in China? New guide is here to help

  Chinese police are increasingly arresting foreign nationals amid an ever-tightening focus on ‘national security.’

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Case of man charged with sedition under Hong Kong’s Article 23 security law adjourned to May

  A man charged with sedition under Hong Kong’s homegrown security law has had his case adjourned again to May, as a top court verdict that the defence says could inform how his client pleads has still not been delivered. Wearing a black windbreaker, Chow Kim-ho appeared at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong condemns ‘wanton interference’ after US politicians criticise ‘authoritarian oppression’ in city

  Hong Kong has condemned “baseless allegations” and “smearing” of its two security laws after US politicians introduced a resolution on Thursday criticising perceived rights abuses in the city.

• Defence Web ☛ Correctional Services officials implicated in flood of contraband

  The flood of contraband in South Africa’s correctional facilities has reached alarming levels, prompting the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services to demand immediate action from the Department of Correctional Services (DCS).

• Defence Web ☛ UN Security Council urges Rwanda to stop supporting M23 in eastern DRC

  The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Friday 21 February that strongly condemned the ongoing offensive by M23 rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and their support by Rwanda.

• Defence Web ☛ Woman warrant officer leads SAPS SWAT team in UAE Challenge

  A South African woman police officer commanded the SA Police Service (SAPS) at a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) challenge in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) earlier in February.

• Defence Web ☛ BMA UAVs on the way

  By the end of March South Africa’s Border Management Authority (BMA) will add the first of ten unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to its equipment arsenal in a further boost to cross-border crime prevention efforts.

• Defence Web ☛ South Africa’s defence policy is misaligned and needs reform, Parliament told

  South Africa’s defence policy is at a critical crossroads. Academic experts and policymakers alike raised their growing concerns during a recent sitting of the Joint Standing Committee on Defence, on 21 February 2025. The hearing saw valuable insight shared by experts about the misalignment between national security priorities, budget constraints, and military capabilities.

• Defence Web ☛ SAPS reports 80 lost firearms in 18-month period

  The South African Police Service (SAPS) has confirmed that 80 police-issued firearms were reported lost between January 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024. These figures, which exclude stolen weapons, raise serious concerns about firearm control and security within law enforcement.

• Defence Web ☛ Security and Justice committee chair expresses support for pregnant soldiers returning from DRC

  Jane Mananiso, Chairperson of the Select Committee on Security and Justice, used the return to South Africa of two reportedly pregnant soldiers to show there’s no shame attached to impending motherhood “while on duty in any profession”.

• Scoop News Group ☛ Army soldier linked to Snowflake attack spree allegedly tried to sell data to foreign spies

  Federal prosecutors accuse Cameron Wagenius of searching how to defect to Russia before he tried to sell stolen data to a foreign intelligence service.

• Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

  • LRT ☛ Lithuanian president sees no reason to end gas transit deal with Russia

    President Gitanas Nausėda said on Thursday that he sees no reason why Amber Grid’s contract with Gazprom for gas transit through Lithuania to Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave should not be extended when it expires at the end of this year.

  • North Korea fires cruise missiles as leader Kim orders war preparations

    Kim Jong Un oversaw the test of two missiles, hinting at their nuclear capability.

  • France24 ☛ N. Korea showcases 'counterattack' abilities with new missile tests

    Nuclear-armed North Korea said on Friday it had tested strategic cruise missiles to warn its enemies of its "counterattack" capabilities and readiness of its nuclear might, as neighboring South Korea prepares for its "Freedom Shield" military exercises with the US next month.

  • LRT ☛ No additional concern over Russia’s Zapad drills – Lithuanian president

    The joint military exercise Zapad, planned by Russia and Belarus this fall, should not cause any additional concern as Lithuania and its allies are also training and preparing for possible threats, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has said.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuanian salesman helps import luxury cars into Russia – media

    A Lithuanian-owned company is selling luxury cars in Russia, bypassing Western sanctions imposed on Moscow, according to an international investigation.

  • North Korea sending more troops to Russia, South confirms

    Seoul’s spy agency said North Korean troops already in Russia were sent back to the front lines in early February.

  • Meduza ☛ ‘He couldn’t be bought. So they killed him.’ Vladimir Kara-Murza reflects on the tenth anniversary of his mentor Boris Nemtsov’s assassination — Meduza

  • RFERL ☛ Exclusive: Boris Nemtsov’s Mother Shares Memories, 10 Years After His Killing

    The family of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov has exclusively shared with Current Time a final interview with his mother 10 years after the Russian politician was gunned down on a Moscow bridge. In the interview recorded by Nemtsov's family, his mother, Dina, describes her son's political awakening.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea has deployed more troops to Russia: Seoul

    More than 10,000 soldiers from the reclusive state were sent to Russia in 2024.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Twin sisters compete against one another in Soviet-era ballet world

    Elyse Dunham’s atmospheric novel “Maya & Natasha” portrays Russian dancers caught up in envy and ambition during the Cold War.

  • Meduza ☛ Soviet chess grandmaster Boris Spassky (Bobby Fischer’s rival in Reykjavik) dead at 88 — Meduza

  • New York Times ☛ Boris Spassky, Chess Champion Who Lost ‘Match of the Century,’ Dies at 88

    When Mr. Spassky, a Russian, played Bobby Fischer, an American, in Iceland at the height of the Cold War, the media attention reduced them to pawns in a wider drama.

  • Meduza ☛ North Korea has deployed additional troops to Russia, South Korean intelligence says — Meduza

  • Meduza ☛ U.S. and Russia discussing cooperation in Arctic, with Washington hoping to undermine Russia–China relations — Bloomberg — Meduza

  • Meduza ☛ Russian delegation arrives in Istanbul for talks with U.S. on embassy operations — Meduza

  • Meduza ☛ Relatives of MH17 victims appeal to Trump to demand Russia admit responsibility for downing plane as part of peace settlement — Meduza

  • Meduza ☛ Russia extends gasoline export ban until the end of summer — Meduza

  • Meduza ☛ A new joint investigation reveals how luxury cars reach Russian buyers through Kyrgyzstan despite international sanctions

  • Meduza ☛ Give us your Trump vibes: Meduza in English wants to know what readers are feeling about America’s returned president. We’ll translate your submissions and share them with our Russian audience. — Meduza

  • Meduza ☛ Irina Viner was the ruthless ruler of Russian rhythmic gymnastics. Then she clashed with her former protégé — and Putin’s rumored girlfriend — Alina Kabaeva. — Meduza

  • The Straits Times ☛ Putin meets North Korean party leaders as Kim tests new missile

    Mr Kim has emerged as a key ally for Mr Putin and his war in Ukraine.

  • New York Times ☛ Pro-Russia Politicians in Ukraine, Inspired by Convicted Felon and Putin, See an Opening

    From prison and from exile, supporters of Moscow have been ramping up social control media posts aimed at backing Russia’s call for elections in Ukraine and slamming President Volodymyr Zelensky.

  • New York Times ☛ Putin Praises Convicted Felon for Working to Thaw U.S.-Russia Tensions

    “The first contacts with the new American administration give us some hope,” the Russian president said in televised comments on Thursday.

  • The Strategist ☛ US-Russia negotiations won’t bring peace to Ukraine

    Will The Insurrectionist be able to forge a peace between Russia and Ukraine, or are we facing a repetition of the infamous Munich Agreement?

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Dispatch from Kyiv: The Forrest Dump-Zelenskyy meeting signals a momentum shift in Ukraine’s favor

    The Ukrainian president’s visit to the White House on Friday highlights just how far events have moved over the past two weeks.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Ukraine’s IT sector offers opportunities for pragmatic partnership with the US

    As the new Convicted Felon administration reassesses its foreign partnerships through a lens of transactional pragmatism, Ukraine’s IT sector presents a potentially compelling case for deepening bilateral cooperation, write Anatoly Motkin and Hanna Myshko.

  • France24 ☛ Starmer says Ukraine truce 'can't be peace that rewards the aggressor'

    British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned Thursday that a deal on Ukraine cannot reward the "aggressor," as he met US President The Insurrectionist who has reached out to Russia. FRANCE 24's Fraser Jackson reports from Washington.

  • France24 ☛ 🔴 Ukraine truce 'can't be a peace that rewards the aggressor', Starmer says in Washington

  • France24 ☛ Ukraine truce 'can't be a peace that rewards the aggressor', Starmer says in Washington

    Any peace deal reached between Ukraine and Russia must not “reward the aggressor”, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told a joint press conference in Washington alongside US President The Insurrectionist on Thursday, adding that history "must be on the side of the peacemaker, not the invader". Starmer also said the UK was “ready to put boots on the ground” to support a agreement in concert with allies.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuania’s defence, Ukraine aid in focus of Russian propaganda in 2024 – military

    Lithuania’s defence strengthening and support for Ukraine were the main targets of hostile information from Russia and Belarus in 2024, according to a report presented by the Lithuanian military on Thursday.

  • RFERL ☛ Starmer Tells Convicted Felon U.K. Ready To 'Put Boots On Ground' On Eve Of Zelenskyy Visit

    British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sought to demonstrate strong U.S.-UK ties during a White House meeting with President The Insurrectionist amid growing fault lines in the transatlantic relationship over Ukraine and trade.

  • RFERL ☛ North Korea Has Sent More Troops To Russia, Says South Korean Intelligence

    North Korea has sent more soldiers to Russia and redeployed several to the front line in the Kursk region bordering Ukraine, Seoul's intelligence agency said on February 27.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ ‘Blatant provocation’: Taiwan says 45 Chinese aircraft detected in 24 hours, highest this year

    Taiwan said Thursday it detected 45 Chinese aircraft near the self-ruled island, the highest number this year and a tally that comes a day after Taipei condemned China’s “live-fire” drills off the south. China insists democratic Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring the island under its control.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan ‘closely watching’ Ukraine as Convicted Felon pivots, official says

    Weakened US support for Ukraine has cast doubt over Washington’s commitment to Taipei. 

  • New York Times ☛ Starmer Offers Convicted Felon a Plea and a Promise Over Ukraine

    During a visit to the White House by the British prime minister, Hell Toupée refused to to pledge U.S. military support for a peacekeeping force for Ukraine.

  • New York Times ☛ With Convicted Felon, Alliances Come With Strings Attached

    Hell Toupée has little use for America’s traditional alliances, and tends to evaluate U.S. relationships according to whether countries are contributing economically to the United States.

  • New York Times ☛ North Korea Is Sending More Troops to Russia, South Korea’s Spy Agency Says

    The fresh deployment comes after North Korea suffered heavy casualties on the front lines in Russia’s war against Ukraine, the South’s spy agency says.

  • New York Times ☛ Starmer Flies to Meet Convicted Felon, With a Gift and a Difficult Message

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain cut international aid to raise military spending. He’s hoping to make a case for Ukraine at the White House.

  • Meduza ☛ ‘America, wake up!’ Protesters gather outside U.S. Embassy in Kyiv to speak out against Trump’s handling of Ukraine and embrace of Russia — Meduza

  • Meduza ☛ Photos of Ukrainian soldiers who returned to the front lines even after losing limbs

  • Latvia ☛ European democracies and Canada mark 10 years since death of Boris Nemtsov

    Latvia, alongside many other democratic states, has released a joint statement marking ten years since the death in extremely murky circumstances of Russian democracy activist Boris Nemtsov.

  • Latvia ☛ Latvian parliament moves to apply brake on remaining tourism to Russia and Belarus

    Travel service providers could soon be prohibited from offering and providing tourism services in Russia and Belarus, according to amendments conceptually supported in Latvia's parliament, the Saeima on Thursday, February 27.

Environment

• The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands hits record heat in 2024

  Temperatures at the hill resort rose by 0.86 per cent in the past decade.

• The Straits Times ☛ China plays key role on climate change, COP30 president-designate says

  Mr Andre Aranha Correa do Lago says countries can look to China for additional leadership in the climate arena.

• New York Times ☛ The Case Against Greenpeace Puts a Spotlight on Native History

  Indigenous activists behind protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline say a lawsuit against Greenpeace is trying to rewrite their role and history.

• Energy/Transportation

  • Hackaday ☛ How Do Air Fryers Work?

    Air fryers are the new hotness in the kitchen, but are they actually any different than a convection oven? [Technology Connections] walks us through the design of these countertop appliances to find out.

Finance

• The Straits Times ☛ South Korea, US finance chiefs discuss tariffs, investment, FX, says Seoul

  South Korea is a major global exporter and top trading partner with the United States.

Censorship/Free Speech

• British Museum removed ‘Xizang’ label from Silk Roads exhibition about Tibet

  Following complaints from Tibetan groups, the museum updated the labels to ‘Tibet Autonomous Region, China.’

• Press Gazette ☛ Guido Fawkes settles Dale Vince libel claim to avoid ‘ruinous’ costs

  Guido settlement follows others between Vince and Associated Newspapers and GB News.

Civil Rights/Policing

• RFERL ☛ Victims Recoil As Andrew Tate Arrives In U.S. Hours After Romania Lifts Travel Ban

  Controversial Internet influencer Andrew Tate and his brother have left Romania, where they have been embroiled in a legal case alleging human trafficking and sexual misconduct, after authorities lifted a travel ban on them.

• JURIST ☛ US conservative advocacy group says strict liability crimes contribute to overcriminalization

  Conservative criminal reform advocacy group Right on Crime urged lawmakers to reform the criminal mental state requirement in federal criminal codes in a report published on Thursday.

• Digital Music News ☛ Diddy’s Mother Faces Latest Lawsuit for Allegedly Ousting Bad Boy Co-Founder

  A new lawsuit alleges Diddy used a baseball bat to coerce the former Bad Boy president and co-founder, Kirk Burrowes, into signing over his shares of the company to Combs’ mother in 1996.

• ACLU ☛ DEI and Accessibility, Explained

  Across the country, right-wing groups are working to dismantle long-standing anti-discrimination protections and statutory mandates by targeting what they broadly refer to as diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). These attacks on DEIA are not new. Rather, they’re part of a broader strategy to discredit DEIA and weaponize the term itself, expanding its definition to encompass any ideas right-wing politicians disagree with under the guise of opposing “identity politics.”

  Since the Supreme Court's blow to affirmative action in higher education admissions in 2023, state lawmakers have introduced more than 106 anti-DEIA bills. Now, President The Insurrectionist’s administration is working to eradicate DEIA initiatives and civil rights protections with executive orders that would reverse decades of federal anti-discrimination policies.

• NYPost ☛ Stefon Diggs alleges he was victim of extortion attempt, threatened with ‘deadly weapon’ by reality star in lawsuit

  Stefon Diggs claims he was the victim of an attempted extortion attempt by a reality star in a new lawsuit.

Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

• Internet Society ☛ Advancing the WSIS Vision Together

  As we approach WSIS+20, it's time to reaffirm our commitment to a people-centric, inclusive, and development-oriented information society.