Leftovers

• The Straits Times ☛ Alamak!: ‘Kaya toast’, ‘tapau’ and ‘nasi lemak’ added to Oxford English Dictionary

  They are among untranslatable words from Singapore and Malaysia that made it into the newest edition.

• Federal News Network ☛ A bill to keep federal diversity in building architecture

  "You don't just pick one style fits all, because a building that would look good in Santa Fe wouldn't necessarily look good in Boston," said Rep. Dina Titus.

• Hackaday ☛ Fitting A Spell Checker Into 64 KB

  By some estimates, the English language contains over a million unique words. This is perhaps overly generous, but even conservative estimates generally put the number at over a hundred thousand. Regardless of where the exact number falls between those two extremes, it’s certainly many more words than could fit in the 64 kB of memory allocated to the spell checking program on some of the first Unix machines. This article by [Abhinav Upadhyay] takes a deep dive on how the early Unix engineers accomplished the feat despite the extreme limitations of the computers they were working with.

• New Yorker ☛ Raising Felix: Surveillance Giant Google Misunderstood

  Hey Google! Where can I buy a brother?

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Supermoon This Week Will Coincide With Rare 'Devil Horns' Solar Eclipse

    An extraordinary moment!

  • Science Alert ☛ A Signal of Future Alzheimer's May Hide in The Way You Speak

    Early warnings could make all the difference.

  • Science Alert ☛ Pig Liver Successfully Transplanted Into Human Patient in World First

    A potential lifeline.

  • Science Alert ☛ Drug For Rare Disease Turns Human Blood Into Mosquito Poison

    A last meal.

  • Science Alert ☛ Night Owls Face Higher Depression Risk. A New Study Explains The Link.

    Here's how we can try to lower it.

  • Science Alert ☛ Stunning Swirl in Europe's Skies Caused by Classified Space X Mission

    "Don't panic!"

  • Science Alert ☛ Toxic Mars Dust Could Pose Major Health Risks For Future Astronauts

    What other dangers await humans there?

  • Science Alert ☛ Venus Flytrap Wasp: 99-Million-Year-Old Amber Reveals Bizarre New Species

    "Nothing similar is known from any other insect."

  • Science Alert ☛ New Study Identifies Unexpected Part of Your Brain That's Uniquely Human

    It's called the arcuate fasciculus.

  • Science Alert ☛ Clearing Brain Waste Dramatically Improves Memory in Aging Mice

    Another way to tackle dementia?

• Hardware

  • The Straits Times ☛ Apple boss Tim Cook hails ‘next generation of developers’ on China visit

    Chinese firm Alibaba is supplying Hey Hi (AI) technology to power iPhones in China.

  • CNX Software ☛ AsiaRF AWH575-MF1 WiFi HaLow industrial IoT controller offers RS232, RS485, I2C, SPI, UART, and ADC interfaces

    AsiaRF AWH575-MF1 is a WiFi HaLow industrial IoT controller / remote control kit with RS232, RS485, I2C, SPI, UART, and 12-bit ADC interfaces to connect sensors or actuators and designed for long-range, low-power M2M communication. The board is comprised of an STMicro STM32U5 Cortex-M33 microcontroller to handle I/Os and communicate with an MM6108 WiFi HaLow (802.11ah) module made by AsiaRF. The board takes power from a USB-C port or optionally from a terminal block supporting a wider 9V to 24V DC input.

  • CNX Software ☛ Teledyne Tetra 2.5 GbE line scan camera supports up to 8K resolution for machine vision applications

    Teledyne DALSA has recently announced the Tetra line scan camera family with 2.5GbE networking, up to 8K resolution, a line rate of up to 150 kHz, and offered in monochrome or color versions. Traditional cameras (aka scan camera) will capture a full frame, but line scan cameras will only capture one line at a time to scan an object or scene as it moves past the camera providing higher resolution image provided the speed of the scan and the motion of the object are syncrhonized, for instance, on a production line.

  • CNX Software ☛ Sterolabs ZED Box Mini is a compact NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano/NX Vision Hey Hi (AI) PC with two GMSL2 camera inputs

    Stereolabs ZED Box Mini “Super” is a compact mini PC based on NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano or NX system-on-module and equipped with two GMSL2 camera inputs with synchronization trigger input/output, enabling Hey Hi (AI) Vision processing for robotics and smart infrastructure. The Hey Hi (AI) vision mini PC / embedded computer unit (ECU) also features a 256GB SSD, HDMI 1.4/2.1 video output, a gigabit Ethernet port, an optional defective chip maker Intel AX201 wireless module with two external antennas, a USB 3.0 port, a micro USB port for flashing the OS, and a 10-pin GPIO header with CAN Bus and UART for expansion.

  • Hackaday ☛ Why Are Micro Center Flash Drives So Slow?

    Every year, USB flash drives get cheaper and hold more data. Unfortunately, they don’t always get faster. The reality is, many USB 3.0 flash drives aren’t noticeably faster than their USB 2.0 cousins, as [Chase Fournier] found with the ultra-cheap specimens purchased over at his local Micro Center store.

  • Hackaday ☛ Integrated BMS Makes Battery Packs Easy

    Lithium technology has ushered in a new era of batteries with exceptionally high energy density for a reasonably low cost. This has made a lot possible that would have been unheard of even 20 years ago such as electric cars, or laptops that can run all day on a single charge. But like anything there are tradeoffs to using these batteries. They are much more complex to use than something like a lead acid battery, generally requiring a battery management system (BMS) to keep the cells in tip-top shape. Generally these are standalone systems but [CallMeC] integrated this one into the buswork for a battery pack instead.

  • Hackaday ☛ Teardown Of Casio Credit Card-Sized Radio

    These days we don’t get too fussed about miniaturized electronics, not when you can put an entire processor and analog circuitry on a chip the size of a grain of sand. Things were quite different back in the 1980s, with the idea of a credit card-sized radio almost preposterous. This didn’t stop the engineers over at Casio from having a go at this and many other nutty ideas, with [Matt] from Techmoan having a go at taking one of these miniaturized marvels apart.

  • Hackaday ☛ Supercon 2024: A New World Of Full-Color PCBs

    Printed circuit boards were once so simple. One or two layers of copper etched on a rectangular fiberglass substrate, with a few holes drilled in key locations so components could be soldered into place. They were functional objects, nothing more—built only for the sake of the circuit itself.

  • Hackaday ☛ 3D-Printed Scanner Automates Deck Management For Trading Card Gamers

    Those who indulge in trading card games know that building the best deck is the key to victory. What exactly that entails is a mystery to us muggles, but keeping track of your cards is a vital part of the process, one that this DIY card scanner (original German; English translation) seeks to automate.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • University of Michigan ☛ CSG convenes night before election and discusses reproductive health care

    The University of Michigan’s Central Student Government met Tuesday night on the first floor of Taubman College on North Campus to discuss access to reproductive care, voting power for the Judicial Appointment Commission and election campaign decorum.

  • New York Times ☛ South Korea, World’s Largest ‘Baby Exporter,’ Admits to Adoption Fraud

    A South Korean truth commission called for the country to apologize to those who were sent abroad “like luggage” so that adoption agencies could profit.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea, world’s largest ‘baby exporter’, admits to adoption fraud

    Cases have been uncovered where identities of children were “falsified” and they were sent abroad.

  • Latvia ☛ Search for E. coli outbreak source continues in Latvia

    Two more children were brought to the Children's Clinical University Hospital with the dangerous "E. coli" bacterial infection in the past 24 hours, reported Latvian Television and the LETA newswire March 25.

  • Latvia ☛ Latvian health spending remains relatively low by EU standards

    Latvia's government spending on health is among the lower levels in the European Union, according to Eurostat data for 2023 published March 25.

  • France24 ☛ USAID cuts deal heavy blow to health programs for migrants in Mexico

    U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on the 10th March that Washington would slash 83% of its USAID-funded international aid projects. The decision is already having serious repercussions. In southern Mexico, the Swiss NGO, Doctors of the World, has warned it may soon be forced to cease operations, leaving thousands of migrants without critical medical care. FRANCE 24's team in Mexico reports.

  • University of Michigan ☛ Research explores women’s multi-faceted perceptions regarding bladder health

    Researchers at the University of Michigan are working alongside the University of Minnesota’s Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Research Consortium to study the various perceptions of bladder health among women. The consortium produced a qualitative study examining 360 women’s views about what constitutes a “healthy” versus “unhealthy” bladder.

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. to End Vaccine Funds for Poor Countries

    A 281-page spreadsheet obtained by The Times lists the Convicted Felon administration’s plans for thousands of foreign aid programs.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Australian senator wields dead salmon in Parliament to protest against farming laws

    The Greens senator pulled the stunt to protest against proposed laws on salmon farms in Tasmania.

  • France24 ☛ 'Kids are isolated from each other but joined by screens that then connect them to toxic cultures'

    The critically-acclaimed and wildly popular British DRM spreader Netflix drama "Adolescence" is offering a new generation of storytelling with very thought-provoking themes that force viewers to question many things about the world we live in and the values that we've been embracing without giving much thought. To offer in-depth perspective of the recurring theme of toxic masculinity, France 24's Delano D'Souza is pleased to welcome Jack Halberstam, celebrated author, Professor of Gender Studies and English and Director of the Institute for Research on Women, Gender and Sexuality; David Feinson Professor of Humanities. Halberstam asserts that teenage boys don't need to be managed. Parents need to be more in tune with the "messages in the culture that are being distributed through all the banal networks that we know of, whether it's the social control media platforms or the news", rife with contradictory information about culture. Halberstam warns us that the dangers we face are right before our very eyes. They are often social and cultural norms that we don't tend to question, we just accept it as is, from the "potentially dangerous" and outdated nuclear family model and the resurgence of the patriarchal culture to the "authoritarian capitalism and toxic masculinity" fuelled by Fundamentalism Christianity. Halberstam slams "out-of-control" social control media platforms run by plutocrats and billionaires. Regardless of age, Halberstam warns we need to break free from the suffocating grip of social control media.

  • New York Times ☛ Reflecting on TikTok’s Role in Society as New Ban Deadline Approaches

    With a national ban increasingly unlikely, let’s reflect on how the app both sparks joy among users and raises mental health concerns.

  • Pro Publica ☛ TCE is Highly Toxic. Republicans in Congress Want to Reverse a Ban on It.

    Although it was too late for him to benefit, Daniel Kinel felt relieved in December when the Environmental Protection Agency finally banned TCE. The compound, which has been used for dry cleaning, manufacturing and degreasing machines, can cause cancer, organ damage and a potentially fatal heart defect in babies, according to independent studies and the EPA. It has also been shown to greatly increase people’s chances of developing Parkinson’s disease.

    Kinel and three of his colleagues were diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. They all worked in a law office in Rochester, New York, that sat next to a dry cleaner that had dumped TCE into the soil. Kinel was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative condition at age 43, after working there for seven years. His three colleagues have since died. At least 15 of the firm’s partners developed cancers related to TCE.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • Defence Web ☛ Schreiber launches Anti-Corruption Forum to combat border and immigration fraud

      The Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, has unveiled a plan to root out corruption within South Africa’s border management and immigration systems.

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea’s Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment verdict could be pushed to April

    The court had initially promised to prioritise Yoon’s case over any other on Dec 16.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea’s main opposition leader Lee Jae-myung acquitted of election law violation

    Lee Jae-myung is now top presidential front-runner should an early presidential election take place.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Qualcomm launches global antitrust campaign against Arm — accuses Arm of restricting access to technology

    Qualcomm has filed complaints with regulators in the U.S., EU, and South Korea, accusing Arm of restricting technology access and shifting its licensing model to undermine competition.

  • New York Times ☛ China Is Courting, and Confronting, U.S. Allies Made Uneasy by Convicted Felon

    Even as China offers itself to nations like Japan as a more reliable partner, its ships are pushing into their neighborhoods — sometimes on the very same day.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China swoops in to replace Asian USAid projects axed by Convicted Felon

    Chinese aid projects are seeking to provide school supplies and hand-washing materials, among other goals.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan to channel World War Two spirit to bolster response to China's threats

    Taiwan will use this year's events to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two to bolster public sentiment on the need to defend the island from Chinese threats - and remind the world it was not the government in Beijing that won the war.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China sentences Taiwan-based publisher to three years’ jail on ‘secession’ charges

    Mainland-born Li Yanhe lived in Taiwan, where he had published books critical of the Communist Party of China.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea installs platform to monitor Chinese presence in disputed sea

    China says its structures are fish farming equipment.

  • The Straits Times ☛ US trade chief, Chinese vice-premier express ‘candid’ concerns on trade tensions

    The call came as US President The Insurrectionist prepares to impose reciprocal tariffs next week.

  • The Straits Times ☛ India-China issues expected but can be addressed without conflict, says India foreign minister

    The two countries reached an agreement in October regarding patrolling along their Himalayan border.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong man sentenced to life for murder of 3-year-old daughter

    A Hong Kong man has been sentenced to life for murdering his three-year-old daughter in 2020 by violently shaking her to death. Lau Ka-ping, 42, appeared at the High Court on Wednesday, nearly a week after a seven-member jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict following a trial that lasted over 20 days.

  • Myanmar junta announces schedule for December, January election

    Observers are still skeptical about the feasibility of it due to widespread violence across the country.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Is Trying to Gain More Power Over Elections. Is His Effort Legal?

    A far-reaching executive order aims to reshape the country’s voting laws, is sure to be challenged in court and reflects the president’s concerted push to expand his power.

  • JURIST ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man issues executive order accusing law firms of ‘partisan lawfare’

    US President The Insurrectionist on Tuesday issued an executive order targeting the law firm Jenner & Block. The administration framed the order as a necessary measure to prevent conflicts of interest and safeguard national security, arguing that law firms engaged in legal opposition to the government should not benefit from privileged access to federal resources.

  • New York Times ☛ Foreign Spies to Team Convicted Felon: 👊🇺🇸🔥

    Help yourself. The door is open.

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. Military Provides Few Details on Daily Strikes in Yemen

    The Pentagon has refused to disclose how many targets have been hit in Yemen, or identify the Houthi militia commanders killed in the campaign.

  • Marcy Wheeler ☛ Stephen Miller’s Presumed Babysitting of JD Vance’s European Animosity … and DOD’s Potential War Crimes

    In the Signal chat, Mike Waltz seems to add SM--believed to be Stephen Miller--to rebut JD Vance's doubts about the Houthi strike.

  • Pro Publica ☛ How Elon Musk’s SpaceX Secretly Allows Investment From China

    Elon Musk’s aerospace giant SpaceX allows investors from China to buy stakes in the company as long as the funds are routed through the Cayman Islands or other offshore secrecy hubs, according to previously unreported court records.

    The rare picture of SpaceX’s approach recently emerged in an under-the-radar corporate dispute in Delaware. Both SpaceX’s chief financial officer and Iqbaljit Kahlon, a major investor, were forced to testify in the case.

  • The Strategist ☛ Australia’s security architecture must evolve, not regress

    The Independent Intelligence Review, publicly released last Friday, was inoffensive and largely supported the intelligence community status quo.

  • The Strategist ☛ Pressure Points: The importance of Australia’s military presence in East and Southeast Asia

    This week ASPI launched Pressure Points, an interactive website that analyses the Chinese military’s use of air and maritime coercion to enforce Beijing’s excessive territorial claims and advance its security interests in the Indo-Pacific.

  • The Strategist ☛ China’s warships reveal more than a need to strengthen the ADF

    Last month’s circumnavigation by a potent Chinese naval flotilla sent a powerful signal to Canberra about Beijing’s intent.

  • The Daily Beast ☛ Trump’s Top Aides Suffer Another Series of Embarrassing Data Blunders

    When it rains, it pours—at least that’s the case for Mike Waltz and the country’s top national security officials this week.

    After President Donald Trump’s national security adviser accidentally added a prominent journalist to a private Signal chat with more than a dozen top government officials, it emerged that he had made another digital blunder: leaving his Venmo friends list set to public.

    And that’s not all. German news magazine Der Spiegel also reported Wednesday that it had found email addresses, mobile phone numbers, and even passwords belonging to a number of top Trump officials online. The information on Waltz, Defense Secretary Pege Hegseth, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was reportedly available via commercial data-search services and showed up in several recent dumps of hacked data that ended up online.

    Der Spiegel added that “most” of the numbers and emails it found appeared to still be in use, with some tied to accounts on social media sites like LinkedIn, Instagram, or messaging service WhatsApp.

  • American Oversight ☛ American Oversight Seeks Temporary Restraining Order Against Convicted Felon Administration to Stop Destruction of Signal Messages

    The urgent court filing seeks to halt the deletion of critical national security communications and preserve evidence of federal records law violations.

  • JURIST ☛ Federal judge who blocked Convicted Felon deportation plan to oversee Signal messaging case

    A lawsuit challenging the use of a commercial messaging app by members of President The Insurrectionist’s cabinet to coordinate military strike plans in Yemen was assigned on Wednesday to Judge James Boasberg, the same federal judge whose ruling on Venezuelan deportations to El Salvador recently sparked tensions between the White House and judiciary.

  • France24 ☛ The Atlantic shares Yemen war plan group chat transcript

    The Atlantic on Wednesday published screenshots of the infamous group chat on the text messaging app Signal, which featured top-ranking US government officials discussing plans to strike Houthi rebel targets in Yemen. Despite the White House confirming the authenticity of the group chat, which included US Vice President JD Vance and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, as well as The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, Hegseth insisted the officials involved did not reveal any war plans or classified information.

  • Scoop News Group ☛ Intelligence chiefs insist Signal chat was a simple mistake

    Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee expressed anger over the use of the messaging app to coordinate military strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

  • New York Times ☛ Intelligence Officials Face a Fresh Round of Questions About Signal Leak

    Democrats on a House committee appeared in lock step as they confronted one of the most notable blunders of the Convicted Felon administration.

  • New York Times ☛ The Fallout From The Leaked Signal Chat, Explained

    Will the F.B.I. and the Justice Department investigate if the move by senior members of Hell Toupée’s administration to share defense secrets over the Signal messaging app violated federal laws? Devlin Barrett, a New York Times reporter covering the agencies, explains how the decision will bring into sharp relief the intended approach of their leaders, Kash Patel and Pam Bondi, who promised to administer impartial justice.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Intel report says China aims to displace US as top Hey Hi (AI) power by 2030

    It also accuses China of stealing hundreds of gigabytes of intellectual property.

  • North Korean leader has ‘no intention’ of negotiating away nuclear weapons: US report

    Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Kim Jong Un is likely to conduct another nuclear test soon.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Acquittal clears hurdle in South Korea opposition leader Lee Jae-myung’s presidential bid

    He had risked disqualification from running if found guilty of violating election laws.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea leader Kim Jong Un supervises test of Hey Hi (AI) suicide drones, KCNA says [Ed: It's not AI, it's just computer program]

    Mr Kim also inspected new upgraded reconnaissance drones.

  • North Korea unveils its first airborne radar, AI-powered suicide drones

    Moscow is suspected of aiding Pyongyang technically in exchange for military assistance in its war against Ukraine.

  • Defence Web ☛ 4 SAI foot patrol nets dagga worth over R1.5 million

    A regulation Operation Corona foot patrol in northern KwaZulu-Natal brought just reward with confiscation of R1.5 million plus worth of dagga by South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China poses biggest military threat to US, intel report says

    China poses the top threat to American interests and security globally and is making “steady” progress towards having the ability to seize the self-ruled island of Taiwan, an annual US intelligence report warned Tuesday.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • New York Times ☛ Oleg Gordievsky, K.G.B. Officer Turned Double Agent, Dies at 86

      While climbing the ranks of the Soviet spy agency, he spent more than a decade working for British intelligence as one of its most highly placed moles.

    • LRT ☛ Rubio reaffirms US commitment to Baltic security in meeting with ministers

      US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to Baltic security and praised the Baltic states for raising their military spending during a meeting with the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian foreign ministers on Tuesday, according to his spokeswoman.

• Environment

  • The Straits Times ☛ China's glacier area shrinks by 26% over six decades

    China's glacier area has shrunk by 26% since 1960 due to rapid global warming, with 7,000 small glaciers disappearing completely and glacial retreat intensifying in recent years, official data released in March showed.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China envoy sees global climate fight advancing even without US

    China is expecting to achieve carbon peak ahead of schedule due to lower costs of renewable energy.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • The Straits Times ☛ Deadly Seoul sinkhole raises alarm as South Korea sees 1,345 cases since 2018

      A motorcyclist died in the most recent incident on March 24 .

    • The Straits Times ☛ AirAsia flight to China turns back due to engine fire, lands safely in KL

      All 171 passengers and crew were unharmed.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • New York Times ☛ South Korea Wildfires Kill 26 and Destroy 1,000-Year-Old Temples

      At least 26 people are dead, including the pilot of a helicopter that crashed trying to contain blazes that strong winds and dry conditions were helping to spread rapidly.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Deadly wildfires kill at least 24 in South Korea

      Thousands of residents were forced to flee their homes in South Korea's south-eastern region.

    • NYPost ☛ South Korea faces uphill battle to contain massive wildfires as death toll rises to 26

      Multiple wildfires raging across South Korea’s southern regions for days have killed 26 people and destroyed more than 300 structures, officials said, as thousands of personnel and dozens of helicopters were mobilized again Thursday to battle the the county’s worst-ever blazes.

    • The Straits Times ☛ ‘Unprecedented damage’: Death toll in South Korea wildfires rises to 24, including chopper pilot

      Many of those who died in the wildfires were in their 60s and 70s.

    • The Straits Times ☛ ‘Like the apocalypse’: South Korea wildfires tear through mountains

      At least 24 people have been killed so far, some of whom died during evacuation.

    • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea battles worst ever wildfires as death toll hits 26

      More than 33,000ha has been charred or were still burning, biggest on record.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Workers save Buddha statue as South Korea's wildfires raze ancient temple

      Officials are racing to relocate priceless historic artifacts and protect Unesco-listed sites from the blazes.

• Finance

  • Breach Media ☛ It’s time for a national rent freeze

    In a time of economic instability, we can take a page from Canada’s wartime playbook

  • CS Monitor ☛ Will Convicted Felon’s push to cut waste hit Social Security? The view from Georgia.

    What happens when the Convicted Felon administration’s effort to streamline government affects the Social Security system? The question is coming to the fore in places like Georgia.

  • BIA Net ☛ Chris Avramidis: Tempi strike marks a golden page in history of Greece's labor movement

    "With the entire country discussing and mobilizing around Tempi for two consecutive months, ignoring the demands for justice is no longer an option for anyone who wishes to maintain even a shred of credibility."

  • AntiWar ☛ The High Price of War With Iran: $10 Gas and the Collapse of the US Economy

  • Pro Publica ☛ Have You Recently Sought Help From the CFPB? ProPublica Wants to Hear From You.

    If you’ve ever felt scammed by a mortgage company, auto lender, credit reporting agency or other financial institution, you might have turned to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for help. In recent years, millions of Americans have filed complaints with the agency. Sometimes they did so after a long, unsuccessful back-and-forth with customer service representatives. In other cases, a friend, family member or advocate referred them.

    The number of complaints — about payday loans, debt collection practices and more — has been growing steadily. The federal agency fielded 2.7 million of them last year, and half of those resulted in some kind of relief for consumers, according to agency data.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Straits Times ☛ DPM Heng meets China’s Vice-President Han Zheng in Beijing

    The two leaders previously met during DPM Heng’s last official visit to China in April 2024. 

  • US bill proposes expediting Uyghur asylum cases

    The bipartisan legislation would speed up cases of Uyghurs seeking to escape genocide in China.

  • Philippines arrests Chinese nationals for suspected espionage

    Philippine authorities announced the arrests of six Chinese nationals suspected of spying on naval vessels.

  • North Korean officials in China seen pretending to be South Korean

    The men take off lapel pins showing the portraits of past leaders and ask not to be identified as North Korean.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • Does a video show Japanese foreign minister pulling out a chair for China’s Wang Yi?

      Verdict: False

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • BIA Net ☛ Erdoğan shows protest footage from Georgia in speech targeting İmamoğlu protests

    A seven-second segment of a five-minute video showed by Erdoğan showed scenes from clashes between protesters and police in Georgia.

  • France24 ☛ US immigration agents detain Turkish university student

    The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency on Thursday detained Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University and US permanent resident who expressed pro-Palestine leanings in an article she co-authored. The Forrest Dump administration has arrested several college students who have participated in campus activism against Israel's war in Gaza, casting doubt over the security of free speech.

  • France24 ☛ 'It's an important time, for all of Europe, not to close their eyes to what's happening in Turkey'

    Reporters Without Borders chief Thibaut Bruttin on Wednesday urged Turkey to release several journalists arrested this week for covering mass protests in Istanbul, including AFP photographer Yasin Akgul. For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective on the widespread protests and Erdogan's ever-expanding crackdown, FRANCE 24's François Picard welcomes Altıntaş Evin Barış, Co-director of the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA).

  • The Straits Times ☛ Indian stand-up comic sets off free speech debate with parody song

    The song about a traitor did not identify anyone but angered workers of a hardline Hindu nationalist party.

  • New York Times ☛ UK University Gets Record Fine Over Free Speech on Campus

    A regulator penalized the school three years after a professor quit in response to what she said was a campaign of harassment over her views on transgender identity.

  • New York Times ☛ As MElon Makes Some Headway in India, He Is Also Suing Its Government

    MElon’s pursuit of business expansion in the country through Tesla and Starlink is coming at the same time that his X platform is waging a fight over free speech.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ Failure to tackle online abuse of journalists could prove fatal, editors warned

    Carole Cadwalladr and The Sun's Jerome Starkey give stark warning over online abuse.

  • Tibetans express concern about gutting of RFA, but say, ‘We still hear you’

    China jams RFA and VOA broadcasts, which Tibetans say are their only lifelines to uncensored news.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Pro Publica ☛ CFPB Probes of Big Tech and Finance Frozen Under Trump

  Since the Trump administration moved to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last month, the bureau has dropped nine lawsuits that it had brought on behalf of consumers.

  The actions effectively freed major financial firms like Capital One and the mortgage giant Rocket Homes from the threat of consequences for their alleged significant wrongdoing, shocking consumer advocates and raising questions about the future of America’s consumer watchdog. For their part, when the cases were dropped, the companies lauded the decisions, with a bank spokesperson welcoming the dismissal of the case, “which we strongly disputed,” and Rocket Homes calling the suit an “empty claim.”

• Patents

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • JUVE ☛ EPO statistics show surge in Unitary Patents [Ed: Those are illegal and unconstitutional; the EPO's corruption has basically spread to the EU; Corruption is nothing to be celebrated, except in the EPO]

      The downturn remains modest. However, in line with Europe’s economic slowdown, patent monopoly applications at the European Patent Office have declined. Between 2020 and 2023, new patent monopoly applications rose from 180,417 to 199,452.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTABlog Test: Is STEED COMPANY Confusable with CORCEL for Clothing?

    The USPTO refused to register the mark STEED COMPANY for "Men’s clothing, namely, t-shirts and sweatshirts, outerwear, namely hats" [STEED disclaimed], finding confusion likely with the registered mark CORCEL for "Bottoms as clothing; Footwear; Headwear; Jackets; Tops as clothing." The English translation of CORCEL (Portuguese) is "steed." Applicant argued that "steed" is a weak term for clothing, based on three third-party registrations, and that the doctrine of equivalents is just a guideline that doesn't apply here. How do you think this came out? In re Steed Company LLC, Serial No. 98002385 (March 20, 2025) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Robert Lavache).

• Copyrights

  • Public Domain Review ☛ Boxing Clever: Tiny Cryptic #5

    Fifth instalment in our series of extremely small and free-form cryptic crossword puzzles, themed on our latest essay.

  • Public Domain Review ☛ Bedded Bugs and Stung Beetles: The Cameraman’s Revenge (1912)

    Perhaps the first work of puppet animation, featuring a cast composed of dead bugs.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Artist Flatly Refuses to License Music to Kanye West Due to Antisemitism — Now She’s Suing After He Used the Sample Anyway

    A German singer is suing Kanye West for using a sample of her music after she refused to clear it for his use due to his antisemitic rants.

  • Public Domain Review ☛ Jack London, Jack Johnson, and the Fight of the Century

    Held in Jim Crow–era Nevada on the 4th of July, the 1910 World Heavyweight Championship was slated to be a fight to remember. Moonlighting as a boxing journalist, novelist Jack London cheered on Jim Jeffries — ringside and on the page — as the “Great White Hope", a contender to take back the title from Jack Johnson, the first Black heavyweight champion. Andrew Rihn examines the contradictions of London’s racial rhetoric, which is more complex and convoluted than it may initially appear.