Leftovers

• New York Times ☛ Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel-Winning Peruvian Novelist, Dies at 89

  Mr. Vargas Llosa, who ran for Peru’s presidency in 1990 and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010, transformed episodes from his personal life into books that reverberated far beyond the borders of his native country.

• CS Monitor ☛ Mario Vargas Llosa ‘put Peru on the world’s literary map’

  Mario Vargas Llosa, who died April 12, helped ignite intellectual fervor in Peru, while his writings stoked the imagination of the world.

• The Strategist ☛ Bookshelf: How China sees things

  Here’s a book that looks not in at China but out from China.

• Science

  • New York Times ☛ How to Evade Taxes in Ancient Rome? A 1,900-Year-Old Papyrus Offers a Guide.

    A manuscript discovered in the Judean desert contains trial notes on an intricate tax-evasion scheme that involved forgery, fiscal fraud and the false sale of slaves.

  • Hackaday ☛ Plasmonic Modulators Directly Convert Terahertz Waves To Optical Signals

    A major bottleneck with high-frequency wireless communications is the conversion from radio frequencies to optical signals and vice versa. This is performed by an electro-optic modulator (EOM), which generally are limited to GHz-level signals. To reach THz speeds, a new approach was needed, which researchers at ETH Zurich in Switzerland claim to have found in the form of a plasmonic phase modulator.

  • Latvia ☛ Ninth-graders might have higher exam passing bar next year

    The Ministry of Education and Science (IZM) promises to raise the exam pass threshold for grade 9 next year, Latvian Radio reports on 14 April.

  • Science Alert ☛ 21 Heartwarming Images Reveal The Human Side of Life in Space

    Here's how ISS astronauts really live.

  • Science Alert ☛ 'Landmark Moment': New Breast Cancer Treatment Approved in UK

    The payoff from decades of research.

  • Science Alert ☛ Striking Evidence of Water Imbalance on The Moon Hints at a Collision

    Maybe it just needs to moisturize?

  • Science Alert ☛ Astroforensics Reveals Surprise Twist in Death of Planet Swallowed by Star

    "This is the only one we've observed in action."

  • Science Alert ☛ CT Scans Projected to Result in 100,000 New Cancers in The US

    It's important to get the full story.

  • Science Alert ☛ Our Galaxy's Neighbour Is Potentially Being Torn Apart by Its Bigger Sibling

    Galactic cannibalism?

  • Science Alert ☛ Life Deep Beneath The Soil Dominated by Mysterious New Phylum of Bacteria

    A whole other world down there.

  • Science Alert ☛ Largest Single Flood May Have Filled Mediterranean 5 Million Years Ago

    The signs are still there.

  • Science Alert ☛ There's Something Special About Meteors That Collide With Earth

    They've gone through a lot to get here.

• Career/Education

  • peppe8o ☛ Page-Turning Technology: The Tactile Side of Digital Reading

    There was the soft crackle of a paperback spine, the texture of a page catching a fingertip and the simple motion of turning over each leaf to meet the next line of thought.

  • France24 ☛ Harvard has $2.2 billion in funding paused after rebuffing Convicted Felon demands

    The Forrest Dump administration continued its crackdown on US universities on Monday, announcing it had frozen $2.2 billion in funding for Harvard University, where pro-Palestinian protests erupted last year, hours after the school defied additional demands the White House said it made to address anti-Semitism.

  • ACLU ☛ Writing an Op-Ed is Not Grounds for Deportation

    Since January, the Convicted Felon administration has abducted several international students and faculty and detained them thousands of miles away from their loved ones all because these scholars have spoken about Israel and Palestine in ways the government doesn’t like. But criticizing U.S. foreign policy, or voicing any other opinion, is protected by the First Amendment—no matter your immigration status.

    The ACLU and its partners are representing Rümeysa Öztürk, a Fulbright scholar and Ph.D. student at Tufts University who was arrested and detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Somerville, MA.

• Hardware

  • CNX Software ☛ W6300-EVB-Pico2 board combines RP2350 MCU with WIZnet W6300 QSPI Ethernet controller for 80+ Mbps data rate

    WIZnet W6300-EVB-Pico2 is a development board that combines a Raspberry Pi RP2350 MCU with the company’s new W6300 QSPI Ethernet controller capable of 80+ Mbps data rates. WIZNet has made several 10/100Mbps Ethernet controllers over the years that connect to microcontrollers via SPI, but the speed is often limited to 15 to 70 Mbps due to a low SPI clock frequency and small buffers.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ China's Moore Threads polishes homegrown CUDA alternative — MUSA supports porting CUDA code using Musify toolkit

    Moore Threads' MUSA shows China's intent to break away from CUDA with its own GPU programming environments.

  • Hackaday ☛ Building A DIY Tornado Tower

    A tornado can be an awe-inspiring sight, but it can also flip your car, trash your house, and otherwise injure you with flying debris. If you’d like to look at swirling air currents in a safer context, you might appreciate this tornado tower build from [Gary Boyd].

  • Hackaday ☛ Elastic Bands Enable Touchable Volumetric Display

    Amazing as volumetric displays are, they have one major drawback: interacting with them is complicated. A 3D mouse is nice, but unless you’ve done a lot of CAD work, it’s a bit unintuitive. Researchers from the Public University of Navarra, however, have developed a touchable volumetric display, bringing touchscreen-like interactions to the third dimension (preprint paper).

  • MIT Technology Review ☛ A vision for the future of automation

    The manufacturing industry is at a crossroads: Geopolitical instability is fracturing supply chains from the Suez to Shenzhen, impacting the flow of materials. Businesses are battling rising costs and inflation, coupled with a shrinking labor force, with more than half a million unfilled manufacturing jobs in the U.S. alone.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • No deposit, no treatment: More patients from Myanmar shut out from Thai hospitals

    Cash-strapped hospitals demand documentation and deposits from migrants, even in emergencies.

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Whooping cough outbreak prompts new alert from health officials

    There have been so far this year 133 confirmed cases in Mexico of the respiratory disease, which can be fatal for very young children.

  • Latvia ☛ Specific cancer treatment machine finally operational in Latvia

    Patients have received the long-awaited news from the Latvian Oncology Centre (LOC) that the short-focus radiation machine has finally started its work. Patients have been waiting in line since last May to be treated with this device, of which there is only one in Latvia, Latvian Television reported on 13 April.

  • Latvia ☛ Signatures collected for optional 'menstrual leave' in Latvia

    More than 10,000 signatures have been collected on the public initiative portal "Manabalss.lv" in favour of introducing two paid holidays during menstruation.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Over 50% of Hongkongers do not support healthcare subsidy reform, survey finds

    Over half of Hongkongers said they did not support the government’s public healthcare subsidy reform, a Liberal Party survey has found.

  • New York Times ☛ Why a Ukrainian Lawmaker Is Pushing to Legalize Pornography

    Ukraine makes tax revenue off the creators of pornographic content, but also threatens them with prosecution. A draft law aims to fix what many say is an unfair contradiction.

  • Science Alert ☛ Pornography's Prevalence Could Have a Dire Impact on Our Brain, Studies Show

    The dark side of pleasure.

  • JURIST ☛ Israel attack put last Gaza City hospital out of service: UN

    Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City has been forced out of service following a devastating Israeli airstrike early Sunday morning, amid what UN agencies describe as an escalating humanitarian catastrophe. Until the strike, Al Ahli had been one of Gaza’s few partially functioning hospitals, treating casualties from Israel’s renewed military campaign.

  • NYPost ☛ Fisher-Price recalls popular baby toys due to frightening choking hazard

    Parents are urged to stop use and request replacements from the toy company.

  • BIA Net ☛ Massive freeze devastates crops across Turkey, sparking food inflation concerns

    Nearly half of the country's provinces were hit by the agricultural freeze, damaging a wide range of crops from fruits and vegetables, to tea and nuts.

  • Science Alert ☛ Ozempic Reshapes The Kinds of Food People Eat. Here's What Happens.

    A domino effect emerges.

• Proprietary

  • Digital Music News ☛ Apple Music Quietly Adds Dolby Atmos Support for Windows

    Apple Music now offers Dolby Atmos playback on Windows, upping its support of devices outside the ecosystem. The strategy makes sense to capitalize for Apple’s Services division—main competitor Spotify’s high-fidelity audio offering is still MIA. Dolby Atmos is a surround-sound audio format that allows music to be heard in an immersive, three-dimensional audio experience.

  • Google layoffs to impact Indian employees? Here’s what we know

    Google plans to reduce its workforce from the teams of advertisement, sales, and marketing departments, along with engineering staff from its Hyderabad and Bengaluru offices in India, as per media reports.

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)

    • University of Michigan ☛ Kaplan survey examines the lack of clarity for Hey Hi (AI) [LLM plagiarism] usage in law school admissions essays

      A survey published March 18 by Kaplan, an education provider that provides resources including test prep and professional certification, received more than 300 responses from pre-law students about their thoughts on artificial intelligence usage in law school admissions essays.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • MIT Technology Review ☛ DOGE’s tech takeover threatens the safety and stability of our critical data

      Tech buzzwords are clanging through the halls of Washington, DC. The Forrest Dump administration has promised to “leverage blockchain technology” to reorganize the US Agency for International Development, and MElon’s DOGE has already unleashed an internal chatbot to automate agency tasks—with bigger plans on the horizon to take over for laid-off employees.

    • France24 ☛ Meta to train its Hey Hi (AI) models on public data of European users

      Meta on Monday said it would incorporate user interactions with its AI, as well as posts and comments by adults across its platforms, to train its artificial intelligence models in the European Union. Users will still be able to opt out of having their data used.

    • New York Times ☛ What If Mark Kapo-berg Had Not Bought Instagram and WhatsApp?

      Meta’s antitrust trial, in which the government contends the company killed competition by buying young rivals, hinges on unknowable alternate versions of Silicon Valley history.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Site36 ☛ German dissent on Palantir: Several federal states oppose the US software for the police

    Conservative-led federal states want to introduce technology from a Convicted Felon supporter across Germany. The future CSU Federal Ministry of the Interior could help.

  • Site36 ☛ Frontex significantly expands drone operations: Number of flight hours increases by 50 per cent

    The EU border agency is spending another quarter of a billion on Israeli long-range drones. This unmanned aerial surveillance is being expanded with expensive high-flying technology. The EU border agency Frontex has significantly expanded its drone surveillance for migration control in the Mediterranean.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Ousted S. Korean president Yoon’s criminal trial begins as supporters continue to rally

    He denies all criminal charges of insurrection for his shock declaration of martial law in December.

  • Choe Ryong Hae’s power network threatens Kim Jong Un’s grip in North Korea: report

    Parliamentary chief Choe’s allies have risen to top roles in the North’s party, military, government since 2017.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia to seek ceasefire extension in Myanmar for quake relief efforts to go on

    It has sent its rescue team to Myanmar and set up a temporary military field hospital there.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Philippines says it voiced South China Sea concerns during Asean-China negotiations

    During the negotiations from April 9 to 11, the countries also tackled so-called “milestone issues".

  • The Straits Times ☛ Cambodia deports unknown number of Taiwanese to China on fraud charges, says Taiwan

    Cambodia recently arrested 180 Taiwanese fraud centre suspects, according to Taiwan's Foreign Ministry.

  • Taiwan says Cambodia deported its nationals to China after fraud arrests

    About 180 Taiwanese and 7 Chinese suspects were arrested in a telecom fraud raid in Phnom Penh on March 31.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China imposes visa restrictions on US personnel over Tibet

    A Foreign Ministry spokesman says Tibet-related issues are China’s “internal affairs”.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Ecuadorians may not love their new president, but they voted for his ‘iron fist’

    Ecuadorians are unhappy with nationwide security and economic crises – and yet, they reelected President Daniel Noboa.

  • New York Times ☛ Suspect Arrested in Arson Attacks on New Mexico G.O.P. Office and a Tesla Dealer

    Jamison Wagner, 40, of Albuquerque, faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted, the authorities said.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Tahir in Newsweek on the effect of US aid cuts on Ukrainian media

      On April 14, Muhammad Tahir, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and former RFE/RL Central and South Asia liaison in Washington, DC, was published in Newsweek on the effect of US aid cuts on Ukrainian media and Russian disinformation.

    • France24 ☛ European leaders condemn Sumy attack as war crime

      Russia said Monday its missiles hit a meeting of Ukrainian army commanders in Sumy, accusing Ukraine of using civilians as a "human shield" after Kyiv reported the Sunday attack killed at least 34 people. The strike was one of the deadliest for months and drew condemnation from leaders around the world, while The Insurrectionist called it a "horrible thing" and suggested Russia had "made a mistake". Siobhan Silke reports

    • France24 ☛ Russia's attack on Ukraine's Sumy: 'It doesn't really look like a mistake'

      Zelensky called for a global response to the attack. 'Talks have never stopped ballistic missiles and aerial bombs. What’s needed is an attitude toward Russia that a terrorist deserves,' he said.

      Asking about the attack, Convicted Felon said on April 13 that he was trying to get the war stopped. 'I think it was terrible and I was told they made a mistake, but I think it’s a horrible thing. I think the whole war is a horrible thing,' he told reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington. He did not clarify whether he was saying the attack was unintentional. 'It doesn't really look like a mistake', our reporter James André says.

    • LRT ☛ Ukrainian forces receive Lithuanian-funded long-range weapons

      Ukraine’s armed forces have received domestically made long-range weapons purchased with €10m allocated by Lithuania, Vilnius announced on Monday.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania summons Russian embassy representative in Vilnius after attack in Sumy

      Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry summoned a representative of the Russian Embassy in Vilnius following a Russian ballistic missile strike on Sumy in northeastern Ukraine that killed at least 34 people.

    • RFERL ☛ Drone Attack On Kursk Kills Elderly Woman, Injures 9, Russian Authorities Say

      A Ukrainian drone attack killed an 85-year-old woman and injured nine people in the Russian city of Kursk near the border with Ukraine, regional authorities said on April 15.

    • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Calls Russia’s Strike on Sumy a ‘Mistake’

      At least 35 people were killed in the attack on Sumy, which came as Ukraine’s leader urged Hell Toupée to come witness the realities of war firsthand.

    • Meduza ☛ One day after Ukraine reports fighter jet pilot’s death, Russia says it shot down F-16 — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Germany's Friedrich Merz says country open to sending long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Kremlin says not to expect 'immediate results' from U.S.-Russia negotiations — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Photos of the aftermath of Russia's Palm Sunday strike on Sumy

    • Meduza ☛ ‘Sweden’s security service has gone a little crazy’: Stockholm is treating exiled Russian scientists like security threats — and banning them from the Schengen zone — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Trump comments on Sumy strike, saying he was told Russia 'made a mistake' — Meduza

    • Latvia ☛ Pressure on Latvian-Belarusian border rises with warmer weather

      In the last three days, 179 people have illegally tried to cross the Latvian-Belarusian border, the State Border Guard told LETA on 14 April.

    • France24 ☛ Sanctions a 'fools errand': 'Putin not beholden to ceasefire agreements, economy remains resiliant'

      European officials condemned Monday Russia's deadly missile attack on Ukraine's Sumy that killed and wounded scores, accusing Moscow of committing war crimes and demonstrating disregard for Washington-led efforts to end the war. Ukrainian officials said two ballistic missiles on Sunday morning hit the heart of Sumy, a city about 30 kilometers away from Ukraine's border with Russia, as people gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, killing at least 34 and wounding 117. It is the second large-scale attack to claim civilian lives in just over a week. For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective, FRANCE 24's Annette Young welcomes Peter Zalmayev, Director of the Eurasian Democracy Initiative.

    • France24 ☛ Strikes during Palm Sunday celebrations: 'Vladimir Putin doesn't really care'

      Russian missiles struck the heart of the Ukrainian city of Sumy as people gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, killing at least 34 people, officials said, in the second large-scale attack to claim civilian lives in just over a week. 'Palm Sunday is supposed to unite folks from around the Christian world. Striking civilians on this very sensitive date sends a signal that Vladimir Putin doesn't really care', our guest, Peter Zalmayev, Director of the Eurasia Democracy Initiative says.

    • Meduza ☛ Zelensky urges Trump to visit Ukraine before making any deals with Putin — Meduza

    • RFERL ☛ Putin Condemned Over Sumy Attack As Zelenskyy Invites Convicted Felon To See Destruction

      Officials from around the world condemned Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, as the Ukrainian city of Sumy continued to sift through the wreckage caused by Russian a missile strike that left at least 34 people dead.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania denies entry to 10 people from Central Asia over radicalism fears

      Some 10 people from Central Asian countries have been denied entry to Lithuania due to ties with terrorist organisations and the potential for radicalization, Darius Jauniškis, the outgoing director of the State Security Department (VSD), said on Sunday.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania ‘aspires’ to restore diplomatic ties with China, says official

      Lithuania aspires to restore diplomatic ties with China but will not renounce its values and principles, Marius Česnulevičius, a presidential adviser on national security issues, told reporters on Monday.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania appoints new intelligence chief, ambassador to NATO

      On Monday, Lithuania appointed a new ambassador to NATO and a chief of the country’s intelligence service, the State Security Department (VSD).

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • The Straits Times ☛ One still missing days after subway construction site collapse in South Korea

      Experts say that structural defects and unstable ground conditions may be behind the accident.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia Customs seizes $6m worth of cannabis buds hidden in pet food at KL airport

      The cargo was declared as recycled clothing to pass through checks, said the authorities.

    • The Straits Times ☛ India and China discuss resuming flights, no date set

      India and China have held one round of talks on resuming direct passenger air services, but no dates have been fixed yet, New Delhi said on Monday, as relations continued to thaw five years after a deadly border clash.

    • The Straits Times ☛ ‘The sky will not fall’: Can HK’s free port status cushion impact of US-China tariff war?

      The city has leeway to tailor its response to the tariffs, but it will still be painful, say analysts.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • The Revelator ☛ Acclaimed Lion Conservationist Paola Bouley on Her Second Chance: ‘It Feels Like a Homecoming’

    • LRT ☛ Echoes of an outbreak: What did Europe learn from the Covid pandemic?

      Five years since the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a global pandemic, Europe is still taking stock of what’s changed and what hasn’t. This report and interactive map from A European Perspective* tracks how public service media across the continent are reflecting on the pandemic’s impact — and asking: could new threats find Europe just as vulnerable?

  • Overpopulation

    • The Straits Times ☛ Japan sees record population drop in 2024 as financial security trumps marriage

      Country's birth rate is among the lowest in the world.

• Finance

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong chief secretary calls US tariffs ‘blackmail,’ links them to national security

    Hong Kong Chief Secretary Eric Chan has slammed steep US tariff hikes on Chinese goods, calling them “blackmail” and suggesting they are a matter of national security. In an interview with local newspaper Sing Tao, published on Monday, Chan said the tariffs disregarded the law and did not comply with international practices.

  • Green Party UK ☛ Greens to back nationalisation of British Steel as parliament recalled

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man’s Dilemma: A Trade War That Threatens Every Other Negotiation With China

    Hell Toupée is staking everything on winning by imposing tariffs on China. But the fight threatens to choke off negotiations about other issues like Taiwan, fentanyl, Fentanylware (TikTok) and more.

  • Digital Music News ☛ TikTok Reportedly Bagged Nearly $39 Billion in the US Last Year — Though That Doesn’t Guarantee a Deal Will Happen

    TikTok made nearly $39 billion from its US operations last year, drawing the question of the economic impact of a federal ban to the forefront. Beijing-based Fentanylware (TikTok) parent ByteDance earned a quarter of its total revenue last year from its US Fentanylware (TikTok) operations, according to sources close to the matter.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea, Vietnam agree to boost economic ties amid looming US tariffs

    The two countries are racing to mitigate the impact of potential US tariffs.

  • China’s Pooh-tin seeks stronger Vietnam trade ties at start of SE Asia tour

    Xi will also stop in Malaysia and Cambodia on trip shadowed by uncertainty over U.S. tariffs.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Chinese leader Pooh-tin warns protectionism ‘leads nowhere’ as he arrives in Vietnam

    Chinese leader Pooh-tin Jinping warned that protectionism “leads nowhere” and that a trade war would have “no winners”, state media said, as he arrived in Vietnam on Monday on the first leg of a Southeast Asia tour.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China, Vietnam sign agreements on supply chains, railway cooperation

    HANOI - China and Vietnam signed dozens of cooperation deals on Monday, including on production and supply chains as well as railway cooperation, as Chinese President Pooh-tin Jinping visited the Southeast Asian nation, footage of the signed documents seen by Reuters showed.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Xi calls on China, Vietnam to ‘oppose unilateral bullying’ on regional tour

    He called on the two countries to "oppose unilateral bullying and uphold the stability of the global free trade system".

  • The Straits Times ☛ China, Vietnam sign deals as Pooh-tin visits Hanoi amid US tariff tensions

    The Chinese President is on a three-nation trip to South-east Asia this week.

  • RFERL ☛ Xi Eyes Inroads In Asia, Europe Amid Convicted Felon's Tariffs And US-China Tensions

    Chinese leader Pooh-tin Jinping has begun a regional tour of Southeast Asia as Beijing looks to win over governments in the region and across Europe that are looking to balance their reliance on Washington in the wake of soaring US tariffs.

  • New York Times ☛ China’s Pooh-tin Courts Vietnam as Trade War With the U.S. Mounts

    Xi Jinping is in Southeast Asia to build bonds with countries that also face U.S. tariffs and have come under pressure from Washington to curb the transshipment of Chinese goods.

  • New York Times ☛ With Convicted Felon’s Tariffs, Europe Fears a Flood of Cheap Goods From China

    Hell Toupée’s tariffs on China could lead to a hazardous scenario for European countries: the dumping of artificially cheap products that could undermine local industries.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taipei vows crackdown on fake ‘Made in Taiwan’ labels as fresh US tariff threats loom

    China-based exporters had previously dodged US tariffs with the practice known as "origin laundering".

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Chinese exports soared in March ahead of US President The Insurrectionist’s tariffs on ‘Liberation Day’

    Chinese exports soared more than 12 percent last month, according to data Monday, beating expectations as businesses rushed to get ahead of swingeing tariffs imposed by US President The Insurrectionist on his so-called “Liberation Day”.

  • University of Michigan ☛ MElon is not a savior, he’s a grifter

    In 2013, MElon proposed the Hyperloop, a pressurized high-speed tube system that would reach speeds up to 700 miles per hour and connect the state in record time, as an alternative to California’s high-speed rail project.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea’s ousted leader Yoon denies charges during criminal trial

    The charge of insurrection faced by the impeached president is punishable by life imprisonment or death.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • China told Hong Kong’s last major opposition party to shut down: members

    The Democratic Party, now set to disband, had previously avoided commenting on potential pressure from Beijing.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • [Old] The Jewish Chronicle ☛ Mohammed Hijab sues Douglas Murray for defamation

    Lawyers for Murray and The Spectator, led by Mark Lewis of Patron Law, have hit back against Hijab’s claims.

    They argue that as a public figure who regularly engages in contentious debates, Hijab’s reputation is already subject to scrutiny. Any “adverse consequences” to the YouTuber stem from his own behaviour, not the article, they state.

    Murray’s article includes a reference to Hijab's trip to Leicester during the 2022 unrest, in which Hindu buildings were attacked and dozens of arrests made as tensions with the city’s Muslim community exploded. Speaking to a large crowd of mostly masked men, Hijab delivered an apparent warning, saying: “I’m saying this directly to all the so-called Hindutva wannabe gangsters: Don’t ever come out like that again”. He also led calls of “Allahu Akbar”.

  • [Old] ‘I was a victim’ insists Rainham teacher who claims he was unfairly dismissed after attending free speech rally

    Mohammed Hegab was a trainee teacher at Harris Academy in Lambs Lane and was seen on social media saying he would “fight” and “die” at a rally in Whitehall.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Long-serving Daily Mail travel and property editor Mark Palmer to stand down

    Harriet Sime to become head of travel at the Mail titles across print and online.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • JURIST ☛ Rights group urges EU border agency to facilitate timely rescue by aerial surveillance

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) called Monday on the EU’s border agency, Frontex, to use aerial surveillance not only to detect and monitor migrant vessels in distress but also to facilitate timely rescues in the Central Mediterranean.

  • New York Times ☛ How Geo Group’s Surveillance Tech Is Aiding Convicted Felon’s Immigration Agenda

    Geo Group, a private prison firm that makes digital tools to track immigrants, becomes one of the Convicted Felon administration’s big business winners as its tech is increasingly used in deportations.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Ruben Schade ☛ I’m on the Ye Olde Blogroll!

    Speaking of James, I saw he linked to blogroll.org:

    You are viewing a humanly curated list of 633 fine personal & independent blogs and sites that are updated regularly. No algorithms ever!

    And I’m on there! This made my morning. Whomever submitted me to that, thank you.

  • APNIC ☛ Consultation on Draft ‘Governance Document for the Recognition, Maintenance, and Derecognition of Regional Internet Registries’

    Share your feedback on the 'RIR Governance Document'. The consultation period is open from 14 April to 27 May 2025.

  • Public Knowledge ☛ Emerging Tech 2025 [Ed: More like hype waves, spread in part by Microsoft inside the Board]

    Join us for an exciting evening exploring the cutting edge of technology at our Emerging Tech Exhibition & Reception! Delve into the transformative worlds of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Decentralized Web (Web3), and Extended Reality (XR).

  • Public Knowledge ☛ New Public Knowledge Paper Outlines How To Design a Digital Regulator To Enhance Competition, Protect Consumers [Ed: Leaves out important fact like conflict of interest; Microsoft inside the Board

    New paper outlines how to design a digital regulator to enhance competition and protect consumers.

  • Jim Nielsen ☛ Some Love For Interoperable Apps

    This is super easy because lots of clients support syncing to Feedbin. It’s worth pointing out: Feedbin has their own app. But they don’t force you to use it. You’re free to use any RSS client you want that supports their service.

    So all I have to do is download a new RSS client, login to Feedbin, and boom! An experience of my data in a totally different app from a totally different developer.

  • Standards/Consortia

    • APNIC ☛ Whois data incident resolved

      The error was rectified within 48 minutes of the notification. Within 48 hours, APNIC reset all maintainer and IRT passwords for all whois objects in the APNIC Whois Database.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• France24 ☛ Landmark US antitrust trial against Meta begins

  Meta's chief executive Mark Kapo-berg took the stand as a historic antitrust trial against the social control media giant began in Washington DC. Over the next few weeks, the District Court will hear arguments over whether Meta broke the law in its acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp. Plus, amid an escalating tariff war with the US, China has also been curbing its export of rare earth minerals critical for the US defence and tech industries.

• Digital Music News ☛ Live Nation/Ticketmaster Faces a New Round of Bipartisan Antitrust Scrutiny — This Time on the Sports Side

  Besides fending off a Justice Department lawsuit – and regulatory obstacles across the pond — Live Nation is now grappling with a new round of bipartisan antitrust scrutiny. That scrutiny pertains to the sports side of the Ticketmaster parent’s operations, but is certainly important from the perspective of Live Nation’s broader antitrust woes as well.

• Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Jack Dorsey and MElon Call for Abolition of “All IP Law”

  • Delete all Patent Law?
  • Delete all Copyright Law?
  • Delete all Trade Secrecy Law?
  • Delete all Trademark Law?
  • Delete all rights of publicity protecting individuals’ name-image-and-likeness?

• Patents

  • Unified Patents ☛ $14,000 for Key Patent Innovations entity, Malikie Innovations, video streaming patents prior art

    Unified Patents added eight new PATROLL contests, each with a $2,000 cash prize, seeking prior art on the list below. The patents are owned by Malikie Innovations Limited, an NPE and entity of Key Patent Innovations. The patents generally relate to various video streaming and media delivery technologies.

  • JUVE ☛ German Federal Patent Court upholds Xtandi patent monopoly in win for Astellas

    Astellas is defending several IP rights across multiple countries that protect its drug Xtandi. The current case concerns the basic patent monopoly EP 1 893 196 and its German SPC (12 2013 000 155.0). These protect the active ingredient enzalutamide, which forms the basis of Xtandi, a drug used for treating prostate cancer.

  • Unified Patents ☛ Another InfoGation navigation patent monopoly challenged

    On April 8, 2025, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 8,898,003, owned and asserted by InfoGation Corporation, an NPE. The '003 patent monopoly is generally directed to displaying maps on GPS receivers.

  • Unified Patents ☛ $500 awarded for Omni MedSci medical device patent monopoly prior art

    Unified is pleased to announce PATROLL crowdsourcing contest winner, Nikko Quevada, who was awarded $500 for his prior art submission on U.S. Patent 9,055,868, owned and asserted by Omni MedSci, Inc., an NPE. The ‘868 patent monopoly focuses on a medical diagnostic system controlled by voice commands. It has been asserted against Samsung and Whoop.

    We would also like to thank the dozens of other high-quality submissions that were made on this patent.

  • Kluwer Patent Blog ☛ The Rise of FRAND Interim Licenses [Ed: There is nothing fair or reasonable about these]

    Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) are at the heart of global technology markets, particularly in 4G/5G communications. While SEPs ensure interoperability, they also raise significant licensing challenges. As is known, to curb potential abuses, SEP holders must commit to licensing their patents on FRAND terms. However, determining what qualifies as “fair” and “reasonable” remains contentious.

  • Software Patents

    • Unified Patents ☛ Jeffrey Gross entity, Lattice Technologies, alarm monitoring patent monopoly challenge instituted

      On April 9, 2025, three weeks after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on the challenged claims of U.S. Patent 8,098,153, owned and asserted by Lattice Technologies LLC, a Jeffrey Gross entity. The ‘153 patent monopoly relates to an emergency response system that cycles through contacts in an order of priority until reaching someone.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTAB Dismisses LIVE RESIN Oppositions Under Rule 2.132(a) for Failure to Prosecute

    The Board tossed out two oppositions to registration of the mark RAW GARDEN REFINED LIVE RESIN for CBD-containing herbs for smoking, for failure to prosecute. Opposer Adapted Energy claimed likely confusion with its registered mark LIVE RESIN for supplements. However, it introduced no evidence or testimony during its assigned testimony periods, nor did it timely submit a copy of its registration, and Applicant Central Coast made no admissions in its Answer. The Board granted Central Coast's motion to dismiss under Rule 2.132(a). Adaptive Energy LLC v. Central Coast Agriculture, Inc., Oppositions Nos. 91275644 and 91280840 (April 11, 2025) [not precedential].