Leftovers

• France24 ☛ Street art: From tags on trains to international auction houses

  She’s the reluctant icon of generations of street artists: photojournalist Martha Cooper became a cult figure after her 1984 book "Subway Art" inspired creative souls around the world. She's now teamed up with renowned stencil artist Logan Hicks to revisit some of her images and give them a new, more painterly aspect. Cooper and Hicks join us in the studio to talk about the transformation of murals, tags and graffiti in recent years, as the ninth Urban Art Fair opens its doors in Paris. We also chat about meeting with a tattoo master in the Japan of the 1970s and how art can bring the natural world to the most urban of landscapes.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Easter exodus: More Hong Kong families head to mainland China for affordable fun

  By Irene Chan & Hans Tse Hong Kong resident Chris Wong, his wife, and their kid travelled with two other families to Zhuhai on Easter Sunday.

• New Yorker ☛ A Long, Hard Look at America

  As the transatlantic alliance falters, a major exhibition of U.S. photography offers Europeans a dizzying array of perspectives.

• Hackaday ☛ Hash Functions With The Golden Ratio

  In the realm of computer science, it’s hard to go too far without encountering hashing or hash functions. The concept appears throughout security, from encryption to password storage to crypto, and more generally whenever large or complex data must be efficiently mapped to a smaller, fixed-size set. Hashing makes the process of looking for data much faster for a computer than performing a search and can be incredibly powerful when mastered. [Malte] did some investigation into hash functions and seems to have found a method called Fibonacci hashing that not only seems to have been largely forgotten but which speeds up this lookup process even further.

• Standards/Consortia

  • [Old] Man of Many Pty Ltd ☛ 5 Beer Glass Sizes in Australia Explained

    Australians have cherished beer since the early 1800s, but understanding beer glass sizes in the land down under can be quite a challenge. Despite the country’s shift to the metric system in 1970, beer measurements have remained oddly inconsistent. From schooners to pints, and deciphering the millilitres in each, navigating Australian beer sizes can feel like an academic endeavour. Whether you’re preparing for an interstate footy trip or just looking to order with confidence, our comprehensive guide demystifies Australia’s diverse range of beer glass sizes.

  • The Register UK ☛ CVE board 'kept in the dark' on funding, members say

    The US govt's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, aka CISA, on Wednesday said it had "executed the option period on the contract to ensure there will be no lapse in critical CVE services." The CVE board only found this out by reading the statement online.

    The contract, however, only runs through March 2026, calling into question its long-term sustainability — and exposing the inherent weakness of a global resource being funded by a single government sponsor. A single sponsor rapidly alienating allies around the globe, to boot.

  • [Repeat] Daniel Stenberg ☛ How the CNA thing is working out

    Do you remember how curl became a CNA early last year?

    I was reminded that I had not really gotten back to this topic and explained to you, my dear readers, how it is and how it has worked out. This curl-being-a-CNA thing I mean.

    CNA stands for CVE Numbering Authority. Every CNA has the right and ability to allocate and publish their own CVE records. We manage a “vulnerability scope” that is ours and every CNA cares for all CVEs within our own respective scopes. Right now there are 450 CNAs, up from 350 when we joined.

  • Elliot C Smith ☛ Color TV and Chat GPT

    Today, roughly twenty percent of the global population is over sixty. Those that are were born in a time before color television. The idea of television had been in the works for almost one hundred years by 1960 but color images beamed into your home weren’t readily available until around 1960 here in Australia. That’s a time well within living memory.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Ancient Body Paint May Have Been Prehistoric Sunscreen, Study Says

    Intense UV radiation far worse than today.

  • Science Alert ☛ Why Aren't Humans as Hairy as Other Mammals? Here's The Science.

    We must have a good reason to not grow fur coats.

  • Science Alert ☛ Mattresses Could Be Exposing Kids to Dangerous Chemicals While They Sleep

    A not-so-safe environment.

  • Science Alert ☛ This Single-Celled Microbe Can Transform Into a Multicellular Creature

    "A critical evolutionary milestone."

  • Science Alert ☛ Massive Study Links 15 Factors to Early Dementia Risk

    "It reveals that we may be able to take action."

  • Science Alert ☛ Dementia in Younger People Is Often Overlooked. Here Are 5 Key Reasons.

    Hiding in plain sight.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ Robot Gets A DIY Pneumatic Gripper Upgrade

    [Tazer] built a small desktop-sized robotic arm, and it was more or less functional. However, he wanted to improve its ability to pick things up, and attaching a pneumatic gripper seemed like the perfect way to achieve that. Thus began the build!

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ AMD patches critical Zen 5 microcode bug — partners deliver new BIOS with AGESA 1.2.0.3C

    Motherboard partners are rolling out a new BIOS update for Ryzen 9000 CPUs, fixing a critical vulnerability that could allow hackers to run malicious microcode.

  • Hackaday ☛ XOR Gate As A Frequency Doubler

    [IMSAI Guy] grabbed an obsolete XOR gate and tried a classic circuit to turn it into a frequency doubler. Of course, being an old part, it won’t work at very high frequencies, but the circuit is super simple, just using the gate and an RC network. You can see a video of his exploration below.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Intel posts flat year-over-year earnings and bleak outlook, warns about macroeconomic pressures

    Intel reports flat revenue but deeper losses and lower margins in Q1 2025 as well as gives a bleak Q2 guidance driven by macroeconomic and trade-related uncertainties.

  • The Next Platform ☛ “No Quick Fixes” As defective chip maker Intel Losses And Restructurings Continue

    Intel’s new chief executive officer, Lip-Bu Tan, has his work cut out for him, just like his predecessor, Pat Gelsinger, did several years ago.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • University of Michigan ☛ U-M dental students help combat shortage of rural dentists

    Each year, the U-M dental school's Community-Based Collaborative Care & Education program places students in 17 federally qualified health centers across the state.

  • New York Times ☛ David Paton, Creator of Flying Eye Hospital, Dies at 94

    An idealistic ophthalmologist, he came up with an ingenious way to treat blindness in far-flung places: by outfitting an airplane with an operating room.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong’s Castle Peak psychiatric hospital fires 3 staff over drunken nurse on ward

    Hong Kong’s oldest and largest psychiatric hospital has fired three staff members after one of them was placed on a ward by two colleagues despite being drunk, according to local newspaper Ming Pao. The Hospital Authority on Friday admitted that staff members at Castle Peak Hospital had disrupted ward operations and “seriously breached disciplinary requirements.

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Christus Health breaks ground on US $100M hospital in Los Cabos

    The Baja California Sur medical facility will serve the region’s 350,000 residents, including 23,000 U.S. citizens who live in the area.

  • Federal News Network ☛ What to expect for federal health care coverage next year

    "They have three things that they're looking for carriers to improve on next year. One is online claims filing," said Kevin Moss.

  • New York Times ☛ Once Shunned by Japanese Consumers, Korean Rice Now Flies Off the Shelves

    Faced with shortages and rising prices for domestic rice, many Japanese are doing what was once unthinkable — buying a foreign variety.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Japan’s rice is so expensive, it’s willing to eat South Korea’s

    Some Japanese visitors to South Korea are taking rice souvenirs home with them.

  • CS Monitor ☛ ‘Make America Healthy Again’: A movement rallies around RFK Jr.’s agenda

    RFK Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again initiatives are controversial, but tap into a postpandemic skepticism of the medical establishment and a desire for more natural solutions.

• Proprietary

  • Marcy Wheeler ☛ Whiskey Pete’s Dirty Desktop

    Between new disclosures about Pete Hegseth's Signal use, we know he accessed Signal from both a cell phone that DOD searched as well as a desktop in his office connected to the public Internet.

• Pseudo-Open Source

  • Openwashing

    • DeepSeek Hey Hi (AI) Chatbot Review: A Game-Changer in Open-Source Hey Hi (AI) Technology

      The world of Artificial Intelligence is evolving at an incredible pace, with new models and platforms emerging constantly. Among the recent disruptors is DeepSeek, a Chinese Hey Hi (AI) company that has quickly made waves with its powerful and, notably, open-source large language models (LLMs).

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysian police arrest 10 for conning Singaporeans in impersonation scams

      They would impersonate the victim and reach out to their friends on social control media, asking for financial help.

• Defence/Aggression

  • New Yorker ☛ A Historical Epic of the Chinese in America

    Chinese immigrants in the U.S. have been fighting for centuries against racial prejudice, the author Michael Luo says; their story should be seen as an American epic.

  • Defence Web ☛ Military drone proliferation marks destabilizing shift in Africa’s armed conflicts

    A revolution in unmanned systems is reshaping the dynamics of Africa’s armed conflicts. Professional militaries must balance the tactical advantages of drones with an understanding of their limitations and risks.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea unveils new 'Kim Jong Un style' 5,000-tonne warship

    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a ceremony for the launch of a "new multipurpose destroyer," state media KCNA reported on Saturday.

  • New York Times ☛ Israel’s Hey Hi (AI) Experiments in Gaza War Raise Ethical Concerns

    Israel developed new artificial intelligence tools to gain an advantage in the war. The technologies have sometimes led to fatal consequences.

  • 400 bombs dropped during junta ‘ceasefire’ in Myanmar: rebel group

    Attacks on Rakhine state killed a civilian and injured dozens, including 5 children.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Myanmar junta defies quake ceasefire to continue deadly attacks, data shows

    Myanmar's junta has kept up a deadly military campaign, including airstrikes and artillery assaults, despite announcing a ceasefire after a major earthquake killed thousands in March, according to the United Nations and data from a crisis monitor.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Geopolitics in orbit: What Gulf moonshots mean for Washington

    On a multipolar world stage with Russia and China power competition, it’s clear that space collaboration has all-too-earthly impacts.

  • New York Times ☛ Luigi Mangione Pleads Not Guilty as US Seeks Death Penalty

    The judge warned Attorney General Pam Bondi to temper her statements about Luigi Mangione to ensure a fair trial on charges of killing a health insurance executive.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Philippine president orders probe into alleged foreign interference in elections

    Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos has ordered an investigation into alleged foreign interference in next month's elections after a top security official's warning that Chinese state-sponsored groups may be attempting to influence the outcome of the vote.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Indian army chief in Kashmir as rising tensions with Pakistan spook markets

    He is there to review security arrangements in Indian Kashmir.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Pro-China remarks haunt S Korea’s presidential hopeful Lee Jae-myung amid West Sea dispute

    The presidential hopeful is known for his strength in domestic politics but has appeared weak when it comes to foreign policy.

  • New Yorker ☛ What’s Legally Allowed in War

    How U.S. military lawyers see Israel’s invasion of Gaza—and the public’s reaction to it—as a dress rehearsal for a potential conflict with a foreign power like China.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ China reportedly waives tariffs on some US chip imports — duties paid are eligible for refunds

    Chinese authorities might be putting an exemption from their 125% tariff on some American chip imports.

  • China, ASEAN ‘committed’ to having legally binding sea code by 2026: Manila

    A South China Sea code of conduct has been under discussion for over two decades.

  • Cross-strait shadows: Inside the Chinese influence campaign against Taiwan (Part III)

    What appears to be a homegrown Taiwan show is in fact part of Beijing’s sophisticated influence operation.

  • Hong Kong permits vocal China critic cardinal to attend Pope Francis’s funeral

    A Hong Kong court temporarily grants Cardinal Joseph Zen his passport, which was confiscated during his 2022 arrest

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Pope Francis: Chinese Catholics mourn pontiff and mull church’s future

    By Mary Yang and Michael Zhang, with Isabel Kua in Beijing In a small church tucked into a side street in northern China’s Hebei province, a group of around 10 people gathered for their weekly meeting, the day after Pope Francis died aged 88. The Vatican on Monday announced the death of the Argentine pontiff, […]

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • France24 ☛ Russian satellite linked to space weapon programme appears to malfunction in orbit

      A mysterious Russian satellite, believed by US officials to support a nuclear anti-satellite weapon programme, is showing signs of erratic spinning in orbit – a potential setback for Moscow's military space ambitions. Known as Cosmos 2553, the satellite’s unusual behaviour, tracked by commercial space-monitoring firms, adds a new layer of intrigue to the growing tensions over weaponisation in space.

    • LRT ☛ Company linked to Russian military supplier operates in Vilnius – media

      I-Photonics, a company linked to the Belarusian group Izovac that supplies products to Russia’s military industry, is operating in Vilnius, 15min.lt reports.

    • Meduza ☛ Russian artist jailed for 10 days on ‘extremism’ charges over this: 🌈 — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Top Russian general killed in latest IED attack in the Moscow region — Meduza

    • France24 ☛ Car bomb kills senior Russian military officer near Moscow

      A car bomb killed a senior Russian military officer in the town of Balashikha just east of Moscow on Friday in an attack that Russian war bloggers blamed on Ukraine. The killing happened on the same day as U.S. President The Insurrectionist's envoy Steve Witkoff met President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Analysis by Douglas Herbert, France 24 international affairs commentator.

    • RFERL ☛ Witkoff And Putin Hold Talks As Convicted Felon Says Crimea 'Will Stay With Russia'

      Talks between President Vladimir Putin and the White House envoy Steve Witkoff were "productive" and brought US-Russian positions on Ukraine and other issues closer, a top Kremlin aide said, as U.S. President The Insurrectionist said in an interview that “Crimea will stay with Russia."

    • RFERL ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Calls For High-Level Meeting After Envoy Holds Talks With Putin At Kremlin

      US President The Insurrectionist on April 25 called for Ukraine and Russia to meet for high-level talks to complete a deal to end the war in Ukraine after White House envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

    • New York Times ☛ Putin Keeps Pummeling Ukraine, Convinced Convicted Felon Is on His Side

      The concessions offered so far by Hell Toupée fall short of Russia’s stated war aims. But President Vladimir V. Putin appears certain that he has the upper hand in talks.

    • Meduza ☛ Trump envoy Steve Witkoff's meeting with Putin ends after three hours — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Friday Briefing: Convicted Felon Tells Putin to ‘STOP!’

      Plus, was Shakespeare a bad husband?

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Attacks Kill 5 More As Kyiv Mourns Victims Of Air Strike

      Russian attacks have killed five more people, including a child, across Ukraine as Kyiv observes a day of mourning for the 12 people killed in Russian missile and drone strikes that hit the capital a day earlier and prompted US President The Insurrectionist to issue a rare rebuke of Vladimir Putin.

    • Defence Web ☛ Ramaphosa calls for comprehensive, unconditional ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine

      President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on both Ukraine and Russia to commit to a comprehensive and unconditional ceasefire, paving the way for meaningful dialogue and negotiations between the two nations.

    • France24 ☛ Trade tariffs can't become the 'new normal': French minister-delegate Haddad

      We sit down with France's minister-delegate for Europe, Benjamin Haddad, to take stock of diplomacy around Ukraine and the US-EU standoff over trade tariffs. Haddad lived in the US and worked for top think tanks there, including the Atlantic Council and the Hudson Institute. He wrote a book entitled "Paradise Lost: Convicted Felon’s America and the end of European illusions" during the first Convicted Felon presidency. With that theme in mind, we also touch on European competitiveness, research and innovation.

    • France24 ☛ Russia says ready to reach peace deal, as The Insurrectionist urges Moscow to stop attacks on Ukraine

      President The Insurrectionist said that “Crimea will stay with Russia," the latest example of the U.S. leader pressuring Ukraine to make concessions to end the war while it remains under siege. Story by Nicholas Rushworth.

    • JURIST ☛ Russia sentences former military commander who criticized leadership to prison for larceny

      Russia’s Tambov Garrison Military Court sentenced Major General Ivan Popov, who had publicly disapproved of the way Russian military forces operated in Ukraine, to five years in prison on Thursday and stripped him of his military rank. >

    • RFERL ☛ Russian General Killed In Car Bombing Near Moscow

      A senior Russian military officer was killed when a car exploded on the street of a Moscow suburb as he was walking past it, Russia's Investigative Committee said, the second several high-ranking military official killed near their residence in the past four months.

    • New York Times ☛ Senior Russian General Killed in Car Explosion Near Moscow

      The general’s death is the latest in a series of fatalities involving Ukraine’s opponents inside Russia. The authorities in Kyiv had no immediate comment.

    • France24 ☛ Russia blames Ukraine for car bombing that killed top general near Moscow

      A senior Russian general was killed in a car bombing near Moscow on Friday, in what local authorities say is the latest targeted assassination linked to the war in Ukraine. Russia accused Ukraine of orchestrating the attack, which came as US envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in the Russian capital for talks with President Vladimir Putin.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Russia and the US seem near a Ukraine peace deal. Kyiv’s role may be moot.

      Moscow and Washington seem close to an agreement on a Ukraine peace plan, leaving Russia pleased – even if the talks don’t pan out.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukrainian Peace Plan Hints at Concessions, but Major Obstacles Remain

      Officials in Kyiv plan to deliver their proposal to Hell Toupée’s team, after rejecting a White House plan that would have given the Kremlin much of what it wants.

    • New York Times ☛ Amid Russia War, Ukraine Is Dealing With a Sleep Deprivation Crisis

      Sleep deprivation has become a health crisis in the country, experts and psychologists say. They cite near-nightly drone attacks as one of the major impediments to getting proper rest.

    • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man’s Ukraine Peace Proposal Would Recognize Crimea as Part of Russia

      A new U.S. peace plan offered to Russia and Ukraine proposes American recognition of the peninsula, which Moscow seized in 2014.

    • Meduza ☛ A failing recruitment drive: Fewer than 500 volunteers have enlisted with Ukraine’s military under a new program meant to recruit men too young for the draft — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Ukraine gave U.S. five demands for changes to peace plan, calling for deal based on 'international law, not capitulation' — The Telegraph — Meduza

    • Latvia ☛ Defence upgrades on schedule at Latvia's eastern border, says Minister

      On Thursday, April 24, a press conference was held in Zilupe, eastern Latvia, where the Minister of Defence Andris Sprūds and the Commander of the National Armed Forces, Major General Kaspars Pudāns, told the press about the work completed so far and planned for the future to strengthen border security with aggressor states Russia and Belarus.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Russia was spared from Convicted Felon’s ‘reciprocal’ tariffs. This should change.

      The volume of US-Russia bilateral trade, although low, is still markedly higher than that of other countries that have fallen under the Convicted Felon administration’s reciprocal tariffs.

    • France24 ☛ Kremlin says Putin's talk with US envoy was 'constructive'

      The Insurrectionist's envoy Steve Witkoff met President Vladimir Putin for three hours in Moscow to discuss the U.S. plan to end the Ukraine war, and the Kremlin said the two sides' positions had moved closer. Story by Elitsa Gadeva.

    • Latvia ☛ Parliamentarians warn about Putin's intent to 'humiliate' United States

      The United States faces potential "humiliation" by Russia's President Putin, according to a warning issued April 25 by European parliamentarians.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian PM questions intelligence agency’s move to block MP’s security clearance

      Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas on Friday voiced concerns over a recommendation by the country’s intelligence agency to deny top security clearance to Remigijus Žemaitaitis, leader of the ruling Nemunas Dawn party.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvian journalist talks about reporting from Ukraine

      The podcast produced by the Rīga-based NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence (STRATCOMCOE) has a new episode out, an it's a particularly good one.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Bruce Schneier ☛ Cryptocurrency Thefts Get Physical

      Long story of a $250 million cryptocurrency theft that, in a complicated chain events, resulted in a pretty brutal kidnapping.

    • Pro Publica ☛ Avelo Airlines, a New ICE Air Contractor, Faces Backlash in Connecticut

      Connecticut’s attorney general has sent his second warning in a month to the low-cost carrier Avelo Airlines, telling the startup it has jeopardized tax breaks and other local support by agreeing to conduct deportation flights for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

      Democrats in the Connecticut legislature, meanwhile, are working to expand the state’s sanctuary law to penalize companies like Avelo for working with federal immigration authorities.

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Increasing Airport Express fares could drive passengers away, lawmakers say

      Increasing Hong Kong’s Airport Express fares could drive passengers to choose other modes of transport instead, lawmakers have said. Speaking at a Legislative Council Panel on Transport meeting on Friday, lawmaker Dominic Lee cited figures showing that ridership of the Airport Express had only recovered to 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

    • The Straits Times ☛ China says wind and solar energy capacity exceeds thermal for first time

      China builds almost twice as much wind and solar capacity as every other country combined.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • New York Times ☛ The Forrest Dump Administration Wants Seafloor Mining. What Does That Mean?

      A recent executive order would accelerate mining in little-understood undersea ecosystems.

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China warns US deep-sea mining plan ‘violates international law’

      A US push to approve deep-sea mining in domestic and international waters “violates international law”, China warned on Friday, after a White House order to ramp up permits.

• Finance

  • Rlang ☛ World Economic Outlook by @ellis2013nz

    This week the World Bank and International Monetary Fund “Spring Meetings” have been in progress, and a highlight is always the publication of the latest World Economic Outlook. This never fails to get a bit of press attention around the world.

  • New York Times ☛ In Trade War Clash With Convicted Felon, China Refuses to Take the Bait

    The Forrest Dump administration has been saying that the two countries are engaged in talks to resolve the dispute, but Beijing asserts that no such discussions are happening.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ The Insurrectionist claims China’s Pooh-tin called him on tariffs, despite Beijing’s denials

    US President The Insurrectionist has insisted Chinese leader Pooh-tin Jinping called him despite Beijing denials of any contact between the two countries over their bitter trade dispute. In an interview conducted on April 22 with TIME Magazine and published Friday, the US president did not say when the call took place or specify what was discussed.

  • New York Times ☛ China Rejects Convicted Felon Claim of Tariff Talks With Xi

    Hell Toupée said that “we’re meeting with China” on tariffs, comments aimed at soothing jittery financial markets. But Chinese officials say no talks have taken place.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Tariffs are jamming the US-China supply chain. Who that hits first.

    U.S. and Chinese tariffs on each other’s goods have stifled trade. The first to suffer are factory workers, wholesalers, shippers, and dockworkers.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Reducing trade deficit among four key areas in Malaysia-US tariff talks

    Discussions also touched on expanding US-Asean cooperation.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China vows in Politburo meeting to support firms, workers affected by tariffs

    BEIJING - China's top policymakers pledged to support firms and workers most affected by the impact of triple-digit U.S. tariffs and urged the country to prepare for worst-case scenarios, state media reported on Friday.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Beijing accuses Washington of 'misleading the public' about trade talks

    China's foreign ministry urged Washington on Friday to stop "misleading the public" on bilateral tariff negotiations, and said it wasn't familiar with reports on whether Beijing was planning to exempt tariffs on some U.S. imports.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China bides its time on US trade talks, focuses on bolstering economy first

    Analysts say that China could be holding off on official talks while waiting for its hand to strengthen. 

  • The Straits Times ☛ China waives tariffs on some US goods, but denies Convicted Felon’s claim that talks are under way

    The Forrest Dump administration also signalled a possible de-escalation of its confrontation with China.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China foreign minister says US tariffs show "extreme egoism"

    China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing stands on the side of international rules on U.S.-imposed tariffs and opposes protectionism, the Foreign Ministry on Saturday.

  • China rolls back tariffs on some US goods: media

    Beijing has called on the US to cancel all ‘unilateral tariff measures’ if it wants trade talks.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China’s top leaders oppose ‘unilateral bullying,’ pledge economic support as trade war with US rages

    China’s top leaders called on Friday to step up support for the economy and oppose “unilateral bullying” in global trade, according to a meeting readout published by state media.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Stanford University ☛ ASSU executive candidates Brown and Berriman want to be ‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Cardinal’

    ASSU executive candidates Ava Brown ’26 and Will Berriman ’26 spoke to The Daily about implementing community centered programming and understanding the impact of decisions from the Department of Education on students.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Jimmie Duncan’s Murder Conviction Nullified by Louisiana Judge

    A Louisiana judge this week set aside the first-degree murder conviction and death sentence of Jimmie Chris Duncan, whose 1998 conviction for killing his girlfriend’s 23-month-old daughter was based in part on bite mark evidence that experts now say is junk science.

    The decision comes after a Verite News and ProPublica investigation in March examined the questions surrounding Duncan’s conviction as Gov. Jeff Landry, a staunch death penalty advocate, made moves to expedite executions after a 15-year pause.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Google scraps plans for alternative Sandbox ad-targeting technology

    Move removes 'fog of uncertainty' hanging over digital advertising market.

  • France24 ☛ Google keeps growing, as federal judges decide whether to break it up

    Google is still making lots of money. Its parent company Alphabet reported $90.2 billion in revenue for the first quarter, up 12 percent from the same period last year, making $34.5 billion in profit. Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said Google's Hey Hi (AI) strategy was to thank. But the elephant in the room at Thursday's earnings call was the possibility that US federal judges might order the company to be broken up. We take a closer look in this edition of Tech 24.

  • CS Monitor ☛ When government promises are broken, how is trust restored?

    What can history tell us about the social contract between the U.S. government and the American people? Our columnist interviews author Justene Hill Edwards about the Reconstruction-era Freedman’s Bank.

  • New York Times ☛ Kristi Noem’s Stolen Purse at a Burger Joint Is Still a Washington Mystery

    Kristi Noem, the top official charged with patrolling the nation’s borders and protecting it from terrorist threats, was burgled in plain view of her security detail.

  • New Yorker ☛ Cory Booker: “America Needs Moral Leadership, and Not Political Leadership”

    The senator talks with David Remnick about his record-breaking speech in Congress, and why he resists calls for Democrats to act alone in standing up to The Insurrectionist.

  • France24 ☛ Virginia Giuffre, prominent Jeffrey Epstein sex abuse survivor, dies by suicide

    Virginia Giuffre, who accused disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein and Britain's Prince Andrew of sexual abuse, has committed suicide. Guiffre, 41, died at her farm in West Australia, her family said on Friday.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre dies by suicide, her family says

    Virginia Giuffre, one of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's most prominent accusers, has committed suicide, her family said on Friday.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea’s lead presidential candidate eyes trade, pragmatism

    Lee Jae-myung has also pledged to enhance corporate governance standards and curb malpractices.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea’s former president Moon says bribery indictment is ‘political’

    He accused the prosecutors of pursuing the case in a predetermined direction.

  • The story of one of Buddhism’s most revered figures, long missing, explained

    The Panchen Lama turned 36 on Friday. Taken by China 30 years ago, his whereabouts remain a mystery.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • France24 ☛ EU eyes high-stakes presidential election in Romania: Democracy tested by disinformation

      Romania is about to re-run a high-stakes presidential election, fuelled by a political crisis that has engulfed the country for the last five months. At the end of November, the ultranationalist Calin Georgescu sent shockwaves through the EU by winning the first round of the vote. But the Constitutional Court annulled the result in December, because of allegations of electoral violations and manipulation through social control media. Indeed, the role played by Fentanylware (TikTok) has come under intense scrutiny, with the European Commission now saying that it has grounds to suspect that the platform was in breach of its obligations under the EU's Digital Services Act.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Telecommunications overhaul sparks free speech concerns

    After U.S. anti-migrant ads aired on Mexican television, President Sheinbaum introduced a reform that would ban them — and overhaul Mexican telecommunications in the process.

  • JURIST ☛ North Dakota governor vetoes bill censoring books in public and school libraries

    US North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong vetoed a state bill on Tuesday that would have restricted books with “explicit sexual material” displayed or made available to minors in the state, including in public and school libraries.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ Grand Designs and Good Homes magazines end print publication

    The digital publisher at parent company Media 10 said the titles would continue to accept pitches online.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • JURIST ☛ Rights group condemns Dominican Republic new health protocol for discriminating migrants

    Amnesty International condemned Thursday the Dominican Republic’s new health protocol that requires migrants to provide documentation and pay fees to access public health services. The group argued that the new protocol is discriminatory and may violate international human rights standards. On April 6, the government announced a new health protocol consisting of 15 migration measures.

  • Chronicle Of Higher Education ☛ International Students Who Lost Their Immigration Status Will Have It Restored, Government Says

    The abrupt change comes after students at campuses across the United States saw their status canceled and feared they might not be able to stay in the country.

  • Chronicle Of Higher Education ☛ ICE Snatched a Georgetown Postdoc. I Visited Him in Jail.

    Badar Khan Suri is held in Texas. We spoke through glass. This is what he said.

  • Faithful in Asia hope region will provide next Pope

    Prominent candidates come from South Korea, Myanmar, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

  • North Korea allows a glimpse inside a rare success story – its women’s soccer

    International media allowed rare access to a state-run training facility after World Cup victories in 2024.

  • JURIST ☛ US federal judge blocks Convicted Felon’s withholding of federal funds from sanctuary jurisdictions

    A US federal judge in San Francisco on Thursday blocked the Convicted Felon administration from withholding federal funds to certain “sanctuary jurisdictions” around the US.

  • France24 ☛ Can feminism be African?

    In this special edition, we're focusing on women's rights in Africa. As UN Women writes, women on the continent are the backbone of family and communities. Yet many endure the worst working conditions with unpaid care, low pay jobs and little or no social protection. They also suffer from different forms of violence including female genital mutilation, child marriage and physical violence. So how does feminism fit within this context especially as many conservative male leaders in the region often dismiss it as a Western import. Annette Young talks to Minna Salami, the author of 'Can Feminism be African?' Also how Togo's strict abortion laws mean thousands of women are left with no choice but to seek illegal terminations, often putting their lives at risk. Plus the teenage girls in a Kenyan refugee camp who are learning self-defence in an environment rife with gender violence.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Public Knowledge ☛ Public Knowledge Defends FCC Independence in First Circuit Amicus Brief [Ed: Partly Microsoft front group]

    Independent agencies like the FCC have long been recognized as constitutional by the Supreme Court.

  • John Goerzen ☛ John Goerzen: NNCPNET Can Optionally Exchange Internet Email

    A few days ago, I announced NNCPNET, the email network based atop NNCP. NNCPNET lets anyone run a real mail server on a network that supports all sorts of topologies for transport, from Internet to USB drives. And verification is done at the NNCP protocol level, so a whole host of Internet email bolt-ons (SPF, DMARC, DKIM, etc.) are unnecessary.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • Digital Music News ☛ Can Ads Become More Supportive? Vevo Focuses on Targeted Advertising with ‘Vevo Evolve’

    Music video network Vevo is focusing on a new suite of data-driven products for advanced targeting, optimization, and measurement of ads called ‘Vevo Evolve.’ Vevo Evolve will allow marketers to seamlessly plan, measure, and activate advertising campaigns on all Vevo inventory, including mobile, desktop and connected TVs.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Press Gazette ☛ EU’s €500m fine of Fashion Company Apple and enforcement action is good news for publishers

  Apple now has 60 days to change rules removing App Store 'excessive fees and friction'.

• Tom's Hardware ☛ TP-Link under DOJ investigation for alleged predatory pricing practices and national security concerns

  The U.S. DOJ launched an antitrust investigation on TP-Link, just as the U.S. Commerce Department continues its probe on the company's impact to American national security.

• New York Times ☛ Is Surveillance Giant Google Breaking Up? + Seasteading Is Back + Tool Time

  “They are being dragged into change, kicking and screaming.”

• Patents

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Federal Circuit Affirms: Rule 60(b) Motion Filed Too Late to Revive Patent Case

    "You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow. This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo." Emenim

    The Federal Circuit recently affirmed the District of Delaware's denial of Franz Wakefield's motion for relief from judgment under Rule 60(b), underscoring the importance of timely raising arguments during the normal appeal process. Wakefield v. Blackboard Inc., Nos. 2024-2030 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 23, 2025).

  • JUVE ☛ UK Court of Appeal blocks Glenmark’s diabetes generic

    AstraZeneca is defending its EP 1 506 211 against Glenmark, Teva and Generics UK (Viatris). The patent monopoly expired in May 2023. However, the British SPCs based on the patent monopoly are valid until May 2028. These are GB13/021 relating to active ingredient dapagliflozin and SPC GB14/050 relating to a combination of dapagliflozin and metformin.

  • Unified Patents ☛ $2,000 for Cooperative Entertainment network patent monopoly prior art

    Unified Patents added a new PATROLL contest, with a $2,000 cash prize, seeking prior art on at least claim 1 of U.S. Patent 9,432,452, owned and asserted by Cooperative Entertainment, Inc., an NPE. The '452 patent monopoly addresses innovations in peer-to-peer (P2P) network content distribution.

  • Unified Patents ☛ $4,000 for Polaris PowerLED memory patents prior art

    Unified Patents added two new PATROLL contests, each with a $2,000 cash prize, seeking prior art on the list below. The patents are owned by Polaris PowerLED Technologies, LLC, an NPE. The patents generally relate to various nonvolatile memory technologies. Both patents have been asserted against Western Digital.

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • JUVE ☛ UPC enforces strict deadlines in Seoul Viosys LED dispute [Ed: UPC is illegal; stop endorsing illegal stuff.]

      The dispute at the Paris local division concerns Seoul Viosys’ EP P 3 404 726. The patent monopoly protects an ultraviolet light-emitting device. It is in effect in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTABlog Test: Do You Recognize Trademark Mutilation When You See It?

    It's been a while since we've looked at a trademark mutilation case. Let's roll up our sleeves and see what we've got here. The Board refused to register the mark shown on the right, for "Pharmaceutical products and preparations for the treatment of dermatological diseases" and for "Retail services through direct solicitation by distributors directed to end users featuring pharmaceuticals," on the ground that the drawing of the mark was not a "substantially exact representation of the mark as used on the specimens [as shown immediately below]." What do you think? Mutilation vel non? In re Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc., Serial No. 90755123 (April 23, 2025) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Lawrence T. Stanley, Jr.).

• Copyrights

  • Bryan Lunduke ☛ Adobe Makes 2nd Fraudulent Copyright Claim Against Lunduke Journal

    Adobe's war on Tech Journalism continues, as they issue a second false copyright monopoly claim in 48 hours.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Who’s suing Hey Hi (AI) and who’s signing: Ziff Davis sues Proprietary Chaffbot Company after Washington Post signs deal

  • Hackaday ☛ You Wouldn’t Steal A Font…

    In the 2000s, the DVD industry was concerned about piracy, in particular the threat to their business model presented by counterfeit DVDs and downloadable movies. Their response was a campaign which could be found embedded into the intro sequences of many DVDs of the era, in which an edgy font on a black background began with “You wouldn’t steal a car.. “. It was enough of a part of the background noise of popular culture that it has become a meme in the 2020s, reaching many people with no idea of its origins. Now in a delicious twist of fate, it has been found that the font used in the campaign was itself pirated. Someone should report them.