Leftovers

• The Straits Times ☛ Young diners ‘time travel’ back to ancient China

  Chinese people have got increasingly interested in dressing up in hanfu.

• Science

  • New York Times ☛ Almost Everything About NASA’s ESCAPADE Mission to Mars Is Unusual

    The ESCAPADE mission, which launched to space on a Blue Origin rocket on Thursday, breaks the mold of how planetary science missions typically come together.

  • MIT Technology Review ☛ These technologies could help put a stop to animal testing

    Earlier this week, the UK’s science minister announced an ambitious plan: to phase out animal testing. Testing potential skin irritants on animals will be stopped by the end of next year, according to a strategy released on Tuesday. By 2027, researchers are “expected to end” tests of the strength of Botox on mice.

  • Science Alert ☛ It's Official: Scientists Confirmed What Is Inside Our Moon

    The verdict is in.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Capture The Moment a Supernova Rips Open Its Star, in Stunning First

    This is so wild.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Trace Lupus to One of The World's Most Common Viruses

    "This is the single most impactful finding to emerge from my lab in my entire career."

  • Futurism ☛ This Company’s Terminator-Style Robot Is Low-Key Terrifying

    Horrifying abominations are walking in China.

  • Hackaday ☛ Building A Drivable, Life-Size 3D-Printed LEGO Technic Buggy

    It’s part of the great circle of life that toys and scale models that provide a reflection of macro-sized objects like vehicles and buildings will eventually be scaled up again to life-sized proportions. Case in point the LEGO Technic dune buggy that [Matt Denton] recently printed at effectively human scale, while also making it actually drivable.

  • Hackaday ☛ Precision Current Sources By The Numbers

    It isn’t unusual to expect a precisely regulated voltage in an electronic project, but what about times when you need a precise current? Over on EDN, prolific [Stephen Woodward] explains how to use a precision Zener diode to get good results. [Stephen] takes you through the math for two topologies and another circuit that uses a pair of bipolar transistors.

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ AMD continues to chip away at Intel's X86 market share — company now sells over 25% of all x86 chips and powers 33% of all desktop systems

    AMD continued to its CPU market share gains Q3 2025, surpassing one-quarter of all x86 CPU shipments and one-third of desktop shipments as defective chip maker Intel declined in desktops, laptops, and servers.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Chinese Hey Hi (AI) startup gets access to 2,300 banned Blackwell GPUs by exploiting cloud loophole — rents compute from Indonesian firm with 32 Nvidia GB200 server racks

    A Chinese company gains access to Nvidia hardware by renting compute from a Jakarta-based telecommunications company.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ YMTC moves ahead with third chipmaking fab in Wuhan despite U.S. sanctions — blacklisted Chinese chipmaker bets big on memory

    Amid a global memory shortage, China's YMTC has set its sights on building a third semiconductor plant in Wuhan, with the facility expected to begin mass production of memory chips by 2027.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ New Chinese optical quantum chip allegedly 1,000x faster than Nvidia GPUs for processing Hey Hi (AI) workloads - firm reportedly producing 12,000 wafers per year

    China has reportedly developed the world's first scalable and industrial-compatible optical quantum chip that allegedly has 1000x the amount of processing power as Nvidia's outgoing Hey Hi (AI) GPUs.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Identify Neurons Driving Anxiety – And How to Calm Them

    What if there is a way to reverse anxiety's effects?

  • NYPost ☛ Spike in colon cancer for adults under 50 are linked to popular ready-to-eat foods

    A study conducted by Mass General Brigham shows that higher consumption of ultraprocessed foods has led to higher rates of colorectal cancer in younger individuals.

  • New York Times ☛ Judge to Approve Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy, Releasing Billions for Opioid Plaintiffs

    Under the plan, the company will dissolve and its owners, members of the Sackler family, will pay as much as $7 billion of their personal fortune to states, localities, tribes and others harmed in the opioid crisis.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Chinese doctors call for insurance coverage for weight-loss drugs

    Obesity is China’s sixth leading risk factor in disability and death.

  • Science Alert ☛ Serotonin Could Play an Unexpected Role in Cancer, Scientists Discover

    The happiness molecule's darker side.

  • Science Alert ☛ The Eye's Maximum Resolution Is Even Higher Than We Thought

    "No one had actually sat down and measured it."

  • Science Alert ☛ Many of Us Wash Raw Chicken. Here's Why It's Dangerous.

    Stay safe this Thanksgiving.

  • Science Alert ☛ Yuka The Woolly Mammoth Just Gave Us The Oldest RNA Ever Sequenced

    We didn't think this was possible.

  • Science Alert ☛ Why Stroke Risk Is So Much Higher in Women, According to Experts

    Here's what we all need to know.

• Proprietary

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Bruce Schneier ☛ The Role of Humans in an AI-Powered World

      As Hey Hi (AI) capabilities grow, we must delineate the roles that should remain exclusively human. The line seems to be between fact-based decisions and judgment-based decisions.

      For example, in a medical context, if an Hey Hi (AI) was demonstrably better at reading a test result and diagnosing cancer than a human, you would take the Hey Hi (AI) in a second. You want the more accurate tool.

    • New Yorker ☛ Andrew Ross Sorkin on What 1929 Teaches Us About 2025

      The financial journalist discusses his new book about the Wall Street crash of 1929, and the mounting concerns about an Hey Hi (AI) bubble.

    • France24 ☛ 'Another England': Conceptual artist Phillip Toledano on his AI-enhanced images

      He creates images of a past, present and future that are tantalisingly close to reality: Phillip Toledano's approach to photography harnesses technology, style and a sharp sense of humour. He joins us to talk about his latest book "Another England" and tells us how manipulating these scenes using artificial intelligence brings another layer to our ideas about "truth". Phillip also talks about putting himself at the centre of his artwork, and we discuss the technological developments that are revolutionising the way we make and consume art and culture.

    • New York Times ☛ A.I. Cheating Rattles Top Universities in South Korea

      As many elite colleges struggle to adapt to the technology, the nation’s most prestigious universities said dozens of students used artificial intelligence tools to cheat.

    • Digital Music News ☛ Twitter Co-Founder Jack Dorsey Funds the Launch of Vine Reboot diVine, Where Hey Hi (AI) Is Not Allowed

      Remember Vine? It’s back, and it’s called diVine, a new app from a developer of the original Vine and funding from Ex-Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. Vine is back in a big way. A new app launched with funding from Ex-Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, diVine seeks to bring back the spirit of the original Vine app.

  • Social Control Media

    • Digital Music News ☛ TikTok Launches ‘Bulletin Boards,’ Which Is Basically Instagram’s Broadcast Channels

      TikTok announces the launch of its bulletin boards feature, which is essentially TikTok’s version of Instagram’s broadcast channels. On Thursday, Fentanylware (CheeTok) announced the launch of its “bulletin board” feature, which lets brands and creators share public, “one-to-many” messages to their followers. The feature is notably not unlike Instagram’s broadcast channels, which launched in 2023.

• Pseudo-Open Source

  • Openwashing

    • Kubernetes at a Crossroads: Hybrid Reality, Hey Hi (AI) Pressure and Open Source Roots

      SUSE’s Margaret Dawson gives a fast-moving tour through the past, present and future of cloud-native computing. Dawson revisits an important reality: containers and isolation mechanisms existed in GNU/Linux long before Docker brought them into the mainstream, and Kubernetes only emerged because Surveillance Giant Google needed a way to orchestrate that capability [...]

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • Scoop News Group ☛ Google, researchers see signs that Lighthouse text scammers disrupted after lawsuit

      SecAlliance and Silent Push confirmed that the suspected Chinese operators of the phishing kit appear to have been affected.

    • Bridge Michigan ☛ Holiday travel? Michiganders warned of ‘juice jacking’ at charging ports

      Michigan officials are warning travelers about ‘juice jacking,’ a cybercrime where hackers use public USB charging ports to steal data or install malware.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • JURIST ☛ Rights groups claim 2700 NYPD documents disclosed from lawsuit reveal ‘surveillance abuses’

      Amnesty International and the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP) released on Thursday more than 2,700 New York Police Department (NYPD) documents obtained after a five-year lawsuit. The groups argue that the documents reveal extensive and discriminatory surveillance practices.

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Straits Times ☛ Indonesia says its Gaza peacekeepers would focus on health, infrastructure tasks

    Indonesia says there is no decision yet on when troops will be deployed and what mandate they will have.

  • France24 ☛ Bodies of 15 Palestinians returned by Israel, health officials in Gaza say

    Israel returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza on Friday, officials at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis said, in the latest step to fulfilling the terms of the fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement.

  • The Straits Times ☛ US, South Korea unveil details on shipbuilding investment and subs in trade deal

    Analysts said it was too early to say whether South Korea got a better deal than Europe and Japan.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Iconic N. Korea abductee’s mother laments passage of 48 years without reunion

    Megumi Yokota went missing at age 13 on Nov 15, 1977.

  • The Straits Times ☛ 300 Indonesians return home as Malaysia steps up deportation

    Repatriation prioritised the most vulnerable, with thousands of Indonesians still in detention centres.

  • The Straits Times ☛ ‘I did everything I could to save her’: Malaysian rapper Namewee on death of influencer Iris Hsieh

    This was his first public statement since he was released from detention.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man calls Thailand, Cambodia after new clashes, says White House

    Mr Convicted Felon also engaged with Malaysia to help end the violence, the White House said.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Japan will suffer ‘crushing defeat’ if it tries to intervene over Taiwan, China military says

    The Japanese PM had said a Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China summons Japan ambassador over PM Takaichi’s Taiwan comments

    Beijing made “serious demarches” over Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi’s remarks regarding China.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China urges citizens to avoid visiting Japan over PM Takaichi’s Taiwan remarks

    Chinese Foreign Ministry also claimed that Japan has become less safe in 2025.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China summons Japan ambassador over PM Takaichi’s Taiwan comments

    China summoned the Japanese ambassador over remarks by the new premier about Taiwan, Beijing said Friday, as Tokyo insisted its position on the self-ruled island was unchanged. Last week, Japan’s hawkish new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament that armed attacks on Taiwan could warrant sending troops to support the island under “collective self-defence”.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Taiwan coastguard faces China’s might near frontline islands of Kinmen

    By Allison Jackson and Joy Chiang With a clear view of China’s skyscraper-studded coastline, Taiwanese coastguard captain Huang Heng-chun steers his patrol boat through choppy waters around a group of islands controlled by Taipei.

  • Latvia ☛ One of Daugavpils prisons to be closed next year

    With the opening of a new prison in Liepāja, several outdated prisons will be closed. Among them is the Grīva branch of Daugavgrīva Prison in Daugavpils, where 780 inmates live in cells that do not meet security, privacy and hygiene requirements, Latgale Television reported on 13 November.

  • France24 ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Vs the BBC, Pardoning Netanyahu? Sarkozy’s Prison Stint

    This week, Hell Toupée has threatened to sue the BillBC for one billion dollars after it emerged its Panorama programme misleadingly edited his speech. The US President also sent a formal letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, asking for a pardon for his ally the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who’s facing a long running trial for alleged bribery and fraud. And after three weeks in prison, Nicolas Sarkozy has been released ahead of an appeal trial to be held next year.

  • Domestic deployments a “misuse of soldiers”

    The internal deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is widely seen by soldiers as a misuse [...]

  • CS Monitor ☛ Israel’s heavy-handed raids, arrests in Syria dim hopes for new era

    The ouster last year of President Bashar al-Assad raised hopes of a diplomatic reset with Israel, whom many on Syria’s Golan Heights saw as a pragmatic neighbor. Instead, they’ve faced mysterious Israeli detentions and expanded occupation.

  • LRT ☛ Friendly football match with Israel draws demonstrators in Kaunas

    About 40 people gathered outside Darius and Girėnas Stadium in Kaunas on Thursday to protest a friendly match between the Lithuanian and Israeli national football teams.

  • France24 ☛ UN rights council orders probe of atrocities in Sudan's El-Fasher

    In tonight's edition, the UN is launching an investigation into a massacre in El Fasher after the Rapid Support Forces seized the Sudanese city last month.

    Also, South Africa's intelligence services are investigating who was behind a chartered plane that landed in Johannesburg with more than 150 Palestinians from Gaza.

    And global commodity prices are heading for their biggest drop in six years just as Guinea's giant iron-ore mine launches production at Simandu.

  • France24 ☛ US intel revealed Israeli officials discussing use of human shields in Gaza

    Shirli Sitbon, a journalist at France 24, gives us her analysis.

  • New York Times ☛ At U.N. Security Council, Russia Counters Convicted Felon Gaza Plan With Its Own

    The Forrest Dump administration wants the Security Council to adopt a resolution that has the 20-point U.S. plan annexed, effectively making it international law.

  • JURIST ☛ Canada dispatch: Human Rights Tribunal limits government delay tactics in national security cases

    Pitasanna Shanmugathas is a third-year student at the University of Windsor Faculty of Law. He has been actively following developments in this discrimination case before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. A Canadian Human Rights Tribunal member ruled last week that the government cannot invoke national security laws to indefinitely delay discrimination complaints.

  • African-led peace and security front and centre at East African conferences

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Latvia ☛ Latvian security service wants politician prosecuted

      On Friday, 14th November, the State Security Service (VDD) urged the Prosecutor's Office to prosecute Aleksejs Rosļikovs (For Stability!), a member of the Riga City Council, for purposefully inciting hatred between Latvians and Russians, the VDD said in a statement.

    • New York Times ☛ Zelensky Ousted a Heavyweight Mayor. Was It a Power Grab?

      President Volodymyr Zelensky removed Odesa’s mayor, raising fears he might be using his wartime powers to tighten control over opposition-run cities.

    • LRT ☛ Poland to reopen checkpoints on Belarus border as Vilnius-Minsk standoff continues

      Poland plans to reopen two border crossings with Belarus on Monday, while Belarusian officials say all remaining Lithuanian trucks stranded near the border have been moved to designated parking areas.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania to develop anti-drone and anti-balloons tech within six months – vice minister

      Lithuania is moving quickly to develop technology to counter the recent influx of smuggling balloons and unmanned aerial vehicles from Belarus, Economy Vice Minister Paulius Petrauskas said Friday.

    • Meduza ☛ Children and pregnant woman among those injured in deadly Russian attack targeting all of Kyiv’s districts — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ ‘Eating their own’: What the latest scandal among Russia’s pro-war pundits says about the Z-blogosphere’s future — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Meduza’s analysts break down how Russia’s temporary SIM card blocks are supposed to stop drones — and why they won’t — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Zelensky’s Image Is Stained as Corruption Inquiry Shakes His Inner Circle

      The revelations are a remarkable reversal for the Ukrainian president, who once presented himself as a leader who would clean up the country’s politics.

    • New York Times ☛ Russia Pummels Kyiv and Tries to Plunge Ukraine Into Darkness

      A strike that killed six was the latest in a series of aerial assaults, many of which have targeted the power grid in an effort to deprive Ukrainians of energy as winter looms.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Zelenskiy says Ukraine hit targets in Russia successfully overnight

      KYIV - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that his troops had used long-range Ukrainian \"Long Neptune\" cruise missiles on targets in Russia overnight, adding that such strikes were getting more successful all the time.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Azerbaijan protests to Russia over missile damage to its embassy in Ukraine

      The blast from an Iskander missile caused serious damage to the diplomatic compound.

    • RFERL ☛ Massive Russian Air Strike On Kyiv Kills At Least 6, Injures Dozens

      Russian air strikes pounded Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine overnight, killing several people and wounding dozens of others -- including a pregnant woman -- as Moscow continues to hit civilian infrastructure.

    • France24 ☛ 'Russia is advancing towards multiple areas in the Donbas region'

      The city of Pokrovsk, once a key logistics and cultural hub, now teeters on the brink of collapse. Through firsthand accounts, we see not only the brutal physical destruction of war but also the complete evisceration of the human condition. Ever since mid-2024, residents and Ukrainian officials have been stripping everything of value from the frontline town of Pokrovsk: library books, hospital beds, industrial equipment, everything that once supported a bustling settlement of more than 60,000 people at the heart of Ukraine’s eastern, mainly Russian-speaking Donbas region. International war correspondent Anna Conkling joins Gavin Lee and asserts that "this could be the final days of Pokrovsk under Ukrainian control".

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine’s drone war is also being waged on the ground

      Ukrainians and Russians alike are making massive use of aerial drones in their conflict. But from underground bunkers, the Ukrainians are also piloting terrestrial drones. Wheeled or tracked, these devices have become essential for logistical and rescue missions.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvia pledges 7 million euros to latest 430 million euro Ukraine support package

      The NB8 countries – Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Iceland – said on November 13th they have made joint contributions towards NATO’s comprehensive assistance mechanism, the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), to provide Ukraine with critically needed military capabilities and equipment to repel Russia’s aggression.

    • Meduza ☛ Mutiny on the Storozhevoy: Historian Alexey Uvarov tells the story of the Soviet naval revolt that inspired ‘The Hunt for Red October’ — Meduza

• Environment

  • The Straits Times ☛ Indonesia landslide kills 2, leaves 21 missing

    The landslide hit three villages in the district of Cilacap, Central Java, on Nov 13.

  • New York Times ☛ Hurricane Melissa Leaves Behind a Staggering Homelessness Toll in Jamaica

    Two weeks after Hurricane Melissa wrecked western Jamaica, officials are beginning to grapple with the challenge of trying to find housing for thousands of families.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Bridge Michigan ☛ Opinion | Keeping coal plant online isn’t just costly, it risks Michiganders’ health

      There is no evidence-based justification for prolonging a technology that is no longer necessary to meet our energy needs and causes undue harm to our most vulnerable communities.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvia still thinking about an emergency medical helicopter

      Discussions about whether Latvia needs its own emergency medical helicopter, also called a 'medicopter', have been ongoing for years, and so far there is still no such specialist helicopter in the entire country. But now, when reforms to the hospital network are promised, the medicopter is being mentioned again, reports Latvian Radio.

    • Scoop News Group ☛ DOJ lauds series of gains against North Korean IT worker scheme, crypto thefts

      Federal prosecutors secured five guilty pleas from people who supported overseas remote IT workers, and seized $15 million in stolen cryptocurrency tied to the North Korean regime.

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China’s Shenzhou-20 astronauts return to Earth following delay

      Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Friday, state TV footage showed, after a delay caused by their spacecraft being struck by debris in orbit. The Tiangong space station, the crown jewel of China’s space programme, is crewed by teams of three astronauts who are exchanged every six months.

    • France24 ☛ Chinese astronauts return to earth after spacecraft damaged by space debris

      A three-person crew stranded at China’s space station after their spacecraft was apparently hit by space debris are to return Friday using the craft that brought their replacement crew.

• Finance

  • CS Monitor ☛ The persuasive power of China’s consumers

    As the Chinese economy faces a downward spiral in prices, leaders try to convince consumers to spend, shifting power from the ruling party to citizens.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia enters mediation with Julius Baer Group on $145.6m 1MDB lawsuit

    The 1MDB fund collapsed in 2016, spawning multiple lawsuits against banks across Asia, Europe and the US.

  • The Straits Times ☛ ‘Every day is a shopping holiday’: China holds longest Double 11 sale but buyers hold back

    If shopping festivals are a barometer of growth, the government will need to do more to raise household spending.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Administration Lifts Some Food Tariffs in Effort to Ease Prices

    It is walking back levies on imports including beef and coffee in what critics say is an admission that tariffs raised prices in the first place.

  • New York Times ☛ A Reopened Government Hasn’t Ended Delays to Economic Data

    Jobs and inflation data will be released late and with caveats, complicating the Federal Reserve’s interest rate deliberations.

  • Breach Media ☛ ‘Devastating and demoralizing’: public service braces for wave of cuts

    Carney’s austerity plan risks hollowing out government and hurting service delivery

  • New York Times ☛ A.I.G. Parts Ways With Incoming President Before He Assumes Role

    John Neal’s withdrawal from the insurer comes as the company grapples with another high-profile departure.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea’s Gwangju district criticised for using female officials as mayor’s backup dancers

    The performance took place on Nov 6 at Donggang University.

  • BIA Net ☛ US ambassador to Turkey named in newly released Epstein communications

    Epstein asked Barrack to "send the photos of you and child" according to emails released by the US Democracts.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong to extend voting hours, set up special polling stations for ethnic minorities, on-duty civil servants

    Hong Kong will extend voting hours and set up special polling stations to help ethnic minorities, on-duty civil servants, and medical workers vote in the “patriots only” legislative race on December 7.

  • JURIST ☛ Türkiye urged to halt mistreatment of Uyghurs

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed concern on Wednesday over deteriorating legal protections for Uyghur migrants living in Türkiye. The report revealed that Türkiye has subjected Uyghurs to inhumane conditions and the risk of deportation to China.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Philippines’ 2026 chairmanship of Asean to test Marcos’ balancing act on regional issues

    It is taking the helm at a time when Asean faces deepening divisions over the South China Sea, among other challenges.

  • The Strategist ☛ Reflections from the Manila Dialogue

    Last week’s Manila Dialogue demonstrated that the Philippines is far from cowed or isolated in the face of China’s continued bullying in the South China Sea.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Orders Investigation Into Epstein’s Ties to Democrats

    Also, melting ice is a growing menace in the Himalayas. Here’s the latest at the end of Friday.

  • The Straits Times ☛ So near yet so far: Sabah grapples with water woes ahead of election

    Plastic water storage tanks and bottled water cartons are widely used due to lack of stable water supply.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China plays up image of reliable partner as foreign monarchs visit

    It draws a stark contrast to the economic unease set off by Convicted Felon and his sharp tariff hikes.

  • New York Times ☛ Olivia Nuzzi on the Scandal With RFK Jr. that Upended Her Career

    The former political journalist has written a combustive portrait of America, Hell Toupée and the scandal with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that upended her career.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • France24 ☛ BBC apologises to Convicted Felon over speech edit but rejects defamation claim

    The BillBC sent a personal apology to US President The Insurrectionist on Thursday but said there was no legal basis for him to sue the public broadcaster over a documentary his lawyers called defamatory.

  • France24 ☛ BBC accused of bias after airing misleading edit of Convicted Felon speech

    Britain's BillBC has apologised to US President The Insurrectionist after airing a misleading edit of his speech from January 6, 2021, moments before the US Capitol riot. British politicians and the press have both attacked and defended the national broadcaster amid allegations of partiality. This week's guest on FRANCE 24's media show Scoop is Dr. Tom Mills, a senior lecturer in sociology at Aston University and the author of "The BBC: Myth of a Public Service".

  • Press Gazette ☛ Redbird withdraws £500m Telegraph bid after six months

    Telegraph had been extensively reporting on Redbird's alleged China and UAE links.

  • Press Gazette ☛ BBC apologises but doesn’t offer compensation to Convicted Felon over Panorama edit

    BBC "strongly disagrees" Convicted Felon has grounds for a defamation claim.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Zimbabwe ☛ Paratus 500: One of those deals in the background that could lead to cheaper internet in Zim

    Yes, internet access is too expensive in Zimbabwe. But today, we’re talking about some moves going on in the background that could help lower those costs.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ Again Finding Wine Related to Whiskey, TTAB Upholds Refusal of ALTAMURA DISTILLERIES & Design Over ALTAMURA

    A letter of protest derailed this application after approval for publication, the Office deeming the mark shown below, for "vodka, gin, whisky, blended whisky, malt whisky, wheat absinthe, all of the aforementioned distilled using wheat originating from Altamura, Italy," to be confusing similar to the registered mark ALTAMURA for wine. Unsurprisingly, the Board found the word ALTAMURA to be the dominant element in applicant's mark. Third-party use and registration evidence sugggested that the involved goods "are of a type that may emanate from the same source under the same mark." In re Altamura Distilleries SRL, Serial No. 97600477 (November 12, 2025) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Mark Lebow).

• Copyrights

  • Press Gazette ☛ News publishers win first round of copyright monopoly claim against Hey Hi (AI) start-up Cohere

    Judgment described as "first step towards justice" for publishers.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Agitated Songwriter Seeks to Reopen Publishers’ Broad-Reaching NBA Copyright Infringement Case—Plaintiff Publishers Say They’ve Already Settled

    An “interested party” seeks to reopen music publishers’ case against over a dozen NBA teams. But the publishers say they had nothing to do with the move to reopen it.