Leftovers

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Found a Weird Way to Make People Kinder: Add Batman

    The reason is probably not what you think.

  • Science Alert ☛ Man Keeps Rock For Years, Hoping It's Gold. It Turned Out to Be Way More Valuable.

    No wonder he couldn't crack it open!

  • Science Alert ☛ 'Supergiant' Gold Deposits Could Be Worth Over US$80 Billion

    A monumental discovery.

  • Science Alert ☛ Astronomers Found a Star That Makes No Sense

    It shouldn't exist.

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Intel fully backs its controversial new hire that TSMC alleges took company secrets with him — CEO Lip-Bu Tan highlights Team Blue's strict ethics policy in internal memo amid high-stakes lawsuit

    A new legal battle is taking shape in the semiconductor industry, with TSMC suing its former employee, Wei-Jen Lo, after he joined defective chip maker Intel following his retirement at the Taiwanese firm. defective chip maker Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan argues that TSMC's claims of trade-secret theft are unwarranted and that Lo has the company's full support.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Ex-TSMC executive’s homes raided in defective chip maker Intel trade-secret lawsuit — Taiwanese prosecutors seize digital devices in ongoing investigation

    Taiwanese prosecutors have searched the homes of former TSMC Senior Vice President Lo Wen-jen, days after the company filed a civil lawsuit alleging that Lo may have leaked trade secrets to Intel.

  • Hackaday ☛ Designing PLA To Hold Over A Metric Ton

    There’s never been such a thing as being “too competitive” when it comes to competition. This is something that [Tom Stanton] from Tim Stanton (wait, what now), [Tom]’s 2nd channel, took to heart for Polymaker’s 3D design challenge. The goal was simple: a single 3D printed part to hold as much weight as possible.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Latvia ☛ Children's Hospital sees more patients with flu lately in Latvia

    In recent weeks, the Children's Clinical University Hospital (BKUS) has seen an increasing number of children at different ages with flu with or without complication, Latvian Radio reported on 26 November.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korean police raid Hanwha Ocean shipyard after death of worker, Yonhap says

    South Korean police and Labour Ministry officials raided on Thursday the shipyard of Hanwha Ocean in Geoje in the southeast of the country after the death of a worker, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

  • Science Alert ☛ Choking Is Just One Health Risk Posed by Swallowing Fish Bones

    Scientists reveal why they can be more dangerous than most people realize.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Restore Aging Blood Stem Cells to a More Youthful State in Mice

    A new approach to tackling age-related blood disorders.

  • Science Alert ☛ Super-Rare 'Hybrid' Blood Type Discovered in Just 3 People

    Who else might have this?

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Pinpoint One Key Molecule Behind Exercise's Anti-Aging Power

    "Potential for developing 'exercise in a pill' to promote healthy aging."

  • Science Alert ☛ This Common Drug Seems to Fight One of The Deadliest Brain Cancers

    Solving a 70-year-old mystery.

  • Silicon Angle ☛ EU moves to ban social control media for kids under 16 who don’t have parents’ consent

    The European Parliament today adopted a proposal calling to ban social control media for teenagers under the age of 16 as lawmakers weigh up the effects of addictive technologies on young people’s mental health. The resolution was passed by a majority of Members of the European Parliament, or MEPs.

  • Hackaday ☛ This Bedtime Bot Enforces Better Sleep Hygiene

    [Will Dana] is engineering his way to better sleep hygiene. Not satisfied with a simple bedtime reminder notification — such things are easily dismissed, after all — [Will] is offloading self-control onto a robot which will take his phone away at bedtime.

• Proprietary

  • Qt ☛ Qt Safe Renderer 2.2 Release Candidate 1 Released

    We have released Qt Safe Renderer 2.2 Release candidate 1 for commercial license holders today. With this release candidate, you can use safety-critical items in Qt Quick Ultralite applications. You should use Qt Safe Renderer 2.2 Release candidate 1 together with the upcoming Qt for MCUs 2.12 release.

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Security Week ☛ OpenAI User Data Exposed in Mixpanel Hack

      Multiple Mixpanel customers were impacted by a recent cyberattack targeting the product analytics company. 

    • TechnologyAdvice ☛ OpenAI Discloses Mixpanel Security Incident Affecting Some API Users

      While the breach did not impact Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot users, some API users had limited profile and analytics data exposed.

  • Windows TCO / Windows Bot Nets

    • Security Week ☛ Asahi Data Breach Impacts 2 Million Individuals

      Hackers stole the personal information of customers and employees before deploying ransomware and crippling Asahi’s operations in Japan.

• Security

  • Pen Test Partners ☛ Android Activities 101

    Android splits its communications into multiple components, some of which we’ve written about before. One of these components is Activities, which are generic components that run in a foreground thread and interact directly with the user.

  • Hackaday ☛ One-Way Data Extraction For Logging On Airgapped Systems

    If you want to protect a system from being hacked, a great way to do that is with an airgap. This term specifically refers to keeping a system off any sort of network or external connection — there is literally air in between it and other systems. Of course, this can be limiting if you want to monitor or export logs from such systems. [Nelop Systems] decided to whip up a simple workaround for this issue, creating a bespoke one-way data extraction method.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • EDRI ☛ EDRi-gram, 27 November 2025

      What has the EDRi network been up to over the past few weeks? Find out the latest digital rights news in our bi-weekly newsletter. In this edition: Digital Omnibus rolls back rights, age verification misses the mark, data workers behind AI, & more!

  • Confidentiality

    • dwaves.de ☛ 3.5 billion phone numbers and profile pictures scraped off WhatsApp the biggest data leak privacy catastrophe yet

      3.5 billion phone numbers and profile pictures scraped off WhatsApp meta (facebook whatsapp) ignored the calls of security researchers from Austria for 1 year...

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea imposes sanctions on Prince Group and others over online crimes in South-east Asia

    Sanctions were imposed on 15 individuals and 132 entities.

  • New York Times ☛ D.C. Shooting Suspect Worked With C.I.A.-Backed Unit in Afghanistan

    The C.I.A. and an Afghan intelligence official said that the shooter had been part of an Afghan “partner force,” known as a Zero Unit, trained and supported by the agency in the southern province of Kandahar.

  • The Straits Times ☛ US-South Korea military drills aim to deter North Korea, KCNA says

    KCNA said it is the US that is “threatening the peace and stability and destroying the strategic security balance”.

  • JURIST ☛ Amnesty International releases report on systemic gender-based violence in Cuba

    Amnesty International released a report Tuesday documenting institutional gender-based violence against women human rights activists and journalists in Cuba, calling for an end to the practices.

  • France24 ☛ Yes, ICE arrested the mother of Karoline Leavitt’s nephew

    33-year old Brazil- born Bruna Ferreira was detained this week by ICE officials whilst on the school run to pick up her child, the son she shares with the brother of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Whilst the Department of Homeland Security calls Ferreira a "criminal illegal alien," her family and lawyer say there's no proof of a criminal record, nor her legal status. Karoline Leavitt has declined to comment. Vedika Bahl goes through what we know in Truth or Fake.

  • France24 ☛ Netanyahu government relies solely on force, with no clear strategy or diplomatic vision

    Yossi Mekelberg, Senior Consulting Fellow at MENAP, Chatham House, offers in-depth analysis of Israel's latest military operation in the occupied West Bank. He warns that the operation isn't an isolated security raid, but as part of a broader objective: build on earlier operations in locations such as Jenin, fostering mass displacement, destruction, intensifying a system of collective pressure on an already oppressed population. Mekelberg argues the operation reflects the logic of Israel's most far‑right government in the Jewish state's history. They encourage settler‑backed extremism where extreme force, not diplomacy, remains the “modus operandi.”

  • Africom’s Anderson talks regional security in Tunisia

  • LRT ☛ Lithuania’s goal of normalising ties with China shows little progress

    Lithuania’s new government has set a goal of normalising diplomatic relations with China to the level maintained by other EU member states, but early signs suggest the effort will not be easy.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Japan denies report that Convicted Felon told PM Takaichi not to provoke China on Taiwan

    The report cited two Japanese officials and an American briefed on the call.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ US Hell Toupée advises Japan PM Takaichi not to provoke China on Taiwan, WSJ reports

    US President The Insurrectionist advised Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi not to provoke China over Taiwan’s sovereignty, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, after a diplomatic spat between Tokyo and Beijing.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China turns to France for support during its feud with Japan

    China has also tried to rally diplomatic support with a letter to the UN.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Japan will pay ‘painful price’ if steps out of line over Taiwan, China military says

    This came in response to Japanese plans to deploy missiles on an island some 100km from Taiwan’s coast.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan slaps anti-dumping duties on China-made beer, steel for five years

    The levies will be in place for five years, starting from July 2025.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China warns against Taiwan ‘trouble’ after NZ ship made rare strait transit

    Chinese ships and aircraft monitored the Aotearoa, with Chinese jets carrying out simulated attacks.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Beijing’s influence comes under scrutiny as Philippines-China Studies Center debuts in Manila

    The centre aims to rebuild trust amid South China Sea tensions, but analysts warn against Beijing’s growing influence.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Hong Kong fire poses test for China’s grip on the city

    Chinese President Pooh-tin Jinping in Beijing earlier urged an “all-out effort” to extinguish the fire.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Japanese media banned from China air show as tensions flare

    A representative for the event's co-organiser confirmed some accreditations had been revoked.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Delarosa, 22-Year-Old Latin Singer and Influencer, Killed in ‘Ambush-Style’ Los Angeles Shooting

    Three men are being charged with murder in connection with the shooting of 22-year-old aspiring Latin singer Maria de la Rosa, who was killed in LA this week.

  • New York Times ☛ Why Is the U.S. Threatening Venezuela?

    Venezuela doesn’t play a large role in the drug trade to the United States, so what is motivating the massive military buildup? Julian E. Barnes, who reports on intelligence and international security, discusses the issues with our senior writer Katrin Bennhold.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea courts Chinese tourists amid Beijing-Tokyo spat, but security challenges loom

    While Seoul can reap gains from diverted tourism, a prolonged row may undermine trilateral cooperation, analysts say.

  • France24 ☛ Lebanon-Israel: One year into the fragile ceasefire

    A year ago, Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire after several weeks of intense fighting, triggered in part by the so-called 'pager attack' involving Hezbollah members. The ceasefire has been in effect for a year, but Israel continues to regularly strike southern Lebanon, making daily life extremely difficult for residents. Rawad Taha has the details from Beirut.

  • New York Times ☛ Rocket Attack on Iraqi Gas Field Cuts Power to Most of Kurdistan

    The strike is the latest in a string of attacks on energy infrastructure in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region, which some regional authorities have privately blamed on Iran-affiliated militias.

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. Has Limited Knowledge of Those It Kills in Boat Strikes

    The U.S. military has killed more than 80 people since the campaign began in early September. But it does not know who specifically is being killed.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Meduza ☛ ‘Georgians will not accept autocracy’: Former defense minister and diplomat Vasil Sikharulidze reflects on Georgia’s year-long political crisis — Meduza

• Environment

  • The Straits Times ☛ Thailand shifts gear in evacuation efforts as floods ease; death toll climbs in Indonesia

    Waters were receding in Malaysia, but authorities issued new warnings of a tropical storm until the weekend.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Heavy duty help for stranded Malaysians in Hat Yai

    Containers carried groups of Malaysians through the flooded areas, allowing authorities to bring them out of danger.

  • The Straits Times ☛ ‘Like an ocean’: Malaysians recall race against rising waters after major flood

    Unusually heavy rain in Perlis, which borders southern Thailand, has caused severe flooding, displacing more than 7,000 people from their homes, data shows.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Australia overhauls decades-old environmental laws

    Previous environmental laws were passed 25 years ago and were widely acknowledged as no longer fit for purpose

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia deploys shipping containers in flood-hit Hat Yai to rescue stranded citizens

    Containers carried groups of Malaysians through the flooded areas, allowing authorities to bring them out of danger.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Hackaday ☛ Hydrofoil Bikes Are Harder To Build Than You Think

      Hydrofoils are perhaps best known for their application on boring ferries and scary boats that go too fast. However, as [RCLifeOn] demonstrates, you can also use them to build fun and quirky personal watercraft. Like a hydrofoil bike! Only, there are some challenges involved.

    • The Strategist ☛ What a tanker’s dash to Darwin says about our lamentable fuel security

      A tanker sprinting against the clock to beat a cyclone shouldn’t be a national-security storyline—but last week it became one.

    • New York Times ☛ Carney Lifts Climate Laws for New Alberta Pipeline

      Prime Minister Mark Carney reached a tentative deal with the province as part of his program to curb the country’s economic dependence on the United States.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Train kills 11 workers in Kunming; China’s worst rail accident in over a decade

      The train, which was testing earthquake detection equipment, hit workers on a curved section of track.

    • New York Times ☛ Sean Duffy Longs for the ‘Golden Days’ of Air Travel. What Was That Like?

      Back in the ’50s and ’60s, passengers (well-dressed, of course, and with perfect manners) could count on hot meals on china, plenty of legroom, the occasional piano bar, even wool blankets. Those days are gone.

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ South Korean crypto exchange Upbit reports $30 million theft — hack discovered hours after country’s largest search engine announced $10 billion acquisition of crypto platform's parent company

      The largest South Korean crypto platform was hit by a hack just hours after a massive deal to acquire it was announced.

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ Malaysian state of Johor drowns any ideas for Tier 1 and Tier 2 data centers —water concerns have authorities only allowing energy-efficient builds

      Malaysian state drowns low-tier data center plans due to water supply concerns

• Finance

  • France24 ☛ Louvre hikes ticket price by 45% for most non-EU tourists in revenue push

    Paris’s Louvre museum said on Thursday it will raise ticket prices for most non-EU visitors, requiring tourists from the United States, Britain and China to pay $37. The 45% increase is expected to lift annual revenue by up to $23 million to fund structural upgrades after last month’s daylight theft.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China introduces new school holiday to get parents spending more

    Officials are carving out days off in the hope that families use the chance to splurge on travel.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China demands Malaysia, Cambodia clarify trade deals with US

    Both deals were signed in October during President The Insurrectionist’s visit to Malaysia.

  • JURIST ☛ Coalition of states sue US Department of Housing over housing policy changes

    A coalition of 20 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) over its restructuring of the $3.6 billion Continuum of Care program (COC), arguing that the changes violate federal law and constitutional separation of powers principles.

  • Digital Music News ☛ More Law Firms Are Joining the StubHub Class Action Litigation Train — Investors Fuming Over a Flopped IPO

    StubHub is getting dog-piled in class action lawsuits and investigations over allegedly withholding cash flow problems during its initial public offering. Investors who participated in secondary ticketing platform StubHub’s $758 million initial public offering (IPO) in September are launching multiple class action lawsuits against the company.

  • The Straits Times ☛ India’s key labour reform prompts trade union protests

    Unions fear new rules weaken job security and dilute workplace protections.

  • Latvia ☛ Latvia's Mārtiņš Kazāks to be put forward for senior ECB role

    Latvian central bank governor Mārtiņš Kazāks will be put forward as a candidate to become Vice-President of the European Central Bank (ECB), the Latvian Ministry of Finance announced on November 27th.

  • France24 ☛ JP Morgan says it will build the biggest office block in London [Ed: Banksters' imperialism]

    Two of Wall Street's biggest banks have announced expansion plans in the UK, a day after the Chancellor of the Exchequer revealed a budget that spared them of tax increases. French MPs are debating whether or not to nationalise steelmaking giant ArcelorMittal amid concern for the industry. Plus, Venezuela bans several foreign airlines, including Iberia and TAP Air Portugal from flying to the country.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • The Strategist ☛ Normalising disinformation: China shifts to overt operations against Japan

      Chinese state media and diplomatic social control media accounts intensified efforts to erode Japan’s standing as an Indo-Pacific defence and security partner in 2025, research by Japan Nexus Intelligence and ASPI shows.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ The Week Junior: Ten years of proving the young still read print journalism

    Future's news magazine for children has seen a subscription model drive its success.

  • Press Gazette ☛ News publishers who are beating social control media networks at their own game

    Canada's Village Media and South Africa's Daily Maverick built their own social control media platforms.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • The Straits Times ☛ Selangor police chief calls for caning in schools amid bullying concerns in Malaysia

    Between January and October, 122 students in Selangor were detained for bullying and extortion.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • APNIC ☛ Securing Indonesia’s Internet: ROA gains and the road to robust routing

    Indonesia’s rapid increase in Route Origin Authorizations (ROAs) from 66% to 90% marks a major step towards safer Internet routing.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • Digital Music News ☛ The MLC Moves to Appeal a Decisive Bundling Win by Spotify — Spotify Says Not to Fast

    18 months later, the Mechanical Licensing Collective v. Spotify showdown is still playing out – with procedural questions taking center stage as the MLC plots a bundling-focused appeal. The MLC outlined its appeal plans in a letter to the court earlier this month, and Spotify just recently fired back in a letter of its own.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Digital Music News ☛ Federal Judge Allows Swifties’ Live Nation/Ticketmaster Antitrust Suit to Proceed on Monopolization and Antitrust Grounds

  Three years ago, ticked-off Swifties sued Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary over the Eras Tour “ticket sale debacle.” Now, multiple amended complaints and twists later, the suit is officially proceeding.

• Patents

  • Hackaday ☛ US Patent Changes Promise Severe Consequences

    When someone creates a US patent, they go through a review process to stop the most blatant copies from previous patents or pre-existing work. After this, you may still have bad patents get through, which can be removed through litigation or publicly accessible methods such as Inter Partes Review (IPR). The latter of which is planned to be changed as we know it in the near future.

  • Software Patents

    • JUVE ☛ Paramount and Acer push back against Nokia

      Paramount and its subsidiary Viacom International Media Network have filed a lawsuit in the UK (case ID: HP-2025-000055). This comes in response to Nokia’s series of lawsuits concerning video streaming technology, which the company extended to Europe in October.