Leftovers

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ WATCH: Crew-12 Is Set For Launch to ISS After NASA Medical Evacuation

    The space station has been running with a skeleton crew.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Caught Sperm Ignoring a Major Physical Law

    Some rules were made to be broken.

  • Science Alert ☛ One in Three Dementia Cases Is Linked to Disease Outside The Brain

    We need to see the bigger picture.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Grew Mini Human Spinal Cords, Then Made Them Repair After Injury

    One day, this could change lives.

  • Science Alert ☛ Jupiter Is Not The Size And Shape We've Long Thought It Was

    Have you been working out, Jupiter?

  • Science Alert ☛ 10,000-Year-Old Symbols And Art Found in Egyptian Rock Formation

    "Exceptional historical and artistic value."

  • Science Alert ☛ Humans Age Faster at 2 Sharp Peaks, Study Finds

    You're in for a bumpy ride.

  • Science Alert ☛ Valentine's Day: The Weirdest Love Rituals in The Animal Kingdom

    From fish geometry to lying spiders.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ RFK Jr. Allies Target States to Overturn Vaccine Mandates for Schools

    Proponents of vaccines warn that the efforts will further dismantle the immunization infrastructure and lead to more outbreaks of disease.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Indian nurse infected with Nipah virus dies

    The World Health Organisation had said risk of the virus’ spread was low.

  • MIT Technology Review ☛ RFK Jr. follows a carnivore diet. That doesn’t mean you should.

    Americans have a new set of diet guidelines. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has taken an old-fashioned food pyramid, turned it upside down, and plonked a steak and a stick of butter in prime positions.

  • France24 ☛ Texas, a health battleground: US state sees clash between science and politics

    Ever since The Insurrectionist's return to the White House and the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr as Secretary of Health, the United States has become the scene of a growing clash between science and politics. One field in particular is paying the price of this ideological battle: health. FRANCE 24's Pierrick Leurent and Valerie Defert report from Texas.

  • France24 ☛ Are teenagers too young to scroll? Europe weighs social control media bans for minors

    Worries that too much time on social control media may be hurting children's mental health, and creating addictions as harmful as alcohol or cigarettes, are sparking growing calls across Europe to block minors under the age of 15 or 16 from access to platforms.

  • Bridge Michigan ☛ Purer meth, less pure opioids, more cocaine hit Michigan, testing reveals

    State drug lab results show methamphetamine users now get their stuff from Mexican cartels, not homemade labs. Meanwhile, opioids are being cut with sedatives that make overdose treatments ineffective.

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Sheinbaum mulls an air bridge to Cuba as food shortages worsen: Friday’s mañanera recapped

    The president discussed the future of Mexico's difficult-to-access lithium reserves, Cuba's worsening food and energy shortage and Mexico's security challenges at her Friday presser.

• Proprietary

  • The Straits Times ☛ Why you can’t use Surveillance Giant Google Maps in S. Korea: It’s not a ban, it’s a price tag, says ex-govt official

    The cost Surveillance Giant Google is weighing extends well beyond running map servers.

  • The Straits Times ☛ ByteDance in talks to sell gaming unit Moonton for more than $7.5 billion, sources say

    Moonton Technology is the studio behind mobile game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Futurism ☛ Blundering Husband Asks Claude Hey Hi (AI) to “Organize” Wife’s PC, Accidentally Erases Her Life’s Work

      "I nearly had a heart attack."

    • Futurism ☛ Google Says People Are Copying Its Hey Hi (AI) Without Its Permission, Much Like It Scraped Everybody’s Data Without Asking to Create Its Hey Hi (AI) in the First Place

      Hypocrisy much?

    • Erich Schubert: Dogfood Generative AI

      Current Hey Hi (AI) companies ignore licenses such as the GPL, and often train on anything they can scrape. This is not acceptable.

      The Hey Hi (AI) companies ignore web conventions, e.g., they deep link images from your web sites (even adding ?utm_source=chatgpt.com to image URIs, I suggest that you return 403 on these requests), but do not direct visitors to your site.

    • Futurism ☛ Campaign Urges Users to Quit Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot Over OpenAI’s Support for Convicted Felon and ICE

      "Don't support the fascist regime."

• Security

  • LWN ☛ Security updates for Friday

    Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (firefox, gcc-toolset-14-binutils, nodejs:20, nodejs:22, nodejs:24, php:7.4, and python3.12), Debian (haproxy, nginx, postgresql-15, and postgresql-17), Fedora (libssh), Oracle (glib2, libsoup, nodejs:20, nodejs:22, and php:7.4), SUSE (assimp, gnutls, helm, kernel, kubevirt, virt-api-container, virt-controller-container, virt-exportproxy-container, virt-exportserver-container, virt-handler-container, virt-launcher-container, virt-libguestfs-t, libmunge2, libsodium, libsoup, micropython, munge, openCryptoki, python-azure-core, rust-keylime, rustup, sccache, snpguest, tcpreplay, xorg-x11-server, xrdp, and zabbix), and Ubuntu (dnsdist, dotnet8, dotnet9, dotnet10, haproxy, libpng1.6, linux-aws-5.15, linux-azure, linux-azure-fips, linux-oracle, linux-oracle-5.4, munge, nginx, and node-dottie).

  • Security Week ☛ China Revives Tianfu Cup Hacking Contest Under Increased Secrecy

    Rewards for exploits are reportedly much smaller than in the contest’s glory days.

  • Security Week ☛ BeyondTrust Vulnerability Targeted by Hackers Within 24 Hours of PoC Release

    Exploitation attempts target CVE-2026-1731, a critical unauthenticated remote code execution flaw in BeyondTrust Remote Support.

  • Security Week ☛ CISA Warns of Exploited SolarWinds, Notepad++, Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Vulnerabilities

    Disclosed at the end of January, the SolarWinds vulnerability was likely exploited as a zero-day since December 2025.

  • Security Week ☛ Dutch Carrier Odido Discloses Data Breach Impacting 6 Million

    Hackers stole personal information such as names, addresses, and phone numbers from a customer contact system.

  • Security Week ☛ Chrome 145 Patches 11 Vulnerabilities

    Three of the security defects are high-severity flaws, two of which were found and reported by Google.

  • Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt/Fear-mongering/Dramatisation

    • SSHStalker botnet preys on legacy Linux & cloud hosts [Ed: This is a weak password issue, not "Linux" or "SSH" or "IRC"]

      Flare researchers have identified a previously undocumented Linux botnet, dubbed SSHStalker, that uses Internet Relay Chat (IRC) for command-and-control and targets older Linux systems still deployed in corporate and cloud environments.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Digital Music News ☛ TikTok US Launches Local Feeds Using Your Precise Location — What Does This Mean for Local Music?

      TikTok has just launched an opt-in local feed in the US, leveraging users’ precise location information to display content related to travel, events, and more. That raises a hopeful question for the music industry: could this shift TikTok’s promo in favor of local artists and scenes?

    • New York Times ☛ Homeland Security Demands Social Media Sites Reveal Names Behind Anti-ICE Posts

      The department has sent Google, Meta and other companies hundreds of subpoenas for information on accounts that track or comment on Immigration and Customs Enforcement, officials and tech workers said.

    • New York Times ☛ Iran Turns to Digital Surveillance Tools to Track Down Protesters

      As Iranian authorities restore some online services after crushing antigovernment demonstrations, they are using a technological dragnet to target attendees of the protests.

    • ACLU ☛ Ring Superbowl Ad Shows Americans How Powerful Surveillance Systems Have Become, Freaks Them Out

      A backlash has developed over an ad that the doorbell camera company Ring (owned by Amazon) ran during the Superbowl about the company’s “Search Party” function. Available since October, the system allows the owner of a lost pet to notify Ring, which then does a search through the video of all their customers (except those who have opted out) for any images of the lost pet.

    • Futurism ☛ All These Ring Cameras Are Creating a “Surveillance Nightmare,” Critics Say

      "It's going to fall earliest and most often on the marginalized."

    • It's FOSS ☛ Session's Co-Founder Thinks You Don't Need to Ditch WhatsApp Completely

      Kee Jefferys on why privacy messaging should be an option, not a replacement.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Beijing vows ‘measures’ after CIA Chinese-language recruitment ad

    Beijing will take “all necessary measures” against foreign espionage activities, the foreign ministry said Friday, after the US spy agency issued a recruitment video targeting Chinese military personnel. The CIA’s Chinese-language video, published on the agency’s YouTube channel on Thursday, appears to target disaffected officers and appeals for information on China’s leaders and armed forces.

  • France24 ☛ China vows to take 'measures' against spying after CIA recruitment video

    The CIA released a Chinese-language recruitment video targeting disaffected Chinese military officers, showing a fictional officer deciding to contact the agency to expose leadership lies. The clip encourages leaks on China’s leaders and military. Beijing reacted angrily, warning it will take all necessary measures to counter foreign espionage.

  • France24 ☛ #CIA: Video aims to recruit #Chinese military officers as spies

    The #CIA has posted a video on its YouTube channel targeting members of the #Chinese military in an attempt to #recruit them as spies. The video depicts a fictional disillusioned Chinese military officer who decides to contact the CIA and comes after a recent dramatic purge of China's top generals.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea's Kim to tout power and military gains at party congress

    SEOUL, Feb 13 - North Korea will convene the Ninth Party Congress this month, a major political undertaking aimed at showcasing leader Kim Jong Un's absolute grip on power and his image as a benevolent leader at home and as head of a world-class military.In the run-up to the once-every-five-year gathering, Kim has toured military and economic facilities across the isolated state, from a cruise missile launch site to a large-scale greenhouse farm, to highlight his accomplishments.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Japan seizes Chinese fishing vessel, arrests captain

    Japan seized a Chinese fishing boat and arrested its skipper, authorities said Friday, an incident that could deepen a spat between the Asian giants. The episode on Thursday off southern Japan came three months after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested that Japan would intervene militarily if Beijing sought to take Taiwan by force.

  • New York Times ☛ Japan Seizes Chinese Fishing Boat; Move Likely to Add to Tensions

    The seizure of the trawler, which Japan said was sailing in its waters in the East China Sea, is likely to add to tensions between Tokyo and Beijing.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Chinese New Year service offering proxies to bow to parents in China stokes controversy

    A Chinese app has cancelled a service that let users hire proxies to bow to their elderly relatives.

  • The Straits Times ☛ US top diplomat Rubio meets China counterpart Wang Yi in Munich

    Washington and Beijing have sought to ease tensions over issues including trade and the future of Taiwan.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China hands over satellite ground station to Namibia, state media reports

    Chinese officials on Thursday handed over a satellite ground station to Namibia outside the southern African nation's capital Windhoek, Chinese state media reported, marking another step forward in China's expanding space programme overseas.

  • France24 ☛ African leaders to gather in Ethiopia for the 39th summit of the African Union

    Water scarcity, sanitation gaps, climate stress and big promises in Addis Ababa. African leaders will gather in Ethiopia for the 39th summit of the African Union. After 15 years of closure, Kenya is set to reopen parts of its border with Somalia. Also, for families separated for more than a decade. And, with Valentine’s Day approaching, love is going digital in northern Nigeria. In Kano, professional matchmakers are blending tradition with artificial intelligence to help singles find the perfect partner, proving romance can be both high-tech and deeply rooted in custom.

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. Transfers Thousands of ISIS Prisoners to Iraq From Syria

    The moves appear to highlight lingering doubts in Washington about the new Syrian government’s ability to ensure security.

  • New York Times ☛ German Officials Needle Convicted Felon at Munich Security Conference

    Friedrich Merz, the chancellor of Germany, said that under Hell Toupée, the United States’ claim to global leadership “has been challenged, and possibly squandered.”

  • New York Times ☛ Germany’s leader says his country is in discussions with France on a European nuclear deterrent.

  • New York Times ☛ Macron Insists Europe Remains Central to Global Stability

    President Emmanuel Macron, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, stressed European “fortitude.” Earlier, Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany criticized Hell Toupée’s rapid reorientation of U.S. foreign policy.

  • RFERL ☛ In Munich, UN Nuclear Chief Says New Inspection Regime With Iran 'Technically Possible'

    International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi said that developing a nuclear inspection regime to underpin a new Iran nuclear arrangement is “absolutely possible,” though extremely difficult, amid renewed Iran–US talks and rising regional tensions.

  • JURIST ☛ HRW criticizes Hungary termination of court cases on municipal tax

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticized the Hungarian government on Thursday for using emergency powers to shut down court cases challenging a municipal tax, describing the move as a “dangerous precedent” that undermines separation of executive and judicial powers.

  • JURIST ☛ UN warns Sudan airstrikes threaten lives and vital infrastructure

    The United Nations on Wednesday cautioned that the escalating aerial attacks in Sudan are killing children, striking UN facilities, and damaging schools. Two children were killed and 13 were injured in a drone strike on a mosque in Al-Rahad, North Kordofan state, where all the victims were students at the adjoining school.

  • JURIST ☛ African Union condemns ongoing violence and maintains Sudan membership suspension

    The Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU) decided Thursday to maintain its position on Sudan’s membership suspension and identified key steps towards peace.

  • JURIST ☛ UN Special Envoy for Yemen urges comprehensive development of political process to encourage stability

    In a briefing delivered to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Thursday, the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, welcomed recent initiatives and efforts to bolster stability and improve living conditions for Yemeni citizens amidst the country’s long-running conflict [...]

  • The Straits Times ☛ Philippine V-P Sara Duterte’s impeachment attempts face hurdles as her popularity holds

    The accusations range from misuse of public funds to a threat against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

  • JURIST ☛ South Africa deploys military troops to tackle illegal mining and gang violence

    The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, announced on Thursday the deployment of military troops to support police efforts against illegal mining and gang violence in the provinces of Gauteng and the Western Cape during the annual State of the Nation Address.

  • New York Times ☛ First U.S. Troops Land in Nigeria for Convicted Felon-Led Christian Mission

    The deployment follows months of escalating pressure from Hell Toupée on the African nation, including a surprise missile strike on Christmas Day.

  • New York Times ☛ As Diplomats Talk, Pentagon Prepares for Possible War With Iran

    Hell Toupée threatened to strike Iran, but the military has needed time to build up its forces in the region.

  • France24 ☛ Macron tells Munich conference that Europe must become geopolitical power in its own right

    French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday told the Munich Security Conference that it is time for Europe to become a geopolitical power that can provide its own security by rearticulating its nuclear deterrent in the face of an aggressive Russia. “Everyone should take their cue from us,” he said.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • New York Times ☛ Macron urges Europe to step up on the global stage and stresses unity on major issues, particularly Ukraine.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukraine Says U.S. Is Increasing Pressure for a Deal as the Midterms Loom

      It is unclear what the Convicted Felon administration is prepared to do if it does not get the concessions it wants from Kyiv on issues like territory and elections.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania earmarks further €223m for Ukraine this year – defence minister

      Lithuania has earmarked a further €223 milion in military assistance for Ukraine this year, focusing on air defence, drones and long-range artillery ammunition, Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas has said.

    • France24 ☛ 'Europe managed to support Ukraine'

      Gavin Lee is pleased to welcome, live from Munich, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Former Ukrainian Prime Minister, who served in the critical time in the recent history of Ukraine, 2014 to 2016.

    • Latvia ☛ Musicians to unite in support of Ukraine at Latvian National Opera

      On February 24th at 20:30, a benefit concert in support of Ukraine titled “Help Evacuate Ukraine’s Defenders from Death” will take place at the Latvian National Opera, it has been announced.

    • RFERL ☛ Zelenskyy Meets Son Of Iran's Last Shah In Show Of 'Support'

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the last shah of Iran -- an extremely rare meeting at such a level for the former crown prince who is one of many figures vying for prominence among the fractured Iranian opposition in exile.

    • LRT ☛ Moscow House row an ‘embarrassment for entire state’, says Vilnius mayor

      The failure to demolish the unfinished Moscow House in central Vilnius has become a “stinking mess” and is an embarrassment for Lithuania as a whole, the city’s mayor has said.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian customs seize 2,500 packs of cigarettes hidden on bus from Belarus

      Lithuanian customs officers have seized 2,500 packs of smuggled cigarettes concealed on a coach arriving from Belarus, the Customs Department said on Friday.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Russia is finding post-START arms control a harder, multipolar project

      The last arms control treaty between the United States and Russia has expired, but no one really wants an end to arms control. They want it to change.

    • The Straits Times ☛ ‘Matchless bravery’: North Korea’s leader Kim praises bravery of soldiers fighting for Russia

      At least 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed and thousands more wounded fighting for Russia.

• Finance

  • Bridge Michigan ☛ West Michigan faces job losses and uncertainty, as economy takes toll

    Artificial intelligence is leading to job losses. Despite headwinds, business leaders hope to lean into Hey Hi (AI) and expand tech.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong’s cash-strapped flagship arts district inks HK$3 billion loan with partially state-owned bank

    The managing authority of Hong Kong’s cash-strapped flagship arts hub has signed a HK$3 billion loan with a partially state-owned bank in a move it says will enhance its “financial flexibility.”

  • The Straits Times ☛ Japanese-style bus driver training in Java: Japan turns to Indonesians amid worker shortage

    The students also learn Japanese to pass the driving licence examination.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Student who launched petition urging probe into deadly Tai Po fire says CUHK expelled him weeks before graduation

    A Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) student who launched a now-removed petition calling for government accountability following November’s deadly Tai Po fire has said he has been expelled. Miles Kwan said in a social control media post shortly after midnight on Friday that he was kicked out of CUHK after six years of study.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong journalists face ‘precarious’ future after Jimmy Lai jailed

    For Hong Kong journalists, this week’s sentencing of pro-democracy newspaper boss Jimmy Lai cements a climate of fear and self-censorship in the years since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law.

  • New York Times ☛ F.T.C. Chair Warns Fashion Company Apple Against Bias in Fashion Company Apple News

    Andrew Ferguson of the F.T.C. said in a letter to Fashion Company Apple that it might be violating consumer protection law by stifling conservative speech in its news aggregation service.

• Civil Rights / Policing / Accessibility

  • JURIST ☛ US judge blocks transfer of former federal death row inmates to maximum-security prison

    A US federal judge on Wednesday temporarily halted a plan by President The Insurrectionist’s administration to move 20 former federal death row prisoners to the country’s most restrictive correctional facility. This comes after the judge ruled that the prisoners would likely succeed in their claims of a violation of their Fifth Amendment due process rights.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • APNIC ☛ Updates on APNIC 64 and APRICOT 2027

    APRICOT 2027 will be hosted in Hong Kong, China, and APNIC 64 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ The Director Unbound: Federal Circuit Holds NHK-Fintiv Exempt from APA Rulemaking

    Federal Circuit holds NHK-Fintiv is a general statement of policy exempt from APA notice-and-comment, confirming the Director's unchecked IPR power.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Lynk Labs Resource Guide

    Supreme Court nears cert decision in Lynk Labs v. Samsung. Here are ten Patently-O posts covering the secret springing prior art dispute in IPR.

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • JUVE ☛ Oliver Schön: “The case law of the UPC and the German courts is the gold standard” [Ed: No, an illegal kangaroo court is not the standards and it is connected to EPO corruption by people who do cocaine]

      JUVE Patent: There were 332 new cases at the two patent monopoly litigation chambers at Munich Regional Court in 2025, a significant increase of 52% and thus bucking the trend at national patent monopoly courts. How do you explain this development?