Leftovers

• Ruben Schade ☛ “… are ready to take your money”

  I was compelled to install the confusingly-named, generic-sounding, un-hyphenated Shop application on my mobile telephonic device recently, for specific reasons that are beyond the scope of this post. It’s also beyond the scope of the previous post about HTML fractions, which had nothing to do with shopping whatsoever. Thank you Ruben, that clarification was exceptional in its utility.

• Science

  • Futurism ☛ Versions of You in Other Universes May Be Subtly Affecting Your Destiny, Oxford Physicist Says

    "It's fair to say that all quantum experiments are really just more or less complicated versions of Schrödinger's."

  • Science Alert ☛ Poop From Young Mice Reverses Signs of Age-Related Decline in Older Mice

    The change was dramatic.

  • Science Alert ☛ Trees Can Halve The Heat Trapped in Cities, But There's a Catch

    "The effect was much larger than we had anticipated."

  • Science Alert ☛ A Mother's Brain Is Profoundly Rewired by Pregnancy, Scans Show

    A metamorphosis unlike anything scientists had seen.

  • Science Alert ☛ Mothers May Hold The Secret to Human Longevity. Here's Why.

    Go hug your mom.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • France24 ☛ Hantavirus poses 'very little risk' to wider public, health expert says

    Health experts say a hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship should not be compared to Covid-19, despite growing public concern and online misinformation. Professor of Medecine Paul Hunter of the University of East Anglia said the virus is well known, spreads only through close contact, and poses “very little risk” to the wider public, even as passengers continue to be monitored after disembarking in the Canary Islands.

  • France24 ☛ 'Nothing like COVID': Expert urges calm over hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship

    Medical experts say the hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship remains contained and should not trigger fears of another Covid-style crisis. Speaking to FRANCE 24, former Institut Pasteur chief Christian Bréchot said human-to-human transmission of the virus is rare, but warned the incident highlights the need for faster testing and stronger outbreak response systems worldwide.

  • France24 ☛ Hantavirus-hit cruise ship arrives at Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands

    The cruise ship at the center of a hantavirus outbreak arrived off Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands, where the passengers and some of the crew will begin disembarking on Sunday, officials said. Nobody among more than 140 people on board the MV Hondius is showing symptoms of the virus, Spanish authorities, the World Health Organization and cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions said. Three people have died since the outbreak, and five passengers who left the ship are infected with hantavirus, which can cause life-threatening illness. The ship will not dock but remain anchored.

  • New York Times ☛ With Commissioner Under Pressure, F.D.A. Opens Door to Flavored Vapes

    Though illicit e-cigarettes have flooded in from China, the new policy could allow major tobacco companies to sell from prime shelf space at thousands of stores.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Hantavirus screening ramped up at Malaysia’s maritime entry points, over 22,000 vessels inspected

    Malaysia Minister urged the public to maintain environmental cleanliness to keep rodent populations at bay.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysians selling meals below $2 find it harder to stay sustainable

    Govt scheme supporting lower-income has lost most of its operators amid rising costs

  • The Straits Times ☛ AI fruit affair videos stir backlash in South Korea after chicken brand copies trend

    This genre of videos usually shows human-like objects engaging in extramarital affairs.

  • Futurism ☛ The Military Base Home to Air Force One Leaked 32,000 Gallons of Jet Fuel Into the Potomac River Over the Last Few Months

    "There's an equation with a lot of blank spaces that have to be filled in."

  • Futurism ☛ Oracle Forced to Cancel Incredibly Polluting Natural Gas Plant to Power Hey Hi (AI) Data Center

    "I don't know that this is the clean energy solution that they're saying it's going to be."

• Proprietary

  • So-Called 'Artificial Intelligence' ('AI') / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Futurism ☛ ChatGPT Is Saying Weird Things in Chinese

      "We don't know how to say: 'this is good writing, but if we do this good writing thing 10 times, then it's no longer good writing."

• Defence/Aggression

  • New York Times ☛ Is This Telescope a Threat to U.S. Security?

    Our reporter Emma Bubola visits the foothills of the Argentine Andes to find out why a giant Chinese-sponsored telescope is sitting dismembered.

  • France24 ☛ Iran warns of retaliation as US tensions threaten fragile peace talks

    Tensions between the United States and Iran have escalated after reports of US fire on Iranian-linked tankers in the Gulf of Oman. Tehran warned of retaliation against American targets in the region as diplomatic efforts continue over a proposed deal involving sanctions, nuclear limits, and maritime security.

  • JURIST ☛ China military court hands down suspended death sentence to former defense ministers accused of corruption

    A Chinese military court on Thursday sentenced two former defense ministers to death with a two-year reprieve for corruption, marking the heaviest penalties imposed on senior military officials since President Pooh-tin Jinping launched his anti-corruption campaign more than a decade ago.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ What does China want out of Xi-Dihydroxyacetone Man summit?

    US President The Insurrectionist is due to visit China on May 14-15, where he is expected to meet leader Pooh-tin Jinping, after delaying an earlier summit because of the Iran war.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man wants China to buy a lot more US energy. Analysts doubt he’ll get his way

    Only short-term deals are expected, given China’s push for energy independence and mistrust of the US.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China, US to hold trade talks in Seoul ahead of Convicted Felon-Xi summit

    The US treasury secretary also said he would have talks with the Japanese prime minister and her finance minister before heading to Beijing.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korean ship in Strait of Hormuz hit by unidentified object on May 4, ministry says

    A week ago, Seoul reported a blast and fire aboard the same vessel in the strait.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Seoul confirms strike on vessel in Hormuz before Pentagon talks

    Debris believed to be from the objects’ engines has been recovered and will undergo further analysis.

  • NYPost ☛ Moment Frontier Airlines plane strikes person on Denver runway seen in horrifying new video

    The person had jumped the perimeter fence and was on the tarmac when they were mowed by the plane at 11:19 p.m., the airport confirmed.

  • New York Times ☛ Lebanese Mourn Eight Members of One Family Killed in Israeli Strike

    Israel has escalated attacks on Lebanon since Thursday, further unraveling a truce in its war with Hezbollah. Among those killed on Saturday was a 6-month-old infant, relatives said.

  • France24 ☛ Israel strikes kill several in Lebanon despite truce

    Israel carried out strikes across Lebanon on Saturday, killing at least nine people in the south according to authorities, with raids also targeting a highway not far from Beirut outside of Hezbollah's traditional strongholds. The fresh attacks were some of the most intense since the start of a three-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah that has done little to halt daily exchanges of fire, mostly in southern Lebanon.

  • France24 ☛ International evacuation underway as cruise ship passengers return home

    Spanish passengers and crew from the quarantined ship have begun disembarking as an international evacuation effort unfolds in the Canary Islands. Authorities say strict health protocols are in place, while officials and experts stress the virus poses far less risk than COVID-19 despite growing public concern. FRANCE 24's Sarah Morris reports.

  Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Ukraine’s new AI-guided laser destroys Shahed suicide drones in seconds from 3.1 miles away — also useful for demining operations, trailer-mounted Tryzub system is in final stages of testing

    Ukraine has developed a mobile AI-powered anti-drone laser that can down lethal Shahed drones up to 3.1 miles away.

  • France24 ☛ Week in pictures: Met Gala, Russia's Victory Day parade and the far right makes gains in the UK

    Fashionable A-listers evoked the theme “fashion is art” to embody works of art at the Met Gala, Moscow held a modest annual Victory Day parade that didn’t include heavy weapons for the first time in nearly two decades and anti-immigration party Reform UK made significant gains across England in local and regional elections: FRANCE 24 looks back at some of the week's most striking images.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Ukraine-Russia ceasefire strained as both sides report weekend attacks

    A U.S.-mediated ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine appeared under serious strain on Sunday, with both sides trading blame for weekend attacks.

  • RFERL ☛ Russian Drones, Artillery Kill At Least 3 In Ukraine Amid Strained Cease-Fire

    A Russian drone hit a high-rise residential building in Ukraine's second-largest city, authorities said, injuring at least five people and straining a three-day cease-fire timed for Victory Day celebrations.

  • France24 ☛ Russia, Ukraine trade blame over ceasefire violations

    Russian attacks wounded at least nine people in Ukraine on Sunday, the second day of what was supposed to have been a three-day truce with Russia, Ukrainian officials said. US President The Insurrectionist announced the ceasefire on Friday, saying the two sides had agreed to stop all "kinetic" warfare for a three-day period starting Saturday, as well as a mutual swap of 1,000 prisoners each.

  • New York Times ☛ Putin’s Forces Are Barely Inching Along on the Battlefield

    The Russian military has yet to solve a fundamental problem: how to make big advances in eastern Ukraine when drones are everywhere.

  • France24 ☛ Russian President Putin accuses West of arming Ukraine on Victory Day

    Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that the conflict in Ukraine is nearing its end after he oversaw a military parade on Red Square commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II – a show that didn't include heavy weapons for the first time in nearly two decades. Talking to reporters, Putin accused Western “globalist elites” of arming Ukraine to defeat and break up Russia and declared that “I think the matter is coming to an end.”

  • France24 ☛ Berlin sceptical as Putin proposes Germany's ex-chancellor Schroeder as Ukraine mediator

    Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said he would "personally" prefer longtime ally and friend, former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, as mediator in the Ukraine war – an idea that has been met with scepticism in Berlin. Schroeder, 82, has remained close to the Kremlin leader long after leaving office, standing apart from most Western leaders since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

  • France24 ☛ Europe weighs Putin’s ceasefire signals and security proposals

    Vladimir Putin’s latest comments on potential ceasefire talks are being met with deep scepticism across Europe, with officials questioning both the substance of his proposals and the choice of mediator. FRANCE 24 International Affairs Editor Shirley Sitbon said repeated promises of imminent peace are fuelling doubt, even as discussions continue over Ukraine, NATO expansion and the future of European security architecture.

Environment

• Overpopulation

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea welcomes rare baby bump as population shrinks

    South Korea has one of the world’s lowest birth rates.

Finance

• New York Times ☛ Mass Layoffs in Iran as Businesses Buckle Under Wartime Pressures

  Iran was already struggling economically before 2026 brought widespread instability. A government-imposed internet shutdown has crippled an entire sector.

• New York Times ☛ Consumers Lean on a ‘Hamster Wheel’ of Credit to Manage Rising Costs

  As prices increase for gas, groceries and other staples, more and more households are borrowing to get by.

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

• France24 ☛ Starmer under pressure: “Swapping leaders won’t fix problems,” says former Labour adviser

  British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is under growing pressure following disappointing local election results, which saw Labour lose a significant number of council seats and marked a strong advance for Reform UK. The outcome has reignited questions about his leadership and fuelled speculation about a potential challenge from within the party, with backbench MP Catherine West among those suggesting she could move to trigger a leadership contest if no Cabinet figure steps forward first. The situation comes as Starmer prepares to deliver a key speech on Monday, widely seen as an attempt to reset his message and reassert authority.

  France 24’s Gavin Lee is joined by Paul Richards, former Labour adviser under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and columnist, to discuss the implications for Starmer and the party’s future.

Civil Rights / Policing / Accessibility

• The Straits Times ☛ Families of two Americans jailed in China urge Convicted Felon to seek release

  The families of two Americans imprisoned in China for more than a decade are urging President The Insurrectionist to seek their release during his summit with Chinese leader Pooh-tin Jinping this week.

• France24 ☛ Iran releases Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi on bail amid health fears

  Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi has been released on bail and transferred to Tehran for urgent medical treatment after supporters warned she was at risk of dying in prison. The activist, jailed for campaigning against Iran's clerical system, reportedly suffered two suspected heart attacks in custody.