Links 09/05/2024: Diplomacy Efforts With China, AstraZeneca Stops Experimenting With COVID-19 Vaccines
Contents
- Leftovers
- Science
- Hardware
- Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
- Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Security
- Defence/Aggression
- Environment
- Finance
- AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
- Censorship/Free Speech
- Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
- Civil Rights/Policing
- Internet Policy/Net Neutrality Monopolies/Monopsonies
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Leftovers
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The Strategist ☛ Tech diplomacy: what it is, and why it’s important
We need to get used to a new concept in international security: tech diplomacy. It means technological collaboration across sectors and between countries, but the simplicity of the idea shouldn’t disguise its importance.
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Science
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Science Alert ☛ What's in Your Sourdough? Microscopic Images Reveal a Community Shaped by Time
There's generations of history in there.
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Science Alert ☛ This Could Be How Venus Lost Its Water And Became a Hellish World
Earth wasn't so careless.
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Hardware
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John Goerzen ☛ John Goerzen: Photographic comparison: Is the Kobo Libra Colour display worse than the Kobo Libra 2?
I’ve been using E Ink-based ereaders for quite a number of years now. I’ve had my Kobo Libra 2 for a few years, and was looking forward to the Kobo Libra Colour — the first color E Ink display in a mainstream ereader line.
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Tom's Hardware ☛ Chinese-made GPU beats performance of 10-year-old integrated AMD graphics — Lingjiu GP201 hits mass production
Another Chinese company, Lingjiu Microelectronics, has entered the GPU space with a valiant effort that isn't impressing anyone yet. However, the company carries the potential to excite eventually, if it can continue to build on this foundation.
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Hackaday ☛ The 2024 Business Card Challenge Starts Now
If you want to make circuits for a living, what better way to impress a future employer than to hand them a piece of your work to take home? But even if you’re just hacking for fun, you can still turn your calling into your calling card.
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Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
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YLE ☛ Finland to test drinking water for "forever chemicals"
The chemicals cause a host of adverse health impacts.
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ADF ☛ EJF: Illegal Fishing, Labor Abuses Abound on Chinese Trawlers
Chinese trawlers frequently fish illegally throughout the southwest Indian Ocean and their captains and crews routinely abuse foreign workers on board.
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BBC ☛ AstraZeneca to withdraw Covid vaccine - BBC News
The firm said the decision was taken because of a decline in demand for the vaccine.
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Science Alert ☛ A Spoonful of Olive Oil a Day Could Lower Risk of Dementia-Related Death by 28%
The Mediterranean elixir?
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Science Alert ☛ Beethoven Really Did Have Lead Poisoning, But That Didn't Cause His Death
Another piece of the puzzle.
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Science Alert ☛ You Can Develop Food Allergies as an Adult. Why Are They on The Rise?
Not just a childhood problem anymore.
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Science Alert ☛ New Genetic Form of Alzheimer's Identified in People With Common Risk Factor
This could change diagnosis and treatment.
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Science Alert ☛ Vaccines Have Saved a Staggering 154 Million Lives in The Last 50 Years
That's 10.2 billion years of health gained.
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JURIST ☛ Namibia eliminates mother-to-child transmission of HIV and hepatitis B: WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Monday that Namibia has eliminated vertical mother-to-child transmission of viral HIV and Hepatitis B, the first country in Africa and the only high-burden country worldwide to do so.
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The Straits Times ☛ Thailand’s new health minister signals rethink of cannabis decriminalisation policy
The ministry is in the process of gathering public opinion to weigh how open Thailand should be to cannabis, said Mr Somsak Thepsuthin.
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Pro Publica ☛ Amid Syphilis Outbreak in Great Plains Tribes, Feds Silent
It was 2022 when pediatrician Tom Herr realized just how many babies on the Rosebud reservation in South Dakota were already infected with syphilis when they took their first breaths. He was seeing more and more patients who’d spent their first weeks in a tangle of tubes that pumped antibiotics into their tiny bodies. Some had died in the womb.
With growing alarm, Herr and other health officials spread the word, appealing to bosses at the federal Indian Health Service and tribal health authorities, writing op-eds and talking to reporters. But as the months ticked by, the crisis mounted.
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Reason ☛ Federal Court Rules Laws Restricting Interstate Travel for Abortion Violate the Right to Travel
The decision addresses an important issue left open by the Supreme Court's decision reversing Roe v. Wade.
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James G ☛ My first (ever) cup of coffee
I distinctly remember my first cup of coffee. It was served in a small cup, with milk. I was young, although I am not sure what age I was -- perhaps around nine or 10 -- when, after being curious about coffee for a while, my dad finally brewed me a cup. This was a time before I knew the taste of coffee, and when I would never have thought I would run a blog called "James' Coffee Blog", or that when I would Surveillance Giant Google something off-the-cuff related to coffee that something I wrote would show up.
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Science Alert ☛ Scientists Develop Simple Vaccine With Potential to Stop Future Pandemics
A new shield against the unknown.
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RFA ☛ After 7 infants die in North Korean orphanage, workers arrested for stealing food
The children were fed corn flour and sugar, and appeared to have died from a coronavirus outbreak.
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YLE ☛ The Covid effect — more people in Finland now working from home
The rise is being driven by an increase in the number of women working remotely, with 37 percent of women and 33 percent of men doing so last year.
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Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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Tom's Hardware ☛ Clippy's revenge: assistant comes back to purge backdoored Windows 11 of bloatware, ads and annoyances
Open-source utility Winpilot uses the long-defunct Office assistant.
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Security
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Integrity/Availability/Authenticity
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YLE ☛ Finnwatch: Products' eco labels feature unverifiable claims
Some product packaging boasts made-up logos and claims that cannot be verified, a corporate watchdog says.
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ADF ☛ Chinese Cyber Scam Bust Reveals Zambia’s Efforts to Disrupt Online Fraudsters
Located in an upscale neighborhood of Lusaka, Zambia, Golden Top Support Services presented itself as a normal call center. In fact, it was a Chinese-owned cybercrime operation using WhatsApp, Telegram and other communication platforms to scam people out of their money.
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Privacy/Surveillance
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Bruce Schneier ☛ New Attack on VPNs
This attack has been feasible for over two decades:
Researchers have devised an attack against nearly all virtual private network applications that forces them to send and receive some or all traffic outside of the encrypted tunnel designed to protect it from snooping or tampering.
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Defence/Aggression
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ UK lawmaker says China could be behind defence ministry cyberattack, as Beijing calls accusation ‘utter nonsense’
By Helen Rowe A senior British lawmaker said on Tuesday China was probably behind a massive cyberattack on the names and banking details of UK armed forces personnel, prompting a furious denial by Beijing.
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The Straits Times ☛ North Korean propaganda chief who served all three leaders dies
He died on May 7 at the age of 94.
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RFA ☛ North Korea’s ex-propaganda chief Kim Ki Nam dies at 94
He spent decades overseeing propaganda and building personality cults around leaders.
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Defence Web ☛ Sudan’s civil war is rooted in its historical favouritism of Arab and Islamic identity
The current civil war in Sudan goes beyond a simple power struggle between two generals. It reflects a deep-rooted crisis within the country’s governing structure that’s been present since it gained independence from the British in 1956. Since independence, the Sudanese have experienced 35 coups and attempted coups, more than any other African country.
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New York Times ☛ China Knife Attack at Hospital Leaves at Least 2 Dead
At least 21 other people were injured during the stabbing rampage in the southwestern province of Yunnan, the police said. A suspect was arrested.
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JURIST ☛ TikTok sues US government over bill forcing parent company ByteDance to sell or face ban
In the 65-page suit, TikTok and ByteDance claim that it would not be possible for ByteDance to divest from TikTok in the 270-day timeframe required by the law. The companies allege that “sponsors of the Act were aware that divestment is not possible,” and as a result “the Act will force a shutdown of TikTok by January 19, 2025.”
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RFERL ☛ Germany Recalls Ambassador From Russia Over Cyberespionage
Germany has recalled its envoy to Moscow over accusations that Russian military spies hacked e-mails of top members of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party and other sensitive government and industrial targets. [...]
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Neritam ☛ Meta accused in lawsuit of allowing posts that inflamed Ethiopia conflict
Meta Platforms, opens new tab was accused in a lawsuit filed in Kenya on Wednesday of letting violent and hateful posts from Ethiopia flourish on Facebook, inflaming the Ethiopian civil war.
The lawsuit, filed by two Ethiopian researchers and the Kenya’s Katiba Institute rights group, alleges that Facebook’s recommendations systems amplified violent posts in Ethiopia, including several that preceded the murder of the father of one of the researchers.
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Janes ☛ Chinese combat aircraft launches flares ahead of Australian helicopter
A Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) fighter aircraft conducted an unsafe interception of a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) helicopter in the Yellow Sea (West Sea), the Australian Department of Defence (DoD) said.
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Le Monde ☛ Immigration: Denmark again contemplates outsourcing asylum procedures to third countries
On Monday, May 6, Copenhagen hosted an international conference on immigration. Over 250 political leaders and representatives of international organizations, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration, and Europol, discussed various types of "durable solutions," in the form of "partnerships" with third countries, designed to stem the flow of arrivals and speed up returns.
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The Straits Times ☛ Taliban reject Pakistan's claim Afghan bomber involved in deadly attack on Chinese dam engineers
KABUL - The Taliban defence ministry on Wednesday rejected Pakistan's allegations that Afghans were involved in an attack on Chinese engineers, as ties between the neighbouring nations sour amidst rising insecurity.
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New York Times ☛ Preparations Ramp Up for Global Security Force to Quell Haitian Violence
More than half a dozen nations have pledged personnel to a multinational effort to stabilize Haiti, where gangs have taken over much of the capital, setting off a major humanitarian crisis.
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YLE ☛ Finnish Customs auctions off asylum seekers' abandoned bicycles
Around 100 bikes in varying condition will be auctioned off next week, with proceeds going to the Finnish state.
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YLE ☛ Finnish prisons exceed full capacity
The penitentiary system is now dealing with overcrowding.
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ADF ☛ Benin’s W National Park Becomes ‘Headquarters’ for Terrorists
The W National Park is an 8,000-square-kilometer nature preserve that straddles the borders of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger. It is home to an abundance of wildlife, including aardvark, baboon, endangered cheetah, African bush elephant, hippopotamus, African leopard, West African lion and warthog.
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The Strategist ☛ China’s latest unsafe interception at sea was no accident
A Chinese J-10 fighter intercepted an Australian MH-60R Seahawk helicopter from the destroyer HMAS Hobart over the Yellow Sea on 4 May, dropping flares in its path and endangering the helicopter and its crew, Australia’s ...
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Atlantic Council ☛ A new US economic playbook to lead the world economy and counter China
The United States needs a new comprehensive economic strategy to advance US interests and deter China’s ability to do them harm.
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France24 ☛ China's Pooh-tin visits Serbia for talks to boost economic ties with Eastern Europe
Chinese President Pooh-tin Jinping will hold talks with his Serbian counterpart in Belgrade on Wednesday, as Beijing seeks to deepen its political and economic ties with friendlier countries in Europe.
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France24 ☛ Macron and China’s Pooh-tin break protocol for one-on-one visit to the Pyrenees
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Chinese President Pooh-tin Jinping to the Pyrenees mountains on Tuesday on the second day of a trip during which Pooh-tin showed little sign of being ready to offer major concessions on trade or foreign policy.
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New York Times ☛ Macron Hosts Pooh-tin Jinping, China’s President, in the French Pyrenees
The French president took Pooh-tin Jinping to his childhood haunts high in the Pyrenees, hoping to forge a bond. If only the weather had cooperated.
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RFA ☛ British lawmaker – and China critic – denied entry to Djibouti
Incident in Djibouti, home of Chinese military base, shows ‘tentacles’ of Beijing’s influence, Tim Loughton says.
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RFA ☛ Xi recalls NATO’s bombing of Chinese Embassy in Serbia
China’s leader is touring European countries seen as most sympathetic to Beijing.
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RFA ☛ Philippine naval commander takes leave amid alleged South China Sea deal
The Philippine military denies link to alleged agreement between Manila and Beijing over Second Thomas Shoal.
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RFA ☛ Chinese ships intrude into Taiwan waters near Kinmen island
Rare incursion took place two weeks before new president’s swearing-in.
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RFERL ☛ China's Pooh-tin Arrives In Belgrade In Push For Greater Influence In Europe
Chinese President Pooh-tin Jinping arrived late on May 7 in Belgrade for a two-day visit to Serbia as part of his drive to increase Beijing’s influence in Europe’s economic and political affairs.
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The Straits Times ☛ China vows to crack down on school bullying after student’s murder sparks public outrage
Anti-bullying measures range from checks and inspections, to punishments and enhanced supervision.
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The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan says its military is ready for China moves around new president’s inauguration
China has increased its activities around Taiwan by regularly flying warplanes over the Taiwan Strait.
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JURIST ☛ TikTok sues US government over bill forcing parent company ByteDance to sell or face ban
TikTok and its China-headquartered parent company ByteDance sued US Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday over a recently signed law forcing ByteDance to sell its popular social control media app under threat of a ban.
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New York Times ☛ TikTok Sues US Government Over Potential Ban
The social control media company and its Chinese parent, ByteDance, sued to challenge the new law, saying it violated users’ First Amendment rights.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Nat. security no excuse to restrict free speech, China’s Bytedance and Fentanylware (TikTok) tell US court amid threat of ban [Ed: Fentanylware (TikTok) itself is an attack on Free speech]
Video-sharing app TikTok, and its Chinese parent company ByteDance, have filed a legal challenge in the US against a legislative move to force its sale, lest it face a country-wide ban.
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Digital Music News ☛ TikTok and ByteDance Officially Sue to Block ‘Obviously Unconstitutional’ Ban — A Divestiture ‘Is Simply Not Possible’ [Ed: TikTok and ByteDance are suppressing free speech, but they attempt to distract from that legitimate legal angle]
As expected, ByteDance and Fentanylware (TikTok) are firing back against the forced-sale law that they’re staring down, arguing against the “facially overbroad” measure in a 70-page action. The short-form video app announced its formal challenge to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act via a concise release today.
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RFERL ☛ Pakistan Says Afghan-Based Extremists Killed 5 Chinese Engineers
Pakistan’s military has again accused Kabul of providing sanctuary for militants, alleging on May 7 that a March 26 suicide bombing that killed five Chinese engineers and a Pakistani driver was planned in neighboring Afghanistan.
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Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine
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RFERL ☛ Rhetoric Heats Up Between Russia, West Over Ukraine Involvement
Russia, angered over what it says are "unprecedented" and "provocative" statements from the West, threatened retaliatory moves "inside Ukraine and beyond," as well as plans to conduct military exercises with tactical nuclear weapons that the European Union called "irresponsible."
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RFERL ☛ Putin Inaugurated In Ceremony Marked By Western Boycott
Vladimir Putin was sworn in as president of Russia for a fifth time on May 7, in a ceremony to kick off a new six-year term that was boycotted by most Western countries over his war in Ukraine and an election victory they rejected as being orchestrated to provide him a landslide result.
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teleSUR ☛ Putin is Inaugurated as Russian President for a 5th Term
The Russian leader first assumed power in 2000 and will lead his country's development until 2030.
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Meduza ☛ Vladimir Putin delivers inaugural address as he begins fifth term as Russian president — Meduza
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France24 ☛ Putin's presidential inauguration set to prolong his two decades in power
Russian President Vladimir Putin will be sworn into office at a lavish ceremony in the Kremlin on Tuesday, embarking on a record-breaking fifth term with more power than ever before.
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New York Times ☛ A Week of Pomp to Project Putin’s Confidence
The Russian president’s inauguration for a fifth term and the annual Victory Day parade will highlight his grip on the country’s politics and his resolve to capture Ukraine.
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RFERL ☛ U.S., EU Ambassadors Will Skip Putin's Swearing-In Ceremony
The United States and European Union said they will not be sending representatives to the swearing-in of Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 7 for a new six-year term.
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New York Times ☛ Isolated From West, Putin Projects Domestic Power at Inauguration
The event for the Russian president, who claimed his fifth term in a rubber-stamp election, included a church service that underscored efforts to give a religious sheen to his rule.
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Meduza ☛ Russia’s tactical nuke drills are Putin’s latest effort to restore fear in his ‘red lines,’ but it might actually work this time — Meduza
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France24 ☛ Putin inaugurated for record fifth term after nearly a quarter-century in power
Vladimir Putin began his fifth term Tuesday as Russian leader at a glittering Kremlin inauguration, setting out on another six years in office after destroying his political opponents, launching a devastating war in Ukraine and concentrating all power in his hands.
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New York Times ☛ A Week of Pomp to Project Putin’s Confidence
The Russian president’s inauguration for a fifth term and the annual Victory Day parade will highlight his grip on the country’s politics and his resolve to capture Ukraine.
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LRT ☛ Putin ready for ‘mini-operation’ but sees Western reaction, says Polish intelligence chief
Commenting on Russian possible confrontation with NATO, Poland’s intelligence chief says no one can know when it would happen, speculating that Vladimir Putin may already be ready for a small operation against a Baltic state.
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Atlantic Council ☛ Abercrombie-Winstanley joins Channel 4 News on US aid to Ukraine
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Atlantic Council ☛ Amid competing pressures, will Ukraine quit its transit of Russian gas?
The Russia-Ukraine gas transit agreement inked in 2019 will expire in December 2024, but Russian gas transit through Ukraine will remain a possibility. This doesn’t have to be the case.
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Atlantic Council ☛ Ukraine’s second city is struggling to survive amid relentless Russian bombing
Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv, is struggling to survive amid a campaign of relentless Russian bombing that aims to make the city unlivable, writes Maria Avdeeva.
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France24 ☛ Ukraine foils Russian assassination plot targeting Zelensky
Ukraine on Tuesday announced that it had detained two Ukrainian security officials involved in a plot coordinated by Russia to assassinate senior Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China’s Pooh-tin Jinping lands in Serbia after talking Ukraine, trade in France
By Helen Roxburgh with Francesco Fontemaggi in La Mongie Pooh-tin Jinping arrived in Belgrade on Tuesday evening, after French President Emmanuel Macron hosted a high altitude lunch at a childhood haunt in the Pyrenees mountains for the Chinese leader.
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JURIST ☛ Ukraine uncovers alleged Russia plot to assassinate President Zelensky
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced Tuesday that they had thwarted a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky. They said that the plans had been devised by a network of agents and there were plans to also eliminate other representatives of the country’s top military and political leadership.
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RFERL ☛ Biden Welcomes Romania's Iohannis To White House, Praises Efforts To Aid Ukraine
U.S. President Joe Biden on May 7 welcomed Romanian President Klaus Iohannis to the White House, praising him for allowing NATO troops to be stationed in his country and for Bucharest's support for Ukraine in that nation's battle against Russia's full-scale invasion.
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RFERL ☛ All 5 Central Asian Leaders To Attend Victory Day Parade In Moscow
All five Central Asian presidents are scheduled to attend a parade on Red Square on May 9 to commemorate the end of World War II in Europe in 1945 while the majority of the world's leaders continue to condemn Russia's ongoing unprovoked invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022.
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RFERL ☛ Belarus Says It's Checking Preparedness Of Its Tactical Nuclear Forces
The Belarusian Defense Ministry said on May 7 that it had started to check the preparedness of it tactical nuclear forces, a day after Russia announced a similar move.
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RFERL ☛ Ukraine Says It Thwarted Russian Plan To Kill Zelenskiy, Top Officials
Ukraine’s SBU security service said it “thwarted” an assassination attempt against President Volodymyr Zelenskiy by a network of five Ukrainian agents linked to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB.
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RFERL ☛ Siberian Psychologist Jailed In Absentia Over Anti-War Stance
A court in the Siberian city of Omsk has sentenced psychologist Olga Belova to six years in prison in absentia on a charge of distributing "deliberately false" information about Russia's armed forces motivated by political hatred.
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RFERL ☛ Russian Anti-War Activist Gets 5 Years In Prison
A military court in the Russian city of Samara on May 7 sentenced anti-war activist Andrei Boyarshinov from the Tatarstan region to five years in prison on charges of justifying terrorism and calls for terrorism.
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RFERL ☛ 1 Dead, 8 Wounded In Russian Shelling Of Ukrainian Regions
Russian shelling killed one civilian and wounded eight in several Ukrainian regions, officials reported early on May 7.
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New York Times ☛ On European Tour, Pooh-tin Jinping Heads to Friendly Territory in the East
After leaving France later Tuesday, the Chinese leader landed in Serbia and will visit Hungary, two countries whose authoritarian leaders offer a haven for China as tensions grow over the war in Ukraine.
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New York Times ☛ Russian Plot to Kill Zelensky Foiled, Ukraine Says
The Ukrainian security services arrested two Ukrainian colonels and accused them of spying for Russia. They said the plot also targeted top Ukrainian intelligence officials.
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Latvia ☛ Security services promise swift action on May 9 provocations
The State Security Service (VDD) will keep an eye out for provocations of pro-Kremlin figures on Thursday, May 9, and the service, in cooperation with the State Police, will be working under increased regime this year, monitoring the security situation across the country, VDD said on May 8.
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Atlantic Council ☛ Putin cannot be allowed to use chemical weapons in Ukraine with impunity
After years of Ukrainians sounding the alarm over Russia’s alleged use of chemical weapons, the US Department of State has now substantiated these claims, writes Emma Nix.
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LRT ☛ Lithuanian intelligence warns of provocations ahead of Russia’s Victory Day
Lithuanian intelligence has warned of possible provocations as Russia and some other former Soviet countries are about to celebrate the so-called World War Two Victory Day on May 9.
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LRT ☛ Lithuania tightens controls to prevent illegal vegetable imports from Russia
Lithuania’s Agriculture Ministry said on Tuesday it is stepping up controls on imported vegetables to prevent their illegal imports from Russia.
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RFERL ☛ U.S. Soldier Detained In Russia Had Broken Army Rules, Traveled Via China, Says Pentagon
The Pentagon has said the U.S. Army serviceman who is one of two U.S. nationals arrested by Russia in separate cases disclosed on May 7 had violated Army rules by traveling to the Far Eastern Russian city of Vladivostok and done so via China.
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RFERL ☛ 2 U.S. Citizens, Including Soldier, Join List Of Americans Being Held In Russia
Russian officials said two U.S. nationals were arrested in separate cases, including a serving army member, raising renewed questions over whether Moscow is targeting Americans to detain and later use as bargaining chips in prisoner swaps.
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RFERL ☛ Russian Journalist Kevorkova Sent To Pretrial Detention On Terrorism Charge
A Moscow court on May 7 sent noted Russian journalist Nadezhda Kevorkova to pretrial detention at least until July 6 on a charge of "justifying terrorism."
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RFERL ☛ Russia Labels U.S.-Based Freedom House An 'Undesirable Organization'
Russian prosecutors on May 7 declared the Washington-based Freedom House human rights watchdog an "undesirable organization."
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teleSUR ☛ Russia to Boost the Military Base in Port Sudan
According to a diplomat source, the Sudanese army leaders assured the Russian side that they are studying and working to meet Moscow’s request to establish the Russian base in Port Sudan.
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teleSUR ☛ Belarus Begins Tactical Nuclear Weapons Inspection
This decision comes shortly after Russia also announced military drills on the use of this type of weapons.
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teleSUR ☛ Cuban President Diaz-Canel Arrives in Russia on a Working Visit
He will participate for the first time in the Supreme Council of the Eurasian Economic Union.
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YLE ☛ University pulls Cronberg's honourary doctorate over Russia controversy
Former Green party leader Tarja Cronberg participated in a controversial seminar in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad last month.
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New York Times ☛ U.S. Soldier Is Detained in Russia and Accused of Theft, Officials Say
The American soldier was detained last week. He was traveling home after being stationed in South Korea, according to the U.S. authorities.
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Meduza ☛ Russia charges Middle East reporter with ‘justifying terrorism’ over social media posts about the Taliban — Meduza
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LRT ☛ Baltics, Germany condemn Russia’s planned nuclear drills
The three Baltic prime ministers and the German chancellor on Monday condemned Russia’s plans to hold tactical nuclear weapons drills.
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RFERL ☛ 2 More Belarusian Activists Go On Trial
Two Belarusian activists went on trial in Minsk on May 7 in separate cases amid a continuing crackdown on dissent.
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JURIST ☛ Poland security agency investigates judge claiming asylum in Belarus
The Internal Security Agency of Poland announced Monday that it initiated an investigation into former judge Szmydt Tomasz, who fled to Belarus and claimed asylum earlier that day. The investigation is regarding the former judge’s access to classified information.
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LRT ☛ Western scholars play Kremlin’s game at Immanuel Kant Congress – LRT Investigation
Last month’s Immanuel Kant Congress in Kaliningrad was attended by participants from Germany and Finland. The event, which featured discussions of the so-called Baltic Platform, is part of the Kremlin’s influence plan for the Baltic states and sought to push Moscow’s narratives under the guise of discussing ecological problems of the Baltic Sea.
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Environment
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Wired ☛ The US Is Cracking Down on Synthetic DNA
Synthesizing DNA has been possible for decades, but it’s become increasingly easier, cheaper, and faster to do so in recent years thanks to new technology that can “print” custom gene sequences. Now, dozens of companies around the world make and ship synthetic nucleic acids en masse. And with AI, it’s becoming possible to create entirely new sequences that don’t exist in nature—including those that could pose a threat to humans or other living things.
“The concern has been for some time that as gene synthesis has gotten better and cheaper, and as more companies appear and more technologies streamline the synthesis of nucleic acids, that it is possible to de novo create organisms, particularly viruses,” says Tom Inglesby, an epidemiologist and director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
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The Hindu ☛ Silkworm farming unravels as heat hits mulberry cultivation in Tiruchi
Things are in dire state at MSR Farm in Alampatti-Pudur, Manapparai, where nearly half of the 200 silkworms set for moulting have died in the onset of summer. “We normally get around 160 kg of cocoons a month, but due to the heat, the yield has come down to 40 kg. The cocoon is not as dense in texture, which will naturally lower its market value,” said farmer R. Senthilkumar.
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Los Angeles Times ☛ What did the ocean sound like before humans?
The once-quiet environment of the Santa Barbara Channel is now about 30 times louder than it once was, according to a study published recently in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin.
The noise can have a profound effect on whales and other creatures that pass through the channel or call it home, many of whom rely on sound and echolocation as their primary mode of perceiving the world around them, according to Vanessa ZoBell, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
“Sound is everything to marine organisms,” ZoBell said — particularly because about 90% of the ocean is pitch black during the day, and 100% at night.
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Energy/Transportation
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RFERL ☛ Norway To Aid Moldova's Drive Toward Energy Independence
Norway and Moldova on May 7 signed an agreement to strengthen their cooperation in the energy sector and step up the Southeastern European country's energy security.
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The Straits Times ☛ Tesla has proposed to launch robotaxis in China, Chinese state media reports
Local officials reportedly told the Tesla CEO that China “welcomes Tesla to do some robotaxi tests in the country”.
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The Verge ☛ The US is propping up gas while the world moves to renewable energy
The amount of electricity and greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants likely peaked in 2023, according to the annual global electricity review by energy think tank Ember. That means human civilization has likely passed a key turning point, according to Ember: countries will likely never generate as much electricity from fossil fuels again.
A record 30 percent of electricity globally came from renewable sources of energy last year thanks primarily to growth in solar and wind power. Starting this year, pollution from the power sector is likely to start dropping, with a 2 percent drop in the amount of fossil fuel-powered electricity projected for 2024 — a decline Ember expects to speed up in the long term.
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Daniel Pocock ☛ ESB warns Irish election candidates about risky behavior
Rural Ireland has various types of pole, including the Eircom (PSTN) poles, ESB (electric) poles, street lighting poles and road signs.
I completed my undergraduate engineering studies while working for one of Australia's leading workplace safety and rehabilitation experts. My own opinion on this subject is that it isn't reasonable to expect political party volunteers to know which pole is which. The use of ESB poles clearly presents a risk of electrical shock. The modification of road signs risks distraction for drivers. The easiest thing to do would be to prohibit the installation of signs on any pole whatsoever.
Looking at the ESB pole in the photo below, there are two supplies that are running down the side of the pole and taking an underground route into the adjacent premises. This is increasingly common in Ireland and it increases the risk for those who make contact with the pole.
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DeSmog ☛ Andrew Coyne Helped Run Charity That Gave $6.4M to Climate Crisis Denial Groups
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Wildlife/Nature
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New York Times ☛ When These Snakes Play Dead, Soiling Themselves Is Part of the Act
Dice snakes found on an island in southeastern Europe fully commit themselves to the role of ex-reptile.
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Science Alert ☛ Sperm Whale Clicks Could Hide a Surprisingly Complex 'Alphabet'
The things they must say!
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MIT Technology Review ☛ The way whales communicate is closer to human language than we realized
A team of researchers led by Pratyusha Sharma at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) working with Project CETI, a nonprofit focused on using AI to understand whales, used statistical models to analyze whale codas and managed to identify a structure to their language that’s similar to features of the complex vocalizations humans use. Their findings represent a tool future research could use to decipher not just the structure but the actual meaning of whale sounds.
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Finance
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Reason ☛ Social Security and Medicare Are Going Insolvent. Neither Biden nor Trump Has a Plan for It.
Social Security is expected to hit insolvency in 2035, while the portion of Medicare that pays for hospital visits and other medical care will be insolvent by 2036.
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The Straits Times ☛ In rapidly ageing China, millions can't afford to retire
Beijing has said it plans to raise the retirement age gradually, without giving a timeline.
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AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
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The Straits Times ☛ Probe of South Korea’s First Lady on Dior bag allegations set to begin
The First Lady is accused of accepting a luxury bag from a Korean American pastor in 2022.
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RFA ☛ A tale of two slogans
Judicial bodies in China no longer serve the people, but instead pledge to serve ‘the overall situation.’
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CS Monitor ☛ Trump campaign strategist Brad Parscale is now AI evangelist
Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign is using artificial intelligence to parse tons of data and find persuadable voters with the help of Brad Parscale’s AI company. Mr. Parscale helped propel Mr. Trump to the White House with Facebook ads in 2016.
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The Verge ☛ Microsoft shuts down Bethesda studios behind Redfall and Hi-Fi Rush
Redfall developer Arkane “will close with some members of the team joining other studios to work on projects across Bethesda,” says Booty. Redfall’s previous update will be its last as Microsoft is ending all development on the game. Servers “will remain online for players to enjoy and we will provide make-good offers to players who purchased the Hero DLC,” says Booty.
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IGN ☛ Microsoft Closes Redfall Developer Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush Developer Tango Gameworks, and More in Devastating Cuts at Bethesda - IGN
Microsoft has closed a number of Bethesda studios, including Redfall maker Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush and The Evil Within developer Tango Gameworks, and more in devastating cuts at Bethesda, IGN can confirm.
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India Times ☛ Apple cofounder Wozniak's space startup Privateer buys Orbital Insight, raises $56.5 million
Privateer, founded in 2021 to help satellite operators navigate in Earth's increasingly crowded orbit, closed its Series A funding round in April, led by space-focused venture capital firm Aero X Ventures with other investors including Luxe Capital, Boca, Starburst, and the Winklevoss twins. The news is expected to be announced later on Monday.
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Futurism ☛ Elon Musk Just Fired Yet Another Round of Tesla Workers
That's after Musk slammed the company with two rounds of brutal layoffs over the last four weeks, which had already affected an estimated 20 percent of the workforce.
Now even more workers are being let go, with many posting about their severance on social media, per the report.
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Cory Dransfeldt ☛ The tech industry doesn't deserve optimism it has earned skepticism
Take a step back look around at the tech products you use, the industry and its impact on society more broadly and ask yourself: does its track record warrant optimism or have they earned a healthy degree of skepticism?
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The Nation ☛ Does Donald Trump Want to Go to Jail?
On Monday morning, Justice Juan Merchan, overseeing Donald Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial, found the defendant in contempt of court for his 10th violation of Merchan’s gag order against attacking witnesses or jury members. That’s right: 10th.
You or I would have been in jail long ago; Trump has merely been fined $1,000 a pop, or $10,000 to date. Even though he’s less wealthy than he pretends, that’s pocket change to the disgraced former president. This time around, Merchan warned Trump that jail might be coming, even for him, if he violates the gag order again, saying: “It appears that the $1,000 fines are not serving as a deterrent.”
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Electrek ☛ Tesla (TSLA) launches another round of layoffs
However, we reported prior to the announcement that the layoffs could be closer to 20% of the workforce once everything is said and done.
Sure enough, Tesla had another significant wave of layoffs last week.
Now, we hear of yet another round of layoffs at Tesla.
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The Straits Times ☛ Third football player in Malaysia to face physical attack in a week
Mr Safiq was not injured in the attack late on May 7 in southern Johor state following a training session.
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The Straits Times ☛ Malaysian parties woo Indian voters in tight Kuala Kubu Bharu by-election
Making up 18 per cent of voters in the constituency, the Indian community could decide the winner on May 11.
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BIA Net ☛ Survey shows growing discontent with governance in Turkey
Yöneylem pollster has found a significant increase in the rate of the voters who think the country is not governed successfully.
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CS Monitor ☛ Facebook ads helped Trump win in 2016. Hey Hi (AI) might help him in 2024.
Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign is using artificial intelligence to parse tons of data and find persuadable voters with the help of Brad Parscale’s Hey Hi (AI) company. Mr. Parscale helped propel Mr. Trump to the White House with Facebook (Farcebook) ads in 2016.
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Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda
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France24 ☛ France summons Russian ambassador over disinformation campaign
France has summoned Russia's ambassador, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday, in a tit-for-tat move after Russia had summoned France's ambassador in Moscow on the previous day.
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The Atlantic ☛ The plot to discredit democracy
The simpler but more ominous truth, Anne explains, involved “China’s systematic efforts to buy or influence both popular and elite audiences around the world; carefully curated Russian propaganda campaigns, some open, some clandestine, some amplified by the American and European far right; and other autocracies using their own networks to promote the same language.”
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Modern Diplomacy ☛ Truth in the Age of Click Bait: Tackling Misinformation in Digital Age
Overwhelming digitalization exerts its influence on the way information is disseminated around which also results in issues like spread of misinformation. The reason could be the unbridled use of social media for spreading propaganda as well as fake news, without the fear of any consequences. In an era, where information is just a click away, Pakistan finds itself into a position, where it confronts a technologically savvy fore, which is proficient in the spread of misinformation across all online platforms, mainstream media and digital media platforms. Disinformation is also rampant in the country, where social media trolls hurts baseless allegations against state institutions and personalities, using online media platforms.
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The Atlantic ☛ Russia and China Are Winning the Propaganda War
Also on June 4, 1989, the Chinese Communist Party ordered the military to remove thousands of students from Tiananmen Square. The students were calling for free speech, due process, accountability, and democracy. Soldiers arrested and killed demonstrators in Beijing and around the country. Later, they systematically tracked down the leaders of the protest movement and forced them to confess and recant. Some spent years in jail. Others managed to elude their pursuers and flee the country forever.
In the aftermath of these events, the Chinese concluded that the physical elimination of dissenters was insufficient. To prevent the democratic wave then sweeping across Central Europe from reaching East Asia, the Chinese Communist Party eventually set out to eliminate not just the people but the ideas that had motivated the protests. In the years to come, this would require policing what the Chinese people could see online.
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Censorship/Free Speech
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong 47: Verdict for landmark national security case expected at end of May
The verdict for Hong Kong’s largest national security case is expected to be delivered at the end of May, more than three years after the 47 democrats who were charged were brought to court.
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Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
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JURIST ☛ CPJ expresses alarm at scrutiny of South Africa broadcasting chief ahead of general election
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed alarm Monday about a request from South Africa’s State Security Agency (SSA) to subject South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) editor-in-chief, Moshoeshoe Monare, to additional security screening, including a polygraph test.
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RFA ☛ Journalists dismiss official claims of press freedom in Hong Kong
Many feel unsafe as they try to read between the lines of official statements on security laws.
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US News And World Report ☛ Russia Detains Journalist Kevorkova, Son Says
Russia has detained Russian journalist Nadezhda Kevorkova who is known for her work in the Middle East, her son said.
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CPJ ☛ Private media outlet Class Media Group firebombed in Ghana
On April 25, four unidentified men on two motorbikes threw petrol bombs inside the privately owned Class Media Group’s office in the Labone district of Ghana’s capital Accra, and fled the scene, according to media reports and Class Media Group Operations Officer Theodore Edwards, who spoke to CPJ by phone.
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CPJ ☛ CPJ condemns Israeli vote to shut down Al-Jazeera; warns of alarming precedent
The cabinet vote on Sunday, announced by the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on X, came after Israel’s parliament passed a law on April 1 allowing the shutdown of a foreign channel’s broadcasts in Israel if the content is deemed to be a threat to the country’s security during the ongoing war. The shutdown took immediate effect, according to Al-Jazeera and multiple news reports. Al-Jazeera is funded by Qatar, which is mediating between Hamas and Israel.
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Civil Rights/Policing
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University of Michigan ☛ Study shows racial bias is no ‘false alarm’ in policing
Institute for Social Research scientists Maggie Meyer and Richard Gonzalez analyzed data from 98 million traffic stops, and showed that innocent Black drivers were likely to be searched about 3.4% to 4.5% of the time while innocent white drivers were likely to be searched about 1.9% to 2.7% of the time.
Their results are published in the Journal of Quantitative Criminology.
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Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
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CS Monitor ☛ Federal funds helped millions get online. As they expire, cities face a new digital gap.
The Affordable Connectivity Program provides internet access to 23 million people – a significant plank of the U.S. social safety net. But funding will likely run out in the coming weeks.
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APNIC ☛ RPKI ROV deployment reaches major milestone
Guest Post: Reviewing the latest RPKI ROV deployment metrics in light of a major milestone.
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404 Media ☛ How Resellers Are Transferring Billie Eilish's 'Untransferable' Tickets
When tickets for Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft tour went on sale last week, buyers were shown a note from Ticketmaster that read “the artist wants to give fans, not scalpers, the best chance to buy tickets at face value,” and warned fans that they would only be able to transfer tickets at face value on a Ticketmaster platform called the Face Value Exchange. “Eilish has also chosen to make tickets for this tour mobile only and restricted from transfer,” the message reads, meaning PDF and “hard” tickets are not available, and that the tickets will be issued via the Ticketmaster app.
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India Times ☛ Microsoft: Microsoft hit with Spanish startups' complaint about cloud practices
"Microsoft has not only taken advantage of the dominant position in the markets of Operating Systems (Windows) and traditional productivity software (Microsoft Office, Windows Server, SQL Server) to force the use of its Azure cloud, but they have also imposed artificial barriers that limit the ability of startups to compete fairly and competitively," the complaint seen by Reuters said.
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Locus Magazine ☛ Cory Doctorow: No One Is the Enshittifier of Their Own Story – Locus Online
These symptoms are all around us now, from the Uber riders who pay more while their drivers make less money to the YouTube viewers who watch more ads while performers get less money to the Amazon customers who pay more for goods from sellers who earn less.
Enshittification isn’t just a collection of symptoms, though. Those symptoms depend on a mechanism, a technical property of digital platforms that enables all these shell games with the value created by end users and business customers. I call that mechanism ‘‘twiddling’’: the ability of digital platforms to change prices, rankings, and other key aspects from instant to instant, on a per-user basis.
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The Register UK ☛ Spanish startups file Microsoft cloud competition complaint
The complaint was filed by the Spanish Startup Association, a group representing more than 700 startups in the country. It concerns anticompetitive behavior that the organization alleges it has detected in recent years.
According to the group, Microsoft has used its operating systems and productivity software dominance to nudge customers towards Azure, the company's own cloud. The association also alleges that artificial barriers to competition have been erected, including barriers to data portability or contract clauses to restrict competition regarding software licenses.
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CoryDoctorow ☛ Pluralistic: The disenshittified internet starts with loyal “user agents”
Corporate leaders' moments of good leadership didn't come from morals, they came from fear. Fear that a competitor would take away a disgruntled customer or worker. Fear that a regulator would punish the company so severely that all gains from cheating would be wiped out. Fear that a rival technology – alternative clients, tracker blockers, third-party mods and plugins – would emerge that permanently severed the company's relationship with their customers. Fears that key workers in their impossible-to-replace workforce would leave for a job somewhere else rather than participate in the enshittification of the services they worked so hard to build: [...]
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Patents
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Unified Patents ☛ $2,000 for Digimedia Tech TV programming 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 7,065,778, owned and asserted by Digimedia Tech LLC, an NPE. The ‘778 patent monopoly relates to utilizing personalized video recorders and other similar types of devices to distribute television programming.
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Kangaroo Courts
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JUVE ☛ ACD and Molecular Instruments take RNA-sequencing patent monopoly battle to the UPC [Ed: The UPC is illegal and unconstitutional, but sites such as this were bribed to promote the illegal actions and are now trying to legitimise the fake 'court']
US companies Advanced Cell Diagnostics (ACD) and Molecular Instruments are bringing their European fight over RNA-sequencing patents to the Unified Patent Court. On 23 April, the UK High Court found two patents belonging to ACD invalid, after the claimant had brought an infringement case against competitor Molecular Instruments (case no. HP-2022-000026).
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JUVE ☛ Strong judicial showing secures Scandi-Baltic influence at the UPC [Ed: UPC is pure corruption, but JUVE was paid to help this corruption and now the whole patent system is connected to the EPO crimes, albeit at EU level]
It is spring, and the beech trees are growing high into the bright blue sky over Scandinavia. But the number of UPC cases pending at the region’s three UPC courts are maturing less rapidly than their initial buds suggested.
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Software Patents
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Unified Patents ☛ Velos Media video codec patent, part of Avanci Video patent monopoly pool, found invalid
On January 4, 2024, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) entered a final rejection of the challenged claims of U.S. Patent 10,390,013, owned by Velos Media, an NPE. The '013 patent monopoly generally relates to encoding syntax elements that indicate tile information into a slice header.
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Trademarks
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TTAB Blog ☛ TTAB Affirms 2(e)(4) Surname Refusal of "BASQUIAT" for Alcoholic Beverages, Rejecting Transferred Distinctiveness Claim
The Board affirmed a Section 2(e)(4) refusal of the proposed mark BASQUIAT for "Alcoholic beverages, except beer," finding that the mark, which the applicant conceded was primarily merely a surname, lacked acquired distinctiveness. The application was filed under Section 1(b) and the mark had not been put into use, so the applicant claimed acquired distinctiveness from three other BASQUIAT registrations, but the Board found that its supporting evidence fell short. In re Administrators of the Jean-Michel Basquiat Estate, Serial No. 97291105 (May 1, 2024) [not precedential] [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Thomas L. Casagrande).
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Right of Publicity
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MIT Technology Review ☛ Deepfakes of your dead loved ones are a booming Chinese business
The technology isn’t perfect—avatars can still be stiff and robotic—but it’s maturing, and more tools are becoming available through more companies. In turn, the price of “resurrecting” someone—also called creating “digital immortality” in the Chinese industry—has dropped significantly. Now this technology is becoming accessible to the general public.
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Copyrights
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Pete Brown ☛ This deal is getting worse all the time.
Digital file sharing, on the other hand, eliminate basically all of those barriers to entry and reduced the operating cost for a piracy business almost to zero. Again, the record industry was run by douchebags who had gotten fat and lazy exploiting artists and customers for decades, but they weren’t wrong about the threat posed by file sharing.
Which brings me back to Pratik’s question about AI scraping. There is a similar difference of scale here. It seems entirely reasonable to me that someone with a website would be fine with having their stuff indexed by search engines and linked to by other sites (even if that is automate) but completely not okay with having their stuff ingested by large language models to be infinitely regurgitated as generated content slurry. The latter happens at much greater scale than the former and by its nature eliminates any possibility of maintaining any sort of control over your own stuff.
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The Register UK ☛ Stack Overflow and OpenAI agree to use each other
The pact, which follows a similar Stack Overflow snuggle with Google Cloud, may also strengthen the developer site's business prospects by ensuring it receives some consideration from OpenAI for the super lab's scraping of advice of the Stack Overflow community.
We also presume these agreements are in place to head off any copyright or other legal brouhaha with the forum super-site. Stack Overflow content tends to show up a lot in LLM training datasets, including those used by OpenAI. Rather than scrape the Q&A website for content, OpenAI (like Google) can now directly extract that info from a dedicated API, it seems.
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Public Domain Review ☛ The Little Journal of Rejects (1896)
A literary magazine whose criterion for acceptance was simple: each piece had to have been previously rejected.
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Monopolies/Monopsonies
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