Leftovers

• The Straits Times ☛ Fire at shopping centre in China's southwest kills 16

  The fire broke out in a 14-storey building in a high-tech zone of the city of Zigong, shrouding the vicinity with thick smoke.

• Ruben Schade ☛ 929 pages

  There are now 929 pages on this blog, with means 9,290 posts. Neato! Here are some other facts about 929:

  It’s also a palindromic number, because 929 written backwards in English is part of this sentence with nineteen words.

  929 slices of buttery Havarti cheese would reach the moon, assuming sufficient thickness.

• Open Data

  • Futurism ☛ Trump's Allies Are Trying to Force You to Pay for Weather Reports

    Howdy, fellow Americans. Do you enjoy having free access to weather forecasts and crucial extreme weather alerts? Well, here's a rude reminder that you've been taking that government amenity for granted, which could very soon be ensnared by the tentacles of privatization.

  • The Atlantic ☛ NOAA Is in Danger

    Charging for popular services that were previously free isn’t generally a winning political strategy. But hard-right policy makers appear poised to try to do just that should Republicans gain power in the next term. Project 2025—a nearly 900-page book of policy proposals published by the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation—states that an incoming administration should all but dissolve the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, under which the National Weather Service operates. Donald Trump has attempted to distance himself from Project 2025, but given that it was largely written by veterans of his first administration, the document is widely seen as a blueprint for a second Trump term.

• Science

  • Hackaday ☛ Making Art With Maxwell’s Equations

    When you think of art, you might think of portraiture, landscapes, or other kinds of paintings. But mathematics can feel artistic at times, too. We’ve all seen gorgeous Mandelbrot fractals, and less gorgeous Julia fractals, but that’s not all that’s out there. As [Prof. Halim Boutayeb] demonstrates, Maxwell’s equations can show us some real beauty, too.

  • Science Alert ☛ Underground Cave Discovered on Moon Could Shelter Future Lunar Astronauts

    Hopefully there's more of them!

  • Science Alert ☛ Magic Mushrooms 'Trip' Your Brain Out of Sync For Weeks, Study Finds

    This might be key to their therapeutic effects.

  • Science Alert ☛ Here's How Controversial Supershoes Are Reshaping Competitive Running

    Can you buy your way to an unfair advantage?

  • Science Alert ☛ Why Do We Really Blush? Brain Scans Reveal It's Not What You Think.

    The "most human of all expressions".

  • Science Alert ☛ This Molecule Could Make Your Workout More Effective For Weight Loss

    Not all sweat is created equal.

  • Science Alert ☛ Root Cause of Lupus Found in a 'Tug-of-War' Over a Critical White Cell

    This could help spur new treatments.

• Education

  • Stamps professor sheds light on challenges teachers face

    Stamps School professor Rebekah Modrak has launched "Trouble in Censorville," which features testimonies from teachers about the challenges, politics and attacks they are facing.

• Hardware

  • Russell Coker ☛ Russell Coker: Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Review

    After the VoLTE saga [1] and the problems with battery life on the PinePhonePro [2] (which lasted 4 hours while idle with the screen off in my last test a few weeks ago) I’m running a Galaxy Note 9 [3] with the default Samsung OS as my daily driver.

    I don’t think that many people will be rushing out to buy a 2018 phone regardless of my review. For someone who wants a phone of such age (which has decent hardware and a low price) then good options are the Pixel phones which are all supported by LineageOS.

  • CNX Software ☛ ASRock IMB-A8000 industrial Ryzen Embedded 8000 mini-ITX motherboard takes up to 96GB DDR5 RAM

    ASRock Industrial recently launched the IMB-A8000, an industrial and embedded motherboard in a mini-ITX form factor. As an embedded motherboard, it is powered by AMD Ryzen Embedded 8000 series APU which features 8 cores and 16 threads, built with 4nm technology, and including a 16 TOPS Hey Hi (AI) accelerator.

  • Hackaday ☛ Seiko Had A Smartwatch In 1984

    You might think of the smartwatch era as beginning with Apple, relatively recently. Or, you might think back to those fancy Timex models with the datalink thing going on in the 1990s. Seiko can beat them all, though, with its UC-2000 smartwatch that debuted all the way back in 1984.

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Chip stocks suffer biggest single-day loss on threat of tougher restrictions on Chinese exports

    The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index saw more than $500 billion in value wiped out from its stocks today, posting its worst single-day performance since 2020.

  • Hackaday ☛ FDM Filament Troubles: Keeping Hygroscopic Materials From Degrading

    Despite the reputation of polymers used with FDM 3D printing like nylon, ABS, and PLA as being generally indestructible, they do come with a whole range of moisture-related issues that can affect both the printing process as well as the final result. While the concept of ‘baking’ such 3D printing filaments prior to printing to remove absorbed moisture is well-established and with many commercial solutions available, the exact extent to which these different polymers are affected, and what these changes look like on a molecular level are generally less well-known.

  • New York Times ☛ NASA Built the Viper Moon Rover for $450 Million. Now It’s Canceling the Mission.

    Delays and concerns about NASA’s future budgets doomed the VIPER mission, which aimed to search for ice near the moon’s south pole.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Pro Publica ☛ Family of Chinese Immigrant Who Died Weeks Into Work on Marijuana Farm Wants Answers

    On the morning of April 12, the farmworker woke up struggling to breathe and delirious with fever.

    Jiaai Zeng had spent the past month working nonstop at a marijuana farm in Oklahoma run by fellow Chinese immigrants. The job was brutal, the 57-year-old had told relatives in New York. He said his bosses made him labor up to 15 hours a day in the blast-furnace heat of a greenhouse. He was feeling awful even after a visit to the doctor, so he planned to return to New York that evening for medical treatment.

  • Latvia ☛ Drug use in Latvia on the rise not only among youth, says doctor

    Not only youth but also mature people in their 30s and 40s are using drugs more often, Roberts Stašinskis, the head of the Intensive Care Clinic at Riga East Clinical University Hospital (RAKUS), told Latvian Radio program "Good morning" on July 17.

  • Latvia ☛ New medicine pricing policy approved by Latvian government

    On Tuesday, July 16, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the amendments to the regulations prepared by the Ministry of Health (VM), which give the green light for the implementation of the new medicines mark-up model in Latvia.

  • Science Alert ☛ Your Poop Schedule Says a Lot About Your Overall Health, Study Suggests

    There's an optimal frequency.

  • Science Alert ☛ Olympic Swimmers Return to Seine River After a Century. Will It Be Safe?

    A historic comeback with health risks.

  • Science Alert ☛ Up to 13% of Dementia Cases May Be a Misdiagnosed Treatable Condition

    “You are never too old to get better.”

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Government to hire 2,700 more Cuban doctors to fill public health jobs

    Despite opposition, Mexico will hire 2,700 Cuban specialists for empty public hospital positions, who will join the 950 already working here.

  • Defence Web ☛ Military Health Service recruits for ops medics from combat services

    Operational medics – familiarly ops medics – are the frontline emergency caregivers in the SA Military Health Service (SAMHS) who face the rigours of combat tending to wounded while bullets are literally still flying.

  • New York Times ☛ This Is Literally Your Brain on Drugs

    A small new study shows reactions in the brain in people who were given psilocybin in a controlled setting.

  • New York Times ☛ Moving in Childhood Contributes to Depression, Study Finds

    A study of more than a million Danes found that frequent moves in childhood had a bigger effect than poverty on adult mental health risk.

  • Science Alert ☛ Blood Thinner Can Treat Flesh-Eating Cobra Venom, Scientists Discover

    This could save lives and limbs.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • AccessNow ☛ Regulatory Mapping on Artificial Intelligence in Latin America

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Report: Anthropic, Nvidia, Fashion Company Apple and Salesfarce used YouTube transcripts to train AI

    A new report released today says companies that include Anthropic PBC, Nvidia Corp., Fashion Company Apple Inc. and Salesfarce Inc. have used subtitles from YouTube videos to help train their artificial intelligence service without permission, raising questions about the ethical implications of using publicly available material and facts without consent.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Scoop News Group ☛ Treasury group unveils guidance for financial sector on cloud adoption [Ed: "cloud adoption" just means IT outsourcing and abandonment of data protection compliance]

      Regulators from Treasury, CFPB and OCC say the resources will especially help small banks that adopted cloud practices “before they were ready.”

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Strategist ☛ Australia and Japan should consider a security division-of-labour in the Pacific

    Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong will represent Australia at the 10th Pacific Island Leaders Meeting (PALM10) in Tokyo this week.

  • Defence Web ☛ Police Minister calls for expanded R113.5 billion policing budget

    Police Minister Senzo Mchunu followed up on Monday’s speech outlining new policing priorities by calling for an increase in the police budget, which totals R113.5 billion for 2024/25, up from R102.6 billion in the 2022/23 financial year.

  • Security Week ☛ Interpol Arrests 300 People in a Global Crackdown on West African Crime Groups Across 5 Continents

    Interpol arrests 300 people in a global crackdown on West African crime groups specializing in online financial fraud.

  • France24 ☛ French security services arrest far-right extremist over suspected Paris Olympics plot

    French security services have arrested an 18-year-old far-right extremist suspected to be plotting attacks during the upcoming Paris Olympics. The young man, who was the administrator of a Telegram group called "French Aryan division", is being questioned by anti-terror police after having been detained in France's northeast.

  • RFERL ☛ Iran Denies Involvement In Plot To Assassinate U.S. Ex-President Trump

    Iran has denied plotting to assassinate Donald Trump after reports emerged that U.S. authorities had obtained intelligence suggesting that Tehran was planning to kill the Republican presidential nominee.

  • JURIST ☛ Homeland Security’s Inspector General launches investigation into US Secret Service process for deadly Trump rally

    The US Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General announced an investigation Wednesday into the Secret Service’s process for securing the Trump campaign rally on July 13 where one spectator was killed and several others, including the former president, were injured in an apparent assassination attempt.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Vietnam files UN claim to extended continental shelf in South China Sea

    Vietnam has filed a claim with the United Nations for an extended continental shelf (ECS) in the South China Sea, a month after regional neighbor the Philippines made a similar move, Vietnam's foreign ministry said on Thursday.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China says it has halted nuclear arms control talks with US over Taiwan

    A spokesman said repeated US arms sales to Taiwan had “seriously compromised the political atmosphere” for continuing talks.

  • ADF ☛ Resilient Al-Shabaab Recruits East African Fighters as ATMIS Exits Somalia

    Thick white smoke billowed over the rooftops and power lines at a military base housing Djiboutian troops attached to the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS).

  • The Strategist ☛ Keep Britain east of Suez, Mr Healey

    John Healey, the secretary of state for defence in Britain’s new Labour government, could be forgiven for not putting the country’s geostrategic presence in the Indo-Pacific at the top of his to-do list.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Latvia ☛ Head of Latvia's State Security Service likely to stay for another term

      The government will decide on Tuesday on the approval of Normunds Mežviets, the head of the State Security Service (VDD), in office for another five-year term.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvian Security Service head reappointed for another term

      On Tuesday, July 16, the government confirmed Normunds Mežviets as the Head of the State Security Service (VDD) for a third term, the Ministry of the Interior said.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian optics manufacturer yet to complete exit from Russia

      Yukon Advanced Optics Worldwide, a Lithuania-based manufacturer of night vision devices, says it is planning to withdraw from Russia and Belarus this year.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania urges EU to speed up ditching Russian LNG imports

      Lithuania is urging the European Union to move faster away from Russian fuel after Europe imported more natural gas from Russia than from the United States in May for the first time in the last two years.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Feminist In Exile Fined For 'LGBT Propaganda'

      A court in Russia's Tatarstan region on July 16 fined feminist activist Dina Nurm and her partner, Anastasia Goncharenko, 100,000 rubles ($1,130) each for "propagating LGBT relations."

    • RFERL ☛ Russia Adds 2 Journalists In Exile To Wanted List

      The Russian Interior Ministry on July 17 added two journalists -- Andrei Zakharov and Dmitry Fomintsev -- to its wanted list on unspecified charges amid an ongoing crackdown on independent media.

    • RFERL ☛ Russia Says 'False Alarm' Behind Massive Power Outage In South

      Russia's nuclear energy operator, Rosenergoatom, says a unit of the Rostov nuclear power plant whose disconnection left some 1 million people in southern Russia and parts of occupied Crimea without electricity was switched off due to "a false alarm."

    • Kluwer Patent Blog ☛ Divisional From Divisional Issue – New Insight From Russia. Part II

      This post is continuation to the previous one published on October 27, 2023 and available  here. Although the approach may still be reconsidered by the Presidium of the Russian Supreme Court, the current update should already be taken into account while developing the patenting strategy in the jurisdiction.

    • Meduza ☛ Russia’s Interior Ministry wants to deport foreigners for participating in an ‘undesirable’ organization, ‘discrediting’ the army, and more. Here’s what that could mean. — Meduza

    • LRT ☛ Belarus claims it detained Lithuanian murder suspect

      Belarusian authorities have said they detained a Lithuanian man in Grodno on suspicions of having committed a murder before fleeing across the border to Belarus. Lithuania’s authorities claim they have no information about the detainee.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania enforces EU ban on Belarus-registered cars

      From midnight of July 18, 2024, cars with Belarusian registration plates will not be allowed to enter the territory of the European Union.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvia lays out reasons for Belarus car ban

      Amid criticism from Belarusian opposition figures about a new ban on Belarus-registered cars entering Latvia, the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has laid out the reasoning for the decision in a release July 16.

    • RFERL ☛ Belarus Introduces Visa-Free Entry For Citizens Of 35 European Nations

      The State Border Committee of Belarus said on July 17 that it has introduced visa-free entry for citizens of 35 European nations.

    • RFERL ☛ Belarus Opens Trial Of Opposition Activist In Absentia

      Judge Halina Bondal of the Vitsebsk regional court in the northeastern Belarus on July 17 began the trial in absentia of activist Andrey Zuyeu, who was a member of a group supporting opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya in the August 2020 presidential election.

    • RFERL ☛ Pro-Moscow, Former Gagauzia Leader To Run For Moldovan President

      Irina Vlah, a pro-Moscow ex-governor of Moldova's autonomous Gagauz region, on July 17 announced her candidacy in Moldova's upcoming presidential election against pro-European incumbent Maia Sandu.

    • Latvia ☛ Government okays EUR 31 million for surveillance on Latvian-Russian border

      On Tuesday, July 16, the government authorized the Latvian State Radio and Television Center (LVRTC) to undertake financial commitments of EUR 31.67 million) to ensure the construction of technological infrastructure along the Latvian-Russian border, LETA reports.

    • Latvia ☛ Four Belarusian cars turned back at Latvian border on Tuesday

      On Tuesday, July 16, a ban on crossing the Latvian-Belarusian and Latvian-Russian borders with cars registered in Belarus entered into force. On the first day at the border checkpoint "Pāternieki" in Krāslava municipality, four vehicles were prevented from entering Latvia, Latgale Television reports.

    • Latvia ☛ Nearly 3,000 pupils have declined to learn Russian at school in Latvia

      2,838 pupils in grades 4 to 9 have opted out of learning Russian as a second foreign language, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Education and Science (IZM) published July 17.

    • Meduza ☛ The Kremlin says its plan to create a ‘buffer zone’ on Ukrainian territory hasn’t failed. So why does Russia’s Belgorod region keep coming under fire? — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Russian Orthodox Church Wages a ‘Holy War’ Against Satanism, and the West

      A battle has erupted in Moldova over its links to the Russian Orthodox Church, seen by many as a tool of Moscow’s influence abroad.

    • New York Times ☛ Heat Wave in Ukraine Further Strains Its Electricity Grid

      To prevent a collapse of the electricity system, crippled by months of Russian attacks, the authorities have imposed rolling blackouts. Experts say it’s a harbinger of what’s to come this winter.

    • RFERL ☛ Russia Says Prisoner Swap With Ukraine Involving 190 POWs Completed

      Russia and Ukraine said they have completed another prisoner swap, with the latest exchange involving 190 prisoners of war mediated by the United Arab Emirates.

    • RFERL ☛ Germany To Provide 10 Million Euros For Reconstruction Of Kyiv Children's Hospital

      Germany will provide Ukraine with 10 million euros ($10.9 million) for the reconstruction of Ukraine's largest children's hospital, the Okhmatdyt, largely destroyed in a Russian missile strike on Kyiv on July 8.

    • RFERL ☛ Patrick Turner To Lead NATO's Newly Created Representation In Ukraine

      NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced on July 17 that Patrick Turner has been appointed to lead the NATO Representation in Ukraine (NRU).

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Poet Imprisoned For Anti-War Verses Rejects Offer To Join Russian Military In Ukraine

      Russian poet Artyom Kamardin, who was sentenced to seven years in prison in December for publicly reciting verses condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has rejected an offer to join Russian armed forces invading Ukraine, his supporters said.

    • RFERL ☛ Lavrov Says Russia Willing To Work With Any U.S. Leader

      Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a July 17 UN press conference that Moscow is willing to work with any elected U.S. leader who is willing to engage in “equitable, mutually respectful dialogue.”

    • RFERL ☛ German Court Convicts Russian-German Couple Of Supplying Electronics For Drones

      A Russian-German couple has been convicted by a court in Stuttgart, Germany, of supplying about 120,000 spare parts for Orlan-10 drones to Russia in violation of EU sanctions.

    • The Strategist ☛ Australia’s inaction as Chinese companies enable Russia’s aggression

      There’s no end in sight to the nightmare of Russia’s assault on Ukraine. Scores were left dead and injured across Ukraine last week when Russian missiles struck Kyiv and other cities. One even tore through ...

    • European Commission ☛ Commission paves the way for the release of close to €4.2 billion to Ukraine as first regular payment under the Ukraine Facility

      European Commission Press release Brussels, 17 Jul 2024 Today, the Commission has given a positive assessment for the first regular payment of close to €4.2 billion under the EU's Ukraine Facility, to support Ukraine's macro-financial stability and the functioning of its public administration.

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • Reason ☛ District Court Rejects Magistrate Judges' Gag Order on Publishing Name of Retroactively Pseudonymized Litigant

    "Professor Volokh may not ... publicly disclose Plaintiff's name or personal identifying information in any future writings, speeches, or other public discourse."

• Environment

  • JURIST ☛ Greece issues order restricting outdoor work amid extreme heatwave and rampant wildfires in southern Europe

    The Greek Ministry of Labor and Social Security announced Monday that they would be restricting outdoor work, ordering businesses to refrain from allowing their employees to perform heavy outdoor labor during the afternoon as the extreme heatwave plaguing southern Europe enters its second week. 

  • The Straits Times ☛ Heavy rain hits South Korea’s Seoul, Gyeonggi

    It caused rush-hour traffic disruptions and home evacuations.

• Energy/Transportation

  • DeSmog ☛ Alberta’s Energy ‘War Room’ Lost a Doomed Battle Against the Future

  • DeSmog ☛ Climate Movement Sounds Alarm on Trump Picking ‘Big Oil Sellout’ J. D. Vance for VP

  • DeSmog ☛ Shell Canada Drops 2050 Climate Goal from Website

• Wildlife/Nature

  • Science Alert ☛ World's Rarest Whale, Never Seen Alive, Washes Up on Beach

    "Next to nothing is known about them."

  • CS Monitor ☛ What’s old, long, and green? Meet Gnatalie, Los Angeles’ new dinosaur.

    A 75-foot-long sauropod is the only green dinosaur fossil in the world and it’s on display in Los Angeles. Researchers discovered the bones in 2007 in the Badlands of Utah.

Finance

• France24 ☛ Charles III unveils new Labour govt plan to turbocharge economy in King’s Speech

  Britain's King Charles outlined Prime Minister Keir Starmer's plans for the coming year onWednesday, promising a government of service focused on growing the economy and tackling issues from an acute housing shortage to a cost of living crisis. Starmer's Labour party won an overwhelming victory in the July 4 general election and had vowed to “create wealth for people up and down the country”.

• WhichUK ☛ King's Speech 2024 - what it means for your money

  There are 40 Bills the new Labour government intends to prioritise

• New York Times ☛ King’s Speech Promises a Changed U.K.

  From plans to tackle climate change to ending the role of hereditary legislators, the ceremonial King’s Speech showcased the progressive priorities of Britain’s Labour government.

• RFA ☛ Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui guilty of US$1 billion fraud

  A US jury convicted Guo on 9 out of 12 federal charges carrying penalties of up to 20 years in prison.

• CS Monitor ☛ Does hard work alone lead to prosperity? Increasingly, Chinese citizens say no.

  As China’s top leaders deliberate over the country’s economic future, research shows regular people’s attitudes toward the economy are shifting.

• Digital Music News ☛ More Drama in the K-Pop World: South Korean Prosecutors Seek Arrest Warrant for Kakao Founder on Stock-Manipulation Charges

  More drama is unfolding in the K-pop space, as South Korean prosecutors are officially seeking an arrest warrant for Kakao founder Kim Beom-su on stock-manipulation charges. Regional media including Yonhap just recently shed light on the development, with the sought arrest warrant stemming specifically from the takeover of SM Entertainment last year.

• New York Times ☛ A Guide to the King’s Speech: Crown Jewels, Black Rod and a Mace

  When King Charles unveils the U.K. government’s agenda in Parliament, he is surrounded by rituals that nod to hundreds of years of history.

• Equalising capital gains tax could pay for lifting the two-child benefit cap many times

  The Green Party is today arguing that hundreds of thousands of children can be lifted out of poverty if Labour committed to equalising capital gains tax to pay to scrap the two-child benefit cap.

• NYPost ☛ Work requirements reinstituted for NYC’s extra cash benefit for poor residents

  The Adams administration this month will again begin requiring low-income residents to show they are trying to get work if they want to receive an extra cash supplement, ending a COVID-era pause in the taxpayer-funded multibillion-dollar program.

• ADF ☛ China Increases Loans to Africa While Countries Struggle With Old Debt

  Chinese lending to African countries slowed significantly in the years immediately before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. But although many countries still struggle under the weight of enormous debt, China appears poised to launch new projects in Africa with a focus on mineral extraction.

• Reason ☛ The Best of Reason: Why Did Americans Stop Caring About the National Debt?

  Both parties—and the voters—are to blame for the national debt fiasco.

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

• New York Times ☛ With RNC Speech, Vance Completes Political Conversion for Trump

  The Republican Party is full of people who have changed their minds about the former president.

• New York Times ☛ Vance Will Introduce Himself to American Voters

  Also, new details emerged about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. Here’s the latest at the end of Wednesday.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China injects US$20 million to prop up Solomon Islands’ government budget

  Solomon Islands will prop up its government budget with a US$20 million injection from China, the developing Pacific state said Tuesday, as Beijing looks to strengthen a strategic toehold in the region.

• RFA ☛ As Myanmar junta falters, rival ethnic armies jostle in Shan state

  China, ally of the United Wa State Army, looms large over the complex web of rivalries in Myanmar’s largest state.

• RFA ☛ Chinese officials tour foreign-invested firms in bid to stem exodus

  Analysts say recent moves won’t be substantive enough to reverse the flight of foreign capital.

• New York Times ☛ Peter Navarro, the MAGA Martyr Who Went to Prison for You

  His speech at the Republican National Convention was one of the more bizarre convention moments I’ve ever seen.

• CS Monitor ☛ Trump vs. Biden: In swing state Nevada, it’s the housing

  Low housing stock and inflation woes have put homeownership out of reach for many Americans. In Nevada, it could tip the presidential election.

• The Straits Times ☛ High-level US delegation stresses Papua New Guinea commitment

  A high-level U.S. civilian and military delegation visited Papua New Guinea this week to stress U.S. commitment to the strategic Pacific territory, where China is competing for influence.

• Atlantic Council ☛ How Tunisia’s upcoming presidential elections will erode its democracy

  These elections will likely enable further consolidation of power and undo more than a decade of progress in building democratic institutions.

Censorship/Free Speech

• The Straits Times ☛ South Korea horse racing authority takes down ‘sexual’ YouTube content after controversy

  The video features horses illustrated as anime-style women wearing skimpy outfits.

• JURIST ☛ Germany bans right-wing Compact magazine for hate speech

  The German Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser announced Tuesday the ban of far right-wing online magazine Compact for their actions inciting hatred against Jewish people and ethnic minorities.

• Reason ☛ Calling Someone an "Amateur" May Sometimes Be Defamatory

  “This Court rejects Defendants’ argument an ordinary person could find ‘amateur,’ in this circumstance, to refer to ‘one who engages in a pursuit, study, science, or sport as a pastime rather than a profession’ or a ‘devotee, [or] admirer,’ given the surrounding context and circumstance.”

Civil Rights/Policing

• OpenRightsGroup ☛ King’s Speech Response

  ORG’s analysis and response to the Labour Government’s legislative agenda Consultation and detail will be needed There are several important pieces of digital legislation mentioned in the King’s Speech. Most importantly, changes to data protection are mentioned, along with the first steps to regulate Hey Hi (AI) technologies.

• EFF ☛ EFF, International Partners Appeal to EU Delegates to Help Fix Flaws in Draft UN Cybercrime Treaty That Can Undermine EU's Data Protection Framework

  The time is now to demand changes in the text to narrow the treaty's scope, limit surveillance powers, and spell out data protection principles. Without these fixes, the draft treaty stands to give governments' abusive practices the veneer of international legitimacy and should be rejected.

  Ahead of the reconvened concluding session of the United Nations (UN) Ad Hoc Committee on Cybercrime (AHC) in New York later this month, we, the undersigned organizations, wish to urgently draw your attention to the persistent critical flaws in the latest draft of the UN cybercrime convention (hereinafter Cybercrime Convention or the Convention).

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong 47: Mitigation hearings for national security case delayed by a month due to ‘unforeseen circumstances’

  The remaining mitigation hearings for a landmark national security case involving 47 Hong Kong democrats have been delayed by almost a month because of “unforeseen circumstances,” according to a document seen by HKFP.

• France24 ☛ Hundreds more Kenyan police deployed to Haiti for UN-backed security mission

  A second wave of Kenyan police left for Haiti on Tuesday as part of a UN-backed security mission in a bid to restore order to the violence-wracked Caribbean nation. The mission is not without controversy, however, as Human Rights Watch has expressed concerns over its funding and watchdogs have raised the alarm over human rights abuses.

• France24 ☛ FIFA launches probe into racist and homophobic chants by Argentina players

  Following a complaint by the French Football Federation, FIFA on Wednesday launched an investigation into racist and homophobic chants by midfielder Enzo Fernandez and other Argentinian players after the Copa America final. The chant, dating back to the 2022 France-Argentina World Cup final, targets French striker Kylian Mbappé amongst others. Chelsea has also begun disciplinary action against Fernandez.

• Reason ☛ No Qualified Immunity When "Public Officials … Baselessly Threaten[] a Citizen-Journalist With Legal Action"

  "if he did not remove a video on a matter of public concern that he made and posted on Facebook (Farcebook) without breaking any law."

• The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia to review cyberbullying laws, including $29 fine, following influencer’s death

  Malaysia Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said he was disappointed with the "small fine".

• RFA ☛ North Korea’s use of forced labor ‘deeply institutionalized,’ UN says

  The report called on Pyongyang to abolish the use of forced labor and end any form of slavery.

Digital Restrictions (DRM)

• MIT Technology Review ☛ Five ways to make music streaming better for the climate [Ed: Stop streaming, download and keep, no DRM]

  This story first appeared in China Report, MIT Technology Review’s newsletter about technology in China. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Tuesday. This week, we are taking a short break from China and turning to its neighbor South Korea instead.