Leftovers

• Ruben Schade ☛ Neverending beeps in the night

  I should be more thankful that the systems surrounding me work as well as they do. There is so much that happens behind the scenes that make our lives possible and pleasant, from the power grid and water systems, to telephony wiring and mobile reception. I take it for granted that I plug stuff in, or connect to something, and it just works. Good tech is transparent, as an old professor of mine was fond of saying.

  But it’s all a balancing act, as any systems engineer will tell you. Behind the scenes is a complicated, tangled web of interconnected systems, some of which are likely in a degraded state right now without you knowing. As long as the Swiss cheese holes don’t line up, we’re good. Until the rare day when they do, and the illusion of perfect functionality is shattered.

• Science

  • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Two University of Minnesota professors each awarded National Medal of Science

    Nominees are evaluated by a committee of scientists and engineers appointed by the president.

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ UK chipmaker Imagination Technologies up for sale — UKCT accuses current owners of stripping the company of its key technologies

    China-backed Canyon Bridge is putting up British chipmaker Imagination Technologies on the market — hopes to find an interested buyer for the company with the continued market interest in AI.

  • CNX Software ☛ ZigEasy GEX is a series of ZigBee 3 & DigiMesh coordinators powered by the XBee 3 and XBee SX 868 modules

    The ZigEasy GEX series is a lineup of Zigbee / DigiMesh coordinators and Ethernet gateways based on Digi International’s XBee 3 and XBee SX 868 modules. These devices connect a ZigBee or DigiMesh network to a local Ethernet network or the internet.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ In Africa, Danger Slithers Through Homes and Fields

    Venomous snakes bite millions of people worldwide each year, killing at least 120,000. Many of them are poor people in rural areas of Africa without easy access to treatment.

  • New York Times ☛ Sugary Drinks Linked to Global Rise in Diabetes, Heart Disease

    A new study assesses the effects of sugar-laden beverages on global health, with higher rates of consumption found in Latin America and parts of Africa.

  • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Minnesota allocates funding to help U researchers monitor bird flu in wildlife

    Virus raising concerns for both animal and human health

  • Green Party UK ☛ Green Party reaction to Keir Starmer’s NHS plan

    Reacting to Keir Starmer’s plans for the NHS in which he confirmed there will be greater use of the private sector to help reduce hospital waiting lists in England, co-leader of the Green Party, Adrian Ramsay MP, said: [...]

  • France24 ☛ France detects first case of new mpox variant

    France has confirmed its first case of the mpox virus, clade 1b variant, in Brittany, the health ministry announced Monday. The WHO continues to uphold its highest alert amid the ongoing epidemic. Measures to monitor and control the spread, linked to close contact transmission, are in effect.

  • The Straits Times ☛ India’s Health Ministry closely monitoring HMPV reports in China

    Physicians confirmed that there was no surge in such cases other than the expected seasonal variation.

  • The Straits Times ☛ India reports 8 cases of HMPV pathogen driving spike in respiratory illnesses in China

    The country’s stock market tanked, as the initial cases spooked traders.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China rolls out plan to tackle growing issue of dementia

    The country has more than 16 million people suffering from dementia, including Alzheimer's disease.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Vietnam closely monitoring pneumonia outbreak in China

    Several online platforms reported an outbreak in China with numerous cases of pneumonia caused by HMPV.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Surging flu cases in China drive up demand for antiviral drug

    Cases of influenza in China have been on the rise since December 2024.

• Defence/Aggression

  • BIA Net ☛ Israel army violates Lebanon ceasefire 392 times in 40 days

    According to Lebanon Ministry of Health data, since 8 October 2023, at least 4 thousand people have died, including 1106 women and children and 222 health workers, and 16 thousand people have been injured.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea’s Yoon avoids arrest by deadline, extension sought

    His lawyers argue that the anti-graft force leading the criminal investigation has no authority under the law.

  • The Straits Times ☛ What you need to know about the attempt to arrest South Korea's Yoon

    Lawyers of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO) probing his short-lived martial law decree on Dec. 3 are at odds over whether the CIO has the authority to arrest and pursue criminal charges against him.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea investigators seek new warrant to arrest President Yoon

    His failed martial law decree plunged South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades.

  • JURIST ☛ South Koreans rally as arrest warrant for impeached president Yoon nears expiration

    Despite freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall, hundreds of South Koreans gathered overnight on Sunday near the residence of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol in Hannam-dong, Seoul, demanding his arrest and imprisonment.

  • North Korea fires a missile ahead of Trump inauguration

    The president-elect has picked an aide involved in planning summits with North Korea as a senior member of staff.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea’s Kim oversees successful test of new hypersonic missile

    The test coincided with a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to South Korea.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korean woman exonerated after wrongful conviction for murdering father in 2000

    Ms Kim had said that she lied in the police investigation to prevent her brother from going to prison.

  • Philippines says China’s ‘monster’ ship on a mission to intimidate

    Beijing has repeatedly asserted its jurisdiction over Scarborough Shoal, which lies within Manila's EEZ

  • The Straits Times ☛ Philippines deploys maritime and air assets to monitor China’s ‘monster ship’

    Manila called the ship's presence an act of Chinese "intimidation, coercion and aggression".

  • Cross-strait shadows: Inside the Chinese influence campaign against Taiwan (Part I)

    A pre-2024 Taiwan election poll exposed a secret network with ties to mainland China.

  • France24 ☛ 'Palestinians by blood but Syrians at heart': Residents of Yarmouk refugee camp dream of revival

    The Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus was devastated by the Syrian civil war. The scene of violent clashes between Bashar al-Assad's regime and rebel militias, including the Islamic State (IS) group, little remains of a once-thriving area but ruins and desolation. Yet a number of its inhabitants have chosen to return, hoping to rebuild their “little Palestine”.

  • New York Times ☛ In Seoul, Blinken Affirms Alliance Amid Challenges to Democracies

    The U.S. secretary of state aimed to show that his country stood by South Korea as it grapples with a political crisis, and as Donald J. Trump returns to power.

  • New York Times ☛ Austria Could Get a Far-Right Chancellor. Here’s What to Know.

    The leader of the anti-immigration, pro-Russia Freedom Party has been given the chance to try to form a government after months of coalition talks among mainstream parties collapsed.

  • Site36 ☛ Right-wing extremist offences are at a record high in Germany: 2024 was a ‘baseball bat year’

    The number of right-wing crimes rose by a sixth in 2024 – not including December. Government policy has failed, criticises the Left Group in the Bundestag. In 2001, the German Bundeskriminalamt (Federal Criminal Police Office) introduced the ‘Criminal Police Reporting Service in Cases of Politically Motivated Crime’ (PMK) in Germany.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Atlantic Council ☛ The Russia-Ukraine energy divorce offers a chance for Europe to take control of its energy security

      Ukraine’s closure of a pipeline that supplied Russian gas to Europe offers the European Union an opportunity to enhance its economic and energy security.

    • France24 ☛ Amid counteroffensive in Kursk, Ukraine 'positioning itself as reasonable, desirable partner for US'

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is urging allies to boost Ukraine’s air defences at an upcoming meeting in Germany amid Kyiv’s new counteroffensive in Russia’s Kursk region. For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective on Ukraine's latest offensive as they seek to gain favour with the incoming Trump administration, FRANCE 24's Angela Diffley welcomes Julia Friedrich, Research Fellow at the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPI).

    • France24 ☛ Olga Rudnieva: The woman turning Ukrainian amputees into 'Superhumans'

      Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, at least 50,000 Ukrainians have lost limbs, according to the health ministry; a figure that includes both soldiers and civilians. The number is constantly rising, with complications like long evacuation times from the battlefield and infection risks. Our Perspective guest is helping amputees heal and re-integrate into society. Olga Rudnieva is the CEO and co-founder of the Superhumans Center – a clinic for psychological assistance, prosthetics, reconstructive surgery and rehabilitation for people affected by the war.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania to ask Ukraine to help control exports of dual-use goods – PM

      As Lithuania’s previous government banned the export of dual-purpose goods to third countries from January, Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas calls the restrictions “stupid”. However, he intends to work with Ukraine to find out whether Lithuanian products are being used by Russia on the frontline.

    • RFERL ☛ Kyiv Presses On In Kursk As Russians Claim To Take Key Town In Ukraine

      Ukraine on January 6 pressed its new assault in Kursk amid claims by Kyiv of major Russian losses, while Moscow said its forces had taken a key town in eastern Ukraine as both sides bid for strategic positions ahead of any potential cease-fire talks.

    • New York Times ☛ Russia Claims to Seize Key Eastern Ukraine Town of Kurakhove

      Ukraine has largely been driven out of Kurakhove, a battered but strategic town in the Donbas, Russia said. Kyiv’s forces were pressing a renewed offensive in southern Russia.

    • Meduza ☛ Reduced to rubble Photos from Russian state media show the destruction in Ukraine’s occupied frontline towns — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russia claims capture of key Donbas city of Kurakhove as Ukrainian forces report ongoing fighting — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ French Defense Ministry says Ukrainian soldiers deserted during training in the country — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Trump’s Ukraine-Russia envoy, Keith Kellogg, postpones trip to Kyiv — Reuters — Meduza

    • Latvia ☛ Baltic States ready to leave Russian electricity grid

      In February, the Baltic energy systems, operated by Augstsprieguma tīkls (AST) of Latvia, Litgrid of Lithuania and Elering of Estonia will be disconnected from the Russian energy system, known as the BRELL network, and will join the continental European energy system, LSM.lv reports.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian consulate in Kherson comes under fire during Russian air strike

      Lithuania’s Honorary Consulate in Kherson came under fire during a Russian air strike on January 1, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

    • RFERL ☛ Moldovan Government, Energy Firm To Send Supplies To Some Transdniester Settlements

      The Moldovan government on January 6 said it will provide natural gas to 14 localities in the Moscow-backed Transdniester breakaway region as residents there suffer through brutal winter after Russian supplies were cut off on New Year’s Day.

    • RFERL ☛ Brazilian Lab Sends Data From Doomed Flight's Recorders To Kazakh Investigators

      A lab run by Brazil's air force has sent data from the flight recorders recovered from the Brazilian-made Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed last month to the Kazakhstan authority investigating the crash.

    • New York Times ☛ Azerbaijani Anger Over Plane Crash Grows, in Deepening Schism With Russia

      In the crash’s aftermath, Azerbaijan has unleashed rare and stinging criticism of Russia, with the country’s president saying Moscow’s response has caused “surprise, regret and rightful indignation.”

    • Meduza ☛ ‘If I’m going to be arrested, then let it be for something that matters’: Why photojournalists in Russia continue documenting the country’s shifting realities, despite the risks — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Over 18 months, Russia imposed nearly $277,000 in fines for ‘propaganda of non-traditional relationships’ — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Georgian police reportedly tell family where to find Russian woman who fled their arranged marriage plans — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Chechen special forces commander sits down with Russian neo-Nazi paramilitary leader for friendly chat to smooth over ethnic tensions — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Body of Russian tourist abducted in Georgia found in river — Meduza

    • The Strategist ☛ BRICS is hardly a new fulcrum of world politics

      One question that 2025 may begin to answer is whether the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) is becoming the new center of power in world politics.

• Environment/Earthquakes

  • The Straits Times ☛ Earthquake in China’s Tibet kills 32 with tremors felt in Nepal and India

    Videos showed destroyed houses with walls torn apart and rubble strewn across the ruins.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Earthquake in China’s Tibet region kills 9: State media

    The quake struck Dingri county with a magnitude of 6.8 near the border with Nepal.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea extends closure of airport where Jeju Air plane crashed

      The authorities are still probing the cause of the accident, which took place on Dec 29.

• Finance

  • India Times ☛ Will there be a recession in the U.S, will companies go for massive layoffs, how much money will you earn? Top economists predict what's in store for 2025

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • New York Times ☛ Tuesday Briefing: Canada’s Prime Minister Is Stepping Down

    Plus, a recap of the Golden Globes.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China’s Pooh-tin cites corruption as ‘biggest threat’ to ruling Communist party

    A record 58 "tigers", or senior officials, were probed in 2024.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China's top diplomat heads to Africa as West's attention dwindles

    China's top diplomat began his annual New Year tour of Africa on Sunday, maintaining a 35-year-long tradition, to quietly advance Beijing's already sizeable influence across the resource-rich continent as Europe's presence wanes and America's wavers.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • BIA Net ☛ MA, JINNEWS and Yeni Yaşam accounts withheld on X

    The Dicle Fırat Journalists’ Association declared that “the decisions amount to censorship” and stated that they will be filing criminal complaints.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong student pleads not guilty to insulting China’s anthem during World Cup qualifier

    A 19-year-old student has pleaded not guilty to insulting China’s national anthem during a 2026 World Cup Asian qualifier in Hong Kong last June. Lau Pun-hei entered his not guilty plea to the charge under the National Anthem Law on Monday morning at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Kluwer Patent Blog ☛ SPCs: the CJEU recognizes that A + B = C

  Although the equation A + B = C seems self-evident (even for a five years old boy: remember you), the fact remains that it needed clarification by the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”), in relation to SPCs for product combinations...

• Patents

  • JUVE ☛ Finnegan Henderson adds fifth IP partner in Munich from Quinn Emanuel [Ed: Marekting spam instead of patent news]

    On 1 January, Johannes Druschel joined the US IP boutique Finnegan Henderson at its Munich office. Druschel has a focus on patent monopoly litigation and joins from Quinn Emanuel. The 38-year-old specialises in disputes concerning technical property rights, especially patents.

  • Unified Patents ☛ $2,000 awarded for Ortiz & Assoc. wireless patent monopoly prior art

    Unified is pleased to announce PATROLL crowdsourcing contest winners, Umesh Sharma, Calvin Zhong, and Alexa Zen, who shared a cash reward of $2,000 for their prior art submissions on U.S. Patent 9,549,285, owned by Ortiz & Associates Consulting LLC, an NPE. The ‘285 patent monopoly focuses on systems, methods, and apparatuses for brokering data between wireless devices, servers, and data rendering devices (DRDs).

  • JUVE ☛ Morgan Lewis expands European patent monopoly litigation team in Munich with Baker partner [Ed: And yet more chaff or marketing spam for a sponsor?]

    Morgan Lewis’ latest addition Alexander Ritter (45) is a lawyer with a technical background as a computer scientist. He specialises in advising and representing companies from the high-tech, mechanical engineering, chemical, medical technology and biotechnology sectors. Associate Moritz Sutterer is accompanying him to Morgan Lewis.

  • Study Shows Patent Lawsuit Filings Drop After Disclosure Rule

    A study from the University of Utah School of Law’s Jonas Anderson, published in early December, showed that patent monopoly lawsuits in the District of Delaware have declined significantly following an order requiring the disclosure of third-party investments in any case before the court.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Not Quite Teaching Away: Federal Circuit Clarifies Evidence Needed to Defeat Motivation to Combine

    In a recent non-precedential decision, the Federal Circuit provided an interesting analysis on how to evaluate evidence both supporting and undermining motivation to combine references in obviousness challenges. Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings v. Ravgen, Inc., No. 2023-1342, 2023-1345 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 6, 2025).

  • Software Patents

    • Unified Patents ☛ Wrinkl messaging patent monopoly challenge instituted

      On December 31, 2024, two months after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on all challenged claims of U.S. Patent 11,973,731, owned and asserted by Wrinkl, Inc. The ‘731 patent monopoly relates to a multi-pane group messaging interface.

    • Unified Patents ☛ IP Investments entity, DigiMedia Tech, video stitching patent monopoly challenge instituted

      On December 23, 2024, less than four weeks after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on all challenged claims of U.S. Patent 6,567,086, owned by DigiMedia Tech, LLC, an NPE and an IP Investments Group entity.