Leftovers

• New York Times ☛ Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel-Winning Peruvian Novelist, Dies at 89

  Mr. Vargas Llosa, who ran for Peru’s presidency in 1990 and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010, transformed episodes from his personal life into books that reverberated far beyond the borders of his native country.

• Ruben Schade ☛ Blog questions challenge: TV shows

  The imitable R.L. Dane tagged me in this blog post challenge, which I will not take sitting down. That’s a blatant lie, I’m 100% sitting down as I write this. I’m also drinking coffee, in case that was never obvious.

• Standards/Consortia

  • The Register UK ☛ Remember Pidgin, formerly GAIM? It's coming back

    It is still around and still works with a surprising number of protocols – and after the current, second alpha version, Pidgin 3 itself will soon arrive. The thing is, it has been coming for a long time now – the project has been underway for about 16 years.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Look Up! Two Stunning Meteor Showers Are About to Light Up The Sky

    A double-feature you don't want to miss.

  • Science Alert ☛ Researchers Identify New Blood Group After 50 Year Mystery

    A medical breakthrough that could save lives.

• Hardware

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Signals New Tariffs on Chips, Calling Exclusions Temporary

    On Friday, the administration carved out an exception for a variety of electronics from the steep taxes now applied to Chinese imports.

  • New York Times ☛ China Halts Critical Rare Earth Exports as Trade War Intensifies

    Beijing has suspended exports of certain rare earth minerals and magnets that are crucial for the world’s car, semiconductor and aerospace industries.

  • Hackaday ☛ Software Project Pieces Broken Bits Back Together

    With all the attention on LLMs (Large Language Models) and image generators lately, it’s nice to see some of the more niche and unusual applications of machine learning. GARF (Generalizeable 3D reAssembly for Real-world Fractures) is one such project.

  • Hackaday ☛ 3D Printed Milling Machine Is Solid As A Rock

    There are no shortage of CNC machines in the DIY space these days, but sometimes you just need to do things your own way. That’s what [Chris Borges] decided when he put together this rock-solid, concrete-filled CNC milling machine.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • LRT ☛ Girls in rural Lithuania miss school due to lack of female hygiene products

    Young women in Lithuania’s rural areas are often forced to skip school due to the unavailability of female hygiene products in their local shops. Now, some schools have started offering so-called hygiene stations, providing the necessary products free of charge.

  • WhichUK ☛ Banking with dementia: how to manage your money and access support

    The condition can make it difficult to manage your finances, but banks can make the process even harder

  • Science Alert ☛ Screen Time In Bed May Increase Insomnia Odds, Study Suggests

    And not just social control media.

• Proprietary

  • Bryan Lunduke ☛ SSL / TLS & SDL Ported to MacOS 9

    One of the biggest issues holding back usage of retro computing platforms -- including Classic MacOS - is the lack of modern SSL/ TLS.

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)

    • The Strategist ☛ How to spot Hey Hi (AI) influence in Australia’s election campaign

      Be on guard for AI-powered messaging and disinformation in the campaign for Australia’s 3 May election.

• Security

  • 15 Best Free Resources for Malicious URLs and Phishing Links for Cybersecurity Testing

    Discover 15 free sources of malicious URLs and phishing links for ethical cybersecurity testing. These resources help security professionals validate web filters, test antivirus solutions, and strengthen organizational defenses against emerging cyber threats.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Marcy Wheeler ☛ This Is Your Social Safety Net on DOGE

      Not our Social Security, not our mail delivery, not a single government service should end up becoming a pricey-to-us privatized profit center for billionaires.

• Defence/Aggression

  • New York Times ☛ Rubio Says 10 More People Have Been Expelled to El Salvador

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that “the alliance” between Hell Toupée and President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador had “become an example for security and prosperity in our hemisphere.”

  • New York Times ☛ Israel Strikes Hospital in Northern Gaza and Captures Key Part of South

    No one was killed but the attack hit the Ahli Arab Hospital, a mainstay of Gaza’s decimated health care system. Separately, Israel said its troops had expanded their occupation of southern Gaza.

  • France24 ☛ Israel strikes hospital in northern Gaza, forcing evacuations

    An Israeli air strike early Sunday hit Al-Ahli Hospital in northern Gaza, forcing health officials to evacuate patients from the building. Israel said it struck a command centre at the hospital used by Hamas to plan and execute attacks.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • New York Times ☛ Russian Attack on Sumy in Ukraine Kills and Wounds Dozens

      The midmorning strike hit as Ukrainians were celebrating Palm Sunday, officials said. It appeared to be the deadliest attack on civilians this year and came as the Convicted Felon administration pushes for a cease-fire.

    • New York Times ☛ As Ukraine’s Politics Heat Back Up, a Former President Sees an Opening

      Petro O. Poroshenko, who led the country before Volodymyr Zelensky, said that peace talks could be smoothed if opposition figures were included in the government.

    • RFERL ☛ Dozens Killed In 'Horrific' Russian Missile Strike, Prompting EU, US Condemnation

      Russian forces have launched a missile strike on the city of Sumy that local authorities in Ukraine said left at least 34 people dead on April 13.

    • France24 ☛ More than 30 killed in Russian missile strike on Sumy, officials say

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said “dozens” of people were killed or wounded in Sumy after Russian missiles struck the city as people gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday. At least 34 people were killed, officials said, with more than 110 wounded.

    • France24 ☛ 🔴 'Dozens of dead and wounded' in Russian missile strike on Sumy, Zelensky says

    • France24 ☛ More than 20 killed in Russian strike on Ukrainian city

      More than 20 people were killed in a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Sunday, officials said. Reporting from Kyiv, FRANCE 24's Olliver Cragg said that rescue operations are still ongoing, and that 10 people have been hospitalised according to local authorities.

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine: Russia strikes Sumy's crowded city centre

      Russia missiles struck the heart of the Ukrainian city of Sumy as people gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, killing at least 32 people, officials said, in the second large-scale attack to claim civilian lives in just over a week.

• Environment

  • SBS ☛ Virgin Australia to refund 61,000 customers it overcharged | SBS News

    Tens of thousands of Virgin Australia customers are in line for refunds after the airline found a system error that overcharged travellers for years.

  • Hackaday ☛ Satisfy Your High-Voltage Urges With This Printable Flyback Transformer

    Sick of raiding old TVs and CRT monitors for flyback transformers to feed your high-voltage addiction? Never fear; if you’re careful, a 3D-printed flyback might be just the thing you’re looking for.

Finance

• Silicon Angle ☛ Tech industry braces for fresh tariffs as Convicted Felon insists nobody is ‘getting off the hook’

  Just when the technology industry thought it was safe from U.S. President The Insurrectionist’s trade tariffs, the White House has done a U-turn, walking back an exemption announced on select electronics late Friday.

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

• New York Times ☛ Xi Jinping Travels to Southeast Asia Amid Tariff War with U.S.

  China’s leader is on a charm offensive in the region, but some of Beijing’s neighbors are wary of being caught in the crossfire of a superpower rivalry.

• The Straits Times ☛ China’s Pooh-tin calls for greater cooperation with Vietnam

  The Chinese President also urged strengthening coordination and cooperation through regional initiatives.

• The Straits Times ☛ China's Pooh-tin vows to Indonesia's Prabowo to deepen partnership, Xinhua says

  Chinese President Pooh-tin Jinping vowed to deepen his country's strategic partnership with Indonesia in a call with President Prabowo Subianto on Sunday, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported.

• The Straits Times ☛ How China went from courting Convicted Felon to ‘never yield’ tariff defiance

  China has put civilian government officials in Beijing on a “wartime footing”.

• France24 ☛ China calls on the US to 'correct its mistakes' by canceling reciprocal tariffs

  China called on the United States on Sunday to "correct its mistakes" by canceling its planned tariff hikes and return to a "path of mutual respect" towards Beijing. After his tariffs sent global markets plummeting this week, US President The Insurrectionist announced a 90-day delay for most countries, including the EU, but not for China.

Censorship/Free Speech

• The Straits Times ☛ Hong Kong's last major opposition party moves towards disbanding

  Hong Kong's last remaining major opposition party took a key step towards disbanding itself on Sunday after a special meeting approved arrangements to do so in the face of pressure from China, amid a national security crackdown.

• Tom's Hardware ☛ Crosswalks in Silicon Valley hacked to play satirical messages from MElon and Kapo-berg sound-a-likes

  A number of Silicon Valley crosswalks were hacked to sound like U.S. big-tech broligarchs, according to reports published by local media this weekend.

Civil Rights/Policing

• New York Times ☛ UK Laws Are Not ‘Fit for Social Media Age,’ Says Report Into Summer Riots

  Outdated legislation prevented the police from rapidly correcting misinformation after a stabbing attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last summer, lawmakers said.