Leftovers

• Ruben Schade ☛ Placing similar words together

  I do proofread some of my posts before publishing, surprising though it may seem. I even catch my grammar, punctuation, and pselling mistakes during those reviews too. Wait, dman it.

  Other things I catch are more subtle. Here’s my previous post about Clear Linux:

  Polyacetylenes can be found in Apiaceae vegetables like carrots where they show cytotoxic activities.

• Science

  • Hackaday ☛ Annealing In Space: How NASA Saved JunoCam In Orbit Around Jupiter

    The Juno spacecraft was launched towards Jupiter in August of 2011 as part of the New Frontiers series of spacecraft, on what would originally have been a 7-year mission, including a nearly 5 year cruise to the planet. After a mission extension, it’s currently orbiting Jupiter, allowing for many more years of scientific data to be gathered using its instruments. One of these instruments is the JunoCam (JCM), a visible light camera and telescope. Unfortunately the harsh radiation environment around Jupiter had led many to believe that this camera would fail before long. Now it seems that NASA engineers have successfully tested a fix.

  • Hackaday ☛ The Death Of Industrial Design And The Era Of Dull Electronics

    It’s often said that what’s inside matters more than one’s looks, but it’s hard to argue that a product’s looks and its physical user experience are what makes it instantly recognizable. When you think of something like a Walkman, an iPod music player, a desktop computer, a car or a TV, the first thing that comes to mind is the way  that it looks along with its user interface. This is the domain of industrial design, where circuit boards, mechanisms, displays and buttons are put into a shell that ultimately defines what users see and experience.

  • Science Alert ☛ America's Largest Crater Has Surprise Link to Grand Canyon, Study Finds

    Earth-shattering news.

  • Science Alert ☛ Neither Scales Nor Feathers: Bizarre Appendage Discovered on Reptile Fossil

    This is new.

  • Science Alert ☛ An Extra Sense May Connect Gut Bacteria With Our Brain

    More than a gut feeling.

  • Science Alert ☛ Stunning Grand Canyon Fossils Reveal Evolution's Weird Experiments

    Life after the explosion.

• Career/Education

  • The Straits Times ☛ China says US withdrawal from Unesco not the behaviour of a ‘responsible country’

    China said it has always firmly supported the work of Unesco.

  • New York Times ☛ As Convicted Felon Quits UNESCO, China Expands Influence

    Washington had been a buffer against China’s efforts to use UNESCO to influence education, historical designations and even artificial intelligence.

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Luxury PC company Maingear launches '90's style Retro95 beige PC — company known for flashy rigs with custom cooling and automotive paint brings old-school aesthetics to modern hardware

    Maingear launches its Retro95 beige desktop, hoping to tempt in fans of retro PCs who, despite themselves, crave modern processing power.

  • Hackaday ☛ Fusing Cheap EBay Find Into A Digital Rangefinder

    One of the earliest commercially-successful camera technologies was the rangefinder — a rather mechanically-complex system that allows a photographer to focus by triangulating a subject, often in a dedicated focusing window, and and frame the shot with another window, all without ever actually looking through the lens. Rangefinder photographers will give you any number of reasons why their camera is just better than the others — it’s faster to use, the focusing is more accurate, the camera is lighter — but in today’s era of lightweight mirrorless digitals, all of these arguments sound like vinyl aficionados saying “The sound is just more round, man. Digital recordings are all square.” (This is being written by somebody who shoots with a rangefinder and listens to vinyl).

  • CNX Software ☛ QNAP QAI-M100 and QAI-U100 Edge Hey Hi (AI) accelerators for NAS systems improve image recognition performance

    NAS used to store your files in your local network for easy access, but new models like QNAP TS-216G, TS-AI642, and TS-133 feature an Arm processor (Rockchip RK3566 or RK3588) with a built-in NPU to accelerate image recognition, so that users can find their photos with a simple text search like “Disneyland Mickey Mouse”.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ North Carolina’s Bogs Have a Dirty Secret, and That’s a Good Thing

    Peat bogs have huge potential to store planet-warming carbon. The ones in North Carolina just need some help to get healthy again.

  • New York Times ☛ Have You Tried Alternative Health Treatments?

    If you or a loved one has tried treatments like supplements, detox diets or off-label uses of prescription medications, we want to hear about it.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysians face dual threats of haze and high UV levels, experts warn

    Haze presents higher risks due to pollutants that can lead to health risks.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia introduces new ruling for electrical wiring work in all buses

    This comes after the fatal electrocution of a passenger on a bus in Penang on November 2024.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Starbucks opens free study rooms in China to lure back customers

    Starbucks is trying to revive sales growth amid stiff competition in China from cheaper local rivals like Luckin Coffee.

  • Science Alert ☛ Guided Nanoparticles Reconnect Brain Cells, Raising Hopes For Parkinson's Treatment

    This looks promising.

  • New York Times ☛ ‘The Claw Grip’: Why Are Women Always Holding Things?

    Known as “the claw grip” online, women are making videos about how many objects they can hold without a purse or functional pockets. What is the larger message?

  • Science Alert ☛ Outbreak of Chikungunya Virus Poses Global Risk, Warns WHO

    The warning signs are there.

  • Science Alert ☛ Buzzwords Mask Risks of New Bleach Drinking Wellness Trend

    No miracles here.

• Proprietary

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Press Gazette ☛ Google Hey Hi (AI) summaries start to roll out in Discover in US

      Google officially launches Hey Hi (AI) summaries in Discover in the US.

    • Public Knowledge ☛ Hell Toupée’s Hey Hi (AI) Action Plan Misses the Mark, Calls for Action Without Vision

      The Forrest Dump administration's Hey Hi (AI) Action Plan gives technology companies free rein over how Hey Hi (AI) develops.

    • ACLU ☛ [Slop] Could Exacerbate Inequality, Experts Warn

      The ACLU’s first Civil Rights in the Digital Age (CRiDA) Hey Hi (AI) Summit in July brought together civil society, nonprofit, academia, and industry leaders to thoughtfully consider how to center civil rights and liberties in a constantly changing digital age.

    • Hackaday ☛ Vibe Coding Goes Wrong As AI Wipes Entire Database

      Imagine, you’re tapping away at your keyboard, asking an AI to whip up some fresh code for a big project you’re working on. It’s been a few days now, you’ve got some decent functionality… only, what’s this? The AI is telling you it screwed up. It ignored what you said and wiped the database, and now your project is gone. That’s precisely what happened to [Jason Lemkin]. (via PC Gamer)

  • Social Control Media

    • New Yorker ☛ Coldplaygate Is a Reminder That There’s No Escaping Going Viral

      A C.E.O.’s affair, caught on jumbotron and spread across social control media, demonstrates that mass attention on today’s internet tends to be deeply undesirable.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • JURIST ☛ Hong Kong court rules sex-segregated public conveniences breach equality and privacy rights

      A Hong Kong court ruled Wednesday that the segregation of the sexes in public conveniences is unconstitutional for its disproportionate interference with transgender individuals’ right to privacy and equality. Judge Russell Coleman directed the government to review its regulations on the gender recognition scheme relating to access to public conveniences within 12 months.

    • OpenRightsGroup ☛ Regulating Age Verification

      As Online Safety Act age verification or assurance duties kick in, on 25 July 2025, we recap what the act failed to do: regulate and protect privacy of children and adults engaging with these tools.

    • OpenRightsGroup ☛ ORG calls for age assurance industry to be regulated

      Open Rights Group has warned of serious privacy and security risks for people in the UK as online platforms start to ask users to verify their age, as required by the Online Safety Act. There are also freedom of expression harms as platforms require age verification to access features and content.

    • Pro Publica ☛ Thacker Pass Protesters Surveilled by Law Enforcement for Years, Records Show

      Ka’ila Farrell-Smith grew up in a community that was deeply involved in the fight for Indigenous rights, protesting broken treaties and other mistreatment of Native American people. Members of the movement, she said, understood that law enforcement agencies were surveilling their activities.

      “I’ve been warned my entire life, ‘The FBI’s watching us,’” said Farrell-Smith, a member of the Klamath Tribes in Oregon.

    • New York Times ☛ Meta Unveils Wristband For Controlling Computers With Hand Gestures [Ed: Surveillance gimmick]

      When you write your name in the air, you can see the letters appear on your smartphone.

  • Confidentiality

    • American Oversight ☛ American Oversight Calls for Hegseth’s Resignation Following Washington Post Reporting on Signal Messages

      “Hegseth risked our national security, endangered the lives of our brave men and women in uniform, and repeatedly lied about it to the American people," said Executive Director Chioma Chukwu. "He must resign.”

    • Federal News Network ☛ What Signal reveals about the Defense digital gap

      DoD is not building digital tools that reflect its user needs, and the security and effectiveness of U.S. national security is at risk.

• Defence/Aggression

  • France24 ☛ ‘Japanese First’: The deep roots of the rising far right

    Japan’s far-right Sanseito party won a record number of seats in the country’s recent upper-house elections, stripping the ruling party of its majority and cementing itself as an outspoken voice against immigration. The “Japanese First” group, which first came to prominence with its strident opposition to Covid-19 health measures, takes inspiration directly from far-right political forces abroad – including France’s National Rally and US President The Insurrectionist’s MAGA movement.

  • ProPublica on CECOT

    On March 15, President Donald Trump’s administration sent more than 230 Venezuelan immigrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador. Last week, the men were released as suddenly as they’d been taken away. These are their stories.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Do You Have Information About the CECOT Deportations? Help ProPublica Report.

    The Trump administration sent more than 230 Venezuelan immigrants to CECOT, a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, and accused them of being members of the violent Tren de Aragua gang. For the past four months, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune have been reporting on these men, their backgrounds and how they ended up in custody. We’ve written about how the administration knew before removing them that the vast majority had not been convicted of any crimes in the U.S., contradicting its claims that the men were “the worst of the worst,” and how, by and large, they were abiding by the immigration system and not absconding from authorities. Now that they’ve been returned to Venezuela, we’re continuing to report on who the men are and what they went through.

  • France24 ☛ Testimony from Gaza: ‘We are not numbers, we are human beings’

    The World Health Organization warned on 23 July of widespread starvation in Gaza, saying food deliveries into the war-ravaged Palestinian territory were “far below what is needed for the survival of the population”. France 24 spoke to Bahaa Zaqout, a Gaza resident and aid worker with the Palestinian Agricultural Development Association (PARC). “Imagine your children asking you for the least, and all you can give them are promises… This keeps every father in Gaza awake,” he says.

  • Defence Web ☛ SAMHS humanitarian project in the Eastern Cape renders assistance to crash victims

    Elements of the SA Military Health Service (SAMHS) deployed for a major outreach initiative in the Eastern Cape province sprang into action on Tuesday after encountering a vehicle accident near Lusikisiki.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Retrial opens for S. Korean woman who bit off man’s tongue in rape attempt

    Choi Mal-ja was 19 when she was attacked by a 21-year-old man.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea stops decades-old propaganda broadcast into North Korea to ease tensions

    The move aligns with South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung’s effort to improve relations with North Korea.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China 'clearly' trying to interfere in Taiwan's democracy, Taipei says before recall vote

    TAIPEI - China is \"clearly\" trying to interfere in Taiwan's democracy and it is up to Taiwan's people to decide who should be removed from or stay in office, the island's government said on Wednesday ahead of a recall vote for around one-fifth of lawmakers.

  • The Strategist ☛ The Taiwan scenarios 3: Day zero

    If China decides to dramatically accelerate unification with Taiwan—whether through subversion, quarantine, blockade or full-scale invasion—the first 24 hours will be pivotal. But they will hardly be the end. Taiwan will fight back.

  • New York Times ☛ A Long, Overdue Reporting Trip Through Syria

    After the fall of Bashar al-Assad, parts of the country that had been closed to outside journalists for a decade suddenly opened up.

  • JURIST ☛ UN Secretary-General calls for respect of international law at Security Council open debate

    The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged countries to pursue peace and uphold international law at a meeting of the Security Council on Tuesday.

  • The Strategist ☛ Australia and partners need a new and imaginative agenda for UN cyber talks

    The latest stretch in a two-decade-long diplomatic effort to codify rules in cyberspace concluded with a consensus UN report earlier this month.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Iran, China, Russia, and the collapse of deterrence in the Red Sea

    Multiple powers now patrol with different mandates, different rules, and increasingly different interpretations of acceptable behavior.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • JURIST ☛ European Court rules the UK has not failed to protect political rights amid Russia election interference

      The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on Tuesday that the United Kingdom’s response to alleged Russian interference in its elections was sufficient to ensure the rights of Members of Parliament.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania considers phasing out Russian as a foreign language in schools

      Lithuania may phase out Russian as a second foreign language in schools by 2026, according to education officials and lawmakers, citing shifting student preferences and geopolitical concerns.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian ministry says it won’t pay for IShowSpeed’s Vilnius visit if he goes to Russia

      Lithuania will not pay for the recent visit to Vilnius by YouTube star Darren Jason Watkins, known as IShowSpeed, if reports that he plans to travel to Russia are confirmed, the Economy and Innovation Ministry said on Tuesday.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania’s youth enter military physically unprepared: a concern for national defence

      In 2024, Lithuania’s Defence Ministry (KAM) reported that around 40% of young men called up for military service were deemed unfit to serve due to health reasons. However, even among those considered fit only 19% pass the initial fitness test at the start of their service. What lies at the root of this issue?

    • Meduza ☛ ‘Putin’s favorite newspaper’ warns that Europe could attack Russia by 2027 — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Ukraine and Russia to hold new round of talks in Istanbul on Wednesday evening — Meduza

    • France24 ☛ Expectations low as Ukraine and Russia hold new round of talks in Istanbul

      Russian and Ukrainian negotiators on Wednesday began the first direct discussions between the warring sides in more than seven weeks. Moscow played down expectations of any breakthrough at the meeting in Istanbul, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week should focus in part on preparing a summit between himself and Russia's Vladimir Putin.

    • France24 ☛ Administrator of major dark web cybercrime forum arrested in Ukraine

      The suspected administrator of major dark web cybercrime forum, XSS.is, was arrested in Ukraine, French prosecutors said on Wednesday. The Russian-language site is one of the main hubs for global cybercrime, enabling access to compromised systems, stolen data and the sale of malware.

    • Security Week ☛ France Says Administrator of Cybercrime Forum XSS Arrested in Ukraine

      French authorities announced that an alleged admin of XSS.is, one of the longest-running cybercrime forums, has been arrested in Ukraine.

    • Scoop News Group ☛ Authorities in Ukraine nab alleged admin of Russian-language cybercrime forum

      Officials accuse the unnamed suspect of running XSS.is, a key and long-running marketplace with more than 50,000 registered users. The suspect allegedly made more than $8.2 million.

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine and Russia agree to new prisoner swap during brief peace talks

      Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday agreed to exchange 1,200 prisoners of war as well as bodies of dead soldiers during a third round of peace talks in Istanbul. The talks, which the Kremlin predicted would be “difficult” lasted less than an hour, Russian state media reported.

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine delegation in Istanbul for talks with Russia

      Ukraine's delegation has arrived in Istanbul for peace talks with Russia, Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Georgiy Tykhy said on July 23. France 24's Douglas Herbert tells us more.

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine's Zelensky tries to limit backlash over law curbing anti-graft agencies

      Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky promised a quick new plan on July 23 to fight corruption, after a law curbing the independence of anti-graft agencies triggered the first street protests of the war and rare rebukes from European allies. France 24's Douglas Herbert tells us more.

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine curbs anti-corruption agencies, sparking rare protests

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a bill on July 22 revoking the autonomy of two anti-corruption agencies, a proposal that has sparked rare street protests in Kyiv and alarm among the country's international backers.

    • Meduza ☛ ‘This is about the people’: A law targeting anti-corruption agencies sparked major protests in wartime Ukraine. Now, Zelensky is promising to reverse course. — Meduza

    • France24 ☛ Zelensky faces major protests after signing bill targeting anti-graft bodies

      Protesters rallied across Ukraine on Tuesday evening after President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law tightening control over key anti-corruption agencies, a move critics say threatens their independence and risks undermining EU ties and billions in Western aid.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian FM says Ukraine’s legislation on anti-corruption bodies ‘truly regrettable’

      After the Ukrainian parliament passed a controversial law affecting its anti-corruption bodies, sparking protests, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys says Kyiv should be careful not to raise doubts about the transparency of its policies.

    • RFERL ☛ Zelenskyy Promises New Bill After Anti-Corruption Law Sparks Backlash

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has promised a new bill after a new law limiting the independence of two anti-corruption agencies sent protesters into the streets in cities across the country and prompted stern warnings to scrap the legislation from European capitals.

    • Meduza ☛ Everything must be ‘purged of Russian influence,’ Zelensky says after anti-corruption agencies lose independence — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Zelensky Faces Criticism in Ukraine Over Effort to Rein In Corruption Agencies

      President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a bill limiting two Ukrainian anticorruption agencies. After street protests and other criticism, he said he would propose a new law restoring their independence.

    • Meduza ☛ Ukrainian protests grow as Zelensky signs law stripping anti-corruption agencies of independence — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ More swaps, but no deal Russia and Ukraine end third round of Istanbul talks without agreeing to ceasefire or leaders’ meeting — Meduza

    • France24 ☛ Kremlin expects 'difficult' talks with Ukraine in Istanbul

      Russia on 23 July said it expected talks with Ukraine in Istanbul to be “difficult”, tempering hopes of a breakthrough after nearly three and a half years of war. We discuss this with our guest Scott Lucas, professor of international politics at the Clinton Institute, and our international affairs editor Douglas Herbert.

    • RFERL ☛ US Approves Potential Sale Of $322 Million In Arms To Ukraine After Little Progress At Istanbul Talks

      The United States on July 23 announced the approval of $322 million in arms sales to bolster Ukraine's air defenses and its armored combat vehicles.

    • New York Times ☛ Russia and Ukraine Met Again. Here’s Where the Peace Talks Stand

      The warring sides remain far apart after the third round of U.S.-brokered peace negotiations on Wednesday. But there was progress on humanitarian issues.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Chinese engines, shipped as ‘cooling units’, power Russian drones used in Ukraine

      Engines are are labelled as "industrial refrigeration units" to dodge Western sanctions.

    • Meduza ☛ ‘Drone academy’ New report details how the Russian military draws on schoolchildren’s labor to fuel its war in Ukraine — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Guard at U.S. Embassy in Norway Charged With Spying for Russia and Iran

      A Norwegian man has been accused of leaking sensitive information about U.S. embassy staff members and threatening Norway’s national interests, according to prosecutors.

    • Meduza ☛ Russia’s seasonal military conscription drive is about to become year-round. Here’s what that could mean. — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russia’s Supreme Court bans ‘international Satanism movement’ as extremist — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Ukraine’s commander-in-chief calls on U.S. and Europe to help Kyiv bring war to Russian territory — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Ukrainian delegation meets with Erdoğan and proposes four-way summit with U.S. and Russian leaders — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ ‘A whole generation has grown up independent of Russia’ Expert Thomas de Waal explains the politics behind Moscow’s waning influence in the South Caucasus — Meduza

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Declassified files outline UK plan to evacuate Hongkongers in ‘Armageddon scenario’ after Tiananmen crackdown

    The UK drafted plans to evacuate millions of people in Hong Kong in an “Armageddon scenario,” following China’s Tiananmen crackdown in 1989, according to newly declassified documents.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Was Told His Name Was in the Epstein Files

    Also, the U.S. drafted a plan to end its global H.I.V. campaign. Here’s the latest at the end of Wednesday.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Louisiana Passes Police Accountability Law Following Video of Officer Slamming Shantel Arnold to the Ground

• Environment

  • The Straits Times ☛ Heat wave warnings issued for South Korea’s southern regions

    Heat wave advisories were raised for Busan, Daegu and Ulsan, among others.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Record heat in China strains power grid, stirs health fears

    Its first nationwide alert on heat-related health risks went out in July.

  • The Straits Times ☛ EU, China plan joint statement on climate change, sources say

    The European Union and China are preparing to agree a joint declaration on tackling climate change at a summit in Beijing on Thursday, EU diplomats told Reuters.

  • France24 ☛ ICJ: World's top court to hand down watershed climate opinion

    The world's top court will on July 23 deliver a seminal ruling laying out what legal obligations countries have to prevent climate change and whether polluters should pay up for the consequences.It is the biggest case ever heard at the International Court of Justice and experts say the judges' opinion could reshape climate justice, with major impacts on laws around the world.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Wading in floodwater amid a deluge, a couple in the Philippines tie the knot

    A father also leapt into a raging torrent to save his toddler son.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia’s PM Anwar unveils cash handout and fuel price cut to tackle cost-of-living pressures

      The announcement comes just days ahead of a major anti-government protest on July 26. 

    • The Straits Times ☛ China says it spoke with neighbours on planned mega-dam’s impacts

      The dam could become a source of tension between China and India.

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ Crypto wallet Chrome extension is eating SSD storage at an alarming rate — MetaMask owner confirms bug 'has been writing hundreds of gigabytes of data per day into [users'] solid-state drives'

      A bug in the cryptocurrency tracking browser extension has been causing it to write heaps of data to users' SSDs.

    • New York Times ☛ Overhead Bin Fire on Virgin Flight May Have Been Caused by Portable Battery

      Airlines have tightened rules regarding portable batteries after a rise in episodes on planes in recent years.

  • Overpopulation

    • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea sees record birth rate growth for Jan-May

      The surge follows South Korea’s first annual increase in the number of births in more than a decade.

• Finance

  • BIA Net ☛ Akkuyu nuclear plant workers face harsh gendarmerie response during wage protest

    The workers, both Turkish and Russian nationals, have reportedly gone unpaid for the past three months.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea to scrutinise US-Japan trade deal as officials fly to Washington

    An analyst said it would pressure Korean negotiators to come up with a similar or better deal.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Google says it axed over 7,700 YouTube channels linked to Chinese state-backed ‘influence operations’

      Google terminated 7,700 “inauthentic” YouTube channels linked to the Chinese state in the second quarter of the year, according to a Surveillance Giant Google bulletin on Monday. Most were removed as part of their investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to Beijing.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Was it illegal? HK university’s Hey Hi (AI) deepfake porn scandal ignites debate

      Victims call for city to reform its laws to adequately penalise this "new form of sexual violence".

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong teen arrested for allegedly writing ‘seditious words’ in commercial building toilet

    A Hong Kong teenager has been arrested and charged after he allegedly wrote “seditious” messages in the toilet of a commercial building on three occasions.

  • New York Times ☛ Macrons Sue Candace Owens, Accusing Her of Defamation

    The suit seeks damages after the podcaster claimed Brigitte Macron is a man. The French president and his wife said the statement caused “pain to us and our families.”

  • France24 ☛ Macrons file defamation suit against US podcaster over transgender rumours

    French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte filed a defamation lawsuit on Wednesday against US right-wing podcaster Candace Owens, who has repeatedly claimed that the wife of the president used to be a man. The Macrons said Owens' claims were "designed to harass and cause pain ... and to garner attention".

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Wall St Journal set to plead not guilty in unlawful termination suit filed by press union chief Selina Cheng

    The Wall Street Journal is set to plead not guilty in a lawsuit against Selina Cheng, Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) chairperson, who accuses the American newspaper of unlawful dismissal after she took the helm of the press union.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • JURIST ☛ Kenya dispatch: a call for greater protection of school children following exposee on teacher sexual abuse

    Two weeks have passed since African Uncensored released its exposé on Peter Ayiro, a male teacher at Alliance Girls High School—one of the top high schools, and the oldest girls’ high school, in the nation—accusing him of grooming and sexual abuse. The article, written by alumna Christine Mungai, took the whole nation by storm.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Standards/Consortia

    • APNIC ☛ [Podcast] A day in the life of BGP

      In this episode of PING, APNIC’s Chief Scientist, Geoff Huston, discusses a day in the life of Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). Not an extraordinary day, not a special day, just a regular day.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • JUVE ☛ Munich Regional Court reinterprets FRAND rules in Samsung vs ZTE

    In a legal note following a “FRAND first” hearing, the Munich Regional Court’s 7th Civil Chamber laid out its approach to several questions not yet fully clarified by case law. The focus was on the significance of security deposits from patent monopoly users and the relevance of interim licences.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ The Services Problem That Undermines Crocs’ Textualist False Advertising Defense

    A recent petition for certiorari in Crocs v. Dawgs asks the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify whether the Lanham Act's false advertising provision can reach a company's false claims that its product is patented. Crocs argues that the statute's prohibition on misrepresentations about a product's "nature, characteristics, [or] qualities" should be limited to tangible attributes and thus should not extend to intangible legal designations like patent monopoly status.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ More Briefs in SAP and Motorola

    In June 2025 SAP and Motorola each filed petitions for writs of mandamus asking the Federal Circuit to order the USPTO to reinstate the Vidal Memo safe‑harbors and to overturn Acting Director Coke Stewart’s decisions to vacate institutions of their inter partes review (IPR) petitions.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ STROLL TO THE POLLS Fails to Function as a Trademark for Clothing, Says TTAB

    The Board sustained this opposition on the ground that the proposed mark STROLL TO THE POLLS fails to function as a source indicator for “Aprons; Bibs, not of paper; Bodysuits; Dresses; Footwear; Hats; Jackets and socks; Pants; Shirts; Skirts; Swimwear.” Applicant pointed to the display of the phrase "in a manner to indicate source identification, insomuch as the mark appears on the inside collar of the article of clothing." Not good enough, said the Board. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority v. Stroll to the Polls, Inc., Opposition No. 91267937 (July 17, 2025) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Martha B. Allard).

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ Senators Introduce Bipartisan Bill Targeting Unauthorized Artificial Intelligence Training: ‘AI Companies Are Robbing the American People Blind’

    Congressional pushback against gen Hey Hi (AI) giants is ramping up. Now, senators from both sides of the aisle have introduced a bill that they say will “hold Big Tech companies accountable for illegally pirating creators’ copyrighted works.”

  • Digital Music News ☛ The Joe Budden Network Rakes in $20 Million a Year, According to Company CEO

    Joe Budden reveals just how lucrative his podcast network has become, leaving the industry stunned. Rapper turned podcast network mogul Joe Budden thought he might humble-brag about his Patreon traffic with a screenshot showing over 30 million hits in 30 days.