Leftovers

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ World Now in a State of 'Global Water Bankruptcy', New UN Report Warns

    Is it too late?

  • Science Alert ☛ Cold Weather Doesn't Make You Sick. Here's What's Really to Blame.

    It's a little more nuanced.

  • Science Alert ☛ A 'Hidden' Metabolic Disorder May Not Show Up on Your Scale, Researchers Say

    Beyond BMI.

  • Science Alert ☛ Clever Cow Documented Using Tools in an Astonishing Scientific First

    How now, brown cow?

  • Science Alert ☛ Air Pollution Linked to Higher ALS Risk And Faster Decline

    Up to 30% increased risk.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Straits Times ☛ With monitors and lawsuits, Pakistanis fight for clean air

    Monitoring organisation IQAir in 2024 classified Pakistan as the third most-polluted country in the world.

  • New York Times ☛ Snap Settles Lawsuit on Social Media Addiction, Avoiding a Landmark Trial

    The settlement means Snap will avoid a trial where plaintiffs had planned to argue that social control media platforms are inherently defective and subject to personal injury liability.

  • NYPost ☛ Controversial ‘suicide pod’ inventor reveals new AI-powered feature to allow couples to die simultaneously

    A year after a controversial assisted-dying device was used for the first time, its inventor says he is preparing a new version designed for two.

  • New York Times ☛ Suicides Were Frequent at the Golden Gate Bridge. Not Anymore.

    For decades, there had been an average of 30 each year. With a new deterrent in place, there were none in the second half of 2025.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • ACLU ☛ Retailers Secretively Using Face Recognition to Spot “Persons of Interest” — Including For the Government

      The grocery store chain Wegmans, among other retailers, is using face recognition on its customers — and scanning their faces for resemblance not only to accused shoplifters but also to people whose photos have been submitted to the company by law enforcement.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Site36 ☛ Frontex builds training centre for armed border police: Thousands of officers trained in “partner academies” to date

    The EU border agency is constructing a new headquarters and a training centre for its “Standing Corps” in Warsaw. Abolish Frontex sees this as further fortification and militarisation of Europe. By 2027, the EU border agency Frontex is set to build up a “Standing Corps” of 10,000 officers.

  • ADF ☛ In Mali, Mercenaries Have New Name, Same Tactics

    Among the civilians fleeing violence in Mali, many tell stories about “the white men” — the mercenary fighters working for Russia’s Africa Corps who continue to rape and kill civilians with impunity.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea produces enough nuclear material a year for 10 to 20 weapons: South Korean President

    A pragmatic approach was needed in addressing North Korea’s nuclear issue, he said.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea raids suspects over drone flights into North Korea

    One man has claimed responsibility for the infiltration, saying he did so to detect radiation levels.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea raids suspects’ homes, offices over drone flights into North Korea

    One man has claimed responsibility for the infiltration, saying he did so to detect radiation levels.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ UK approves plans for Chinese mega-embassy in London, triggering anger from residents and rights groups

    The UK government on Tuesday gave China the green light to build a “mega-embassy” in the heart of London eight years after Beijing bought the site, triggering fresh anger from residents and rights groups.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Defining peace in a Convicted Felonian era

    Leaders worldwide, confronted by a U.S. president who styles himself as a peacemaker, reflect anew on the inner qualities necessary for peace.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Heckles Europe Before Heading to Davos

    As European leaders try to engage with the American president over Greenland and the future of Ukraine, he is mocking them as weak.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • France24 ☛ Almost half of Kyiv without heat, power, after Russian attack

      An overnight Russian bombardment on Kyiv left thousands of residential buildings and parliament without heating and water in -14C temperatures on Tuesday, just as the Ukrainian capital was scrambling to restore vital utilities destroyed in earlier attacks. The barrage of hundreds of drones and missiles, which targeted energy facilities across Ukraine, killed at least one 50-year-old man near Kyiv. FRANCE 24's Emerald Maxwell reports.

    • France24 ☛ How has Convicted Felon's one year in office weighed on the war in Ukraine?

      FRANCE 24's Kyiv correspondent Gulliver Cragg reflects on how, one year into The Insurrectionist's second mandate, the support of the United States for Ukraine has waned, although, as he points out, the US president has not 'entirely' taken Russia's side.

    • France24 ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man has a 'unique, sometimes strange affinity' with Vladimir Putin

      Speaking with FRANCE 24's Sharon Gaffney, Thomas Graham, Distinguished Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, says that the relationship between The Insurrectionist and Vladimir Putin is based on a 'unique, sometimes strange affinity that president Convicted Felon appears to have for strongmen, president Putin in particular', adding that Convicted Felon has 'found it very difficult to translate it into hard policy that actually advances American interests'.

    • France24 ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man might succeed in breaking up NATO where ten Soviet and Russian leaders tried and failed

      Delano D'Souza welcomes former US Ambassador Mark C. Storella, Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy at Boston University. He offers a sobering analysis of US immigration, and both foreign & economic policies. He warns the US that is not only isolating itself on the global stage, but also undercutting its own economy and moral authority. Authoritarian opportunism, disguised as pragmatism, risks weakening America’s alliances, its values and its democratic norms.

    • ADF ☛ Botswana Probes Russian Recruiting Schemes

      Botswana recently joined a growing list of African countries whose citizens have been tricked into fighting for Russia in its war on Ukraine. The Ministry of International Relations said on December 15 that it has launched an investigation into reports of two young men who were taken to Ukraine to fight for the Russian Army.

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea's Lee plays down proposed US chip tariffs, warns of higher prices

    South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Wednesday if Washington introduced higher U.S. tariffs on semiconductor imports, it would likely boost U.S. prices, playing down concerns about the proposed 100% duty.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysian anti-graft agency opens money laundering probe involving IJM Corp

    The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission confirmed it has questioned nine people.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia makes Malay and history compulsory for Chinese independent school route to public unis

    The new education blueprint also plans to lower school entry age and reintroduce standardised tests from 2027.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Jim Nielsen ☛ New Year, New Website — Same Old Me

    I redesigned my www website. Why?

  • APNIC ☛ Help shape Internet number resource policy at APRICOT 2026 / APNIC 61 in Jakarta!

    A change in consensus gauging tooling, and two policy proposals are up for discussion.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• The Straits Times ☛ China hotels allege predatory pricing, forced exclusivity amid Trip.com antitrust probe

  The booking platform's frequent discount campaigns force hotels to cut prices to remain visible on it.

• Patents

  • Software Patents

    • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ USAA Petitions SCOTUS: Is Mobile Check Deposit Just an “Abstract Idea”?

      USAA petitions SCOTUS to save its mobile check deposit patents, arguing the Federal Circuit's Section 101 "abstract idea" jurisprudence is broken.