Leftovers

• Science / Mathematics / Computer Science

  • Science Alert ☛ This Week in Science: Iceman Microbes, Bawdy Birds, And Much More!

    Our weekly science news roundup.

  • Science Alert ☛ The Solar System May Have Lost 2 Planets, And The Mystery Just Deepened

    There's a lot we don't know for sure.

  • Science Alert ☛ Largest Map of The Universe's Hidden Magnetic Fields Has Been Unveiled

    Five times larger than all that came before.

  • Science Alert ☛ One Drink of Alcohol a Day Raises Your Risk of 10 Cancers, Study Warns

    No safe level?

  • Science Alert ☛ Common Sleeping Pill May Reduce Buildup of Alzheimer's Proteins, Study Reveals

    Intriguing...

  • Science Alert ☛ An Overlooked Factor Affects How Well You Sleep. Here Are 3 Tips to Hack It.

    Don't sleep on this one.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • European Commission ☛ Statement by Commissioner Várhelyi ahead of World Food Safety Day

    World Food Safety Day is a moment to recognise what Europe has built: one of the safest food systems in the world – and we are making it even stronger.

  • New York Times ☛ The World Has Learned From the Last Ebola Outbreak, but Gaps Remain

    The vaccine development process and coordination between health organizations have improved since a devastating 2014-2016 outbreak.

  • New York Times ☛ As Ebola Spreads in East Africa, Will China Step Up?

    China is well positioned to help stop the deadly virus, and could move into a gap left by U.S. retreat.

  • France24 ☛ Radio station in DR Congo seeks to stop misinformation amid spread of Ebola

    The rare Bundibugyo type of Ebola that Congo is battling took locals by surprise after weeks of spreading unnoticed. Hundreds of cases were suspected when Congolese authorities announced the outbreak on May 15, but many dismissed the news as a “Western conspiracy.” At least 63 people have died from 397 confirmed cases, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. Yet the outbreak has been challenged by skepticism, attacks on health workers and misinformation.

  • Futurism ☛ It Turns Out Lookmaxxing Has Some Extremely Emasculating Side Effects

    Oops!

• Proprietary / SaaS

  • So-Called 'Artificial Intelligence' ('AI') / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Futurism ☛ Over 150 Mathematicians Warn Governments Not to “Believe the Hype” About AI

      "There is currently a strong commercial incentive on the part of the technology industry to overstate the capabilities of their products."

    • Futurism ☛ Researchers Put Hey Hi (AI) Models in Charge of Analyzing Sports, and They Choked Spectacularly

      "It cannot tell you why things happen, and it cannot tell you what’s gonna happen next."

    • Futurism ☛ AI Will Consume as Much Water as a Billion People By 2030, UN Report Estimates

      Gulp.

    • Futurism ☛ Meta So Desperate for Compute That It’s Building “Data Centers” That Are Just Tents Filled With Hey Hi (AI) Chips

      It's a bandaid fix.

• Linux Foundation

  • Tech Times ☛ AI Agent Discovery Gets Open DNS Standard: DNS-AID Launches Under Linux Foundation [Ed: Openwashing for Microsoft]

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • New York Times ☛ Senators Warn of Intelligence Gaps if Surveillance Program Expires

      Two senior Republicans urged the Convicted Felon administration to prepare for the possible expiration of a contentious intelligence-gathering authority.

    • JURIST ☛ Canada parliament passes cybersecurity bill amid privacy concerns

      The Canadian Senate on Thursday passed Bill C-8, introducing a mandatory cybersecurity framework designed to protect critical infrastructure across the country’s telecommunications, finance, energy, and transportation sectors against emerging threats. The legislation achieves its objectives by amending the existing Telecommunications Act and enacting the new Critical Cyber Systems Protection Act.

• Defence/Aggression

  • France24 ☛ Hegseth blasts ‘invasion’ of migrants on Europe’s beaches in D-Day speech in France

    Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on Saturday marked the 82nd anniversary of the World War II D-Day landings in France with a speech that bemoaned the "invasion" of "boats and men" on Europe's beaches. In his address at a US military cemetery in Normandy, Hegseth called on allies to contribute more for their defence.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man’s Defense Department Sees Growing Espionage Threat From Israel

    The Defense Department has increased the counterintelligence threat assessment to its highest level, and Israel is believed to have eavesdropped on American negotiations with Iran.

  • France24 ☛ Several soldiers killed in Israeli strike on Lebanon

    Several soldiers have been killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle in south Lebanon, Beirut's military said Saturday, days after the two countries announced a conditional truce following talks in the United States. FRANCE 24's Antonia Kerrigan reports from Beirut.

  • New York Times ☛ Israeli Strike Kills 3 Lebanese Soldiers, Days After Truce Was Signed

    Israel invaded Lebanon and occupied parts of the country to fight Hezbollah, an Iran-backed armed group, but its military offensive has drawn in others.

  • France24 ☛ Iran launches ballistic missiles at Bahrain, Kuwait after US hits its radar sites

    Iran on Saturday fired ballistic missiles and drones at US allies Bahrain and Kuwait hours after the US conducted strikes on Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in tit-for-tat attacks that further strained the fragile ceasefire. Bahrain, home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, denounced the strikes, while Kuwait said they "represent a dangerous escalation".

  • New Yorker ☛ How the War in Iran Is Transforming the Global Economy

    The green-energy industry, and China, may be the biggest beneficiaries.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan says Chinese coast guard, research ships near key South China Sea islands

    The Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands have emerged as a new pressure point.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Taiwan coast guard says deploys vessels in response to China operation

    Taiwan’s coast guard said Sunday it has deployed vessels “to respond appropriately” to a Chinese operation in waters east of the island democracy, which it said “violates international law”.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea nuclear programme ‘absolutely non-negotiable’: Kim Jong Un’s sister

    Kim Yo Jong added that the North “will not tolerate any threats”.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • New York Times ☛ Erdogan and Putin, the End of an Unlikely Partnership

      Russia’s decline has given Turkey the freedom to pursue its interests, and Ukraine is the beneficiary.

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine launches fresh drone attack on St. Petersburg region on final day of ‘Russian Davos’

      Ukraine on Saturday fired hundreds of drones targeting the St. Petersburg region in the second such attack on Russia’s second-largest city in less than a week. The attack came on the final day of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, President Vladimir Putin’s annual investment forum known as “Russia’s Davos”.

    • France24 ☛ Estonia's former President on lessons learnt in dealing with Putin

      There is an ongoing NATO exercise taking place right now just off the south western coast of Estonia in the Gulf of Riga, and around the Baltic Sea stretching south to Skagan on the coast of Denmark.

    • RFERL ☛ Putin Rejects Zelenskyy's Proposal To Meet As Senseless

      Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected a proposal by his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to meet for talks to end the war as senseless, calling for the country's military to "do the job."

    • The Straits Times ☛ Armenia arrests six candidates for pro-Russian opposition day before vote

      Armenian authorities arrested six candidates for a pro-Russian opposition party on Saturday, a day before they were due to stand in general elections, state media reported, without giving any reason for the detentions.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Armenia votes in test of Westward pivot away from Russia

      The country is facing threats and allegations of interference from former imperial ruler Russia.

    • RFERL ☛ Armenians Vote With Nation's Future Focus -- East Or West -- On The Line

      Armenians are voting on June 7 in a test of the prime minister’s support following a controversial peace effort with neighboring Azerbaijan and his efforts to pull the small South Caucasus nation closer to the West after decades of reliance on Russia.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Armenians vote with peace efforts and Russia in focus

      Armenians head to the polls on Sunday in a parliamentary election seen as a test of the government's efforts to forge a peace deal after a crushing military defeat by Azerbaijan three years ago.

    • France24 ☛ Armenia prepares for vote amid shifting relations with Russia and the West

      Armenia's parliamentary elections Sunday will be a vote on its geopolitical future as incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan seeks closer relations with the European Union and the United States despite longstanding ties with Russia that have been championed by his critics. FRANCE 24's Olivia Bizot reports.

    • France24 ☛ Parliamentary elections mark 'historical moment' for Armenia, expert says

      Armenia's upcoming parliamentary elections, which could reshape the country's ties with Russia and the West, mark a "historic moment" for the country, according to Ulrich Schmid, Professor of Eastern European Studies at the University of St Gallen. Incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is seeking to normalise relations with Turkey and neighbouring Azerbaijan, with which Armenia has been locked in conflict for decades.

    • France24 ☛ Armenia polls open in test of prime minister's pivot away from Russia

      Polls open in Armenia on Sunday in a vote that is set to test the former Soviet republic's ties with Russia. As Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has sought to loosen dependence on Moscow, the Kremlin has been accused of seeking to sway the vote and Armenia's EU ambitions to the same path it claims triggered its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

    • RFERL ☛ Ukraine Launches Scores Of Drones On Final Day Of Major Russian Investment Forum

      Ukraine launched hundreds of drones at targets across Russia, including scores over the St. Petersburg region, on the final day of Russia’s most important investment forum.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukraine Strikes St. Petersburg in Long-Range Drone Attack

      It was the second such attack in days and came just hours after President Vladimir V. Putin spoke at an economic forum in the city.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Futurism ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Desperately Pumps Money Into Dying Coal Industry

      "Clean, beautiful coal."

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • The Straits Times ☛ Java needs seawall, mangrove restoration to protect northern coast

      Northern Java currently faces a serious threat of coastal abrasion, tidal floods and land subsidence.

    • NYPost ☛ Surfer escapes death in jaws of Aussie shark — and says he used a simple trick to survive

      A surfer has revealed the terrifying moment he was dragged underwater by a shark in Australia — and the simple trick he used to escape with his life.

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysian police finish probe into former anti-graft chief, New Straits Times says

    Police are now awaiting further instructions.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • France24 ☛ Peru set for presidential vote between conservative Fujimori and leftist Sanchez

    Polls open for the final round of Peru's presidential elections on Sunday with voters set to choose the country's ninth leader in 10 years. Following a first-round vote marred by logistical problems and fraud allegations, voters will choose between conservative Keiko Fujimori and leftist Roberto Sanchez.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea nominates Han as country's first female prime minister in two decades

    South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has chosen Han Seongsook, the country's minister for small and midsize businesses and startups, to be prime minister, the presidential office said on Sunday.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Thousands demand South Korea repeat local elections after ballot shortage

    A vote-counting centre in Seoul saw over 6,000 people protesting into the night on June 5.

  • New York Times ☛ Kennedy Center Loses Case Against Musician Who Canceled Over Convicted Felon Naming Dispute

    A judge sided with jazz performer Chuck Redd, who canceled a 2025 holiday concert after Hell Toupée’s name was added to the building.

  • New York Times ☛ A Viral Gen-Z Protest Movement Draws Thousands to India’s Capital

    The Cockroach Janta Party started as a joke, but it quickly became a way for many Indians to express their frustration with the system.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • JURIST ☛ Amnesty International decries Egypt arbitrary detention of activists

    Amnesty International called Thursday on Egyptian authorities to immediately release jailed activists and uphold international law, following the arrest of activists involved in organizing a peaceful rally.

  • JURIST ☛ Canada parliament adopts new hate crime bill amid speech and religious freedom concerns

    The upper house of the Canadian parliament on Thursday adopted the Combatting Hate Act with a vote of 45-13. The Senate adopted a last-minute amendment to outlaw the display of a noose.