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- The top 25 stories curated by editors and fellow readers!
Editor's Pick |
Editor's Note: The popular use of the word "overtourism" can be traced to a 2016 article about Iceland in Skift, a travel-industry publication. But it's been a theme on the list since at least 2006, when we suggested Istria, in northern Croatia, as an alternative for "foodies weary of overpriced and overcrowded tables in Tuscany and Provence."
| Work Minneapolis agrees to court-supervised police reform after George Floyda??s killing  Consent decrees require law enforcement to meet specific goals before federal oversight is removed, a process that often takes years and millions of dollars. A major reason Minneapolis hired Brian O'Hara as police chief in 2022 was his experience implementing a consent decree in Newark, New Jersey. |
| Work Soccer-loving nun from Brazil is world's oldest person at nearly 117  Sister Inah Canabarro was so skinny growing up that many didn't think she would survive childhood, Cleber Canabarro, her 84-year-old nephew, told The Associated Press. |
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| Work Mapping How Aging Affects Different Brain Cells  Summary: New research shows that not all brain cells age equally, with certain cells, such as those in the hypothalamus, experiencing more age-related genetic changes. These changes include reduced activity in neuronal circuitry genes and increased activity in immunity-related genes. |
| Work Unitree's humanoid robots dance like humans with new open-source data set  To this end, they want to democratize legged robotics and make them as common and affordable as modern devices like drones and smartphones. |
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| Work Motorbike-sized tuna sold to Tokyo sushi restaurateurs for $1.3m  Sushi restaurateurs in Tokyo say they have paid 207m yen ($1.3m; ?1m) for a bluefin tuna which is about the size and weight of a motorbike. The sale is the second highest price ever paid at the annual new year auction at Toyosu Fish Market in the Japanese capital. |
| Work Loneliness Could Be Making You Sick  It's no surprise that isolation and loneliness affect our overall mental health. In fact, research suggests that an individual's sense of community can reduce distressing mental and emotional symptoms like anxiety and depression. |
| Work What Can We Learn About Sleep From the Land of the Polar Night  The 24-hour darkness during the winter near the Poles can disrupt sleep - this is how the people who live there cope. |
| Work The year China's famous road-tripping 'auntie' found freedom  Sixty-year-old Chinese grandmother Su Min had no intention of becoming a feminist icon. She was only trying to escape her abusive husband when she hit the road in 2020 in her white Volkswagen hatchback with a rooftop tent and her pension. |
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| Work David Attenborough "Profoundly Disturbed" By AI Clone Of His Voice  David Attenborough, the legendary natural history presenter, is rallying against AI -- unathorized cloning, specifically. The broadcaster and naturalist said he was "profoundly disturbed" after receiving notification from the BBC that his voice was being cloned by AI creators. |
| Work 6 former Apple employees charged in charitable donations scheme  Six former Apple employees are facing fraud charges in a scam that targeted the tech giant's program for matching workers' charitable donations, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. |
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| Work Pharmalittle: We're reading about Novo and GLP-1 compounding, Paxlovid and long Covid, and more  Novo Nordisk filed another petition with the FDA seeking to block compounding pharmacies from making versions of one of its GLP-1 drugs |
| Work Eli Lilly seeks to join lawsuit on compounded drugs  Among the National Medal of Science recipients were MIT materials scientist Angela Belcher, who has used genetically modified viruses to build batteries and cancer therapies, and stem cell biologist Helen Blau of Stanford, who works on tissue regeneration technology. |
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| Work What to know about a controversial new study on fluoride and IQ  “We need to have this good dialogue. We want to get to the truth as we discern it. The challenge is people have camps, and they don’t trust the other side,” he said. “I don’t think people are being evil on either side. … But I think it could be hard for the public to digest it, and there will be a lot of questions.” |
| Work FDA releases long-awaited guidance to improve accuracy of pulse oximeters for all skin tones  Theodore Iwashyna, a critical care physician and professor at Johns Hopkins University, was a co-author on a JAMA paper released last week showing little action was taken by device makers following the agency’s 2013 guidance on the devices. “Without enforcement and compliance,” he said Monday, “I am not sure why we would anticipate these ‘proposed new draft recommendations’ would result in better products, and therefore better, more equitable care.” |
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| Work Employers step up to defend PBMs, and other fascinating lawsuits we're watching  Bob Herman covers health insurance, government programs, hospitals, physicians, and other providers — reporting on how money influences those businesses and shapes what we all pay for care. He is also the author of the Health Care Inc. newsletter. |
| Work A dark anniversary and the last two weeks in health news  “Medicaid is probably the one thing that helps people with disabilities or can help people with disabilities at every stage of their life,” nonprofit CEO and advocate Katy Neas told STAT’s Timmy Broderick. “It is the one place that pays for things that nobody else pays for.” Read more. |
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| Work FDA's new guidance on AI in drug development centers the risk introduced by the technology  Katie Palmer covers telehealth, clinical artificial intelligence, and the health data economy — with an emphasis on the impacts of digital health care for patients, providers, and businesses. |
| Work U.S. records first fatal bird flu case amid growing concerns about virus  The outbreak in cows, which was first detected in late March, has spread to over 900 herds in 16 states. Forty of the 66 human cases detected in 2024 were among farmworkers exposed to infected cows. |
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| Work Why is Ukraine losing ground? Mobilization crisis and command failures exposed  "A small Soviet army cannot defeat a big Soviet army." Once a cautionary tale, this phrase now rings prophetic. |
| Work Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang on AI: The wave is coming  Three times each week, Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi fields insight-filled conversations and chats with the biggest names in business and markets on Opening Bid. You can find more episodes on our video hub or watch on your preferred streaming service. |
| Work Nvidia Investors Look to Huang CES Speech to Spark Next Breakout  Italy is in advanced talks with Elon Musk’s SpaceX for a deal to provide secure telecommunications for the nation’s government — the largest such project in Europe, people with knowledge of the matter said Sunday. |
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| Work Soliddd is building smart glasses for people with macular degeneration | TechCrunch  Brian Heater is the Hardware Editor at TechCrunch. He worked for a number of leading tech publications, including Engadget, PCMag, Laptop, and Tech Times, where he served as the Managing Editor. His writing has appeared in Spin, Wired, Playboy, Entertainment Weekly, The Onion, Boing Boing, Publishers Weekly, The Daily Beast and various other publications. He hosts the weekly Boing Boing interview podcast RiYL, has appeared as a regular NPR contributor and shares his Queens apartment with a rabbit named Juniper. |
| Work Full Nature Farms launches smart irrigation system at CES 2025 to reduce agricultural water waste | TechCrunch  Rebecca Bellan covers transportation for TechCrunch. She’s interested in all things micromobility, EVs, AVs, smart cities, AI, sustainability and more. Previously, she covered social media for Forbes.com, and her work has appeared in Bloomberg CityLab, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, Mother Jones, i-D (Vice) and more. Rebecca studied journalism and history at Boston University. She has invested in Ethereum. |
| Work Pawport's upgraded smart pet door debuts at CES | TechCrunch  For added safety, the smart pet door has sensitivity gauges that prevent the doors from closing on a pet as they enter or exit the home. There’s also an option to disable the top panel controls, which helps prevent children from pressing the buttons to open Pawport and crawl through. In case of a power outage, Pawport’s rechargeable battery pack ensures the door remains operational, so pets won’t be left stuck inside or outside. |
| Work Bluesky bump from X exodus is slowing down, data shows | TechCrunch  Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. She joined the company after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to her work as a reporter, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software. |
| Work Toyota's Woven City is open for business and looking for startups | TechCrunch  Some inventors have already joined Woven City, including WbyT, as well as external companies, startups, and individual entrepreneurs. Woven City is also in continued discussions with previously announced companies such as ENEOS Corporation, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, and Rinnai Corporation, according to the company. |
| Work Biden arrives in New Orleans to console families of victims: a??You got to hang ona??  "I spent literally 17, 18 hours with the intelligence community from the time this happened to establish exactly what happened, to establish beyond any reasonable doubt that New Orleans was the act of a single man who acted alone," he said. "All this talk about conspiracies with other people, there's not evidence of that - zero." |
| Work Permanent contraception surged after Roe v Wade overturned, study finds  “We don’t want them to be seeking them out of fear or concerns about their safety,” Strasser said. “But also, I think it’s important to recognize that young people, young adults, have autonomy over their contraceptive and reproductive health choices.” |
| Work Louisiana reports first human death in US from bird flu  Since March last year, 66 confirmed bird flu infections in humans have been reported in the US, but previous cases have been mild, with most having been detected among farmworkers exposed to sick poultry or dairy cows. |
| Work Trump loses bid to delay sentencing in hush-money case  The case stemmed from a $130,000 payment Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, made to the adult film actor and producer, Stormy Daniels, to keep her quiet about a sexual encounter she said she had with Trump, who denies it. |
| Work McDonalda??s rolls back DEI programs, ending push for greater diversity The McDonald's Hispanic Owner-Operators Association said it had no comment on the policy change Monday. A message seeking comment was left with the National Black McDonald's Operators Association. |
| Work Starmer condemns a??lies and misinformationa?? as he hits back at Musk  "I changed the whole prosecution approach, because I wanted to challenge the myths and stereotypes that were stopping those victims being hurt," he said. "When I left office, we had the highest number of child sexual abuse cases being prosecuted on record." |
| Work Bus services cut disproportionately in deprived areas of England, study finds  “Franchising is already delivering better services for people in Greater Manchester, but it was an uphill battle to get there,” said Maya Singer Hobbs, senior research fellow at IPPR. “It’s time for the government to get on board with better buses and support local leaders on this journey.” |
| Work Rural internet deserts in England and Wales to finally get fast broadband  Kerry Booth, the chief executive of the Rural Services Network, which represents rural councils, market towns and parishes, said: “High-speed internet is not just a utility; it’s a lifeline that enables business growth, educational advancement, and access to essential services such as healthcare. As we move towards a more connected future, it is vital that rural areas are not left behind.” |
| Work Labour to make taking intimate images without consent a criminal offence  Jess Davies, a TV presenter and campaigner whose former boyfriend took naked images of her without consent, welcomed the move. “Intimate-image abuse is a national emergency that is causing significant, long-lasting harm to women and girls who face a total loss of control over their digital footprint, at the hands of online misogyny. |
| Work Investigators receive black box data from plane that crashed in Kazakhstan  Investigators from Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia traveled to Brazil, officials said. The black box data was examined by the aeronautical accidents investigation and prevention centre, a unit of the Brazilian air force. |
| Work Reports of optimism about Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal  About 1,200 Israelis were killed and 250 taken hostage in the Hamas attack that triggered the war in October 2023. Eighty captives were released in exchange for 240 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails in a ceasefire in November that year, but the truce collapsed after a week. |
| Work Charlie Hebdo marks 10 years after terror attack with special issue  The previous month, a Pakistani national, Zaheer Hassan Mahmoud, had attacked and seriously injured two people with a meat cleaver outside the former Charlie Hebdo offices. Mahmoud goes on trial for attempted murder in Paris on Monday. |
| Work Austriaa??s far-right Freedom party tasked with forming coalition government  The ÃVP has adopted the FPÃ's hard line on immigration, which nevertheless failed to prevent a double-digit slide in its share of the vote in the September election compared with the last poll in 2019. |
| Work Australia news live: Dreyfus to spend a week in Israel, PM says; SA police shoot man dead during mental health incident  I feel that many Australians don’t really know how our democratic system works, or how important their vote can be. I do not want to tell people how to vote, that is a democratic right, but I hope they realise how powerful they can be with their decision. |
| Work Caulfield Racecourse fire: suspicious blaze engulfs grandstand in Melbournea??s south-east  A Vic Emergency advice message was flagged for the nearby suburbs of Ashburton, Carnegie, Caulfield, Caulfield East, Caulfield North, Caulfield South, Glen Huntly, Glen Iris, Malvern, Malvern East, Murrumbeena and Ormond. |
| Work Chinaa??s yuan hits 16-month low amid fears over Trump tariffs  "The issues that matter, real estate, consumption, macro economic management, the private sector, these things are really not in the cross hairs of the government and that might be why confidence is low." |
| Work Canadian PM Justin Trudeau expected to announce plan to resign  The former high school teacher and the eldest son of Pierre Trudeau, one of Canada’s best-known prime ministers, became Liberal leader in 2013 when the party was also faring badly, and his leadership was seen abroad as an example of stable, progressive power. |
| Work Justin Trudeau announces plan to quit as Canadaa??s prime minister  Federal law requires an election be held by October 2025 but with all opposition parties saying publicly they no longer have confidence in the governing Liberals, an election is certain when parliament returns in late March. |
| Work Justin Trudeau promised a??sunny waysa?? but could not fulfil his lofty ambitions  Nearly 10 years and one drawn-out resignation later, the picture that had emerged was far more nuanced, she said. "His legacy, like his tenure, will likely be seen as a balance of progressive wins, alongside unfulfilled potential." |
| Work Why is Canadaa??s Justin Trudeau stepping down as prime minister?  Federal law requires an election be held by October 2025 but with all opposition parties saying publicly they no longer have confidence in the governing Liberals, an election is likely to happen much sooner. |
| Work Justin Trudeau: Canadian politicians react as prime minister announces plan to resign a?? as it happened Trudeau says he looks forward to the fight as progressives "stand up" for a vision for a better country "despite the tremendous pressures around the world to think smaller". |
| Work UK cut health aid to vulnerable nations while hiring their nurses, research finds  “We are working to address the global shortage of healthcare workers through our leading multilateral health investments. UK support to the World Bank and Global Financing Facility generates further investment in the global health workforce.” |
| Work Intel unveils Arrow Lake AI chips for gaming laptops at CES 2025  Intel didn't have many other details to share on these chips, other than the fact that we can expect to see systems featuring them sometime in the first quarter. That's also when desktops powered by the Core Ultra 200S chips start shipping. But hey, it's CES, and AMD almost certainly has its own chip refresh in tow. Intel had to announce something, otherwise all we'd be talking about is how much trouble the company is in following the ouster of former CEO Pat Gelsinger. |
| Work Shure put a two-channel audio interface inside its latest MV7 microphone  The MV7i was made for me. I'm getting ready to launch a podcast in a few weeks and I've been dreading having to buy a mixer for a two-mic setup. With this device, I can plug in the MV7+ to the MV7i via XLR and do all of the levels and settings in an app. And when I need to record remotely, all I need to pack up is two microphones and two cables. |
| Work Brisk It's latest AI-infused smart grill only costs $399  Like most smart pellet grills, the Zelos 450 has Wi-Fi connectivity that allows you to control the grill and monitor progress from anywhere via your phone. The grill also can smoke as low at 180 degrees Fahrenheit and sear at 500 degrees, or anything in between like baking and roasting. The Zelos 450 has a simpler design than Brisk It's Origin series, with a more basic onboard controller and display than those first two models. This makes sense given the much lower price tag. |
| Work Ring and Kidde launch connected smoke and carbon monoxide alarms  At the same time, Ring has announced it is upgrading the video quality for its existing Floodlight Cam Pro and Spotlight Cam Pro. If you already own these models, you’ll soon be able to view their outputs not in HD, but 2K thanks to improvements in Ring Vision. This software update will start rolling out on January 8. |
| Work The Wybot S3 just might be the pool-cleaning robot of your dreams  Pool cleaning robots have been popping up all over the place lately. A company called Aiper brought an impressive model to CES back in 2023 and the Beatbot Aquasense Pro has been receiving rave reviews. |
| Work GoPro's Hero 13 Black bundle with accessories is $150 off right now  GoPro released the Hero13 in September and it offered a few upgrades. It comes with a 10 percent bigger battery than its predecessor, which allows it to capture an hour and a half of 4K video at 30fps. It should also run longer in extreme temperatures. The action cam offers a max resolution of 5.3K at 120fps and supports Hybrid Log Gamma. Plus, it's Bluetooth compatible with AirPods and other wireless headphones. |
| Work Honeywell Home's new Matter device is an energy-efficient smart thermostat  The X2S is also compatible with Resideo’s First Alert app, which you can use for thermostat controls, schedules and automatic energy optimization when no one’s home. It’ll also provide readings on humidity levels inside the home, and offer reminders for when you need to change air filters. The Honeywell Home X2S Smart Thermostat will be released this spring in the US and Canada for $80, and you’ll be able to find it at retail stores like Lowes, Home Depot, Target and Walmart. |
| Work HDMI version 2.2 adds support for bandwidth of up to 96Gbps  That said, while HDMI 2.2 looks like a very useful upgrade to support higher quality audio and video, don’t try to run out and upgrade all your gear right away. The HDMI Forums says the official spec will be released to all HDMI 2.x adopters in the first half 2025, so it will take some additional time after that for compatible devices to begin hitting the market. |
| Work A four-pack of Apple AirTags has dropped to $70  Meanwhile, you might be interested in picking up some AirTag accessories to, say, more easily attach them to your keychain. We've got you covered there too, thanks to our round-up of the best AirTag accessories. |
| Work Samsung's Frame Pro TV features the company's high-end Neo QLED panel  As is typically the case, Samsung is holding a CES showcase tonight where we'll get to see the Frame Pro as well as other new Samsung TVs in person — if we get more details on the Frame Pro, we'll update this post. |
| Work LG CES 2025 press conference and liveblog: See new OLED TVs and more as they're unveiled  We already know that the company's 2025 OLED evo TV line will pair 4K resolution with gaming-friendly 165Hz refresh rate. Meanwhile, the new PF600U packs an HD projector, Bluetooth speaker and LED mood lamp into something that looks like an old-school oscillating floor fan. On the audio front, Engadget's Billy Steele already likes the "punchy highs" he heard during a quick demo of the compact S20A soundbar. And the newest LG Signature microwave includes a built-in 27-inch touchscreen display on its door, so your kitchen will never be without a screen. |