Having struggled to explain the movie Terminator and its influence on American understanding/fears of AI to a class of mainland Chinese students… headed to this week’s class with a follow up story to study. Do you want to play a game? www.newscientist.com/article/2516...

More #journalists and media workers killed in 2025 than in the last 30 years. Israel was responsible for two-thirds of all press killings in 2025 and 2024 - the IDF has committed more targeted killings of journalists than any other military since CPJ began documentation. cpj.org/special-repo...

"Anthropic just nixed its long-standing safety pledge, which committed to never train an AI system unless it could guarantee in advance that safety measures were adequate." And as night follows day... www.engadget.com/ai/hacker-us...

Did not have "Flavour Flav steps up as public ally in ongoing battle against Trump/MAGA manosphere" on 2026 culture war bingo card... Also: somewhere an earnest GenX person is trying to explain who Flavour Flav is to a GenZ pausing slightly on their Instagram doomscroll.

Hats off to @fionakatauskas.bsky.social for nailing the screaming obvious reality missing from Australian journalism: how Pauline Hanson simply moves from one group to the next with her hatred and fear without ever being asked by about a policy. A racist muppet - but who is the hand in control?

So glad that "escalating youth mental health crisis" thing got sorted in Hong Kong since... December last year. www.scmp.com/opinion/hong...

The history/economics nerd in me wants someone to write a think piece of what it means for Germany - home of the friction clutch since 1884, builder of world's best transmissions ever since - to confront this evolutionary step in automotive history. There's a lot of gear changing to come...

should i go on..?

When you can’t even name the source, infamous worldwide as being dodgy… “a newspaper linked to Falun Gong has reported that organisers have been sent threatening emails…” - meaning the far-right propaganda rag Epoch Times, yeah? But… China! National security! Threat! www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...

The military and the monetary… and the tech broligarchy

Hong Kong pushes crypto based concerts and virtual gold to a skeptical audience: Harry Harrison’s cartoon

Four years of Russia’s invasion and war upon Ukraine… has it reached a tipping point? “In the last month, Russia actually lost more people in terms of those killed in action and grievously wounded than it's been able to actually recruit…” www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...

The Court of First Instance has granted the SFC a worldwide interim injunction order in legal proceedings against Chan Ching Wa, a former staff of the Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing Limited, and his extended relatives for alleged insider dealing in the shares of at least seven HK-listed companies.

When was the last time you were in a record store with a genuine after-school buzz and energy? Just dropped in to Infree Records in Hong Kong - all day listening party for the new Gorillaz album - vibe was a hectic vibe of mainland tourists, HK students and random skips in between…

I love Hong Kong goths.

After the Rupture... the Great Disconnect? “The backlash against U.S. tech companies... is part of a broader recognition that technology is not neutral, and that the companies that produce and shape this ecosystem have social and political interests,..” restofworld.org/2026/big-tec...

How a tech company based in Sydney, Australia ends up hiring Somali data taggers to work on US surveillance for an impending attack on Venezuela. "These data providers, though little known outside of the industry, play a crucial role in fuelling the AI boom." restofworld.org/2026/gig-wor...

Anthropic, 2025: agrees to pay US$1.5 billion in largest publicly reported copyright recovery in history after being exposed for training Claude on pirated books. Anthropic, 2026: "China is copying our business model. SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING!" www.pcmag.com/news/anthrop...

"Eleven activists who appealed their convictions lost their bids. They included former lawmakers Leung Kwok-hung, Lam Cheuk-ting, Raymond Chan and Helena Wong." apnews.com/article/hong...

A Hong Kong appeals court upholds convictions and sentences of 12 democracy campaigners. 45 opposition figures, including some of the Chinese city's best-known activists, were jailed in 2024 for subversion under a Beijing-imposed national security law u.afp.com/S6bg

Tectonic trade movements ahead of German Chancellor Merz landing in Beijing tomorrow with an entourage of "30 business representatives"... now 15% more incentivised to find alternatives to the US for markets and profits www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Today in energy transition news: Hong Kong researchers develop lithium-beating battery based on tofu brine - ladies and gentlemen are we about to see a new battery revolution... blinky tofu? interestingengineering.com/energy/china...

Monday morning catching up with the calm, calculated trade policy of the Mad King Trump… evolving from reality show to game show.

Big day in court for 12 Hong Kong opposition activists seeking to overturn their convictions or have their sentences reduced, following the city’s largest national security trial to date. www.scmp.com/news/hong-ko...

Monday morning, after Golden Week in Hong Kong: Harry Harrison’s cartoon

The mad king’s latest tantrum… we can only hope Americans understand the ancient Aussie aunty energy of describing an adult’s behavior as ‘throwing the toys from the cot’

#Trump administration attacking/sanctioning international criminal court judges as if they were criminals. #US www.theguardian.com/law/2026/feb...

Lazy Sunday fun tracking a news cycle: Reuters reports Global Times report of HMAS Toowoomba in Taiwan Strait days after Aust dept of defence publishes update on ship’s journey from Taiwan Strait Feb 12 - 300 nautical miles south for joint exercises at Subic Bay www.defence.gov.au/news-events/...

Trumped by his own Supreme Court… the mad King begins another war of words www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

One fine day at the New Year nags in Hong Kong: Harry Harrison’s #cartoon

If your brother has just been arrested for his association with multinational corruption and a global paedophile ring for billionaires, why not attend a fashion show titled "Survivor's Remorse". Optics are for peasants! It's good to be the King...

One fine day in Hong Kong as the tourists throng: Harry Harrison’s cartoon

So very 2026 for this not to be a euphemism - “They’re warning us to close our windows because a shit-laden hurricane is coming at us…” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

2026 Hong Kong 4 Trails Ultra Challenge #hk4tuc completed. • 5 Finishers, 10 Survivors, 10 Retired, 1 Disqualified • Overnight survivors: - Bosco Chou Pak Hei 周柏熙 🇭🇰 66:30:32 - Natalie Webster 🇬🇧 67:21:27 - Alex Tam Chi Ho 譚子豪 🇭🇰 67:51:26 ...

Cross-border #journalism collab: “A tiny Austrian sensor designed for precise motion control made an impressive journey across the globe… after being sold to a company in Hong Kong, it turned up in Ukraine inside a long-range military drone launched from Russia” kyivindependent.com/investigatio...

Hats off to @mattbevan.bsky.social - he says it was coincidence… but we’ve been listening (closely). His guesses always appear to be well educated.

Police have declared a Canberra cafe named Dissent is a crime scene for posting "...images depicting Donald Trump, J.D Vance, Elon Musk, Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin dressed in Nazi-like uniforms on display in the front window for several weeks."

"The story of Hong Kong is increasingly enriched with real-life cases relating to national security, law and order and sedition in different aspects of daily life." Meanwhile in Hong Kong: * housing * birth rate * wages * youth suicide * graduate jobs * aged care www.vohk.hk/2026/02/18/n...

War is a racket... "The researchers found that seven Hong Kong and China-based traders shipped to Russian importers — including sanctioned ones — military-use technology produced by more than 20 electronics manufacturers..." www.icij.org/news/2026/02...

New year, same old same old for Mrs Zhang and thousand of others in Hong Kong: Harry Harrison’s cartoon

So while the FCC intervenes to stop US viewers from seeing a Texas candidate speak on national TV with Colbert, it’s providing a platform for Europeans to see banned terrorist propaganda. Wow.

A big kung hei fat choi from Hong Kong: #cartoon from Harry Harrison rides in to the Year of the Horse

I have come to the conclusion heavy metal has failed us with any proper song referencing ‘fire horses’ to coincide with this Lunar New Year - nope, Metallica, Motörhead & Iron Maiden not close enough - it’s up to Mongolia’s finest to saddle up and get us into a canter… youtu.be/3aguZjkVLaE?...

“Visa, Mastercard.. the urgent issue is our payment system. Trump can cut everything off.. I urgently request that the commission organise a European Airbus for payment systems: you can’t say you weren’t warned.” Not just China building an alternative to the US www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Alice Wu holds the Hong Kong government accountable for 2025: drinking water safety, Kai Tak dramas, premium taxis debacle, the Tai Po tower fire horror. "The government’s processes and practices need a major overhaul to reverse a growing public confidence crisis." www.scmp.com/opinion/hong...

I know we are at peak season for horse-based imagery to greet the new Lunar New Year of the Horse... this seems to be the most representative of the sentiment for what lies ahead, given the last two months of global events

It’s a game of good superpower/bad superpower as Europe talks security at Munich: “China is predictable and will work to preserve and maintain the status quo, even if the US wants to dismantle it…” www.scmp.com/news/china/d...

It’s Kung Hei Fat Choi and a big giddy-up from Hong Kong for the Year of the Horse: Harry Harrison’s cartoon

"Jon Kudelka loved his beautiful family and was fiercely intolerant of greed and hypocrisy." Comix #journalism as obituary as #cartoon. Is heart-breaking and lovely. Here's to the legacy of Jon Kudelka and @firstdogonthemoon.bsky.social

Harry Harrison has a brush with the viral video sensation this week in Hong Kong: today's cartoon