People

Breaches of academic research databases have exposed clinical trial data, including genetic and medical history information, affecting thousands of trial participants. Privacy advocates are urging people to exercise their rights under HIPAA, which allows patients to obtain their medical records and a list of everyone those records were shared with, and to request corrections where needed.

Russian drones struck a market outside Kyiv, killing two people, while three others died in attacks across different Ukrainian regions, according to Ukrainian officials. The overnight drone assault is the latest in a series of aerial attacks on Ukrainian towns and infrastructure as the war grinds on. The deaths drew fresh attention to the continuing toll on civilians.

Seven people were killed in a strike on a market in Yemen, according to the Houthi-run health ministry. Details on who carried out the strike and the exact location have not been independently confirmed, and casualty figures may be revised as rescue efforts continue. The incident adds to the toll of Yemen's long-running conflict, with markets and other civilian sites repeatedly hit in recent years.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed an order for robot dogs, following a large purchase of electric shock gloves, according to a report by Futurism. The acquisitions point to growing use of advanced surveillance and enforcement technology by the agency, and are drawing attention and criticism from observers concerned about the militarisation of immigration enforcement.

The Register has published a commentary arguing that major artificial intelligence companies are profiting from creative and journalistic work without compensating the people who produced it. The piece frames this as a structural 'content problem' for the industry: AI systems are trained on copyrighted material while the value generated flows to the tech firms rather than the original creators, intensifying ongoing disputes over licensing and payment.

Security reports describe RatHat, a newly identified Android malware that records users' screen touches in order to capture passwords and other credentials. By logging taps as people unlock their phones or enter login details, the malware can reconstruct sensitive information. Mobile users are being warned to keep devices updated and avoid installing apps from untrusted sources.

Meta has taken down a video critical of its AI Glasses after the creator filmed during a visit to Meta premises. The removal is drawing attention to how the company handles criticism from people granted access to film on site, with discussion focused on questions of censorship and the limits placed on media access at Meta events.

The Wall Street Journal published a piece arguing that China's economy under Xi Jinping is falling short for ordinary Chinese people. The article contends that despite the leadership's emphasis on growth and stability, households face weak consumer confidence, a property slump and job market pressures. The commentary is drawing attention as analysts debate the state of China's economic slowdown and its political implications.

A new survey from the Netherlands finds that 8 in 10 people aged 16 to 34 believe their smartphone use harms their everyday life. The findings highlight growing concern among young adults about the impact of constant phone use on sleep, focus, relationships and wellbeing, despite smartphones being central to how the generation lives and works.

An online campaign is calling on Boston Dynamics to cancel a contract with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, arguing the robotics company should not sell its Spot robot dogs to an agency it says cannot be trusted with people. The petition-style push is circulating on social media, with critics pressing the company over the ethics of supplying robots for immigration enforcement work.

Researchers at OpenAI and Microsoft have published work describing a 'doom loop' in which large language models, trained on material scraped from the web, degrade the open web and ultimately undermine their own training data. A 404 Media report highlights the admission that the practice amounts to taking millions of people's work without consent, warning that the public will come to see it as an unprecedented theft.

A New York Times opinion piece argues that relying on artificial intelligence for everyday mental tasks is eroding people's ability to think deeply and independently. The author contends that A.I. shortcuts, from automated writing to instant answers, encourage passive consumption of machine output instead of genuine reasoning. The piece has sparked discussion about cognitive offloading and the long-term effects of A.I. dependence on education, work and critical thinking.

Aid workers in Gaza are facing an enormous task: clearing an estimated 61 million tonnes of rubble left by the war, debris that is believed to conceal the bodies of up to 10,000 people. The recovery work is slow and delicate, complicated by unexploded ordnance and the sheer scale of destruction across the territory, as families continue searching for missing relatives.

New Russian strikes across Ukraine have killed at least eight people, according to updates in a Guardian war briefing. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Moscow of deliberately terrorising Ukrainian civilians as attacks continued against cities and infrastructure. The deaths add to a steady toll from ongoing strikes, underlining the persistent danger to civilians even as front-line fighting and international diplomacy continue without a breakthrough.

A lawsuit alleges that Fiserv's call center reactivated stolen cards, removing security controls meant to contain compromised cards. FiCare claims people holding the stolen cards are benefiting from these safeguards being lifted, raising questions about the payment processor's fraud prevention procedures. The allegation, reported by American Banker, points to potential failures in how card compromises are handled at the customer service level.

Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel has argued that people should be less judgmental about a deadly strike that hit a school in Iran, according to Mother Jones. The comments have drawn criticism, with commentators framing them as a callous dismissal of civilian casualties and a window into how Silicon Valley defense figures talk about military action in the Middle East.

Sudan's civil war has driven roughly 12 million people from their homes and killed an estimated 150,000 civilians, accompanied by ethnic cleansing and sexual violence. Commentators note the crisis receives far less public attention and mobilisation than other conflicts, with victims described as 'dying quietly' despite the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe.

Millions of people returning to Khartoum after fighting subsided are finding the city barely habitable, with no electricity, widespread rubble and destroyed infrastructure. Returning residents describe a capital stripped of basic services after nearly two years of war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces displaced huge parts of the population. Aid agencies warn conditions remain dire across the city.