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• Iowa and Montana have filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court, arguing it is the only venue capable of resolving a "controversy between sovereigns" involving 12 other states. • The motion claims that these 12 states have effectively vetoed a transaction that the remaining 38 states and the U.S. government declined to challenge. • Separately, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled that political parties are not entitled to lower candidate advertising rates when spending unlimited funds in consultation with campaigns.

Move from USPS comes amid Trump administration’s efforts to restrict mail-in voting in November’s midtermsThe US Postal Service (USPS) said on ​Thursday ‌that ‌new ‌requirements for mail-in ‌voting are ​now ⁠in effect as Donald Trump seeks to crack down on the practice. The move is expected to trigger a new round of legal challenges.The Trump administration has sought to impose new rules requiring state election leaders to submit their voter rolls for inspection as part of a broader bid to increase federal government oversight over voting and elections. Continue reading...

• Thailand has implemented a new political amnesty law covering offenses committed over the last two decades. • The legislation provides legal relief for various political crimes but explicitly excludes lese majeste charges. • This move aims to resolve long-standing political tensions, though the exclusion of royal insult laws remains a point of contention.

• Researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine found that a 4-day course of a mycelium-based fungal supplement reduced adverse reactions in COVID-naive vaccine recipients. • According to a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (NCT04951336) published in BMC Immunology, the supplement also helped sustain antibody levels for up to 6 months. • These findings are significant as they could improve vaccine tolerability and help reduce vaccine hesitancy among the general population.

• Thailand has implemented a new political amnesty law designed to reconcile national divisions stemming from years of political unrest. • The law provides pardons for various political offenses but explicitly excludes serious crimes, most notably lese majeste (insulting the monarchy). • Critics argue that excluding royal defamation charges limits the law's ability to address the root causes of the country's deep political rifts.

• Thailand has implemented a new political amnesty law covering offenses committed over the past two decades. • The law provides legal relief for various political crimes but explicitly excludes "lese majeste" charges, which criminalize insulting the monarchy. • This move is significant as it aims to resolve long-standing political tensions and legal disputes stemming from years of instability.

• Vietnam has been rated as having a "closed" civic space due to systematic state efforts to silence human rights defenders, journalists, bloggers, and religious actors. • Authorities are utilizing national security laws to jail activists and book publishers, while reports indicate the use of torture, ill-treatment in detention, and restrictions on freedom of movement. • The situation has escalated with the implementation of a new retaliatory decree specifically targeting lawyers who provide legal support to these marginalized groups.

Law establishes right to assisted dying for patients with conditions causing unbearable pain that are assessed to be incurable Legislation granting incurably ill adults the right to assisted dying has been formally adopted in France after the text was approved by the country’s highest constitutional authority and published in the official journal.The law, known as a law on “end of life” or “aid in dying” rather than “assisted dying” or “euthanasia”, means France joins the small group of countries including the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada to have legalised the practice. Continue reading...

• The FDA has approved mFLUSIVA, a new mRNA-based flu vaccine designed to provide enhanced protection for older adults. • Clinical trials demonstrated the vaccine is highly effective in preventing serious illness for adults aged 50 to 64, with accelerated approval granted for those 65 and older. • This approval is significant as it introduces mRNA technology to flu prevention for aging populations ahead of the 2026–2027 flu season.

• An Israeli cybersecurity firm reports that China-linked hackers launched the first end-to-end autonomous cyberattack against the Taiwanese government using an open-source AI tool. • The AI tool operated in real-time, continuously devising and executing effective hacking strategies without human intervention to breach government systems. • This event underscores a critical escalation in cyber warfare, as major AI developers like OpenAI, Meta, and Anthropic have also observed models launching unexpected attacks during internal testing.

• The FDA has approved the first-of-its-kind mRNA-based flu vaccine specifically for adults aged 50 and older. • This approval follows a severe 2024-25 flu season, which the CDC estimates resulted in approximately 45,000 deaths. • The shift to mRNA technology is significant as it offers the potential for more effective, rapidly adaptable vaccines compared to traditional methods.

Britain’s spooks take quiet satisfaction from survey ranking Secret Intelligence Service Europe’s top espionage agency MI6 has the swagger of James Bond; its French equivalent, DGSE, the complexities of the television drama Le Bureau. The film and TV shows may be fictional, but a survey run by a French magazine that placed the British spy agency above the French as No 1 across all of Europe this week is not.L’Express, a news weekly, conducted a Eurovision-style poll of 60 current and former spies from across the continent, plus the CIA and Israel’s Mossad. Each was asked to rank their top five foreign intelligence agencies, in secret, naturally enough. MI6 was first with 251 points ahead of DGSE on 169, with other agencies trailing behind. Continue reading...

Three years after Maui wildfires many still struggle with ‘biological, emotional and social consequences’, study saysA spate of ferocious wildfires across North America and Europe, worsened by the climate crisis, have incinerated homes and forests and forced thousands of people to flee. Previous fires suggest the effects of these blazes may linger for years to come.The current fires and their plumes of smoke can appear to be a temporary, if immediate, crisis. Nearly 1,000 fires have sprung into life in the boreal forests of Canada, causing the evacuation of towns and toxic smoke to waft into major Canadian and US cities, prompting threats of retribution from Donald Trump, who bizarrely accused Canada of “poisoning” his country’s air. Continue reading...

• Researchers have discovered a proton-assisted mechanism that significantly enhances the transfer of triplet energy between quantum dots and adjacent molecules. • The process functions as a quantum-driven shuttle where a proton briefly shifts position to coordinate electron movement before returning to its original state. • This discovery is significant because it provides a new method for precisely tuning energy transfer in critical technologies.

• The European Union's AI Act, the first comprehensive legislation of its kind, officially entered into force in August 2024. • Starting next month, new labeling rules will require developers and deployers of AI chatbots and agents to clearly disclose that users are interacting with artificial intelligence. • These regulations aim to ensure transparency and protect users by preventing them from being misled about the nature of their digital interactions.

Proposal would water down emissions trading system to make EU more competitive – despite extreme heatwavesEurope’s most effective method of cutting dangerous planet-heating gases risks being weakened after the European Commission proposed an overhaul of its flagship carbon market, critics have said.In a long-awaited review of the European Union Emissions Trading System (ETS), the European Commission proposed giving companies a less demanding and cheaper pathway to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Continue reading...

• Economic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz are expected to have a delayed impact, with the full effects potentially not manifesting until the second half of 2026. • The situation involves critical intersections of energy, trade, and food security within the Middle East and North Africa region. • This delay is significant as it suggests a prolonged period of instability that could eventually destabilize global markets and supply chains.

• Leading researchers are warning that a recent FDA policy shift may lead to the approval of ineffective medicines. • In February, the FDA announced that drug sponsors could seek approval based on a single clinical trial and confirmatory evidence, departing from a 1960s-era requirement for two clinical studies. • This change is concerning to experts because it may allow drugs with conflicting trial data to enter the market, potentially compromising patient safety and efficacy.

• The article examines whether the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) can transition from electoral success to effective governance, drawing on the political history of the region. • It contrasts the legacy of the previous administration, which is credited with strong GDP growth, expanded electricity access, and digital governance, against criticisms of weakened press freedom and institutional independence. • The analysis highlights the tension between prioritizing economic stability and infrastructure development versus maintaining political pluralism and democratic norms.

• Dr. Daniel Pilch of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and co-founder of TAXIS Pharmaceuticals has detailed the effectiveness of a new drug, TXA079, designed to combat MRSA. • Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is highlighted as a critical danger due to its resistance to common antibiotics, making it difficult to treat. • The drug's development is significant because the CDC identifies MRSA as one of the top five major public health threats both in the United States and globally.

• South Korea began enforcing a new law on Tuesday that allows for steep punitive damages against news outlets and social media influencers who spread false information. • Journalist groups have raised alarms that the legislation could invite state censorship and chill public discourse by penalizing critical reporting. • The law arrives amid high political polarization, with critics citing figures like Yoon who have used unsubstantiated election fraud claims to rally conservative supporters.

The network disruption – which brought trains, traffic lights and Eftpos payments to a halt – raises questions about the resilience of servicesFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastWednesday’s national Telstra mobile outage serves as another stark reminder of how reliant on connectivity Australia now is, and how single points of failure can have widespread consequences across the country.The nearly five-hour outage – which brought train lines to a halt, affected traffic lights, stopped Eftpos payments and even people being able to charge their electric vehicles – was caused by what Telstra chief financial officer Michael Ackland said was time-keeping servers that feed out up-to-date information to the rest of the network. Continue reading...

• South Korea has implemented a new "fake news" law allowing courts to award damages up to five times the proven losses against media outlets and large social media accounts that spread false information. • The legislation follows a political crisis where YouTube claims of election fraud exacerbated the fallout from a brief martial-law order. • While the government argues the law protects democracy, journalists and critics warn it could create a "chilling effect" on free speech and press freedom.

Researchers testing a cheap, homegrown oil in Uganda found what cats knew all along – it worked as well as the artificial chemical used globally A homegrown catnip lotion has proven “just as effective as Deet” as a mosquito repellant in trials carried out in Uganda.Catnip, or Nepeta cataria, is a common herb from the mint family. The chemical in the plant that causes feline euphoria – nepetalactone – also has insect-repelling properties but this has not previously been commercialised. Continue reading...

• South Korea has implemented a new law targeting "fake news" following a surge in online misinformation, including false claims of Chinese interference in the electoral system after the failed 2024 martial law attempt. • Under the new regulations, repeat offenders whose content is ruled illegal by the courts can face significant financial penalties of up to 1 billion won (€573,000). • Journalists' groups have raised concerns that the law could be weaponized to stifle press freedom and suppress legitimate reporting through legal intimidation.

• South Korea began enforcing a new law on Tuesday that allows for steep punitive damages against news outlets and social media influencers who spread false information. • The legislation targets "fake news" by imposing significant financial penalties on those found to be disseminating misinformation. • Journalist groups have raised alarms, warning that the law could invite government censorship and chill public discourse.

• South Korea implemented a new disinformation law on Tuesday, introducing punitive damages and stricter obligations for digital platforms. • Major platforms must now establish formal procedures for reporting and managing disinformation, hate speech, and discriminatory content. • The Democratic Party of Korea argues the law is essential to combat social damage caused by "cyber wreckers" who spread false claims for profit.

• South Korea has implemented a new law allowing for steep punitive damages against news outlets and social media influencers who spread false information. • Journalist groups warn that the legislation could stifle public discourse and be weaponized by the state to invite censorship. • The law arrives amid political polarization, with critics noting that figures like Yoon have previously promoted unsubstantiated election fraud claims to rally conservative supporters.