Amazon’s Ring Should Pay People For Scanning Their Faces: Lawsuit

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Amazon’s Ring Should Pay People For Scanning Their Faces: Lawsuit (Maria)

The author writes, “A lawsuit against Amazon is seeking financial damages for millions of Americans whose faces may have been recorded by Ring cameras since the Familiar Faces feature was rolled out late last year. Plaintiff Charles Sigwalt yesterday filed a class action suit that aims to represent all people in the US ;who had their facial recognition data collected, retained, and otherwise used by the Familiar Faces feature created and implemented by Defendant.’”

The Palestinian Journalists Held in Israel’s ‘Cemeteries for the Living’ (Dana)

From +972 Magazine: “[Ali Al-Samoudi] is perhaps best known as the colleague of Shireen Abu Akleh, whom Israeli forces shot and killed during a raid on Jenin refugee camp in May 2022. Standing beside Abu Akleh, Al-Samoudi was also shot that day in the back; the bullet exited cleanly through his shoulder. On April 29, 2025, Israeli forces raided Al-Samoudi’s home in Jenin at dawn and arrested him. He was held without charge or trial, before being released almost a year to-the-day later, on April 30, 2026. During his time in administrative detention, Al-Samoudi says he was starved, beaten, and denied medication. He was also transferred between multiple facilities, including Megiddo Prison and the notorious Ofer Prison. … Al-Samoudi believes his arrest was directly connected to his journalistic work — particularly his coverage of Israel’s ongoing assault on Jenin refugee camp.”

Trump Administration Takes Aim at Crucial Ocean Monitoring Network (DonkeyHotey)

From Scientific American: “The Trump administration is targeting one of the world’s most trusted sources of climate and oceanic data—the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI). According to the New York Times, ships will be dispatched this month to remove the more than 900 deep-sea instruments that comprise the network, which, for the past decade, has collected crucial data on physical, chemical, geological and biological conditions from all layers of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans on a continuous basis. In a statement dated May 21, the OOI confirmed that the National Science Foundation (NSF) had begun a ‘descoping’ process, including removing all in-water infrastructure from four of the OOI’s five deployed arrays. … In a statement, an NSF spokesperson said the intention was not to cancel the OOI but to transition to a “nimbler approach to prioritize support for evolving scientific priorities and emerging technologies.’”

‘Point of No Return’: New Orleans Relocation Must Start Now Due to Sea Level (Laura)

The author writes, “The process of relocating people from New Orleans should start immediately, as the city has reached a ‘point of no return’ that will see it surrounded by the ocean within decades due to the climate crisis, a stark new study has concluded. Ongoing sea-level rise and the rampant erosion of wetlands in southern Louisiana will swallow up the New Orleans area within a few generations, with the new paper estimating the city ‘may well be surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico before the end of this century.’ Low-lying southern Louisiana faces multiple threats, with rising sea levels driven by global heating, compounded by strengthening hurricanes, also a feature of the climate crisis, and the gradual subsidence of a coastline that has been carved apart by the oil and gas industry.”

Heading a Soccer Ball Just Once Is Enough To Raise Levels of Proteins Associated With Brain Damage (Reader Jim)

From Live Science: “Heading a soccer ball just once is enough to temporarily release proteins into the blood that are associated with damage to brain cells, a new study suggests. For two of the six proteins tracked, their levels rose higher the more frequently and the harder soccer players headed balls. The study authors say that while this could be evidence of acute brain injuries, further studies are needed to determine whether the cumulative effects of heading could increase a player’s risk of developing a neurodegenerative disease like Alzheimer’s.”

Trump-Gutted Pest Agency Battling Infestation of Its Own (Sean)

From The Daily Beast: “A federal agency defunded by President Donald Trump is facing an ironic dilemma. Agency staff for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Department of Agriculture bureau in charge of containing the spread of invasive vermin in the US, are dealing with a bed bug infestation at an office, NOTUS reported on Tuesday. One USDA employee assured the outlet that the irony ‘was lost on no one.’ Employees at the George Washington Carver Center in Beltsville, Maryland, were notified about the situation in mid-May, according to NOTUS, citing five employees familiar with the matter. After being allowed to work from home for a few days while the building was fumigated, employees returned to the office and complained about toxic fumes, with some getting sick.”

Ordinary WiFi Can Now Identify People With Near Perfect Accuracy (Mili)

The author writes, “Scientists in Germany have demonstrated a startling new form of surveillance: identifying people using nothing more than ordinary WiFi signals. By analyzing how radio waves bounce around a room, researchers can effectively ‘see’ and recognize individuals — even if they are not carrying a device and even if their phone is turned off.”