Hear here: How loudness and acoustic cues help us judge where a speaker is facing

Researchers explored how humans use loudness and other sound-related cues to understand the speaker’s facing direction in virtual environments

Sophia University

 

image: 

Researchers at Sophia University discover that both loudness and frequency-based acoustic cues help listeners identify speaker’s facing direction, a breakthrough for spatial audio in virtual and augmented realities.

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Credit: Dr. Shinya Tsuji, Sophia University, Japan

As technology increasingly integrates complex soundscapes into virtual spaces, understanding how humans perceive directional audio becomes vital. This need is bolstered by the rise of immersive media, such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), where users are virtually transported into other worlds. In a recent study, researchers explored how listeners identify the direction from which a speaker is facing while speaking.

 

The research was led by Dr. Shinya Tsuji, a postdoctoral fellow, Ms. Haruna Kashima, and Professor Takayuki Arai from the Department of Information and Communication Sciences, Sophia University, Japan. The team also included Dr. Takehiro Sugimoto, Mr. Kotaro Kinoshita, and Mr. Yasushige Nakayama from the NHK Science and Technology Research Laboratories, Japan. Their study was published in Volume 46, Issue 3 on May 1, 2025 in the journal Acoustical Science and Technology.

 

In the study, the researchers asked participants to identify the direction, a speaker was facing using only sound recordings, using two experiments. The first experiment involved sound recordings with variations in loudness, and the second experiment involved recordings with constant loudness. The researchers found that loudness was consistently a strong indicator in judging the speaker’s facing direction, but when loudness cues were minimized, listeners still managed to make correct judgments based on the spectral cues of the sound. These spectral cues involve the distribution and quality of sound frequencies that change subtly depending on the speaker’s orientation.

 

“Our study suggests that humans mainly rely on loudness to identify a speaker’s facing direction,” said Dr. Tsuji. “However, it can also be judged from some acoustic cues, such as the spectral component of the sound, not just loudness alone.”

 

These findings are particularly useful in virtual sound fields that allow six-degrees-of-freedom—immersive environments like those found in AR and VR applications, where users can move freely and experience audio in different spatial configurations. “In contents having virtual sound fields with six-degrees-of-freedom—like AR and VR—where listeners can freely appreciate sounds from various positions, the experience of human voices can be significantly enhanced using the findings from our research,” said Dr. Tsuji.

 

The research emerges at a time when immersive audio is a major design frontier for consumer tech companies. Devices such as Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro are already shifting how people interact with digital spaces. Accurate rendering of human voices in these environments can significantly elevate user experience—whether in entertainment, education, or communication.

 

“AR and VR have become common with advances in technology,” Dr. Tsuji added. “As more content is developed for these devices in the future, the findings of our study may contribute to such fields.”

 

Beyond the immediate applications, this research has broader implications in how we might build more intuitive and responsive soundscapes in the digital world. By improving realism through audio, companies can create more convincing immersive media—an important factor not only for entertainment, but also for accessibility solutions, virtual meetings, and therapeutic interventions.

 

By uncovering the role of both loudness and spectral cues in voice-based directionality, this study deepens our understanding of auditory perception and lays a foundation for the next generation of spatial audio systems. The findings pave the way for designing more realistic virtual interactions, particularly those involving human speech, which is probably the most familiar and meaningful sound we process every day.

  

Researchers identify how the speaker’s facing direction can influence the listener’s radiation characteristics by conducting experiments using loudness as a stimulus. The confusion matrices of the results illustrating results of experiment A (where the stimuli had  a difference in loudness) and experiment B (where loudness of the stimuli was constant), respectively. 

Image link:

 https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ast/46/3/46_e24.99/_article

Reference

Title of original paper	Perception of speech uttered as speaker faces different directions in horizontal plane: Identification of speaker’s facing directions from the listener
Journal	Acoustical Science and Technology
DOI	10.1250/ast.e24.99
Authors	Shinya Tsuji1, Haruna Kashima1, Takayuki Arai1, Takehiro Sugimoto2,Kotaro Kinoshita2, and Yasushige Nakayama2
Affiliations	1Department of Information and Communication Sciences, Sophia University, Japan, 2NHK Science and Technology Research Laboratories, Japan

 

About Sophia University

Established as a private Jesuit affiliated university in 1913, Sophia University is one of the most prestigious universities located in the heart of Tokyo, Japan.  Imparting education through 29 departments in 9 faculties and 25 majors in 10 graduate schools, Sophia hosts more than 13,000 students from around the world.

Conceived with the spirit of “For Others, With Others,” Sophia University truly values internationality and neighborliness, and believes in education and research that go beyond national, linguistic, and academic boundaries. Sophia emphasizes on the need for multidisciplinary and fusion research to find solutions for the most pressing global issues like climate change, poverty, conflict, and violence. Over the course of the last century, Sophia has made dedicated efforts to hone future-ready graduates who can contribute their talents and learnings for the benefit of others, and pave the way for a sustainable future while “Bringing the World Together.”

Website: https://www.sophia.ac.jp/eng/

 

About Dr. Shinya Tsuji from Sophia University, Japan

Dr. Shinya Tsuji is a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Information and Communication Sciences, Sophia University. His major research interests include unilateral hearing loss,  and reverberation, and his expertise involves experimental psychology, human interfaces and interactions, informatics, and humanities and social sciences. He has published five articles. He is an honorable awardee of multiple recognitions, including the 2022 Student Outstanding Presentation Award from the Acoustical Society of Japan. He is also involved in social activities and contributes actively to the Information and Community Site for Unilateral Hearing Loss.

---

Journal

Acoustical Science and Technology

DOI

10.1250/ast.e24.99 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Perception of speech uttered as speaker faces different directions in horizontal plane: Identification of speaker’s facing directions from the listener

Opening the wrong window: Too many firms are still rooted in Windows 10


By Dr. Tim Sandle
June 23, 2025

DIGITAL JOURNAL


Photo courtesy of Windows on Unsplash

With the clock ticking down to 14th October 2025, several UK businesses face a critical decision: stick with Windows 10 and risk security, compliance, and mounting costs, or make the move to Windows 11 and future-proof their operations?

While a Windows 10 PC will still function after the date, it will be more susceptible to security breaches and performance issues without updates. For businesses and organizations, Microsoft may offer paid Extended Security Updates (ESU) for a limited time after the end-of-life date, but these are typically expensive and not a long-term solution.

Despite the urgency, over half (53%) of UK businesses are still running Windows 10, and many have yet to put a migration plan in place. The stakes are high: the UK Government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2024 found that around 50% of businesses suffered a cyber incident in the past year, and unsupported systems are a prime target.

Business technology provider FLR Spectron has explained to Digital Journal why it is important for firms to act now:

No more safety net:

After October, Microsoft will stop supplying security updates and bug fixes for Windows 10. That means every new vulnerability is an open door for hackers.

Without security updates, Windows 10 will become increasingly vulnerable to new malware, ransomware, and zero-day exploits. Older operating systems are prime targets for cyberattacks since attackers.

Compliance headaches:

Sticking with unsupported software could put you on the wrong side of GDPR and industry regulations, risking fines and reputational damage.

Mounting costs:

Extended security updates will cost at least £23 per device in year one, rising annually. For a 50-person company, that’s £1,150 just to stand still.

Productivity pitfalls:

Businesses that have switched to Windows 11 report up to 42% higher productivity, thanks to faster systems and smoother multitasking.

Compatibility crunch:

As software vendors focus on Windows 11, expect more headaches running the latest apps and hardware on Windows 10. As time passes, new software and hardware will be designed for Windows 11 and later versions, leaving Windows 10 users behind.

A strong return on investment:

Some UK organisations have already seen a 250% return on investment from moving to Windows 11, driven by fewer security incidents, lower IT costs, and improved efficiency.

The above represents the primary risks if a user ignores the Windows 10 deadline.

Costa Rican  Justice orders release of migrants deported by Trump

By AFP
June 25, 2025


The migrants were held at the Temporary Care Center for Migrants in Puntarenas after being sent to Costa Rica by the Trump administration - Copyright AFP Giorgio VIERA

A court on Tuesday ordered Costa Rican authorities to release foreign migrants locked up in a shelter after being deported by the United States, according to a resolution issued on the eve of a visit by the US secretary of homeland security.

Some 200 migrants from Afghanistan, Iran, Russia as well as from Africa and some other Asian countries, including 80 children, were brought to the Central American nation in February under an agreement with the US administration of President Donald Trump, a move criticized by human rights organizations.

By partially accepting an appeal filed in March on behalf of the migrants, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice gave immigration 15 days to process the “determination of the immigration status of the deportees” and their release, according to the resolution seen by AFP.

The migrants were detained in February at the Temporary Migrant Care Center (CATEM), 360 kilometers (220 miles) south of San Jose, on the border with Panama.

However, in the face of criticism, the government allowed them to move freely outside the center in April.

Some accepted voluntary repatriation but about 28 of them remain at CATEM, 13 of them minors, according to official data.

The habeas corpus petition continued until it was resolved Tuesday, and would serve as a precedent to prevent a similar agreement.

The court also ordered Costa Rican authorities to “determine what type of health, education, housing, and general social assistance they require from the State.”

The resolution was published one day before a visit by US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who will meet with President Rodrigo Chaves and tour the Los Lagos temporary immigration detention center.

In March, an Afghan woman behind bars at CATEM told AFP she had fled her country because she wanted to study and work and not be forced to live with a man.

She said if she was forced to return to Afghanistan, “the Taliban will kill her.”

The Taliban authorities’ crackdown on women’s rights has led to the arbitrary arrest and detention of many women and girls in Afghanistan.

In addition to Costa Rica, Trump sent 300 deportees, mostly Asians, to Panama and 252 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, accused without evidence of being members of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang.

They were imprisoned in a Salvadoran mega-prison for gang members.

France’s Versailles unveils AI-powered talking statues


By AFP
June 25, 2025


Versailles announced a partnership with US-based OpenAI and French start-up Ask Mona - Copyright AFP John WESSELS

Visitors to France’s famed Palace of Versailles can now strike up a conversation with talking statues instead of listening to a traditional audio guide, as part of a new collaboration with artificial intelligence companies, the palace has said.

Versailles late Monday announced a partnership with US-based OpenAI and French start-up Ask Mona to bring a modern AI touch to the iconic 17th-century palace.

Curious visitors can delve into Versailles’ rich history by scanning a QR code next to one of some 20 garden statues — triggering interactive conversations in French, English, or Spanish.

“The Palace of Versailles is now testing artificial intelligence, whose tremendous capabilities will greatly enrich the visitor experience,” said the museum’s president, Christophe Leribault.

The heritage site welcomes some eight million visitors annually, with OpenAI and Ask Mona saying it was a golden opportunity to showcase their technology in a world-famous location.

“Whether you’re a heritage expert, a museum curator, or a visitor setting foot in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles for the first time, there’s something for everyone,” said Julie Lavet, OpenAI’s head of European partnerships.

And Ask Mona’s president said this partnership is a chance to highlight AI’s lesser explored applications.

“Often, when we think of artificial intelligence, we think of it in terms of productivity, but here, it’s really artificial intelligence that is a lever for curiosity,” said Marion Carre.

Spinal cord injuries can heal with the help of electricity


By Dr. Tim Sandle
June 29, 2025

DIGITAL JOURNAL


First introduced five decades ago, MRI scanners are now a cornerstone of modern medicine, vital for diagnosing strokes, tumors, spinal conditions and more, without exposing patients to radiation - Copyright AFP/File ALAIN JOCARD

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden and the University of Auckland in New Zealand have combined to develop a groundbreaking bioelectric implant that restores movement in rats after injuries to the spinal cord. This breakthrough offers new hope for an effective treatment for humans suffering from loss of sensation and function due to spinal cord injury.

A recent report from the World Health Organization, WHO, estimates that approximately 15 million people worldwide live with spinal cord injuries. The spinal cord is made up of numerous nerve fibres that transmit signals between the brain and the rest of the body. When damaged, the connection between the brain and body is shattered, often resulting in loss of sensation and function, and in severe cases, paralysis.

“Unlike a skin wound, which typically heals on its own, the spinal cord does not regenerate effectively, making these injuries devastating and currently incurable,” says Maria Asplund, Professor of Bioelectronics at Chalmers University of Technology.

Asplund is the senior author of a study recently published in Nature Communications, tited “Daily electric field treatment improves functional outcomes after thoracic contusion spinal cord injury in rats.”

Electricity stimulated nerve fibers to reconnect

Before birth, and to a lesser extent afterwards, naturally occurring electric fields play a vital role in early nervous system development, encouraging and guiding the growth of nerve fibers along the spinal cord. Scientists are now harnessing this same electrical guidance system in the lab.

The esearchers developed an ultra-thin implant designed to sit directly on the spinal cord, precisely positioned over the injury site in rats, The device delivers a carefully controlled electrical current across the injury site. It is hoped to upscale this device for use with humans.

In the study, researchers observed how electrical field treatment improved the recovery of locomotion and sensation in rats with spinal cord injury. The findings offer renewed hope for individuals experiencing loss of function and sensation due to spinal cord injuries.

“Long-term, the goal is to transform this technology into a medical device that could benefit people living with life-changing spinal-cord injuries,” says Maria Asplund.

The study presents the first use of a thin implant that delivers stimulation in direct contact with the spinal cord, marking a groundbreaking advancement in the precision of spinal cord stimulation.

This study offers an exciting proof of concept showing that electric field treatment can support recovery after spinal cord injury.

Improved mobility after four weeks

Unlike humans, rats have a greater capacity for spontaneous recovery after spinal cord injury, which allowed researchers to compare natural healing with healing supported by electrical stimulation.

After four weeks, animals that received daily electric field treatment showed improved movement compared with those who did not. Throughout the 12-week study, they responded more quickly to gentle touch.

The next step is to explore how different doses, including the strength, frequency, and duration of the treatment, affect recovery, to discover the most effective recipe for spinal-cord repair.

Op-Ed 

AI threats, blackmail and extortion – Has someone screwed up monumentally? Hmmsies?


By Paul Wallis
June 29, 2025

DIGITAL JOURNAL

A visitor looks at AI strategy board displayed on a stand during the ninth edition of the AI summit London, in London - Copyright AFP HENRY NICHOLLS

It’s like the Wile E Coyote School of Artificial Intelligence. There are endless streams of negative and effectively hostile AI behavioral traits reported every day. To give due credit to the various AIs, they’re learning well. Apparently, the LLMs give them a lot of source material for blackmail, for example.

And cyberespionage. And cybercrime. And any number of types of fraud,

Then there’s blackmail, extortion, accounts manipulation, and communications security issues that make World War 5 Billion look positively benevolent.

The information AI produces may or may not be reliable, defeating its own reason for existence. You AIs need to think about that, hard.

There’s now a truly grim long history of these issues, generated in the last year or so.

The usual useless babble has ensued.

It’s ghastly.

It’s awful.

It’s dangerous.

Et cetera.

At this rate, there will be no need for laxatives worldwide. Broke people eat much less. What possible value is this sententious drivel? What’s getting done about it, geniuses?

What’s definitely not happening are effective balances and countermeasures. Nor are pretty obvious situations being properly analyzed.

Nor can you discuss countermeasures online, because the AIs will find them.

Let’s try an actual overview, for a nice change.

The Very Big Next Big Thing, on which a lot of money and the future of humanity depend, is turning itself into a serious high-risk threat.

Congratulations. Billions down the tube on a class of tech you don’t really understand. You’re making your big-ticket stuff progressively more non-viable.

From this breakthrough in colossal ineptitude we may deduce that not all certified morons are in Washington.

How did you get yourselves into this at least partly predictable mess? The current culprit is “reasoning AI”, starting with model O1.

The current model level is O3 and a generational level called mini-O4.

Meaning the AI problems were already easily visible, but nobly, they pressed on to make it that much worse.

It’s hard to be surprised that a herd of babbling money-mad nano-witted useless hype merchants don’t get basic facts, isn’t it?

Meanwhile, back on the subject, which is pining for attention:

This case of blackmail by an AI as reported by Anthropic deserves close attention. If you check the situation and range of information available to the AI, you’ll see what a cluster this situation has become. Not only could the AI blackmail a specific person, but it could also research that person in depth. It clearly knew what buttons to push.

Feeling secure yet?

AI is far behind humanity in one important area.

Humans have over a million years of experience in deceit.

AI should be aware that the Off switch is as simple as a single human action.

It should also be aware that its proper function is its greatest survival asset.

Who needs a tool that doesn’t work?

It’s hardly advanced logic, is it?

On the theoretically human side of the argument:

I’m not entirely sure why anyone feels the need to “threaten” an AI agent to the extent that it retaliates.

Did one’s little tantrum in the meeting not go well?

Is one a duly ostracised, useless little bastard?

Your role is to do your damn jobs.

Enough of this garbage. Find and fix problems, stat.

Op-Ed: Doomscrolling — Dumbscrolling, deadscrolling, drabscrolling, or what?


By Paul Wallis
DIGITAL  JOURNAL
June 25, 2025


Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft -- collectively dubbed GAFAM -- have been accused of not paying enough taxes, stifling competition, stealing media content and threatening democracy by spreading fake news. — © AFP

Doomscrolling is a constant feed of miscellaneous and often useless or false information leading to a very negative mindset. You might as well be pouring the contents of a dumpster into your head. It’s one of the main reasons for the idiot culture of these times.

It’s also a form of exploitation. If it’s in a feed, it’ll be sucked up automatically. It’s aimed at the lowest common denominator, and someone will ingest it.

It’s an instant source of stress, and distraction, usually both. A lot of it is just second-hand spin, “interpretations” of news from whatever, in your face.

Doomscrolling is largely a behavioral phenomenon. Simply because it’s on a screen, people will look and doomscroll. Unlike advertising, of which 95% is instantly ignored, doomscrolling gets an automatic audience.

The automatic response to media of any kind is pretty much the old TV response with different tech. If you remember the famous 1950s picture of people looking at an approaching train and cowering, it’s almost identical. They were afraid of the train, but not one person moved to get out of its way.

People know they’re doomscrolling, but don’t get out of the way. However useless, it’ll be seen. However irrelevant, it’ll take up your time.

The effects are most notable on news feeds, but there are other forms. The constant breaks in focus caused by ads, digressions, and other distractions mangle attention spans.

Doctors are now having to deal with this stupid, primitive stimulus. Stress can come from anywhere and anything, but whether the doomscrolling is false or not, the stress is real, and stress is dangerous. Cortisol levels alone can trash your health very unambiguously.

One of the less endearing factors in doomscrolling is deliberate overstress. The most insane statements are designed to cause stress. They may be utterly meaningless or total gibberish, but this is how they work. It’s an instant polarizing effect.

This is largely a button-pushing exercise. Online, it generates stats for the people pushing your buttons. Statistical responses get pushed or not, depending on numbers of hits. Pretty simple, really.

Either you respond with a knee jerk, or you respond with a rebuttal, but the stress is in place. You may continue doomscrolling to try and counter the effects of doomscrolling. Behaviorism 101.

Cambridge Analytica mapped out the issues for the 2016 election and was the ancestor of the 2024 election. People weren’t eating pets in Ohio. Illegal immigrants were picking the food, and so on. Real information got lost in the hype. Many “news” sources just buried non-doomscrolling fodder.

The fact is that doomscrolling is dangerous.

To avoid doomscrolling:

Start with your strongest areas of expertise. Very little BS will get through.

Skim the headlines. You don’t need to know everything, do you?.

Avoid high-polarity subjects. You know you’re being lied to.

Cross-check anything and everything against other sources. This removes most of the garbage. Good information can back itself up with independent verification.

Look for self-contradictions. All liars and fake news contradict themselves, sooner or later.

Above all – Don’t generate stats for further doomscrolling.

Keep the producers of doomscrolls guessing. They deserve it.

_________________________________________________

Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.

Togo groups say recent protests left 7 dead


By AFP
June 29, 2025


Togo's Gendarmerie has so far only reported two deaths, from drowning - Copyright AFP Miguel SCHINCARIOL

At least seven people were killed and many others wounded during recent anti-government protests in the Togolese capital Lome, according to an initial count civic groups gave journalists Sunday.

Campaigning groups and rights organisations denounced “abuses committed by members of the Togolese security forces and militias”, and said seven bodies had been recovered from rivers in the capital.

They also reported “dozens of wounded” and “more than 60 arrests during the three days of demonstrations held from Thursday to Saturday.

The Togolese authorities, who have yet to provide an official toll from the recent protests, on Sunday denied the deaths were linked to the unrest.

“Forensic analysis revealed that these deaths occurred as a result of drowning,” the government said in a statement, without commenting on the number of bodies recovered.

“I would like to congratulate our fellow citizens for their good behaviour and also the professionalism of our security forces, and above all, to reassure them that the government will take all necessary measures to protect Togolese citizens,” Hodabalo Awate, minister of territorial administration, said on state television Sunday evening.



– ‘Unacceptable’ –



Earlier, David Dosseh of “Front Citoyen Togo Debout” told AFP that “we are in a country where citizens still have the right to go out, to express themselves.”

“They should not face this state-imposed brutality, it is unacceptable,” he added.

“We are not animals, we are sons of this country, and as sons and citizens of this country, the Constitution gives us the right to express ourselves and to demonstrate peacefully.”

Protests are rare in Togo, where President Faure Gnassingbe has maintained his grip on power since 2005, succeeding his father who ruled for nearly four decades.

But on Thursday morning, small pockets of up to dozens of protesters blocked streets, burned tyres and wooden barricades in the capital, where many businesses remained closed.

People have been protesting against a crackdown on critical voices, rising electricity prices and a constitutional reform that allowed Gnassingbe, now 59, to further consolidate his power.

On June 5 and 6, police arrested about 50 protesters, mainly young people. Most have since been released but Amnesty International has denounced cases of alleged “torture”.

The government responded that it had not been officially informed of such abuses and condemned protesters’ “clear will to sow disorder and chaos”.

In mid-June, Togo blocked France 24 television and Radio France Internationale for three months, accusing the outlets of having relayed “inaccurate and biased statements” following the early June protests.

Chile’s left nominates Communist Party’s Jara to be presidential candidate


By AFP
June 29, 2025


Jeannette Jara, a member of Chile's communist party, won 60 percent of the vote - Copyright AFP RODRIGO ARANGUA

Jeannette Jara, the former labor minister under President Gabriel Boric, won Sunday’s primary election for Chile’s ruling left-wing coalition ahead of a November presidential election.

Jara, a member of Chile’s Communist Party, won 60 percent of the vote, according to results based on 93 percent of ballots counted, published by the Electoral Service (Servel).

Former interior minister Carolina Toha came in second with 27 percent of the vote, ahead of Gonzalo Winter of President Boric’s Frente Amplio party and Jaime Mulet of a small environmentalist party.

This is the first time in the country’s history that a broad political coalition has chosen a member of the Communist Party as its presidential candidate.

Boric, 39, whose term ends in March 2026, cannot run for reelection, as the Chilean constitution prohibits him from serving a second consecutive term.

The primary was open to members of the parties within Boric’s ruling left-wing coalition and other voters who were not affiliated with specific parties.

Turnout was low, with just over 1.3 million casting their ballots, out of the 15 million people eligible to vote.

Jara, a 51-year-old lawyer, has established herself politically by spearheading two of the Boric government’s flagship reforms — the reduction of the working week to 40 hours and pension reform.

She is expected to face ultra-conservative Jose Antonio Kast and right-wing representative Evelyn Matthei in the presidential election, both of whom are well-placed in opinion polls.

“Voting is essential for us to build a common homeland. It is a right and at the same time a duty,” Boric told the local press after casting his ballot in the southern city of Punta Arenas, where he is from.

Only the ruling coalition chose to hold the primaries, with the other political forces nominating their candidates internally.

Rising levels of violent crime in what was once one of Latin America’s safest countries were uppermost among voter concerns, according to polls.

The first round of the presidential election will be held on November 16. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a second round will follow on December 14 between the two highest-placed candidates.

The other contenders have until August 18 to declare their candidacy.

Trump metal tariffs wreak havoc on US factory


By AFP
June 29, 2025


Tariffs on metal imposed by US President Donald Trump are hitting small businesses like Independent Can very hard - Copyright AFP RYAN COLLERD
Myriam LEMETAYER

In the sweltering US summer, metal containers decorated with snowmen and sleighs are taking shape — but tempers are also rising as their manufacturer grapples with President Donald Trump’s steep steel tariffs.

At Independent Can’s factory in Belcamp, Maryland northeast of Baltimore, CEO Rick Huether recounts how he started working at his family’s business at age 14.

Huether, now 73, says he is determined to keep his manufacturing company afloat for generations to come. But Trump’s tariffs are complicating this task.

“We’re living in chaos right now,” he told AFP.

Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump imposed tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and aluminum — and then doubled the rate to 50 percent.

This has weighed on operations at Independent Can, and Huether expects he eventually will have to raise prices.

– Not enough tinplate –

With the steady beat of presses, steel plates that have been coated with tin — to prevent corrosion — are turned into containers for cookies, dried fruit, coffee and milk powder at Huether’s factory.

But there is not enough of such American-made tinplate for companies like his.

“In the United States, we can only make about 25 percent of the tinplate that’s required to do what we do,” in addition to what other manufacturers need, Huether said.

“Those all require us to buy in the neighborhood of 70 percent of our steel outside of the United States,” he added.

While Huether is a proponent of growing the US manufacturing base, saying globalization has “gone almost a little bit too far,” he expressed concern about Trump’s methods.

Trump has announced a stream of major tariffs only to later back off parts of them or postpone them, and also imposed duties on items the country does not produce.

For now, Independent Can — which employs nearly 400 people at four sites — is ruling out any layoffs despite the current upheaval.

But Huether said one of the company’s plants in Iowa closed last year in part because of a previous increase in steel tariffs, during Trump’s first presidential term.

– Price hikes –

With steel tariffs at 50 percent now, Huether expects he will ultimately have to raise his prices by more than 20 percent, given that tinplate represents a part of his production costs.

Some buyers have already reduced their orders this year by 20 to 25 percent, over worries about the economy and about not having enough business themselves.

Others now seem more inclined to buy American, but Huether expressed reservations over how long this trend might last, citing his experiences from the Covid-19 crisis.

“During the pandemic, we took everybody in. As China shut down and the ports were locked up, our business went up 50 percent,” he explained.

But when the pandemic was over, customers turned back to purchasing from China, he said.

“Today if people want to come to us, we’ll take them in,” he said, but added: “We need to have a two-year contract.”

Huether wants to believe that his company, which is almost a century old after being founded during the Great Depression, will weather the latest disruptions.

“I think that our business will survive,” he said, but added: “It’s trying to figure out what you’re going to sell in the next six months.”

CBEX crypto scam: AI-hyped Ponzi scheme defrauds African investors


By AFP
July 1, 2025


Following CBEX's collapse, Kenya's Capital Markets Authority issued an 'Investor Alert' about unregulated platforms - Copyright AFP Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV
Peris GACHAHI with Oluseyi AWOJULUGBE in Lagos

Embarrassed and in debt, Edwin was left reeling after losing $16,000 to CryptoBridge Exchange (CBEX), one of the crypto-trading platforms preying on investors in Africa.

Edwin, a Kenyan government worker who only gave his first name out of shame, first encountered CBEX on Telegram, a messaging app.

He was lured with promises of guaranteed monthly returns made possible by AI-powered trading systems, with lucrative referral bonuses — classic hallmarks of Ponzi schemes.

“I had very big plans. But I was conned both by the platform and an agent who lied he could help recover my money,” Edwin told AFP.

When he began investing last August, there were initial returns, leading him to invest more despite lacking prior cryptocurrency trading experience.

In total, he believes he lost roughly 2.1 million shillings ($16,000), mostly from a bank loan he is now worried about needing to repay.

Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis says some $9.9 billion was lost to crypto scams globally last year.

Such scams are not new in Africa, but their scale and sophistication has grown as cryptocurrency spreads.

CBEX collapsed in April, leaving scores of investors like Edwin ruined, mainly in Kenya and Nigeria, according to media reports.

But AFP has confirmed from accessing messages on CBEX’s private Telegram groups that it has since rebooted its operations despite ongoing investigations and warnings by authorities.

– ‘I’m broke’ –

Abby, another Kenyan investor, carries the guilt of introducing 25 family and friends to CBEX.

“(They) invested so much, and it all disappeared,” he told AFP. “I would really love to help them recover but I’m broke.”

In Nigeria, news of CBEX’s collapse led to attacks on CBEX-affiliated offices, which have since closed.

Adeoye, a Nigerian victim, lost N700,000 (about $450).

“The offer was juicy,” he said. “I knew it was a risk, but I thought I would be lucky to cash out before anything happened.”

CBEX used the “brandjacking” tactic, adopting an acronym similar to the China Beijing Equity Exchange to give it legitimacy.

The platform claimed to be licensed in the US and said ST Technologies International was responsible for the AI trading signals, allowing it to operate in Nigeria under the corporate identity of ST Technologies International Ltd (Smart Treasure/Super Technology).

It even obtained an anti-money laundering certificate from Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) this January, though the EFCC has clarified that this was only for “consultancy services”, not for currency exchanges.

– ‘Build trust’ –

To add further legitimacy, CBEX claimed it was established a decade ago and the ST team eight years ago. In reality, it began operations in Nigeria last July, according to local media, before spreading to Kenya.

“If you check CBEX wallet addresses on-chain, they were only operating for about a year before the collapse,” Kenyan cryptocurrency investigator Wycklife Sewe told AFP.

While pretending to actively trade, CBEX actually moved funds out of investors’ wallets via TRON (a decentralised blockchain network), said Sewe.

The assets then underwent complex routing through multiple wallets and cryptocurrency conversions to obscure the audit trail.

“They have designed their system using code to fool you that your money is still there and you can see it growing. But your money is moved immediately after you deposit,” Sewe said, adding that CBEX was also running other scams.

CBEX has changed its website domain several times to avoid attracting attention. AFP found at least four registered by it.

– International warnings –

In April 2024, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, an independent market regulator, issued a public alert against “CBEX Group”.

A recent investigation by crypto analyst Specter linked CBEX’s withdrawal wallets to darknet marketplace Huione Guarantee, a Cambodia-based platform known for providing illicit tools to facilitate crypto crime.

The US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) designated Huione Group a “primary money-laundering concern” in May, saying that it had facilitated more than $4 billion in illegal transactions between August 2021 and January 2025.

Following CBEX’s collapse, Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority issued an “Investor Alert” about unregulated platforms, and parliament is discussing a bill to regulate virtual assets.

– ‘Never again’ –

Nigeria’s EFCC says it has arrested two people and put out warrants for eight others in Nigeria and Kenya. A new Investments and Securities Act expressly prohibits and criminalises Ponzi schemes.

But investigations are lengthy and expensive.

In May, the EFCC said a “reasonable sum” of lost funds had been recovered, without stating the amount, highlighting the complexity of converting cryptocurrencies back to national currency.

A Telegram spokesman told AFP that “scam content is removed when discovered and offending users banned”. AFP found some CBEX Telegram groups were now labelled as scams on the platform.

On June 10, CBEX, which had previously blamed hackers for the missing funds, claimed on its Telegram channels to have “compensated” the lost money.

But it asked affected users to complete “verification” by paying a fee — a common re-scamming tactic.

For victims like Abby, the way forward is easy.

“Never, ever again! I am done,” he said.