diff --git a/mods/news/init.lua b/mods/news/init.lua
index 52ce44e0..5b851452 100755
--- a/mods/news/init.lua
+++ b/mods/news/init.lua
@@ -1,7 +1,13 @@
+local modpath = minetest.get_modpath("news")
+local md5 = dofile(modpath .. "/md5.lua")
+
 local news = {}
+local checksum
 local caracteres_max = 5000
 local pages_players = {}
 
+local seen_checksum
+
 function load_news()
 	local newsfile = io.open(minetest.get_worldpath().."/news.txt","r")
 	local content
@@ -13,6 +19,9 @@ function load_news()
 	if content == nil or string.len(content) == 0 then
 		return
 	end
+	checksum = md5.sumhexa(content)
+	minetest.log("verbose", "[news] checksum is " .. checksum)
+
 	local nb = 1
 	news[nb] = ""
 	local commit = string.split(content, "\n\n")
@@ -29,6 +38,34 @@ end
 
 load_news()
 
+---- Loading/storage of seen news checksums. Write "return nil" into news.seen
+---- to disable the feature.
+-- Inbefore https://github.com/minetest/minetest/pull/4155
+-- Bet this issue won't be fixed before early 2017
+do
+	local file = io.open(minetest.get_worldpath().."/news.seen","r")
+	if file == nil then
+		seen_checksum = {}
+	else
+		local content = file:read("*a")
+		file:close()
+		seen_checksum = minetest.deserialize(content)
+	end
+	local type_seen = type(seen_checksum)
+	if type_seen ~= 'table' and type_seen ~= 'nil' then
+		minetest.log("error", "[news] Loading news.seen returned a " ..
+			type_seen .. ", expected table. Disabling \"seen\" feature.")
+		seen_checksum = nil
+	end
+end
+minetest.register_on_shutdown(function()
+	if seen_checksum then
+		local file = io.open(minetest.get_worldpath().."/news.seen", "w")
+		file:write(minetest.serialize(seen_checksum))
+		file:close()
+	end
+end)
+
 
 local function show_formspec(player, page)
 	local name = player:get_player_name()
@@ -101,7 +138,11 @@ minetest.register_chatcommand("news",{
 
 
 minetest.register_on_joinplayer(function (player)
-	if minetest.get_player_privs(player:get_player_name()).interact == true then
-		minetest.after(6,show_formspec,player, 1)
+	local name = player:get_player_name()
+	if minetest.get_player_privs(name).interact then
+		if seen_checksum and seen_checksum[name] ~= checksum then
+			seen_checksum[name] = checksum
+			minetest.after(6,show_formspec,player, 1)
+		end
 	end
 end)
diff --git a/mods/news/md5.lua b/mods/news/md5.lua
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4a9e7214
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mods/news/md5.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,383 @@
+local md5 = {
+  _VERSION     = "md5.lua 1.0.2",
+  _DESCRIPTION = "MD5 computation in Lua (5.1-3, LuaJIT)",
+  _URL         = "https://github.com/kikito/md5.lua",
+  _LICENSE     = [[
+    MIT LICENSE
+
+    Copyright (c) 2013 Enrique García Cota + Adam Baldwin + hanzao + Equi 4 Software
+
+    Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
+    copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
+    "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
+    without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
+    distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
+    permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
+    the following conditions:
+
+    The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
+    in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+    THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
+    OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
+    MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
+    IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
+    CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT,
+    TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
+    SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+  ]]
+}
+
+-- bit lib implementions
+
+local char, byte, format, rep, sub =
+  string.char, string.byte, string.format, string.rep, string.sub
+local bit_or, bit_and, bit_not, bit_xor, bit_rshift, bit_lshift
+
+local ok, bit = pcall(require, 'bit')
+if ok then
+  bit_or, bit_and, bit_not, bit_xor, bit_rshift, bit_lshift = bit.bor, bit.band, bit.bnot, bit.bxor, bit.rshift, bit.lshift
+else
+  ok, bit = pcall(require, 'bit32')
+
+  if ok then
+
+    bit_not = bit.bnot
+
+    local tobit = function(n)
+      return n <= 0x7fffffff and n or -(bit_not(n) + 1)
+    end
+
+    local normalize = function(f)
+      return function(a,b) return tobit(f(tobit(a), tobit(b))) end
+    end
+
+    bit_or, bit_and, bit_xor = normalize(bit.bor), normalize(bit.band), normalize(bit.bxor)
+    bit_rshift, bit_lshift = normalize(bit.rshift), normalize(bit.lshift)
+
+  else
+
+    local function tbl2number(tbl)
+      local result = 0
+      local power = 1
+      for i = 1, #tbl do
+        result = result + tbl[i] * power
+        power = power * 2
+      end
+      return result
+    end
+
+    local function expand(t1, t2)
+      local big, small = t1, t2
+      if(#big < #small) then
+        big, small = small, big
+      end
+      -- expand small
+      for i = #small + 1, #big do
+        small[i] = 0
+      end
+    end
+
+    local to_bits -- needs to be declared before bit_not
+
+    bit_not = function(n)
+      local tbl = to_bits(n)
+      local size = math.max(#tbl, 32)
+      for i = 1, size do
+        if(tbl[i] == 1) then
+          tbl[i] = 0
+        else
+          tbl[i] = 1
+        end
+      end
+      return tbl2number(tbl)
+    end
+
+    -- defined as local above
+    to_bits = function (n)
+      if(n < 0) then
+        -- negative
+        return to_bits(bit_not(math.abs(n)) + 1)
+      end
+      -- to bits table
+      local tbl = {}
+      local cnt = 1
+      local last
+      while n > 0 do
+        last      = n % 2
+        tbl[cnt]  = last
+        n         = (n-last)/2
+        cnt       = cnt + 1
+      end
+
+      return tbl
+    end
+
+    bit_or = function(m, n)
+      local tbl_m = to_bits(m)
+      local tbl_n = to_bits(n)
+      expand(tbl_m, tbl_n)
+
+      local tbl = {}
+      for i = 1, #tbl_m do
+        if(tbl_m[i]== 0 and tbl_n[i] == 0) then
+          tbl[i] = 0
+        else
+          tbl[i] = 1
+        end
+      end
+
+      return tbl2number(tbl)
+    end
+
+    bit_and = function(m, n)
+      local tbl_m = to_bits(m)
+      local tbl_n = to_bits(n)
+      expand(tbl_m, tbl_n)
+
+      local tbl = {}
+      for i = 1, #tbl_m do
+        if(tbl_m[i]== 0 or tbl_n[i] == 0) then
+          tbl[i] = 0
+        else
+          tbl[i] = 1
+        end
+      end
+
+      return tbl2number(tbl)
+    end
+
+    bit_xor = function(m, n)
+      local tbl_m = to_bits(m)
+      local tbl_n = to_bits(n)
+      expand(tbl_m, tbl_n)
+
+      local tbl = {}
+      for i = 1, #tbl_m do
+        if(tbl_m[i] ~= tbl_n[i]) then
+          tbl[i] = 1
+        else
+          tbl[i] = 0
+        end
+      end
+
+      return tbl2number(tbl)
+    end
+
+    bit_rshift = function(n, bits)
+      local high_bit = 0
+      if(n < 0) then
+        -- negative
+        n = bit_not(math.abs(n)) + 1
+        high_bit = 0x80000000
+      end
+
+      local floor = math.floor
+
+      for i=1, bits do
+        n = n/2
+        n = bit_or(floor(n), high_bit)
+      end
+      return floor(n)
+    end
+
+    bit_lshift = function(n, bits)
+      if(n < 0) then
+        -- negative
+        n = bit_not(math.abs(n)) + 1
+      end
+
+      for i=1, bits do
+        n = n*2
+      end
+      return bit_and(n, 0xFFFFFFFF)
+    end
+  end
+end
+
+-- convert little-endian 32-bit int to a 4-char string
+local function lei2str(i)
+  local f=function (s) return char( bit_and( bit_rshift(i, s), 255)) end
+  return f(0)..f(8)..f(16)..f(24)
+end
+
+-- convert raw string to big-endian int
+local function str2bei(s)
+  local v=0
+  for i=1, #s do
+    v = v * 256 + byte(s, i)
+  end
+  return v
+end
+
+-- convert raw string to little-endian int
+local function str2lei(s)
+  local v=0
+  for i = #s,1,-1 do
+    v = v*256 + byte(s, i)
+  end
+  return v
+end
+
+-- cut up a string in little-endian ints of given size
+local function cut_le_str(s,...)
+  local o, r = 1, {}
+  local args = {...}
+  for i=1, #args do
+    table.insert(r, str2lei(sub(s, o, o + args[i] - 1)))
+    o = o + args[i]
+  end
+  return r
+end
+
+local swap = function (w) return str2bei(lei2str(w)) end
+
+local function hex2binaryaux(hexval)
+  return char(tonumber(hexval, 16))
+end
+
+local function hex2binary(hex)
+  local result, _ = hex:gsub('..', hex2binaryaux)
+  return result
+end
+
+-- An MD5 mplementation in Lua, requires bitlib (hacked to use LuaBit from above, ugh)
+-- 10/02/2001 jcw@equi4.com
+
+local CONSTS = {
+  0xd76aa478, 0xe8c7b756, 0x242070db, 0xc1bdceee,
+  0xf57c0faf, 0x4787c62a, 0xa8304613, 0xfd469501,
+  0x698098d8, 0x8b44f7af, 0xffff5bb1, 0x895cd7be,
+  0x6b901122, 0xfd987193, 0xa679438e, 0x49b40821,
+  0xf61e2562, 0xc040b340, 0x265e5a51, 0xe9b6c7aa,
+  0xd62f105d, 0x02441453, 0xd8a1e681, 0xe7d3fbc8,
+  0x21e1cde6, 0xc33707d6, 0xf4d50d87, 0x455a14ed,
+  0xa9e3e905, 0xfcefa3f8, 0x676f02d9, 0x8d2a4c8a,
+  0xfffa3942, 0x8771f681, 0x6d9d6122, 0xfde5380c,
+  0xa4beea44, 0x4bdecfa9, 0xf6bb4b60, 0xbebfbc70,
+  0x289b7ec6, 0xeaa127fa, 0xd4ef3085, 0x04881d05,
+  0xd9d4d039, 0xe6db99e5, 0x1fa27cf8, 0xc4ac5665,
+  0xf4292244, 0x432aff97, 0xab9423a7, 0xfc93a039,
+  0x655b59c3, 0x8f0ccc92, 0xffeff47d, 0x85845dd1,
+  0x6fa87e4f, 0xfe2ce6e0, 0xa3014314, 0x4e0811a1,
+  0xf7537e82, 0xbd3af235, 0x2ad7d2bb, 0xeb86d391,
+  0x67452301, 0xefcdab89, 0x98badcfe, 0x10325476
+}
+
+local f=function (x,y,z) return bit_or(bit_and(x,y),bit_and(-x-1,z)) end
+local g=function (x,y,z) return bit_or(bit_and(x,z),bit_and(y,-z-1)) end
+local h=function (x,y,z) return bit_xor(x,bit_xor(y,z)) end
+local i=function (x,y,z) return bit_xor(y,bit_or(x,-z-1)) end
+local z=function (f,a,b,c,d,x,s,ac)
+  a=bit_and(a+f(b,c,d)+x+ac,0xFFFFFFFF)
+  -- be *very* careful that left shift does not cause rounding!
+  return bit_or(bit_lshift(bit_and(a,bit_rshift(0xFFFFFFFF,s)),s),bit_rshift(a,32-s))+b
+end
+
+local function transform(A,B,C,D,X)
+  local a,b,c,d=A,B,C,D
+  local t=CONSTS
+
+  a=z(f,a,b,c,d,X[ 0], 7,t[ 1])
+  d=z(f,d,a,b,c,X[ 1],12,t[ 2])
+  c=z(f,c,d,a,b,X[ 2],17,t[ 3])
+  b=z(f,b,c,d,a,X[ 3],22,t[ 4])
+  a=z(f,a,b,c,d,X[ 4], 7,t[ 5])
+  d=z(f,d,a,b,c,X[ 5],12,t[ 6])
+  c=z(f,c,d,a,b,X[ 6],17,t[ 7])
+  b=z(f,b,c,d,a,X[ 7],22,t[ 8])
+  a=z(f,a,b,c,d,X[ 8], 7,t[ 9])
+  d=z(f,d,a,b,c,X[ 9],12,t[10])
+  c=z(f,c,d,a,b,X[10],17,t[11])
+  b=z(f,b,c,d,a,X[11],22,t[12])
+  a=z(f,a,b,c,d,X[12], 7,t[13])
+  d=z(f,d,a,b,c,X[13],12,t[14])
+  c=z(f,c,d,a,b,X[14],17,t[15])
+  b=z(f,b,c,d,a,X[15],22,t[16])
+
+  a=z(g,a,b,c,d,X[ 1], 5,t[17])
+  d=z(g,d,a,b,c,X[ 6], 9,t[18])
+  c=z(g,c,d,a,b,X[11],14,t[19])
+  b=z(g,b,c,d,a,X[ 0],20,t[20])
+  a=z(g,a,b,c,d,X[ 5], 5,t[21])
+  d=z(g,d,a,b,c,X[10], 9,t[22])
+  c=z(g,c,d,a,b,X[15],14,t[23])
+  b=z(g,b,c,d,a,X[ 4],20,t[24])
+  a=z(g,a,b,c,d,X[ 9], 5,t[25])
+  d=z(g,d,a,b,c,X[14], 9,t[26])
+  c=z(g,c,d,a,b,X[ 3],14,t[27])
+  b=z(g,b,c,d,a,X[ 8],20,t[28])
+  a=z(g,a,b,c,d,X[13], 5,t[29])
+  d=z(g,d,a,b,c,X[ 2], 9,t[30])
+  c=z(g,c,d,a,b,X[ 7],14,t[31])
+  b=z(g,b,c,d,a,X[12],20,t[32])
+
+  a=z(h,a,b,c,d,X[ 5], 4,t[33])
+  d=z(h,d,a,b,c,X[ 8],11,t[34])
+  c=z(h,c,d,a,b,X[11],16,t[35])
+  b=z(h,b,c,d,a,X[14],23,t[36])
+  a=z(h,a,b,c,d,X[ 1], 4,t[37])
+  d=z(h,d,a,b,c,X[ 4],11,t[38])
+  c=z(h,c,d,a,b,X[ 7],16,t[39])
+  b=z(h,b,c,d,a,X[10],23,t[40])
+  a=z(h,a,b,c,d,X[13], 4,t[41])
+  d=z(h,d,a,b,c,X[ 0],11,t[42])
+  c=z(h,c,d,a,b,X[ 3],16,t[43])
+  b=z(h,b,c,d,a,X[ 6],23,t[44])
+  a=z(h,a,b,c,d,X[ 9], 4,t[45])
+  d=z(h,d,a,b,c,X[12],11,t[46])
+  c=z(h,c,d,a,b,X[15],16,t[47])
+  b=z(h,b,c,d,a,X[ 2],23,t[48])
+
+  a=z(i,a,b,c,d,X[ 0], 6,t[49])
+  d=z(i,d,a,b,c,X[ 7],10,t[50])
+  c=z(i,c,d,a,b,X[14],15,t[51])
+  b=z(i,b,c,d,a,X[ 5],21,t[52])
+  a=z(i,a,b,c,d,X[12], 6,t[53])
+  d=z(i,d,a,b,c,X[ 3],10,t[54])
+  c=z(i,c,d,a,b,X[10],15,t[55])
+  b=z(i,b,c,d,a,X[ 1],21,t[56])
+  a=z(i,a,b,c,d,X[ 8], 6,t[57])
+  d=z(i,d,a,b,c,X[15],10,t[58])
+  c=z(i,c,d,a,b,X[ 6],15,t[59])
+  b=z(i,b,c,d,a,X[13],21,t[60])
+  a=z(i,a,b,c,d,X[ 4], 6,t[61])
+  d=z(i,d,a,b,c,X[11],10,t[62])
+  c=z(i,c,d,a,b,X[ 2],15,t[63])
+  b=z(i,b,c,d,a,X[ 9],21,t[64])
+
+  return A+a,B+b,C+c,D+d
+end
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------
+
+function md5.sumhexa(s)
+  local msgLen = #s
+  local padLen = 56 - msgLen % 64
+
+  if msgLen % 64 > 56 then padLen = padLen + 64 end
+
+  if padLen == 0 then padLen = 64 end
+
+  s = s .. char(128) .. rep(char(0),padLen-1) .. lei2str(8*msgLen) .. lei2str(0)
+
+  assert(#s % 64 == 0)
+
+  local t = CONSTS
+  local a,b,c,d = t[65],t[66],t[67],t[68]
+
+  for i=1,#s,64 do
+    local X = cut_le_str(sub(s,i,i+63),4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4)
+    assert(#X == 16)
+    X[0] = table.remove(X,1) -- zero based!
+    a,b,c,d = transform(a,b,c,d,X)
+  end
+
+  return format("%08x%08x%08x%08x",swap(a),swap(b),swap(c),swap(d))
+end
+
+function md5.sum(s)
+  return hex2binary(md5.sumhexa(s))
+end
+
+return md5