Friday, 31 January 2025

At least 700 killed in DR Congo fighting since Sunday — UN. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

Rwanda-backed rebels move deeper into eastern Congo as UN reports executions and rapes. — 31 January 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 52 media reports (LINK)

2 killed as Israel says it struck 'multiple' Hezbollah targets in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. — 31 January 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 24 media reports (LINK)

Hamas names 3 Israeli hostages to be freed, including dual US citizen Keith Siegel and dual French citizen Ofer Kalderon, in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

British-Israeli hostage says Hamas held her at UN facilities. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

Switzerland's publicly-owned central bank bought $1.8 million in Trump Media shares. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

— This is according to an SEC filing from November obtained by CREW. The transaction marks the first known apparent instance of a foreign government-connected entity being invested in the president's public company.

Italy blocks access to the Chinese AI application DeepSeek to protect users' data. — 31 January 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 92 media reports (LINK)

— This block means that DeepSeek will not be available on app stores in Italy. However, the ban could be bypassed online through use of virtual private networks.

Alibaba's Qwen 2.5 is better than DeepSeek's R1 but underperformed in creative writing tasks if compared to other AI models. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

Senior USAID official ousted after fighting back against removal of career leadership: dozens of senior career civil servants and foreign service officers have been placed on administrative leave and hundreds of contractors were fired or furloughed, sources said. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

Ex-senior U.S. Federal Reserve advisor charged with economic espionage to benefit China. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

Federal websites down as agencies implement executive order 'defending women'. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

Trump White House marks Black History Month while Defense Department declares 'identity months dead'. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

Brett Kavanaugh has very bad news for Donald Trump: A federal judge just blocked Trump's domestic spending freeze. His opinion relies heavily on another one by Justice Kavanaugh. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

Elon Musk's cronies locking federal workers out of computer systems: aides overseeing OPM have taken over critical computer systems — locking everyone else out. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

ProPublica: Trump Administration said it lifted its ban on lifesaving humanitarian aid. That's not true. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

Trump says he's sending water to L.A. It's actually going to megafarms. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

— His attempt to relax water restrictions would move more water to large farms in the state's sparsely populated Central Valley, a longtime pet issue for the president, who attempted a similar maneuver during his first term. This time he's going further, proposing to gut endangered species rules and overrule state policy to deliver a win for the influential farmers who backed all three of his campaigns.

Federal websites down as agencies implement executive order 'defending women'. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

USDA ordered to scrub climate change from websites. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

Pentagon removes major media outlets, including NBC News, from dedicated workstations in new 'rotation program': NBC News, The New York Times, NPR and Politico must vacate their office spaces in two weeks for other news organizations — including at least one that did not request to be added. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

McDonald's settles lawsuit over Latino scholarship program by opening door to non-Latino applicants. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

Gemini co-founder vows not to hire MIT grads as long as Gary Gensler teaches there. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

Toward a new definition of obesity: in a 42-page article, entitled "Definition and diagnostic criteria of clinical obesity", published in The Lancet: Diabetes & Endocrinology, 56 global experts say genetic factors and social conditioning are powerful processes, and we should no longer consider people in situations of obesity as solely responsible for their behavior. — 31 January 2025 (LINK limited)

NBC chief political analyst and former "Meet The Press" moderator Chuck Todd exiting NBC News after nearly 20 years as Trump starts second term. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

— "Being a real political journalist isn't about building a brand, it's about reporting what's happening and explaining why it's happening and letting the public absorb the facts without judging them for coming to a different conclusion. If you do this job seeking popularity, or to simply be an activist, you are doing this job incorrectly," he said.

DeepSeek's safety guardrails failed every test researchers threw at its AI chatbot: security researchers tested 50 well-known jailbreaks. It didn't stop a single one. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

Swiss tax authority forced to buy Bahamas domain name after URL typo. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

Albinen in Valaisan Switzerland will pay you to 20,000 euros move here: residents enjoy easy access to outdoor activities throughout the year, from winter sports to summer hiking and climbing.. — 31 January 2025 (LINK)

Thursday, 30 January 2025

Israel releases Palestinian prisoners after delay over chaotic hostage handover. — 30 January

2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 154 media reports (LINK)

UNRWA reiterates determination to continue providing humanitarian assistance in the occupied Palestinian territories, despite the enactment of two Israeli laws that prohibit its operations. — 30 January 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 92 media reports (LINK)

South China Sea: Philippines arrests five more Chinese for 'spying' on Philippine Navy assets in Palawan. — 30 January 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 16 media reports (LINK)

Nicaragua amends constitution, grants 'absolute power' to president and his wife. — 30 January 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 80 media reports (LINK)

19 bodies found in vessel drifting in the Caribbean Sea of St Kitts and Nevis. — 30 January 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 27 media reports (LINK)

US Copyright Office rules AI-generated content requires human creativity for protection. — 30 january 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 59 media reports (LINK)

Trump raised millions from crypto firms for his inauguration: Coinbase, Kraken, Galaxy Digital each gave $1 million. Energy producers and tech firms also donated to festivities. — 30 January 2025 (LINK)

Study finds India doubled its tiger population in a decade and credits conservation efforts. — 30 January 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 24 media reports (LINK)

— The study found that some local communities near tiger habitats have also benefited from the increase in tigers because of the foot traffic and revenues brought in by ecotourism.

Remember DeepSeek? Two New AI models say they're even better: the Allen Institute for AI and Alibaba have unveiled powerful language models that challenge DeepSeek's dominance in the open-source AI race. — 30 January 2025 (LINK)

Wednesday, 29 January 2025

No survivors in passenger jet and helicopter crash at Washington's Reagan Airport.American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, resulting in 64 fatalities from the flight and three from the helicopter. The American Airlines flight was carrying members of the figure skating community from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington, D.C. — 29 January 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 680 media reports (LINK)

US and Russian figure skaters among passengers. — (LINK)

Trump admin emails air traffic controllers: quit your jobs. — 30 January 2025 (LINK)

— "We encourage you to find a job in the private sector as soon as you would like to do so," stated the email sent by the Office of Personnel Management."The way to greater American prosperity is encouraging people to move from lower productivity jobs in the public sector to higher productivity jobs in the private sector."

Iraqi anti-Islam activist known for Quran burnings shot dead in Sweden. — 29 January 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 347 media reports (LINK)

— Salwan Momika was charged with "agitation against an ethnic group" along with Salwan Najem for their protests in 2023. Swedish police arrested five people in connection with the shooting of Momika.

Maybe 30 dead after stampede at Maha Kumbh Hindu festival in northern India. — 29 January 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 402 media reports (LINK)

Trump administration to cancel student visas of pro-Palestinian protesters. — 29 January 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 27 media reports (LINK)

Canada threatens to cut off electricity to US due to potential tariffs. — 29 January 2025 (LINK)

Report doesn't show $50m for condoms in Gaza as Trump spokeswoman claimed — but does show Trump shipped condoms worldwide in first Presidency. — 29 January 2025 (LINK)

White House rescinds federal aid freeze. — 29 January 2025 (LINK)

EU gives Denmark 'full support' against Trump's threats, EU Council President Costa tells Euronews. — 29 January 2025 (LINK)

Six months into his tenure, Swiss vice-chancellor to step down in March: The government said Arcidiacono's departure is voluntary and mainly due to personal reasons. — 29 January 2025 (LINK)

China's Alibaba releases AI model QWEN 2.5 it says surpasses DeepSeek: scored better on several performance tests than DeepSeek, OpenAI, and Meta models. Annoucement coinciding with the first day of the Lunar New Year — an intentional move. — 29 January 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 66 media reports (LINK)

Tuesday, 28 January 2025

Rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo say they have taken key city of Goma. — 28 January 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 352 media reports (LINK)

Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump administration freeze on federal grants and loans. — 28 January 2025 (LINK)

The Office of Management and Budget has released a memo, obtained by POLITICO, explaining that benefits like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and student loans would not be affected by its freeze on spending — nor would Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security payments. "Funds for small business, farmers, Pell grants, Head Start, rental assistance, and other similar programs will not be paused," the new memo adds. — 28 January 2025 (LINK)

Caroline Kennedy warns senators that cousin RFK Jr. is a 'predator'. — 28 January 2025 (LINK)

Chat GPT fights back against China's Deep Seek with new version for US Govt. — 28 January 2025 (LINK)

DeepSeek hit with large-scale cyberattack, says it's limiting registrations. — 28 January 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 367 media reports (LINK)

Serbian PM quits after months of nationwide protests over corruption and alleged lack of oversight on construction projects after deadly collapse of a railway station canopy killed 15. — 28 January 2025 (LINK)

French authorities investigate Binance over alleged money laundering, tax fraud, drug trafficking: report. — 28 January 2025 (LINK)

EU lacks guidance from Commission on AI prohibitions, as rules start to apply. — 28 January 2025 (LINK)

California immediately slaps down Trump's claim he 'turned on the water'. — 28 January 2025 (LINK)

In a new surprise, President Trump announces America will order 40 big icebreakers: committing America to a massive, as-yet un-funded 40-icebreaker buildup. — 28 January 2025 (LINK: limited)

Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich dodged millions in UK tax with superyachts-for-hire scheme. — 28 January 2025 (LINK)

— The scheme falsely presented the Russian oligarch's fleet of yachts as a commercial leasing operation, to dodge millions of euros in VAT on their purchase and running costs.

— In a statement, lawyers for Mr Abramovich — who now reportedly divides his time between Istanbul, Tel Aviv and the Russian resort of Sochi — said he had "always obtained independent expert professional tax and legal advice" and "acted in accordance" with it.

NPR: All the executive orders Trump has signed after 1 week in office. — 28 January 2025 (LINK)

Trump spares no expense wasting taxpayer money on deportation plane photo-op stunt: he's using military transport planes for deportations instead of commercial passenger planes at a cost many magnitudes greater (video). — 28 January 2025 (LINK)

Trump Media grants large amounts of stock to directors, including two who are Trump administration nominees. — 28 January 2025 (LINK)

Monday, 27 January 2025

Climate change is disrupting food systems across Latin America, WFP report says. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

The planet had $58bn weather disasters in 2024, the second-highest on record (after 2023 which had $72bn!). — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

— The total damage wrought by weather disasters in 2024 was $402 billion, 20% higher than the 10-year inflation-adjusted average. Gallagher Re's historical database extends back to 1990.) A separate report issued January 18 by insurance broker Aon put the total damage wrought by weather disasters in 2024 at $348 billion, with 53 billion-dollar weather disasters.

Displaced Palestinians begin return to Northern Gaza after ceasefire agreement. — 27 January 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 470 media reports (LINK)

Israel says eight of the 33 remaining hostages to be released by Hamas in phase one of deal are dead. — 27 January 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 34 media reports (LINK)

EU agrees on 'step-by-step' roadmap to start easing sanctions on Syria. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

Trump White House orders freeze on federal grants, loans. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

Trump calls for 'Iron Dome' for US Homeland missile defence. — 27 January 2025 (LINK) — ground.news: 182 media reports (LINK)

What to know about Trump's first executive actions on climate and environment. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

Trump administration stops distribution of hiv medications in poor countries. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

Trump suspends aid to Ukraine, vital NGOs 'don't know if they'll survive'. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

Trump Justice Dept. fires a dozen employees tied to Jack Smith probes as officials launch review of Jan. 6 cases. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

Trump fires all 3 Democrats on privacy oversight board. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

CDC staff ordered to cut off communication with WHO. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

ICE makes over 3,500 arrests during Trump's 1st week back in office. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

Google says it will change Gulf of Mexico to 'Gulf of America' in Maps app after government updates. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

Trump says he'll put tariffs on imported chips 'in the near future'. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

Denmark announces $2 billion Arctic security plan. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

Billionaire investor Scott Bessent is confirmed as Treasury secretary: he was confirmed by a vote of 68 to 29, signaling a degree of bipartisan support. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

Seven in Glasgow child sex abuse gang given life sentences: Three victims under the age of 13 were subjected to horrific sexual abuse and violence in a Glasgow drug den dubbed "the beastie house" over a seven-year period. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

DeepSeek a 'wake-up call' for US tech firms, Trump says. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

Is DeepSeek R1 safe?: What you need to know: "DeepSeek R1 appears safe so far outside of government censorship." — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

— DeepSeek R1 does request your data, which will presumably be stored on Chinese-based servers. This is no different from Google or OpenAI requesting your data if you log into them, except the data is stored in the US. For additional precautions, you can use Hugging Face to use the AI in a sandbox environment. While it won't be as fully featured as the downloadable app, it can alleviate some of the concerns of using an app like it. If you want to lock down all the way, you can even host it locally if you have the necessary hardware to run a large language model. Obviously, as with any LLM web interface, don't input sensitive information into the chat. DeepSeek could still be training off of its own responses and interactions with humans, and if that data is hoovered up to train it, it could lead to consequences down the line.

This could be an extinction-level event for venture capital firms that went all-in on foundational model companies. Particularly if those companies haven't yet productized with wide distribution. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

— China's DeepSeek appears to have built AI models that rival OpenAI, while allegedly using much less money, chips, and energy.

DeepSeek's $6 million AI model just blew a $1 trillion hole in the market. 'Here's the only explainer you'll need on this "Sputnik moment".' — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

DeepSeek billionaire rout: Nvidia's Huang and Oracle's Ellison lose combined $48 billion. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

Bitcoin takes a dive below $100k as China's AI DeepSeek rattles markets. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

DeepSeek AI predicts XRP price for end of 2025. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

— As it quickly turned out, despite its impressive speed and apparent reasoning skills, DeepSeek can, at the moment, only rely on its existing dataset. This means it used XRP's price in October 2023 as a starting point. Still, it arrived at a strangely plausible $3.50 average price target and a bull-case forecast of $5-10 for December 31, 2025.

DeepSeek: the new AI leader and its effects on market. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

Trump's meme coin is down 64% from its high. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

Inside a network of AI-generated newsletters targeting "small town America": Good Daily, which operates in 47 states and 355 towns and cities across the U.S., is run by one person. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

UBS releases 'hundreds' of staff in fresh wave of job cuts: UBS is looking to shed another $5.5 billion in costs. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

UBS releases 'hundreds' of staff in fresh wave of job cuts: UBS is looking to shed another $5.5 billion in costs. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)

Infomaniak data centre in Geneva used to heat 6,000 homes. — 27 January 2025 (LINK)