World Economic Forum in Davos 2025

Monday, 3 February 2025

The Arctic's 'Last Ice Area' may vanish even faster than predicted. — 3 February 2025 (LINK)

— Based on the calculations, the central Arctic Ocean could become seasonally ice-free every year as early as 2035, with the last remaining permanent ice disappearing about 6-24 years after the seasonal pattern is established.

— The new model is more comprehensive in accounting for sea currents and ice flow, which in turn accelerates how quickly the last ice area becomes seasonally ice-free after the central Arctic Ocean does.

UN documents 'alarming rise' in Russian executions of captured Ukrainians. — 3 February 2025 (LINK)

Trump plans to withdraw the U.S. from the United Nations Human Rights Council. — 3 February 2025 (LINK)

— During his first term as president, Trump also cut ties with the UNHRC, an organization that U.S. leaders from both parties have long said has a bias against Israel.

Key State Department programmes 'wiped out' after dozens of contractors fired: The deep cuts to the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor — which focuses on advancing democracy — is the latest way Trump is trying to slash foreign aid. — 3 February 2025 (LINK limited)

2.2 billion gallons of water flowed out of central California reservoirs because of Trump’s order to open dams, but it was the wrong place nd time. — 3 February 2025 (LINK)

— Water experts said the newly released water will not flow to Los Angeles, and it is being wasted by being released during the wet winter season. "They were holding extra water in those reservoirs because of the risk that it would be a dry summer," said Heather Cooley, director of research for California water policy organization the Pacific Institute. "This puts agriculture at risk of insufficient water during the summer months."

Trump has extreme new demand for Ukraine if it wants to see any aid: after halting all federal aid, Donald Trump wants access to Ukraine's land. — 3 February 2025 (LINK)

— "I want to have security of rare earth," Trump said. "We're putting in hundreds of billions of dollars. They have great rare earth. And I want security of the rare earth, and they're willing to do it." Rare earths are minerals that go into making various technologies like phones and computers.

Elon Musk just got an official title in the U.S. Government. Does it come with a paycheck? Musk has an office at the White House and a new title of "Special Government Employee". CNN reports that Musk is not being paid. — 3 February 2025 (LINK)

Senate confirms fossil fuel executive Chris Wright as energy secretary. — 3 February 2025 (LINK)

WHO chief asks countries to push Washington to reconsider its withdrawal: For 2024-2025, the U.S. is WHO's biggest donor by far, putting in an estimated $988 million, roughly 14% of WHO's $6.9 billion budget. — 3 February 2025 (LINK)

Here's every product Trump just made more expensive. — 3 February 2025 (LINK)

Where USAID funds are disbursed around the world. — 3 February 2025 (LINK)

— Ukraine was the top recipient of foreign assistance funds in FY 2023, with over $16 billion issued. Israel received more than $2.2 billion in disbursements, while Ethiopia and Jordan each received over $1 billion. Other top recipients also included Somalia, Afghanistan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Elon Musk finally makes admission about Tesla that backtracks on decade long 'promise': despite having sold it as both a package and a subscription service, it has largely been unavailable to most owners: but FSD (full selfdriving) won't be coming to anyone with current HW3 self-driving tech inside their car. — 3 February 2025 (LINK)

Ontario cancels, then restores, $68 million Starlink contract after protesting US tariffs. — 3 February 2025 (LINK)

Amazon's exit from Quebec is a wake-up call for workers' rights in the US. — 3 February 2025 (LINK)

Cholesterol-lowering statins may reduce dementia risk by 63%, study says. — 3 February 2025 (LINK)

California's monarch butterfly population plummets to fewer than 10,000: the second-lowest population recorded since tracking began in 1997. An all-time low of fewer than 2,000 monarchs was recorded in 2020. — 3 February 2025 (LINK)

I tested DeepSeek vs Qwen 2.5 with 7 prompts — Qwen 2.5 won on all counts. — 3 February 2025 (LINK)

— Qwen 2.5 emerges as the overall winner due to its superior clarity, depth, reasoning, creativity, and transparency. With well-structured and more detailed responses, Qwen 2.5 consistently provides deeper analysis with well-organized sections, clear explanations, and logical flow. Whether discussing historical events, AI personhood, or self-awareness, its responses are thorough and easy to follow.

— While DeepSeek is still a solid AI for quick responses, it lacks depth, originality, and nuanced discussion. If you're looking for an AI that excels in critical thinking, storytelling, and insightful analysis, Qwen 2.5 is the clear winner.

DeepSeek's AI costs far exceed $5.5 million claim, may have reached $1.6 billion with 50,000 Nvidia GPUs: $5.5 million was the pre-training cost. — 3 February 2025 (LINK)

Sunday, 2 February 2025

Confusion over federal funding freeze prompts public health concerns. — 2 February 2025 (LINK)

Trump's trade war among allies triggers retaliation from Canada and Mexico. — 2 February 2025 (LINK)

— Canada initially ordered tariffs of 25% on American imports starting Feb. 4, including beverages, cosmetics and paper products worth $20 billion. A second list of goods was to be released soon, including passenger vehicles, trucks, steel and aluminum products, certain fruits and vegetables, beef, pork, dairy products and more. Those goods were estimated to be worth $85 billion. Mexico has so far said only that it will impose retaliatory tariffs, without mentioning any rate or products.

Trump warns 'We're Gonna Take' Panama Canal back or 'Something Very Powerful is Going to Happen'. — 2 February 2025 (LINK)

Trump tariffs: calls on Canada to become '51st state', threatens South Africa funding. — 2 February 2025 (LINK)

Trump's Gitmo Detention Center would be bigger than history's worst concentration camps. — 2 February 2025 (LINK)

The Hill: Trump exacts revenge on former allies who criticized him. — 2 February 2025 (LINK)

The young, inexperienced engineers aiding Elon Musk's Government takeover. — 2 February 2025 (LINK)

— Most have connections to Musk, and at least two have connections to Musk's longtime associate Peter Thiel, a cofounder and chair of the analytics firm and government contractor Palantir who has long expressed opposition to democracy. WIRED has identified six young men —all apparently between the ages of 19 and 24, according to public databases, their online presences, and other records —who have little to no government experience and are now playing critical roles in Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project.

LGBTQ Nation: In the Trump administration, cruelty is the point: blind loyalty is the only path to mercy. — 2 February 2025 (LINK)

Robert Reich: Don't just focus on the Trump acts we find most outrageous: keep your eye on the big picture: the aim is to concentrate ever more power in Trump's hands, so he can concentrate ever more wealth in the oligarchy's control. — 2 February 2025 (LINK)

Female pilot in crash Trump blamed on DEI was top 20% Army cadet. — 2 February 2025 (LINK)

Trump hits out at Murdoch's mouthpiece WSJ for calling tariffs 'dumbest trade war'. — 2 February 2025 (LINK)

Elon Musk seizes computer system, locks out senior government officials: the latest in Musk's DOGE takeover sees the Tesla CEO in charge of the computer system managing government personnel. — 2 February 2025 (LINK)

El Salvador abandons Bitcoin as legal tender after failed experiment. — 2 February 2025 (LINK)

— Congress, dominated by the ruling party, approved on 29 January a confusing reform to the Bitcoin Law at the request of Bukele's government, which had no other option to receive the $1.4 billion credit agreed in December with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The reform eliminated the word "currency" when referring to bitcoin.

— It will be at the discretion of the private sector to accept cryptocurrency payments for goods and services. Businesses are no longer required to convert dollar prices into this cryptocurrency. “Bitcoin no longer has that force of legal tender. That’s how it should have always remained, but the government wanted to force it and it didn’t work,” economist Rafael Lemus said.

Grammys 2025: Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar win top prizes. — 2 February 2025 (LINK)

Lady Gaga declares ‘trans people are not invisible’ in Grammy speech. — (LINK)

Trevor Noah slams Donald Trump’s tariffs during Grammys monologue: "Maple syrup is about to be $50". — (LINK)

Man arrested for raising $60 million for AI startup, instead spending it on luxurious lifestyle: "To our shock and horror, we discovered that, in reality, the account balance in that bank was only 37 cents." — 2 February 2025 (LINK)

New theory unites Einstein’s theory of relativity with quantum mechanics. — 2 February 2025 (LINK)

Saturday, 1 February 2025

President Donald Trump announced in a social media post that he has ordered "precision military air strikes," on members of the ISIS terrorist organization. — 1 February 2025 (LINK)

Meta confirms WhatsApp cyberattack. — 1 February 2025 (LINK)

— Meta has confirmed that a zero-click, no-interaction required hacking attack has impacted users of the WhatsApp secure messaging platform. The hack "targeted a number of users including journalists and members of civil society," and is currently notifying those thought to have been victims of the as yet unnamed attackers.

Pardoned by Trump, founder of Silk Road now appears to be squandering donations on stupid meme coins. — 1 February 2025 (LINK)

Swiss bank UBS tests blockchain for digital gold investments on ZKsync, aiming to enhance security, scalability and accessibility for retail investors. — 1 February 2025 (LINK)

Thinking of living abroad? 15 best countries free visa 1 year for Americans. — 1 February 2025 (LINK)

What life on Earth will look like in 2100 according to AI: entire cities plunged underwater and millions of people perishing in the heat. — 1 February 2025 (LINK)

Microsoft is killing its "free" VPN with Microsoft 365 subscriptions, just days after increasing prices. — 1 February 2025 (LINK)

Google is about to cut employees again, and it just did the 1 thing every company should do: offer severance to employees who voluntarily choose to leave. — 1 February 2025 (LINK)