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Peace prospects look bleak in Myanmar as a civil war rages
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- South China Morning Post
Alibaba's updated Qwen AI model overtakes DeepSeek's V3 in chatbot ranking
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding's latest open-source Qwen artificial intelligence (AI) model surpassed DeepSeek-V3 to become the top-ranked non-reasoning model from a Chinese developer, according to a third-party benchmarking and ranking platform, highlighting the rapid pace of Chinese firms' advance in the emerging technology. Alibaba Cloud's Qwen2.5-Max, launched during the Lunar New Year holiday, has climbed to seventh place on Chatbot Arena, a benchmarking project developed by
HuffPost4 Password Rules Everyone Should Follow, According To Data Security Experts
Whatever you do, experts say this one particular step is crucial.
- CoinDesk
XRP Ledger ‘Self-Healed’ After Brief Downtime
“One possible failure mode for XRPL is if all the validators think something's wrong with the network, all refuse to send any validations,” the Ripple CTO explained.
- PA Media: UK News
Ofcom drops OnlyFans probe into underage user access
The regulator first opened an investigation into the adult-only subscription site in May last year.
- TechCrunch
The biggest breach of US government data is under way
Operatives working for Elon Musk have gained unprecedented access to a swath of U.S. government departments — including agencies responsible for managing data on millions of federal employees and a system that handles $6 trillion in payments to Americans. During the past two weeks, Musk's group of representatives — a presidential advisory board within the Trump administration known as the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE — have taken control of top federal departments and datasets, despite questions about their security clearances, their cybersecurity practices, and the legality of Musk's activities. Whether a feat or a coup (which depends entirely on your point of view), a small group of mostly young, private-sector employees from Musk's businesses and associates — many with no prior government experience — can now view and, in some cases, control the federal government’s most sensitive data held on millions of Americans and the nation's closest allies.
- South China Morning Post
China Future Tech webinar | How is DeepSeek shaping the race for AI supremacy?
Date and time: Monday, February 10, 2025 | 10.30am-11.30am HKT Add to calendar: iOS | Google | Outlook Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek has sent shock waves through Silicon Valley and Wall Street with its low-cost, high-performance models
- TechCrunch
Amazon doubles down on AI with a massive $100B spending plan for 2025
Despite all the buzz last week that DeepSeek would herald in an era of lower AI budgets, there is zero sign that Big Tech is slowing down. Amazon is the latest tech giant to announce a massive AI spending plan, with well over $100 billion in predicted capital expenditures for 2025. The "vast majority" of that $100 billion will go toward AI capabilities for its cloud division AWS, CEO Andy Jassy said during Amazon’s fourth-quarter earnings call Thursday.
- Reuters
Google scraps diversity-based hiring targets
Alphabet's Google is scrapping its goal to hire more employees from underrepresented groups and is reviewing some of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, joining a slew of U.S. businesses scaling back diversity initiatives. "In 2020, we set aspirational hiring goals and focused on growing our offices outside California and New York to improve representation," Fiona Cicconi, Alphabet's chief people officer, said in the memo on Wednesday, a copy which was reviewed by Reuters. "...but in the future we will no longer have aspirational goals."
- AFP News
Australia bans DeepSeek AI program on government devices
Australia has banned DeepSeek from all government devices on the advice of security agencies, a top official said Wednesday, citing privacy and malware risks posed by China's breakout AI program.TikTok was banned from government devices in 2023 on the advice of Australian intelligence agencies.
- Evening Standard
Bianca Censori’s mum and sister break their silence on star's nude Grammys stunt amid outrage
Censori, 30, shocked onlookers by appearing naked on the red carpet in see-through dress on Sunday night
- Cinema Online
Mainland actor Liang Youcheng dies of suspected influenza
The rising actor succumbed to flu complications, following Barbie Hsu's tragic death
- Yahoo News Singapore
Former Singapore President criticises Trump’s Gaza proposal; 111 Singaporeans marked for deportation from US: Singapore live news
Yahoo Singapore is featuring a curated selection of some of the biggest, most important, and fascinating news that's making waves online.
- The Daily Beast
Trump Administration Evicts Ex-Coast Guard Leader With Shockingly Little Notice
A former four-star Coast Guard admiral was forced to leave behind most of her belongings after the Trump administration gave her just three hours to vacate her home on Tuesday, according to NBC News. Linda Fagan, an ex-Coast Guard commandant who was also the first female leader of a military branch, was evicted from her home at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling by the Department of Homeland Security after she was fired by President Donald Trump on Inauguration Day. A Homeland Security official confir
- Yahoo News Singapore
Barbie Hsu reportedly visited multiple hospitals in Japan before tragic death; Singapore puts controls on race-based business groups: Singapore live news
Yahoo Singapore is featuring a curated selection of some of the biggest, most important, and fascinating news that's making waves online.
- Bloomberg
Singapore’s ex-transport minister Iswaran on home detention, CNA reports
Former Singapore transport minister S Iswaran will serve the remainder of his 12-month jail sentence in home detention, the nation’s prison service said.
- Evening Standard
£1.38m London watch robbery 'was staged' and everyone consented, defendant claims
Office manager Oliver White, 27, died by suicide the next day ‘as a direct result’ of the robbery in which he was tied up and put in headlock, jurors were previously told
- HuffPost Life
‘Full Bush In A Bikini’ Is Trending On TikTok. Here's Why It's A Thing.
Gen Z-ers want you to know that the bush is back, and it's political as ever.
- Evening Standard
Tottenham: Ange Postecoglou points to 'major lesson' for players after meek exit against Liverpool
Spurs boss criticised his side’s lack of “conviction” in heavy defeat
- HuffPost
A Grocery What?!? Karoline Leavitt’s Briefing Blunder Leaves Everyone Confused
The Trump White House press secretary's gaffe prompted two words to trend online.
- INSIDER
US destroyers in the Red Sea conflict defeated enemy weapons without firing a shot, changing the way warships fight
Documents obtained by Business Insider reveal multiple incidents where US Navy destroyers used "non-kinetic" capabilities to defeat Houthi drones.