🔋 Google rolls out Gemini Omni Flash for autonomous video creation across apps

Google has started rolling out Gemini Omni Flash, its new multimodal AI model that can generate and edit videos using text, images, audio and video inputs. YouTube Shorts and the YouTube Create app are among the first platforms where Omni Flash capabilities are being introduced.

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🇰🇷 South Korea to review scrapping crypto tax plan after national petition hits 50,000 signatures

South Korean legislators are set to review the possible abolition of the crypto tax plan scheduled to take effect next year, after a national petition surpassed the required number of signatures.

❗️Currently, South Korea is set to levy a 22% tax on crypto income exceeding the 2.5 million Korean won ($1,650) threshold. This tax program has already been delayed three times due to controversy over fairness and underdeveloped infrastructure.

📑 On Thursday, the petition seeking to repeal the planned crypto tax reached the required 50,000 signatures at around 11:23 a.m. local time. This came eight days after the petition was submitted to the National Assembly. Under the rules of South Korea's national petition program, the motion was referred to a legislative committee on Thursday.

"The issue is not simply a debate over tax rates," — the petitioner wrote in the translated motion. "It is fundamentally a question of how the government views and plans to nurture the future of the financial industry and digital assets."

In the motion, the anonymous petitioner argued that taxing gains from cryptocurrencies is unfair for investors, especially after South Korea abolished income taxes on traditional financial investments, such as stocks and bonds.

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🏛 Meta quietly released a new Reddit-like app called Forum

Meta has quietly released a new standalone app for Facebook Groups, called “Forum.” The company seems to be positioning Forum as a platform that functions similarly to Reddit, describing the app as a “dedicated space built for deeper discussions, real answers and communities you care about.”

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⚡️ Rubio to Meet India’s Modi With Energy, Trade Ties in Focus

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, with energy security high on the agenda. Ahead of the visit, Rubio said Washington was prepared to supply more energy to the world’s most-populous nation.

#BRICS

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💸 SoftBank donates $50M to Trump’s presidential library

Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group recently donated $50 million to the Trump presidential library and foundation. The donation from SoftBank is one of the largest known gifts to the fund.

One of the president’s sons, Eric Trump, and one of his sons-in-law, Michael Boulos, recently established a nonprofit to support the library fund. More than $37 million from lawsuits involving ABC News and Meta Platforms, as well as tens of millions of leftover inauguration funds, are expected to fund construction of the complex.

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🇺🇸 Trump posted on Truth Social.

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🧑‍⚖️ Class-action price-fixing lawsuit targets hard drive component makers as costs skyrocket

A class-action lawsuit was filed against nearly every major hard drive suspension assembly maker, alleging that said companies' price-fixing efforts resulted in higher drive prices for resellers and end users. The documents were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and name two groups of defendants, one related to TDK Corporation and the other to NHK Spring.

The assemblies produced by these firms are reportedly found in 97% of worldwide HDDs, so it's reasonable enough to assume drives from all major HDD brands are covered by this lawsuit — to wit, Seagate, Western Digital, and Toshiba.

The price-fixing scheme allegedly ran from January 2003 to December 31, 2016, raising hard drive manufacturing prices, which were then passed on to customers. Should the lawsuit succeed, U.S. resellers and end users who purchased hard drives or computers including them could be eligible for monetary compensation.

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🇯🇵🇨🇳 Japan’s Akazawa Says He Spoke Briefly With China Commerce Minister

Japanese Trade Minister Ryosei Akazawa and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao had a brief chat on Friday, the first ministerial-level exchange of words between the two nations since a diplomatic standoff started in November.

#BRICS

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🇭🇰 Hong Kong’s First Astronaut Joins Mission to China Space Station

Hong Kong’s first astronaut, a former police officer with a doctorate in computer forensics, will join a Chinese mission to its space station on Sunday, in what the city’s Chief Executive John Lee described as a “historic moment.”

Lee congratulated Lai Ka-ying, a payload expert born and raised in the city, in a statement on Saturday, saying her selection to join the Shenzhou-23 crew was not only “affirmation of her own capability, but also a testimony to the country’s high recognition of Hong Kong’s I&T talent, development, and achievements.”

#BRICS

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🇧🇩 Bangladesh Central Bank Launches $5 Billion Fund to Spur Growth

Bangladesh’s central bank unveiled a 600 billion-taka ($5 billion) package to boost economic growth, revive shuttered factories and support small businesses. Some 410 billion taka will be raised from banks with excess liquidity at a 10% interest rate, while the remaining 190 billion taka will come from Bangladesh Bank’s own reserves, Governor Mostaqur Rahman said.

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🚀 SpaceX just launched Starship V3 — its most powerful megarocket yet — into space for the 1st time in spectacular Flight 12 test

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⚡️🇺🇸 Trump says that after a call with relevant leaders "An Agreement has been largely negotiated, subject to finalization," with details of the deal to be "announced shortly."

"Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly. In addition to many other elements of the Agreement, the Strait of Hormuz will be opened," — Trump said.

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🌍 Starlink, in collaboration with Brazilian non-profit Redes do Futuro, is connecting 140 schools across Brazil’s remote Amazon region to reliable high-speed internet.

More than 14,000 students now have access to online learning tools, unlocking a world of possibility and potential 👏

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🤖 Audi enthusiast upgrades 2001 A4 gear shift with old smartwatch in 3D-printed housing

The project started as just a bit of digital bling for the gear stick, but inspired by fellow Redditor comments, Desmontei vibe coded a WearOS app to add gear indicator and media control gestures to the repurposed digital dial. The watch face was secured to the gear stick very carefully, using a 3D-printed mount with tight tolerances.

The video shows how the smartwatch display is changing to match the current gear stick selection. Desmontei’s repurposed TicWatch Pro 3 also doubles as an intuitive media controller. It can change tracks in Spotify with back, forward, and pause swipes on the screen.

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