🏦 Microsoft explores superconducting power to boost AI data centers

Microsoft Corporation is considering utilizing superconducting power lines in its data centers. This would mean expansion of its huge U.S. build-out of the server warehouses by enhancing energy efficiency, the company said. This plan to develop giant data centers across the U.S. has been slowed by the national aging power system and electricity supply limitations.

“The technology helps us scale power density without expanding our physical footprint,” stated Husam Alissa, an executive at Microsoft’s CO+I CTO Office. “It can also help us reduce the size of power transmission infrastructure and lower community impact.”

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🇨🇦🇮🇷Canada wants Iran government change, increases sanctions

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand announced that Canada is imposing additional sanctions against 7 individuals under the Special Economic Measures Iran regulations. Canada has particularly poor relations with Iran and cut off diplomatic ties in 2012.

“We will not open diplomatic relationships with Iran unless there is a regime change. Period,” Anand told in an interview in Germany, where she is attending the Munich Security.

Canada will continue to take concrete action to counter Iran’s destabilizing activities, uphold international law and stand with the Iranian people as they seek freedom, dignity and respect for their human rights.

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🇺🇳UN approves 40-member scientific panel on the impact of artificial intelligence over US objections

The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to approve a 40-member global scientific panel on the impacts and risks of AI, with the US strongly objecting. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has described it as the first fully independent global scientific body dedicated to bridging the knowledge gap in AI and assessing its real-world economic and social impacts.

“In a world where AI is racing ahead,” he s said, “this panel will provide what’s been missing - rigorous, independent scientific insight that enables all member states, regardless of their technological capacity, to engage on an equal footing.”

The vote in the 193-member assembly was 117-2, with the US and Paraguay voting “no” and Tunisia and Ukraine abstaining. America’s allies in Europe, Asia and elsewhere voted in favor along with Russia, China and many developing countries. U.S. Mission counselor Lauren Lovelace called the panel “a significant overreach of the U.N.’s mandate and competence” and said “AI governance is not a matter for the U.N. to dictate.”

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🇺🇸🇮🇷Donald Trump says regime change ‘the best thing that could happen’ in Iran

US President Donald Trump said that a change in power in Iran "would be the best thing that could happen" as he confirmed the deployment of a second aircraft carrier group to the Middle East. The US president is hoping to strike a deal with Iran to curb its nuclear programme, but has warned of severe consequences if one does not come through.

“For 47 years, they’ve been talking and talking and talking,” he told reporters after visiting troops at Fort Bragg. “In the meantime, we’ve lost a lot of lives while they talk.”

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🇳🇱Dutch lawmakers advance 36% capital gains tax on crypto

The Dutch House of Representatives voted to pass the Actual Return in Box 3 Act (Wet werkelijk rendement box 3), a reform that will tax residents at a flat rate of 36% on the actual returns they earn from savings and investments, effective January 1, 2028. The proposal cleared the chamber comfortably, receiving 93 votes, well above the 75 required to move forward, according to the official tally.

If adopted, the measure would apply broadly. Bank savings, crypto holdings, most equities and returns generated from interest-bearing instruments would all fall under the levy. Notably, the tax would be assessed regardless of whether investors actually sell their assets, meaning unrealized gains could still be taxed.

Parliament also approved an amendment shortening the law’s review period from five years to three, intended to enable faster corrections if the rollout encounters problems. The bill still requires Senate approval before a planned 2028 implementation. Critics warn the proposal could trigger investor relocation and capital outflows.

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🇮🇳India doubles down on state-backed venture capital, approving $1.1B fund

India has cleared a $1.1 billion state-backed venture capital program that will channel government money into startups through private investors, doubling down on its effort to finance high-risk areas such as AI, advanced manufacturing and others. The program is structured as a fund of funds, a common venture capital model in which governments back startups indirectly by committing capital to private investment firms.

The approval comes just ahead of the government-backed India AI Impact Summit, where global AI companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Nvidia are set to participate alongside Indian corporates such as Reliance Industries and Tata Group.

#BRICS

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🚀 SpaceX Dragon capsule successfully docks with International Space Station

On February 15, Jin10 reported that at approximately 4:15 AM Beijing time (UTC+8), SpaceX's Dragon capsule, carrying 4 astronauts, successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS). According to Jin10, this docking restored the ISS crew to its standard operational capacity of 7 astronauts.

The NASA stated that the current mission will last approximately 8 months. During this period, the astronauts will conduct various scientific experiments aimed at preparing for future Lunar and Martian exploration. These experiments include studying the interactions between plants and nitrogen-fixing bacteria to enhance food production capabilities in space environments.

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🇨🇳China confirms visa-free travel for UK and Canadian nationals

UK and Canadian nationals will be able to travel to mainland China for up to 30 days without a visa from 17 February. China's foreign ministry said visa-free entry would be permitted for tourism, business or visits to family and friends, with the policy set to stay in effect initially until 31 December. It follows Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's official visit to China last month, where he and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed travel rules would be relaxed.

#BRICS

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💻 Linux gets rid of Intel 440BX EDAC driver for old Pentium CPUs after being broken for 19+ years

As some long overdue housekeeping, the Linux 7.0 kernel has removed an Error Detection And Correction "EDAC" driver for the Intel 440BX and 440GX chipset. The driver is being removed not only because that chipset was just used by old Celerons and Pentium II / Pentium III CPUs but that it's been in the kernel all this time while being known to be broken for 19+ years.

The Intel 440BX chipset and the higher-end 440GX chipset were used for Slot 1 and Socket 370 P6-based CPUs from the late 90's. Long obsolete and incredibly unlikely anyone still having an old Pentium II / Pentium III are running modern Linux software stacks on them with the newest upstream kernel. No fix for that Intel AGP interaction ever materialized.

The EDAC pull for Linux 7.0 also drops the obsolete r82600 driver used for the Radisys 82600 embedded chipset used with Pentium III era processors. The EDAC pull request in addition to dropping those obsolete drivers does add support for Intel Amston Lake and Intel Panther Lake H to the igen6_edac driver. These EDAC changes have all been merged for Linux 7.0.

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🇨🇳Chinese auto regulators may soon ban steering yokes, mandate physical buttons for key functions

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has published a draft of mandatory safety standards, including a proposal that bans steering yokes outright. These safety standards are set to take effect on January 1, 2027.

Updated crash safety standards on the steering column are a significant part of the regulations - specifically, aligning steering impact forces with international regulations and lowering horizontal impact force to 11,110 newtons. Chinese officials also take issue with the steering yoke due to internal data that claims 46% of driver injuries originate with the steering column. Moreover, Chinese regulators are taking aim at heavily screen-based interiors from brands like Tesla and Xiaomi. The proposed regulations clarify that turn signals, hazard lights, gear selection, and emergency calling must be controlled fixed buttons or switches with a minimum surface size of 10mm by 10mm.

Much like the process in the U.S., Chinese regulators will take public comment on the proposed changes until April 13. Once implemented, all new models seeking approval will need to immediately comply, while existing models will get 13 months to comply.

#BRICS

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🕊Hideki Sato, known as the father of Sega hardware, has reportedly died

Sato and his R&D team were responsible for the creation of Sega’s arcade and home console hardware, including the Master System, Genesis / Mega Drive, Saturn, and Dreamcast. The engineer joined Sega in 1971 and was the company’s acting president between 2001 and 2003. He left the company in 2008.

God rest his soul 😢🙏

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💱 With SWIFT’s ISO 20022 mappings at hand, both Stellar & XRP edge out traditional competition: who’s got the upper hand? 🤔

🔥 For Ripple (XRP), SWIFT integration potential stems from Ripple being a member of the ISO 20022 Standards Body, so the influence messaging definition & token identifies is more direct rather than subliminal. Collecting over 300 traditional banking partnerships so far, XRP’s SWIFT integration buzz became even bigger once SWIFT announced XRP & HBAR testing on their rails. The findings suggest that Ripple’s Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) complies with the Cross-Border Payments and Reporting Plus requirement sheet from SWIFT. 

🔥 For Stellar Lumens (XLM), the story is a bit different. Stellar’s CEO Denelle Dixon recently acknowledged the need for interoperability between blockchain & traditional banking institutions, focusing on a tighter XLM-SWIFT alignment starting from 2026. The $24 billion Real World Asset (RWA) markets are likely to play a key role in that plan. However, Stellar Lumens (XLM) puts less emphasis on high trading volumes, garnering hundreds of millions a day in comparison to XRP’s $4-5 billion on average. XLM’s chain is used to tokenize some massive funds like Franklin Templeton, test various CBDCs & is comparatively cheaper in transaction fees than Ripple’s XRP Ledger.

In a way, Stellar Lumens (XLM) excels XRP in SWIFT’s context due to cost-effectiveness & inclusion of various digital assets, including lesser-known stablecoins personally-tailored for institutional investors. On the other hand, XRP might be exactly what SWIFT’s been craving for - a solid track record of handling high cross-border volume & instant settlement.

#Stellar

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🇺🇸Donald Trump: 'Board of Peace' members have pledged more than $5 billion for Gaza

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the member states of 'Board of Peace' have pledged more than $5 billion (€4.2 billion) ‌ for reconstruction and humanitarian efforts in Gaza and have also committed thousands of personnel toward a U.N.-authorized stabilization force and local police in the Palestinian enclave.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump announced that he will formally unveil the pledges when the board meets in Washington on Thursday. The event is expected to draw delegations from more than 20 countries, including heads of state. Reconstruction of Gaza is expected to cost $70 billion, according to United Nations, World Bank and European Union estimates, after more than 2 years of war.

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💸 AI companies have bought out Western Digital's storage capacity for 2026

According to Western Digital (WD), one of the world's biggest hard drive manufacturers, the company has already sold out of its storage capacity for 2026. WD CEO Irving Tan shared that most of the storage space has been allocated to its "top seven customers." Three of these companies already have agreements with Western Digital for 2027 and even 2028. 🤯

"We're pretty much sold out for calendar 2026," said Tan on the company's recent quarterly earnings call.

Western Digital faces a severe HDD capacity shortage as AI and enterprise demand surge, driving prices to a two-year high. With cloud revenue at 89% and consumer share at 5%, WD's storage focus shifts to cost-effective HDDs for massive exabyte-scale data centers, highlighting critical industry supply constraints.

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🇦🇺 Australia pledges $2.7 billion to progress nuclear submarine shipyard build

Australia said on Sunday it would spend A$3.9 billion ($2.76 billion) to progress construction of a shipyard that will help deliver nuclear-powered submarines under the trilateral AUKUS defence pact with the U.S. and Britain.

Announced in 2021, AUKUS is Australia's largest-ever defence investment and will see U.S.-commanded Virginia-class submarines based in Australia from 2027, several Virginia submarines sold to Australia from around 2030, and Britain and Australia building a new class of AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine. Official projections put the total cost of the build at A$30 billion over coming decades.

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🇨🇳📹 ByteDance says it will add safeguards to Seedance 2.0 following Hollywood backlash

Chinese tech giant ByteDance has said it will strengthen safeguards on a new AI video-making tool, following complaints of copyright theft from entertainment giants. The tool, Seedance 2.0, enables users to create realistic videos based on text prompts. However, viral videos shared online appear to show copyrighted characters and celebrity likenesses, raising intellectual property concerns in the U.S.

“We are taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users,” a company spokesperson said in a statement shared with CNBC.

ByteDance’s response comes after receiving backlash and stern warnings from Hollywood groups like the Motion Picture Association (MPA), a trade association representing major Hollywood studios including Netflix, Paramount Skydance, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney.

#BRICS

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❤️🎉 Happy Presidents' Day, Mr. President!

"As long as I'm president, we will be the best led, the best trained, the best equipped, the most disciplined and the most elite fighting force the world has ever seen," - Trump vowed. 💪🇺🇸

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