🇺🇸 House talks look at blocking some state AI laws, including in California and New York

Bipartisan House talks on expected AI legislation are coalescing around a plan to preempt a specific set of state laws that rein in cutting-edge AI developers, according to two tech lobbyists and three AI policy advocates familiar with the discussions.

The bill would specifically preempt AI safety laws like those recently passed by California and New York, which require top AI developers to disclose information about new models in order to identify critical safety or security risks. State AI laws that do not regulate model developers are not expected to be preempted.

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⚡️ WHO declares global health emergency over Ebola outbreak

The World Health Organization has declared a global health emergency over the Ebola outbreak that has killed a suspected 80 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"Neighboring countries sharing land borders with the DRC are at high risk for further spread," — the WHO warned.

The outbreak involves the Bundibugyo virus, which is harder to treat and for which there is no vaccine. There were 246 suspected cases in the DRC as of May 16, the WHO said. Uganda has reported two lab-confirmed cases, including one death, in individuals who had traveled from the DRC.

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⚡️ Pope Leo XIV is creating a commission on AI, a new Vatican body aimed at coordinating the Catholic Church’s response to AI

The Vatican announced on Saturday that the pontiff had decided to launch the commission because of the increase in usage of AI, “its potential effects on human beings and on humanity as a whole [and] the church’s concern for the dignity of every human being.”

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⚡️🇹🇼 Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said the self-ruled democracy cannot be traded away

“Taiwan will never be sacrificed or traded,” — Lai said in a Facebook post on Sunday evening, adding that the island’s central role in Indo-Pacific security and global supply chains, particularly for AI and semiconductors, makes stability a shared interest among democratic nations.

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🇺🇸 Trump posted on Truth Social.

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🧑‍⚖️🇻🇪 Venezuela Circulates Draft of Oil Law Regulations for Companies

The Venezuelan government is circulating a draft of regulations as part of its newly enacted oil law, highly anticipated by companies planning to invest in the country’s increased oil production.

A 63-page draft sets details on technical, operational, fiscal and control provisions for companies that work in the country’s oil and gas fields. It specifies standards for private companies’ activities in areas previously monopolized by Petróleos de Venezuela SA, such as oil refining, upgrading and trading. It also abrogates the country’s 1943 oil law and 1969 regulations.

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⚡️🇺🇸🇨🇳 US Says China to Buy $17 Billion of Agricultural Goods Annually

China has agreed to purchase at least $17 billion of agriculture products from the US annually through 2028, the White House said in a fact sheet detailing President Donald Trump’s two-day summit in China.

#BRICS

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🧑‍⚖️🇺🇸 Trump pushes to attach his SAVE act to must-pass bipartisan bills

President Donald Trump is taking up another strategy to pass his signature SAVE America Act: attaching it to other must-pass bipartisan legislation on housing and government surveillance powers.

“We cannot, as a Country, put up with this any longer!!!” — he wrote on Truth Social. “Voter I.D., and Proof of Citizenship, must be approved, NOW. Crooked Mail-In Voting must be stopped!!! PUT IT ALL IN THE HOUSING AND FISA BILLS.”

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🇲🇾 Malaysia Unveils Measures to Help Airlines Hit by Iran War

Malaysia introduced measures to ensure the operational stability of its aviation industry and ease the financial strain on airlines as they struggle with the impact of war in the Middle East.

Authorities have offered an extension of up to 60 days for the payment of navigation fees and charges, exemptions on aircraft parking fees, and a two-month deferment of passenger boarding bridge and check-in counter costs, the Ministry of Transport said on its Facebook page.

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🇺🇸 Texas county passes 1-year data center construction ban.

A Texas county southwest of Dallas this week passed what may be the state’s first county-level moratorium on data centers. Hill County’s Commissioners Court voted 3-2 Tuesday to put a yearlong moratorium on data center and power plant construction in unincorporated areas, citing an influx of as many as eight data centers planned there, many of which could have their own power plants.

Texas has hundreds of data center locations operating or in development, second only to Virginia among U.S. states. The growth has stirred pushback from environmentalists and rural residents who worry about the effects on water supplies, the electric grid and their quality of life.

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🇺🇸🇬🇧 Elon Musk calls for thousands of British people jailed for social media posts to be released.

This was in response to a video of a large pro-Britain/"We want our country back" march in London organized/attended by figures like Tommy Robinson.

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🇯🇵 Japan's SBI Securities, Rakuten Securities plan to offer crypto investment trusts

Two major Japanese securities firms plan to introduce cryptocurrency investment trusts once the Financial Services Agency finalizes the regulatory framework for such products.

SBI Securities, the online brokerage business and investment banking unit of SBI Group, one of Japan’s largest financial companies and Rakuten Securities, the online broker subsidiary of Japan’s Rakuten Group internet conglomerate, will offer investment vehicles that allow customers to access crypto through their existing accounts. The products will make it easier for clients to gain exposure to the industry.

The offerings will include exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and be developed by firms within the broader holding groups. In April, the Japanese government approved a draft amendment classifying cryptocurrencies as financial products under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, rather than treating them as payment tools. If passed by parliament, the law could take effect in fiscal 2027.

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🇻🇳 Vietnam’s Largest Refinery Sees ‘Stable’ Operations Through June

Vietnam’s largest oil refinery continues to diversify crude supply and is confident that it can maintain stable operations through June. Nghi Son Refinery & Petrochemical LLC is diversifying its crude sources “by strengthening cooperation with both domestic and international suppliers across different regions,” according to the statement.

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🇨🇳 China deploys moon-tested basalt fibers to protect farmland from desertification

A new wave of anti-desertification projects has been launched in western China as authorities step up efforts to shield farmland from worsening land degradation.

Last month, the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography began several initiatives focused on sand control, desertification prevention, and tackling wind erosion and soil salinity. According to Chinese media, the programs are intended to strengthen an ecological barrier protecting agricultural land across Xinjiang.

The region remains a central testing ground for China’s vast “great green wall” campaign, a decades-long effort to stop fertile land from turning into desert under pressure from climate shifts and human activity.

#BRICS

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⚡️🇮🇳🇳🇴 PM Modi’s Norway visit to focus on digital technology, health and space

Modi will be the first Indian premier to travel to Norway since a visit by Indira Gandhi in 1983, and he will hold a bilateral meeting with his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Store on Monday and co-chair the third India-Nordic Summit on Tuesday.

“There will be an MoU signed for a new health partnership between India and Norway. We will also sign an agreement on digital public goods — how we together can help third countries for better digital solutions,” — May-Elin Stener, Norway’s ambassador to India, said. 🤝

Besides three agreements that are expected to be signed between India and Norway for cooperation in digital public goods, health and space, close to 20 pacts mainly in areas such as green energy, maritime, waste water management and the circular economy.

#BRICS

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⚡️🇮🇷 Iran may be turning the Strait of Hormuz into a bitcoin-based insurance market, local reports say

State-linked Fars News reported that Iran’s economy ministry has been working on a plan to manage shipping through the Strait using marine insurance policies and financial responsibility certificates, with payments settled in bitcoin.

🟠The platform, called Hormuz Safe, is said to offer cover for maritime cargo moving through the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and nearby waterways. Fars said that policies would be issued quickly, carry cryptographic verification and become active once payment is confirmed.

❗️Fars said the model could generate more than $10 billion for Iran, but did not explain how that figure was calculated.

The proposal is still early and details remain thin. But if Hormuz Safe becomes operational, it would place bitcoin at the center of one of the world's most sensitive trade routes, as a settlement tool for an Iran-linked insurance product tied to cargo movement through the Strait of Hormuz.

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🛢 Santos, Repsol Begin Commercial Oil Flows in Alaska Arctic

Santos Ltd. and Repsol SA have begun commercial production of oil from their Pikka discovery in Alaska, a milestone set to help drive a resurgence of crude flows in the state. The site is initially expected to deliver roughly 20,000 barrels of oil per day with output eventually expected to quadruple.

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