🇺🇸🇮🇳Indian refiners avoid Russian oil in push for US trade deal

Indian refiners are avoiding Russian oil purchases for delivery in April and are expected to stay away from such trades for longer. The U.S. and India moved closer to a trade pact on Friday, announcing a framework for a deal they hope to conclude by March that would lower tariffs and deepen economic cooperation.

Although a U.S. - India statement on the trade framework did not mention Russian oil, President Donald Trump rescinded his 25% tariffs on Indian goods, imposed over Russian oil purchases, because, he said, New Delhi had "committed to stop directly or indirectly" importing Russian oil.

Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Reliance Industries are not accepting offers from traders for Russian oil loading in March and April, said a trader who approached the refiners. Most other refiners have stopped buying Russian crude.

#BRICS

@QSIMedia

🇻🇳 Vietnam is constructing the world’s largest soccer stadium, the Trong Dong Stadium, with a capacity of 135,000

Vietnam has launched a monumental project to build a stadium designed to be the largest in the world. With a colossal budget of 925 trillion dong (approximately R$ 185 billion) and scheduled for completion in August 2028, the Trong Dong will have a capacity for 135,000 spectators, surpassing the current record holder, the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium (North Korea, 114,000 seats), and the future Hassan II Stadium (Morocco, 115,000).

To put it in perspective, the stadium would be 1.7 times larger than Maracanã, currently the largest stadium in Brazil.

@QSIMedia

🧑‍⚖️ A federal appeals court has ruled that President Donald Trump’s administration can continue detaining immigrants without bond.

A federal appeals court ruled 2–1 that the Trump admin can lawfully deny bond hearings to illegal immigrants. Circuit judge Edith H. Jones wrote in the 2-1 majority opinion that the government correctly interpreted the Immigration and Nationality Act by asserting that “unadmitted aliens apprehended anywhere in the US are ineligible for release on bond, regardless of how long they have resided inside the US.”

AG Bondi called the ruling a "crucial legal victory" in support of Trump's agenda and a "significant blow against activist judges." Under past administrations, most noncitizens with no criminal record who were arrested away from the border had an opportunity to request a bond hearing while their cases wound through immigration court.

“That prior Administrations decided to use less than their full enforcement authority under” the law “does not mean they lacked the authority to do more,” Jones wrote.

@QSIMedia

🇬🇱 Greenland declares a state of emergency as scientists link a surge in orca activity to collapsing ice.

Greenland has declared a state of emergency after scientists reported an unprecedented surge in orca activity along its coastal waters, a development increasingly linked to the rapid collapse of Arctic ice. Authorities say the declaration is intended to address immediate environmental risks, protect marine ecosystems, and evaluate the long-term implications of accelerating ice loss that is reshaping Arctic life and livelihoods.

While scientists express alarm, many local fishing communities are experiencing what some describe as a sudden economic windfall. Reduced ice cover has extended fishing seasons and exposed previously unreachable waters rich in commercially valuable species. Several fisheries report record catches, fueling what local operators have labeled a new Arctic “gold rush.” Environmental experts caution that unregulated fishing could accelerate ecosystem collapse, especially as predator-prey balances shift and fragile habitats face increasing pressure from human activity.

@QSIMedia

↗️ Stocks hit historic milestone as Dow crosses 50,000 points for first time ever

The blue-chip index on Friday surged 1,207 points, or 2.47%, and closed at 50,115.67. It’s the first time the 129-year-old index has crossed the historic 50,000-point milestone. The Dow’s ascent is emblematic of the stock market’s persistent rise despite recent tumultuous geopolitical events.

Stocks in the US and across the globe have climbed higher this year despite uncertainty about turmoil in Iran, tensions between Washington and Brussels over Greenland and Venezuela. Stock market investors are also assessing the health of the AI boom and digesting President Donald Trump’s pick of Kevin Warsh to chair the Federal Reserve.

“The stock market, the Dow, just hit 50,000, three years ahead of schedule. They said it probably couldn't be done in the four-year period, we did it in one year." 💪

@QSIMedia

🇯🇵 Japan’s Takaichi tightens grip on power with stunning victory in snap election

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s high-stakes gamble on a snap election has paid off, with voters handing her ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) a big majority Sunday.

After an election framed as a referendum on Takaichi herself, the LDP party won more than 310 of the 465 seats in Japan’s lower house, marking the first time since World War II that a single party has secured a two-thirds majority. The broader ruling coalition won more than 340 seats.

“I wanted the voters to give me a mandate because I advocated for responsible, proactive fiscal policy that would significantly shift economic and fiscal policy,” Takaichi added and thanked the voters.

@QSIMedia

🇺🇸 The White House's official TikTok account posted a video of Donald Trump

To be a great nation, you have to have faith, you have to have God. 🙏

@QSIMedia

🇪🇺 EU threatens temporary measures to stop Meta blocking AI rivals from WhatsApp

EU competition regulators have threatened to stop Meta Platforms from blocking AI rivals from its WhatsApp messaging service. The European Commission said on Monday that it has sent a statement of objections, or charges, to Meta over violation of the bloc's rules and intends to impose interim measures to prevent serious and irreparable harm to rivals.

"We must protect effective competition in this vibrant field, which means we cannot allow dominant tech companies to illegally leverage their dominance to give themselves an unfair advantage. That is why we are considering quickly imposing interim measures on Meta, to preserve access for competitors to WhatsApp while the investigation is ongoing and avoid Meta's new policy irreparably harming competition in Europe." - EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said in a statement.

🤔 However Meta said there was no reason for the EU to intervene.

"There are many AI options and people can use them from app stores, operating systems, devices, websites and industry partnerships. The Commission's logic incorrectly assumes the WhatsApp Business API (software) is a key distribution channel for these chatbots. Meta implemented its policy on January 15, allowing only its Meta AI assistant on WhatsApp," - a Meta spokesperson said in an email.

The Commission's decision on whether to impose interim measures will depend on Meta's reply and rights of defence.

@QSIMedia

🇺🇸 Department of War announces U.S. forces have boarded an unsanctioned Panamanian-flagged tanker, Aquila II, without incident after tracking the vessel from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean.

The military chased him from the Caribbean. According to the portal War&Sanctions, the tanker was carrying Russian and Venezuelan oil. It was on the sanctions list.

"You will run out of fuel before you will outrun us." 😄

@QSIMedia

✅ Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month

Discord announced on Monday that it’s rolling out age verification on its platform globally starting next month, when it will automatically set all users’ accounts to a “teen-appropriate” experience unless they demonstrate that they’re adults.

Users who aren’t verified as adults will not be able to access age-restricted servers and channels, won’t be able to speak in Discord’s livestream-like “stage” channels, and will see content filters for any content Discord detects as graphic or sensitive. They will also get warning prompts for friend requests from potentially unfamiliar users, and DMs from unfamiliar users will be automatically filtered into a separate inbox.

Direct messages and servers that are not age-restricted will continue to function normally, but users won’t be able to send messages or view content in an age-restricted server until they complete the age check process, even if it’s a server they were part of before age verification rolled out.

@QSIMedia

🇺🇸🔥 The CME exchange is launching futures on ADA, LINK and XLM today.

#Stellar

@QSIMedia

🤴 What is QSI?

In this detailed article from Stellar Today, we'll explore the Quantum Stellar Initiative and its underlying principles:

https://telegra.ph/Quantum-Stellar-Initiative-QSI-by-Emily-Tang-The-Community-Led-Guide-to-the-Stellar-Ecosystem-Tokenization-Bridges-and-Self-Bank-02-09

#Stellar

@QSIMedia

🇲🇽🇨🇺 Mexico halts oil to Cuba, sends humanitarian aid instead

Mexico has paused its oil shipments to Cuba but is sending humanitarian aid to ease the island’s deepening fuel crisis without provoking U.S. reprisals. Earlier Washington has warned that countries supplying Cuba with oil could face tariffs.

President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed the halt in a statement, saying, “The assistance is intended for Cuba’s civilian population.” She framed the aid within Mexico’s “tradition of solidarity” with Latin American peoples. 🤝

According to local reports, the aid departed from Veracruz on Sunday, February 8. It includes 536 tonnes of liquid milk, meat, cookies, beans, rice, tuna, sardines, vegetable oil, and hygiene items, along with 277 tonnes of powdered milk. Meanwhile, the Cuban government said the fuel shortage has forced international airlines to stop refuelling on the island.

@QSIMedia

🇪🇺 European alternatives to Visa and Mastercard ‘urgently’ needed, says banking chief

Europe “urgently” needs to reduce its reliance on US groups such as Visa and Mastercard, the head of a banking alliance has said.

“We are highly dependent on international [payment] solutions. Yes, we have nice national assets like domestic [payment] card schemes…but we don’t have anything cross-border. If we say independence is so crucial and we all know it’s a timing issue…we need action urgently,” - said Martina Weimert, chief executive of the European Payments Initiative (EPI), a consortium of 16 European banks and financial services companies.

However, Visa and Mastercard accounted for almost two-thirds of card transactions in the euro zone in 2022, according to the European Central Bank, with 13 member countries lacking a national alternative to the US providers. 😄

@QSIMedia

🇺🇸🇦🇲 US Vice President Vance in Armenia for peace talks

US President JD Vance and his family arrived in Armenia on Monday. He became the highest-ranking US politician ever to visit the South Caucasus country. Vance was greeted with a red carpet, an honor guard and an official delegation before he was driven to a meeting with Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

"The prime minister has been a great friend of ours and a real ally in peace and development in this region (of) the world," - said Vance said.

Vance and Pashinyan signed a number of documents aimed at furthering peace, including commitments to peaceful nuclear cooperation and the establishment of a major rail and road transit corridor through Armenia to connect Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave.

Pashinyan thanked both Vance and US President Donald Trump and said that Armenia and neighboring Azerbaijan are "very close" to achieving peace after decades of conflict. 🙏🤝

@QSIMedia

🚀 SpaceX revealed its new cyclotron used for radiation testing of space hardware

This lets them hit electronics with real high-energy ions to simulate space radiation, far more accurate than photon or electron testing.

@QSIMedia

🇺🇸 Trump posts a picture on Truth Social.

In this picture Trump is talking to European leaders with a map depicting Greenland and Canada as part of the U.S. in the background. 😄

@QSIMedia

🇺🇳 Global economy must move past GDP to avoid planetary disaster, warns UN chief

The global economy must be radically transformed to stop it rewarding pollution and waste, UN secretary general António Guterres has warned. Guterres said humanity’s future required the urgent overhaul of the world’s “existing accounting systems” he said were driving the planet to the brink of disaster.

“We must place true value on the environment and go beyond gross domestic product as a measure of human progress and wellbeing. Let us not forget that when we destroy a forest, we are creating GDP. When we overfish, we are creating GDP. GDP tells us the cost of everything, and the value of nothing. Our world is not a gigantic corporation. Financial decisions should be based on more than a snapshot of profit and loss," - said Guterres.

For decades, politicians and policymakers have prioritised growth – as measured by GDP – as the overarching economic goal. But critics argue that endless, indiscriminate growth on a planet with finite resources is driving not only the climate and nature crisis but increasing inequality.

@QSIMedia