✈️ Archer to bring Starlink onboard midnight air taxis

Archer Aviation Inc. announced it will work with Starlink to bring stable, reliable and high-speed connectivity to its air taxis, marking Starlink’s entry into the emerging air mobility category and an industry-first collaboration.

Under the agreement, Archer will install Starlink into its Midnight aircraft and conduct testing. Midnight is Archer’s piloted electric air taxi designed to carry up to 4 passengers while producing less noise and emissions than a traditional helicopter. Midnight is built with redundant systems across the aircraft — including 12 total engines and propellers — allowing Archer to target similar levels of safety as commercial airliners. Archer’s goal is to enable passengers in Midnight to travel across cities in 5-15 minutes.

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🇨🇳China’s annual policy summit to focus on tech shift and debt issuance

China is expected to set a 2026 economic growth target of 4.5%–5.0% during its upcoming National People’s Congress (NPC), signaling that policymakers may be willing to accept a slower expansion in exchange for long-term structural health. The annual meeting, which begins on March 5, will serve as a critical platform for Beijing to outline its new five-year plan.

A major theme of the upcoming summit is expected to be the "anti-involution" campaign, launched in 2025 to curb the "cut-throat" price wars that have plagued industries like solar and electric vehicles. The government is pushing for a shift toward quality and innovation over sheer production volume. In the technology space, AI still remains the primary market driver, but the focus is moving away from traditional internet giants like Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd ADR and Tencent Holdings Ltd ADR to smaller, specialized firms such as MiniMax Group Inc.

To support its growth ambitions and stabilize domestic demand, China is expected to lean heavily on the bond market. Analysts anticipate the issuance of roughly 1.5 trillion yuan ($219 billion) in ultra-long special sovereign bonds, an increase from last year’s 1.3 trillion yuan. The upcoming plan is also expected to take a bolder stance on the internationalization of the yuan. 

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⚡️🇦🇪 UAE stock markets to remain closed till March 3 amid regional tensions

The UAE bourses – Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and Dubai Financial Market – will remain closed on Monday and Tuesday due to the ongoing tensions in the region, the regulatory authority said on Sunday.

“In implementation of its supervisory and regulatory role over the UAE capital markets, and pursuant to the applicable laws and regulations, the UAE Capital Market Authority (CMA) announces that the UAE capital markets (Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and Dubai Financial Market (DFM) will be closed on Monday, March 2, and Tuesday, March 3, 2026,” CMA said.

The Authority said it would continue to monitor developments in the region and assess the situation on an ongoing basis, taking any further measures as necessary.

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✅ California introduces age verification law for all operating systems, including Linux and SteamOS

California's Digital Age Assurance Act (AB 1043), signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in October 2025, requires every operating system provider in California to collect age information from users at account setup and transmit that data to app developers via a real-time API, with the law taking effect on January 1, 2027.

The operating system (OS) providers include Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS, Linux distributions and Valve's SteamOS. The law does not require photo ID uploads or facial recognition, with users instead simply self-reporting their age, setting AB 1043 apart from similar laws passed in Texas and Utah. Penalties for non-compliance run up to $2,500 per affected child for negligent violations and $7,500 for intentional ones, enforced by the California Attorney General.

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🇩🇪🇫🇷🇬🇧 Germany, France and UK tell Iran to stop attacks in region

European leaders have urged Iran to seek a “negotiated solution” as they attempt to end the outbreak of war between the US, Israel and Iran through diplomatic means. In a rare joint statement, the leaders of France, Germany and the UK called on the Iranian state to allow its people to determine their own future and condemned Tehran’s retaliatory attacks on US army bases in the region. The statement was signed by Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz, Keir Starmer.

“France, Germany and the United Kingdom have consistently urged the Iranian regime to end Iran’s nuclear program, curb its ballistic missile program, refrain from its destabilising activity in the region and our homelands, and to cease the appalling violence and repression against its own people,” - it said.

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🤖 Samsung Electronics announces strategy to transition global manufacturing into ‘AI-Driven factories’ by 2030

As part of the transition, Samsung will implement digital twin-based simulations throughout its manufacturing processes and deploy specialized AI agents dedicated to quality control, production and logistics. Samsung will also expand AI integration into Environmental, Health and Safety operations.

At the center of this transformation is ‘Agentic AI’ — first introduced on the Galaxy S26 series. Samsung is progressively introducing humanoid and task-specialized robotics across its production lines, including Operating Robots for line operations and facility management, Logistics Robots for autonomous material handling and transport and Assembly Robots for precision manufacturing tasks.

In infrastructure environments where human access is limited or hazardous, the company will further deploy digital twin-integrated Environmental Safety Robots designed to systematically monitor conditions, identify potential risks and proactively mitigate on-site hazards. Samsung will showcase its industrial AI strategy and digital twin-based manufacturing innovation vision at MWC 2026 in Barcelona.

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⚡️🇬🇧 Britain has joined the blitz on Iran as it allows the US to use its airbases to stop the missile and drone strikes on allies in the Middle East.

The U.K. will allow Washington to use British bases to destroy Iran's missiles and its ability to fire them at Britain's allies in the gulf, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Sunday night.

"The only way to stop the threat is to destroy the missiles at source in their storage depots or the launchers that are used to fire [them]," he said in a video posted on X. "The United States has requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose. We have taken the decision to accept this request."

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🇺🇸 President Trump delivered a video update and called Iran to surrender

- Over the past 36 hours, the U.S. and its partners have launched "Operation Epic Fury", one of the largest, most complex, most overwhelming military offensives the world has ever seen.

- Trump went on to issue a direct warning to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and military leadership, urging them to surrender in exchange for immunity or face "certain death."

- Donald Trump vowed to "avenge" the deaths of 3 U.S. service members killed in action.

- The U.S. forces had struck "hundreds of targets" inside Iran, including key Revolutionary Guard facilities, air defense systems and naval assets.

- The U.S. "knocked out 9 Iranian ships "in a matter of literally minutes." Military operations, Trump added, would continue "until all of our objectives are achieved."

- The entire military command is gone.

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⚡️🇸🇦 Saudi Aramco shuts Ras Tanura refinery after drone strike

Saudi Arabia's state oil giant Aramco shut its Ras Tanura refinery following a drone strike, an industry source said on Monday, after Tehran launched strikes across the region. The Ras Tanura complex, on the kingdom's Gulf coast, houses one of the Middle East's largest refineries with a capacity of 550,000 barrels per day (bpd) and serves as a critical export terminal for Saudi crude.

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🇰🇷🇸🇬 South Korea's Lee holds summit with Singapore's Wong on AI, tech cooperation

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung met Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong for a summit aimed at expanding cooperation in fields such as AI and nuclear energy. Lee and Wong announced the start of negotiations to upgrade the countries' existing free trade agreement, which took effect in 2006.

The countries also signed 5 memoranda of understanding (MOUs) for cooperation in fields such as small modular reactors (SMRs) for nuclear power generation, AI and other scientific fields such as quantum and space satellites. Other partnerships will include cooperation on investment between Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Temasek and its asset management unit Seviora Group with state-run Korea Development Bank.

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⚡️🇨🇳 China declares support for Iran ‘defending its sovereignty.’

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi tells his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on a call that Beijing supports Tehran defending itself against US-Israeli strikes, as war spreads across the Middle East.

“Beijing cherishes the traditional friendship between China and Iran, supports Iran in defending its sovereignty, security, territorial integrity, and national dignity, and supports Iran in protecting its legitimate rights and interests,” - Wang told Araghchi.

China urged the US and Israel to immediately cease military operations, avoid further escalation of tensions and prevent the conflict from spreading to the entire Middle East region.

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↗️ Nvidia to invest $2 billion each in Lumentum, Coherent to bolster AI processors

Nvidia will invest $2 billion each in photonic product makers Lumentum and Coherent, as it looks to bolster its data center chips with technology that can better ‌cater to the growing need for faster AI processors. Shares of Lumentum were up 5%, while Coherent rose 9% in early trading after the announcement on Monday.

Nvidia has been seeking out new technology to help boost the speed of its chips, with photonics emerging as a popular choice for many chipmakers looking to cater to higher inference requirements. Monday's tie-ups include multibillion-dollar purchase commitments from Nvidia and future capacity and access ⁠rights to advanced laser and optical networking products from both Lumentum and Coherent.

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🆙 Starlink Mobile teases ‘5G speeds from space with 100x the data density’

Starlink posted on X that it is boasting about an incredible performance update on the way to mobile customers. The next-gen V2 satellites being launched by SpaceX would deliver “100x the data density of the current V1 generation satellites.”

The announcement will affect the Starlink Mobile service, which was previously branded as ‘Direct to Cell’ until recently. This service provides satellite-to-phone communications – data, voice, messaging – across 32 countries spanning 6 continents. When enough V2 satellites get into LEO position, these “cellphone towers in space” are going to boost the service quality significantly.

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🔥 CME says it captures over 75% of the crypto market cap with recent introduction of Cardano, Chainlink and Stellar futures

With the recent introduction of its Cardano, Chainlink, and Stellar token futures, CME Group says it now provides access to over 75% of the crypto market capitalization. The world's largest derivatives marketplace is now looking to expand to round-the-clock cryptocurrency futures and options trading.

Building on the 2025 introduction of Solana (SOL) and XRP futures and options, the launch of Cardano, Chainlink and Stellar futures on February 9 further expands traders’ cryptocurrency choices. Available in large and micro sizes, these contracts are cash-settled against their respective CME CF Reference Rate, catering to both institutional and individual investor requirements. Additionally, they offer high capital efficiency, requiring less upfront capital than an equivalent spot position.

Although the broader market still tracks major cryptocurrencies, the distinct risk-return profiles of these relatively smaller assets provide new opportunities for portfolio diversification. As investors increasingly focus on protocol-specific value, these futures will be essential for price discovery and risk management within a secure, centrally cleared environment.

#Stellar

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⚡️🇺🇳 First Lady Melania Trump addresses U.N. Security Council, championing peace through education

First Lady Melania Trump opened today’s United Nations (U.N.) Security Council meeting. This marked the first time a sitting First Lady presided over the Security Council as its members contemplated technology, education, peace, and security.

Melania Trump stressed the imperative of respecting knowledge to foster durable peace. The American First Lady challenged the U.N. Security Council members to pledge to safeguard learning to build a future generation of leaders who embrace peace through education.

“Enduring peace will be achieved when knowledge and understanding are fully valued within all societies. Now is the time for our generation to elevate our children above ideology through access to wisdom,” - explained Mrs. Trump.

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❗️US State Department urges Americans to immediately leave over a dozen Mideast nations, including Israel

The US Department of State calls on Americans to immediately depart more than a dozen countries in the Middle East, including Israel.

Americans are urged to depart using commercial means from Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen, according to Mora Namdar, the State Department’s assistant secretary for consular affairs.

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💻 US scientists discover new silicon qubit that could power future quantum chips

A research team at the University of California, Santa Barbara in the US have identified a robust new qubit in silicon, dubbed the CN center, which could open the door to scalable silicon-based quantum processors and photonic chips.

Named the CN center, the qubit consists of a carbon-nitrogen defect built directly into silicon. Unlike the T center, this defect does not contain hydrogen and will, therefore, be more robust and easier to realize in actual devices. It represents an important step towards mass-producible, telecom-ready quantum devices that can be made with the same materials and fabrication tools as modern computer chips.

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