📌 Inauguration Day, Anti-Aging Obsession, More

Washington has been bracing for hordes of people and police for the presidential inauguration and related protests next week. Officials said they expected about 250,000 ticketed people to descend on the US capital as Donald Trump takes the oath of office as president again. He last served from 2017–2021. The temperature at noon, when Trump will be sworn in, is predicted to be in the low 20s F, which is about 20 degrees below normal. Even though a lower turnout is expected this time around, recent acts of violence — like the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans — mean there will be an enhanced security presence, officials said. On Inauguration Day, 25,000 law enforcement and military personnel will be in the District of Columbia to provide security, including the full activation of D.C. police, 7,800 National Guard troops, and about 4,000 officers from around the country, an official said. A Trump victory rally is planned for Sunday afternoon at Capital One Arena, where the Village People, an American band, will perform. While there will be three official inaugural balls, more than a dozen unofficial inaugural balls are scheduled throughout the weekend in Washington. Protests are scheduled, too. On Saturday, the People’s March is expected to draw tens of thousands to downtown Washington. The demonstration is organized by civil rights, racial justice, and reproductive health groups. On Monday, the Answer Coalition’s National Day of Action features a rally and march, reports say.

A standoff between police and miners trapped while working illegally in a South African gold mine has led to at least 87 deaths.

Authorities faced growing anger and a possible investigation over their initial refusal to help the miners and instead “smoke them out” by cutting off their food supplies in a month-long standoff.

Police said 78 bodies were retrieved in a court-ordered rescue operation, with 246 survivors pulled out from deep underground since the operation began on Monday. Nine other bodies were recovered before the operation, police said, without giving details.

The mine is one of the deepest in South Africa and is a maze of tunnels and levels and has several shafts leading into it. The miners were working up to 1.5 miles underground in groups. The miners are suspected to have died of starvation and dehydration, but no causes of death have been released.

Many say the unfolding disaster was clear weeks ago when community members sporadically pulled decomposing bodies out of the mine. “If the police had acted earlier, we would not be in this situation, with bodies piling up,” said Johannes Qankase, a local community leader.

Authorities say nearly 2,000 miners have been working illegally in the mine near Stilfontein, southwest of Johannesburg, since August. Most resurfaced over the last few months, police said, and all the survivors have been arrested, adding that at least 13 children had come out of the mine before the official rescue operation.

One of the first bills pending Donald Trump’s signature after his inauguration Monday may vastly expand immigration detention.

The Laken Riley Act, named after a woman killed by an undocumented immigrant, has already passed one house of Congress with support from a significant number of Democrats. The bill’s proponents argue it will benefit public safety.

If passed, it could also strain existing immigration enforcement resources, infringe on immigrants’ due process rights, and by allowing states to sue the federal government over immigration policies, could lead to a chaotic and potentially unconstitutional situation.

The bill has significant support from Republicans and some Democrats, reflecting frustration with immigration policies and high border crossings. If passed, it could cost $83 billion over three years to pay for substantial increases in detention facilities, personnel, and deportation flights.

Some Senate Democrats are pushing for amendments to the bill, particularly regarding the provision on immigration lawsuits. The bill does not address broader issues in the US immigration system, such as the underresourced asylum system, lack of legal pathways, and factors driving migration.

Former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor Mark Carney is running for leader of Canada's governing Liberal Party.

If he wins, the 59-year-old will succeed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and lead the country into the next general election, which will take place this year. Earlier this month, Trudeau announced his intent to resign after nine years in office once a new Liberal leader is selected.

While he has recently served as an economic advisor to Trudeau, Carney is the only candidate in the Liberal Party's leadership race who is not an elected member of Trudeau's government. He brands himself as an outsider who brings a wealth of financial knowledge to a country struggling with a sluggish economy.

Under Liberal Party rules, any member of the party — including those who are not elected officials — can run for leadership. They are expected to seek a seat in parliament in the next election, however, which Mr Carney said he intends to do.

He noted the tariff threat from US President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Monday, saying that Canada is facing extraordinary times. “I've helped manage multiple crises, and I've helped save two economies,” Carney said. “I know how business works.”

Carney previously worked at the investment bank Goldman Sachs and served as Canada's central banker from 2008, when it became the first G7 nation to raise interest rates after the financial crisis, to 2013. He later moved to London, where he served as governor of the Bank of England until 2020.

Researchers have developed a bionic hand system that can reproduce complex tactile sensations.

The device, created by the Cortical Bionics Research Group, was tested on two volunteers with spinal cord injuries. They were given brain implants in the sensory and motor regions that govern the hands and arms.

The researchers recorded and then deciphered the patterns of electric activity produced by the volunteers’ brains as they thought about using their paralyzed limbs.

Experiments showed the bionic limb could relay sensations of motion, curvature, and orientation, enabling complex tasks. The enhanced sensory feedback improved the volunteers' ability to perform tasks with the bionic limb — tactile sensations felt like they were coming from the volunteers’ own hands.

A researcher said more complex sensors, robotic technology, such as prosthetic skin, and advanced brain implants will be needed to increase the sensations. The team is hopeful such advances can be made and believes a truly human-feeling bionic limb is well within the realm of possibility.

China’s population fell for the third consecutive year in 2024, as a demographic crisis continues to loom.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported today the Chinese population fell by 1.39 million over the past 12 months to 1.408 billion as deaths continue to outpace births.

China’s population has been steadily declining since the 1980s, but the year 2022 marked the first time deaths outpaced births since 1961 when China was in the midst of the disastrous Great Leap Forward plan, which led to a famine in which an estimated 20 million people died of starvation.

Beijing has employed carrot-and-stick approaches to increase the birthrate, from labeling single women as “leftovers” if they remain unmarried to making it more difficult to obtain a divorce or abortion, as well as offering couples subsidies to support the rising cost of childcare.

Marriages rose 12.4% year-on-year in 2023 following the end of the Covid pandemic, which led to a brief rebound in births in the first half of 2024 in some parts of the country.

China formally ended its “one-child policy” in 2016. Families can have three children as of 2021, but the rising cost of living in urban areas, a slowing economy, and a high rate of youth unemployment have made raising children a less appealing prospect for many young Chinese.

Bryan Johnson’s efforts to stay alive indefinitely have taken a knock from an anti-aging drug.

After five years of dosage adjustments, Johnson, an American multimillionaire obsessed with anti-aging, discontinued Rapamycin due to side effects like skin infections, lipid abnormalities, glucose elevations, and increased heart rate.

Research indicates Rapamycin may even accelerate human aging. Johnson, featured in the Netflix documentary Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever, has extensively tried to reverse aging and extend his lifespan. Johnson's Project Blueprint involves selling supplements and individualized health plans, while he takes 54 supplements daily.

Johnson is a vegan, avoids the sun, and exercises daily alongside his supplement regimen. He aims to sleep 8–9 hours every night, undertakes red light therapy, and stretches every 30 minutes. He spends about $2 million annually on his anti-aging efforts.