📌 Trump Quick Off The Mark, And Much More

Donald Trump began erasing Joe Biden’s legacy immediately after taking office as the nation’s 47th president on Monday.

On his first day at work, he pardoned nearly all of his supporters who rioted at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and issued a blizzard of executive orders that signaled his desire to remake American institutions.

Trump signed orders for increasing border security, designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, limiting birthright citizenship, freezing new regulations, and establishing a task force for reducing the size of the federal government.

The new president also rescinded dozens of directives issued by Biden, including those relating to climate change and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. He promised that tariffs on Canada and Mexico were coming and suggested that he might visit China.

In his inaugural address, Trump declared the beginning of “the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense.” Trump said he would lead a government that “expands our territory,” a reference to his goals of acquiring Greenland from Denmark and restoring US control of the Panama Canal.

He also pledged to “pursue our manifest destiny into the stars” by launching American astronauts to Mars. Later, he went to the Capital One Arena to begin signing executive orders as thousands of supporters cheered, melding the theatrics of his campaign rallies with the powers of the presidency.

The Myanmar military and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) have ceased fire in northern Myanmar.

The two sides held talks in China’s south-western city of Kunming where they thanked Beijing for its efforts to promote peace, ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

“Cooling down the situation in the north of Myanmar is in the common interest of all parties in Myanmar and all countries in the region and contributes to the security, stability, and development of the border areas between China and Myanmar,” she said.

The MNDAA is one of several ethnic minority armed groups fighting to repel the military from what it considers its territory. It comprises ethnic Chinese. It said in July it had taken control of a major military base near the Chinese border.

The military seized power from Myanmar's civilian government in February 2021, plunging the country into crisis. China fears chaos along its 1240-mile border with Myanmar would jeopardize investment and trade.

Beijing previously brokered a ceasefire deal in the northern borderlands in January 2024, but the deal broke down a few months later.

The first study to assess how weight-loss drugs affect human health has discovered an “eye-opening” impact on the body.

The analysis, involving about two million people, linked the drugs to better heart health, fewer infections, a lower risk of drug abuse, and fewer cases of dementia. The US researchers also warned the drugs were "not without risk" and seemed to increase joint pain and potentially deadly inflammation in the pancreas.

The study used data on US veterans, mainly white men, with type 2 diabetes. Some were given Ozempic or Wegovy and some more standard drugs to measure their effect on 175 other illnesses. Noted were improved heart health: fewer heart attacks and strokes and less heart failure and high blood pressure.

They also cut the risk of substance abuse (including alcohol, opioids and cannabis) as well as reducing schizophrenia, suicidal thoughts and seizures. Despite the study being short, and people taking the drugs for only 3.5 years because of how new they are, it reported a 12% reduction in Alzheimer's disease.

There was also less liver cancer, muscle pain and chronic kidney disease as well as a noted reduction in bacterial infections and fever.

On the flip side, people were more likely to have problems with their digestive system. Feeling sick, tummy pain, inflammation in the stomach, diverticulitis (bulges in the intestines that can be painful), and hemorrhoids were more common on Ozempic or Wegovy.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said he’s unsure whether “the extent of the pardons” by former President Biden was “necessary.”

Murphy told reporters he has “real sympathy” for the position that Trump has put Biden and his and his family in. “There are real unique threats that are presented to the Biden family by Trump’s obsession with targeting his political opponents.” But he said it is “probably time” to look at how pardons are used.

“I have sympathy for President Biden, but I don’t know that the extent of the pardons he granted was necessary, and I don’t think any of us can be satisfied with the way that Trump or Biden used the pardon authority, one of the most extensive and sweeping executive powers that are available today.”

On Monday, Biden announced blanket pardons for multiple members of his family, including his sister, two brothers and his sister-in-law. Biden cited what he described as “unrelenting attacks and threats” against his family “motivated solely by a desire to hurt me” as part of the announcement.

The move comes months after Biden drew criticism from both sides of the aisle for issuing a pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, who had previously been found guilty on charges related to his purchase and possession of a gun years ago.

Murphy added that he is “certainly open to a broader conversation about pardon reform.”

Researchers at Canada’s University of Waterloo have found a way to reduce energy in some data centers by as much as 30%.

Computing accounts for as much as 5% of the world's daily energy use. Consumption is expected to increase significantly as computing power meets the growth of artificial intelligence. Nearly all web traffic is routed through data centers, the majority of which use the open-source operating system Linux.

Martin Karsten, professor of computer science, and his co-author, computer science grad student Peter Cai, realized the way data centers processed network traffic was inefficient and devised a small change.

“We just rearranged what is done when, which leads to a much better usage of the data center's CPU caches,” Karsten said. “It's kind of like rearranging the pipeline at a manufacturing plant so that you don't have people running around all the time.”

Karsten teamed up with Joe Damato at Fastly to develop a small section of code — about 30 lines — to improve Linux's network traffic processing. Linux published the code as part of its newest kernel, release version 6.13.

“The method could reduce the energy consumption of important data center operations by as much as 30%, Karsten said “Amazon, Google, Meta use Linux in some capacity. If they choose to switch on our method in their data centers, it could save gigawatt hours of energy worldwide.”

Colombia has vowed “war” against leftwing guerrillas as security forces rushed to contain a wave of violence.

In just five days, violence has been reported in three Colombian departments, from the remote Amazon jungle to the rugged border with Venezuela, where fighting has displaced 11,000 people and over 100 people killed.

On Monday, President Gustavo Petro issued a defiant warning to leaders of the National Liberation Army – or ELN – which is said to have been behind border region attacks on rival leftist groups, killing 80 people. The ELN, Petro said, had “chosen the path of war, and war they will have.”

Some 5,000 troops were sent to the border area, hoping to contain some of the worst violence Colombia had seen in years. The ombudsman’s office reported ELN rebels going from “house to house,” killing people suspected of ties to dissident units of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

The violence is a fresh challenge for Colombia’s leftist president, Petro, who has staked his political fortunes on a policy of “total peace.” In the face of some public opposition, Petro launched negotiations with hardline armed groups that still control parts of Colombia after being elected in 2022.

Critics allege that his conciliatory approach has emboldened groups who are often funded by the proceeds of cocaine and other trafficking and allowed them space to grow in power and influence.

Thousands tromped out onto a frozen lake in Minneapolis in cold weather to immerse themselves in art and make new friends.

The annual Art Shanty Projects drew crowds to Lake Harriet for the first of four weekends of interactive, often silly, and occasionally downright strange art events.

In the 21 years the event has been held, Erin Lavelle, the organization’s artistic director, said it has been curtailed a few times by warm winters but never because it was too cold.

This year’s projects include a knitting pavilion in which visitors weave hand-dyed yarn into panels to complete the roof and walls; a three-ring circus with music, poetry and clowning; a Cat World where people can be transformed into felines; and dancing in a “Disco Inferno Hot Box.”

Although Minnesotans take pride in getting outside even amid the snow and cold, Lavelle said the event’s surveys show it’s the first time on a frozen lake for 10% to 25% of the roughly 25,000 people who typically attend the four-weekend event.

“Getting people to feel connected with friends and strangers and winter is the greatest thing we can do,” Lavelle said. “We just want to be a social place for the public to visit and feel like they’re a part of something bigger.”