While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Jan 28, 2025
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The first confirmed case of H5N9 in poultry in the US was detected on a duck farm in Merced County, California.
PHOTO: JOHNY MILANO/NYTIMES
US investigates worrying bird flu strain on California duck farm
US officials are investigating the appearance of a strain of bird flu identified in the US for the first time, a worrying sign that the virus is evolving in ways that could make it harder to contain.
Detected on a duck farm in Merced County, California, it’s the first confirmed case of H5N9 in poultry in the US, according to the website for the World Organisation for Animal Health, a Paris-based group focused on animal diseases.
The California case wasn’t announced by US health officials, as the Trump administration has paused government communications on health topics pending a political review. Scientists worry that could delay the release of essential information to the public, including about disease outbreaks.
“It is extremely unusual, and I believe it reflects the policy decision for everyone to go dark,” said Professor Michael Kinch, a vaccine specialist who’s chief innovation officer at Stony Brook University.
Auschwitz survivors warn of rising anti-Semitism at 80th anniversary of death camp’s liberation
Auschwitz survivors warned of the dangers of rising anti-Semitism on Jan 27, as they marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German death camp by Soviet troops in one of the last such gatherings of those who experienced its horrors.
The ceremony at the site of the camp, which Nazi Germany set up in occupied Poland during World War Two to murder European Jews on a huge scale, was attended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Britain’s King Charles, French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish President Andrzej Duda and many other leaders.
They did not make speeches, but rather listened for perhaps the last time to those who suffered and witnessed at first hand one of humanity’s greatest atrocities.
DeepSeek’s overnight rise to fame strains system, draws attacks
Talk of an artificial-intelligence upstart in China behind a formidable ChatGPT rival had been building for days. At the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, some mentioned Hangzhou-based DeepSeek and its recently released R1 model as a prime reason for countries such as the US to be doubling down on AI advancements.
Over the weekend, DeepSeek’s AI assistant had rocketed to the top of Apple’s iPhone download charts and ranked among the top downloads on Google’s Play Store, straining the startup’s systems so much that the service went down for more than an hour. The company was eventually forced to limit signups to those with mainland China telephone numbers – but claimed the move was the result of “large-scale malicious attacks” on its services.
By Jan 27, it was clear the overwhelming interest in DeepSeek’s services was taking a toll on the company’s system.
Trump readies transgender ban, return of military Covid-19 discharges
President Donald Trump will sign executive actions that will restrict transgender troops from serving in the military and reinstate personnel who were discharged for refusing to receive a Covid-19 vaccine, according to people familiar with the matter.
The orders follow through on pledges Mr Trump has made to reshape the US military in his second term, targeting what he and his defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, have cast as “woke” policies they claim have distracted the armed forces from their mission.
One order will require the defence secretary to update Pentagon medical standards to ensure they prioritise “readiness and lethality,” according to a fact sheet provided by the people on condition of anonymity, setting the stage to ban transgender troops.
India, China agree to resume flights 5 years after stoppage
India and China agreed in principle on Jan 27 to resume direct flights between the two nations, nearly five years after the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent political tensions halted them.
The announcement came at the conclusion of a visit to Beijing by New Delhi’s top career diplomat and heralds the latest signs of a thaw in the frosty ties between the world’s two most populous nations.
Indian foreign ministry secretary Vikram Misri’s trip to the Chinese capital marked one of the most senior official visits since a deadly Himalayan troop clash on their shared border in 2020 sent relations into a tailspin.
