His endeavors seem to have been successful. China’s Foreign Ministry mentioned that both parties were making “new strides towards promoting peace.” The collaborative statement confirmed that communication and diplomacy were “the sole viable means to settle disputes,” and it emphasized the necessity to safeguard waterways, including the obstructed strait.
The operation will encompass 36 states and territories managed by the federal government, over 7,000 sub-districts, in excess of 9,700 towns, and almost 640,000 villages, with data collection conducted by enumerators and supervisors – generally schoolteachers, government personnel, and local authorities.
Ollama, a runtime for running large language models on a local machine, has added compatibility with Apple’s open-source MLX machine-learning framework. Ollama also reports better caching performance and now supports Nvidia’s NVFP4 model-compression format, which can considerably reduce memory use for certain models.
Taken together, these changes should deliver noticeably improved performance on Macs with Apple Silicon (M1 or later)—and the timing is apt, since local models are starting to gain momentum beyond the research and hobbyist spheres.
OpenClaw’s recent breakout—which surged past 300,000 stars on GitHub, grabbed attention with experiments like Moltbook, and became a particular phenomenon in China in particular—has pushed many people to try running models locally.
As developers grow frustrated with rate limits and the high prices of premium plans for services such as Claude Code or ChatGPT Codex, experimentation with local coding models has intensified. (Ollama has also recently expanded its Visual Studio Code integration.)
The new capability is available in preview (Ollama 0.19) and currently supports only one model—the 35 billion-parameter variant of Alibaba’s Qwen3.5. The hardware requirements are steep for typical users: besides an Apple Silicon Mac, you need at least 32GB of RAM, according to Ollama’s announcement.
On March 22, The Wall Street Journal said Kennedy was “poised” to carry out his proposal to remove FDA limits on peptides. Two days later, The Washington Post’s editorial board denounced Kennedy’s proposal as “hypocritical quackery.” Today, The New York Times reported that the FDA is moving toward permitting compounding pharmacies to produce 14 peptides that are now restricted. The Times added that senior FDA officials have “reservations” about the shift and worry the agency could be accused of deciding on political grounds rather than on scientific evidence.
Which 14 peptides might be included hasn’t been made public. Observers expect several well-known compounds to appear on the list, such as BPC-157 (Body Protection Compound-157), originally isolated from gastric secretions and promoted for tissue repair. Growth-hormone–releasing peptides like CJC-1295 and Ipamorelin are also likely candidates.
Specialists point out there are no randomized controlled trials proving the effectiveness of these peptides. Furthermore, experts warn of a range of safety issues, including contaminants from gray- or black-market sources, inconsistent dosing, and mixtures of unproven peptides known as “stacks.” Some peptides that stimulate growth could increase cancer risk, and others may disrupt hormonal balance. Last year, two women fell critically ill after receiving peptide injections at an anti-aging event in Las Vegas.
The evidence for these peptides is “just woefully minuscule,” Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, told the Times. “It’s a mess, because we don’t have any data that these work,” he added. “Maybe one of them actually does something good. But right now, we just know that they’re a liability.”
The autonomous shipping firm Saronic announced on Tuesday that it has secured $1.75 billion in funding as it accelerates production to satisfy the increasing demand from the U.S. military for more advanced and cost-effective defense solutions.
This funding round, spearheaded by Kleiner Perkins, more than doubles Saronic’s valuation to $9.25 billion, up from $4 billion following a $600 million fundraising last year.
Saronic intends to utilize the investment to enhance its supply chain and shipyards, aiming to produce over 20 ships annually by 2027, which includes its new facility, named Port Alpha, located in Texas.
“We’re witnessing a genuine shift in demand towards unmanned systems that can be produced at scale and at a considerably lower cost compared to traditional vessels,” CEO Dino Mavrookas informed CNBC’s Morgan Brennan during an interview.
The U.S. is pushing to catch up with China’s extensive shipbuilding capacities and regain maritime dominance under President Donald Trump’s defense modernization initiatives. The conflict in Iran and the congestion in the Strait of Hormuz further underscore the necessity of incorporating newer technologies into modern warfare.
Mavrookas stated that Saronic’s vessels could minimize risks to military personnel in hazardous environments and assist the U.S. in diminishing China’s predominance. The company aims to help the U.S. achieve production figures not seen since World War II.
“It’s a complete reimagining of the ship,” he remarked, focusing on redesigning vessel structures for autonomy.
For several years, Silicon Valley has invested billions into defense technology firms trying to gain market share from established defense contractors like Lockheed Martin, RTX and Northrop Grumman.
Saronic, which was ranked 19th on the latest CNBC Disruptor 50 list, is part of a growing number of defense firms attracting government contracts with support from venture capital. Last year, it secured a $392 million contract with the Navy. Recently, autonomous drone company Shield AI raised $2 billion at a $12.7 billion valuation. Palantir and Anduril have also achieved significant success during the Trump administration.
Located in Austin, Texas, Saronic produces six different versions of autonomous surface vessels, including a six-foot-long model called Spyglass and its 40-metric-ton marauder.
Saronic’s primary shipyard in Franklin, Louisiana, is currently undergoing a $300 million expansion. Mavrookas mentioned that the company is on track to increase production fivefold there within the next year.
It comes on the heels of a related occurrence from December.
It comes on the heels of a related occurrence from December.
SpaceX has reported losing connection with a Starlink satellite following an “anomaly.” While SpaceX remains vague about the specifics, space-monitoring firm Leo Labs states it “immediately detected dozens of objects surrounding” Starlink 34343 post-incident.
“Recent findings indicate that the situation presents no additional threat to the @Space_Station, its crew, or the forthcoming launch of NASA’s Artemis II mission,” states SpaceX in a post on X. “We will keep an eye on the satellite alongside any identifiable debris and coordinate efforts with @NASA and the @USSpaceForce.”
The satellite and its debris are anticipated to disintegrate upon entering the atmosphere in a few weeks. SpaceX is currently analyzing the cause.
SpaceX experienced a comparable incident in December when it unexpectedly lost contact with a satellite that also appeared to have exploded. This event occurred merely a week following a close encounter with a Chinese satellite.
The latest incident took place at approximately 560km above Earth in a congested region referred to as low Earth orbit, where over 24,000 objects, including debris and around 10,000 Starlink satellites, are being monitored.
In January, SpaceX sought approval from the FCC for “up to one million satellites” to establish orbital data centers. “We have recently submitted a request for FCC authorization for as many as one million AI satellites,” noted SpaceX’s president and COO Gwynne Shotwell in a recent Time article. “I’m surprised that didn’t garner more attention. I thought it would definitely make headlines.”
Well, Gwynne, here we are, just as SpaceX is gearing up for a record-breaking IPO.
Numerous incidents outlined in the report occurred in last year’s conflict zone of North Darfur, following the RSF’s seizure of the displaced persons camps in Zamzam and Abu Shouk, as well as the city of el-Fasher in October, which MSF describes as “one of the most shocking episodes, revealing the most unfathomable savagery”.
“Commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest, it holds particular significance to embark on this new chapter with Asia, a region abundant in culture, creativity, and talent,” stated Martin Green, director of the Eurovision Song Contest at the EBU.
The organization claims it ‘never fully understood how to turn Rec Room into a consistently profitable venture.’
The organization claims it ‘never fully understood how to turn Rec Room into a consistently profitable venture.’
Rec Room, a social gaming platform similar to Roblox that allows users to craft games and experiences for others to engage with, is set to close on June 1st. Although it has attracted over 150 million players and creators and, at its peak, was valued at $3.5 billion, the organization states in a blog update that “we never fully understood how to turn Rec Room into a consistently profitable venture” and that “our expenses consistently outpaced the income we generated.”
The organization further mentions that “given the recent changes in the VR landscape, coupled with broader challenges in gaming, the journey towards profitability has become sufficiently difficult that we’ve made the tough choice to cease operations.” Rec Room cut its workforce by 50% in August, and shortly after those layoffs were made public, Rec Room CEO and co-founder Nick Fajt stated that conducting the layoffs at that time “allowed us to support individuals while positioning Rec Room for years rather than mere months of funding.”
Rec Room is not the only social gaming service to face difficulties recently. Beginning in June, Meta’s Horizon Worlds will not receive new VR experiences as the company pivots the platform’s focus towards mobile. Last week, Epic Games laid off over 1,000 employees due to a “decline in Fortnite engagement” which meant the company was “incurring significantly more expenses than we are earning,” as stated by CEO Tim Sweeney.
“This is the identical board that vowed transparency. The very leadership that said they would operate this utility the right way. And now they can’t even comply with a basic notification statute before removing a public health measure from the drinking water of hundreds of thousands of people,” Woodfin wrote.
Late last week, the City of Birmingham filed a lawsuit against CAW, alleging that CAW failed to provide notice of the change and seeking an emergency court order to restore fluoridation, according to local WVTM13. The city argued in its filing that removing fluoride from the water endangered residents’ dental health, particularly low-income residents and children who lack access to dental care.
When contacted by Ars Technica, the City of Birmingham declined to comment on the suit. CAW told reporters that it does not comment on pending litigation.
The American Dental Association (ADA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics endorse fluoridating community water to prevent tooth decay, especially in children. In areas without fluoridated water, medical experts recommend prescribing fluoride supplements for children.
Water fluoridation is considered one of the top 10 public health achievements. Still, since its introduction in the US in 1945, baseless fears and conspiracy theories have swirled around the practice. Those concerns have been stoked recently by anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Although he has no background in medicine, public health, or science, Kennedy has rejected scientific evidence on fluoridation and made forceful, unsubstantiated claims that fluoridated water is unsafe. As health secretary, he has pledged to remove it from US water. A modeling study by Harvard University researchers last year estimated that if Kennedy follows through on that pledge, it would lead to 25 million more decayed teeth among children and teens in the first five years.
Health experts have also pushed back against the idea that fluoridation is unnecessary now that fluoride-containing toothpaste and mouthwash are available. In comments to NBC News, Scott Tomar, head of the department of population oral health at the University of Illinois Chicago, said: “It certainly is true that fluoride-containing toothpaste is effective at preventing decay, but it’s not true that that alone justifies removing fluoride from our drinking water.” Tomar warned that CAW’s decision to remove fluoride will increase residents’ risk of cavities. “It has probably put youngest children at the greatest risk, because that’s usually where we see it show up first when fluoridation stops,” he said.
