Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 14

Chinese woman convicted after 'world's biggest' bitcoin seizure

A Chinese national has been convicted following an international fraud investigation which resulted in what's believed to be the single largest cryptocurrency seizure in the world. The Metropolitan Police says it recovered 61,000 bitcoin worth more than £5bn ($6.7bn) in current prices.Zhimin Qian, also known as Yadi Zhang, pleaded guilty on Monday at Southwark Crown Court of illegally acquiring

Russia quietly arming China’s paratroopers for Taiwan fight

Russia’s quiet arming and training of China’s paratroopers sharpens Beijing’s airborne edge for a Taiwan strike—but significant capability gaps and formidable defenses still cloud the odds of success.Last month, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) reported that Russia has agreed to supply China with airborne military equipment and training to support the latter’s preparations for a

Trump’s big, costly, coercive trade deals falling apart in Asia

American economist Anne Krueger, 91, has witnessed a great deal of public policy chicanery during her stints as a top executive at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Yet Donald Trump’s tariff gamble on South Korea — including a US$350 billion “signing bonus” — has the battle-tested Krueger, who has also seen her share of financial crises, literally shaking her head with a mix of

US government shuts down with funding deal out of reach on Capitol Hill

The federal government has officially shut down after a deadlocked Congress failed to pass a funding measure to keep the lights on – and no one inside the Capitol knows what will happen next.A weekslong stalemate between Republicans and Democrats over enhanced Obamacare subsidies has turned into the first government shutdown since 2019. Leaders of both parties are privately and publicly adamant

The Commander in Chief Is Not Okay: Trump Put on a Disturbing Show for America’s Generals and Admirals.

The president talked at length, and his comments should have confirmed to even the most sympathetic observer that he is, as the kids say, not okay. Several of Hegseth’s people said in advance of the senior-officer conclave that its goal was to energize America’s top military leaders and get them to focus on Hegseth’s vision for a new Department of War. But the generals and admirals should be

Japan is arming a warship with US missiles that can hit targets up to 1,000 miles away as Pacific arms race heats up

A Japanese warship is on the way to the United States to be fitted with Tomahawk cruise missiles, the latest move by Washington and its Asian allies to beef up firepower as adversaries like China and North Korea expand theirs.The JS Chokai, an Aegis-equipped guided-missile destroyer, is steaming to the US for a year-long deployment during which the ship will undergo modifications – and crew

China’s DeepSeek launches next-gen AI model. Here’s what makes it different

Chinese startup DeepSeek’s latest experimental model promises to increase efficiency and improve AI’s ability to handle a lot of information at a fraction of the cost, but questions remain over how effective and safe the architecture is. DeepSeek sent Silicon Valley into a frenzy when it launched its first model R1 out of nowhere last year, showing that it’s possible to train large language

In the race to attract the world’s smartest minds, China is gaining on the US

A Princeton nuclear physicist. A mechanical engineer who helped NASA explore manufacturing in space. A US National Institutes of Health neurobiologist. Celebrated mathematicians. And over half a dozen AI experts. The list of research talent leaving the US to work in China is glittering – and growing.At least 85 rising and established scientists working in the US have joined Chinese research

Scam kingpins who ran billion-dollar criminal empire sentenced to death in China

A court in China has sentenced 11 people to death for their roles in a billion-dollar family-run criminal empire built on online scam and gambling operations in a remote border region of Myanmar, and for the deaths of workers who tried to escape. Eleven members and associates of the Ming crime family were sentenced to death on Monday by the Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court in eastern China’s

US establishes new Reaper drone unit 250 miles from China

The US Air Force is putting a permanent drone presence on the Korean Peninsula, reviving a World War II-era squadron to bolster security amid simmering military tensions in the region. The 431st Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron was activated on Monday at Kunsan Air Base on South Korea’s west coast, south of the capital Seoul. It will fly MQ-9 Reaper drones from the installation.It’s another