Category: News and Views

This year’s flu shot was up to 78% effective at preventing hospitalization in kids, early data finds | Live Science

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This year’s flu shots have dramatically reduced hospitalizations for seasonal influenza, early data suggest.

For kids and teens, the shots were at least 63% effective against flu hospitalizations and up to 78% in some regions. That’s according to data pulled from two networks of health care centers that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) monitors to assess flu shot effectiveness.

“Vaccine effectiveness” reflects how much a shot lowers the chances of a particular health outcome in the real world, and it’s calculated by comparing how often that outcome occurs in vaccinated versus unvaccinated people. So in this case, vaccinated kids had a 63% to 78% lower chance of being hospitalized for flu.

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Meta Announces Changes to Facebook Live Video Storage Policy | Small Biz Trends

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Meta is updating its Facebook Live video storage policy, limiting the availability of live broadcasts to 30 days before automatic deletion. The change, which takes effect on February 19, will align Facebook’s storage policies with industry standards and streamline how live video content is managed on the platform.

New 30-Day Limit for Live Videos

Under the updated policy, new live broadcast videos can be replayed, downloaded, or shared for 30 days before they are automatically removed from Facebook. Previously, live videos were stored indefinitely.

Additionally, all live videos older than 30 days will be deleted in phases over the coming months. Meta will notify users before deletion, giving them 90 days to download, transfer, or repurpose their content. Users will receive these notifications via email and in the app.

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IRS Warns Taxpayers to Choose Tax Preparers Carefully to Avoid Fraud and Identity Theft | Small Biz Trends

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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is urging taxpayers to exercise caution when selecting tax professionals, warning that while most preparers are reputable, some engage in fraud, identity theft, and other scams. The agency emphasizes that taxpayers remain legally responsible for their tax returns, even if prepared by someone else.

IRS Resources for Selecting a Tax Professional

To help taxpayers make informed choices, the IRS offers several tools, including:

  • The Directory of Federal Tax Return Preparers with Credentials and Select Qualifications, which lists preparers who meet high professional standards.
  • A dedicated page on IRS.gov with guidance on choosing a reputable preparer, avoiding unethical ones, and understanding different preparer qualifications

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SpaceX just achieved another first with its Falcon 9 rocket | Digital Trends

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SpaceX undertook a Falcon 9 mission with a difference on Tuesday night, landing the booster in a different country from which it was launched. The spaceflight company shared footage of the feat on social media site X.

Up to now, SpaceX has always landed the returning Falcon 9 booster back at the launch site in Florida or California, or on a droneship off the East or West Coast, but this time it touched down on a droneship off the coast of The Bahamas, some 420 miles southeast of the launch site at Cape Canaveral, Florida — completing its first-ever international voyage.

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South Korea bans new downloads of China’s DeepSeek AI | BBC News

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South Korea has banned new downloads of China’s DeepSeek artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, according to the country’s personal data protection watchdog.

The government agency said the AI model will become available again to South Korean users when “improvements and remedies” are made to ensure it complies with the country’s personal data protection laws.

In the week after it made global headlines, DeepSeek became hugely popular in South Korea leaping to the top of app stores with over a million weekly users.

But its rise in popularity also attracted scrutiny from countries around the world which have imposed restrictions on the app over privacy and national security concerns.

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Pope Francis’s health a ‘complex clinical situation’, Vatican says | BBC News

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Pope Francis is being treated for a “complex clinical situation” and will remain in hospital for as long as necessary, the Vatican has said.

The 88-year-old was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday to undergo treatment and tests for bronchitis.

In an update on Monday, the Vatican said the pontiff has a “polymicrobial infection” of his respiratory tract, which has required a change in his treatment.

Before his admission last week, the Pope had bronchitis symptoms for several days and had delegated officials to read prepared speeches at events.

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UK drops ‘safety’ from its AI body, now called AI Security Institute, inks MOU with Anthropic | TechCrunch

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The U.K. government wants to make a hard pivot into boosting its economy and industry with AI, and as part of that, it’s pivoting an institution that it founded a little over a year ago for a very different purpose. Today the Department of Science, Industry and Technology announced that it would be renaming the AI Safety Institute to the “AI Security Institute.” (Same first letters: same URL.) With that, the body will shift from primarily exploring areas like existential risk and bias in large language models, to a focus on cybersecurity, specifically “strengthening protections against the risks AI poses to national security and crime.”

Alongside this, the government also announced a new partnership with Anthropic. No firm services were announced but the MOU indicates the two will “explore” using Anthropic’s AI assistant Claude in public services; and Anthropic will aim to contribute to work in scientific research and economic modeling. And at the AI Security Institute, it will provide tools to evaluate AI capabilities in the context of identifying security risks.

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TikTok is back on the App Store and the Play Store in the U.S. | TechCrunch

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After more than 25 days, Apple and Google restored TikTok in the U.S Thrusday evening. Both companies removed the app from the App Store and the Play Store on January 18 in response to a national security law.

Other ByteDance apps such as video editor CapCut and social app Lemon8 were also restored on these app stores. Apple, which published a rare support document detailing these removals, has deleted the support document now.

On January 19, TikTok started restoring services to existing users, but Apple and Google kept the app out of their stores. That meant if you had uninstalled TikTok, you wouldn’t have been able get it. Earlier this month, TikTok urged users on Android to sideload the app via its website.

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JPMorgan Is Reportedly Laying Off Around 1,000 Workers | Entrepreneur

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JPMorgan has begun laying off what is expected to be fewer than 1,000 employees, according to a report by Barron’s.

The outlet notes that this round of layoffs affected “several” Houston offices and some now-former employees were notified on February 5. However, this isn’t the end.

JPMorgan is set to announce job cuts in mid-March, May, June, August, and September, though Barron’s states it is not clear how many roles will be impacted by the planned layoffs throughout the year.

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T-Mobile Starlink is offering free (temporary) access even if you’re not a T-Mobile customer | Mashable

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T-Mobile’s Starlink satellite messaging service is free for everyone to try — even AT&T and Verizon customers.

During the Super Bowl on Sunday, T-Mobile announced the public beta launch of its direct-to-cell program with Starlink. Customers can sign up, free of charge, until it moves out of beta in July. And you don’t have to be a T-Mobile subscriber to try it out.

“When your service is amazing and different, you want as many people to try it as possible,” reads the announcement. “T-Mobile is giving AT&T and Verizon customers the opportunity to try out T-Mobile Starlink satellite service on their existing phones.”

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