January 16 2025

1. Israel, Hamas Reach 42-Day Ceasefire Deal
2. Blue Origin's New Glenn Rocket Makes First Orbital Flight
3. Biden Warns of Oligarchy in Farewell Address
4. Meta's AI Can Translate 101 Languages In Real-Time
5. China's Trade Dominance Surges To Historic Levels
January 16, 1992: Gulf War I begins

GET THE CITIZEN JOURNAL APP - FREE!

See the Ad Astra Podcast! Released on Apple and Spotify around 10a CST.

FLASH…LA fire containment…Palisades Fire: 21% contained…Eaton Fire: 45% contained…Hurst Fire: 98% contained…

Article Source: https://www.fire.ca.gov/

1. Israel, Hamas Reach 42-Day Ceasefire Deal

After more than a year of painstaking negotiations, Israel and Hamas agreed Wednesday to a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip that, if implemented, could see nearly three dozen Israeli hostages reunited with their families and give hungry and displaced Palestinians a reprieve from months of violence. Israel’s government still needs to formally approve the deal, in a vote officials say will take place Thursday morning. But the agreement could mark a first step toward ending a 15-month war that has destroyed Gaza and divided Israelis. The truce, mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, would begin on Sunday and cover an initial period of 42 days.

Article Source: WaPo

2. Blue Origin's New Glenn Rocket Makes First Orbital Flight

Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin launched its New Glenn rocket into orbit early Thursday, in a critical milestone that comes some 25 years after the billionaire founded the company with the goal of reducing the cost of access to space. The 320-foot-tall, two-stage rocket, named for John Glenn, the first American to reach orbit, lifted off in its first test flight at 2:03 a.m. from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The vehicle was not carrying people or satellites, but rather a suite of technologies to be used in a spacecraft the company calls Blue Ring, which would service satellites and spacecraft in space. New Glenn is designed to be partially reusable, and while Blue Origin tried to land its booster stage on a ship at sea, the attempt was not successful.  

Article Source: WaPo

3. Biden Warns of Oligarchy in Farewell Address

President Biden said Wednesday that an oligarchy and a tech industrial complex were taking hold in America, warning of the risks of unchecked power in a farewell address that served as a bittersweet coda to his 50-year political career.  Biden, in a 17-minute Oval Office speech that included a few stumbles, highlighted his work to usher the country out of the coronavirus pandemic and investing in infrastructure and technology. But he spent much of his time speaking about his concerns and hopes for the country’s future.  From behind the Resolute Desk, Biden said: “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”

Article Source: WSJ

4. Meta's AI Can Translate 101 Languages In Real-Time

Meta has released a new AI model that can translate speech from 101 different languages. It represents a step toward real-time, simultaneous interpretation, where words are translated as soon as they come out of someone’s mouth.  Typically, translation models for speech use a multistep approach. First they translate speech into text. Then they translate that text into text in another language. Finally, that translated text is turned into speech in the new language. This method can be inefficient, and at each step, errors and mistranslations can creep in. But Meta’s new model, called SeamlessM4T, enables more direct translation from speech in one language to speech in another. The model is described in a paper published today in Nature.

Article Source: MIT

5. China's Trade Dominance Surges To Historic Levels

Donald Trump kicked off a new era of Western economic rivalry with Beijing when he took office in 2017. As he prepares for his second term, China’s dominance of global manufacturing is greater than ever.   China just posted a trade surplus with the rest of the world of almost $1 trillion for 2024, according to official data released this week. That giant gap between exports and imports—roughly equal to the annual output of Poland—is now three times what it was in 2018 when decades of Western orthodoxy favoring open trade were upended by Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports. China today accounts for around 27% of global industrial production, according to United Nations data, up from 24% in 2018. By 2030, the U.N. predicts, China’s share of industry will have risen to 45%—a level of dominance unmatched since the U.S.’s postwar manufacturing heyday or the U.K.’s in the 19th century.

Article Source: WSJ

January 16, 1992: Gulf War I begins

Sponsors (click me!)

Sources

1. https://www.fire.ca.gov/

2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/01/15/israel-gaza-ceasefire-deal-hamas-hostages/

3. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/01/16/blue-origin-jeff-bezos-rocket-launch/

4. https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/biden-warns-of-oligarchy-and-tech-industrial-complex-in-farewell-address-ab69da46?st=xPB6NR&reflink=article_copyURL_share

5. https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/01/15/1109994/metas-new-ai-model-can-translate-speech-from-more-than-100-languages/

6. https://www.wsj.com/economy/trade/china-has-a-1-trillion-head-start-in-any-tariff-fight-e1c82092?st=ebrAow&reflink=article_copyURL_share