Japan’s SKY Perfect to build defense satellite constellation – Asia Times

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In order to strengthen its position in space protection and intelligence, Japan’s Ground Ideal JSAT has made it known that it will work with Planet Labs of the US to create an Earth study satellite constellation. This represents yet another positive development for Japan’s integration with those of its supporters and its civilian-military dish business.

The largest dish communications company in Asia is run by Ground Great JSAT, a provider of satellite TV broadcasting solutions. It now has 17 spacecraft in geostationary orbit, providing both for government and commercial reasons with satellite protection from North America to the Indian Ocean.

Planet Labs designs, builds and operates the nation’s largest ships of Earth scanning satellites, providing data and related service to private business and government organizations. For the past decade, Blue Perfect has been selling Planet’s dish scanning products in Japan.

SKY Perfect intends to invest about US$ 230 million in the acquisition of 10 high-definition” Pelican” low earth orbit study satellites that Planet has built and launched. With the addition of earth stations, Sky Perfect is anticipated to have invested roughly$ 260 million overall in the project.

As per the contract, Planet may safe “certain ability on the satellites for the companion, in addition to providing administrative services”. Additionally, it intends to “leverage the expanded fleet’s increased capacity to support its own government and corporate customers around the world.”

This is a partnership that will add Blue Best to Planet’s worldwide earth observation satellite network rather than just a straightforward sale. It will be put into effect through JSAT Beyond Innovation LLC, an institution to become established through Ground Great JSAT’s 100%-owned US company, JSAT International.

Pelican is a series of high-resolution electro-optical spacecraft developed by Planet Labs. Each dish is 1.3 meters high, 0.79 feet wide and 1.15 feet long during release, 2.84 feet wide and 0.89 feet long in circle, and weighs 215 kilograms.

The newest design, Pelican-2, introduced in January, is equipped with the NVIDIA Jetson Edge AI software, which speeds up the control and transfer of information from hours to days. It was first launched in January from the Californian Vandenberg Space Force Base on a SpaceX spacecraft.

Beginning in the middle of 2026 or quick 2027, the satellites designed for Blue Perfect are expected to be launched. Every 90 hours or so, they will group the Earth, taking pictures with a quality apparently as good as 30 centimeters.

In addition to place security and intellect, the satellites will be able to track natural disasters, economic conditions, land use and other terrestrial features, providing valuable information for crisis and resource management, climate protection, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, insurance, and other legal government and business purposes.

Planet’s most extensive second contract to date is the contract with SKY Perfect, which is its third strategic partnership to date.

Earth began designing and building spacecraft and providing information analytics to track the presence of gas and CO2 in the environment in 2021 with the non-profit Carbon Mapper partnership. The University of Arizona, the California Air Resources Board, and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory are additional partnership people.

In order to support NASA’s Communications Services Project ( CSP), Planet became a subcontractor to SES Space &amp, Defense and Telesat Government Solutions in 2022. The US and allies ‘ governments are served by those two businesses, which offer satellite communications systems.

For government-related projects like the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope, CSP is working with business objectives to create new satellite communications systems.

Planet works with clients like the Argentine Federal Police and the Brazilian geographic technology firm SCCON in addition to the European Space Agency, German Space Agency, US Department of Defense, international defense, and other organizations.

Through the acquisition of SKY Perfect Communications and JSAT Corporation, Blue Great JSAT was established in 2007. Three years later, it rolled out BS SKY PerfecTV, a novel online radio satellite TV channel. In 2014, it went worldwide, broadcasting Chinese TV programs to consumers in Indonesia.

In the second half of the decade, Blue Perfect JSAT made a number of ties-ups with domestic and international businesses that made it the world’s leading provider of satellite press, contacts, and Earth observation services.

    2016 – formed a business alliance with KSAT ( Kongsberg Satellite Services ), the Norwegian ground network operator, to introduce ground station services for low earth orbit satellites.
    2017 – concluded a satellite picture research options reseller deal with Orbital Insight, a geographic analytics firm based in Palo Alto, California.
    To provide a satellite-based hazard reduction data company, 2020 established a business alliance with Chinese companies Zenrin and Nippon Koei.
    Beginning a small SAR ( synthetic aperture radar ) satellite business in 2021, 2021 collaborated with Japanese manufacturer and operator iQPS. With its constellation of 36 light-weight, low-cost satellites, iQPS can provide the Japanese Ministry of Defense and other clients with high-resolution images of almost any place on Earth within 10 minutes, day or night, regardless of weather. &nbsp,
    established Space Compass, a joint venture with Japanese national telecommunications company NTT, to create a seamless satellite computing and communications network in the stratosphere and orbit around the earth.
    2023 – SKY Perfect and KSAT entered into an agreement to provide JAXA ( Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ) with near-earth tracking and control services.
  • To develop advanced satellite connectivity technology in Japan, 2023 collaborated with Project Kuiper, a low earth orbit satellite broadband network from Amazon, and NTT.
  • 2024 – spun out Orbital Lasers to further the development of compact, high-powered satellite laser systems for space debris mitigation, detumbling of defunct satellites, and LiDAR-based remote sensing.

On January 1, 2025, SKY Perfect JSAT established a” Space National Security Business Group” consisting of sales, engineering and intelligence security divisions.

The group’s primary responsibility will be to locate foreign naval ships, military installations, and other matters of interest to the Japanese Defense Ministry. The Planet Labs-purchased low earth orbit observation satellites should contribute a lot to this effort.

Follow this writer on&nbsp, X: @ScottFo83517667

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Simon Davies announced as new SAP regional president, Asia Pacific

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  • replaces Paul Marriott, who served as the lead for five years.
  • 25 years ‘ experience in building, selling & APAC is implementing IT options.

Simon Davies has been appointed chairman of the previously established APAC area by SAP Asia Pacific. Based in Singapore, Davies may oversee plan, businesses, individuals, sales, services, partners, and success across Asia Pacific for SAP SE. Paul Marriott is returning to Europe to get closer to his home after five times in the position.

With SAP business models operating in Australia and New Zealand, Greater China, India, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia, Davies may be responsible for overseeing more than 31,000 people across 78 practices.

Across the APAC area, SAP serves leading users, including NEC Corporation, Coles Group, Wipro, Fujitsu Limited, Shiseido, Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Corporation, Himalaya, Cochlear, and Japan Airlines.

Due to this appointment, Davies spent 25 years building, selling, and implementing IT answers in Asia Pacific, working with some of the world’s major technology companies, including Microsoft, Salesforce, and Oracle. He most recently held the position of senior vice president and general director of Splunk for more than three decades. Davis is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and serves on the boards of several pre-IPO tech companies.

Manos Raptopoulos, chief revenue officer for APAC, EMEA, and MEE, said, “Our second book is being fuelled by accelerated sky and AI technology, underpinned by our goal, our persons, and our alliances. Davies combines experience in Asia’s fast-growth, innovation-hungry markets with proven expertise in building high-performance, diverse, and inclusive teams.

Under Davies, I’m confident that SAP APAC will continue to build on the tremendous momentum created under Marriott’s leadership and serve as a resource for innovation and customer success. ”

Davies said, “I’m very excited for this new chapter to begin. We see forward-thinking businesses supporting SAP’s strategic transformation across Asia-Pacific and Japan. Establishing a solid foundation in the cloud and utilizing business data is the first step in the direction of new growth opportunities in fields like sustainability and data analytics. ”

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How Trump’s ‘drill, baby, drill’ pledge is affecting other countries

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1 minute ago
Navin Singh Khadka

Environment Correspondent, BBC World Service

Getty Images US President Donald Trump points after speaking during the Unleashing American Energy event at the Department of Energy in Washington DC, USGetty Images

The UN climate summit in the United Arab Emirates in 2023 called for” shift away from fossil fuels.” It received praise as a significant achievement in global climate change.

Barely a year later, however, there are fears that the global commitment may be losing momentum, as the growth of clean energy transition is slowing down while burning of fossil fuels continues to rise.

And now there is US President Donald Trump’s “national energy emergency”, embracing fossil fuels and ditching clean energy policies – that has also begun to influence some countries and energy companies already.

In response to Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” slogan aimed at ramping up fossil fuel extraction, and the US notifying the UN of its withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, Indonesia, for instance, has hinted that it may follow suit.

Getty Images Pump jacks are seen at dawn in an oil field over the Monterey Shale formation where gas and oil extraction using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is on the verge of a boom on March 24, 2014 near Lost Hills, California.Getty Images

‘ If US is not doing it, why does we?’

“If the United States does not want to comply with the international agreement, why should a country like Indonesia comply with it?” asked Hashim Djojohadikusumo, special envoy for climate change and energy of Indonesia, as reported by the country’s government-run news agency Antara.

Indonesia has remained among the world’s top ten emitters for many years.

” Indonesia produces three lots of carbon]per people a year ] while the US produces 13 plenty”, he asked at the ESG Sustainable Forum 2025 in Jakarta on 31 January.

” Yes, we are the people being ordered to shut down our energy plants,” we are told. But, where is the sense of justice around”?

Nithi Nesadurai, chairman with Climate Action Network Southeast Asia, said the impulses from her place were concerning.

She claimed that increasing the “richest nation and the largest oil producer in the world” gives another states” an easy reason to increase their personal- which they are already doing” by increasing its production.

In South Africa, Africa’s biggest sector and a big carbon emitter, a$ 8.5bn foreign-aided change initiative from the coal industry was already moving at a snail’s pace, and now there are concerns that it may obtain derailed more.

Wikus Kruger, director of Power Futures Lab at the University of Cape Town, said there was a “possibility” that decommissioning of old coal-fired power stations would be “further delayed”.

However, he claimed that the clean energy sector was expected to grow even though there was some “walk back” from the transition to renewables.

Getty Images View of Suralaya coal power plant while smoke and steam billows seen from Suralaya village in Banten province, IndonesiaGetty Images

Argentina withdrew its negotiators from the COP29 climate meeting in Baku last November, days after Trump won the US presidency. Since Trump’s announcement to withdraw from the Paris Agreement of 2015, which supports global efforts to combat climate change, has since followed suit.

The Argentine Association of Environmental Lawyers ‘ president, Enrique Viale, told the BBC,” We now anticipate that our oil and gas production will increase.”

” President Milei has indicated that he intends to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and that environmental protection is a part of the woke agenda,” Milei said.

Meanwhile, energy giant Equinor has just announced it is halving investment in renewable energy over the next two years while increasing oil and gas production, and another oil major, BP, is expected to make a similar announcement soon.

Getty Images Solar photovoltaic panels are seen in a tidal flat in Yancheng city, Jiangsu province, China, Getty Images

” American energy all over the world”

Trump has not just said “drill, baby, drill” but also:” We will export American energy all over the world”.

Potential buyers from abroad are already lining up.

India and the US have agreed to significantly increase the supply of American oil and gas to the Indian market.

At the end of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s US visit on 14 February, the two countries issued a joint statement that “reaffirmed” the US would be “a leading supplier of crude oil and petroleum products and liquified natural gas to India”.

A few days after Trump’s inauguration, South Korea, the world’s third largest liquified natural gas importer, has hinted its intention to buy more American oil and gas aimed at reducing a trade surplus with the US and improving energy security, international media have reported from Seoul.

Officials with Japan’s largest power generator, JERA, have told Reuters they too want to increase purchases of liquified natural gas from the US to diversify supply, as it currently imports half of it from the Asia-Pacific region.

The global energy transition may be slowed, according to Lorne Stockman, research director with Oil Change International, a research and advocacy organization for transition to clean energy.” There is definitely a threat that if the US seeks to flood markets with cheap fossil fuels, or to bully countries into buying more of its fossil fuels, or both, the world energy transition may be slowed.

Getty Images Smoke and flames rise from the forest as crews try to extinguish a wildfire in Chico, California, United States on July 25, 2024. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)Getty Images

According to scientists, there can’t be any new fossil fuel extraction and there needs to be a quick reduction of carbon emissions ( roughly 45 % by 2030 from the 2019 level ) if the world is to experience a 1.5 Celsius warming increase compared to the pre-industrial era.

” The economics of energy supply are a key driver of decarbonisation”, said David Brown, director of energy transition practice at Wood Mackenzie, a global energy think-tank.

Natural gas and liquids production are supported by the US energy sector’s abundance of resources. By contrast, import-dependent economies such as China, India, and those in Southeast Asia have a dramatic economic incentive to decarbonise sources of energy”.

Global energy transition investment surpassed $2tn for the first time last year but studies have also shown that the growth of clean energy transition has markedly slowed in recent years, while many major banks continue to finance fossil fuels.

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Morrison Foerster rehires Scott Jalowayski and appoints HK partner | FinanceAsia

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Scott Jalowayski is rejoining Morrison Foerster as a partner in the corporate group in its Singapore office. 

 

Jalowayski arrives from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher with over 20 years’ experience advising clients on complex international private equity and M&A transactions, and has practiced in New York, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore.

 

At Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Jalowayski was a founding partner of the firm’s Asia private equity practice and served most recently as co-chair of its global private equity practice group. Jalowayski previously practiced at Morrison Foerster, spending three years in the firm’s Japan office and five years in its Hong Kong office, where he made partner before leaving in May 2008. 

 

Jalowayski advises private equity funds, their portfolio companies, and other global and regional investment managers on their investment and M&A transactions in Asia. He has experience across leveraged and unleveraged control acquisitions, minority investments, joint ventures, divestures, and restructurings, and sector, including life sciences and healthcare, interactive and digital media, and technology, alongside real asset and infrastructure enterprises, according to a media release. 

 

“[Scott] strengthens our private equity and M&A capabilities on the ground in Singapore and brings significant, cross-industry experience to Morrison Foerster,” said Paul McKenzie Morrison Foerster mergers & acquisitions partner. 

 

Tabitha Saw co-office managing partner, Singapore at Morrison Foerster, added: “Scott brings to the firm significant private equity and M&A credentials and core relationships in both Southeast Asia and Japan. His presence will deepen our bench in these regions and in industries that are strategic to the firm, including energy transition, renewables, technology, and digital infrastructure.” 

 

In addition, Xiaoxi Lin has joined the firm as a partner in the corporate group based in Hong Kong, brings over 15 years’ experience to Morrison Foerster, with a private equity and M&A practice with established client relationships in the Greater China, Asia, and US markets.

Lin joins Morrison Foerster from Linklaters where he was a partner in its private equity and US public M&A practices. He previously practiced with Kirkland & Ellis and Davis Polk & Wardwell, with experience based in Hong Kong, New York, and Beijing


¬ Haymarket Media Limited. All rights reserved.

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Commentary: Alibaba won’t solve all of Apple’s China problems

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These mounting US-China hostilities could&nbsp, have &nbsp, more concerning consequences. Apple has become the target of anti-American attitude as one of the few British tech firms also operating in China.

More Chinese buyers have chosen private brands, which has contributed to this reaction. It doesn’t help that these regional organizations, such as Huawei are now offering AI functions.

” It’s the most competitive market in the world”, Cook said on&nbsp, the&nbsp, most-recent income contact when asked about China challenges. He’s straight: As Apple’s supremacy over the smartphone market has eroded, Huawei has gained the top position. And Apple’s closest rivals are all Chinese.

HOW TO PLEASE John TRUMP, BEIJING AND Foreign Customers?

Apple would be a wise move to import it to China, but that’s only one sing in a brand-new 4D game activity. Apple may have to find a way to satisfy Trump, Beijing, and extremely conservative Chinese customers.

On the plus side, if anyone in the software market was up to quite a process, it’s Cook. He has admirably managed US-China relationships over the years by acting as honest as a bird and as shrewd as a serpent, as the bible saying goes. &nbsp, He’s one of the few US company officials with an effective Weibo accounts, connecting immediately with the Chinese people.

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Phishing exercise to strengthen cyber resilience part of nationwide Total Defence campaign

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SINGAPORE: Starting from Saturday ( Feb 15 ), more than 200 large companies and small and medium enterprises ( SMEs ) will participate in a phishing exercise for two weeks.

This phishing exercise, a first-time partnership between the Ministry of Defence ( MINDEF ) and the Singapore Business Federation ( SBF), &nbsp, is part of this year’s Exercise SG Ready.

In response to potential cyberattacks and other problems, it advises businesses to” develop their cyber endurance and to evaluate their business continuity plans,” MINDEF said on Saturday. &nbsp,

The exercise&nbsp, may involve organizations from various fields including manufacturing, wholesale and retail business, and building, it added.

Exercise SG Ready, a global Total Defence training, was launched last year in line with the 40th celebration of Singapore’s regional military strategy.

Overall defence in Singapore encompasses the military, legal, economic, social and psychological realms, with the newest, seventh pillar of electronic military added in 2019.

According to MINDEF, the goal of Exercise SG Ready is to get people, areas, and companies to consider whether they are prepared for problems and to implement plans for disruptions in response to them, according to a news release. &nbsp,

This year’s exercise is co-led by MINDEF and the Energy Market Authority ( EMA ), with an emphasis on improving Singaporeans ‘ readiness for power outages.

More than 1, 000 organizations, including schools, communities, companies, and government agencies, will carry out various disturbance or preparedness activities over the course of two weeks. This is more than the 800 organizations that took part next month.

At the memorial celebration held at the SBF Center on Saturday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong kicked off the next version of Exercise SG Ready. &nbsp,

Mr. Gan stated in his speech that Singapore must be on top of the threat landscapes both within the community and in the online world, and put in place strong measures to safeguard data, devices, and systems online. &nbsp,

Businesses must also keep fighting economic force while also creating new business opportunities in the area, he said.

People in Singapore has even “make the work” to enhance their social network with those of other ethnicities, religions and countries, Mr Gan added. &nbsp,

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Trump 2.0 isn’t chaotic – it’s Project 2025’s playbook – Asia Times

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President Donald Trump took a number of executive actions during his first few days in business, including a slew of military moves, including a deployment of National Guard troops and military personnel to the US-Mexico borders.

Many of these activities are extraordinary. Some appear to be illegal and unconstitutional, according to constitutional professionals and judges. However, not all of them may shock you because Project 2025, which was developed in 2022, contained nearly all of them.

In order to enhance traditional plans in the federal government, Project 2025 uses a variety of strategies. The” Mandate for Leadership,” a 922-page report released in April 2023 that lists a number of proposed administrative policy changes, is a key component of this work.

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank and lobbying group, organized the creative energy. Parents for Liberty and Turning Point USA are two different right-leaning research institutions and interest groups that took part in Project 2025.

A white woman wears a blazer and stands at a table in front of a blue backdrop that says 'The Heritage Foundation'
On August 30, 2024, a consultant from the Heritage Foundation attends a Moms for Liberty National Summit in Washington. Photo: Dominic Gwinn/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images / The Talk

Participants in Project 2025 wrote on the policy’s website that they would “need both a guiding plan and the right people in place, ready to carry this agenda out on day one of the following conservative administration, to save the country from the grip of the extreme Left.”

In my investigation into think vehicles, I’ve looked at how these studies organizations can influence public policy. The most effective approach is to help a democratic party’s goals through advocacy and research. The Heritage Foundation has done precisely this through Project 2025.

Proof of Project 2025’s plan can be seen throughout his second term, as well as in his second administration, despite Trump declaring during his campaign in 2024 that he was not associated with the project.

For instance, on January 20, 2025, Trump echoed the plan’s statement that “men and women are natural realities” when he signed an executive order that, in part, recognizes” two sexes, male and female” that are” no variable and are grounded in underlying and undeniable reality”. Trans recommendations from government websites were removed as a result of this decree.

Project 2025 is also aligned with different orders. Consider Trump’s executive order, which partially abolished the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, a government agency that was formerly charged with ensuring that businesses working with the authorities did not discriminate against any people. Project 2025 recommended, very simply, to “eliminate OFCCP”.

According to some news accounts, there are already numerous different instances of executive orders and policy decisions that appear to be in line with Project 2025 tips.

One CNN study from Jan. 31 found that more than two-thirds of the 53 professional orders Trump issued during his first year in business “evoked ideas outlined in]the ] ‘ Mission for Leadership.'”

Decades of engagement

Project 2025’s effect on Trump reflects the Heritage Foundation’s growing relevance to the Republican Party.

In my upcoming book, I describe how think tanks like the Heritage Foundation have become deeply attached to politicians and have polarized and politicized coverage research organizations.

Increasingly, Heritage and another partisan-aligned think tanks, including liberal groups like the Center for American Progress, use their study to continuously support political agendas that coincide with their plan goals.

The relationship between the GOP and the Heritage Foundation is the most extreme instance of this dynamic. The think tank has backed Republican presidents as far back as Ronald Reagan, using a different policy document, also known as the” Mandate for Leadership” to achieve significant policy gains through his administration. However, the symbiosis between the GOP and the Heritage Foundation has grown more significant as Trump has seized more of his position of influence in the party.

As a Heritage Foundation researcher pointed out to me in 2017 that the think tank was aware that the “administration didn’t have much policy depth, so when they won the election they were sort of like,” Now what do we do?” at the beginning of Trump’s first term. And that’s where Heritage comes in. … We work on these issues year-round, so we’ll stand by your side”.

The Heritage Foundation also screened potential employees for positions in the federal government. By the middle of 2018, more than 66 Heritage employees or former employees had started working for the Trump administration.

But Heritage has not entirely dictated Trump’s agenda. By the end of 2017, the think tank has also updated its agenda to reflect Trump on the issues he cared most about, such as trade and culture wars.

As the think tank’s president, Kevin Roberts, said in 2024, Heritage views its job as “institutionalizing Trumpism“.

Trump and Project 2025 are connected by whom?

Many of the people who contributed to the” Mandate for Leadership” were members of the Trump administration, including former Office of Management and Budget director Russ Vought, who is currently the nominee for the same position.

Additionally on this list are Tom Homan, the current border czar, and John Ratcliffe, the former director of National Intelligence and the incoming CIA director.

In all, more than half of the plan’s 312 authors, editors and contributors previously worked in the first Trump administration.

The coalition’s staffing effort identified, vetted, and trained potential staffers and appointees who are currently entering the Trump administration and executive agencies, which is an extremely significant but frequently underappreciated aspect of Project 2025.

An older man wearing a grey suit points his finger at a large poster that says 'Exposing Project 2025'
During a news conference in Washington in September 2024, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer makes a gesture toward a visual aid about Project 2025. Photo: Kent Nishimura / Getty Images via The Conversation

What Project 2025 is covered by the law

A majority of Americans have opposed many of Trump’s policies since taking office, sometimes by a sizable margin, according to polls from January 2025.

Even during the presidential campaign, both Project 2025 itself and the policy ideas it advocated were <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/poll-project-2025-broadly-known-severely-unpopular-voters-rcna172660″>broadly unpopular. Democrats have repeatedly criticized Republicans for their attacks on the plan.

The Heritage Foundation has historically invested time and money into gaining public support for its work, which is notable because Project 2025 and its proposals have received little public support.

It runs a survey that asks voters to “interpret” their defenses and support for our policy recommendations and how to best gain their understanding and support.

There are also legal considerations. Many of Trump’s statements, such as saying that the government will deny citizenship to children of some immigrant Americans, are based on potentially unconstitutional interpretations and expansions of presidential power.

The think tank has a new face in this, which has historically opposed attempts to give the president more power over the president’s own interests. In fact, the Heritage Foundation was established to work with Congress to accomplish its objectives. But with Project 2025, it seems it is pursuing a new strategy.

The response of the public will largely determine how well the Heritage Foundation will support Trump in implementing the Project 2025 recommendations. Both the decisions made by the American judicial system and how much of the executive branch’s control is exercised by Congress will be affected.

These checks and balances have been essential to maintaining American democracy for nearly 250 years; whether they will continue to do so is yet to be seen.

Zachary Albert is assistant professor of politics, Brandeis University

This article was republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Apple partners with Alibaba to sell AI-powered iPhones in China – Asia Times

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Apple Inc. and Alibaba partnered to add artificial intelligence ( AI ) capabilities to the iPhone, disregarding US lawmakers ‘ request to end all American and Chinese company partnerships. &nbsp,

Apple’s share amount increased to US$ 241.5 on Thursday, up 6.4 % from Tuesday, when The Knowledge first reported the media. Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares have surged 18 % to HK$ 124.1 ( US$ 15.9 ) from Tuesday to Friday. &nbsp,

Last year, Apple sold 42.9 million iPhones in China, down 17 % from 2024. The business placed first. 3 in the Chinese handset industry, following Vito and Huawei. In the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, Apple generated about 17 % of its revenue from China. &nbsp,

” Apple has always been finicky. When they finally agreed to work with us, Alibaba Chairman Joe Tsai said to writers while attending the Dubai World Governments Summit. They want to power their phones with our AI technologies.

Apple Intelligence

In June, Apple announced it had start Apple Intelligence, an AI-powered private knowledge program for its phone, iPad, and Mac. &nbsp,

The new function, according to Apple chips, would enable them to comprehend and make language and images, act across apps, and use specific context to make tasks easier and quicker. &nbsp,

People of the most recent Apple tools, including all of the phone 16 designs and the phone 15 Pro and Pro Max, started using Apple Intelligence to modify messages and emails, emphasize their notifications, and modify photos in October. &nbsp,

Users may use Apple Intelligence on their products or Apple’s Personal Cloud Compute system for AI tasks that call for a lot of computing power. &nbsp,

Apple had planned to collaborate with Baidu before discovering that its AI concepts, according to The Information, weren’t really what it wanted. &nbsp,

According to the review, Apple had little choice but to look for a Chinese partner to have its AI tools approved by authorities.

Apple’s AI devices are anticipated to be accessible to phone users in China starting in May. &nbsp,

Alibaba’s bot

Apple’s decision to promote AI information or systems with Alibaba is undetermined, nor will it include the AI robot Tongyi Qianwen or Qwen from Alibaba in smartphones for sale in China.

In May next month, Alibaba launched Qwen2.5, which has 500 million to 110 billion guidelines. More characteristics frequently result in stronger models.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT3 has about 175 billion characteristics, while ChatGPT4 has about 1.8 trillion guidelines. The layout of ChatGPT4 consists of eight types, each of which has 220 billion guidelines. &nbsp,

On January 28 this month, Alibaba unveiled Qwen2.5-Max, which claims to have been trained on over 20 trillion guidelines. It said Qwen2.5-Max performs much better than DeepSeek.

It would be no wonder if Qwen2.5 you do better than DeepSeek. DeepSeek’s designers said in a research report on January 22 that they had “distilled” data from Qwen2.5 when training their AI models. &nbsp,

In the process of “knowledge distillation”, DeepSeek is a student who keeps asking questions to a competent educator, such as ChatGPT or Qwen2.5 and uses the responses to fine-tune its reasoning. &nbsp,

In this situation, Qwen2.5 is a professor trained by Alibaba with powerful technology skills, while DeepSeek is a student, or a clone of another AI models.

Zhou Chang, an engine engineer at Alibaba and the person in charge of the Qwen2.5 AI design, left Alibaba final July, taking along a group of about 10 technicians to meet ByteDance. &nbsp,

Media reports said Zhou’s annual salary at Alibaba was about 2 million yuan ( US$ 275, 691 ). ByteDance provided Zhou with a deal worth at least 10 million renminbi. However, according to reports, Alibaba sued him, claiming that he was barred from joining a rival. &nbsp,

US regulations

The Biden presidency finalized a set of regulations last October that would ban US purchases in some national security products and technologies in China, Hong Kong, and Macau.

The laws, effective on January 2 this month, include China’s AI, Quantum and silicon areas. &nbsp,

The Republican Senator Josh Hawley introduced a costs titled” Decoupling America’s Artificial Intelligence Capabilities from China Act of 2025″ on January 29 that would ban the import and export of relational AI systems or intellectual property. &nbsp,

If passed by the US Congress, the Act does stop people from “importing” smartphones powered by Taiwanese AI systems. But, whether and when this act will be passed is still a problem.

The Asia Times has Yong Jian as a source. He is a Chinese columnist who specializes in Chinese technologies, economy and politics. &nbsp,

Read: Trump obtuse of calling for a perfect DeepSeek ban

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Labour movement renews calls for more funding for training programmes amid job security concerns

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Prior to the release of the annual Budget on February 18th, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) is pressing for more funding for company-led coaching programs over the next five years.

One in three Singapore are concerned about their job security in the upcoming three times, according to a new NTUC study.

By 2032, 70 % of Singapore’s workforce will need to undergo coaching or mentoring, according to a report from the World Economic Forum, and 60 % of Singapore companies identified skill gaps as barriers to their company transformation efforts.

” NEEDLE-MOVING INITIATIVE”

Ng Chee Meng, the head of the NTUC, reiterated the demands made by the labor movement for more government funding for the Company Training Committee ( CTC ) grant, which aids businesses in transforming their operations in order to attract and retain staff.

Since the grant was launched in 2022, 85 per cent of the initial S$ 100 million ( US$ 75 million ) has been used for approved projects to support about 7, 000 workers.

Mr Ng said “anything important” in terms of extra money may become “useful”, though he did not give a distinct figure.

He had first made a demand for more state funding next month at a NTUC-organized work good.

Calling the CTC grant a “needle-moving initiative”, Mr Ng said NTUC and employers have “done good work to promote workers ‘ wages ( and ) workers ‘ employability, in conjunction with better businesses”.

” Productivity benefits have allowed employees to have, on average, 5 per share wage rises over the monthly increments. And this is not just for blue collar workers, but also for PMEs ( experts, managers and executives )”, he added.

So we hope the government will approve the CTC offer so that we can expand our work on the ground.

Job placements for PMEs and skilled technicians by NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute (e2i ) almost doubled from 8, 800 in 2023 to 17, 000 last year, said NTUC in an update.

In the same way, the proportion of PME job seekers who turned to e2i for assistance increased from 45 to 61 % between the last quarter of 2023 and the same period last year.

MENTORSHIP PILOT

In an effort to join employees with coaches for skills and career direction, NTUC also announced on Thursday that it will captain a program called the Company Mentorship Circle.

Under the program, unionised businesses will be able to touch 1, 200 coaches and experienced business leaders in the NTUC Mentors Network.

The unions for medical services employees, No engineering staff, and United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries will join this.

In due course, more information about when and how much the captain will begin may be made available.

Moving forward, Mr Ng told investigators that he hopes to work with the government and employers to table Singapore’s development.

He reaffirmed the labor group’s dedication to improve PMEs ‘ ability to advance career advancement and job security.

Many of these programs will be implemented by NTUC in collaboration with our bilateral lovers. In the grand scheme of things, he said,” We are looking forward to the Budget also for the government to share what might be the growth strategies for Singapore.”

“( This is ) to allow our tripartite partners to rally behind those policies and give us the best chance to have a robust economy with flourishing businesses, and to ensure that our workers can make a good living.”

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