Cyclone Mocha surges through Myanmar and Bangladesh

Published

3 years ago

May 15, 2023

ticker NEWS

Winds of up to 210 km/h ripped away tin roofs and brought down a communications tower

Storm surges whipped up by a powerful cyclone inundated the Myanmar port city of Sittwe.

Winds of up to 210 kilometres per hour ripped away tin roofs and brought down a communications tower.

Parts of Sittwe, the capital of Myanmar’s Rakhine state, were flooded.

Some 400,000 people were evacuated in the country and low-lying neighbouring Bangladesh.

Authorities and aid agencies are scrambling to avert heavy casualties from one of the strongest storms to hit the region in recent years.

Myanmar has been plunged into chaos since a junta seized power two years ago.

After a crackdown on protests, a resistance movement is fighting the military on various fronts.

Across Rakhine state and the north west of the country about six million people were already in need of humanitarian assistance.

Over a million people have been displaced, according to the U.N. humanitarian office.

In Bangladesh, authorities moved around 300,000 people to safer areas before the storm hit.

Rohingya refugees inside densely-populated camps in the Cox’s Bazar in the south east of the country hunkered down inside their ramshackle homes.

More than a million Rohingya refugees live in sprawling camps prone to flooding and landslides after having fled a military-led crackdown in Myanmar in 2017.

Russia bans WhatsApp and promotes state-backed messaging app

Kremlin blocks WhatsApp, urging citizens to use state-backed MAX; critics warn of surveillance, prompting protests in Moscow.

Published

2 hours ago

February 13, 2026

Harvey Vargas

Kremlin blocks WhatsApp, urging citizens to use state-backed MAX; critics warn of surveillance, prompting protests in Moscow.

The Kremlin has officially blocked WhatsApp, urging Russians to switch to MAX, a state-backed messaging app. This move comes after Meta refused to comply with local regulations, sparking debates over digital freedom in the country.

Critics warn that MAX could be used for government surveillance, though authorities deny these claims. The ban highlights Russia’s growing control over foreign tech platforms and its push for locally regulated alternatives.

Activists in Moscow have staged protests calling for an open and unregulated internet, while the public reacts with a mix of concern and resignation.

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News

U.S. secretly sent 6,000 Starlink terminals to Iran after protests

US covertly sent 6,000 Starlink terminals to Iran amid protests, aiding internet access despite government shutdowns and crackdown violence.

Published

2 hours ago

February 13, 2026

Harvey Vargas

US covertly sent 6,000 Starlink terminals to Iran amid protests, aiding internet access despite government shutdowns and crackdown violence.

U.S. officials report that the Trump administration covertly sent around 6,000 Starlink satellite internet terminals into Iran following widespread protests. The move was designed to bypass strict internet blackouts imposed by authorities in Tehran.

The terminals reportedly enabled activists and dissidents to reconnect with the outside world during periods of severe digital restriction, raising fresh questions about foreign involvement and cyber strategy.

As geopolitical tensions simmer, the revelation underscores how connectivity has become a powerful tool in modern conflict.

#Iran #Starlink #DonaldTrump #MiddleEast #GlobalPolitics #TechNews #InternetFreedom #BreakingNews

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News

Anthropic secures 30 billion in fresh funding as valuation surges

Anthropic raises $30B, doubling valuation to $380B, boosting global AI race with support from GIC, Coatue, Microsoft, and Nvidia.

Published

2 hours ago

February 13, 2026

Harvey Vargas

Anthropic raises $30B, doubling valuation to $380B, boosting global AI race with support from GIC, Coatue, Microsoft, and Nvidia.

Anthropic has secured a staggering $30 billion in fresh funding, catapulting its valuation to $380 billion and cementing its place among the most valuable AI companies in the world. The raise marks the second-largest private technology funding round ever, trailing only OpenAI’s $40 billion deal.

Major backers in this latest round include Singapore’s GIC and Coatue Management, alongside existing heavyweight partners Microsoft and Nvidia. The scale of the investment underscores intensifying global competition in artificial intelligence as capital continues to flood into the sector.

Anthropic’s valuation has more than doubled in just five months, fuelled by rapid enterprise growth. The company now works with eight of the Fortune 10 and boasts more than 500 customers spending over $1 million annually, highlighting surging demand for advanced AI tools across corporate America.

#ArtificialIntelligence #AI #Anthropic #TechNews #VentureCapital #BigTech #Innovation #Startups