iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

🇨🇩🪖 Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have seized control of a mining town in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in an apparent violation of a unilateral ceasefire declared this week. An estimated 2,800 people died in Goma already.

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🇭🇹💸 More than $13-m in US funding for an international security force helping fight armed gangs in Haiti has been frozen under Trump’s 90-day pause on foreign aid. The Multinational Security Support mission relies on voluntary contributions.

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🇦🇷🩺 Argentina will follow in Donald Trump’s footsteps and pull out of the World Health Organisation due to “deep differences”. Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei, who considers Trump a close ally, blamed the WHO’s management of health issues, notably the Covid-19 pandemic.

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@dailymaverick.co.za 🇺🇸🇺🇳 The UN chief has warned President Donald Trump against his idea of taking over war-torn Gaza and resettling Palestinians. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday the US should avoid ethnic cleansing and continue working towards a two-state solution.

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🇦🇺⚢ Australia has introduced gender equality as a key pillar to its foreign policy, aid and trade programmes. Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed that this is now a “matter of national interest”.

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🇳🇿⚖️ Author Neil Gaiman and his estranged wife have been sued for alleged sexual assault of a New Zealand woman. The complainant alleged that Gaiman repeatedly raped her while she worked for them, while his estranged wife Amanda Palmer knowingly failed to warn her.

🇺🇸🚶‍♀️More than 20,000 government workers in the US have taken up an offer for an early end to their careers. The departures formed part of a government offer to federal workers to quit early and receive full pay until the end of September.

🇺🇸🇵🇸 Of the many dumb things said by the White House this week, #1 for Wednesday must be Donald Trump’s suggestion that the US “take over” Gaza. Trump proposed levelling it out to “develop it” while speaking at a Tuesday press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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🇺🇸🎵 Beyoncé and her album Cowboy Carter won best country album at this year’s Grammys. The show was still going at the time of writing, and focused strongly on pledging support for Los Angeles after the devastating wildfires.

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🇿🇦🇹🇼 South Africa has told Taiwan it has until the end of March to move its embassy outside of Pretoria. Taipei currently has only one African country (Eswatini) where it enjoys formal diplomatic ties.

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🇩🇪🪧 Tens of thousands have taken to the streets of Berlin to protest proposed anti-immigration laws championed by Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party. Those gathered at the Brandenburg Gate numbered about 160,000.

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🇺🇸❤️‍🔥 The Trump administration has continued its purge of USAID staff, putting dozens more on “administrative leave” over the weekend. From landmine removals in Asia to HIV drugs in South Africa, the Trump dismantling of USAID has had immediate, and disastrous, effects.

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Today's @dailymaverick.co.za First Thing, wherein we filed too late for the Trump-SA trade feud brewing:

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🇺🇸🇬🇧 Donald Trump gave Keir Starmer two signed baseball caps as gifts last year. The exchange is a tradition going far back. Before you roll your eyes, know that Barack Obama gifted Gordon Brown a DVD box set in exchange for a pen hand carved from the wood of a Royal Navy ship of sail.

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🎵🏆 Taylor Swift has been unveiled as this year’s presenter for the Grammys. To be held this coming Sunday, Swift will be presenting one undisclosed category award. She is also nominated for album of the year.

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🇮🇹🇨🇳 Italy’s privacy watchdog has banned DeepSeek over concerns about user data. The Garante (Italy’s watchdog) said information provided about how AI app DeepSeek handles user data was “totally insufficient”.

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🇺🇸⚖️ Prosecutors have alleged that Sean “Diddy” Combs trafficked at least three women. Diddy is accused of a 20-year sexual abuse pattern. He faces trial on 5 May.

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Today's @dailymaverick.co.za First Thing news while you were sleeping:

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🇺🇸🏈 Tickets for this year’s Super Bowl have hit record demand. The Kansas City Chiefs will face the Philadelphia Eagles. The average ticket price? A paltry $7,900. The priciest ticket thus far is going for $54,000. #goeagles

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🇯🇵💴 SoftBank announced that it was close to securing its $25-billion investment into ChatGPT’s OpenAI. It is not known whether this huge sum was affected by the upstart Chinese AI, Deepseek.

🇺🇸🇵🇸 And the White House has ordered the deportation of any non-citizen college students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests. Using terms including “pro-Jihadist protests” and “terroristic threats”, Trump vowed that his government would find the students and deport them.

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🇺🇸⚖️ Donald Trump’s lawyers filed a formal notice of intent to appeal his hush money conviction on Wednesday. Trump faced zero prison time for his conviction, but appears to be dissatisfied with the former judgment of guilt on his record.

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🇯🇴⚕️Jordan has launched a massive air corridor into Gaza to funnel urgent medical aid into the flattened city. The operation involved 16 helicopter flights a day, carrying around 160 tonnes into Gaza.

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🇮🇳🏃 More than seven people were killed in a stampede during the Great Pitcher Festival in Prayagraj, India. Millions were shown on drone footage at the festival on Wednesday. Reports showed authorities had closed one area of escape for those caught in the rush.

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🇺🇸🇪🇹 Donald Trump’s ban on US aid has placed thousands of Ethiopian refugees at risk of starvation. The State Department ordered aid group ACF to “a complete halt” on all its programmes, including feeding centres tackling thousands of kids under age five who face acute malnourishment.

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Today's @dailymaverick.co.za First Thing: 🇺🇸🇨🇩 Secretary of State Marco Rubio – we’re still getting used to that one – has instructed Paul Kagame that the US wants a ceasefire in Congo. A combined M23 rebel and Rwandan military offensive has overwhelmed SANDF troops in the region and captured Goma.

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🇺🇸🗺️ Google Maps will be renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, though only for American users. With that one update, the US population slinks further behind in their poor geography skills.

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🇨🇦🇪🇺 Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly has announced that she would be approaching allied countries to seek alternatives to trade with the US. Canada is facing a 25% tariffs threat from the Trump administration.

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🇩🇰🇬🇱 Denmark has approved a $2.1-billion military expansion for its arctic region of responsibility. The funding package includes provision for new navy vessels, satellites and a drone arsenal. Suddenly Greenland is looking a little less soft...

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🇺🇸⛓️‍💥 The Trump administration has bulldozed through the ranks of USAID, putting roughly 60 senior staff members on leave. This puts billions of dollars in global humanitarian aid at risk in a freeze. USAID accounted for an estimated 42% of all humanitarian aid tracked by the United Nations in 2024.

Starting today, I'm going to try my best to post the overnight snippets from the award-winning @dailymaverick.co.za First Thing newsletter, AKA my baby. I will also be trying to do this in the morning. Just not today...