United News of Bangladesh

Democratic lawmakers demanded answers from billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency on Thursday as concerns about who has access to America's most sensitive information continue to dog Trump administration efforts to reshape the federal government. The systems accessed by Musk's DOGE staffers include billions of data points about citizens and businesses, as well as potentially sensitive information about government payments and programs that, if assembled correctly, could reveal secrets about national security and intelligence operations to Russia, China or another adversary. Musk and the White House so far have not convinced their critics and have offered few details about their cybersecurity measures as their tech-centered approach to shrinking government roils Washington. In a letter sent to Musk and the White House, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., demanded to know the details about security precautions and whether lapses in security may have exposed sensitive information. The letter asserts that reckless actions by DOGE present a “grave” threat to national security by exposing secrets about America’s defense and intelligence agencies. "DOGE employees do not appear to fully understand much of the information to which they have been given unfettered access and given the cavalier and incompetent ways that they have handled this data, these individuals represent a clear threat to national security and the nation’s economy,” wrote Warren and Connolly, who were joined on the letter by several other Democratic lawmakers. Musk and President Donald Trump have defended DOGE’s work, saying it’s led to billions of dollars in savings. In response to the concerns raised in Thursday’s letter, a spokesman for the administration said it’s vital that DOGE workers have access to federal databases. “It takes direct access to the system to identify and fix it,” Harrison Fields, principal deputy White House press secretary, said in an email Thursday. “DOGE will continue to shine a light on the fraud they uncover as the American people deserve to know what their government has been spending their hard earned tax dollars on.” If that information is mishandled, or security precautions fail, the information could be exposed to foreign intelligence services or common hackers, prompting significant worry among some national security and cyber experts. Apple to fix iPhone bug that suggests ‘Trump’ instead of ‘Racist’ Groups worried about DOGE have challenged its actions in court, with a federal judge in Manhattan temporarily restricting DOGE from accessing some Treasury Department information until its members can be certified in cybersecurity. Another recent ruling blocked DOGE's access to certain records at other agencies, too. Federal laws and regulations were written to tightly control the management of sensitive federal data — even if it has little value to scammers or foreign spies. Certain officials only have access to certain data, and access to information from the same data set may be split among different people as an additional security measure. Classified data has always been subject to more stringent rules — designed to minimize the risk that it could fall into the wrong hands. Access to such information is tightly controlled, said Jeffrey Vagle, a law professor and cybersecurity expert at Georgia State University who has in the past worked on classified federal technology projects. It’s unknown what steps DOGE has taken to ensure security, Vagle said, which called worrying by itself. If they store data on flash drives, access it on a personal device or comingle systems, they could be creating huge security vulnerabilities, he said. “A foreign agent wouldn’t even have to try that hard,” Vagle said. Information in federal systems includes Treasury payments that could be used to figure out the details of intelligence programs or health and personnel records that could reveal the identities of agents or the responsibilities of clandestine officers. An adversary like China could use artificial intelligence to analyze these kernels of data to create a picture of covert U.S. activities, said Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. “In the intelligence business, information is the coin of the realm,” Warner said. “These bits of information could unravel the very sources and methods our nation relies on to keep Americans safe. And it could literally get people killed.” In their letter, lawmakers cited concerns that DOGE staffers used unauthorized servers and unknown AI programs to analyze and store the data. They noted that despite assurances that the DOGE website will not reveal information from intelligence agencies, material from the National Reconnaissance Office was easily found. The Democrats also said they worried DOGE was cutting spending without understanding its purpose, pointing to a recent incident in which the government tried to bring back workers it had fired who worked on nuclear weapon programs. WhatsApp starts introducing voice message transcription feature Earlier this week, more than 20 DOGE staffers resigned, saying they would not use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.” In a joint resignation letter, they warned that many of those brought in by Musk are political ideologues who lack the necessary skills or experience for the job. U.S. intelligence agencies have, so far, escaped the same scrutiny or level of cuts that DOGE has leveled at other agencies. Employees at the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence were told they didn’t need to comply with Musk’s demands for federal employees to list their recent accomplishments or risk termination. Some of the concerns raised about DOGE may be motivated by politics and concerns about its rapid pace, said Zach Edwards, senior threat researcher at Silent Push, a cybersecurity firm that worked on President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. But Edwards said DOGE's tech-centered approach could lead to mistakes that would have been caught in the old system. "They're moving fast and breaking things,” Edwards said, quoting the popular tech catchphrase. “With government, if you break things, it can take a long time to fix it.”  

Apple is addressing a glitch in its iPhone dictation feature that momentarily suggested the word “Trump” when users spoke words with an “R” sound, including “racist.” The issue gained attention after iPhone users shared videos on social media demonstrating the error. When using the dictation feature and saying the word “racist,” the text initially displayed “Trump” before automatically correcting itself. “We are aware of an issue with the speech recognition model that powers Dictation and we are rolling out a fix today,” Apple said in a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday. Apple explained that the speech recognition model sometimes suggests words with phonetic similarities, causing certain words with an “R” sound to trigger the bug. However, The Associated Press was unable to replicate the issue a day after it was first reported. Meanwhile, Apple recently announced plans to invest over $500 billion and create 20,000 jobs in the U.S. over the next four years, including building a new factory in Texas. This comes amid former President Donald Trump’s push for tariffs on imports. Separately, Apple shareholders rejected a proposal to align the company with Trump’s efforts to eliminate corporate diversity initiatives.  

WhatsApp has commenced the rollout of its much-anticipated voice message transcription feature in India, providing users with a seamless way to read the contents of voice messages without the need to listen to them. Initially announced in November 2024, this feature is currently available for Android users and is expected to be introduced to iOS users shortly. The newly introduced feature aims to enhance user convenience, particularly in situations where listening to a voice message is impractical, such as in noisy environments or while multitasking. By enabling real-time transcription, WhatsApp seeks to offer an improved messaging experience while maintaining user privacy. Privacy and Security at the Forefront WhatsApp has assured users that the transcription process is entirely secure, as it relies on on-device processing. This means that both the voice message and its corresponding text transcript are processed locally on the user’s device, ensuring that no external access is granted to the contents of the messages. 31 sued in Feni over anti-state activities in WhatsApp group The company has reiterated that privacy remains a top priority, with neither WhatsApp nor any third party being able to access the transcriptions. Language Availability and Future Expansion The transcription feature currently supports multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian. However, despite WhatsApp displaying text transcripts for Hindi voice messages in some instances, the company has yet to officially introduce Hindi support. It is expected that more languages will be incorporated in subsequent updates to cater to a wider user base. How to Enable the Feature Users wishing to activate the voice message transcription feature can do so by navigating to the settings menu within the WhatsApp application. The following steps outline the activation process: Open WhatsApp and go to Settings. Select Chats. Scroll down to the Voice Message Transcripts section. Enable the feature and choose a preferred language from the available options. Complete the setup using either mobile data or Wi-Fi, depending on personal preference. Once activated, users can transcribe voice messages by simply tapping and holding the message, selecting More Options, and then choosing Transcribe. The text version of the voice message will then appear within the chat alongside the original audio, offering a convenient way to track important conversations without the need to listen to every voice note. Understanding Zero-Click Hacks: The Growing Cyber Threat to WhatsApp Users With the ongoing rollout, WhatsApp continues to refine its features to provide a more user-friendly experience while upholding its commitment to privacy and security. As language support expands, the transcription feature is expected to become an invaluable tool for millions of users across India and beyond. Source: Indian media

Apple shareholders rebuffed an attempt to pressure the technology trendsetter into joining President Donald Trump's push to scrub corporate programs designed to diversify its workforce. The proposal drafted by the National Center for Public Policy Research — a self-described conservative think tank — urged Apple to follow a litany of high-profile companies that have retreated from diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives currently in the Trump administration's crosshairs. After a brief presentation about the anti-DEI proposal, Apple announced shareholders had rejected it. In a regulatory filing submitted Tuesday evening, Apple disclosed that 97% of the outstanding shares that cast ballots voted against the measure. The outcome vindicated Apple management's decision to stand behind its diversity commitment even though Trump asked the U.S. Department of Justice to look into whether these types of programs have discriminated against some employees whose race or gender aren't aligned with the initiative's goals. But Apple CEO Tim Cook has maintained a cordial relationship with Trump since his first term in office, an alliance that so far has helped the company skirt tariffs on its iPhones made in China. After Cook and Trump met last week, Apple on Monday announced it will invest $500 billion in the U.S. and create 20,000 more jobs during the next five years — a commitment applauded by the president. Kieslect Pura Reno Review: A Compact Smartwatch for Women Tuesday's shareholder vote came a month after the same group presented a similar proposal during Costco's annual meeting, only to have it overwhelmingly rejected, too. That snub didn't discourage the National Center for Public Policy Research from confronting Apple about its DEI program in a pre-recorded presentation by Stefan Padfield, executive director of the think tank's Free Enterprise Project, who asserted “forced diversity is bad for business.” In the presentation, Padfield attacked Apple’s diversity commitments for being out of line with recent court rulings and said the programs expose the Cupertino, California, company to an onslaught of potential lawsuits for alleged discrimination. He cited the Trump administration as one of Apple's potential legal adversaries. “The vibe shift is clear: DEI is out and merit is in,” Padfield said in the presentation. The specter of potential legal trouble was magnified last week when Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a federal lawsuit against Target alleging the retailer’s recently scaled-back DEI program alienated many consumers and undercut sales to the detriment of shareholders. Just as Costco does, Apple contends that fostering a diverse workforce makes good business sense. But Cook conceded Apple may have to make some adjustments to its diversity program “as the legal landscape changes” while still striving to maintain a culture that has helped elevate the company to its current market value of $3.7 trillion — greater than any other business in the world. “We will continue to create a culture of belonging,” Cook told shareholders during the meeting. In its last diversity and inclusion report issued in 2022, Apple disclosed that nearly three-fourths of its global workforce consisted of white and Asian employees. Nearly two-thirds of its employees were men. iPhone 16e Review: Budget-Friendly Apple Experience with Premium Features Other major technology companies for years have reported employing mostly white and Asian men, especially in high-paid engineering jobs — a tendency that spurred the industry to pursue largely unsuccessful efforts to diversify.

A private company launched another lunar lander Wednesday, aiming to get closer to the moon’s south pole this time with a drone that will hop into a jet-black crater that never sees the sun. Intuitive Machines’ lander, named Athena, caught a lift with SpaceX from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. It’s taking a fast track to the moon — with a landing on March 6 — while hoping to avoid the fate of its predecessor, which tipped over at touchdown. Never before have so many spacecraft angled for the moon’s surface all at once. Last month, U.S. and Japanese companies shared a rocket and separately launched landers toward Earth's sidekick. Texas-based Firefly Aerospace should get there first this weekend after a big head start. The two U.S. landers are carrying tens of millions of dollars’ worth of experiments for NASA as it prepares to return astronauts to the moon. “It’s an amazing time. There’s so much energy,” NASA's science mission chief Nicky Fox told The Associated Press a few hours ahead of the launch. This isn’t Intuitive Machines’ first lunar rodeo. Last year, the Texas company made the first U.S. touchdown on the moon in more than 50 years. But an instrument that gauges distance did not work and the lander came down too hard and broke a leg, tipping onto its side. vivo Y29 4G Review: What’s special about this budget-friendly phone? Intuitive Machines said it has fixed the issue and dozens of others. A sideways landing like last time would prevent the drone and a pair of rovers from moving out. NASA’s drill also needs an upright landing to pierce beneath the lunar surface to gather soil samples for analysis. “Certainly, we will be better this time than we were last time. But you never know what could happen,” said Trent Martin, senior vice president of space systems. It’s an extraordinarily elite club. Only five countries have pulled off a lunar landing over the decades: Russia, the U.S., China, India and Japan. The moon is littered with wreckage from many past failures. The 15-foot (4.7-meter) Athena will target a landing 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the lunar south pole. Just a quarter-mile (400 meters) away is a permanently shadowed crater — the ultimate destination for the drone named Grace. Named after the late computer programming pioneer Grace Hopper, the 3-foot (1-meter) drone will make three increasingly higher and longer test hops across the lunar surface using hydrazine fueled-thrusters for flight and cameras and lasers for navigation. If those excursions go well, it will hop into the nearby pitch-black crater, an estimated 65 feet (20 meters) deep. Science instruments from Hungary and Germany will take measurements at the bottom while hunting for frozen water. It will be the first up-close peek inside one of the many shadowed craters dotting both the north and south poles. Scientists suspect these craters are packed with tons of ice. If so, this ice could be transformed by future explorers into water to drink, air to breathe and even rocket fuel. Apple shareholders reject proposal to scrap company's diversity programs NASA is paying $62 million to Intuitive Machines to get its drill and other experiments to the moon. The company, in turn, sold space on the lander to others. It also opened up the Falcon rocket to ride-sharing. Tagalongs included NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer satellite, which will fly separately to the moon over the next several months before entering lunar orbit to map the distribution of water below. Also catching a ride was a private spacecraft that will chase after an asteroid for a flyby, a precursor to asteroid mining.

A swarm of submersibles will be used to monitor and provide data on offshore artificial reefs that are intended to attract marine life in otherwise barren sections of sea, officials said Monday. The autonomous underwater vehicles, or AUVs, will be equipped with sensors and high-definition cameras to give scientists at the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute a clear picture on the effectiveness of their artificial reefs designed and built using 3D printing. Made of an environmentally friendly cement mixture, the artificial reefs will be embedded with a docking station at which the AUVs can recharge and transmit collected data including video, said CMMI CEO Zakarias Siokouros. The advantage of the AUVs lies in their ability to stay underwater for as long as a month at a time and provide continuous data while “protecting” the reefs by alerting scientists to any disturbance in protected waters from illegal fishing and encroaching boats. Scientists would, in turn, notify local authorities. A trial run of the project, dubbed EONIOS, is underway off Cyprus’ Ayia Napa marina. Scientists plan to place the artificial reefs in waters off Cyprus’ southern coastal town of Limassol at a depth of around 20 meters (66 feet) where sunlight can still reach the seabed. “The reefs attract everything from vegetation to large fish and for waters off Cyprus where there isn’t enough food for fish, we aim to create the appropriate environment to bring such fish there,” Siokouros told The Associated Press following a demonstration of the AUVs' capabilities at the Ayia Napa Marina. EONIOS is a partnership between the CMMI, AUV makers Arkeocean of France, Cypriot tech company SignalGeneriX and French consultancy company Lanego. Siokouros said the partnership aims to market EONIOS to other countries who would want to build up their fish stocks using artificial reefs. Microsoft Unveils Majorana 1: A Breakthrough in Quantum Computing A key selling point for the AUVs is that they can provide surveillance, 3D data collection and area protection at a significant discount compared to tethered submersibles, said Arkeocean official Tamara Brizard. “Our goal is to make a system under which six of our mini-drones can do the same work for the price of one conventional drone,” Brizard said. Arkeocean AUVs can currently pack a maximum 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of sensors and other gear and can operate to a depth of 300 meters (984 feet) although newer versions are being designed to reach 3,000 meters (9,842 feet). The AUVs receive commands through an attached acoustic antenna and can pinpoint their location. Battery-powered thrusters make the AUVs very stealthy and nearly undetectable, Brizard said, making them extremely useful for defense purposes such as surveillance in restricted waters. The AUVs can operate anywhere in the world thanks to an Iridium satellite antenna. Rich in cash, Japan automaker Toyota builds a city to test futuristic mobility The AUVs can also use undersea currents to roam, extending battery life. Another application is in the energy field where the submersibles can be used to detect seismic activity for offshore oil and gas exploration as well as finding suitable areas on which to build offshore wind and solar farms, said Brizard.

Toyota's Woven City, located near Mount Fuji, is designed as a testing ground for robotics, artificial intelligence, and autonomous zero-emission transportation in daily life. Daisuke Toyoda, a project executive from Toyota’s founding family, emphasized that it is not a "smart city" but rather a "test course for mobility," differentiating it from real estate development. On Saturday, during a tour of the site where the first phase of construction has been completed, The Associated Press became the first foreign media outlet to preview the $10 billion project. The initial phase covers 47,000 square meters (506,000 square feet), roughly the size of five baseball fields, and the entire project will eventually span 294,000 square meters (3.1 million square feet). Built on the site of a former Toyota Motor Corp. factory, Woven City aims to be a hub for researchers and startups to collaborate and exchange ideas, according to Toyoda. Many ambitious smart city projects have struggled or remained unfinished, including Google's Alphabet-backed initiative in Toronto, Saudi Arabia's "Neom," a development near San Francisco led by a former Goldman Sachs trader, and Masdar City in Abu Dhabi. Construction of Woven City began in 2021. The buildings are interconnected by underground passageways, where autonomous vehicles will handle tasks like garbage collection and deliveries. Currently, no one resides there, but the first 100 residents—referred to as "weavers"—will include employees from Toyota and its partner companies, such as instant noodle manufacturer Nissin and air-conditioning maker Daikin. At the site, coffee brand UCC was already serving hot drinks from an autonomous bus stationed in a plaza surrounded by empty apartment buildings. The city's name pays tribute to Toyota's origins as an automatic textile loom manufacturer. Daisuke Toyoda’s great-great-grandfather, Sakichi Toyoda, originally invented the loom to ease his mother’s labor-intensive work. Unlike other projects focusing on electric vehicles, Toyota has prioritized hydrogen as the primary energy source for Woven City, despite lagging behind competitors like Tesla and BYD in the EV market. Toyota does not anticipate generating profits from Woven City anytime soon. However, auto analyst Keisuke Konishi from Quick Corporate Valuation Research Center suggests that Toyota is investing in robotic mobility to compete with Google's Waymo—even if it requires building an entire city to do so. “Toyota has the financial resources to make it happen,” he said.            

Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding posted its fastest revenue growth in more than a year, beating analyst expectations as it capitalizes on the artificial intelligence boom in China. Alibaba said Thursday that its revenue for the quarter ended December grew 8% to 280.2 billion yuan ($38.38 billion) compared to the same period last year. Net income surged to 48.9 billion yuan ($6.71 billion). Alibaba’s New York-traded stock was up over 12% following the earnings results. In an earnings call, Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu said that Alibaba plans to “aggressively invest” in artificial intelligence and cloud computing infrastructure in the coming three years, with upcoming spending expected to exceed what the firm has already invested over the past decade. “This quarter’s results demonstrated substantial progress in our ‘user first, AI-driven’ strategies and the re-accelerated growth of our core businesses,” Wu said. He said that Alibaba’s artificial intelligence strategy was to pursue artificial general intelligence (AGI), which is artificial intelligence that can match or surpass human intelligence and can self-teach. He added that such an opportunity for industry transformation is something that comes along “once every several decades” and said that AGI was Alibaba’s primary goal. Apple unveils a souped-up and more expensive version of its lowest priced iPhone Alibaba’s plan to go big on artificial intelligence comes as rivalry in the AI space heats up between U.S. and China. Chinese AI firm DeepSeek recently rattled the U.S. AI industry after its AI model appeared to rival those of leading U.S. companies while being trained on cheaper hardware. The Hangzhou-headquartered firm is one of many technology firms in China who are racing to get ahead in the AI space. In January, it unveiled its latest Qwen AI models that have performed well in benchmark tests, placing Alibaba among the leading companies in China’s AI industry. Alibaba is working with Apple to incorporate its AI technology into Chinese iPhones, the firm said earlier this month. Alibaba has already implemented AI technology into its cloud products, with its cloud business unit generating 13% revenue growth compared to the same time last year – the fastest pace in about two years. Its international commerce unit, which includes platforms such as AliExpress and Lazada, saw revenue growth of 32% driven by “strong performance of cross-border businesses.” Alibaba was one of several prominent Chinese technology companies which suffered the brunt of a regulatory crackdown on the technology industry in 2020, when authorities scuppered the initial public offering of its financial affiliate Ant Group. The company was later fined a record $2.8 billion for violating anti-monopoly laws. Jack Ma, one of Alibaba’s cofounders, disappeared from public view and the company’s stock price slumped for several years. But Beijing appears to have shifted gears towards the technology industry as it pursues technology supremacy and self-sufficiency amid deteriorating U.S.-China relations. Chinese President Xi Jinping recently held a private symposium, meeting with prominent entrepreneurs including Ma. Google agrees to pay Italy $340ml to settle tax evasion investigation The meeting, coupled with DeepSeek’s AI advancements, were among the factors that sparked renewed interest in the Chinese technology industry, sending technology stocks soaring in recent weeks. Alibaba’s stock price is up more than 60% this year. Its U.S.-listed shares rose 8.5% in morning trading, to $136.58.

Apple has released a sleeker and more expensive version of its lowest priced iPhone in an attempt to widen the audience for a bundle of artificial intelligence technology that the company has been hoping will revive demand for its most profitable product lineup. The iPhone 16e unveiled Wednesday is the fourth-generation of a model that’s sold at a dramatically lower price than the iPhone’s standard and premium models. The previous bargain-bin models were called the iPhone SE, with the last version coming out in 2022. Like the higher-priced iPhone 16 lineup unveiled last September, the iPhone 16e includes the souped-up computer chip needed to process an array of AI features that automatically summarize text, audio and create on-the-fly emojis while smartening up the device’s virtual assistant, Siri. It will also have a more powerful battery and camera. All those upgrades will translate into a higher starting price for an iPhone 16e at $600, a 40% increase from $430 for the last iPhone SE. But iPhone 16e will be more affordable than the cheapest standard iPhone 16 at $800. The new phone will be available in stores Feb. 28, but can be pre-ordered beginning Friday. “We’re so excited for iPhone 16e to complete the lineup as a powerful, more affordable option to bring the iPhone experience to even more people,” said Kaiann Drance, an Apple vice president in charge of promoting a device lineup that accounts for more than half of the company's revenue. But Apple is also trying to balance its desire to offer a more affordable iPhone that will lure more people into its sphere of product against its self interest in maximizing its profits from selling higher price products, according to Forrester Research analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee. iPhone SE 4 (2025): Latest Leaks, Rumors, and Features of Apple’s Most Affordable Powerhouse “The problem with a lower-end product in a luxury portfolio is that you want it to be good but not so good as to cannibalize the crown jewels," Chatterjee said. Although Apple has been hyping its foray into AI since last June, the complete set of features still haven’t been released in the U.S. and the technology still isn’t even available in some parts of the world. The delays in making the iPhone’s AI — dubbed “Apple Intelligence’" — more widely available through free software updates dinged the Cupertino, California, company during the past holiday when sales of the device dipped slightly from their 2023 levels. Apple has primarily been losing the ground in China, where it hasn’t yet specified when the iPhone's AI technology will be available. But the company recently struck an AI partnership with Alibaba in China that could pave the way for the technology coming to iPhones in that country this spring. Besides being able to handle AI for the first time, the iPhone 16e has a different look from previous SE models. It boasts a 6.1-inch display screen, slightly larger than the 4.7-inch display on SE model and no longer has a home screen button like the SE had. The new iPhone 16e will rely include a facial recognition option for unlocking the device, just like the higher priced models do. Apple’s foldable iPhone now closer to reality Apple's shares edged higher Wednesday to close at $244.87, below the stock's peak of roughly $260 reached in late December.

Italian prosecutors said Wednesday they will seek to drop a tax evasion investigation against Google after the tech giant agreed to pay a 326 million euro ($340 million) settlement. Milan prosecutors had opened an investigation against Google for failure to pay taxes on earnings in Italy from 2015-2019. The investigation focused on revenues from the sale of advertising, and cited the presence of servers and other infrastructure in Italy. Mexico awaits new response from Google on dispute over Gulf of Mexico name before filing lawsuit Google acknowledged the settlement in statement, saying it resolves “a tax audit ... without litigation.” Tech giant Google previously paid over $1 billion to French authorities to settle a years long dispute over allegations of tax fraud.