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Tuesday, 5:31 AM

April 1, 2025

Good morning news friend! Journey through the stories shaping our world—one moment at a time. 📰🌟

Would you like to see the poll results and comments from our previous edition? Click here to explore how others voted on key issues like the cuts on consultant expenses by the government, XAI’s $80B valuation, threatening India with tariffs for buying Russian oil and more!

Political Earthquake in France

A French court has barred Marine Le Pen from seeking public office for five years due to embezzlement.

Le Pen was convicted alongside 24 others from her National Rally party of misappropriating European Union funds designated for parliamentary aides, using them to pay party staff from 2004 to 2016.

She received a four-year prison sentence, with two years suspended and two to be served under house arrest, pending her appeal.

Le Pen described the ruling as politically motivated, asserting it aims to undermine her candidacy for the upcoming 2027 elections.

Sources: APNews, WallStreetJournal, FinancialTimes, France24, Politico, TRT.

China's Military Drills Around Taiwan

China launched military drills around Taiwan involving 19 naval vessels, aircraft, and rocket units. The exercises are a “stern warning” against Taiwan’s push for independence.

Taiwan’s Defense Minister Wellington Koo condemned the drills as a threat to regional stability. In response, Taiwan deployed its own warships to monitor the situation.

China’s Eastern Theater Command said the drills aimed to boost combat readiness and included assaults on maritime targets.

China also released a propaganda video calling Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te a “parasite,” which Taiwan denounced.

Sources: Reuters, France24, Euronews, JapanTimes, APNews.

USTR's 2025 Report and Trump's Tariff Plans

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) submitted the 2025 National Trade Estimate (NTE) report to President Trump and Congress. This report highlights foreign trade barriers affecting US exports, covering 397 pages.

About 50 pages focus on China, citing unfair practices and failure to open its agricultural market. Canada imposes tariffs up to 298% on butter.

The EU’s food safety regulations and plastic packaging standards are flagged as obstacles. South Korea’s beef import limits and emissions regulations are also challenges.

The report highlights hundreds of barriers, including high tariffs and strict regulations that restrict US exports across major markets.

Sources: USTR, Reuters, NYTimes, Investing, MKC.

Lightmatter Photonics Technology

Lightmatter launched new photonics technology to improve AI chip connectivity.

Its new product, Passage L200, offers 32TB and 64TB options with over 200 terabytes per second of bandwidth, accelerating AI training by more than 8 times.

Another new product, M1000, includes a 3D Photonic Superchip with 114 Tbps optical bandwidth, enabling connections across thousands of GPUs.

Lightmatter replaces electrical links with optical ones. Its interposer supports 256 optical fibers at 448 Gbps each, allowing high-speed, low-latency data transfer at scale.

Sources: Reuters, SA, 01Net, TJG.

Cancer Detection with MicroRNAs

Researchers have identified a cluster of microRNAs (miRNAs) as reliable biomarkers for malignant testicular germ cell tumors, the most common solid tumors in young men.

The study demonstrated that miRNA 371–373 in humans shows high specificity for testicular cancer.

This advancement supports less invasive diagnostic methods, moving toward liquid biopsies.

New research highlights urinary exosomal mRNAs as promising biomarkers.

Sources: SciTechDaily, MensHealth, NewsMedical.

MCL-1 for Hair Follicle Regeneration

MCL-1, a pro-survival protein, is vital for hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) during hair regeneration.

The study highlights that MCL-1 supports activated HFSCs by preventing cellular stress and eventual death during regeneration.

Mice lacking MCL-1 exhibited complete hair loss after depilation within 11 weeks. The acute deletion of MCL-1 led to decreases in CD34+ HFSCs and blocked hair regrowth entirely.

While quiescent HFSCs remained intact, activated HFSCs faced immediate depletion. Blocking the apoptosis pathway through deletion of Trp53 partly rescued hair regeneration defects caused by MCL-1 loss.

Sources: Nature, ScienceAlert, NewAtlas, GeneOnline.

“Just as dyed hair makes older men less attractive, it is what you do to hide your weaknesses that makes them repugnant.”

Did you know we also write in-depth deep dives? They are long, packed with insights, and have received rave reviews. If you’re up for a detailed, action-packed read, check them out:

• The Great Retirement Crisis

• Gene Editing

• Quantum Computing

Baked with love,

Anna Eisenberg ❤️