International
South Korea suspends DeepSeek service in the country due to security risks
The Government of South Korea suspended the local service of the Chinese Artificial Intelligence (AI) application DeepSeek due to doubts about the data collection system, which are stored on servers in China, and the possibility of leaking sensitive information.
The South Korean Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) said on Monday that the service was suspended at 18:00 local time on Saturday (9.00 GMT) and will resume after “improvements” are made in accordance with South Korea’s personal information protection laws.
The measure comes after the PIPC issued an official warning about the Chinese AI model advising against its use and local government ministries and agencies blocked its use.
The warning came after the PIPC sent a query to the startup asking for detailed information about its data collection policy, and said it plans to request cooperation from the Chinese authorities on the matter through official diplomatic channels.
Meanwhile, the South Korean car company Hyundai Motor had already restricted its employees’ access to DeepSeek, also about possible leaks of their data.
The Ministries of Finance and Environment of South Korea announced two weeks ago the blockade, at least provisionally, of DeepSeek, and thus joined those of Foreign Affairs, National Defense and Economy, Trade and Industry, which prevented connecting to this model of the Chinese language from their terminals.
The Interior portfolio had already recommended to ministries and the 17 regional governments of the country to exercise caution against possible data leaks due to the use of DeepSeek in the face of what it considers a non-transparent data storage process by the Chinese startup.
DeepSeek has revolutionized the global AI landscape after its presentation last month of its most recent language model, which has impressed experts for its more efficient and economical performance when compared to the United States competition.
However, its data management has led countries such as Italy or Australia to analyze the service more deeply and impose access restrictions on public institutions arguing risks to national security.
Meanwhile, the Chinese digital giant Tencent, developer of the most popular messaging platform in the country, WeChat, rose more than 6% on the stock market on Monday before the launch of a beta of that application that allows you to make queries on DeepSeek’s R1 artificial intelligence (AI) model.
Specifically, Tencent securities, the highest value per trading weight of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, rose 6.15% around 10.00 local time and exceeded Hong Kong $500 ($64.3) per unit for the first time since mid-2021.
At the moment, this beta is only available for the Chinese version of the application, which has more than 1.3 billion users.
In it, it will be possible to select the DeepSeek model apart from the one developed by Tencent, called Hunyuan. This, according to a representative of the company quoted by the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post, will allow access “to the full version of the DeepSeek R1 model for free to enjoy a more diverse search experience.”
International
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Wednesday that the death toll from recent rains and floods across several central states has risen to 66, while the federal government has activated air bridges and prioritized assistance in 191 isolated communities.
“Unfortunately, 66 people have died, and 75 remain missing,” the president said during her morning press conference. She added that the official death toll will be updated later in a new report.
As of Tuesday, authorities had reported 64 fatalities. Sheinbaum also announced the creation of a public information center to centralize official data on the deceased, missing persons, damaged homes, and cut-off communities.
According to the president, the number of missing persons has decreased thanks to coordination with state authorities.
“Through calls to phone line 079, 103 people who had been reported missing have now been located,” she explained.
Priority Municipalities
The president noted that the federal government has classified 191 communities as ‘priority’, a designation based mainly on the percentage of homes affected.
International
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Ecuadorian authorities are investigating two explosions that occurred early Wednesday, one on a road in the southern part of the country and another under a bridge in Guayas province. These incidents follow the car bomb explosion in the coastal city of Guayaquil, also in Guayas, which occurred the day before and left one person dead and 30 injured.
Press reports indicate that one person was injured and several vehicles were damaged in the explosion on the Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje road in the south.
“Besides yesterday’s explosion in Guayaquil, we have received reports of explosives placed on bridges along the Guayaquil-Machala and Machala-Cuenca routes to disrupt traffic,” said Roberto Luque, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT).
On his X social media account, Luque reported that authorities have been deployed to the sites to assess the damage and determine the current condition of the structures.
“What they haven’t achieved with their call for a strike, some are trying to achieve through terrorism,” he stated, referring to the 24 days of protests organized by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie) against rising diesel prices and other demands.
The protests, called at a national level, have Imbabura province as their epicenter. Roadblocks have also been reported in the northern part of Pichincha province, whose capital is Quito, while activities in the rest of the country continue normally.
International
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Ecuador’s Armed Forces carried out an operation on Monday — including airstrikes — against illegal mining in the town of Buenos Aires, in the country’s north, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo reported.
The mountainous, gold-rich area has been a hotspot for illegal mining since 2017, located in the Andean province of Imbabura.
In 2019, former president Lenín Moreno deployed around 2,400 soldiers to the region in an attempt to curb the illegal activity. “The operation began with mortar fire, followed by gunfire and bombing runs by Supertucano aircraft,” Loffredo said in a video released by the Defense Ministry.
He added that the operation would continue on Tuesday with patrols across the area to locate possible members of “irregular armed groups that may have crossed from the Colombian border.”
The Armed Forces stated on X that the intervention focused on the “complete elimination of multiple illegal mining tunnels” in the areas known as Mina Nueva and Mina Vieja.
The operation coincided with the deployment of a military and police convoy into Imbabura, which has been the epicenter of protests against President Daniel Noboa since September 22, following his decision to scrap the diesel subsidy.
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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