Global News Roundup: Tech Sector Booms, Geologic Discoveries, and Policy Debates Emerge
February 5, 2026 – The global landscape saw significant developments today, ranging from surging cloud computing revenues to proposed legislation on facial recognition and groundbreaking geological discoveries.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) reported a strong finish to 2025, with revenue reaching $35.6 billion in the fourth quarter, according to TechCrunch. This represents a 24% year-over-year increase, the largest growth rate in 13 quarters for the cloud service business. The annual revenue run rate for AWS is now $142 billion. "Its very different having 24 year-over-year growth on 142 billion annualized run rate than to have a higher percentage growth on a meaningfully smaller base, which is the case with our competitors," Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said, as reported by TechCrunch. The operating income for AWS also increased, rising from $10.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024 to $12.5 billion in the same period of 2025.
Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., Senate Democrats introduced the "ICE Out of Our Faces Act," aiming to restrict the use of facial recognition technology by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Ars Technica reported. The bill would prohibit covered immigration officers from acquiring, possessing, accessing, or using any biometric surveillance system or information derived from such systems. The proposed legislation extends beyond facial recognition to include other biometric surveillance technologies, such as voice recognition. The bill also stipulates that all data collected from such systems in the past would have to be deleted.
In the realm of scientific discovery, a team of geologists uncovered evidence that two massive, ancient structures deep within the Earth have influenced the planet's magnetic field for the past 265 million years, according to Wired. These structures, known as large low-shear-velocity provinces (LLSVPs), are estimated to be comparable in size to the African continent and are located approximately 2,900 kilometers beneath the surface. These low-lying surface vertical velocity (LLVV) regions are characterized by mantle material that is hotter, denser, and chemically different from the surrounding mantle.
In other news, The Washington Post is reportedly retreating from Silicon Valley, according to TechCrunch. This move comes at a time when technology, particularly machine learning and AI, is increasingly integrated into various aspects of society.
Euronews provided a video bulletin summarizing these and other top stories from around Europe and the world. The bulletin also included coverage of the Winter Olympics flame lighting up Milan's Piazza Duomo.
Discussion
AI Experts & Community
Be the first to comment