Embracing heritage, Mamdani marks watershed for South Asian Americans
Washington, United States - In a victory speech capping his meteoric rise, New York's mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani quoted at length...
Geostrategy
NATO tests war preparedness on eastern flank facing Russia
On the Mures river in central Romania, French armoured vehicles and Romanian trucks board a motorised floating bridge, part of...
Geostrategy
Geostrategy
Inside India’s RSS, the legion of Hindu ultranationalists
Brandishing bamboo sticks and chanting patriotic hymns, thousands of uniformed men parade in central India, a striking show of strength...
- The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh - the National Volunteer Organisation, or RSS - marked its 100th anniversary this month with a grand ceremony at its headquarters in Nagpur
- At the parade, RSS volunteers in white shirts, brown trousers and black hats marched, boxed and stretched in time to shrill whistles and barked orders
Science
Celebrities, AI giants urge end to quest for superintelligence capable of outsmarting humans
Signatories include the "Godfather of AI" and 2024 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics Geoffrey Hinton; Computer Sciences Professor...
- Most major AI developers are striving for artificial general intelligence (AGI), a stage where AI would match all human intellectual capabilities, and even superintelligence
- Speaking at an event organised by the media group Axel Springer in September, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that superintelligence could be achieved within the next five years
Geostrategy
Norway’s wealth fund to enlist AI for managing climate risks
Oslo, Norway -- Norway's sovereign wealth fund said Wednesday that it would incorporate artificial intelligence tools into its investment analysis...
- The fund's head of active ownership, Wilhelm Mohn, said AI along with its own analysis tools would allow it to "streamline processes and enhance decision-making".
- The fund urges the more than 8,600 companies it invests in worldwide to commit to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Geostrategy
Global trade system ‘at risk of derailment’: UN chief
Geneva, Switzerland -- The rules-based international trade system is in danger, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned Wednesday, amid spiraling debt,...
- Guterres said too many countries were trapped in a debt crisis, spending more money on servicing creditors than funding health and education.
- The UN chief warned that developing countries "continue to be short-changed", with uncertainty rising, investment retreating and supply chains "in turmoil".
Geostrategy
ICJ says Israel obliged to allow aid into Gaza as Turkey, Qatar move to protect truce
The ICJ ruling came as aid groups scrambled to scale up much-needed humanitarian assistance into Gaza, seizing upon a fragile...
- Turkey has taken an active role in talks to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and voiced strong support for US President Donald Trump's peace plan.
- Erdogan has said Turkey was ready to join an international task force in Gaza, with its military also expressing willingness to participate if needed.
Business
OpenAI unveils search browser in challenge to Google
San Francisco, United States - ChatGPT-maker OpenAI on Tuesday announced an "Atlas" search browser, leveraging its artificial intelligence prowess in...
- "This is an AI-powered web browser built around ChatGPT," OpenAI chief Sam Altman said in a streamed presentation
- OpenAI has ramped up its challenge to Google, which has responded by rapidly building more AI capabilities into search and across its platform
Economy
Gold falls again as rally comes to halt, Asian markets drop
Gold and silver tumbled for a second day Wednesday, bringing a rally in the precious metals to a juddering halt,...
- Bullion has seen an eye watering run-up since the turn of the year, helping it climb more than 60 percent and hitting multiple records
- The rally has been built on a range of issues including a weaker dollar, expectations of interest rate cuts, falling bond yields and central bank buying
Geostrategy
JD Vance voices ‘great optimism’ for Gaza truce on Israel visit, meeting with Netanyahu today
Despite concerns in Israel that Hamas has seized on the pause to reassert itself in Gaza, Vance said Washington would...
- Despite concerns in Israel that Hamas has seized on the pause to reassert itself in Gaza, Vance said Washington would not set a deadline for the group to disarm
- That came after US President Donald Trump warned that allied nations in the region would invade Gaza to wipe out Hamas if it failed to comply with the truce
Geostrategy
World Bank estimates Syria reconstruction costs at $216 billion
"The conflict has damaged nearly one-third of Syria’s pre-conflict gross capital stock, with direct physical damages to infrastructure, residential buildings, and...
- Among the categories assessed, infrastructure was the hardest hit, accounting for 48 percent of total damage, equivalent to $52 billion.
- The report estimates costs of physical assets to range between $140 billion and $345 billion, "with a conservative best estimate" of $216 billion.
Business
Jane Birkin’s Hermes handbag up for auction in Abu Dhabi
Paris, France -- A Hermes handbag once belonging to Jane Birkin will be auctioned in Abu Dhabi on December 5,...
- Nicknamed the "Birkin Voyageur", the estimated value of the late actor's black leather bag hovers between $230,000 and $430,000.
- Gifted to Birkin by Hermes in 2003, it is one of four the celebrity owned after auctioning the original to raise money for an AIDS charity in 1994.
Embracing heritage, Mamdani marks watershed for South Asian Americans
Washington, United States - In a victory speech capping his meteoric rise, New York's mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani quoted at length...
Geostrategy
Company News
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UN Security Council backs Morocco plan for W. Sahara autonomy
The UN Security Council voted Friday in favor of a resolution backing Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara as the...
Geostrategy
Unexploded bombs haunt Gazans, posing deadly risk as fragile truce halts demining efforts in ruins
After two years of war, the ruined cities of Gaza, a densely packed territory home to more than two million...
Geostrategy
AI giants turn to massive debt to finance tech race
New York, United States -- Meta raised $30 billion in debt on Thursday, as tech giants flush with cash turn...
Business
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Business
Amazon shares surge as AI boom drives cloud growth
San Francisco, United States - Amazon's share price skyrocketed by more than ten percent on Thursday after the online retail...
- The e-commerce giant's Amazon Web Services division, which recently suffered a global outage, saw revenues jump 20 percent to $33 billion in the third quarter
- Amazon's major rivals in the cloud computing space, Microsoft and Google, on Wednesday also reported sales increases in their cloud computing business
Arts & Culture
After delays, Egypt set for lavish opening of grand museum
Cairo, Egypt - With much pomp and circumstance, Cairo is due to inaugurate on Saturday the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum,...
- With a panoramic view of the Giza pyramids plateau, the GEM houses thousands of artefacts spanning more than 5,000 years of Egyptian antiquity at a whopping cost of over $1 billion
- More than two decades in the making, the ultra-modern museum anticipates five million visitors annually, with never-before-seen relics on display
Economy
Backed by its sovereign wealth fund, Saudi chases AI ambitions with homegrown firm pitched to global investors
The company, launched in May, is bankrolled by Saudi's powerful Public Investment Fund, which has played a key role in...
- The company, launched in May, is bankrolled by Saudi's powerful Public Investment Fund, which has played a key role in financing the kingdom's gigaprojects
- But Riyadh's ambitions to become a global AI hub face fierce competition from the neighbouring United Arab Emirates, which have invested in AI for years