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Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged cooperation on artificial intelligence (AI) and the fight against online scams in his first sit-down talks with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Jae-myung.They met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Saturday. The one-hour meeting was followed by a state dinner, after which Xi concluded his three-day state visit to South Korea – his first since 2014.It was the first one-on-one meeting between Xi and Lee since the latter assumed office in June. The meeting took place at the Gyeongju National Museum, the same venue where…
The fires have long since been extinguished, but in Kathmandu’s devastated government district, the embers of suspicion still smoulder.Nearly two months after a Gen Z-led youth uprising swept through Nepal’s capital, forensic teams are working to uncover the origins of the infernos that gutted the country’s courts and ministries, looking for signs of deliberate arson and destroyed evidence.“The extent of the damage was quite shocking,” said Subash Chandra Baral, president of the Nepal Engineers’ Association, citing a preliminary damage assessment undertaken with the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction.“While some sections of the Supreme Court and the Kathmandu District…
A wave of humanoid robot launches in China this year has shaken up the market with eye-catching low prices – though some industry insiders warn the trend might not be financially attainable and could be driven more by hype and capital than by genuine technological progress.Beijing-based Noetix Robotics launched presales for its child-sized humanoid Bumi last week, selling more than 200 units at 9,998 yuan (US$1,408) each within the first three hours. Five hundred units were sold in the first two days, according to the company.Marketed as the world’s first “high-performance humanoid under 10,000 yuan”, Bumi stands at 94cm (37…
NOVI SAD, Serbia (AP) — Tens of thousands of people from all over Serbia gathered on Saturday in the northern town of Novi Sad to commemorate the victims of a railway station disaster a year ago. The rally was also a massive display of boiling discontent with the government of autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic.The collapse of a concrete canopy at the Novi Sad train station last Nov. 1 killed 16 people. The tragedy triggered youth-led street protests and a nationwide movement demanding political changes that have seriously shaken Vucic’s tight hold on power.The protesters believe that the concrete construction at…
Pakistan and Iran are moving closer to formalising their Free Trade Agreement (FTA), as the finalised text of the accord is now under internal review by Pakistani authorities, with plans for official approval soon. This was disclosed during a meeting between Federal Minister for Commerce, Jam Kamal Khan, with Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri-Moghaddam, to discuss avenues for strengthening bilateral trade and economic cooperation between Pakistan and Iran, read a statement. The meeting highlighted ongoing initiatives, trade agreements, and upcoming opportunities to further enhance economic ties between the two neighbouring countries. During the meeting, Jam Kamal informed that the…
LONDON (AP) — Holding prestige but not power, Britain’s monarchy is finely tuned to public sentiment.That’s been evident with the disgrace of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, who was stripped of his princely title and his spacious home by his brother King Charles on Thursday, a banishment that has left the disgraced royal increasingly exposed to political and legal scrutiny over his finances and his friendship with the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Following years of scandals related to Andrew, Charles arguably took the biggest step of his reign by seeking to insulate the monarchy from any further scandals relating to Andrew and…
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces hit an important fuel pipeline in the Moscow region that supplies the Russian army, Ukraine’s military intelligence said Saturday, a claim that came amid a sustained Russian campaign of massive drone and missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.The operation was carried out late Friday, according to a statement on the Telegram messaging channel. The agency, which is known by its acronym HUR, described it as a “serious blow” to Russia’s military logistics.HUR said its forces struck the Koltsevoy pipeline, which spans 400 kilometers (250 miles) and supplies the Russian army with gasoline, diesel and…
BERLIN (AP) — A late evening drone sighting at Berlin’s airport suspended flights for nearly two hours, according to the news agency dpa, before air travel returned to normal in the German capital on Saturday morning.Flights were suspended between 8:08 p.m. and 9:58 p.m. local time at Berlin Brandenburg Airport, the news report cited the airport.Local police told the Tagesspiegel newspaper that a witness reported seeing a drone. Police confirmed the sighting but did not find the drone. Representatives for the airport and police did not immediately return requests for comment.Europe is on high alert after drone intrusions into NATO’s…
PARIS (AP) — Four Bulgarians were sentenced to between two and four years in prison for their involvement in spray-painting blood-red hands on Paris’ Holocaust Memorial in an act of vandalism that French intelligence services linked to a destabilization campaign by Russia. A Paris court handed down two-year sentences to Georgi Filipov and Kiril Milushev, who acknowledged their role in the graffiti painting, and four years to Nikolay Ivanov, accused of recruiting them. The alleged ringleader, Mircho Angelov, is at large and received three years in prison. Intel services pointed to RussiaSome 500 red hands were painted last year on…
BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping took centre stage at a meeting of APEC leaders on Saturday to push a proposal for a global body to govern artificial intelligence and position China as an alternative to the United States on trade cooperation. The comments were the first by the Chinese leader on an initiative Beijing unveiled this year, while the United States has rejected efforts to regulate AI in international bodies. Xi said a World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization could set governance rules and boost cooperation, making AI a “public good for the international community”. In remarks published by the official…