Floods and landslides have caused major damage in two thirds of Sri Lanka as severe weather hits. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).
Upcoming quarterly reports from U.S. tech giants may show Microsoft is closing the gap on cloud-computing market leader Amazon.com as more businesses switch to its services, attracted by a clutch of generative AI features that are powered by OpenAI's technology. The Redmond, Washington-based software giant has beaten rivals Amazon and Google-parent Alphabet to the market with AI services including the Copilot, a set of genAI tools that work in Microsoft's business apps, that was rolled out in November for $30 a month. Its earnings on Thursday will be an indicator of AI adoption and could influence the movement of technology stocks as a rally in the sector eases this month amid worries that interest rates in the U.S. could stay high for longer.
A ship near the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait saw an explosion in the distance Wednesday, marking what may be a new attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels through the crucial waterway for international trade. The explosion, reported by the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, comes after a relative lull from the Houthis after they launched dozens of attacks on shipping in the region over Israel's ongoing war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the blast, but suspicion fell on the group as they've repeatedly targeted ships in the same area.
A federal rule announced Wednesday will require airlines to quickly give cash refunds — without lengthy arguments — to passengers whose flights have been canceled or seriously delayed, the Biden administration said.
Two runaway military horses bolted through central London, leaving at least 4 people and the animals injured, officials said.
The European Parliament on Wednesday backed the EU's withdrawal from an international energy treaty over concerns it offers too much protection to fossil fuel companies.But the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said in July it was necessary to withdraw from the treaty in a coordinated manner since it is "no longer compatible" with the bloc's "enhanced climate ambition".
Boeing is expected to report first quarter earnings before the bell on Wednesday, following a quarter that could be called rocky to say the least.
Slovakia’s government on Wednesday approved a controversial overhaul of the country's public radio and television services, a move that critics say would result in the government taking full control of the media. Populist Prime Minister Robert Fico said the changes are needed because the public broadcaster, known as RTVS, is politically biased and “is in conflict with the Slovak government.” The Parliament, where the Fico’s coalition government has a majority, is expected to approve the changes in June.
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost $355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers. Boeing's CEO said the company is in “a tough moment,” and its focus is on fixing its manufacturing issues, not the financial results. Company executives have been forced to talk more about safety and less about finances since a door plug blew out of a Boeing 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, leaving a gaping hole in the plane.
The European Union on Wednesday announced a probe into China's medical devices market, prompting an immediate accusation from Beijing that the bloc was engaging in "protectionism".China's medical devices market is the second largest after the United States, worth around 135 billion euros in 2022 ($145 billion), according to a 2023 report by China-focused think tank MERICS. The EU probe is the first under the bloc's International Procurement Instrument which seeks to promote reciprocity in access
Israel pounded Gaza with air strikes and artillery fire in its war against Hamas on Wednesday after the US Congress approved $13 billion in military aid.Early Wednesday, hospital and security sources in Gaza reported Israeli air strikes in Rafah, as well as the central Nuseirat refugee camp.
Emma Seppälä writes about intuition, the gut feeling you probably ignore—but shouldn't.
Sabreen Alrouh Jouda was born an orphan in Gaza after her mother died in an Israeli airstrike. A posthumous c-section rescued her from her mother’s body.
Federal regulators said Tuesday that samples of pasteurized milk from around the country had tested positive for inactive remnants of the bird flu virus that has been infecting dairy cows. The viral fragments do not pose a threat to consumers, officials said. “To date, we have seen nothing that would change our assessment that the commercial milk supply is safe,” the Food and Drug Administration said in a statement. Over the past month, a bird flu virus known as H5N1 has been detected in more th
A Russian deputy defence minister exposed in an investigation by late opposition leader Alexei Navalny's team was remanded in custody Wednesday on suspicion of taking large bribes.He faces up to 15 years in prison for bribe-taking "on a particularly large scale", it added.
Relentlessly rising auto insurance rates are squeezing car owners and stoking inflation. Auto insurance rates rose 2.6% in March and are up 22% from a year ago. Premium costs have been marching steadily higher since 2022, even as inflation at the consumer level steadily cooled from its 9.1% peak in the middle of that year.
LONDON (Reuters) -The G7 group of nations are looking to use nearly $300 billion worth of Russian financial assets frozen by sanctions since 2022 to help support Ukraine, but how it will be done remains highly complex given it would set a controversial precedent. Washington continues to back the idea of seizing the immobilised Russian reserves in their entirety and handing them to Ukraine. Some top lawyers argue it can be done under a doctrine of international law known as "countermeasures".
Tech giant Cisco Systems on Wednesday joined Microsoft and IBM in signing onto a Vatican-sponsored pledge to ensure artificial intelligence is developed and used ethically and to benefit the common good. Cisco Systems chief executive Chuck Robbins signed the document, known as the Rome Call, and met privately with Pope Francis, the Vatican said. The document was unveiled and signed at a Vatican conference on Feb. 28, 2020 — just before Italy locked down as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic — by Microsoft’s Brad Smith and IBM’s John Kelly III. Universities, U.N. agencies, private corporations and nongovernmental organizations have signed on as well.
Tesla's surge is putting Big Tech earnings center stage as investors look to megacaps to lift stocks.
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's competition watchdog said on Wednesday it was seeking comments on the AI partnerships between Microsoft and Mistral AI, as well as between Amazon and Anthropic. The Competition and Markets Authority also said it wanted to hear the views of third parties on Microsoft's hiring of former employees of Inflection AI and related arrangements. Microsoft last month appointed DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman as the head of a newly created consumer AI unit and hired several employees of his Inflection AI startup.
The Senate advanced a landmark bill that gives China's ByteDance up to one year to divest TikTok or face a US ban on the app. The next stop is the desk of President Biden, who has promised to sign it.
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