SAN FRANCISCO: WhatsApp announced Monday it will introduce its boldest advertising features yet, marking a significant shift for the messaging platform that has largely remained ad-free since its launch. The move is a sensitive one for WhatsApp, whose chief firmly denied a report in 2023 that said the Meta-owned app was exploring advertisements as it…
PARIS: People are increasingly turning to generative artificial intelligence chatbots like ChatGPT to follow day-to-day news, a respected media report published Tuesday found. The yearly survey from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found “for the first time” that significant numbers of people were using chatbots to get headlines and updates, director Mitali…
The leaders of G7 nations have urged a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza” – but stopped short of calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, during their summit in Canada. The joint statement was signed by US President Donald Trump – who then left the meeting early,…
FRANKFURT: As Israel and Iran trade fire in their most intense confrontation in history, members of the Iranian diaspora in Europe are torn between hopes for change and fears for their loved ones back home. In Frankfurt, Hamid Nasiri, 45, a product developer at a pharmaceutical company, said he had “mixed feelings” about the fighting,…
BEIJING: China on Tuesday accused President Donald Trump of “pouring oil” on the mounting conflict between Iran and Israel, after the US leader warned Tehran residents to “immediately evacuate”. Following decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel launched a surprise aerial campaign last week against targets across Iran, saying it aimed to prevent…
WASHINGTON: The White House insisted Monday evening that US forces remained in a “defensive” posture in the Middle East, despite a military buildup over the Israel-Iran war and a shock warning from President Donald Trump to evacuate Tehran. Trump’s brief warning on social media, without further details, raised speculation that the United States may be…
SAN FRANCISCO: The US Department of Defense on Monday awarded OpenAI a $200 million contract to put generative artificial intelligence (AI) to work for the military. San Francisco-based OpenAI will “develop prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains,“ according to the department’s posting of awarded contracts….
BOGOTA: Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe, who was shot in the head while campaigning in Bogota earlier this month, was in an “extremely critical” condition, doctors warned Monday. Uribe, a 39-year-old conservative senator, was shot twice in the head and once in the leg by a 15-year-old suspected hitman while giving a speech on June…
KANO: Authorities in Nigeria’s northwestern Katsina state struck a peace deal at the weekend with criminal gangs to try to end years of violence, a government official said Monday. Katsina is one of several states in northwestern and central Nigeria terrorised by criminal gangs that the locals refer to as bandits. The gangs raid villages,…
WASHINGTON: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday did not rule out plans to assassinate Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying it would “end the conflict” between the two arch-foes. In a 20-minute interview with US network ABC News, the Israeli leader insisted his country’s deadly aggression to “defang” Iran was justified, and equated…
