On a February afternoon in New Delhi, beneath the harsh lights of a cavernous convention hall, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paused at a booth, slipped on a pair of homegrown AI-powered eyeglasses and scanned the room. Then he asked a question: Did the device speak his native language, Gujarati? The moment, part curiosity, part performance, signaled something larger. India, long cast as the world’s...
On a February afternoon in New Delhi, beneath the harsh lights of a cavernous convention hall, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paused at a booth, slipped on a pair of homegrown AI-powered eyeglasses and scanned the room. Then he asked a question: Did the device speak his native language, Gujarati? The moment, part curiosity, part performance, signaled something larger. India, long cast as the world’s back office for code and customer service, was ready to chart its own course in artificial intelligence, in its own languages, for its own 1.45 billion people. But India’s ambition to build and export a sovereign AI template across the world is colliding with structural constraints: years of underinvestment in compute capacity, a late start in building the most advanced AI models, deep reliance on foreign cloud providers and a venture capital culture wary of the vast, risky bets that define the global AI race. At stake is more than technological prestige. As the US and China transform artificial intelligence into a form of geopolitical power — controlling chips, cloud access and the models themselves — countries like India risk becoming dependent on systems they do not own and may not always be able to control. The world’s most populous nation and a leading digital economy, India is becoming a test case for whether a middle-power country can build AI on its own terms. Its successes — or failures — could offer a blueprint for much of the Global South, where governments face similar trade-offs between technological independence and reliance on foreign platforms. “Every country wants sovereign AI,” said Abhishek Singh, the bureaucrat who helped shape India's early AI self sufficiency policy as the first chief executive of the IndiaAI Mission. “It's as strategic as atomic energy or space technology.” Artificial intelligence is fast becoming foundational infrastructure, akin to electricity or telecommunications, but with far greater implications for national security and econom...
Male bowerbirds are notorious for their complex mating rituals. They build intricate tunnels out of twigs—the bowers from which they get their name—and then decorate them with random colorful items gleaned from the environment. When a female of the species shows up to check out a male's fancy digs, the male tosses his shiniest objects in her direction and shows off his plumage in hopes of impressi...
Male bowerbirds are notorious for their complex mating rituals. They build intricate tunnels out of twigs—the bowers from which they get their name—and then decorate them with random colorful items gleaned from the environment. When a female of the species shows up to check out a male's fancy digs, the male tosses his shiniest objects in her direction and shows off his plumage in hopes of impressing her. According to a new paper published in the journal Royal Society Open Science by University of Exeter scientists, urbanization and the associated growing availability of brightly colored human-made items have had a significant impact on courtship display behavior in Australian male bowerbirds. There are marked differences in the choice of decorations for bowerbirds in urban versus rural environments. This might be because urban birds simply have greater access to the items than their rural counterparts, since birds in both environments show a marked preference for human items. The University of Exeter researchers monitored the bowers of 61 male great bowerbirds in two sites in Australia's northern Queensland—the rural Dreghorn Cattle Station and the urban Townsville City—during the prime breeding season (September–December 2023). Then they photographed the bower decorations in situ from above in both visible and UV light (bowerbirds can see in the UV range), using an umbrella to create diffuse lighting. Read full article Comments
(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market on Tuesday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped almost 2,250 points or 3 percent to a fresh record closing high. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 66,730-point plateau although it may bounce higher again on Wednesday
(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market on Tuesday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped almost 2,250 points or 3 percent to a fresh record closing high. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 66,730-point plateau although it may bounce higher again on Wednesday
imaginima/E+ via Getty Images The American Petroleum Institute reportedly shows a draw of 6.8M barrels of oil in U.S. commercial stockpiles for the week ending May 29, its seventh straight weekly decline, including a 2.8M-barrel draw in the previous week. G asoline inventories reportedly show a build of 3.5 M b arrels for the week, distillate inventories reportedly show a draw of 214K barrels, and...
imaginima/E+ via Getty Images The American Petroleum Institute reportedly shows a draw of 6.8M barrels of oil in U.S. commercial stockpiles for the week ending May 29, its seventh straight weekly decline, including a 2.8M-barrel draw in the previous week. G asoline inventories reportedly show a build of 3.5 M b arrels for the week, distillate inventories reportedly show a draw of 214K barrels, and Cushing inventories reportedly show a draw of 279K barrels. The Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release its weekly U.S. petroleum supply report on Wednesday; the average of analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal forecast domestic commercial crude stocks would decline by 3.3M barrels, gasoline inventories were expected to drop by 600K barrels, and distillate inventories were expected to decline by 800K barrels. WTI front-month June crude oil ( CL1:COM ) recently traded at $93.39/bbl, slightly below Tuesday's settlement price of $93.76/bbl. ETF: ( USO ) More on crude oil Macro Insights: The 'Dangerous Market' Playbook, 1999 Redux, And Navigating RAMpocalypse Commodities: Mixed U.S.-Iran Messages Leave Oil Seesawing The Illusion Of Ceasefire Is Over
NHS bosses giving evidence to public accounts committee admit current position is unacceptable GPs in England are so “overloaded” that they cannot help older people who are at risk of falling in what NHS bosses accept is an unacceptable failure of care, the House of Commons’ public accounts committee has said. Pressure on GPs’ time has intensified as a result of the government’s decision to give p...
NHS bosses giving evidence to public accounts committee admit current position is unacceptable GPs in England are so “overloaded” that they cannot help older people who are at risk of falling in what NHS bosses accept is an unacceptable failure of care, the House of Commons’ public accounts committee has said. Pressure on GPs’ time has intensified as a result of the government’s decision to give patients online access to their services, according to a report by the influential cross-party group of MPs. Continue reading...
Bank of England says updated imagery will celebrate native wildlife while bolstering anti-counterfeit features Puffins, dolphins and bumblebees are among the wildlife that could feature on new banknotes in the UK as the Bank of England announces its shortlist. There has been controversy over the decision, with figures including Nigel Farage criticising the Bank for, he claimed, wanting to replace ...
Bank of England says updated imagery will celebrate native wildlife while bolstering anti-counterfeit features Puffins, dolphins and bumblebees are among the wildlife that could feature on new banknotes in the UK as the Bank of England announces its shortlist. There has been controversy over the decision, with figures including Nigel Farage criticising the Bank for, he claimed, wanting to replace Winston Churchill with a beaver. The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, said it was “a silly thing to do”, and Reform UK’s Farage called it “absolutely crackers”. In the end, no beaver appeared on the shortlist. Mammal options include bottlenose dolphins and red foxes. Continue reading...
The Oranje had high hopes but a spate of injuries has tempered expectations This article is part of the Guardian’s 2026 World Cup Experts’ Network , a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 48 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from three countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 11 June. Continue reading...
The Oranje had high hopes but a spate of injuries has tempered expectations This article is part of the Guardian’s 2026 World Cup Experts’ Network , a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 48 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from three countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 11 June. Continue reading...
A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after Jensen Huang's (Nvidia's CEO) GTC Taipei keynote at Computex reframed how large and how long the AI chip cycle will run.
A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after Jensen Huang's (Nvidia's CEO) GTC Taipei keynote at Computex reframed how large and how long the AI chip cycle will run.
British members of parliament are calling on the government to end a major deal with Palantir Technologies Inc. and disclose more details of a military contract with the company, as UK political tension involving the controversial data firm ramps up. The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee issued a report on digital services in the public sector, singling out Palantir as the most concerni...
British members of parliament are calling on the government to end a major deal with Palantir Technologies Inc. and disclose more details of a military contract with the company, as UK political tension involving the controversial data firm ramps up. The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee issued a report on digital services in the public sector, singling out Palantir as the most concerning tech provider. The parliamentarians recommended breaking a £330 million ($445 million) National Health Service contract with the US company, arguing that the UK was at risk of becoming overly dependent on it. The report also described Palantir’s political positions — its US military work as well as comments from its chief executive officer and Peter Thiel , its billionaire co-founder — as a “clear mismatch” with British values. The government now has two months to review the report and provide its response. “Palantir represents an unacceptable point of weakness in our digital infrastructure,” Chi Onwurah, a member of Parliament for the Labour Party who chairs the committee, said in an interview. “We’ve got a key supplier with a political agenda of its own, which is clearly saying that it’s on the side of the American state.” Palantir’s data analysis products are used by the US military and intelligence agencies, and the company has won several contracts under Donald Trump’s second administration with defense, policing and immigration agencies. But officials in Europe have expressed concern about the privacy implications of the company’s products and are increasingly worried about an excessive reliance on Silicon Valley. Onwurah also wrote in the report that Palantir CEO Alex Karp ’s recent manifesto “makes explicitly political arguments” that the UK may not endorse. Still, Palantir has made a concerted push into the UK. Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited its offices on a recent trip to Washington. The company has also hired a former aide to Reform UK head Nigel Farage ,...
China’s domestically made regional jet, the C909, has struggled to compete with market leaders Airbus and Boeing since it launched a decade ago. But there is one place where it is thriving: the far-western Chinese region of Xinjiang. Chinese airlines have rolled out C909s in Xinjiang at a rapid clip over the past few years. The first C909 touched down in the region as recently as June 2023. Now, t...
China’s domestically made regional jet, the C909, has struggled to compete with market leaders Airbus and Boeing since it launched a decade ago. But there is one place where it is thriving: the far-western Chinese region of Xinjiang. Chinese airlines have rolled out C909s in Xinjiang at a rapid clip over the past few years. The first C909 touched down in the region as recently as June 2023. Now, there are 30 of them being used on more than 120 routes in the remote territory, according to state...
Asking for a Trend Host Josh Lipton shares the top stories for Wednesday, June 3, including from Macy's (M), Five Below (FIVE), Petco (WOOF), and Broadcom (AVGO) CrowdStrike (CRWD), as well as ADP's May employment estimate.
Asking for a Trend Host Josh Lipton shares the top stories for Wednesday, June 3, including from Macy's (M), Five Below (FIVE), Petco (WOOF), and Broadcom (AVGO) CrowdStrike (CRWD), as well as ADP's May employment estimate.
Taiwan’s central bank is extending its reach ever deeper into foreign-exchange markets, seeking to ensure currency stability as the artificial intelligence boom intensifies a divide between the island’s tech sector and the rest of the economy . The monetary authority known as the Central Bank of the Republic of China, or CBC, has been on a mission to stamp out volatility since a surge in the Taiwa...
Taiwan’s central bank is extending its reach ever deeper into foreign-exchange markets, seeking to ensure currency stability as the artificial intelligence boom intensifies a divide between the island’s tech sector and the rest of the economy . The monetary authority known as the Central Bank of the Republic of China, or CBC, has been on a mission to stamp out volatility since a surge in the Taiwan dollar erupted almost from nowhere last year, sparking the most violent swings since the 1980s. It has been instructing exporters to sell US dollars at times of currency weakness while guiding life insurers to buy the greenback when the Taiwan dollar strengthens, according to a dozen traders, regulators and economists interviewed by Bloomberg. It also keeps close tabs on trading activity via dedicated phone lines and has sometimes even sought to influence market hours and media reports on the subject, the people said. The urgency behind the CBC’s hands-on currency management stems from its economic dilemma. While the island’s tech sector thrives on global AI demand, industrial manufacturers are feeling the squeeze, needing a weaker currency to remain competitive against regional rivals. But the CBC also faces criticism that the Taiwan dollar is undervalued, occasionally drawing the ire of the US Treasury Department. As Taiwan’s booming economy fuels a surging trade surplus, the central bank must tread carefully to avoid drawing further unwanted scrutiny from Washington. And the stakes have never been higher for the CBC, also nicknamed “Lao Da,” or the “Big Boss,” by foreign-exchange traders due to its presence in the market. Not only does the domestic economy depend on its policy balancing act, but so do billions of dollars of global money invested in the local stock market, and even more Taiwanese funds parked in financial assets abroad. Adding to the complexity is the geopolitical standing of the island as it faces scrutiny from both US President Donald Trump and his Ch...
Explore the exciting world of Globant (NYSE: GLOB) with our contributing expert analysts in this Motley Fool Scoreboard episode. Check out the video below to gain valuable insights into market trends and potential investment opportunities! *Stock prices used were the prices of April 8, 2026. The video was published on June 9, 2026. Continue reading
Explore the exciting world of Globant (NYSE: GLOB) with our contributing expert analysts in this Motley Fool Scoreboard episode. Check out the video below to gain valuable insights into market trends and potential investment opportunities! *Stock prices used were the prices of April 8, 2026. The video was published on June 9, 2026. Continue reading