Oil prices slid to their lowest levels since March on Monday after Washington and Tehran said they had reached an initial deal aimed at ending the war and restoring traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, easing fears that months of disruption to one of the world’s most important energy corridors would deepen. Brent crude futures fell $4.08, or 4.7 per cent, to $83.25 a barrel by 0415 […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai DMCC has rolled out a business acceleration package aimed at lowering costs, freeing cash flow and giving companies in its 26,000-plus member ecosystem more room to expand as competition for global trade and investment intensifies. The initiative offers licence renewal incentives, penalty waivers, administrative flexibility and set-up discounts for new entrants, positioning the Dubai business district to support established firms and companies weighing […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Washington and Tehran have accepted a preliminary framework aimed at ending their war, lifting the U. S. blockade of Iran and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a move that pushed oil prices lower while leaving Iran’s nuclear programme for another round of negotiations. President Donald Trump declared the agreement “complete” on Truth Social on Sunday evening in Washington, shortly after Pakistan’s Prime Minister […]
SHANGHAI, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 15 June 2026 – ACE ROBOTICS today announced that its open-source Kairos world model has achieved leading results across four global embodied-intelligence benchmarks: RoboTwin 2.0, LIBERO-Plus, WorldModelBench Robot and DreamGen. Kairos ranked first among evaluated world models and vision-language-action (VLA) systems on these benchmarks’ public leaderboards as of 12 June 2026, leading across the core capabilities of embodied intelligence, including complex robotic manipulation, scene-level generalization, physical-world modeling and zero-shot transfer. The project is openly available on GitHub, Hugging Face and ModelScope, giving researchers and developers a public reference point for the model, benchmark results and technical materials.
Tops Four Leading Benchmarks in World Generation & Prediction
Embodied intelligence faces a fundamental challenge: generalization. A robot must operate reliably in environments it has never seen, adapting to new lighting, layouts, objects, embodiments and noisy real-world conditions. While VLA models have become a prevailing approach by directly mapping perception and language inputs to robot actions, ACE ROBOTICS believes world models offer a more scalable path by explicitly learning the underlying dynamics of the physical world and predicting how environments evolve. Kairos is designed to validate that approach.
Leading scene-level generalization on LIBERO-Plus
One of Kairos’ most significant results comes from LIBERO-Plus, a scene-level generalization benchmark proposed by the Shanghai Innovation Institute with Fudan University, Tongji University and the National University of Singapore. It evaluates robustness under seven real-world variables: camera angle, robot embodiment, language instruction, lighting, background, sensor noise and spatial layout.
Kairos achieved an overall score of 89.0, ranking first among all evaluated world models and VLA systems. It surpassed leading VLA models including ACoT-VLA (88.0), Pi 0.5 (85.7) and ProGAL-VLA (85.5), as well as the Being-H0.7 world model (84.8). It also showed strong environmental robustness, with near-ceiling performance on lighting (97.7), noise (96.8) and background (95.8), and ranked highly on camera angle and language instruction.
According to ACE ROBOTICS, this marks the first time a world-model approach has outperformed leading VLA systems on LIBERO-Plus for scene-level generalization, pointing to a path where robots adapt to homes, factories, retail spaces and other environments with far less environment-specific retraining.
A compact model with strong physical modeling efficiency
On WorldModelBench Robot, a physical-modeling benchmark proposed by researchers from UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, NVIDIA and MIT, Kairos-4B achieved an overall score of 9.30, ranking first on the benchmark. With only 4 billion parameters, it outperformed larger systems including 28-billion-parameter Lingbot, 16-billion-parameter Cosmos 3, 14-billion-parameter Abot-PhysWorld and 5-billion-parameter Wan 2.2, setting a new record for parameter efficiency in embodied world models.
Kairos matched the top instruction-following score (2.36) of the 16-billion-parameter Cosmos 3 with about one quarter of the parameters, a fourfold efficiency gain. It scored 4.96 on physics adherence, with perfect marks on Newtonian mechanics and gravity, and a perfect score on temporal quality, reflecting strong temporal consistency and visual continuity over long horizons.
A unified architecture, not a modular pipeline
ACE ROBOTICS attributes Kairos’ performance to its native unified “multi-modal understanding-generation-prediction” architecture. Unlike modular approaches that stitch together separate components for world understanding, generation and prediction, Kairos integrates these within a single backbone that shares one global world state, reducing the information loss and coordination latency between modules for more consistent physical modeling, stronger long-horizon prediction and more reliable action planning.
ACE ROBOTICS first introduced this architecture in December 2025, and the broader industry is now converging on a similar path: NVIDIA’s Cosmos 3.0, introduced in 2026, adopts a comparable single-system design that brings vision reasoning, world generation and action prediction into one architecture. Built on this foundation, Kairos-4B is, in ACE ROBOTICS’ description, the first embodied world model able to drive a physical robot directly on-device, closing the perception-to-action loop without intermediate translation latency.
Leading on synthetic data transfer and complex robot manipulation
Kairos also ranked first on DreamGen Bench, a benchmark led by NVIDIA with the University of Washington, UC Berkeley and UCLA that measures how well synthetic data generated by world models transfers to unseen objects, behaviors and environments, a key predictor of downstream robot-training value. Kairos ranked first on both average physics adherence (AVG_PA 0.538) and overall average score (AVG_Score 0.618), and led globally on new-behavior execution and new-environment adaptation.
On RoboTwin 2.0, a demanding dual-arm manipulation benchmark proposed by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the University of Hong Kong with Shanghai AI Laboratory, Kairos scored 96.1% — a state-of-the-art result on the benchmark’s public leaderboard as of 12 June 2026. Across the benchmark’s 50 complex two-arm tasks it scored 96.9% in clean scenarios and 95.2% in randomized scenarios, ahead of VLA models such as G0.5 (93.2) and starVLA (88.3) and world models including AIM (93.1), Fast-WAM (91.8) and MotuBrain (96.0).
From benchmark leadership to commercial deployment
Together, these results validate Kairos’ technical direction across the core dimensions of embodied intelligence, from physical-rule understanding and zero-shot generalization to environmental robustness and fine-grained dual-arm manipulation, supporting ACE ROBOTICS’ aim to move robots beyond task imitation toward physical-world understanding, long-horizon reasoning and real-world execution.
The results come as ACE ROBOTICS accelerates commercialization. The company says it has raised several hundred million U.S. dollars across financing rounds in the first half of 2026, including a recent Angel+ round backed by investors such as Geely Capital, Dachen Caizhi, Shenzhen Capital Group and the Shanghai Sci-Tech Innovation Fund, with existing shareholder SenseTime’s Guoxiang Capital increasing its stake. The proceeds will support continued world-model research and integrated hardware-software solutions for sectors including smart retail, security and inspection, tourism and hospitality.
“Embodied intelligence is the next era of AI, and a world model is the key to unlocking it,” said Wang Xiaogang, Chairman of ACE ROBOTICS. “Our mission is to give every robot a capable brain.”
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About ACE ROBOTICS – Equipping robots with intelligent “brains” and engaging “souls”
ACE ROBOTICS is a pioneering robotics company dedicated to advancing the field of embodied intelligence. Through breakthrough technological innovations and deep insights into embodied intelligence scenarios, we aim to empower robots with the ability to autonomously understand and explore the physical world, thereby accelerating their commercial implementation.
The company pioneered the ACE R&D paradigm and built a vision-based “environmental data engine, real-world cognition, embodied interaction generalization” technology chain. Using full spatiotemporal and multi-perspective environmental capture as its engine, along with Kairos 3.0 – China’s first open-source and commercially applicable world model – plus the Embodied Foundation Model as its technical backbone, ACE ROBOTICS addresses core industry challenges such as data scarcity, common sense gaps, poor generalization, and limited versatility. Simultaneously, the company unveiled its flagship A1 Embodied Super Brain Module, accelerating the large-scale commercial deployment of embodied intelligence across diverse scenarios.
ACE ROBOTICS is both a technology pioneer and an ecosystem builder. Through strategic cooperation with top hardware manufacturers, cloud service providers, and vertical scenario partners, we have broken through the “model-hardware-scenario” industrial deadlock, providing standardized and customized solutions that are driving the development of China’s embodied intelligence industry.
MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Media OutReach Newswire – 14 June 2026 – CUKTECH, the pioneer in high-performance charging, today announced that its flagship CUKTECH 6 Ultra Charger will officially hit the Philippine market on June 14 at 8:00 PM.
Blending massive power, intelligent interaction, and ultimate safety, this charger is tailor-made for Filipino young professionals, digital nomads, and heavy social media users who demand efficient multi-device charging.
100W Max Output & Universal Compatibility
Perfect for frequent island-hopping and mobile workflows, the CUKTECH 6 Ultra features a 2C1A triple-port design. It is 29% smaller than conventional 67W chargers and includes a premium 1-meter 6A 240W braided cable.
Equipped with intelligent dynamic power allocation and the ADC 2.0 protocol, it seamlessly supports both Android and Apple ecosystems:
Android Flash Charging: Powers the Xiaomi 17 Pro to ≈ 71% (100W Max) and the Samsung S26 Ultra to ≈ 78% (60W Max) in just 30 minutes.
Apple Fast Charging: Intelligently recognizes and displays real-time battery status for the iPhone 15–17 series, boosting a MacBook Air (M3) to ≈ 53% (65W Max) in 30 minutes.
“Cool Bot” AI Screen: A Fun, Visualized Experience
Catering to the vibrant nature of Filipino consumers, the charger debuts a 0.96-inch HD smart screen featuring an interactive mascot named “cool bot”. It dynamically shifts expressions—from napping (standby), to energetic (charging), to rocking sunglasses (fully charged soon)—based on the status. The UI also supports a 180° rotation, providing real-time data on power, voltage, and current to make charging genuinely fun.
In-House OPC 2.0 & Advanced Cooling
To combat tropical heat and local grid fluctuations, CUKTECH delivers robust safety. Powered by the in-house OPC (Optimized Charging 2.0) system, it auto-regulates current to prevent battery degradation on flagship devices. Combined with an industry-leading GaN architecture and 24-hour smart temperature control, it stays cool and maintains top speeds even during peak summer.
18-Month Warranty, Dropping June 14
The CUKTECH 6 Ultra 100W comes backed by a reassuring 18-month official warranty. The product launches at 8:00 PM (Manila Time) on June 14 via CUKTECH’s official stores on Shopee. Turn every charge into a moment of fun and efficiency with CUKTECH! Hashtag: #CUKTECH
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
By K Raveendran The promise of a ‘great settlement’ from President Trump has been enough to pull oil prices lower, calm equity markets and revive hopes that the Strait of Hormuz may return to normal traffic. Yet it shows how fragile the relief remains. A diplomatic opening can move prices in an instant, but a […]
The United States and Iran are edging towards a peace memorandum that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz and pause a three-month war, though Tehran has withheld final approval and warned it will not cross its negotiating red lines. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a settlement could be signed as soon as this weekend, possibly in Europe, and that the strait would “officially open” once […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai The UAE has firmly rejected allegations that money was moved from the country to Iran, including claims involving as much as $3bn, saying no frozen Iranian assets have been released, transferred or facilitated through its territory. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said reports carried by unnamed international media outlets were “entirely false and unfounded”. The statement followed accounts suggesting that funds linked to […]
Nintendo has reintroduced purchase checks for the multi-language version of the Switch 2 in Japan after detecting orders suspected of bulk buying, adding a fresh layer of control to one of the year’s most sought-after gaming devices. The Kyoto-based company temporarily halted sales of the Nintendo Switch 2 Multi-Language System on its official Nintendo Store and said future purchases would be limited to accounts showing at least […]
OpenAI has shut down two China-linked ChatGPT account clusters that it says tried to manipulate US debates over artificial intelligence infrastructure, tariffs and technology policy, with one campaign generating posts and cartoons that blamed data centres for higher electricity bills. The San Francisco-based company said the accounts were used to produce social media comments, comic strips, slogans and political cartoons for apparent covert influence operations. The activity […]
The Linux Foundation has launched OpenSharing, a vendor-neutral protocol aimed at standardising how companies exchange AI agents, models and data across platforms, marking a fresh attempt to curb fragmentation as enterprises move from pilot projects to production-scale agentic AI. The project, contributed by Databricks and now hosted under Linux Foundation governance, extends the Delta Sharing protocol beyond structured data into AI-era assets such as agent skills, machine-learning […]
Refined fuel exports from the Persian Gulf have climbed this month as more tankers crossed the Strait of Hormuz, easing pressure on diesel, jet fuel, gasoline and naphtha markets starved of supply since the waterway was disrupted by the Iran war. The rebound marks a break from the squeeze that followed the closure of the world’s most important energy chokepoint after the February 28 attack on Iran […]
Taiwan is moving to anchor its alliance with Paraguay through a data-centre project expected to require at least $200 million in its first phase, tying diplomatic survival to artificial intelligence, clean energy and strategic infrastructure.
The plan, centred on a sovereign AI computing facility in Paraguay, gives Taipei a rare large-scale investment platform in South America as Beijing intensifies pressure on Asunción to cut formal ties. Paraguay remains Taiwan’s only diplomatic partner on the continent and one of just 12 governments worldwide that maintain official relations with Taipei.
The project emerged from a memorandum signed in Taipei during President Santiago Peña’s visit to Taiwan, where he met President Lai Ching-te and senior technology officials. The proposed centre is intended to combine Taiwan’s computing and semiconductor expertise with Paraguay’s abundant hydroelectric power, a resource the Peña administration wants to convert into higher-value digital services.
Paraguay’s authorities have described the first stage as a 10-megawatt data centre focused largely on state use, including secure processing of public records, health data, tax systems and other sensitive government information. Investment for that phase has been estimated at between $200 million and $300 million. Officials have also outlined broader ambitions for later stages that could lift power demand to 100 megawatts and eventually 1,000 megawatts, though those targets remain politically and commercially demanding.
The initiative is being framed by both governments as a sovereign AI project rather than a conventional colocation facility. That distinction is important for Asunción, which wants to avoid being seen merely as a low-cost power host for foreign cloud companies. The official pitch is that Paraguay would retain strategic use of the computing capacity while Taiwan helps provide technology, financing channels and international credibility.
For Taiwan, the political stakes are clear. Paraguay established diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1957 and has resisted repeated calls to recognise Beijing. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and rejects any formal state-to-state relationship with the island. Taipei rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claim and has sought to hold its remaining partners by shifting assistance from grants and symbolic diplomacy towards trade, investment, technology and education.
Peña has defended the relationship as one based on democracy, freedom and institutions, saying the partnership must produce tangible opportunities for Paraguayans. During the Taipei visit, he also reiterated support for Taiwan’s participation in international organisations and criticised pressure directed at the island. Beijing responded sharply, urging Paraguay to “stand on the right side of history” and sever ties with Taipei.
The diplomatic contest has domestic resonance in Paraguay. Agribusiness exporters and some opposition figures have long argued that formal ties with Taiwan limit access to China’s vast market, particularly for soybeans and beef. Peña’s government is trying to counter that argument by showing that the Taiwan relationship can deliver higher-value investment, technology transfer and market access, including Taiwan’s decision to open its market to Paraguayan poultry.
The data-centre proposal fits into a wider push to position Paraguay as a digital infrastructure hub. The country draws most of its electricity from major hydroelectric assets, including Itaipú and Yacyretá, giving it one of the cleanest power profiles in the region. That advantage is attracting interest from data-centre developers, crypto-mining firms and AI infrastructure companies seeking cheap, low-carbon electricity at a time when demand for computing power is rising worldwide.
Yet the plan faces serious tests. Data centres require not only electricity, but firm grid delivery, fibre connectivity, cooling systems, specialised construction, cybersecurity rules and skilled engineers. Paraguay’s digital workforce remains limited, and critics have questioned whether the country can support an AI facility on the scale described by officials. Energy planners also face pressure to balance industrial demand against future domestic consumption and export commitments.
Regional experience offers both encouragement and caution. Latin America is drawing heavier investment from cloud and AI companies because of renewable energy, growing digital markets and geopolitical diversification. Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Uruguay have advanced faster because they combine power access with deeper telecoms networks, larger technology labour pools and clearer regulatory pathways. Paraguay’s advantage lies in energy supply, but its success will depend on whether infrastructure, governance and talent can catch up.
El Niño has formed across the tropical Pacific, setting the stage for a potentially powerful climate event that could intensify heat, drought, floods and storms across several regions through the end of the year and into early 2027. Forecasters have issued an El Niño advisory after ocean and atmospheric indicators aligned over the past month, confirming that the coupled climate system has shifted into the warm phase […]
Elon Musk is on the brink of becoming the world’s first trillionaire as SpaceX prepares to open trading on Nasdaq after pricing the largest initial public offering on record, a deal that places one of the most strategically important technology companies at the centre of a debate over wealth, markets and power. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. priced 555,555,555 Class A shares at $135 each, raising about $75bn […]
Zed has launched a digital wallet offering 15 per cent cashback on every ride in Dubai, escalating competition in a transport market where app-based booking, loyalty incentives and faster fleet access are becoming central to commuter choice. The Dubai-built ride-hailing platform said the Zed Wallet will credit cashback automatically after each eligible journey, with rewards capped at Dh20 per trip and redeemable against future rides booked through […]
Mistral AI is in talks to raise about €3 billion at a valuation of roughly €20 billion, a potential deal that would sharply lift the Paris-based artificial intelligence company’s standing among Europe’s most valuable private technology groups. The discussions remain fluid and may still change in size, timing or investor composition. If completed near the terms being discussed, the financing would mark another significant jump for a […]
HAMILTON, BERMUDA – Media OutReach Newswire – 12 June 2026 – Verdant Rock Limited has received a BBB+ Long-Term Insurer Financial Strength Rating with a Stable Outlook from Fitch Ratings effective 12 June 2026. Combined with a Class 3B Insurer license from the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA), effective 6 May 2026, the company is in a strong position to extend financial guarantees on bonds and loans in emerging markets for beneficiaries globally. We provide irrevocable, unconditional, on-demand financial guarantees designed to qualify as eligible credit protection under Basel and major insurance solvency regimes. We are focused on private liabilities and do not cover sovereigns, municipalities or provinces. Bonds and loans issued by emerging market corporations and banks, structured financings, asset-backed (ABS) and mortgage-backed (MBS) exposures in securities or loan format, and project finance are all within the Company’s remit.
“The infrastructure and capital markets we are targeting have been systematically underserved over the past decade. Verdant Rock enters this space with an investment grade rating, a strong capital position, the regulatory standing, the technical capability, and the long-term commitment that issuers and their advisers have been unable to find elsewhere.”
— Tolga Uzuner, Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Verdant Rock Limited
Verdant Rock’s Class 3B registration can be verified via the BMA’s register of regulated entities (search “Verdant Rock”): https://www.bma.bm/regulated-entities
This announcement is (i) for information only; (ii) not an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security, insurance product, or financial guarantee; and (iii) not for distribution in any jurisdiction where to do so would be unlawful. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results, and Verdant Rock undertakes no obligation to update them. A credit rating is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security and may be subject to revision, suspension or withdrawal at any time by the assigning rating agency.
Hashtag: #VerdantRock
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
ABOUT VERDANT ROCK
Verdant Rock Limited is a Bermuda-based insurance company, regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority, providing Basel III and Solvency II compliant financial guarantees in emerging markets, designed to qualify as eligible credit protection under Basel and major insurance solvency regimes, for the benefit of institutions globally.
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai L’Oréal Middle East has signed the UAE Climate-Responsible Companies Pledge, placing the beauty group’s regional operations under a national framework that asks private companies to measure emissions, set reduction plans and align business decisions with the UAE’s Net Zero by 2050 pathway. The pledge was announced at the third L’Oréal For the Future Summit in Dubai, where the company positioned climate action, refillable […]
New Delhi has moved into crisis-management mode as the war in Iran raises fuel costs, strains the rupee and forces the Centre to balance energy security against its deficit-reduction pledge.
The latest response includes curbs on bulk diesel purchases at retail outlets, a willingness to let the fiscal deficit widen beyond the Budget target, and measures to pull in overseas capital as policymakers try to contain pressure on inflation, subsidies and the balance of payments. The measures mark a sharp shift from the calmer macroeconomic backdrop at the start of the financial year, when lower inflation and steady growth had given authorities room to focus on consolidation.
Retail fuel outlets run by public sector oil marketing companies have been told to cap high-speed diesel sales at 200 litres per customer or vehicle per day. The restriction, planned for up to 90 days, is aimed at preventing hoarding and stopping commercial users from shifting large purchases to retail pumps, where prices are lower than bulk supply rates. Diesel bought from retail outlets cannot be resold, and dealers have been asked to ensure that sales go directly into vehicle tanks or approved containers.
The decision followed a surge in purchases from retail pumps after the conflict in West Asia widened the gap between retail and bulk diesel prices. Trucking firms, contractors and other commercial users have sought cheaper supplies, adding pressure on state-run fuel retailers that already carry most of the retail burden. Diesel accounts for a large share of transport and farm fuel demand, making any disruption politically sensitive as the kharif sowing season approaches.
The fiscal impact is becoming harder to ignore. The Budget had set the fiscal deficit target for 2026-27 at 4.3% of gross domestic product, after 4.4% in the revised estimate for 2025-26. Officials are now prepared to tolerate a higher deficit, potentially around 4.8% of GDP, if subsidy costs and energy-related spending rise further. Fertiliser subsidies are also expected to climb as global input costs move up, while fuel-related tax and pricing decisions could reduce revenue flexibility.
Spending cuts across ministries are being examined, though the Centre is likely to avoid sharp reductions in capital expenditure unless market conditions deteriorate further. Infrastructure spending has been one of the main pillars of growth in the past few years, and cutting it too deeply would risk weakening private investment at a time when companies are already facing higher transport and raw material costs.
The rupee has become the other pressure point. It strengthened on Friday after Brent crude fell below $90 a barrel on hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough, but the currency remains vulnerable to oil spikes because India depends heavily on imported crude. The Reserve Bank of India has introduced measures to attract dollar inflows, including support for foreign currency deposits and lower-cost hedging routes for overseas borrowing by state-run companies. Large lenders are preparing dollar bond issues, and banks expect a stronger push to tap non-resident deposits over the coming months.
Inflation has also started to reflect the shock. Retail inflation rose to 3.93% in May from 3.48% in April, with food and fuel costs moving higher. The reading remains close to the central bank’s 4% target, but the risk is that higher diesel prices feed into freight, farm operations and food distribution. Any weak monsoon spell linked to El Niño conditions would add another layer of pressure.
By Dr. Nilanjan Banik The Indian economy, to quote from Charles Dickens’ novel, looks like A Tale of Two Cities. Recent estimates suggest India’s real GDP expanded by 7.8%, with strong growth noted across sectors: services (9.3%), manufacturing (10.7%), and construction (7.4%). Consumption expenditure, which is the largest component of GDP explaining 58% of GDP, […]
Dubai’s property market is set for one of its largest new supply commitments as Emaar Properties prepares to unveil a Dhs200bn master-planned district designed for nearly 150,000 residents in the heart of the emirate. The project, valued at about $54.5bn, will span more than 4.5 million square metres of gross floor area and combine residential towers, villas, mansions, offices, retail centres, hotels and civic amenities. Emaar has […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Dubai has established the Dubai Longevity Authority under Law No. 17 of 2026, setting up a dedicated regulator to oversee one of the fastest-growing areas of healthcare, wellness and life sciences as the emirate seeks to build a global hub for advanced medicine and healthy ageing. The law was issued by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai President Donald Trump said the United States and Iran could sign a peace agreement as early as this weekend to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but Tehran pushed back against his claim, saying no final decision had been made on any settlement. The competing statements left diplomacy in a delicate phase on Friday, with Washington presenting the outline of a breakthrough while Iran […]