Greenlogue/AP Climate change is causing increasingly severe health damage worldwide, prompting researchers behind the 2026 Lancet Countdown to demand formal recognition of a global health emergency and stronger international action. The assessment, published on Wednesday ahead of the COP31 climate summit, finds that deaths associated with extreme heat, exposure to drought and other climate-related dangers have increased faster than efforts to protect populations. Its authors want the […]
Greenlogue/AP Climate change is causing increasingly severe health damage worldwide, prompting researchers behind the 2026 Lancet Countdown to demand formal recognition of a global health emergency and stronger international action. The assessment, published on Wednesday ahead of the COP31 climate summit, finds that deaths associated with extreme heat, exposure to drought and other climate-related dangers have increased faster than efforts to protect populations. Its authors want the […]
Greenlogue/AP Climate change is causing increasingly severe health damage worldwide, prompting researchers behind the 2026 Lancet Countdown to demand formal recognition of a global health emergency and stronger international action. The assessment, published on Wednesday ahead of the COP31 climate summit, finds that deaths associated with extreme heat, exposure to drought and other climate-related dangers have increased faster than efforts to protect populations. Its authors want the […]
Greenlogue/AP Climate change is causing increasingly severe health damage worldwide, prompting researchers behind the 2026 Lancet Countdown to demand formal recognition of a global health emergency and stronger international action. The assessment, published on Wednesday ahead of the COP31 climate summit, finds that deaths associated with extreme heat, exposure to drought and other climate-related dangers have increased faster than efforts to protect populations. Its authors want the […]
Greenlogue/AP Climate change is causing increasingly severe health damage worldwide, prompting researchers behind the 2026 Lancet Countdown to demand formal recognition of a global health emergency and stronger international action. The assessment, published on Wednesday ahead of the COP31 climate summit, finds that deaths associated with extreme heat, exposure to drought and other climate-related dangers have increased faster than efforts to protect populations. Its authors want the […]
Greenlogue/AP Climate change is causing increasingly severe health damage worldwide, prompting researchers behind the 2026 Lancet Countdown to demand formal recognition of a global health emergency and stronger international action. The assessment, published on Wednesday ahead of the COP31 climate summit, finds that deaths associated with extreme heat, exposure to drought and other climate-related dangers have increased faster than efforts to protect populations. Its authors want the […]
Britain’s competition regulator has launched an investigation into Meta Platforms over proposed commercial terms that could allow the technology company to use publishers’ website content for its own products, including artificial intelligence services. The Competition and Markets Authority announced the investigation on Friday, saying it would examine whether Meta was abusing a dominant market position by imposing unfair conditions on publishers, advertisers and other businesses using its […]
The London Metal Exchange is exploring plans to convert metal inventories held in Hong Kong warehouses into digital assets that businesses could use to secure financing, as the city develops its commodities trading infrastructure. The exchange confirmed that its proposal remains at an exploratory stage and focuses on off-warrant metal, a category of warehouse inventory not covered by the standard title documents used in its established trading […]
Cybercriminals have distributed malicious software disguised as ChatGPT and Claude desktop applications, exploiting legitimate digitally signed installers to execute malware on Windows computers, cybersecurity company Check Point Research has disclosed. The operation, identified as Yoba, uses fraudulent GitHub repositories and accompanying websites advertising supposed applications named GPT-5.6 Sol, GPT-6 Astra and Claude Opus. Researchers disclosed the campaign on 27 October after tracking its activity for approximately two […]
Artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency are moving towards practical financial applications, but regulatory uncertainty, technological limitations and institutional infrastructure remain significant obstacles, industry executives and investment specialists told the CryptoAI Summit 2026 in New York. The conference, organised by blockchain news platform Bitpush, brought together representatives from banking, investment management, technology, academia and digital asset businesses to examine how artificial intelligence could reshape payments, trading and financial services. […]
Tourists leaving the UAE can now receive value added tax refunds within one business day under an artificial intelligence platform introduced by the Federal Tax Authority, reducing the previous waiting period of approximately nine days. The system, launched on October 20 in partnership with authorised refund operator Planet, is operating at Dubai International Airport, Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah International Airport. It enables eligible […]
Britain has committed £100 million to establish an artificial intelligence biosecurity laboratory, supported by OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind, to strengthen defences against biological threats. The AI Biosecurity Lab will use advanced models to identify emerging dangers, improve disease surveillance and accelerate development of vaccines and treatments, the government announced on Saturday. OpenAI and Anthropic have pledged up to £200 million in computing resources, model credits and […]
Nearly two-thirds of the world’s largest businesses have assigned leadership responsibility for artificial intelligence security, but formal oversight and executive accountability remain uneven, according to new research released on Tuesday. The 2026 Security Organisational Design Benchmark Report, published by cybersecurity research firm IANS and executive recruitment company Artico Search, found that 65% of organisations generating at least $10 billion in annual revenue have established a head of […]
Scientists have identified a possible inflammatory link between red meat consumption and type 2 diabetes after a study involving nearly 90,000 adults found higher disease risk among those consuming the most of a particular sugar molecule. The analysis found that participants with the highest estimated intake of N-glycolylneuraminic acid, known as Neu5Gc, from meat had a 63% greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those with […]
TikTok has restored the promotional account for a documentary about Elon Musk after initially imposing a permanent suspension over alleged political advertising violations, reversing a decision that had disrupted the film’s marketing campaign during its wider theatrical release. The platform’s US spokesperson, Mahsau Cullinane, confirmed that the account had been reinstated following an error. The reversal followed complaints from distributor Bleecker Street, which had challenged the suspension […]
Google DeepMind and Singapore’s Government Technology Agency have developed an artificial intelligence system designed to identify scams within private smartphone conversations without sending messages to external servers.
The technology, announced on Wednesday at Singapore International Cyber Week, uses a customised version of Google’s Gemma model to recognise manipulation in conversations and warn users before they transfer money or disclose sensitive information.
The partners have not announced a public release date, named supported messaging applications or published independent accuracy figures. Their announcement describes a model that messaging platforms and operating system developers could integrate, rather than a scam detection application already available for general download.
The initiative forms part of the National AI Partnership between Google DeepMind and Singapore’s government. It addresses fraud schemes that unfold through extended conversations, rather than relying exclusively on suspicious links, keywords or individual messages.
Google DeepMind said the model had been adapted using examples of scams involving impersonation of banks, public institutions and prominent local figures. Its training also covered regional fraud patterns intended to make fraudulent exchanges appear credible to Singaporean users.
The system operates through two stages to limit the processing demands placed on smartphones. A lightweight classifier initially examines incoming messages for possible threats, consuming relatively little computing power. Messages considered suspicious then undergo a more detailed assessment using the fine tuned Gemma model.
During the second stage, the AI examines a broader section of the conversation to assess whether the exchange displays patterns of manipulation. This contextual approach is intended to distinguish ordinary conversations from attempts to build trust before requesting payments, passwords or other confidential details.
Where the model identifies potentially fraudulent behaviour, it generates a warning on the handset, encouraging the recipient to pause and exercise caution. The alert is designed to intervene before a person acts on a scammer’s instructions, although the organisations have not disclosed measured reductions in fraud losses from using the system.
A central feature is that the analysis takes place locally. Conversations do not need to be uploaded for cloud based examination, an important distinction for messaging services that use end to end encryption to prevent intermediaries from reading message contents.
Mark Chen, director of trust and safety at GovTech Singapore, said the collaboration sought to identify targeted local scams in real time while keeping personal communications private. The partners present local processing as a way of reconciling fraud prevention with confidentiality.
The privacy safeguards also extend to development. Google DeepMind said the model was fine tuned inside a government managed Google Cloud environment described as a sovereign sandbox, where training material remained isolated.
According to the company, private citizen conversations and personally identifiable information were excluded from training. Instead, developers used anonymised datasets derived from scam reports and intelligence feeds. Testing included synthetic conversations and local material covering different scam categories and changing impersonation methods.
Those measures describe the development process and proposed operation, rather than an independent assessment of the finished product. The partners have not released detailed public benchmarks showing false positive rates, missed scams, battery consumption or performance across different smartphone models.
Singapore has strong reasons to pursue additional protections. Google DeepMind said scams account for more than half of crimes reported in the country, while cumulative losses since 2019 exceed S$4 billion. It estimated that social engineering schemes account for as much as 80 per cent of scam losses.
Such schemes often depend on prolonged interaction, with perpetrators establishing apparent relationships or authority before introducing requests for money. Detecting suspicious intent across multiple messages therefore presents a different technical challenge from blocking known fraudulent websites or telephone numbers.
The announcement comes alongside separate Android security enhancements unveiled by Google, including optional cloud assisted analysis in Google Messages. That service uses a protected computing environment, whereas the Singapore collaboration specifically centres on keeping conversation analysis on the handset.
The distinction is significant because the two approaches involve different arrangements for processing private communications. The Singapore model is designed to assess message content without transmitting conversations externally, although its practical privacy protections will also depend on how individual applications implement the technology.
Google DeepMind said its model was optimised for smartphones commonly used in Singapore. It has not specified the minimum hardware requirements, participating mobile manufacturers or whether the technology will eventually support additional languages and markets.
Artificial intelligence agents are being deployed to challenge investment proposals at an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, while businesses are extending the technology into procurement processes under human supervision, executives told Sharjah Investment Forum 2026. Maria Sanchez, senior vice-president of AI product delivery at G42’s Inception, disclosed the investment application during a panel on Wednesday, describing a system that examines proposed deals and produces arguments against proceeding […]
Ledger is investigating suspected cryptocurrency thefts involving wallets sold through Southeast Asian reseller CryptoBilis, as blockchain investigators raise their estimated losses beyond $86 million. The hardware wallet manufacturer has asked CryptoBilis to suspend sales and shipments while it examines complaints from customers whose digital assets disappeared. Ledger has not confirmed the total stolen, established how many people were affected or identified the cause of the reported losses. […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Dubai Police has warned that increasingly convincing artificial intelligence deepfakes could undermine confidence in genuine photographs, videos and recordings, creating new obstacles for criminal investigations and digital security. A study prepared by the force’s Future Foresight Centre says the challenge is expanding beyond identifying fabricated material to establishing that authentic content has not been manipulated. It identifies potential consequences for public safety, information […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Capital has secured US regulatory clearance for its $6.2 billion acquisition of Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, removing the final regulatory obstacle to taking the American billboard advertising company private. Clear Channel announced on Wednesday that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States had approved the transaction, allowing the investor consortium led by Mubadala Capital to proceed towards completion […]
Chinese fitness influencer Abeeeer has apologised for riding on a bicycle during the Berlin Marathon and concealing the episode after initially celebrating her finish as a personal best. The creator, identified from her race bib as Sun Yuanyuan with more than 520,000 followers on Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, acknowledged that taking the ride during the September 27 race violated race rules. She said physical discomfort on the course […]
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – Media OutReach Newswire – 7 October 2026 – De Beers continues its participation in Homo Faber 2026 by supporting Botswana-based master basket weaver Shakunona Parata, who will demonstrate her weaving practice and present a new sculptural work created in collaboration with Beullah Serema and Peter Mabeo of Mabeo Studio. Based in Botswana, Mabeo Studio explores the intersection of craft, design and culture, collaborating with artisans to create contemporary works that draw on local materials, cultural heritage and a deep respect for craftsmanship.
Diware in crating & Portrait of Shakunona Parata
Curated by Artistic Director Es Devlin, this year’s theme for Homo Faber, An Island of Light, examines the interplay between light, materials and creativity, placing the work of craft artists from around the world at the heart of the experience. In keeping with Homo Faber’s focus on the maker, their materials, tools and processes, Parata will weave live in the A Rooted Ascent room alongside presenting Diware, a new sculptural work created with Mabeo Studio.
A member of the Ngamiland Basket Weavers, from the north-western region of Botswana, Parata will present basket-weaving techniques using locally gathered materials drawing on skills and practices passed through generations. Parata learnt her skills from her mother and grandmother, and continues to experiment with different approaches to technique, pattern and colour.
Her work is guided by her personal connection to the Okavango River, the movement of its seasons and the materials it yields. Through Parata’s work, the project recognises both an individual practitioner and the wider community and traditions of making of which she is part.
Alongside a live weaving presentation at Homo Faber, Parata and Mabeo Studio have created a new sculptural work called Diware, that brings together natural materials from Botswana including woven palm leaves, naturally gathered porcupine quills, carved wood and semi-precious stones.
The work is founded on Manyevora, a traditional Mbukushu attire associated with Diware, a historic healing ceremony that today is more commonly represented through dance. The Manyevora is the most prominent element in the Diware sculpture, comprised of foraged materials from nature. The natural and crafted materials have been brought together deliberately, each retaining its own character. This combination of elements reflects an interest in convergence, between maker and material, individual and community, people and place.
Through Homo Faber, De Beers explores the craft skills and organic materials that originated from the same landscape as natural diamonds. Parata’s presentation follows South African artist Abongile Sidzumo’s participation in August. De Beers’ wider collaboration with Mabeo Studio will continue at Frieze Masters in London this October, where the studio is working with basket weavers from this collective, as well as potters and wood carvers from across Botswana on a new commission for Voyage Through the Diamond Realm, Chapter Two.
Lynn Serfaty, General Manager – Natural Diamonds, De Beers, says: “Shakunona Parata’s work at Homo Faber reflects the skill, dedication and heritage that shape the relationship between natural materials and craft. We are pleased to support her collaboration with Beullah Serema and Peter Mabeo of Mabeo Studio as part of this year’s Homo Faber.”
Shakunona Parata, says: “My life and that of the river are connected. The flood plains of the Okavango river guides my activities and rituals. My basket weaving practice is an extension of nature, of the river through the materials it yields, the movement of the seasons and my hands, seeing through my eyes with conscientiousness of all that is around me and within me, through my work.”
Mabeo Studio, says: “Homo Faber presents an opportunity to consider relationship. While it is helpful to recognise the highly valued and respected individual maker, in our studio, we also see it as worthwhile to be aware of how any practice is but a small expression of a whole. To see the indivisible wholeness of life and living, intangibly in approach and physically with how natural materials are related with, across cultures, through simple and dedicated craft acts.”
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About De Beers Group
Established in 1888, De Beers Group is the world’s leading diamond company with expertise in the exploration, mining, marketing and retailing of diamonds. Together with its joint venture partners, De Beers Group employs more than 20,000 people across the diamond pipeline and is the world’s largest diamond producer by value, with diamond mining operations in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa. Innovation sits at the heart of De Beers Group’s strategy as it develops a portfolio of offers that span the diamond value chain, including its jewellery houses, De Beers London and Forevermark, and other pioneering solutions such as diamond sourcing and traceability initiatives Tracr and GemFair. De Beers Group also provides leading services and technology to the diamond industry in the form of education and laboratory services and a wide range of diamond sorting, detection and classification technology services. De Beers Group is committed to ‘Building Forever,’ a holistic and integrated approach to sustainability that underpins our efforts to create meaningful impact for the people and places where our diamonds are discovered. Building Forever focuses on three key areas where, through collaborations and partnerships around the globe, we have an enhanced ability to drive positive impact; Livelihoods, Climate and Nature. De Beers Group is a member of the Anglo American plc group. For further information, visit www.debeersgroup.com.
About Homo Faber
Homo Faber Biennial is an international celebration of contemporary craftsmanship in Venice, curated by the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship. The flagship project of Homo Faber, a cultural movement centred on creative artisans worldwide, it brings together the work of hundreds of master artisans, rising stars and designers in the magnificent setting of Fondazione Giorgio Cini. Homofaber.com.
About Mabeo Studio
Mabeo Studio is a collective instigated in Botswana. Mentally, it is not geo politically constrained. Operating between the various fields of art, design, architecture, and associated means of communication; each field is applied in its own right yet, with a sense of nonspecific, broad curiosity, consideration and observation. Disciplines and classification are only used as a particular mode of implementation in and through time as actual life continues.
With art and design at times being viewed through topical issues and thought patterns of the day, ideas around aestheticism and fresh directions are all either as significant or as insignificant as the physical materials being manipulated and, as significant or insignificant as the psychology of all involved.
The studio interest is to engage in ways that subtly go beyond structured norms and to question the widespread preoccupation with visual sensuality and the unfounded appearance of originality and responsibility. Ongoing initiatives to attract attention are not a priority, other than to increase the probability of meeting collaborators who are conscientious and curious about simpler and more natural approaches.
Perceiving resonance and discord between international art or design influences from the past and present, within the valued natural environment, old cultures and clear attitudes surrounding the studio locale; a craft rooted approach, combined with basic industrial methods that can be contaminated with technology on the rare occasion is adopted.
A universal, free and accommodating approach that is premised on the ability to observe and to relate humanely is practiced. Looking beyond and through industry experience into a non-constrained sense, all materials, including the sustainable use of thought as actual material, are engaged with.
Discord is rolling out a machine-learning system that estimates whether users are teenagers or adults from account and behavioural signals, allowing more than 90% of its users to avoid submitting identification or completing a facial age check. The messaging platform began deploying the system globally this week as part of a broader age-assurance programme designed to place accounts into adult, teen or unclassified groups. Adults are defined […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai RcrutAI has expanded its Panther real estate intelligence platform into commercial and mixed-use development, adding tools for site analysis, tenant planning, parking demand, pricing and project feasibility. The Cairo-based artificial intelligence company announced the move on September 21, extending a platform that was initially built to support residential development decisions. RcrutAI said the new commercial capabilities are intended to connect decisions that developers […]
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