Category: World

A $50 million initiative bringing together the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and OpenAI is being positioned as a practical push to embed artificial intelligence into public health delivery across multiple African countries, with backers arguing the effort could help overstretched systems do more with limited resources while raising questions about data governance and long-term capacity.The collaboration, branded Horizon1000, is designed to fund pilots and scale-ups that apply AI tools to areas such as disease surveillance, maternal and child health,

Africa’s fashion sector gathered fresh momentum in Nairobi as Core Fashion Kenya, working with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, convened designers, manufacturers, policymakers and investors during the Hub of Africa Fashion Week to map pathways for scaling an industry valued at about $31 billion. The discussions centred on moving beyond fragmented national markets to build continent-wide supply chains, strengthen manufacturing depth and unlock export growth while embedding sustainability and decent work.Organisers said the forum brought together decision-makers from

Wall Street posted a powerful advance during the latest trading session, adding an estimated $700 billion to the combined value of listed companies as investors pushed major indices higher on a mix of easing inflation signals, resilient corporate earnings and renewed appetite for growth shares. The move underscored the scale at which US equity markets can reprice within hours when sentiment aligns across sectors.The benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both closed firmly in positive territory, while the Dow

Pressure is building on academic institutions across the United Kingdom to reassess their presence on X, as concerns over platform governance, content moderation and reputational risk sharpen following a series of controversies linked to the social media network owned by Elon Musk. Data tracking institutional behaviour suggests higher education may be nearing a decisive shift, with more universities poised to disengage than remain active.Debate over academic engagement with X has intensified after disclosures about misuse of the platform’s generative artificial

France has moved to convene a meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers this week as tensions escalate with the United States over proposed tariffs linked to a high-profile dispute about Greenland. Paris is spearheading coordinated Western efforts to address what it and other European capitals describe as coercive trade threats from Washington, and to explore collective avenues for diplomatic and economic response amidst deepening strain in transatlantic relations.France’s Finance Minister Roland Lescure announced on Monday that he has

New York Stock Exchange plans to introduce continuous, 24-hour trading for United States equities through a newly designed on-chain, tokenised exchange, marking a structural shift in how shares could be issued, traded and settled across time zones. The proposal, disclosed by people familiar with the exchange’s roadmap and echoed in public briefings around digital market infrastructure, would extend trading beyond traditional hours while keeping securities within a regulated framework.Under the plan, the exchange operator would create tokenised representations of listed

China’s annual number of births has fallen to its lowest level since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949, deepening demographic pressures on the world’s second-largest economy and intensifying debate over the limits of policy intervention to reverse long-term population decline.Official demographic data show that just over nine million babies were born nationwide during the last full calendar year reported, extending a downward trend that has persisted despite the removal of birth caps and the introduction of incentives aimed

President Donald Trump has moved to reshape how the United States pays for the explosive growth in electricity demand driven by artificial intelligence, backing a plan to use 2026 capacity auctions in the PJM Interconnection to force large technology companies to shoulder a greater share of grid expansion costs. The proposal, framed as a way to protect households and small businesses from higher power bills, places AI data centres at the centre of an intensifying debate over energy pricing, infrastructure

Allegations of labour exploitation have emerged at factories in China producing Labubu figurines, a globally popular designer toy line, prompting scrutiny of working conditions within a supply chain tied to one of the country’s fastest-growing collectibles businesses.Workers interviewed by labour rights groups and regional media describe shifts stretching well beyond legal limits, pay that barely meets local minimum standards, and employment practices that rely heavily on temporary and migrant labour. The accounts centre on manufacturing sites in southern China that

A $10 million federal award has been allocated to the University of Washington to expand advanced computing capacity and strengthen interdisciplinary research tied to artificial intelligence, marking one of the largest public investments in AI infrastructure at a single US campus this year. University leaders said the funding is designed to modernise core systems, widen access for researchers across disciplines and reinforce ethical frameworks as AI tools become more deeply embedded in science, health and climate research.The grant will be

Copper prices slid in late morning trade on Tuesday as investors locked in profits after a strong run and renewed scrutiny fell on consumption prospects in China, the world’s largest user of the industrial metal. The pullback left the market near its lowest point in a week, underscoring how quickly sentiment can turn when demand signals soften.Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down more than 1% by mid-session in Europe, reversing part of the gains built earlier

Global investors are being urged to rethink long-held assumptions about United States stock market dominance after Goldman Sachs projected that emerging market equities and select European stocks are positioned to deliver stronger returns over the next five years. The investment bank’s outlook points to a combination of lower valuations, stronger economic growth prospects and a gradual narrowing of the earnings gap with the US, challenging strategies that have been heavily concentrated in large-cap American technology shares.Goldman Sachs expects US equities

Average petrol prices across the United States have dropped to about $2.79 a gallon, marking the lowest national level in roughly five years and delivering tangible relief to households after a prolonged period of volatility at the pump. Data compiled from nationwide fuel surveys show the decline has been broad-based, with most states reporting steady week-on-week falls as winter demand ebbs and supply conditions improve.The slide in prices reflects a confluence of factors rather than a single policy shift or

African carriers outperformed global peers as air travel demand climbed to a November peak, underscoring a broad-based recovery in cross-border movement and a steady recalibration of airline capacity. International travel drove the expansion, with revenue passenger kilometres rising 7.7% year on year, while total international capacity increased 7.1%, lifting the load factor to 84.0%, the highest recorded for the month.The data point to a market where airlines have largely matched supply with demand, avoiding the overcapacity that has dogged earlier

Walmart plans to scale its drone delivery programme with Alphabet-owned Wing, aiming to serve about 40 million people across the United States by 2027 as it pushes automated logistics deeper into everyday retail. The expansion is designed to shorten delivery times for small items to under 30 minutes and sharpen competition with Amazon in fast fulfilment.The retailer intends to add drone operations to roughly 150 additional stores by 2026 and more than 270 by 2027, building on pilots already running

Federal regulators have approved a major expansion of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network, clearing the company to deploy up to 7,500 additional second-generation spacecraft and lifting the authorised constellation to about 15,000 satellites, a decision that deepens the company’s lead in the fast-growing satellite broadband market while tightening safeguards around orbital congestion and interference.The Federal Communications Commission’s order allows SpaceX to activate the first tranche of its Gen2 system in low-Earth orbit, a step the agency said would advance high-speed internet