Author: staff

Billionaire Elon Musk announced on Friday that he has sold social media site X, formerly known as Twitter when he bought it over two years ago, to his own artificial intelligence (AI) company xAI in a $33 billion (€30.5 billion) all-stock deal.Both companies are privately held, which means they are not required to disclose their finances to the public.Musk, who is also head of astronautical company SpaceX and carmaker Tesla, said in a post on X that the move will “unlock immense potential by blending xAI’s advanced AI capability and expertise with X’s massive reach”. “xAI and X’s futures are…

Many new tariffs, announced by Trump on April 2, took effect on Wednesday morning. They target a wide range of imported goods and have triggered a global trade war, as major economies plan retaliatory measures. Trump’s tariffs include massive 104 percent duties on Chinese goods, while dozens of other nations, plus the European Union, will face tariffs ranging from 11 percent to 50 percent. Asian stocks collapsed Wednesday morning as the new tariffs kicked in with key markets already open. In Japan, the Nikkei index dropped over 5 percent, while the broader TOPIX index fell by 4.6 percent. Hong Kong’s…

The moon seemed to take bites out of the sun this weekend during a partial solar eclipse in the Northern Hemisphere.The spectacle, only visible for a few minutes unfolded on late morning Saturday, with the eclipse visible across Europe, western Africa, eastern North America, and northern Asia.In London, spectators watched from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Catherine Muller, an astronomer at the Observatory, called the event “really special.” She said such occurrences are rare, with the next one visible in the UK not expected until September 2026.NASA estimated that the area of the sun’s disk covered were Lisbon 27%, Dublin 31%,…

A high court in Colombia has ruled that the reggaeton song ‘+57’ by urban music stars J Balvin and Karol G violated the rights of children because its lyrics “sexualized” minors.In a 14-page ruling, the court ordered Karol G, J Balvin and several other reggaeton singers – including Feid, DFZM and Maluma – who helped to record the song last year to refrain from publishing music that violates the rights of children and teenagers.“Sexualizing minors reduces them to becoming objects of desire, and exposes them to risks that can affect their development,” the court said.The song generated controversy in Colombia when it…

And this isn’t an isolated incident. Of the 690 postgraduate researchers who responded to a poll in the publication Nature, 548 said they were considering leaving the U.S. One even responded: “This is my home, I really love my country, but a lot of my mentors have been telling me to get out, right now.” Moreover, as McFall-Ngai pointed out, there are countless stories of international students frightened to leave the U.S.: “I have grad students and postdocs who are Slovenian, Belgian, Portuguese, French, Austrian, Mexican, Chinese and Irish.” Several, she said, wanted to go on vacation to see their…

“The hatred of women is everywhere and dictates the way men behave online,” one young Gen Z person said in a recent poll when asked about misogyny on social media, while a young man said, “it isn’t that deep. It’s all a laugh”. According to the Amnesty International survey released this week, 73 per cent of Gen Z social media users (those aged 13-28) in the UK have witnessed misogynistic content online, with half encountering it every week. The poll comes as social media has been placed under an even brighter spotlight following the release of the Netflix drama Adolescence, which follows…

Ever since he released his first film Bottle Rocket in 1996, Wes Anderson has been a constant presence in the cinematic world. In the course of 12 feature films and almost as many shorts, the American director has imposed his distinctive formula of eccentric aesthetics supported by ever-growing, star-studded casts.His next picture, The Phoenician Scheme, should follow a similar path. The recently released trailer reveals familiar faces from Anderson’s universe, including Benicio del Toro, Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray, as well as newcomer Mia Threapleton.The Phoenician Scheme is scheduled for a theatrical release in the United States on 30 May…

Last week, however, Le Pen, her party and 23 of her far-right allies were found guilty of misappropriating more than €4 million in European Parliament funds. A three-judge panel took the extraordinary — though not unprecedented — decision to immediately ban her from running for office for five years, rather than delaying the punishment until the appeals process plays out, as is usual in France. The decision effectively bars Le Pen from standing in the 2027 presidential election, unless it is overturned on appeal. In response, Le Pen has unleashed an almighty attack on a what she sees as a…

The lower open in Europe is expected this morning as US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs came into effect at midnight Eastern Time, including total import levies of 104% on Chinese goods. US Customs and Border Protection confirmed that it was preparing to collect country-specific tariffs from 86 nations.While the president indicated he remained open to negotiations, he also confirmed that the planned tariffs on Chinese imports would proceed. He signed an executive order tripling tariffs on low-value Chinese goods to 90%, effective from 2 May.Trump stated that he was making “tailored deals” with certain nations, as some Asian countries…

European private aerospace company Isar Aerospace successfully completed the first test flight of its Spectrum rocket, despite the rocket crashing to the ground 30 seconds after launch on Sunday.Isar Aerospace, a German start-up based in Munich, launched the rocket from the island of Andøya in northern Norway. The rocket took off from the platform at 12.30 pm CET and flew for about 30 seconds before flipping over and falling back to the ground, causing a powerful explosion. The Spectrum is a 28-metre-long, two-stage rocket specifically designed to place small and medium-sized satellites into orbit. This marks the first attempt to…