Author: Web Desk

San Francisco: AI firm Anthropic has agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle a class action lawsuit brought by authors who accused the company of using their copyrighted books without permission to train its Claude AI models. The settlement, which still requires the approval of US District Judge William Alsup, has been described by lawyers for the authors as the largest publicly reported copyright recovery in history. The lawsuit was filed last year by authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson, who alleged that Anthropic had built a business worth billions using pirated material. According to Judge Alsup’s…

Amritsar: Punjab floods have brought catastrophic losses to farmers in northern India and Pakistan, with vast farmland submerged and livelihoods destroyed. The flooding has been described as the worst in more than three decades, causing heavy human and economic damage. In India’s Punjab state, hundreds of thousands of acres of rice paddies, cotton, and sugar cane have been ruined under more than five feet of water. Farmers have said that both crops and homes are under threat after flood, with some families forced to live on rooftops to escape rising waters. Many cattle have drowned, leaving carcasses across villages and…

San Francisco: OpenAI has planned to launch its first artificial intelligence chip in 2026 in partnership with US semiconductor firm Broadcom. The chip has been designed for OpenAI’s internal use, rather than for commercial distribution, as the company seeks to strengthen its computing infrastructure. The ChatGPT developer has relied heavily on substantial computing power to train and operate its AI models. Developing an in-house chip has been seen as a strategic move to diversify supply sources and reduce costs. Sources have indicated that OpenAI is in the final stages of chip design and is expected to send it for fabrication…

Washington: US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that reduces tariffs on Japanese car imports from 27.5 percent to 15 percent. The move has formalised a trade agreement announced in July, covering a wide range of Japanese exports to the US, including automobiles and pharmaceuticals. The White House has said that the trade deal is designed to lower America’s trade deficit with Japan while creating breakthrough opportunities for US companies. As part of the agreement, Japan has pledged to invest $550 billion in projects across the US, while also allowing greater market access for American goods such as…

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia has called on TikTok to implement stricter age verification measures following concerns over the impact of social media on children’s mental health. The request comes after Malaysian authorities summoned TikTok’s top management to accelerate efforts in curbing harmful content on the platform. Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil stated that Fadzil is dissatisfied with TikTok’s current measures but has allowed the company to work with authorities to resolve the issue. Fadzil added that a mechanism for age verification needs to be studied in collaboration with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and law enforcement. Since January, Malaysia has required…

Seoul: North Korea’s Kim Jong Un has pledged to ‘fully support’ Russia’s army, calling it a fraternal duty, while Russian President Vladimir Putin has described the two countries’ relationship as a ‘special’ partnership, according to state media. The pledge has come during a meeting in Beijing on the sidelines of China’s World War Two victory celebrations. This has marked the first time that Kim has appeared alongside both Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, highlighting the closer alignment between the three nations. Analysts have noted that this rare gathering has been a major propaganda boost for Kim, who has sought…

Kabul: A new Afghan earthquake of magnitude 5.5 has shaken southeastern Afghanistan, raising concerns of further destruction nearly two days after a magnitude 6 quake killed over 1,400 people and injured thousands more. The aftershock occurred at a shallow depth of 10 km (6 miles), the same as the first quake, which flattened homes in remote villages and caused significant loss of life. The tremor disrupted ongoing rescue operations, as rocks slid down mountains, cutting off roads and making it more dangerous to remove rubble, said Safiullah Noorzai from the humanitarian platform Aseel. Teams deployed by his organisation have reported…

Washington: US President Donald Trump has said that Trump is disappointed with Russian President Vladimir Putin, while signalling that the Trump administration will take steps to reduce civilian deaths in the ongoing war in Ukraine. President has also stressed that closer China-Russia ties are not a concern for the United States. Trump held a summit with President Putin in Alaska in mid-August, followed by meetings at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European and NATO leaders. President has said that these discussions aimed to prepare ground for talks between President Putin and President Zelenskiy, first bilaterally and…

Sudan: A Sudan landslide in the remote Marra Mountains has killed at least 1,000 people, according to the rebel group Sudan Liberation Movement/Army. Days of heavy rainfall have triggered the disaster, which has levelled much of Tarasin village and left just one known survivor. The group has appealed for humanitarian assistance from the United Nations, regional bodies, and international organisations. It has said that the scale of devastation requires urgent external help to prevent further loss of life. Many residents of North Darfur had taken refuge in the Marra Mountains after being displaced by the ongoing civil war between the…

Moscow: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has had what he described as an insightful exchange with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a private meeting in China. The two leaders have spent 45 minutes in Putin’s limousine on the sidelines of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) summit, which has been hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tianjin. Putin’s spokesman stated that the two leaders had continued their conversation inside the car because they felt comfortable there. The unusual setting of the meeting has highlighted the personal rapport between the two leaders, who were also seen walking hand-in-hand during the summit.…