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Pakistan’s historic lunar mission to be launched on Friday Pakistan is set to embark on a ground-breaking lunar mission, as the country's historic ICUBE-Q satellite prepares for launch on Friday. The satellite will be carried aboard China's Chang'E6 spacecraft, scheduled to depart from Hainan, China, at 1250 PST. According to the Institute of Space Technology (IST), the satellite ICUBE-Q has been designed and developed by IST in collaboration with China’s Shanghai University SJTU and Pakistan’s national space agency SUPARCO. ICUBE-Q orbiter carries two optical cameras to image the lunar surface. Following successful qualification and testing, ICUBE-Q has now been integrated with the Chang’e6 mission. Chang’e6 is the sixth in a series of China’s lunar exploration missions. The launch activity will be telecast live on the IST website and social media platforms. Chang’6 will touch down on the moon’s far side to collect samples from the surface and return to Earth for researc...

Chinese tech giant Huawei profit surges 564%, biting into Apple sales Tech giant Huawei's first-quarter profits surged over fivefold year-on-year, a company filing showed Tuesday, as the US-sanctioned firm continues a rebound and bit into competitor Apple's sales in China. Huawei has long found itself caught in the middle of an intense technological rivalry between Beijing and Washington, which has warned the firm's equipment could be used for Chinese espionage operations -- allegations denied by Huawei. Sanctions imposed by Washington in 2019 restricting the company's access to US-made components greatly inhibited Huawei's production of smartphones at the time. Read: Huawei, SMIC used US tech to make advanced chips The Shenzhen-based company has since responded by diversifying into other fields including 5G, artificial intelligence and smart-driving technology in a bid to rescue flagging sales. Net profit in the January-March period amounted to $2.7 billion, up 5...

The giant sheep helping Tajikistan weather climate change In the hills outside the Tajik capital Dushanbe, shepherd Bakhtior Sharipov was watching over his flock of giant Hissar sheep. The breed, prized for profitability and an ability to adapt to climate change, garners celebrity status in the Central Asian country, which is beset by a shortage of both meat and suitable grazing land. "They rapidly gain weight even when there is little water and pasture available," 18-year-old Sharipov said. Facing a serious degradation in farmland due to years of overgrazing and global warming, the hardy sheep offer a potential boon to Tajikistan's farmers and plentiful supply of mutton to consumers. Around 250 of the animals -- instantly recognisable by two fatty lumps on their rear end -- were grazing in the early spring sun under Sharipov's watch. "These weigh an average of 135 kilograms (300 pounds). It's the end of winter, so they're not as heavy, but they'll ...

Second global AI safety summit faces tough questions, lower turnout Last year, a who’s who of world leaders, corporate executives, and academic experts gathered at Britain's Bletchley Park for the world’s first global AI Safety Summit, hoping to reach a consensus on the regulation of a technology some warned posed a threat to humanity. Tesla mogul Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman rubbed shoulders with some of their fiercest critics, while China co-signed the Bletchley Declaration alongside the United States and others, signaling a willingness to cooperate despite mounting tensions with the West. Six months later, the second AI Safety Summit, a primarily virtual event co-hosted by Britain and South Korea, will take place as the hype around artificial intelligence’s potential gives way to questions about its limitations. "There are some radically different approaches...it will be difficult to move beyond what was agreed at Bletchley Park," said Martha Bennett, a senior...

Scientists find untapped pharmaceutical resources in deep sea Chinese marine scientists have identified a plethora of previously unknown microbial natural products from the deep sea floor that may have pharmaceutical applications. In the cold seeps of the deep sea, microbial communities thrive on the geological seepage of hydrocarbons and inorganic compounds for sustenance, in stark contrast to the sunlight-dependent ecosystems that people are more familiar with on the surface. These organisms utilize biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) to synthesize natural products that help them contend for resources. These unknown natural products are believed to possess potent anti-microbial properties, which could be a game-changer in the fight against drug-resistant infections. The team of scientists, led by researchers from the Third Institute of Oceanography under the Ministry of Natural Resources, have analyzed 22 sediment cores from nine cold seeps, and detected natural product-encoding BGCs...

Elon Musk visits China as Tesla seeks self-driving technology rollout Tesla (TSLA.O) CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing on Sunday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of Full Self-Driving software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. The US electric vehicle maker rolled out Full Self-Driving, or FSD, the most autonomous version of its Autopilot software, four years ago but has yet to make it available in China, its second-largest market globally, despite customers urging it to do so. Musk said this month Tesla may make FSD available to customers in China "very soon", in response to a query on social media platform X. Rival Chinese automakers such a...

Three more Chinese astronauts enter space station Three Chinese astronauts aboard Shenzhou-18 spaceship on Friday successfully entered China's space station, state-run media said. The astronauts were welcomed by their colleagues on the Shenzhou-17 mission, Xinhua News Agency reported. The six astronauts will live and work together for about five days. On Thursday, the Shenzhou-18 spaceship lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center atop a Long March 2F rocket at 8.59 p.m. (1259GMT). Earlier, a sending-off ceremony for the three taikonauts, the term used for Chinese astronauts, was held at the centre. Read also: China prepares to launch Chang'e-6 lunar probe Astronauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu will remain in orbit for six months and are scheduled to return to the Dongfeng landing site in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in late October this year. During the mission, the astronauts’ main jobs will be space experiments and tests in cutting...

TikTok general counsel to move to new role focused on fighting US sale  Erich Andersen, general counsel for TikTok and Chinese parent company ByteDance, will step down from that role in June to focus on fighting efforts to force a sale of the video app in the US, the company said on Friday. Andersen will remain at the company and become its special counsel to lead TikTok's effort to overturn legislation signed into law by President Joe Biden on Wednesday that gives ByteDance 270 days to divest short-video app TikTok in the United States or face a ban. TikTok said this week it plans to file a lawsuit to challenge the legislation but has declined to say when it plans to do so. Andersen was a key player in the company's successful challenge in 2020 to the Trump administration's attempt to ban TikTok and last year's challenge that resulted in a judge blocking the state of Montana's ban. TikTok, which says it has not shared and would not share U.S. user data with the C...

Chipmaker Intel falls as AI competition hurts forecast Intel shares slumped more than 12% on Friday after a downbeat forecast signaled that the boom in AI was diverting enterprise spending away from its traditional data center chips. The stock has fallen around 30% so far this year as Intel trails rival chip companies such as Nvidia in producing advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips and components. Intel forecast second-quarter revenue of $12.5 billion to $13.5 billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $13.57 billion, according to LSEG data. "While we believe they are doing everything they can to try to repair things, it is clear the company is profoundly broken, and it will take years to see the fruits of their (currently exhaustive) labor," Bernstein analysts said in a note. Read: Intel slides as foundry business loss spotlights wide gap with rival TSMC Intel is planning a $100 billion spending spree across four US states to build and expand factories...

Argentine scientists find speedy 90-million-year-old herbivore dinosaur Paleontologists from Argentina announced the discovery of a new medium-sized herbivorous dinosaur, which was a fast runner and lived about 90 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous period in present day Patagonia. The animal, named Chakisaurus nekul, was found in the Pueblo Blanco Natural Reserve, in the southern province of Río Negro, an area rich in fossils where many mammals, turtles, and fish have been found along with other species of dinosaur. It is estimated that the largest Chakisaurus reached 2.5 or 3 meters long and was 70 centimeters high (8 to 10 feet long and 27 inches high). Studies of Chakisaurus yielded new findings indicating that it was a fast runner and had its tail curved unusually downward. Read: Europe's largest meat-eating dinosaur found on Isle of Wight "This new species, Chakisaurus nekul, was a bipedal herbivore that among its most important characteristics had a tail that, un...

US seeks 3 years prison for Binance founder Zhao US prosecutors want Changpeng Zhao, the founder and former chief executive of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, to serve three years in prison after he pleaded guilty to violating laws against money laundering. Prosecutors made the request in a Tuesday night filing in Seattle federal court. They said sentencing Zhao to twice the maximum 18 months recommended under federal guidelines would reflect the magnitude of his wilful violations, and send a message that "the right choice, every time, is to comply with the law." Lawyers for Zhao requested probation. US District Judge Richard Jones is expected to sentence Zhao on April 30. Read more: Binance to end support for USDC stablecoin on Tron blockchain network Once the most powerful figure in the crypto industry, Zhao, 47, stepped down as Binance's chief last November, when he and the exchange admitted to evading anti-money laundering requirements unde...

China acquired recently banned Nvidia chips in Super Micro, Dell servers, tenders show Chinese universities and research institutes recently obtained high-end Nvidia artificial intelligence chips through resellers, despite the US widening a ban last year on the sale of such technology to China. A Reuters review of hundreds of tender documents shows 10 Chinese entities acquired advanced Nvidia chips embedded in server products made by Super Micro Computer Inc, Dell Technologies Inc and Taiwan's Gigabyte Technology Co Ltd after the US on Nov. 17 expanded the embargo to subject more chips and countries to licensing rules. Specifically, the servers contained some of Nvidia's most advanced chips, according to the previously unreported tenders fulfilled between Nov. 20 and Feb. 28. While the US bars Nvidia and its partners from selling advanced chips to China, including via third parties, the sale and purchase of the chips are not illegal in China. Read: Nvidia, Indosat plan $200m ...

Astronomers detect Milky Way's second-largest known black hole Astronomers have discovered a black hole with a mass about 33 times greater than that of our sun, the biggest one known in the Milky Way aside from the supermassive black hole lurking at the centre of our galaxy. The newly identified black hole is located about 2,000 light-years from Earth - relatively close in cosmic terms - in the constellation Aquila, and has a companion star orbiting it, researchers said on Tuesday. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km). Black holes are extraordinarily dense objects with gravity so strong that not even light can escape, making it difficult to spot them. This one was identified through observations made in the European Space Agency's Gaia mission, which is creating a huge stellar census, because it caused a wobbling motion in its companion star. Data from the European Southern Observatory's Chile-based Very Large Telescop...

Chinese company issues carbon-neutral earphones A Shenzhen-based company on Monday released the world's first zero-carbon open-ear earbuds, the latest of a series of technological breakthroughs fast-tracked by China's "dual carbon goals." The Cleer ARC 3, produced by Shenzhen Grandsun Electronic Co., Ltd., was launched in Shenzhen, a tech hub in south China's Guangdong Province, coinciding with the global Earth Day celebration on Monday. The device features improved AI functions and an open-ear design, which allows users to remain aware of the sounds in their surroundings. Wu Haiquan, president of the company, said ARC 3 has obtained the carbon neutrality certificate by maximizing the use of recyclable materials, green electricity and equipment that consumes less power. Read: Louis Vuitton launch $1,000 earbuds Carbon-neutral production is a new yet burgeoning trend for consumer electronics. Apple last year announced its first carbon-neutral watch and has planne...

China launches new remote sensing satellite China on Sunday said it has launched a Long March 2D carrier rocket, placing a remote sensing satellite in space. The rocket blasted off at 7:45am (Beijing time) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in the southwestern province of Sichuan and sent the Yaogan-42 02 satellite into the preset orbit. Read more: China launch of relay satellite Queqiao-2 for lunar probe mission successful The latest launch marked the 17th rocket launch of 2024, and the 517th flight overall for the Long March rocket family, the nation's workhorse launch vehicle fleet. The Long March 2D rocket, fuelled by liquid propellants and boasting a liftoff thrust of 300 metric tons, is capable of launching 1.3-ton spacecraft into sun-synchronous orbits at roughly 700 kilometres (435 miles) in altitude.

Google scraps minimum wage, benefits rules for suppliers and staffing firms Alphabet Inc's Google (GOOGL.O) on Friday said it will roll back requirements that US suppliers and staffing firms pay their employees at least $15 an hour and provide health insurance and other benefits, a move that could allow the tech giant to avoid bargaining with unions. The elimination of the 2019 policy, along with other steps such as limiting access by temporary workers and vendors to internal systems, are designed to comply with shifting US and global labour regulations related to contingent workers, a spokesperson for Mountain View, California-based Google told Reuters. "These updates bring us in line with other large companies and simply clarify that Google is not, and has never been, the employer of our suppliers’ employees," the spokesperson said. The announcement comes after the US National Labor Relations Board in January ruled that Google was a so-called "joint employer...

Tesla cuts price of Full Self-Driving software by a third to $8,000 Tesla (TSLA.O) slashed the price of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) driver assistant software to $8,000 from $12,000 in the United States, as CEO Elon Musk doubles down on self-driving technology. Musk is betting on the technology to become a cash cow for the world's most valuable automaker. But he has for years failed to achieve the goal of self-driving capability, with the technology under growing regulatory and legal scrutiny. Musk earlier this month said Tesla will unveil its robotaxis on Aug. 8, after Reuters reported Tesla had scrapped its inexpensive, mass-market car in favour of robotaxis. Read also: Tesla to lay off more than 10% of staff globally as sales fall According to the Tesla website, customers can now pay $8,000 for the FSD feature, or subscribe to use it for $99 a month. Tesla recently cut the US monthly subscription price for the feature from $199, while giving every Tesla customer a month's f...

Apple pulls WhatsApp, Threads from China app store after Beijing order Apple, said on Friday it had removed Meta Platforms',  WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China after being ordered to do so by the Chinese government, which cited national security concerns. Telegram and Signal - two other foreign messaging apps - were also removed from the store on Friday, according to app tracking firms Qimai and AppMagic. The removal of the four apps suggests growing intolerance on the part of China's central government towards at least some foreign online messaging services that fall outside of its control. It also signals less leeway for Apple in China. That said, other Meta apps including Facebook, Instagram and Messenger remained available to download, according to Reuters checks on Friday. Many other popular apps developed by Western companies including YouTube and X were also available. Read: WhatsApp rolling out privacy feature to disable link previews It was not immedia...

Chinese scientists use gut bacteria to prevent mosquito-borne diseases Chinese scientists have developed a more natural strategy to prevent mosquito-borne diseases by changing insects' gut microbes, which might be used as an alternative to controversial experiments that see genetically-modified mosquitoes released in Florida. Mosquito-borne viruses, such as dengue and Zika, cause several potentially fatal human viral infections. Dengue viruses infect approximately 390 million each year globally. An epidemic survey over the past decade documented frequent dengue outbreaks in Xishuangbanna and Lincang, both in southwest China's Yunnan Province. But few have been reported in neighboring cities of Wenshan and Pu'er. Read:Sukkur flood victims need 75,000 mosquito nets The very different prevalence stimulated the curiosity of researchers from Tsinghua University and Yunnan Academy of Animal Science and Veterinary Sciences. Gut microbes The team's field investigation on thou...

Northrop Grumman working with Musk's SpaceX on US spy satellite system Aerospace and defence company Northrop Grumman is working with SpaceX, the space venture of billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, on a classified spy satellite project already capturing high-resolution imagery of the Earth, according to people familiar with the program. The program, details of which were first reported by Reuters last month, is meant to enhance the US government's ability to track military and intelligence targets from low-Earth orbits, providing high-resolution imagery of a kind that had traditionally been captured mostly by drones and reconnaissance aircraft. The inclusion of Northrop Grumman (NOC.N), which has not been previously reported, reflects a desire among government officials to avoid putting too much control of a highly-sensitive intelligence program in the hands of one contractor, four people familiar with the project told Reuters. "It is in the government's interest to...

Google terminates 28 employees for protest of Israeli cloud contract Google said on Thursday it had terminated 28 employees after some staff participated in protests against the company's cloud contract with the Israeli government. The Alphabet (GOOGL.O) unit said a small number of protesting employees entered and disrupted work at a few unspecified office locations. "Physically impeding other employees' work and preventing them from accessing our facilities is a clear violation of our policies, and completely unacceptable behaviour," the company said in a statement. Google said it had concluded individual investigations, resulting in the termination of 28 employees, and would continue to investigate and take action as needed. In a statement on Medium, Google workers affiliated with the No Tech for Apartheid campaign called it a "flagrant act of retaliation" and said that some employees who did not directly participate in Tuesday's protests were also a...

Over 17 political trends on ‘X’ flagged ‘sensitive’ More than 17 political trends on the microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter) have been flagged as sensitive, authorities revealed on Wednesday. According to officials from the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), a report has been compiled following three months of meticulous monitoring of social media activities, particularly focusing on trends that could potentially incite riots or promote extremist ideologies, including "terrorism and communalism." The findings of the report shed light on how political trends often targeted crucial events such as general elections and national security institutions, hinting at a concerning trend of online agitation and misinformation campaigns. Moreover, the report highlighted that a major portion of the anti-national rhetoric observed on social media originated from individuals residing abroad. Read more: SHC orders govt to restore X in one week Punjab police and prominent ...

Telegram to hit one billion users within a year, founder says The Telegram messaging app, one of the most popular social media platforms, will likely cross one billion active monthly users within a year as it is spreading like "forest fire", its billionaire founder Pavel Durov said on Tuesday. Telegram, based in Dubai, was founded by Russian-born Durov, who left Russia in 2014 after he refused to comply with demands to shut down opposition communities on his VK social media platform, which he sold. "We'll probably cross one billion monthly active users within a year now," Durov, who fully owns Telegram, told US journalist Tucker Carlson according to a video interview posted on Carlson's account on the X social media platform. "Telegram is spreading like forest fire." Read also: Telegram Stories no longer limited to only premium users Durov, who is estimated by Forbes to have a fortune of $15.5 billion, said some governments had sought to pressure...

China's gigantic telescope detects over 900 new pulsars China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, has identified more than 900 new pulsars since its launch in 2016, its operator said Wednesday. Pulsars, or fast-spinning neutron stars, originate from the imploded cores of massive dying stars through supernova explosions. Han Jinlin, a scientist with the National Astronomical Observatories under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC), said that the pulsars included over 120 binary pulsars, more than 170 millisecond pulsars, and 80 faint and intermittent pulsars. Han added that over the past 50-plus years since the discovery of the first pulsar, less than 3,000 pulsars were discovered worldwide, and the number of new pulsars discovered by FAST is more than three times the total number of pulsars found by foreign telescopes during the same period. Read also: The enigma of black holes "The study ...

Baidu says AI chatbot 'Ernie Bot' has attracted 200 million users China's Baidu (9888.HK) said on Tuesday its artificial intelligence chatbot “Ernie Bot” has garnered more than 200 million users as it seeks to remain China’s most popular ChatGPT-like chatbot amid increasingly fierce competition. The number of users has roughly doubled since the company's last update in December. The chatbot was released to the public eight months ago. Baidu CEO Robin Li also said Ernie Bot's application programming interface (API) is being used 200 million times everyday, meaning the chatbot was requested by its user to conduct tasks that many times a day. The number of enterprise clients for the chatbot reached 85,000, Li said at a conference in Shenzhen. In February, he told analysts Baidu was starting to generate revenue from Ernie, and in the fourth quarter the company had earned several hundred million yuan using AI to improve its ad services and help other companies build th...