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Apple AI tools come to China after two-year delay <br> Apple began on Wednesday a long-delayed trial rollout of in-house artificial intelligence tools for Chinese users, playing catch-up to homegrown smartphone makers in a major market for the United States giant. The on-device features dubbed &quot;Apple Intelligence&quot; were first released in the US and other countries in autumn 2024, marking the firm&#39;s first major push into generative AI. But strict Chinese regulatory requirements for the fast-evolving technology have held back its launch there&nbsp;&mdash; as well as the fact that models from Google&nbsp;and OpenAI, which Apple has used elsewhere to boost its own AI capabilities, are not available in the country. Apple, which has largely stayed out of the global AI investment frenzy, announced it will work with a Chinese partner &mdash; Alibaba&#39;s Qwen &mdash; to integrate more powerful AI features into devices alongside its...

NASA's Swift satellite telescope heads for fiery re-entry 22 years after launch <br> An ageing NASA satellite telescope that a robotic spacecraft was sent to retrieve on a failed rescue mission this&nbsp;summer&nbsp;was&nbsp;headed for a fiery re-entry into Earth&#39;s atmosphere on Wednesday, nearly 22 years after it was launched into orbit. The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, weighing roughly 3,200 pounds (1,452 kg), was set to tumble out of orbit and burn up in the atmosphere somewhere over the tropics, with fragments surviving re-entry unlikely to threaten populated areas, according to NASA. The US Space Force has put the odds of harm coming to anyone on Earth at one chance in 2,100, NASA said in an online statement, projecting the time of re-entry at approximately 3:30am EST (0830 GMT). The Aerospace Corporation, a non-profit national security research entity, projected a re-entry window of 5:19am EST, plus or minus two hours. Our latest predict...

European supermarkets rush to patch vulnerabilities after region-wide fridge hack <br> European supermarkets targeted in a second wave of cyberattacks that cranked up ​fridge and freezer temperatures were rushing on Tuesday to upgrade their systems and protect themselves against further hacking attempts. Stores in &zwnj;eight European countries were forced to throw away vast quantities of food after hackers tampered with their fridges on Monday, in an attack identical to one that swept dozens of supermarkets in France three weeks ago. In Sweden, supermarket chain Coop said it was switching systems to 5G networks and modern modems, instead of 4G connections - a process that had ​already started since the French incident. Read:&nbsp;New cyberattack on supermarket fridges sweeps across Europe The seven stores hit by the attack are back up and running, but their refrigeration systems have ​been disconnected from the internet, a spokesperson said. Freezers at dozen...

Chinese researchers achieve breakthrough in underground positioning and navigation <br> A driver pulls into an underground car park in Xiongan New Area, north China&#39;s Hebei Province, taps &quot;park&quot; on a smartphone app and is guided directly to a vacant space. If the spot has already been taken, the system automatically recommends another. Behind this convenience is a technological breakthrough by a research team at the 54th Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC54). Developed under the name &quot;Xingyuan,&quot; the BeiDou micro-base-station system for underground positioning and navigation extends high-precision location services into spaces beyond the reach of satellite signals. The project behind the system has passed a national acceptance review by China&#39;s Ministry of Science and Technology, marking an important advance in the country&#39;s efforts to build an integrated spatio-temporal netw...

Apple shares slide as higher memory costs fuel margin concerns <br> Apple shares fell about 4% in premarket trading on Tuesday after the tech giant warned that rising memory costs would squeeze gross margins, stoking investor concerns ​over persistent supply-chain uncertainties and mounting AI expenses. John Ternus delivered his first &zwnj;earnings report as Apple CEO on Monday, describing the memory-pricing environment as &quot;unprecedented&quot; while expecting costs to rise beyond the quarter ending in December. The iPhone maker has benefited from using memory purchased ​at lower prices, but that advantage is expected to diminish over ​time, leaving more of its purchases exposed to higher prices. Gross margins, ⁠which measure the percentage of revenue retained after the costs of making its products, was ​47.9% for the September quarter, down from June-quarter levels even when factoring in ​the impact of tariff refunds. Apple expects gross margin for the ...

Experts urge regular phone updates amid surge in WhatsApp account hijacking <br> Cybersecurity experts warn that phone software needs to be kept up to date to prevent security breaches amid a rise in WhatsApp account takeovers and fraud attempts. Increasingly dangerous cyberattack methods are emerging in T&uuml;rkiye and worldwide, especially targeting the popular messaging app WhatsApp. Attackers can hijack WhatsApp accounts, mimic the compromised account holders&rsquo; chatting styles and send deceptive messages to people in their circles, pretending to be in urgent need of loans via bank transfers. Ibrahim Gunduzgil, head of the cybersecurity program at Istanbul Commerce University, told Anadolu that attackers can gain access to WhatsApp accounts through phishing attacks, including fake links, and social engineering techniques. &ldquo;Security vulnerabilities in outdated apps or operating systems can be exploited by attackers, posing an additional risk thr...

Ignite’s National Incubation Centers win prestigious international award in London <br> Global recognition underscores Pakistan&rsquo;s growing innovation ecosystem and its commitment to technology-led economic development. Pakistan has earned international recognition for its efforts to advance technology entrepreneurship, with Ignite &ndash; National Technology Fund&rsquo;s National Incubation Centers (NICs) Program winning the Digital Policy &amp; Regulatory Excellence Award at the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) Digital Excellence Awards 2026 in London. Presented during the CTO&rsquo;s 125th anniversary celebrations, the award recognises the NIC Program as a significant initiative in fostering innovation, entrepreneurship and digital economic development. Pakistan also secured recognition in two other categories, distinguishing itself among the organisation&rsquo;s 56 member countries. The achievement reflects Pakistan&rs...

Binance sees outflows stabilising as exchange returns online after $6.3 billion heist <br> Binance customers pulled $3.64 billion, or 2.1% of its assets, as the world&#39;s biggest cryptocurrency exchange resumed service after a security breach linked to North Korea saw $6.3 ​billion stolen&nbsp;from the platform last week. The exchange moved to reassure crypto investors and said withdrawals were stabilising after an initial spike and deposit volumes had remained &quot;substantial&quot; after, what &zwnj;analysts believe, may be the world&#39;s biggest financial robbery ever. After hitting a six-week low on Friday, bitcoin prices recovered slightly through the weekend to trade above $78,000 on Monday. Ether hit a two-month low on Friday and also recovered a little to $2,287. Binance, which allows users to buy, sell and trade digital assets, has 335 million registered users globally. It said on Sunday it had $171 billion in total assets under manage...

Four years at the top: Why the Kia Sportage continues to impress international automotive experts <br> &nbsp; Winning an automotive award is a mark of excellence. Winning the same title four years in a row is a testament to a vehicle&rsquo;s enduring appeal and consistently high standards. The Kia Sportage has achieved this distinction, having been named &lsquo;Best Family SUV of the Year 2026 by What Car?&rsquo; for the fourth consecutive year. In one of the automotive industry&rsquo;s most competitive categories, the Sportage demonstrates why a well-rounded driving experience can be just as important as outright performance or an extensive list of features. &nbsp; The Balance Between Comfort and Control One of the Sportage&rsquo;s defining characteristics is its ability to combine a comfortable ride with confident handling. According to What Car?&rsquo;s assessment, the SUV delivers a supple ride at different speeds while remaining com...

Crew from NASA's simulated Mars mission emerges after 378 days in isolation <br> The four members of a crew who took part in a simulated mission to Mars have emerged after 378 days in isolation ​at the US space agency&#39;s Johnson Space Center in Houston, an endeavor designed to help prepare for a &zwnj;possible future excursion by NASA astronauts to Earth&#39;s planetary neighbor. &quot;It&#39;s been a hell of a year &mdash; analog astronauts living in captivity of our own free will,&quot; Ellen Ellis, the medical officer on the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog, or CHAPEA, mission, said in remarks at Johnson Space Center after ​emerging with her three crewmates on Saturday. The four entered the 1,700-square-foot (158-square-meter) 3D-printed habitat on October 19, 2025, and performed ​tasks such as growing crops in simulated Martian soil and interfacing with NASA officials with delays ⁠recreating those inherent in interplanet...

China unveils detailed plan for manned moon landing <br> China will adopt a &quot;two launches, lunar orbit rendezvous&quot; architecture for its manned lunar exploration program, a senior engineer said on Saturday, as development work for lunar landing advances steadily. Wang Xiang, deputy chief designer of China&#39;s manned space program and chief designer of the lunar exploration program, outlined the plan at the 7th Manned Space Symposium in Beijing. Under the scheme, two rockets would separately send the Lanyue lunar lander and Mengzhou crewed spaceship into the Earth-moon transfer orbit, and the two spacecraft would perform a rendezvous and docking in the lunar orbit. Astronauts would then transfer from the Mengzhou spaceship into the Lanyue lander for the descent to the lunar surface and subsequent scientific work. Wang said the approach matches China&#39;s existing technical capabilities and infrastructure, and the separate development of the spac...

Alibaba partners with Apple to integrate Qwen AI model into Apple Intelligence for Chinese market <br> Chinese tech company Alibaba Group has partnered with Apple to integrate its Qwen AI model into Apple Intelligence for the Chinese market, state-run Xinhua news agency reported Saturday. The feature will be available for testing in the latest iOS developer beta starting Nov. 4 and will launch with the official iOS 27.3 release in December, Alibaba said. Qwen&rsquo;s AI capabilities will be integrated into several Apple features, including Siri, Writing Tools and Visual Intelligence. Read More:&nbsp;Xiaomi&#39;s October EV deliveries top 50,000, hit 2026 monthly high Users can choose whether to enable the integration and what information to share. Alibaba said user requests and generated responses would not be used to train its AI models. The feature will be available on compatible iPhones whose device location and Apple Account region are both set to China....

Binance to resume withdrawals after recovering bulk of $6 billion in stolen funds <br> Binance, the world&rsquo;s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, said it would&nbsp;resume&nbsp;withdrawals&nbsp;in phases&nbsp;after&nbsp;covering 95% of the $6.3&nbsp;billion&nbsp;in tokens&nbsp;stolen&nbsp;from its platform in the world&#39;s largest digital heist, which the FBI has tied to North Korea. Binance&nbsp;said phase would start between 0600 and 0900 GMT on Sunday and include bitcoin, ether, BNB, Solana, XRP, dogecoin and other tokens. The remaining 5% of&nbsp;stolen&nbsp;tokens consists of assets that are less liquid and may take longer to source in the required amounts,&nbsp;Binance&nbsp;posted on X late on Saturday. Update: We have already covered $6B of the impacted amount of the hacked loss. https://t.co/WOHKdQLiSG &mdash; Binance (@binance) November 1, 2026 The FBI said on Saturday the North Korean st...

China's first shipborne stealth combat drone completes maiden carrier landing <br> China&#39;s first shipborne stealth reconnaissance-strike integrated drone completes first takeoff, landing on amphibious assault ship China&#39;s first shipborne stealth reconnaissance-strike integrated drone GJ-21 has recently completed its first takeoff and landing operation aboard the Sichuan, China&#39;s first Type 076 amphibious assault ship, a navy source said. This represents yet another breakthrough made by China in the development of amphibious assault ships and marks that the Chinese Navy has acquired the capability to operate fixed-wing stealth drones from large maritime combat platforms, the navy source noted. The Sichuan, hull number 51, is the first Type 076 amphibious assault ship designed and built independently by China. It was launched on Dec. 27, 2024, and is named after southwest China&#39;s Sichuan Province. The Sichuan has a full-load displacement...

Power bills and data centers cast rare spotlight on utilities in US midterms <br> US electricity prices had flown under the radar in past national elections, but they have become a major political issue in this year&#39;s midterms as Americans grow angry over rising utility bills and deals for power-hungry ​data centers. Nationwide, according to Energy Information Administration data, electricity prices for homes have risen more than 10% since 2024 when President Donald Trump was elected along with Republican majorities in &zwnj;both houses of the US Congress. Higher electricity prices have outpaced the rise in costs for other goods and services. Power bills have grown even faster in political battleground states of Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania, which are also hot spots for new data centers. In some cases, electricity bills have soared by triple the inflation rate. Many politicians vying for top statehouse seats across the country this year have backed cracking...

AI chatbots face scrutiny over failure to report criminal confessions <br> Artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots can be told about crimes, but uncertainties surrounding legal frameworks or measures that would mandate these tools to report confessions to law enforcement cast doubt on the pace of AI development. AI chatbots have entered daily life, with many users worldwide using and sometimes misusing these tools, often making headlines around the world. In August, a 19-year-old University of Missouri student reportedly confessed to ChatGPT that he damaged 17 parked cars on campus late at night and asked, &ldquo;Will I go to jail?&rdquo; ChatGPT responded with &ldquo;tips about the potential outcome of getting caught&rdquo; but urged the user to dial 911 after the messages grew increasingly aggressive, police documents showed. The chat history was uncovered after the student allowed investigators to examine his phone, and the history was used as evidence a...

Eutelsat expects $11 billion revenue after EU's Starlink rival comes online <br> Eutelsat (ETL.PA)&nbsp;expects commercial &zwnj;services revenue of more than &euro;10 billion ($11.1 billion) between 2032 and 2040 as it takes a leading role in the European Union&#39;s planned alternative to Elon Musk&#39;s Starlink satellite internet service, ​it said on Thursday. The Franco-British operator had been chosen to lead ​the low Earth orbit (LEO) segment of the EU&#39;s IRIS&sup2; network that ⁠will feature 330 satellites. The first IRIS&sup2; satellites are scheduled for launch ​in 2029, with initial services expected from 2030. Eutelsat has gained prominence as Europe tries ​to reduce the bloc&#39;s reliance on US technology after President Donald Trump&#39;s return to office, since it owns OneWeb, the only LEO satellite network alternative to SpaceX&#39;s (SPCX.O)&nbsp;Starlink.&nbsp; In a trading ​update, the Paris-ba...

New York bans AI chatbots from posing as companions to children <br> New York has become the latest US state to crack down on artificial intelligence companies, passing sweeping new restrictions that prevent chatbots from acting as companions to children. Governor Kathy Hochul signed the law on Wednesday, making New York one of the first states to impose broad limits on how AI tools can interact with young users. The new rules force chatbot operators like OpenAI&rsquo;s ChatGPT to verify users&rsquo; ages and strip back features when someone under 18 logs on. The technology cannot pretend to be human, alive or capable of feeling emotions. It also cannot suggest it has a personal or professional relationship with the user, or present itself as an authority figure. Read:&nbsp;How teachers are remaking classrooms for the AI age Chatbots will also be banned from framing their responses as personal opinions when used by minors. &ldquo;No longer will minors ha...

Apple shows pricey touchscreen laptops, a first for the iPhone maker <br> Apple CEO John Ternus unveiled the company&#39;s first touchscreen MacBooks on Wednesday, abandoning a long-held aversion to the technology as it caps a burst of product launches ahead of the holiday shopping season. On stage at an Apple event in Los Angeles, Ternus showed a MacBook Pro model with an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, playing up the display&#39;s contrast, sharpness and brightness in front of an audience of content creators and creative professionals. He also said the company would return to a glowing logo on the back of the laptops. &quot;Look, we love the Mac, and it&#39;s the reason why so many of us found our way to Apple in the first place. And the Mac has never been better, and it&#39;s never been stronger,&quot; Ternus said on Wednesday. The event is part of a media blitz filled with new product launches since Ternus &mdash; a longtime Ap...

Austria to launch parliamentary inquiry into use of smart glasses amid privacy concerns <br> Austria is set to launch a parliamentary inquiry into the use of smart glasses amid growing privacy concerns, the country&#39;s secretary of state for digitalisation said on Wednesday. Alexander Proll presented a three-stage model aimed at regulating smart glasses, which can feature built-in cameras, microphones and artificial intelligence functions, public broadcaster ORF reported. Under the proposed model, recordings would be prohibited in sensitive areas, including schools, kindergartens, changing rooms, toilets, courts, prisons, and police and military facilities. Read:&nbsp;From smart glasses to AI pins, privacy fears challenge tech&#39;s next big bet KI-Staatssekret&auml;r Alexander Pr&ouml;ll (&Ouml;VP) sagt im oe24-Interview, wo er Smartglasses in &Ouml;sterreich verbieten m&ouml;chte, wo sie n&uuml;tzlich sind und wie sich der &o...