Yearly Archives: 2025

Soft US inflation boosts Asia markets

[ad_1] Pedestrians walk past an electronic quotation board displaying the Nikkei Stock Average on Wednesday. Photo: Kazuhiro NOGI / AFPSource: AFP Japan’s Nikkei hit a second record high in as many days Wednesday, as hopes of US interest rate cuts following soft inflation data cheered equity investors across Asia. The …

Read More »

Chatbot Grok stirs confusion over suspension after Gaza claims

[ad_1] Online users are increasingly utilizing AI-powered chatbots in search of reliable information despite rampant misinformation. Photo: Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFPSource: AFP AI chatbot Grok on Tuesday offered conflicting explanations for its brief suspension from X after accusing Israel and the United States of committing “genocide” in Gaza, as it …

Read More »

ChatGPT’s model picker is back, and it’s complicated

[ad_1] When OpenAI launched GPT-5 last week, the company said the model would simplify the ChatGPT experience. OpenAI hoped GPT-5 would act as a sort of “one size fits all” AI model with a router that would automatically decide how to best answer user questions. The company said this unified …

Read More »

German gas drive fuels fears of climate backsliding

[ad_1] The German government wants to build more gas power plants. Photo: Ina FASSBENDER / AFPSource: AFP Germany’s conservative-led government has launched a drive to rapidly build more gas-fired power plants, fuelling fears about climate policy backsliding and sparking unease even within its own ranks. Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition has …

Read More »

India reels from US tariff hike threat

[ad_1] Jewelry is on display at a store in the ‘Little India’ neighborhood of New York City. Photo: ANGELA WEISS / AFPSource: AFP Indian exporters are scrambling for options to mitigate the fallout of US President Donald Trump’s threatened tariff salvo against the world’s most populous nation. Many warn of …

Read More »

Passwords under threat as tech giants seek tougher security

[ad_1] Security researchers hope stuffing passwords with special characters and numbers will soon be history. Photo: Chris Delmas / AFP/FileSource: AFP Fingerprints, access keys and facial recognition are putting a new squeeze on passwords as the traditional computer security method — but also running into public hesitancy. “The password era …

Read More »

‘Stop production’: Small US firms battered by shifting tariffs

[ad_1] On April 2, US President Donald Trump, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick beside him, unveiled sweeping tariffs on almost all trading partners. Photo: Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP/FileSource: AFP When US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on almost all trading partners in April, Ben Knepler contacted the factory in Cambodia …

Read More »