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WhatsApp has announced four new features for users worldwide, with one of the most notable updates allowing iPad users to create and use WhatsApp accounts directly on their devices. Under the new update, iPad users will no longer need to link their accounts to a mobile phone before using the messaging app. They can complete the registration process directly on the iPad and start using WhatsApp immediately. The messaging platform has also introduced new features for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, allowing users to listen to and respond to messages hands-free while driving. Users will also be able to make…

Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek has reportedly paused its second fundraising round, informing prospective investors that investment agreements will not be signed for the time being. According to a Bloomberg News report, citing people familiar with the matter, DeepSeek verbally notified several potential investors that the fundraising process had been suspended, although it may resume at a later date. Reuters could not independently verify the report, and DeepSeek did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside normal business hours. The Hangzhou-based company had been preparing to launch a new fundraising round at a valuation of approximately 500 billion yuan…

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said  a Ukrainian attack on an Iranian commercial vessel “cannot go unanswered”. Iran said the attack in the Caspian Sea resulted in an explosion that killed one sailor and ⁠injured another. Araqchi made the comments in calls with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Araqchi posted on X. Lavrov, in a statement posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website, offered condolences in connection with the death of ⁠a sailor in the attack. Lavrov said Araqchi thanked local authorities in the Russian region of Astrakhan, where the vessel started its…

  Myanmar’s military has sharply escalated attacks on civilians since a new administration took office in the war-torn country, a conflict monitor said on Monday, even as regional governments ramp up diplomatic engagement. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) said the onslaught was a result of the tactics deployed by Myanmar’s new military chief who took over in late March as his predecessor prepared to become the country’s president. “Since the ruling junta in Myanmar reconfigured its military command structure in March, civilians have been subject to the military’s worsening repression and intensified aerial bombing campaign,” ACLED…

China evacuated stranded tourists from the UNESCO World Heritage site of Jiuzhaigou on Monday after mudslides triggered by heavy rain, state broadcaster CCTV reported, as ​authorities issued the highest flash-flood alert for parts of the country in the ‌wake of Typhoon Noul. Jiuzhaigou, in southwestern Sichuan province, is famous for its fairyland landscape with blue, green and purple pools, snow capped peaks, lakes and multi-tiered waterfalls. CCTV said some of the key tourist sites had ​been closed and stranded tourists were being safely evacuating. The closures come as China ​issued its highest alert for flash-floods across multiple provinces after Typhoon…

Ukrainian air attacks killed two people and wounded 17 others in strikes ​on the southern Russian cities of Rostov-on-Don and ‌Belgorod, regional authorities said on Monday. In Ukraine, Russian strikes killed one person and wounded seven others, local authorities said. In Rostov-on-Don, a major ​export hub near the Sea of Azov, a ​couple from the same family was killed and ⁠another five people were wounded, including two of whom ​were in critical condition, regional governor Yuri Slyusar said in ​a Telegram post. Falling drone debris caused fires at a number of locations, including warehouses, and windows were blown out in…

Ship traffic through Bab el-Mandeb fell on Sunday after Yemeni Houthis attacked Saudi oil ‌installations along the Red Sea coast, while transit through the Strait of Hormuz stayed low over the weekend, shipping data from Kpler showed on Monday. Eleven commodity vessels passed through the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Sunday, the lowest level in months, the data showed. Red Sea traffic has ​been disrupted off the coast of Yemen since last week by the Tehran-aligned Houthis, who want to blockade ​Saudi exports, expanding the U.S.-Iran conflict that has already choked oil supply through the Strait ⁠of Hormuz. The shipping disruption…

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast rain with strong winds and thunderstorms in Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir today. According to the Met Office, heavy rainfall is expected in Tharparkar, Umerkot, Mirpur Khas and other areas of Sindh, while Karachi may also receive drizzle or light rain during the day. The weather department has predicted heavy rainfall in Dera Ghazi Khan and northeastern Balochistan, warning of possible flooding in local streams and nullahs due to intense showers. The PMD has advised citizens to remain cautious as weather conditions may affect several areas amid ongoing monsoon activity.

Chinese researchers have achieved a major breakthrough in the cloning of hybrid rice, with the potential to fundamentally transform the conventional paradigm of annual seed production and provide new technological support for global food security. After years of sustained efforts, a team led by researcher Wang Kejian from the China National Rice Research Institute successfully identified and characterized an endogenous rice gene, which they named “HUAXU.” Their study, published in the journal Vita on Tuesday, shows that the HUAXU gene in the egg cells of hybrid rice can efficiently induce parthenogenesis and produce haploid progeny. When combined with a cloned…

Across Southeast Asia, companies have put AI to work on ordinary tasks: recommending products, answering queries, screening transactions for fraud. A February survey of 330 companies in six regional markets, by McKinsey with Singapore’s Economic Development Board and Tech in Asia, found nearly half had moved past trials, putting 11 to 40 percent of technology budgets into AI. The computing to run it is thin on the ground. Indonesia’s digital-infrastructure directorate counted about 185 data centres totalling 274 megawatts late last year, against a government target above 2,000 megawatts by 2029, and its data centre association reckons only about 30…