Author: GlobalNewsAdmin

Before Kamindu Mendis, there was Pradeep Mathew. The left-arm wrist spinner had more variations than any bowler ever had. The flipper, the darter, the skidder, the floater, the infamous double bounce ball that spun one way and then the other. Had his career fully bloomed, he could have been a bigger match-winner than Muttiah Muralitharan, “or the second behind him.” Except, of course, that Pradeep Mathew is a fictitious character in Shehan Karunatilaka’s tour de force novel Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew.The closest a Sri Lanka cricketer has come to the imaginary Mathew is Kamindu. He bowls left-arm orthodox…

Meta has rolled out a new suite of AI-driven advertising solutions aimed at helping Indian businesses capitalise on the upcoming festive season. The updates focus on Reels, creator collaborations, omnichannel campaigns, and automated ad optimisation, as the company seeks to strengthen its position in India’s booming e-commerce market. To enhance localisation, Meta is introducing new language and regional filters to connect businesses with relevant creators. Advertisers can now combine Advantage+ catalogue ads with partnership ads, add “intro cards” to carousel formats, and use a “Show Products” optimisation that automatically converts single-media ads into catalogue versions if it improves performance. Meta…

Published on Sept 05, 2025 12:40 pm IST Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun forcefully responded to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who claimed that China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea challenge the international rules-based order. Guo rejected the comments as “ideologically biased” and “historically irresponsible,” accusing the EU of stoking rivalry and confrontation. He instead stressed China’s contribution during the Second World War. Watch his full remarks here.   News / Videos / China rebukes EU over ‘autocratic alliance’ remark, urges end to prejudice and confrontation

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on a high-rise building in Gaza City, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, after the Israeli army issued a prior warning. | Photo Credit: AP Israel struck a high-rise building on Friday (September 5, 2025) as the Army ramped up an offensive in preparations to take over Gaza City. Defence Minister Israel Katz said the strike on the building was just the beginning, warning “when the door opens it will not close” and the army’s activity will increase.His comments come days after Israel began mobilising tens of thousands of reservists and repeating evacuation warnings as part…

The rationalisation of tax rates on construction material by the GST Council is expected to provide the real estate sector some relief but since the rates applicable on property remain unchanged, there would be stability in taxation, Crisil Intelligence said in a study.Since the rates applicable on affordable housing (1%), under-construction properties (5%) and completed properties (exempt) remain unchanged, the status quo offers stability for both developers and homebuyers, it said.The reduction in GST rate for construction materials is also expected to improve developer margins and lower project costs as construction materials typically account for 50–60% of the overall construction…

Diaa Hadid, Jackie Lay/NPR Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR’s international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world. India has some pretty successful efforts to protect the olive ridley sea turtle, a vulnerable species which nests on the country’s long coastlines. Every nesting season, thousands of females dig holes on the seashore with their flippers, and each one lays dozens of eggs inside. To keep them safe from threats like dogs and poachers, activists collect the eggs and incubate them in protected hatcheries. After they hatch, activists collect them in tubs — like…

Members of the U.S. Park Police guard an entrance to the 9th Street tunnel in front of the Smithsonian Castle on Aug. 13, 2025, in Washington, D.C., after the Trump administration initiated a federal takeover of D.C. police and deployed the National Guard in the city. Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Alex Wong/Getty Images In a letter sent Friday to the Smithsonian Institution’s secretary, Lonnie G. Bunch, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and three other Democratic senators urged Bunch to resist any attempts by the White House to “bully the institution to go against its mission and values.” The…

Amanda Anisimova defeated Naomi Osaka early Friday morning to advance to the women’s U.S. Open finals on Saturday. Both Anisimova and Osaka have been open about their mental health struggles. Sarah Stier/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Sarah Stier/Getty Images Two comeback stories collided on the tennis court Thursday night when American Amanda Anisimova and Naomi Osaka of Japan — who was also raised in the U.S. — played each other in the U.S. Open semifinals. Anisimova defeated Osaka 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-3 in just under three hours early Friday morning to advance to her first U.S. Open finals.…

Two of the smartest people I follow in the AI world recently sat down to check in on how the field is going.One was François Chollet, creator of the widely used Keras library and author of the ARC-AGI benchmark, which tests if AI has reached “general” or broadly human-level intelligence. Chollet has a reputation as a bit of an AI bear, eager to deflate the most boosterish and over-optimistic predictions of where the technology is going. But in the discussion, Chollet said his timelines have gotten shorter recently. Researchers had made big progress on what he saw as the major…

Created after the 2008 financial crash, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is that rare Washington creature: An efficient consumer watchdog. Over the years, it has returned many billions in relief for people who got fleeced by Wall Street and Main Street alike. In Trump’s America, it is unsurprisingly fighting for its life.On August 15, 2025, a federal appeals court dealt a major setback to the bureau by lifting a preliminary injunction that had temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s plan for mass layoffs. In a 2-1 decision, the DC Circuit said the lower court lacked jurisdiction, then left a temporary…