Speculative fiction, which encompasses sci-fi and other futuristic literature, is emerging as a strong vehicle for China to project soft power in a competition with the United States over the imagined future. The genre may help China and the Global South challenge Western views of colonialism, capitalism and future tech, according to Chinese scholars of...
Last week at the Zurich Film Festival, Eline Van der Velden — founder and CEO of AI production house Particle6 and its subsidiary talent studio Xicoia — said that a number of talent agents had expressed interest in working with Tilly Norwood, an AI-generated “actress” created by the companies. Van der Velden has not gone...
Published October 4, 2025 Paris Fashion Week entered its fifth day with an especially intense programme. In particular, the womenswear ready-to-wear shows for Spring/Summer 2026 revealed designers’ pursuit of freshness and lightness. Leonard Paris and Giambattista Valli were prime examples. Vetements, for its part, opted for provocation. See fashion showLeonard Paris, Spring-Summer 2026 – ©Launchmetrics/spotlight...
Billionaire businessman Andrej Babis has won parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic, although his populist ANO party fell short of an overall majority, preliminary results show. At current predictions, ANO received just under 35% of the vote, earning them 81 seats in the 200-seat lower house. Babis – who served as prime minister from 2017...
Russia’s ecology minister has gifted a baby lion to the Pyongyang zoo and artwork to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, following bilateral talks on economic cooperation. Alexander Kozlov, who heads the Russian ecology ministry and cochairs the Russia-DPRK joint economic commission, paid a courtesy visit to North Korean prime minister Pak Thae Song on...
The tie between startups and the U.S. government have strengthened in recent years, a shift buoyed by an interest in using AI, automation, space, robotics, and climate tech for defense. And while that has provided another welcome path to capital, the relationship is getting complicated. A growing share of startups have the U.S. government as...
Opposition protests turned violent as riot police deployed tear gas and water cannon near the presidential palace. Published On 4 Oct 20254 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Georgian riot police have deployed water cannon, pepper spray and tear gas to disperse protesters who tried to storm the presidential palace...
An application made to a scheme designed to boost Hong Kong’s housing supply by tapping into developers’ reserves has been withdrawn for the first time amid a lukewarm response, with experts attributing the move to a sluggish economy. Brasilia, a subsidiary of Lee On Investment (Holdings), made the withdrawal of its application to the Land...
Beth Lindop Close Beth Lindop Correspondent Based in Liverpool, Beth Lindop is ESPN’s Liverpool correspondent and also covers the WSL and UWCL. James Olley Close James Olley Senior Writer, ESPN FC Oct 4, 2025, 03:39 PM ET LONDON — A dramatic late winner from Estêvão lifted Chelsea over Liverpool 2-1 to deny the reigning Premier...
Robot vacuums that mop well rarely come cheap, but thankfully, some of our favorite models are receiving a significant discount ahead of Amazon’s next Prime Day event next week. Right now, the Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni and the newer Deebot X9 Pro Omni are on sale at Amazon for Prime members for $799.99 ($300...