THE premiere of a piece by local composer Michael English was one of the highlights of the Royal Forest of Dean Orchestra’s summer concert. The orchestra was joined at St Mary’s Church in Chepstow on Saturday by the Chatelaines Choir. The Chepstow Chatelaines performing Elgar’s The Snow (Forester / Iliffe) Oboe soloist Oscar Pingree-Watts. (Forester…
BEIJING, July 16 (Reuters) – Twenty-nine countries on Thursday signed an agreement to establish the World AI Cooperation Organization, an intergovernmental body China says aims to promote international cooperation and global governance in artificial intelligence. • Representatives from the 29 countries, including Russia, Belarus, Serbia, Cuba, Brazil and Venezuela, as well as 10 African and…
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union issued two new rules for Google on Thursday to force it to share search data and open up its Android operating system to rival AI companies. In the latest attempt to rein in tech behemoths’ deep control of the digital economy, the EU said it will support innovation and…
BANDA, India (AP) — Heat at all hours, even in the middle of the night. Long stretches without electricity, meaning some homes can’t even use basic fans. And a constant search for relief, like being hosed down with water or sleeping outside. For many residents of Banda, a town in northern India that has recorded…
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Amazon said Wednesday that the technology company will launch its new satellite internet service Amazon Leo in South Africa in 2027, seemingly pushing ahead of Elon Musk’s rival Starlink to win business in Africa’s most advanced economy. Amazon, which was founded by Jeff Bezos, said that it would partner…
MOSCOW, July 15 (Reuters) – Russia said on Wednesday that any multinational force sent by Ukraine’s allies to deploy there in the event of a peace deal would be unacceptable to Moscow, which would view it as a threat and a legitimate military target. Western allies in the pro-Ukraine “coalition of the willing” met in…
CAIRO (AP) — A boat carrying about 60 migrants, including women and children, bound for European shores capsized off the coast of eastern Libya in the latest maritime tragedy off the North African country. At least 50 are dead or missing, authorities said. The shipwreck occurred on Tuesday near Bardaa Island, off the coastal city…
What happened China on Tuesday reported “one of its lowest quarterly growth rates in decades,” the Financial Times said. From April to June, the world’s second-largest economy grew just 4.3% compared to the same period last year — below economists’ projections of 4.5% and down from 5% growth in the first quarter. Who said what…
BUNIA, Congo (AP) — Confirmed cases of Ebola in Congo have reached 2,011, including 754 deaths, according to government data released overnight in what authorities say is the fastest-growing outbreak on record. Health workers at the Bunia General Hospital went on strike on Wednesday, the latest group to have walked off their job at the…
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military early Wednesday reimposed a blockade on Iranian ports over Tehran’s attacks on ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, sparking new strikes on nations hosting American forces as an interim deal to end the war further unraveled. Days of retaliatory strikes across the Middle…