VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

FILE PHOTO: People attend the Slush 2022 Startup Event in Helsinki, Finland November 17, 2022. Lehtikuva/Emmi Korhonen via REUTERS/File Photo

VOInews, Helsinki : Tech entrepreneurs and investors meet in Finland on Wednesday at Slush, one of Europe's largest start-up events, with a focus on whether funding conditions will ease, the impact of Donald Trump's election victory and the prospects for AI-driven growth.

Slush, which gets its name from November Finnish weather, gives an opportunity for venture capitalists and start-up founders to compare notes to see whether funding can buck the trend of three years of slowdown and whether firms can follow the likes of Klarna and Revolut into initial public offerings.

"Looking ahead, there are reasons for cautious optimism. AI continues to attract significant investment - nearly $40 billion globally in 2023 - showing confidence in its transformative potential," Slush CEO Aino Bergius told Reuters ahead of the event, due to be attended by 13,000 people.

One of Europe's largest venture capital firms Index said the two-day event came "amid a streak of optimism" in European tech, driven by investment in AI.

"There is a lot of capital in the market, and we can feel that it is being actively deployed," Anastasija Plotnikova, CEO of crypto startup Fideum, said.

Meanwhile, some of the startups headed to the event were more cautious over a turnaround.

"While I hope to see some stabilisation in funding conditions next year, I remain cautious," said Mathilda Strom, founding chief operating officer of Bioptimus, a company developing a foundation model for biology, citing economic uncertainty and higher interest rates.

Funding to emerging tech companies in 2024 is set to have fallen for the third year in a row, but a window for new listings is opening again, venture capital firm Atomico said in its industry report on Tuesday.

However, Francesco Ricciuti, a deeptech VC investor, at Runa Capital, said the fallout from the U.S. election could have a negative impact on the industry if Trump's promise to impose potentially hefty tariffs on a swathe of goods was realised.

"Tariffs will play a pivotal role as supply chains in many technological sectors are deeply interconnected and fragile," Ricciuti said//CNA-VOI

The ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1981. (File photo: AFP/Mariana SUAREZ)

VOInews, Lima : Peruvian authorities said on Tuesday (Nov 19) they have tightened security at the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu after tourists there were filmed dispersing what were believed to be human ashes.

Last week, citizens in Peru were outraged by a non-dated video on TikTok in which a woman at the tourist site took ashes from a plastic bag and threw them in the air, then hugged another woman. The video had a caption about "saying goodbye with much love at Machu Picchu" and hashtags with the words "ashes" and "spreading ashes".

The 30-second video was first shown on the account @IncaGoExpeditions, belonging to a travel agency, before it was removed from TikTok.

Cesar Medina, the head of Machu Picchu archaeological park, told AFP that officials were going to hire more guards and install more surveillance cameras.

He said there was nothing in local laws barring people from spreading human ashes in public.

But this will now be barred at Machu Picchu for health reasons, Medina said.

Classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the site welcomes an average of 5,600 visitors a day but until now had only four cameras and a small team of security guards.

The ancient citadel, built in the 15th century by Incan emperor Pachacuti, sits at an altitude of 2,438m in the Peruvian Andes//CNA-VOI

(Photo: Facebook/Minecraft)

VOInews, Singapore : The best-selling video game Minecraft is to become a real-life destination, as part of a multi-million-pound deal between theme park operator Merlin Entertainments and video game developer Mojang Studios.

Merlin said it had agreed to an initial £85 million (US$107.5 million) deal with the Swedish company to create attractions based on the game at its existing parks in Britain and the United States in 2026 and 2027. 

It then plans to expand the concept to accommodation, retail and restaurants, plus a ride based on the popular 3D sandbox game, before widening it out across the world.

Merlin Entertainments chief executive Scott O'Neil called the deal "a significant milestone".

"Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all time and this world-first will see fans experience its thrill and creativity in real life at theme parks and city centre attractions in leading tourist destinations," he added.

Kayleen Walters, vice-president, franchise development for gaming at Microsoft, which acquired Mojang in 2014, called it "an incredibly exciting step" which would help broaden the game's appeal.

Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all time, with more than 140 million players each month.

A live-action movie is due for release next year, while Netflix has also announced plans for an animated series.

Merlin operates a number of leading theme parks and tourist attractions, including Legoland, Peppa Pig Theme Park and Madame Tussauds waxwork museum//CNA-VOI

World leaders attending the G20 Summit pose for a group photo in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

VOInews, Rio De Janeiro : The escalating war in Ukraine and stalled UN climate negotiations dominated the final day of a G20 summit in Brazil on Tuesday (Nov 19), held in the shadow of Donald Trump's looming US presidency.

Chinese President Xi Jinping - the most powerful leader at the summit - repeated his warning of turbulent times ahead, warning his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in a meeting of increasing "risks and challenges".

Macron told Russia ally Xi that the two shared "converging views" on seeing peace brought about in Ukraine, while also expressing concern about "bellicose and escalatory comments from Russia about its nuclear doctrine".

Xi has sought in vain, with Brazil, to get Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table but developments in the war are rapidly overtaking diplomacy.

President Joe Biden, at the G20 summit as a diminished figure given Trump's imminent arrival on the world scene, made a last-gasp major policy shift by allowing Ukraine to fire US-supplied long-range missiles into Russia.

Russia, which has warned it will respond if targeted by the weapons, said Tuesday Ukraine fired US ATACMS missiles into its border region.

Macron has called Biden's decision to free Ukraine's hand with US missiles "good". But German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said it would not follow suit and continued to hold out on giving sophisticated Taurus missiles to Kyiv.

The summit statement also had the leaders urging an end to conflict in the Middle East, where Israel is waging offensives in both Gaza and Lebanon. Israel and archenemy Iran have also exchanged fire.

The G20 called for "comprehensive" ceasefires in both Gaza and Lebanon//CNA-VOI