Live Streaming
Program Highlight
Company Profile
International News (6884)
February
Philippines Landslide Toll Jumps to 54 Dead
Written by Rama Shidqi P.
VOInews.id: The death toll from a massive Philippine landslide near a gold mine abruptly rose to 54 on Sunday (11/2/2024), local officials said. Nineteen bodies were recovered from beneath the rubble in the southern mountain village of Masara on Sunday, with 63 other miners and residents still missing, said the municipality of Maco, and provincial disaster official Randy Loy. As reported by AFP, the previous death toll given stood at 35.
February
Namibian President Hage Geingob Dies at 82
Written by Rama Shidqi P.
VOInews.id: Namibian President Hage Geingob died early on Sunday (04/02/2024) morning, a month after announcing he was suffering from cancer. The 82-year-old man revealed his illness to the public in January. Meanwhile, the president's office announced that Geingob will undergo treatment in the United States and return home on Friday (02/02/2024).
February
Google signs its largest offshore power agreement with Dutch wind projects
Written by nuke
FILE PHOTO: An illuminated Google logo is seen inside an office building in Zurich, Switzerland December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo -
LONDON : Technology giant Google has signed its largest ever power purchase agreement (PPA) with offshore wind projects off the coast of the Netherlands as part of efforts to green its power supply and hit climate targets, it said on Thursday.
Renewable power project developers are increasingly tying their electricity output to long-term PPAs to provide revenue security, while corporate buyers are keen to lock in supply and ensure they meet targets for sourcing clean power.
Under its largest offshore wind PPA to date, Google has agreed to take 478 megawatts (MW) of power from two new wind farms developed by Crosswind & Ecowende Consortia, joint ventures between energy companies Shell and Dutch utility Eneco.
It also announced smaller renewable PPAs in Italy, Poland and Belgium but did not disclose any financial details of the deals.
"Our ambition to operate on carbon-free energy around the clock by 2030 requires clean energy solutions in every grid where we operate," said Matt Brittin, President of Google in EMEA
Many companies with similar goals currently work on an annual basis, matching PPAs or purchases of renewable energy certificates with their yearly electricity use.
Google, however, is seeking to match each hour of electricity used with an hour of clean power production, something proponents of the method say better reflects companies' actual energy use//CNA-VOI
February
Over a third of EU firms adopt AI, bringing digital goals in reach
Written by nuke
FILE PHOTO: AI Artificial intelligence words, miniature of robot and EU flag are seen in this illustration taken December 21, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//File Photo -
STOCKHOLM : More than a third of European businesses adopted artificial intelligence in 2023 as use of generative AI surged, a report commissioned by Amazon Web Services found.
The European Commission, the EU executive, in 2021 presented its 2030 Digital Decade vision to transform the region, with 80 per cent of the population acquiring basic digital skills, 5G connectivity everywhere and 75 per cent of EU companies using cloud services.
In 2022, however, only a quarter of EU businesses had adopted AI and a report last year estimated the European Union was at risk of falling behind its Digital Decade goals by ten years unless the governments focused on bridging the skills gap.
"Last year was pivotal; from Malmo to Milan, the accessibility of generative AI created an appetite for experimentation among consumers and businesses," Tanuja Randery, Managing Director at AWS, told Reuters.
"The accelerated uptake of AI last year has helped put Europe on track to meet its Digital Decade goals," she said.
The survey conducted by Strand Partners of over 16,000 citizens and 14,000 businesses found 38 per cent of companies were experimenting with AI.
The report estimated the positive economic impact of AI at an additional 600 billion euros, on top of an earlier estimate of 2.8 trillion euros//CNA-VOI
January
President Vo Van Thuong receives ambassadors of Poland, Spain, Bangladesh, and Mozambique
Written by steve
(unsplash.com/@sam_williams Sam Williams)
Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong on Monday received the Ambassadors of Poland, Spain, and Bangladesh, who presented their credentials and the Ambassador of Mozambique, who bid farewell at the end of his term.
As reported by Vovworld.vn (29/1) meeting Polish Ambassador Aleksander Surdej, President Thuong stressed the need for the two countries to strengthen contact and exchange of high-level delegations at all levels and the implementation of existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms.
Poland is currently Vietnam's No. 1 trading partner in the Central Eastern Europe and Vietnam is Poland's leading trading partner in Southeast Asia.
The President said he hopes the two countries will further their cooperation in economics-trade education-training, tourism, culture, and people-to-people exchanges//Vovworld.vn
January
(unsplash.com/@diegoelbueno DIego González)
The US government has released the names of three troops killed by an enemy drone attack in Jordan on Sunday.
Sergeant William Jerome Rivers, 46, Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, and Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, were killed when a drone hit their housing unit.
As reported by BBC.com (30/1) the US has blamed Iranian-backed groups and the Pentagon said it carried the "footprints" of Kataib Hezbollah.
The Pentagon also reaffirmed the US does not want a war with Iran// BBC.com
January
Palestinian lives at stake, UN says as it acts quickly to address allegations about UNRWA staff
Written by steve
(unsplash.com/@fotomuhabiriomer Ömer Yıldız)
The UN said it was taking “swift action” in response to allegations in the past few days that several employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East participated in the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
As quoted by Arabnews.com (30/1) Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said an investigation by the UN’s Office of Internal Oversight Services was immediately launched.
According to Dujarric, any employee involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution. (Arabnews.com)
January
Publicis to invest 300 million euros in AI plan over next three years
Written by nuke
FILE PHOTO: A logo of Publicis Groupe is seen at its exhibition space, at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France June 15, 2022. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo -
Voinews, Jakarta - Publicis, the world's largest advertising group by market value, said on Thursday it will invest 300 million euros ($326.94 million) in artificial intelligence (AI) over the next three years, as part of its new plan to become "the industry's first AI-powered intelligent system".
The group said in a film presentation - ahead of it annual results publication in February - that it will invest 100 million euros in 2024 alone, fully funded by "internal efficiencies" and with no dilutive impact on its operating margin.
The maker of the Heineken and Barilla pasta campaigns reported in its presentation organic growth in 2023 of 6.3 per cent, exceeding the 5.5 per cent to 6 per cent guidance range shared in October.
"In terms of strategy, it was important for us to show the financial market that we were starting from a position of strength," said CEO Arthur Sadoun in a press conference, regarding the early figure.
Publicis said in its presentation that it plans to integrate AI further into its current platform model, connecting every individual in the company to an entity called "CoreAI", that the group started engineering in the second half of 2023, to start implementing it in the first half of 2024.
"CoreAI is based on the data we have acquired, but also the one that we have built over this past decade," Sadoun said.
Half of the 2024 investment will be focused on upskilling and training people as well as recruitment, while the other half will be dedicated to tech, licences, software and cloud infrastructure.
Asked about prospective acquisitions, Sadoun answered, "our transformation is behind us", adding that the group will now focus on lesser investments in tech, IP and talent.
Publicis' recent strong performance runs counter to a general slowdown in the advertising industry, seen as a bellwether for broader economic health//VOI
January
German tech sector expected to outperform ailing economy in 2024 -study
Written by nuke
The skyline with its banking district is photographed in Frankfurt, Germany, January 7, 2020. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo -
BERLIN : Germany's IT and telecommunication (ITC) sector is expected to speed up its growth this year and clearly outperform Germany's ailing economy, a study by German digital association Bitkom showed on Wednesday.
According to the study, the sector's revenues are expected to rise by 4.4 per cent to 224.3 billion euros ($245.09 billion), compared to a 2.0 per cent increase last year.
"Even under difficult economic conditions, characterised by geopolitical crises and budget cuts, sales and employment (within the sector) are increasing," said Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst.
The industry's predicted growth for this year is, however, slow in comparison to other countries, including India, seen up 7.9 per cent, the U.S. expected to increase 6.3 per cent and China, estimated to grow 5.7 per cent.
"In order for Germany to catch up in terms of digitalization, companies and administrations need to ramp up their investments more decisively," Wintergerst said, urging the government to put digitalization and economic growth at the centre of its policies.
According to estimates of the International Monetary Fund, Germany's economy as a whole is expected to grow only 0.9 per cent in 2024, which remains well below the average of 1.4 per cent for advanced economies//CNA-VOI
January
US delays planned return of astronauts to moon until 2026
Written by nuke
NASA's Artemis 1 Space Launch System launches at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Nov 2022 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images North America/Red Huber) -
WASHINGTON: The United States is pushing back its planned return of astronauts to the surface of the moon from 2025 to 2026, NASA administrator Bill Nelson said Tuesday (Jan 9) amid technical challenges and delays.
Artemis, named after the sister of Apollo in Greek mythology, was officially announced in 2017 as part of the US space agency's plans to establish a sustained presence on Earth's nearest space neighbour and apply lessons learned there for a future mission to Mars.
Its first mission, an uncrewed test flight to the moon and back called Artemis 1, took place in 2022, after several postponements. Artemis 2, involving a crew that doesn't land on the surface, has been postponed from later this year to September 2025, Nelson told reporters.
Artemis 3, in which the first woman and first person of colour are to set foot on lunar soil at the moon's south pole, should take place in September 2026.
"Safety is our top priority, and to give Artemis teams more time to work through the challenges," said Nelson.
NASA is also looking to build a lunar space station called Gateway where spacecraft will dock during later missions. Elon Musk's SpaceX has won the contract for a landing system for Artemis 3 based on a version of its prototype Starship rocket, which remains far from ready. Both of its orbital tests have ended in explosions.
Delays to Starship have knock-on effects because the spacesuit contractor needs to know how the suits will interface with the spacecraft, and simulators need to be built for astronauts to learn its systems.
The Artemis 1 mission itself revealed technical issues, such as the heat shield on the Orion crew capsule eroded in an unexpected way, and the ground structure used to launch the giant SLS rocket sustained more damage than expected.
As of March 2023, NASA has agreed to pay about US$40 billion to hundreds of contractors supporting Artemis, the same watchdog found.
A key difference between the 20th-century Apollo missions and the Artemis era is the increasing role of commercial partnerships, part of a broader strategy to involve private companies in space exploration to reduce costs and to make space more accessible//CNA-VOI