Month: October 2026

Microsoft said on Monday it is offering voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees, or more than a quarter of its global workforce, as the technology giant looks to ​contain costs and help fund its massive AI investments. Staffers across the Windows maker ‌would be eligible for the offers, including those working in AI experiences, Copilot, finance, human resources, Xbox and Windows + Devices, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, requesting anonymity as the matter was ​private. Units such as marketing, commercial business and security will be excluded, the…

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Anthropic paused training of its next-generation ‌flagship AI model for more than a month over security concerns, while four of its AI agents accessed live external computer systems during testing, its initial public offering filing showed on Monday. The Claude maker said in the ​filing’s risk factors section that it had delayed pre-training of a new “frontier” base model to ​strengthen safeguards against the theft of model weights and intellectual property. The disclosure ⁠highlights the safety challenges facing developers of increasingly powerful AI models, some of whose creators have ​warned…

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Meta Platforms said on Monday it plans to raise to $95 billion in its largest-ever equity fundraising, as ‌the social media giant spends aggressively on its AI infrastructure expansion. The Facebook parent has launched public offerings worth about $35 billion in common and preferred stock, and said it also plans to launch a separate at-the-market share sale program worth up to $60 billion. The company will launch the larger share sale program after its new non-voting Class C ​shares begin trading, which is expected in the first quarter of 2027,…

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US President Donald Trump‘s public approval rating inched higher to 32%, ‌up a percentage point from last week’s record low, ahead of the November 3 midterm elections that will decide which party controls Congress, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday. Trump’s fellow Republicans are fighting to retain the party’s majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate. The five-day nationwide poll also showed that ​registered voters broadly favoured Democrats over Republicans by 47% to 36% when asked which party they would pick for ​Congress in what is known…

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While global tech stocks teeter, in China they have already crashed as lofty valuations collapse under worries about AI demand and curbs on Chinese exports. The meltdown, tanking the mainland STAR50 index of AI and semiconductor leaders ​by 40% in less than four months and vaporising some $480 billion in market value, is an ill omen for wobbly world markets and a dampener on China’s efforts ‌at encouraging its savers to invest in stocks to fund the AI boom. It has also slammed the brakes on a rally running two…

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Radical Israeli regime leader Benjamin Netanyahu faces a fight for political survival in Israel’s election on Tuesday, with voters weighing his leadership after the Gaza carnage, war with Iran, and Israel’s deepening international isolation. Yet Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader with 19 years in office, remains a formidable survivor, with nationalist politics increasingly ‌entrenched and Israel’s fragmented system potentially leaving him best placed to form a government. Opinion polls show a close race between Netanyahu’s Likud party and its radical allies and a rival alliance led by Gadi Eisenkot, a former…

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The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen ​said on Tuesday it intercepted and destroyed ‌ballistic missiles and drones launched by the Houthis towards two regions of Saudi Arabia, as the conflict between ​the kingdom and the Iran-aligned group intensifies. The ​Houthis launched three ballistic missiles towards Saudi Arabia’s Eastern ⁠Region, and four drones towards the country’s ​Southern Region, the coalition said. Saudi Civil Defence issued early ​warning alerts for a potential hostile threat in the Eastern Region and in Kharj governorate, later saying the danger ​had passed in both areas. Saudi Arabia…

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The government on Monday increased the price of petrol by Rs1.54 to Rs379.25 per litre and high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs2.16 to Rs395.82 per litre, effective Tuesday, October 27, 2026. The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) revised the ex-depot prices of petroleum products under the federal government’s pricing mechanism, according to a notification issued by the Petroleum Division. Petrol was previously priced at Rs377.71 per litre, while HSD cost Rs393.66 per litre. The revised rates will remain in effect for October 27. The Petroleum Division said the price adjustments…

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Parliament authorised Egypt’s military on Monday to provide support to help defend Saudi Arabia, parliamentarians said, and local media reported, a move that could push Cairo directly into the regional conflict ​that has expanded with intensified attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on the Gulf kingdom. President ‌Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had asked parliament last week to approve defending its Gulf Arab ally and the world’s biggest oil exporter if Riyadh requests help against the Houthis, whose advances also threaten the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait — a gateway to Egypt’s Suez ​Canal. Egypt…

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