Science

by AFP Staff Writers New Delhi (AFP) Dec 9, 2025 Global technology giant Microsoft announced on Tuesday plans to invest $17.5 billion to help build India’s artificial intelligence infrastructure, with CEO Satya Nadella calling it “our largest investment ever in Asia”. Several global corporations have announced large investments this year in the South Asian nation

By Amal JAYASINGHE Chilaw, Sri Lanka (AFP) Dec 9, 2025 Long before dawn, people were already queueing for medical aid on Tuesday at an emergency camp in Sri Lanka’s coastal town of Chilaw, hit hard by a deadly cyclone and floods. Carpenter Prasantha Perera, 60, was waiting to have a shard of wood removed from

By Philippe Alfroy Gir National Park, India (AFP) Dec 9, 2025 A powerful roar rocked the forest before the silhouette of a lioness appeared at an Indian reserve, a potent image of how conservation efforts have brought the creatures back from the brink. In Gir National Park, Asiatic lions reign over a 1,900-square-kilometre (735-square-mile) expanse

by AFP Staff Writers Jakarta (AFP) Dec 8, 2025 Regions hit by floods that killed hundreds in Indonesia were suffering from food and medical shortages, authorities said, as elephants pitched in on Monday to help clear up debris. Tropical storms and monsoon rains have pummelled Southeast and South Asia this month, triggering landslides and flash

By AFP bureaus Hong Kong (AFP) Dec 8, 2025 Australia’s landmark move to ban under-16s from social media will be closely watched by other countries, which could follow suit with similar laws. AFP spoke to teenagers and adults around the world about the Australian ban, which comes in on Wednesday. Here are some of their

by AFP Staff Writers Jakarta (AFP) Dec 8, 2025 Officials in flood-hit parts of Indonesia reported shortages of food, shelter, and medicine as the death toll reached 950 Monday following weeks of heavy rain. A slew of tropical storms and monsoon rains has pummelled Southeast and South Asia, triggering landslides and flash floods from the

by AFP Staff Writers Colombo (AFP) Dec 8, 2025 Sri Lanka has almost doubled its military deployment to regions struck by a cyclone that has killed 627, sending tens of thousands of troops to help areas hit by a wave of destruction, the army said Monday. More than two million people — nearly 10 percent

By Amal JAYASINGHE and Alfath ASMUNDA in Banda Aceh Colombo (AFP) Dec 7, 2025 Sri Lankan authorities issued fresh landslide warnings on Sunday with rains lashing areas already devastated by a powerful cyclone, as the death toll rose to 627. A chain of tropical storms and monsoon rains has battered Southeast and South Asia, setting

by AFP Staff Writers New Delhi (AFP) Dec 3, 2025 India’s government amended on Wednesday an order that required phone makers to pre-install a government-run cyber security app, after it sparked uproar over privacy concerns. Earlier this week, authorities had given manufacturers and importers 90 days to comply with the now-reversed rule. But a government

by Clarence Oxford Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 05, 2025 Researchers at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County extracted building blocks from precise hand gestures in Bharatanatyam, a classical Indian dance form. Their analysis revealed a richer set of movement patterns than those in natural grasps. The team published findings online Nov. 24 in Scientific