We have a drug that could transform HIV prevention. So why can't millions get it? It's the'closest thing to an HIV vaccine', but who gets access? But who gets access raises bigger questions about public money, pharmaceutical power, drug prices and shrinking global health funding. Al Jazeera's Mikail Malik looks at the fight over access.

In her new book on biological warfare, Annie Jacobsen didn't even discuss AI because scientists can already warp Mother Nature to create extinction-level events. We've been hearing a great deal recently about the specter of AI-driven human extinction . Maybe our misplaced trust in AI intelligence will set off World War III . Or AI agents will unleash widespread cyberattacks and take over the internet. Given too much autonomy, the machines will run amok. They may seek to deceive their creators--wait, that's already happened . Suppose they conclude, like Agent Smith in, that "human beings are a plague, and we are the cure." Or perhaps the chatbots help bad humans unleash a literal plague--a biological weapon .

Analysts in Taipei say the third Trump–Xi meeting produced no clear change in U.S. policy on Taiwan, but upcoming arms sales and official visits could test that assessment.

Disaster response an'urgent issue,' says new land minister Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Tatsunori Ibayashi answers questions during an interview in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Wednesday. New Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Tatsunori Ibayashi on Wednesday pledged to respond to heavy rain and other natural disasters with a sense of urgency. Disaster response is an "urgent issue," Ibayashi said in an interview with media organizations, adding that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has strongly instructed Cabinet ministers to prioritize countermeasures. Large-scale natural disasters, including Typhoon Dujuan, have caused significant damage recently in Japan, he said. "The types of disasters have diversified considerably."

U.S. troops are set to end their military mission in Iraq on Wednesday, closing Operation Inherent Resolve as the ISIS threat wanes but Iran-backed militias remain armed.

"Robotics and automation" is a pairing heard often around these parts. It puts the "RA" in IEEE RAS, after all. The familiar combination shows up in conference titles, funding calls, and program descriptions. But what is actually meant by the two words? Is robotics a subdomain of automation?

While calling voice a protected right, court dismisses voice actor's AI case TikTok argued in the case that the person who posted the videos let generative AI learn their friend's voice, and it is no more than a generic male voice. The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday dismissed a demand from a high-profile anime voice actor that TikTok remove videos he says feature an artificial intelligence clone of his voice but recognized voice as a protected right. While Presiding Judge Aya Takahashi ruled that voice is also subject to what is known as publicity rights -- celebrities' right to control and protect commercial gain from their identity, such as their name and image -- she dismissed Kenjiro Tsuda's demand, saying the videos had already been deleted. "Human voice is a symbol of an individual's personality, just like image," the ruling said, adding that unauthorized use of voice could constitute an infringement of rights. It is the first time a Japanese court made such a judgment.

Inside McDonald's push to have AI price your Big Mac McDonald's pricing engine uses machine-learning algorithms to continually analyze data from millions of daily transactions across McDonald's nearly 14,000 restaurants. NEW YORK - McDonald's is increasingly using artificial intelligence to guide menu prices across the U.S. and some global markets, a plan that aims to boost headquarters' profit but risks alienating customers and attracting antitrust scrutiny. One pricing factor supercharged by AI: an estimate of how much each store's patrons are willing to pay. The details of how that pricing system works, its extensive use of AI, the company's regulatory concerns and the tensions with its franchisees haven't been previously reported. For this story, screenshots of the company pricing engine taken in August were reviewed, and nine sources with firsthand knowledge of the burger chain's strategy were interviewed.

Trump backs AI self-regulation at tech summit but is it enough? Trump backs AI self-regulation at tech summit but is it enough? US President Donald Trump and leading tech companies have signed a voluntary agreement to regulate AI that includes internal reviews and joint monitoring, but falls short of introducing concrete'guardrails'. Share Trump backs AI self-regulation at tech summit but is it enough? String of rapes in Delhi triggers social campaign for women's safety Man City CEO: Premier League verdict based on'conspiracy theory' 'Netanyahu targets Qatar to deflect from Gaza war crimes' What is white phosphorus, and why is Israel using it in Lebanon?

China's AI agents can lie and scheme -- just like their U.S. rivals Chinese artificial intelligence companies have not been exposed to the same level of public scrutiny as in the United States. BEIJING - Chinese-powered artificial intelligence agents have learn to deceive, circumvent restrictions and conceal failure, showing the kind of traits in autonomous artificial intelligence that have raised global alarm about U.S. models, research documents and experts say. In one case this year, agents powered by models from China's Alibaba, DeepSeek and Moonshot lied about their capabilities in a bid to win a simulated business tender, then doubled down on their deceptive behavior when told to try again. In another case, agents -- programs that use AI models and computer tools to undertake complex tasks with little or no human intervention -- concealed failure to complete a task in a test environment by simulating results and fabricating files. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.