Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. Why L.A. condo sales have slumped to a 20-year low In January and February, fewer than 2,000 condominiums were sold in Los Angeles County, according to Attom data. Above, the three towers that make up the Marina City Club condo complex in Marina del Rey. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here .

Why is Israel still in southern Lebanon? A war to shape Lebanon's future Three Israeli drone strikes on cars on a major highway linking Beirut to southern Lebanon have killed at least eight people, including two children, Lebanon's Ministry of Health reported. A photograph of the bombed cars shared by Lebanon's National News Agency following the attacks on Wednesday in the Jiyeh area, some 20km (12 miles) south of the Lebanese capital, showed the vehicles severely damaged, their exteriors charred and torn apart. "It is a conflict that is taking a high toll on the civilians who live in these areas," she said. Lebanon and Israel are expected to hold a new round of direct negotiations in Washington on Thursday, brokered by the United States.

Leiden researchers Professor Daniela Kraft and Mengshi Wei have created microscopic robots that move without sensors, software, or external control. Instead, their behaviour emerges entirely from their shape and the way they interact with their environment. This class of robots opens up entirely new possibilities for biomedical applications. Inspiration to build these robots came from nature. Kraft: "Animals like worms and snakes constantly adapt their shape as they move, which helps them to navigate their environments. Macroscopic robots similarly use flexibility for their function. However, until now, microrobots were either small and rigid, or large and flexible. We wondered if we could realize small and flexible microrobots in our lab."

A team of scientists from Nanyang Technological University Singapore has developed a new biochip that, when paired with computer vision, can detect quickly and accurately extremely small amounts of microRNAs, which are tiny genetic markers linked to diseases such as heart disease. Published in the scientific journal, the new biosensing platform combines a specially designed nanophotonic chip with AI-automated image analysis. With a tiny drop of blood loaded into the chip, it can rapidly detect multiple microRNA biomarkers. With its integrated AI imaging function, thousands of microRNA signals can be imaged and analysed in a single snapshot. Compared with the current gold standard of detecting microRNA - PCR (polymerase chain reaction) detects tiny amounts of genetic material by copying them many times - the new device can cut detection time from hours to 20 minutes. MicroRNAs are short RNA molecules that help regulate genes that work in the body.

This is the first time NASA has encountered a situation like this, and it took nearly a week to resolve. The Curiosity rover landed on Mars in August 2012. While it has enabled many exciting discoveries, the Curiosity Rover has also encountered its share of setbacks. The latest left NASA engineers speechless. On April 25, Curiosity drilled into a rock nicknamed "Atacama" to collect a sample.

SoftBank Group has reported a surge in quarterly profit due to valuation gains on its OpenAI investment, boosting confidence at the Japanese company to bet even more on the ChatGPT-maker. The gains on OpenAI outweighed lackluster investment gains elsewhere in the Tokyo-based technology group's portfolio while war in the Middle East roiled markets. That points to growing reliance on the U.S. startup, which faces rising competition from Anthropic and Google and is reportedly trailing its highest internal targets. SoftBank earned a net income of ¥1.83 trillion ($11.6 billion) in its fiscal fourth quarter, compared with the average analyst estimate of ¥295.2 billion. The profit could be attributed entirely to its booking $25 billion in valuation gains on OpenAI in the quarter, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Kirk Boodry. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

Chris Mason: Why a coffee is overshadowing the King's Speech It is quite something when two blokes having a cup of coffee can generate more headlines and conversation than the King coming to parliament for the main ceremonial event of the parliamentary calendar. Both these things are happening this morning. The prime minister has met the Health Secretary Wes Streeting in private - a meeting offered by Sir Keir Starmer to cabinet ministers after Tuesday's cabinet meeting and an offer Streeting took up. It was a very short meeting - under 20 minutes - and we may not know what happened in Number 10 immediately. And then, not long afterwards, the King will arrive in Westminster for the State Opening of Parliament, in which the sovereign reads out the government's planned new laws for the year and a bit ahead. This ceremonial occasion was scheduled for this week precisely because government figures anticipated a rough set of election results and a splash of political tumult afterwards.

United States President Donald Trump has departed for Beijing ahead of a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, after weeks of unsuccessful US efforts to persuade China to help bring Iran back to negotiations and ease tensions around the Strait of Hormuz. The leaders of the world's two largest economies are due to meet on Thursday and Friday during Trump's first visit to China since 2017, with talks expected to focus on trade, Taiwan, artificial intelligence and the war involving Iran. Why does the Trump-Xi summit matter? The Trump-Xi summit is a high-level meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping taking place in Beijing as the world's two largest economies face growing tensions over trade, technology, Taiwan and the Iran war. The summit is particularly significant because Trump will be the first US leader to visit China in nearly a decade, while the talks also come at a time of heightened geopolitical and economic uncertainty.

US President Donald Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on May 14 and 15, following weeks of delays due to the US-Israel war on Iran. The talks are expected to focus on trade relations and mark the first time a US president has visited China in nearly a decade. In recent decades, the US and China have emerged as the world's dominant superpowers, frequently seen as locked in a contest for who sits atop the world order. A quarter of a century ago, by contrast, the US dwarfed China in most major indicators, but today, Beijing is regarded as the factory of the world and is outpacing its Western counterpart in many regards. Who is the world's top trading power?

Smart glasses are'an invasion of privacy' - Meta's are selling better than ever Issues with a new wave of smart glasses seem to be piling up. Yet some of the biggest technology companies in the world are poised to sell many millions of pairs in the coming years. Women leaving the beach, going into a shop, or simply standing outside are now being approached by men usually wearing Meta's Ray-Bans, the company's smart or AI glasses, often in order to film the women's responses to casual questions or pick-up lines without their knowledge or consent. The women only find out about the videos of them after they gain traction, and often abuse, online. They have little legal recourse as photography in public is broadly considered legal.