Middle East tensions and currency volatility have caused Japan's record stock rally to falter, but the weakness looks temporary as solid corporate fundamentals and the long-term outlook for artificial intelligence provide support. That's the view of Koji Nakatsuka, chief investment officer for Japan equity at Allianz Global Investors, which manages 2.4 trillion in assets globally. "If everything gets normalized, the Japanese stock market has an upside potential toward the end of the year. The Nikkei may return to its record high levels by year-end," he said. Japanese stocks have come close to a technical correction after surging to all-times highs earlier this year, as traders slashed bets on the Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts.

Allianz SE has announced an agreement with London-based insurtech Cytora that will see the former integrate AI-based digital risk processing solutions into its commercial insurance business. It's hoped the move will improve Allianz' margins by enabling better risk selection.

Allianz Insurance has rolled out its latest artificial intelligence (AI)-based digital solution that allows its injury claims handlers to automate Ministry of Justice Stage 3 claims at a single click. The new system, dubbed Defendant Hub, has been developed in collaboration with UK law firm Keoghs. The digital solution provides Allianz's injury claims handlers with an end-to-end solution for Stage 3 claims. Ministry of Justice Stage 3 claims represent the phase of the process where legal proceedings may be issued in case the parties cannot agree how much a claim is worth. The new system will eliminate the manual feeding of data and generate a response.

The Drone Racing League partner with France's Group AB, and is kicking off this year's DRL World Championship season with a race at the Allianz Riveria Stadium in Nice, France. The drone racing has been raised from an underground hobbyist activity in parking lots across the country to an authentic eSport with celebrated events all over the world. The event will mark the first professional drone race in France. "We're incredibly excited to extend our partnership with Allianz, who has a proud history of supporting innovative sports and auto racing, and to expand the reach of pro-drone racing in collaboration with Groupe AB, the predominant racing media company in France," said Nicholas Horbaczweski, the founder of Drone Racing League. "I think that fans define what we are," concluded Horbaczewski.

They have been responsible for innumerable deaths in the Middle East during the last decade and, if Amazon has its way, will deliver millions of toasters, gift sets and novels in the future. But recently drones have begun to fulfil a less utilitarian kind of role: competition in the nascent world of futuristic motorsports. A confluence of technological advances has made drone racing possible. A minuscule camera, mounted on the drone's nose, allows the pilot, as competitors are luxuriously titled, to control the vehicle through virtual reality-style goggles, as if perched in its tiny cockpit. With powerful lithium batteries, the size of which dictates the speed class of the drone, these machines, which are typically the size of a box of tissues, can reach speeds in excess of 120mph.

Corporate venture capital (CVC) is an investment by a corporate (fund) into external startups in order to make a financial return or to gain a competitive advantage. CVC is a polarizing subject and opinions are divided. Fred Wilson from Union Square Ventures believes that it's evil and corporates should not invest in startups but simply buy them. While Marc Andreessen from Andreessen Horowitz on the other hand is co-investing with corporations such as General Electric. Whatever the opinions are, fact is that CVC is on the rise, also in the old continent.

RemitRadar confirms that Allianz will utilise the RemitRadar ecosystem and marketplace along with artificial intelligence solutions to offer a range of unique services to RemitRadar's global community. About Allianz Allianz represents one of the world's strongest financial communities, offering a broad range of insurance and asset management services. In 2015, Allianz employed around 142,000 staff in some 70 countries and achieved total revenues of 125.2 billion euros and an operating profit of 10.7 billion euros. Allianz Group managed an investment portfolio of around 640 billion euros. Additionally our asset managers Allianz GI and PIMCO managed 1.3 trillion euros of third party money.

The first thing that might come to mind thinking of drones is their military application. Unmanned flying weaponry, however, is not a new approach. In the 1860s, balloons loaded with explosives and sent with the prevailing winds towards enemy targets, were used as the first drones. Today, they have become such an innovative technology that its use has extended to the civilian and commercial sector, becoming a part of our everyday life. Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or by the public referred as drones, have the potential to solve problems, improve safety and save costs across a number of industries, throughout the developing world and in disaster relief scenarios.