Patriot missile involved in Bahrain blast likely U.S.-operated, analysis finds Smoke rises following a strike on the Bapco Oil Refinery, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, on Sitra Island Bahrain, on March 9. | REUTERS An American-operated Patriot air defense battery likely fired the interceptor missile involved in a pre-dawn explosion that injured dozens of civilians and tore through homes in U.S.-ally Bahrain 10 days into the war on Iran, according to an analysis by academic researchers examined by Reuters. Both Bahrain and Washington have blamed an Iranian drone attack for the March 9 blast, which the Gulf kingdom said injured 32 people including children, some seriously. Commenting on the day of the attack, U.S. Central Command said on X that an Iranian drone struck a residential neighborhood in Bahrain. In response to questions, Bahrain on Saturday acknowledged for the first time that a Patriot missile was involved in the explosion over the Mahazza neighborhood on Sitra island, offshore from the capital Manama and also home to an oil refinery. In a statement, a Bahraini government spokesperson said the missile successfully intercepted an Iranian drone mid-air, saving lives. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

Two robots box while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visits Unitree Robotics in Zhejiang Province, China. In the exhibition hall at Unitree Robotics in Hangzhou, Friedrich Merz smiled and applauded the martial arts display by a platoon of humanoid warriors. But when a robot boxer advanced toward him, punching the air with its red-gloved fists, the German chancellor flinched, a look of alarm crossing his face as he appeared to realize the danger posed by an autonomous fighting machine. It was also a moment that crystallized for Merz the power of China's technology, according to a person familiar with his thinking. He saw it, too, as a sign of how far behind Germany has fallen and how European Union regulation holds back their efforts to catch up, the person said, asking not to be named discussing the chancellor's private views. The trip, last month, has triggered a broader reckoning that is starting to settle in across Europe: Maybe de-risking from China is just too big a task.

As OpenClaw enthusiasm grips China, school kids and retirees alike raise'lobsters' Zhipu staff members help residents install and setup AutoClaw, a local version of the AI agent OpenClaw developed by Zhipu, at an office building in Beijing. BEIJING - Fan Xinquan, a retired electronics worker in Beijing, has recently started raising a lobster, hoping that the AI agent he has been training can help organize his specialized industry knowledge better than chatbots like DeepSeek. OpenClaw can actually help you accomplish many practical things, the 60-year-old said at a recent event hosted by AI startup Zhipu to teach people how to use and train the AI agent, which has gone viral in China, with its various local versions earning the lobster nickname. In the past month, OpenClaw, which can connect several hardware and software tools and learn from the data produced with much less human intervention than a chatbot, has captured the imaginations of many in China, from retirees looking for side income to AI firms hoping to generate new revenue streams. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrive for a reception marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Sept. 3, 2025. Moscow and Beijing are driving closer collaboration between authoritarian states and such networks help advance repression globally, according to researchers who used artificial intelligence to drill into the activities. The U.S.-based nonprofit Action for Democracy said in a report Wednesday that its researchers built an index to track seven types of cooperation, including on funding, diplomatic activities, propaganda and tech sharing. It found that China and Russia sit at the center of global authoritarian collaboration" and were jointly involved in around half of all recorded activity. The report's authors said that such cooperation generated compound returns because, for example, surveillance infrastructure exported to one regime becomes a template for the next." In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

A U.S. judge has ordered South Korean game developer Krafton to reinstate the head of one of its video game studios after ruling that he had been improperly removed as part of a takeover plan hatched by ChatGPT. WILMINGTON, DELAWARE - A Delaware judge on Monday ordered that South Korean game developer Krafton reinstate the head of one of its video game studios, ruling he had been improperly removed as part of a takeover plan hatched by ChatGPT. Krafton CEO Changhan Kim had largely followed the advice of artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT during a $250 million dispute with the leaders of the Subnautica game maker Unknown Worlds Entertainment, which Krafton had acquired, according to the ruling by Vice Chancellor Lori Will of the Court of Chancery in Delaware. Businesses and governments are scrambling for new ways to use AI, and the technology has been blamed for mass layoffs, fears of autonomous weapons and concerns about civil rights. Companies caught in takeover-related legal battles often spend millions of dollars on teams of attorneys and advisers from top-flight Wall Street firms. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

Japan Approves the World's First Treatment Made With Reprogrammed Human Cells Researchers in Japan pioneered reprogrammed cells 20 years ago. Now the country has given the first-ever authorizations to manufacture and sell medical products based on the technology. Human iPS cell colony established from fibroblasts. Its actual width is approximately 0.5 mm. On March 6, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare officially granted conditional and time-limited marketing authorization to two regenerative medical products derived from reprogrammed iPS cells, marking exactly 20 years since the creation of mouse iPS cells .

Amid an increasingly severe security environment, the Defense Ministry plans to establish a coastal defense system using thousands of drones, though there are still many issues to overcome. The SHIELD defense system will involve more than 10 types of drones, including those for attacking enemy ships, collecting information and protecting radar sites, to thwart enemy advances in a multilayered manner. The government's fiscal 2026 budget bill allocates around ¥100 billion ($628.7 million) for the drone defense system, which the ministry aims to implement in fiscal 2027. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

Microsoft's Copilot AI goes head-to-head with China's DeepSeek in Africa Microsoft is investing 5.4 billion South African rand ($330 million) to expand its cloud and AI capacity in the country by the end of next year, and it also has plans to build a geothermal-powered data center in Kenya. Microsoft is making a push for more Africans to adopt its artificial-intelligence tools as the U.S. technology giant competes with China's DeepSeek for customers from the world's youngest and fastest-growing population. The Redmond, Washington-based company plans to train 3 million Africans on its AI technology this year, in partnership with schools, universities and other institutions, with a focus on South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Morocco. It's also partnered with MTN Group, Africa's biggest telecommunications firm, to sell the Microsoft 365 suit of apps together with its Copilot digital assistant to its 300 million subscribers. The Microsoft Elevate training initiative aims to make sure cost is not a barrier to building AI literacy at scale," Middle East and Africa President Naim Yazbeck said in an interview. Chinese technology is active in Africa and our job is to compete."

U.S. self-driving startup Nuro begins testing in Tokyo While Tokyo is becoming a kind of test bed for the world's leading robotaxi ventures, Japan is lagging when it comes to the regulatory framework needed for autonomous vehicles to gain traction. Self-driving car startup Nuro has begun testing its technology in Tokyo, the U.S. company's first location abroad after partnering with Uber Technologies and Lucid Group. Backed by the likes of Nvidia and Toyota Motor, California-based Nuro aims to compete with other driverless operators such as Google parent Alphabet's Waymo and Amazon.com's Obviously there are a number of Japanese OEMs that are very interesting potential customers to us in the future," Andrew Chapin, Nuro's chief operating officer, said in an interview, using an industry term for car manufacturer. He declined to name any possible partners or confirm if Nuro is currently in talks with a Japan-based automaker.

WASHINGTON - The FBI warned law enforcement agencies last month of the possibility that Tehran might try to retaliate for any U.S. strikes on Iran by launching surprise drone attacks in California, according to a security bulletin. The confidential alert, issued by the FBI through the multi-agency Los Angeles Joint Regional Intelligence Center, surfaced publicly on Wednesday as the war that began on Feb. 28 with massive U.S. and Israeli bombardments of Iran stretched into its 12th day. Iran, whose supreme leader and other top officials were killed in air strikes, has fought back with missile and drone aircraft attacks against Israel and several Gulf states that host U.S. military installations. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.