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Can Nigeria's drone industry deliver Africa's defence sovereignty

Al Jazeera

Can Nigeria's drone industry deliver Africa's defence sovereignty Across Africa, the ability to defend borders, monitor territory and protect critical infrastructure remains heavily dependent on foreign suppliers. Turkish drones patrol borders, Chinese surveillance systems monitor cities and Russian fighter jets form the backbone of several air forces. For decades, African militaries have turned abroad for critical defence technologies, leaving the continent largely positioned as a buyer rather than a producer. An Abuja-based start-up is attempting to change that equation. Terra Industries, founded in 2024 by Nathan Nwachuku and Maxwell Maduka, both in their early twenties, designs and manufactures drones, autonomous surveillance towers and unmanned ground vehicles from facilities in Abuja and Accra.


Canada's Bill C-36 tackles AI privacy. Is it enough?

Al Jazeera

Canada's Bill C-36 tackles AI privacy. In an era of artificial intelligence, deepfakes and data-driven decision-making, Canada is moving to revise its privacy laws through Bill C-36, the Protecting Privacy and Consumer Data Act. Announced in June, Bill C-36 is Canada's first major overhaul of private-sector privacy legislation in more than 25 years. The bill explicitly recognises privacy as a fundamental right and also aims to give children's personal information stronger protections, enhance deletion rights and require greater transparency where automated systems make significant decisions about people. The 18-year-old shooting suspect allegedly used ChatGPT before the attack. The victims' families are now suing OpenAI, stating the company's AI safety team identified violent prompts but did not alert law enforcement.


Trump grants Kyiv Patriots licences: What's next in the Russia-Ukraine war?

Al Jazeera

Is the war entering a new phase? Patriot missile interceptors are the most coveted Western-made weapon Ukraine needs - right now and every night when Russia attacks. Frequent Russian strikes depleted Ukraine's stock of the pricey United States-made interceptors - and US President Donald Trump has now offered hope, giving Kyiv a licence to make them. We'll show them how to do it, it's very complex actually. But it's - you'll figure out the complexity quickly," Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a NATO summit in Turkiye on Wednesday. "This way, you can't complain that we're not giving them enough." Trump has not specified when the production might start - and said that Washington would hold on to its own stash. Ukraine said it will attempt to master domestic production as soon as possible. In the short-term perspective, Ukraine "perhaps, gets nothing," according to Nikolay Mitrokhin, a researcher with Germany's Bremen University.


South Korea's SK Hynix raises 26.5bn in record-breaking US IPO

Al Jazeera

South Korean chip giant SK Hynix has raised a record-breaking $26.5bn ahead of its Wall Street debut amid soaring demand for semiconductors used in AI. SK Hynix said on Friday that it had sold 177.9 million American depositary shares (ADS) at $149 each ahead of its listing on the New York-based Nasdaq stock exchange. SK Hynix's 177.9 million ADSs are equivalent to 18 million ordinary shares. SK Hynix's initial public offering (IPO) marks the largest-ever listing by a foreign company in the US, surpassing Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba's $25bn debut in 2014. The listing also ranks as the second-largest globally, after SpaceX's record-breaking $85.7bn Nasdaq listing in June.


Russia's triumphant tone shifts as Ukraine deploys 'asymmetrical tactics'

Al Jazeera

Is the war entering a new phase? The overpriced gas Anatoly has been buying in recent weeks in Moscow will ruin his white Kia's engine. "It's low-quality," the taxi driver told Al Jazeera withholding his last name for security purposes. "The engine already sounds like a sick heart The government allows a'temporary decrease in quality,' but what am I to do when I need new spare parts" that are barely available because of Western sanctions, he asked rhetorically. They don't knock, they kick the door," said the 49-year-old with a three-day stubble and bloodshot eyes. Russia's top military brass has not commented on Ukraine's assaults. But even the Kremlin's most outspoken supporters have changed their once-triumphant tune. "We have to get ready for hardships and self-sacrifice," Vladimir Solovyov, a popular talk show host on the Rossiya 1 television network, said in mid-June. Solovyov has a penchant for aggressive, loud monologues and military-style attire. He once urged the Kremlin to "erase" Ukrainian cities with nuclear strikes and said that Kyiv and its Western allies "serve the prince of darkness." Military bloggers are even more pessimistic because of their proximity to the frontline. One of them, Prizrak Novorossii (The Ghost of New Russia), wrote on Telegram in late June that the Kremlin should conduct a massive mobilisation campaign because Russians already "foresee big changes and possible cataclysms because of, to put it mildly, the unfavourable dynamics of hostilities." The reason is simple - outmanned Ukrainians use "an asymmetrical tactic of long-range drone strikes with technological solutions that Russia is only catching up on," he wrote. "So, the question isn't about whether or not to have mobilisation, but about how to conduct it," the blogger concluded, adding that recent events "inspire little optimism." 'I'm afraid my son will be drafted' "I'm afraid my son will be drafted, but we don't have money to send him abroad," Kseniya, a mother of two from the western city of Tula, told Al Jazeera. She withheld her last name and personal details for security purposes. "We've been told a thousand times that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin brought stability, and instead, we see total chaos.


'Digging with a needle': Generals stall peace as Sudan's el-Obeid burns

Al Jazeera

'Digging with a needle': Generals stall peace as Sudan's el-Obeid burns As drone attacks rain down on el-Obeid and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) tighten their months-long siege, the capital of North Kordofan has emerged as the latest flashpoint in Sudan's grinding war of attrition. Despite mounting international alarm and renewed US diplomatic pressure aimed at securing a nationwide truce, Sudan's warring generals remain deeply entrenched. Both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF appear locked in a pursuit of outright military victory, largely sustained by a continuous flow of foreign weapons. Through the lens of the escalating crisis in el-Obeid, a grim reality is unfolding: Civilian suffering is increasingly weaponised amid polarised domestic narratives, while geopolitical manoeuvring repeatedly stalls any viable path to peace. El-Obeid holds immense strategic value.


US export ban on Anthropic's AI models further strains alliances

Al Jazeera

Artificial intelligence has become the latest issue to drive a wedge between the United States and its allies after US President Donald Trump ordered tech giant Anthropic to cut off foreign access to its powerful Mythos 5 and Claude Fable 5 AI models, citing national security concerns. The US issued the unprecedented order for all foreign nationals in and outside the US last week, promoting Anthropic to take the two AI models completely offline to ensure compliance. The two public versions of the model, Mythos 5 and Fable 5, were due to be released in early June. Anthropic said the US government did not provide a reason for the order, but that it was its "understanding" that the Trump administration believed it had become aware of a method of "jailbreaking" Fable 5. The Trump administration's ban immediately sent shockwaves across Europe, which is heavily dependent on US-developed AI.


Israel kills at least three Palestinians in Gaza City drone strike

Al Jazeera

'This is an apartheid regime' Does Trump have real leverage over Netanyahu? At least three Palestinians have been killed and several others wounded after an Israeli drone struck a vehicle near Abu Khadra Mosque in the Rimal neighbourhood of western Gaza City, according to medical sources. Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary, reporting from Gaza City, said the attack on Thursday was the first explosion in the area after a few "calm and quiet" days. What to know about Colombia's run-off election "Only one of the three victims has been identified: Abdul Jawad Abu Lebn [who] was set to get married next week. Wedding invitations were found inside the car."


Mother sues OpenAI in US after daughter's death linked to ChatGPT use

Al Jazeera

Mother sues OpenAI in US after daughter's death linked to ChatGPT use Alice Carrier had recently started playing the guitar again, a hobby she enjoyed in high school but had set aside during college. It was one of several pursuits she filled her free time with as she interviewed for new jobs, spent time with her dog and enjoyed activities, including gaming. By all appearances, at least to her mother, Kristie Carrier, things were going well. Alice was working as a web developer in Montreal, Canada, fulfilling a dream she had carried since growing up in the small town of Lawrence, New Brunswick. But what Carrier did not know was how much her daughter was struggling in silence.


China's secret weapon in AI race with US? Lots of cheap energy

Al Jazeera

In the race against China for AI supremacy, the United States dominates when it comes to access to the most cutting-edge semiconductors. But when it comes to powering the huge data centres that run on AI chips, China holds the clear advantage. A typical data centre can consume as much electricity as 100,000 households, while next-generation "hyperscale" facilities can gobble up as much power as two million homes, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). China's access to an abundant supply of cheap electricity places it in the ideal position to meet such colossal energy demands. China already generates more than twice as much electricity as the US, a lead that is expected to widen amid an aggressive state-led investment in the country's energy grid.