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• AI consolidation reached record levels last year, with 33 major acquisitions totaling at least $157 billion in disclosed value. • High-profile deals include Google's $32 billion purchase of Wiz, IBM's $27.8 billion data-stack acquisition, and Salesforce's $3.6 billion purchase of Fin. • These trends indicate a shift in investor demand away from Large Language Models (LLMs) toward specialized infrastructure and data-stack companies.

• Hollywood continues to maintain a significant global cultural presence, but its dominance is being challenged by the rise of Asian media industries. • Countries including China, South Korea, Japan, and Indonesia are increasingly producing their own original narratives and content. • This shift signifies a transition from Asia being primarily a consumer of Western media to becoming a confident creator of global entertainment.

• The UK government and private sector announced multi-billion pound investments at London Tech Week. • Lumai unveiled an optical computing system capable of running billion-parameter Large Language Models (LLMs) in real time, a significant advancement in AI technology. • This development indicates that AI is becoming increasingly tangible and powerful, with potential applications across various industries.

• The war in Ukraine has officially surpassed the duration of World War I, leading analysts to draw unsettling parallels between the two conflicts. • The comparison highlights a pattern where initial technological innovations in warfare fail to provide a lasting strategic advantage. • Historical evidence shows that opposing forces, such as the British and French in WWI, eventually adapt and develop countermeasures to neutralize new tactics.

• Europe is facing a critical geopolitical crisis in 2026, driven by aggressive unilateralism from Washington, Beijing, and Moscow, alongside escalating trade wars and energy instability. • The Future Combat Air System (FCAS) serves as a primary example of failure, where the development of a 6th-generation fighter jet has stalled due to national vanity and industrial disputes. • The author argues that European federalism must shift from a political ideology to a necessary survival strategy to ensure strategic autonomy and security.

The public broadcaster launched an investigation into the former bikie’s involvement in a podcast sponsored by an online casinoFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Four Corners reporter Mahmood Fazal is no longer working for the ABC after an investigation into the former bikie’s involvement in a podcast sponsored by an online casino.The ABC managing director, Hugh Marks, told Senate estimates on Thursday Fazal’s employment had been “terminated” after the investigation. Continue reading...

Welfare advocates say while the reforms are a step in the right direction, the privatised employment services model has failed and should be torn upGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMutual obligations will be different for every welfare recipient, the employment minister, Amanda Rishworth, says, signalling an end to jobseekers being forced to submit “endless” applications for roles they may not be qualified for.But welfare advocates and a key trade union have said Labor’s employment system changes don’t go far enough and fall short of the reform needed to the failure-plagued sector – they have called for an end to the privatised job services mode,l which Rishworth admits is not providing enough help.At the lower level, a digital service with “individualised resources and brief interventions” for people who are work-ready but need help finding the right job fit;a “targeted provider-led” stream to help people build skills and confidence to gain employment;and at the upper end, more intensive services for people with complex requirements, who will be given more time, flexibility and support to build their confidence and capabilities. Continue reading...

• SCOTUSblog reported that Supreme Court oral argument sessions are getting longer, raising questions about how the justices manage time and case presentation. • The trend has drawn attention because expanded arguments can change how much each justice can probe the lawyers and how many cases the Court can hear efficiently. • The issue matters for judicial administration, since procedural changes at the Court can affect both case outcomes and the pace of the docket.

Landmark report calls for widespread air conditioning and says UK temperatures forecast to exceed 40C by 2050British homes will need air conditioning to survive predicted levels of global heating, the government’s climate advisers have warned in a report, as measures such as drawing curtains, opening windows and growing trees for shade are not likely to be enough.Air conditioning should be installed in all care homes and hospitals within the next 10 years, and in all schools within 25 years, according to the Climate Change Committee (CCC), which published a major report on adapting to the impacts of global heating on Wednesday. Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: A leadership crisis once again grips Westminster, with the Labour party currently split, the prime minister may not last the weekGood morning. First as tragedy, then as farce. Once again, the UK is shrouded in political uncertainty as a deeply unpopular prime minister clings to power. It has become a familiar cycle in recent years: the wait to find out which perishable good will survive longer than our next doomed premier.Keir Starmer insists he is not leaving – a serious leader for a serious time – and will have been boosted by last night’s lifeline, when Wes Streeting’s challenge failed to materialise. However, his authority with Labour MPs remains weak. Each new resignation attempts to undermine his position. For now, Starmer remains in charge by default.UK politics | Keir Starmer will attempt to regain the political initiative today as his government announces a package of 35 bills for the next parliamentary session, covering everything from housing to immigration.World news| Donald Trump is due to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday evening, the first visit to China by a US president in nearly a decade, as he seeks to mend power and prestige weakened by the war in Iran.UK news | Nine in 10 UK millionaires are proud to live in Britain and three-quarters would be willing to pay more tax to ensure public assets get the funding they need, according to research.Middle East | The risk of some Gulf states becoming embroiled in a direct war with Iran has risen after it was reported the United Arab Emirates had secretly launched a major attack on Iran during the conflict.Health | After more than a decade of global consultation, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) – a condition that affects one in eight women – has been renamed. Continue reading...

Almost two-thirds of respondents said US used to be a great place for immigrants but no longer isSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Donald Trump’s aggressive and wide-reaching immigration-enforcement agenda has convinced increasing numbers of adults that the US is no longer a welcoming country for outsiders, a new poll has found.About six in 10 respondents to the Associated Press-NORC poll, conducted last month, say the country used to be a great place for immigrants, but no longer is. Continue reading...

Campaign is said to be first time Labour-affiliated Unison is lobbying en masse against a key party policyMigrant workers and the UK’s largest union will carry out a mass leafleting campaign in Shabana Mahmood’s Birmingham constituency to protest against a planned change in immigration policy.The Labour-affiliated Unison union says the changes will adversely affect migrant care workers. About one-third of all care workers and one-fifth of all NHS workers are migrants. Continue reading...

Lord Robertson says diplomatic tone from White House is at ‘historic low’ and two allies are likely to keep divergingUK politics live – latest updatesBritain’s high military dependence on the US “is no longer tenable” and the UK has to become increasingly independent of the special relationship with Washington, a former Nato chief has warned.Lord Robertson, who last week accused British leaders of a “corrosive complacency” towards defence, said on Wednesday the traditional allies were diverging over values – and that even after Donald Trump, the separation was likely to continue. Continue reading...

Defense secretary Pete Hegseth makes announcement and calls military’s flu vaccine mandate ‘broad’ and ‘not rational’Members of the armed services will no longer be required to have an annual flu vaccination shot under a new policy announced Tuesday by Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary.In a video statement posted to social media, Hegseth described the mandate as “overly broad” and “not rational” and the decision to drop the vaccine requirement as “seizing this moment to discard any absurd overreaching mandates that only weaken our war fighting capabilities”. Continue reading...

Maria Medetis Long had expressed doubts over case of John Brennan, whose agency said Russia boosted Trump in 2016Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA federal prosecutor leading the investigation into former CIA director John Brennan is no longer working on the case after expressing reservations about it, according to a person familiar with the matter.The prosecutor, Maria Medetis Long, informed attorneys involved in the case she was no longer handling it, according to CNN, which first reported she was leaving the case. Medetis Long is a career attorney serving as the chief of the national security division in the US attorney’s office for the southern district of Florida. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Continue reading...

Beijing may be reaping some diplomatic benefit but Trump’s war holds risks for its energy security and economyTwo months ago, China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, promised it would be a “big year” for China-US relations. He was right, but perhaps not in the way he expected.Wang was speaking before a planned visit by Donald Trump to Beijing in March, which would have been Trump’s first trip to China since 2017. But the trip, and a meeting with China’s president, Xi Jinping, was kicked back by several weeks after Trump decided to launch strikes with Israel against Iran, starting a war in the Middle East that has caused a global energy crisis and roiled diplomatic relations across the board. Continue reading...

Rising inflation and unemployment mean effects of Iran war could be even worse than the post-Covid cost-of-living crisisGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAs diesel prices make history by passing $3 a litre in nearly every capital city around the country, the stresses of high fuel costs are beginning to show.Truckies are warning they will go out of business if they can’t renegotiate their contracts with customers; farmers are warning the same, telling families that food in our supermarkets could soon cost more. Continue reading...

• New York University Abu Dhabi team discovered clues of subsurface water on Mars in Gale Crater using NASA's Curiosity rover data, indicating habitability lasted longer than previously thought. • Ancient sand dunes hardened into rock billions of years ago after interacting with groundwater, confirmed by comparing Martian formations to UAE desert analogs. • Led by Dimitra Atri, the study published in Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets highlights underground sites as prime locations for past life evidence.

In a randomised trial, men who experience premature ejaculation benefitted from using an app to learn techniques for extending intercourse