Author: Editor-In-Chief
Rory McIlroy has made a strong start to 2026, taking the lead after the first round of the Dubai Invitational with a 5-under 66.McIlroy is making his first start of the year following an incredible 2025 in which he completed a career Grand Slam by winning the Masters and played a key role in Team Europe’s away Ryder Cup victory. The 36-year-old was runner-up at the only Dubai Invitational in 2024 and is well placed to do even better this week. McIlroy finished one stroke ahead of Scotland’s Conor Syme and Spain’s David Puig, while England’s Matt Wallace dropped four…
Berlin-based Parloa has raised $350 million in Series D funding from existing investors, valuing the six-year-old customer service AI startup at $3 billion. The round comes just eight months after the company raised $120 million at a $1 billion valuation. The new round was led by General Catalyst, with participation from returning backers including EQT Ventures, Altimeter Capital, Durable Capital, and Mosaic Ventures. Parloa is one of many startups developing AI agents that promise to automate the kinds of customer service tasks traditionally handled by human agents or help desk staff. The company’s competitors include Sierra, which was co-founded by…
Sunset landscape of light trails passing through an intersection in Seoul Gangnam central business district in Seoul city, South KoreaMongkol Joo Won | Moment | Getty ImagesAsia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Thursday as investors assessed the Bank of Korea’s latest policy decisions.The recent depreciation of the won has narrowed the room for policy easing, and the South Korean central bank kept its base interest rate unchanged at 2.50%, as expected by Reuters. The country’s benchmark Kospi rose 1.58% to a record high of 4,797.55, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.95% to close at 951.16. The Korean won fell by about…
After days of threatening to attack Iran in support of protesters challenging the government in Tehran, US President Donald Trump appeared to scale back his rhetoric on Wednesday night.President Trump said the killings had stopped in Iran, adding that the Iranian government had told the government that arrested protesters would not be executed.Recommended stories list of 4 itemsend of listPresident Trump did not rule out an attack on Iran, but he effectively denied the rationale for such an attack.Still, as President Trump approaches the end of the first year of his second term, his record suggests that the possibility of…
A British restaurant with two Michelin stars has been given a one-star hygiene rating following a visit to the premises by food standards inspectors in November. Offering a 30-course tasting menu, Ynyshir is Wales’ only restaurant with two Michelin stars. Prices start at £468 (approximately $630) for the five-hour experience, described by the prestigious Michelin Guide as “truly unique.” But now the restaurant is making headlines for less positive reasons. Inspectors from the Food Standards Agency (FSA), which aims to protect the public by ensuring food safety, gave a damning hygiene report and gave it a one-star rating out of…
Rehan Ahmed and Adil Rashid have not been granted visas for the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup, which starts on February 7.Sky Sports News understands that the postponement means that both Pakistani players will not travel to Sri Lanka with the rest of the squad this weekend for warm-up matches, including three ODIs and three T20Is. As things stand, it is understood that both players are scheduled to fly to India for England’s first match against Nepal on February 8 in Mumbai. The England & Wales Cricket Board is understood to be working with the Indian government, BCCI and ICC…
The tech industry’s non-consensual sexual deepfakes problem is now bigger than just an X. In a letter to the leaders of X, Meta, Alphabet, Snap, Reddit, and TikTok, several U.S. senators are asking the companies to provide evidence that they have “robust protections and policies” in place and explain how they intend to curb the rise of sexual deepfakes on their platforms. The senators also required companies to preserve all documentation and information related to the creation, detection, management, and monetization of AI-generated sexual images, as well as related policies. The letter was published hours after Company X announced that…
The Toyota Industries logo located at the Nagakusa Factory in Obu City, Aichi Prefecture.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesShares in forklift maker Toyota Industries soared to a record high on Thursday, a day after Toyota Motor Corp. raised its tender offer price for the company by more than 15% to more than $35 billion.Toyota Industries’ stock price rose about 6% to 19,080 yen, surging above the company’s revised offer price and indicating investors are likely expecting a more favorable deal. Shares in Toyota Motor Corporation, the world’s largest automaker by sales, rose more than 2%.Toyota Motor Corporation announced late Wednesday…
Muhammad Selim Kolkata | Anadolu | Getty Imagesspotify Premium subscription prices are getting higher and higher.For February billing, subscription prices will increase from $11.99 per month to $12.99 per month in the US, Estonia, and Latvia, according to a blog post on the streaming platform.Spotify announced Thursday that users will receive an email explaining the update within the next month. The email says the prices will increase because the company “continues to provide a great experience.”Spotify last raised its premium price for US users to $11.99 per month in June. In July 2023, the price increased to $10.99 per month.The…
The president is considering using federal law to send the military to Minneapolis, where protests continue after two shootings by federal agents in less than a week.Published January 15, 2026January 15, 2026Click here to share on social mediaShare 2sharePresident Donald Trump has threatened to invoke a rarely used federal law to send troops to Minnesota, where protests are underway over two shootings in Minneapolis within a week related to his immigration crackdown.“If you want to stop Minnesota’s corrupt politicians from not following the law and professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking patriots in ICE who are just trying to do…