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SUNDAY, 18 JANUARY 2026, 21:51

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Major EU states condemn Trump tariff threats, consider retaliation

Today at 21:20 PM, via Daily Maverick

BRUSSELS, Jan 18 (Reuters) – Major European Union states including Germany and France decried U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats over Greenland as blackmail on Sunday, as France proposed responding with a range of untested economic countermeasures.

South Africa

Musk Seeks Up to $134B From OpenAI, Microsoft in Lawsuit Over Nonprofit Mission

Today at 21:45 PM, via iAfrica

Elon Musk is seeking between $79 billion and $134 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging the artificial intelligence company defrauded him by abandoning its nonprofit mission, Bloomberg reported. The damages estimate comes from expert witness C. Paul Wazzan, a financial economist who specializes in valuation and damages calculations in commercial litigation. Wazzan determined […]

South Africa

AU Panel Urges Faster Adoption of Robotics to Boost Food Security

Today at 21:36 PM, via iAfrica

The African Union High-Level Panel on Emerging Technologies said the adoption of robotics in agriculture could strengthen modern farming practices and improve food security across the continent. The panel said robotics-based mechanization holds strong potential for Africa’s farming sector, particularly in harvesting, which it described as a critical part of the economy and the region’s […]

South Africa

AI Engineer Builds Tools to Help Hospitals Cut Avoidable Readmissions

Today at 21:25 PM, via iAfrica

As artificial intelligence increasingly influences decision-making in health care, its impact depends on how well it supports clinicians on the front lines. Sylvester Tafirenyika, an AI and machine-learning engineer, is focused on building tools designed to improve health care outcomes and reduce avoidable hospital readmissions. He has authored more than 28 peer-reviewed research papers, many […]

Business

Bad news for South African passport holders

Today at 16:00 PM, via BusinessTech

South African passport holders are facing a tougher global travel environment in 2026, with reduced visa-free access and growing barriers when applying for visas to some of the world’s most popular destinations.

Science/Tech

Microsoft Forced to Issue Emergency Out-of-Band Windows Update

Today at 21:34 PM, via Slashdot

The senior editor at the blog Windows Central decries two serious Windows issues “that were not spotted by Microsoft during testing, and are so severe that the company has now issued an emergency fix to address the problems.”Microsoft’s first update for Windows 11 in 2026 has already caused two major issues that saw users unable to fully shutdown their PCs or sign-in into a device when using...

Science/Tech

The Guardian view on microplastics research: questioning results is good for science, but has political consequences | Editorial

Today at 19:58 PM, via The Guardian

Errors in measuring microplastic pollution can be corrected. Public trust in science also needs to be shored up

It is true that science is self-correcting. Over the long term this means that we can generally trust its results – but up close, correction can be a messy process. The Guardian reported last week that 20 recent studies measuring the amount of micro- and nanoplastics in the human...

Science/Tech

Astronomers Finally Explain How Molecules From Earth’s Atmosphere Keep Winding Up On the Moon

Today at 19:34 PM, via Slashdot

An anonymous reader shared this report from CNN:Particles from Earth’s atmosphere have been carried into space by solar wind and have been landing on the moon for billions of years, mixing into the lunar soil, according to a new study [published in the journal Nature Communications Earth & Environment last month]. The research sheds new light on a puzzle that has endured for over half a century...