ICT Sector BEE Code Under the Microscope as Starlink Circles
The B‑BBEE ICT Sector Council has opened a formal review of the 2016 ICT sector code and released an updated equity‑equivalent investment programme (EEIP) framework. The new rules clarify two measurement options – a contribution equal to 30% of the South African operation’s value or 4% of annual turnover – and tighten procedural safeguards under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act. The council also mandates affidavits and, in some cases, auditor verification to prove multinational firms do not dilute local equity. These changes arrive as Starlink seeks market entry without local shareholding, sparking political debate.
CleanMax Commissions 185MW Hybrid Project in Gujarat, India
Clean Max Enviro Energy Solutions has commissioned a 185 MW wind‑solar hybrid project in Kalavad, Gujarat, raising its state capacity to about 844 MW. The facility will serve 17 corporate customers under 25‑year fixed‑tariff PPAs and is projected to add roughly $17.75 million...
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Breakthrough at UNSW Targets Transport and Aviation Use
Researchers at the University of New South Wales have unveiled a redesigned hydrogen fuel cell that incorporates microscopic lateral bypass channels to improve water management. The new architecture prevents water buildup, delivering up to 75% more power than conventional cells...
Shuten Order Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and Switch Physical Releases Delayed by One Week in North America
Spike Chunsoft announced that the physical releases of Shuten Order for Nintendo Switch 2 and the original Switch in North America will be delayed by one week, now shipping on April 30, 2026. The postponement is attributed to ongoing global shipping...
Trump Admin Rejects Ford Bid for Aluminum Tariff Relief
The Trump administration rejected Ford's request for temporary relief from the 50% aluminum import tariff after fires crippled Novelis' Oswego plant, forcing automakers to source overseas. Ford has already absorbed $2 billion in costs and expects an additional $1 billion in tariff...
Mint Explainer | Anthropic’s $400-Million Biotech Bet: What It Means for India’s Pharma Industry
Anthropic, the creator of the Claude AI model, has acquired stealth biotech startup Coefficient Bio for $400 million in an all‑stock transaction. Coefficient, founded by former Genentech computational drug discovery scientists, brings expertise in AI‑driven molecule design. The purchase underscores a...
Asian Airlines Maintain AI Investments Despite Budget Cuts Due to Iran War Oil Shock
Asian airlines are slashing capital expenditures to conserve cash amid an oil shock that has pushed jet‑fuel prices above $100 a barrel, yet they are safeguarding AI and data‑infrastructure budgets. Thai Airways is rolling out an enterprise data platform, while...
Gov. Tim Walz Deploys National Guard After Winona Cyberattack Disrupts Services
A cyberattack on Winona County began on April 6, crippling the county’s digital infrastructure that supports emergency and municipal services. Governor Tim Walz issued an emergency executive order authorizing the Minnesota National Guard to assist with containment, system stabilization, and recovery....
Universities Model Domestic Energy Use to Help UK Hit Net Zero Goals
University College London, Oxford and Exeter have launched the Energy Demand Observatory and Laboratory (EDOL) to model UK household energy use with unprecedented granularity. Building on the Smart Energy Research Lab’s 11,500‑home smart‑meter dataset, EDOL adds near‑real‑time temperature, humidity and...
UK House Prices Fall as Iran War Uncertainty Dampens Demand
Halifax reported the average UK house price fell 0.5% in March to £299,677 (approximately $383,000). The decline follows a 0.3% rise in February and reflects dampened demand as mortgage rates climb amid uncertainty from the Iran‑Israel conflict. Higher energy costs...
RBI Ups Crude Oil, Exchange Rate Baseline Assumptions for FY27
The Reserve Bank of India raised its FY27 baseline crude‑oil price to $85 per barrel, up from $70 in the second half of FY26, and lifted its rupee projection to 94 per dollar, up from 88. The revision follows a...
Balikatan 26: U.S. and Armed Forces of the Philippines Servicemembers Conduct a Key Leader Engagement Ahead of Maritime Sustainment Operations...
During Balikatan 26, U.S. Marines and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) convened a key leader engagement in Cagayan de Oro to introduce senior commanders responsible for the Maritime Prepositioning Force (MPF) offload. The briefing detailed logistics planning for the...
SNCF Plans to Use AI and Data Analytics for the New TGV INOUI
SNCF Voyageurs convened a two‑day datathon with 70 data specialists and engineering students to prototype AI‑driven features for the upcoming TGV INOUI high‑speed service. Teams focused on predictive maintenance, energy‑efficiency tools and a self‑check‑in passenger system, delivering prototypes such as a...
Bangladesh Plans 442 MW Solar Facility Near Coal Power Plant
Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) will build a 442 MW solar farm adjacent to the 1.32 GW Rampal coal plant, marking the nation’s largest solar project. The $200 million development will be financed 15% by BPDB and 85% from the government’s Power Development...
Honda’s Global Output Fell 5% in February
Honda Motor Company reported a 5% drop in global production in February 2026, delivering 270,008 vehicles versus 284,232 a year earlier. Output in Japan rebounded, climbing 9% to 67,550 units, while overseas production fell almost 9% to 202,458 units. Over...
Spark Secures Australian Approval for Massive Solar and Battery Project
Spark Renewables, owned by Malaysia’s Tenaga Nasional, received final state planning approval for the Dinawan Solar Farm and battery project in New South Wales. The hybrid development will install 800 MW of photovoltaic capacity and a 356 MW/1,574 MWh battery storage system, representing...
Aether & Iron Original Soundtrack Is Now Available on Spotify, Apple Music, Steam, and More
Seismic Squirrel announced that the Aether & Iron original soundtrack is now streaming worldwide on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Deezer, Amazon Music and Steam, with a purchase option also on Steam. The 15‑track score was composed by two‑time Grammy winner...
This Program Pays Nonprofits to Take the Time to Consider Solar
The Solar Upgrading Nonprofits (SUN) program, backed by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and Resonant Energy, offers nonprofits financial stipends and technical assistance to evaluate solar projects before the federal Investment Tax Credit expires. In its first 2025 round, SUN...
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India's Tejas Eyes 5G Turnaround at Home and Abroad
India's Tejas Networks surged 361% to about $960 million after delivering 340,000 4G radios for state‑run BSNL, then saw sales tumble 89% to $83 million as the contract ended. The company now eyes a 5G upgrade for roughly 40% of BSNL’s 100,000...
Xcel Minnesota Is Building a First-of-Its Kind Virtual Power Plant
Xcel Energy announced Capacity*Connect, a $430 million initiative to install up to 200 MW of customer‑site batteries across Minnesota. The utility will own and operate the virtual power plant, a first in the United States, deploying 1‑ to 3‑MW units over the...
No Solid Ground: Three Approaches to Building Below Sea Level in Rotterdam
Rotterdam, sitting about one meter below sea level, confronts escalating flood risk as climate change intensifies storm surges and erratic rainfall. Architects are responding with three distinct foundation strategies: driven timber piles, rammed‑earth platforms, and poured concrete slabs, each tailored...
What Happened when Scale Met the Farm Reality
Between 2020 and 2022, over $750 million poured into South Asian agritech startups promising digital scale for millions of smallholder farmers. By 2025, funding dried up as high customer‑acquisition costs, low farmer spending power, and fragmented markets proved unsustainable for direct‑to‑farmer...
Zambia Champions Rail in Southern Africa, Echoing Central Asian Ambitions
Zambia is positioning itself as the rail hub of southern Africa, leveraging three major projects to break its landlocked constraints. The China‑backed TAZARA line links mines to Tanzania’s Dar Es‑Salaam port, while the Western‑funded Lobito corridor opens a route to Angola’s...
Oil & Gas Duo Join Forces to Find Rig for Drilling Campaigns in Southeast Asia
SundaGas Banda Unipessoal, a subsidiary of UK‑listed Sunda Energy, has signed a letter of intent with Finder Energy’s Timor‑Leste arm to jointly secure a semi‑submersible drilling rig for offshore campaigns. The collaboration targets the Chuditch‑2 appraisal well and three development...
Nissan’s Global Vehicle Sales Fall 7% in February
Nissan reported a 7.4 % drop in global vehicle sales for February 2026, delivering 245,601 units. Domestic Japanese sales rose slightly to 41,362, while overseas volumes fell nearly 9 %, with Europe plunging 25 %. The first two months of the year showed...
Taiwan Vehicle Sales Rise 5% in March
Taiwan's new‑vehicle registrations rose 5.5% in March 2026, reaching 39,318 units, a modest rebound after a weak 2025 and a February dip caused by Lunar New Year holidays. The annual market remains down 10% from 2024, with 2025 sales totaling...
Czech Group Warns of SCM Shortages as Coal Phase-Out Accelerates
The Association for Alternative Building Materials (ASAM) warns that the Czech Republic’s rapid coal‑phase‑out will slash supplies of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) such as fly ash, slag and gypsum. Production of these by‑products, which peaked at about 7.5 Mt in 2025,...
New Cross-Border Bill in Singapore Covers Provisions on Designated CIQ Zones, Incident Management, and More
Singapore’s Parliament passed the Cross‑Border Railways (Border Control Co‑Location) Bill, clearing the legal path for the Johor Bahru‑Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS Link). The legislation creates designated CIQ zones at Woodlands North and Bukit Chagar stations, allowing Malaysian and Singapore pre‑clearance officers to...
Business-to-Business Brand Colruyt Professionals Is Expanding Into Flanders
Colruyt Professionals, the B2B arm of Belgium’s Colruyt Group, opened its first two stores in Flanders – a location on Ottergemsesteenweg Zuid in Ghent today and a second at the former Makro site in Machelen on April 15. The brand already...
Better Connected Needs to Be Better Connected to Higher Education
Britain’s Department for Transport released the “Better Connected” strategy, outlining eight priorities and commitments such as a £3 (≈$3.80) bus fare cap, a rail fare freeze until 2027 and Project Coral’s tap‑and‑go fare capping by 2030. While the plan lists disabled...
How RML Machinery’s Automation Solutions Deliver ROI for FMCG Manufacturers
Australian fast‑moving consumer goods (FMCG) manufacturers are turning to automation as margins tighten and customer expectations rise. RML Machinery offers end‑to‑end production automation—from cartoning and palletising to robotic assembly and modular conveyors—designed to boost throughput, cut waste and improve safety....
VINCI Bags Landmark £100m Morecambe Eden Job
VINCI Building has secured the £100 million (≈$125 million) Eden Project Morecambe contract, beating rival Kier. The scheme, approved last month, aims to open its first phase in early 2027 with full completion by 2028. Selected as the most economically advantageous bidder...
AI K-Pop Startup Galaxy Aims for IPO in Seoul and New York
Seoul‑based AI startup Galaxy, founded in 2019, is preparing a dual listing in New York and Seoul for 2027 after raising roughly $150 million. The company blends AI‑generated music, virtual avatars and life‑size robot idols, leveraging star power from G‑Dragon and a...
Richmond Hill to Acquire Bartlett Mining Claims
Richmond Hill Resources has signed a conditional agreement to acquire the Bartlett mining claims in Ontario, adjacent to its Martello Gold Project. The acquisition covers 29 claims spanning roughly 871.5 hectares in the Kawashegamuk Lake and Tabor Lake areas. Richmond...
Birmingham Has Opened a New Tram Extension
The West Midlands Metro opened a 1.7‑km tram extension on April 5, adding Albert Street and Millennium Point stations as the first phase of Birmingham’s Eastside project. The new line links key destinations—including Moor Street railway station, the Clayton Hotel, Birmingham...
European VC Jeito Gets $1.2B to Help Private Biotechs Control Their 'Destiny'
Jeito Capital, a Paris‑based venture firm, closed its second fund at $1.2 billion (over €1 billion, roughly $1.08 billion). The capital will be deployed to a dozen or so European drug‑development startups seeking to advance pre‑clinical and early‑stage clinical programs. By providing sizable,...
FDA Extends Deadline as Hidden Gluten Puts Regulatory Fine-Tuning Under the Spotlight
The FDA has extended its Request for Information on gluten labeling and cross‑contact to April 22 2026, inviting broader industry and consumer input. Current rules cap gluten at 20 ppm for a "gluten‑free" claim, yet hidden sources and inconsistent cross‑contact disclosures leave many...
Hoang Long Commissions 2.3Mta Cement Plant in Phu Tho
Vietnam’s Hoang Long Group has commissioned a new cement plant in Phu Tho province, adding 2.3 Mta of capacity. The facility includes a 7,200 tpd clinker line and was built with an investment of about VND 5 trn (≈US$196 m). It features a six‑stage pre‑heater...
What Happens to Steve Howey’s Nick Wagner & Does He Die in High Potential S2?
The season‑two finale of Hulu’s thriller High Potential ends on a cliffhanger, leaving Captain Nick Wagner gravely wounded and his fate ambiguous. The episode intertwines the murder of Vera Hensley with Wagner’s solo investigation into Roman’s disappearance, culminating in a...
Puig, Estee Lauder Founding Families to Meet for Combination Talks, Source Says
Founding families of Spain’s Puig and U.S. cosmetics giant Estée Lauder will meet in New York this week to negotiate a potential cash‑and‑share takeover that would combine their premium beauty portfolios. The merged entity is projected to generate roughly $22 billion in...
Lioncrest Manor Picture Puzzle Solution in Crimson Desert
The Lioncrest Manor puzzle in Crimson Desert is located northwest of Hernand Castle and can be accessed by climbing through a back‑door window after bypassing front guards. Inside the east room on the second floor, players encounter a 3×3 rotating‑tile...
Oprah Winfrey Asks Stephen Colbert How He’s ‘Feeling About the Whole Thing’
Oprah Winfrey appeared on The Late Show for her fourth interview with Stephen Colbert, shifting the conversation to his impending departure. Colbert admitted he isn’t ready to let go of his crew, band, and audience, emphasizing their importance to his performance....
Blog Review: Apr. 8
The April 8 blog roundup from Semiconductor Engineering spotlights a wave of technical breakthroughs across the semiconductor ecosystem. Cadence unveils LPDDR6 with built‑in metadata, row‑hammer mitigation and three‑rail DVFS, while Synopsys and Siemens champion multiphysics and simulation‑driven digital twins for automotive...
United Infrastructure Exits Housing with MBO of Homes Arm
United Infrastructure has divested its housing business through a management buy‑out led by Andrew McDonough, the former managing director of its multi‑family arm. The transaction leaves all existing projects, staff and the legal entity unchanged, while retiring the United Living...
St George Signs MoU with Técnicas Reunidas for Araxá Rare Earths
St George Mining of Australia has signed a memorandum of understanding with Spain’s Técnicas Reunidas to test rare‑earth processing on samples from Brazil’s Araxá deposit, the largest hard‑rock REE resource in South America. The MoU will deploy Técnicas Reunidas’ RARETECH technology to produce...
Has Shrinking Season 4 Been Canceled or Renewed?
Apple TV+ confirmed that the comedy‑drama Shrinking will return for a fourth season. Creator Bill Lawrence announced the renewal on X on April 4, 2026, noting the series will launch a completely new story while retaining the same cast and characters. Season 3,...
Solar Keeps Slimming Down While Power Rises
An international study shows commercial silicon solar modules have tripled their specific power, rising from about 8.5 W/kg in the early 2000s to 23.6 W/kg today. The gain stems from advances in module architecture, bifacial designs, and improved temperature management, while glass...
China’s Shenzhen Activates Huawei-Powered AI Cluster
Shenzhen has activated a new supercomputing cluster built with 10,000 Huawei Ascend 910C AI accelerator cards, delivering 11,000 petaflops of performance. Combined with a 3,000‑petaflop system launched in 2025, the facility now offers 14,000 petaflops, and 92 % of its capacity...
Almost 50% of US Consumers Would Use Palm Biometrics Payments, Research Finds
A Handwave survey of 2,001 Americans finds that almost half of U.S. consumers would adopt palm‑based payments if they trusted the security of their biometric data. Acceptance is strongest among younger shoppers, with 46% of 25‑34‑year‑olds comfortable using palm verification,...
FBI Takes Down APT28 Network Behind Global DNS Hijacking Attacks
The FBI, in coordination with the Department of Justice, launched Operation Masquerade to dismantle a global network of compromised SOHO routers used by the Russian-linked threat group APT28 for DNS hijacking. The operation reset DNS configurations on thousands of TP‑Link...