Daily News Pakistan

WhatsApp Business is enhancing its features with the latest beta update for Android, version 2.24.26.16. The update, available via the Google Play Beta Programme, introduces AI-powered replies and a business platform connection, along with refreshed theme colours for a more user-friendly experience. The new update brings updated light and dark theme colours to the app, replacing the old light blue accents with black for the light theme and white for the dark theme. These changes align the Android app with recent updates to the iOS version, making it easier to differentiate between WhatsApp Messenger and WhatsApp Business. The most significant addition is the integration of AI-powered replies. Businesses can now use AI to respond to customer messages, particularly during times when human staff are unavailable. The AI can handle common questions, guide users through the purchasing process, and even manage complex queries using machine learning models customised to the business’s need...

Elon Musk said Starlink satellite internet is inactive in India, his first comments since authorities seized two of the company's devices in recent weeks, one in an armed conflict zone and another in a drug smuggling bust. Starlink is seeking approval in India to provide satellite broadband services and the Musk-owned company is trying to address any potential security concerns as part of the process. Musk wrote on X late on Tuesday that "Starlink satellite beams are turned off over India" and were "never on in the first place." He was responding to a post from the Indian Army about a search operation on Dec. 13 in Manipur state in India's northeast, where a communal conflict has raged since early last year. The post included photos of seized weapons and a satellite dish and receiver with a Starlink logo. Earlier this month, Indian police sent a legal demand to Starlink seeking purchase details of a device found when they caught smugglers at sea with ...

Authorities in Russia have arrested a suspect over the killing of a top general and his aide in a bomb blast in Moscow. The Investigative Committee said in a statement on Wednesday that a national of Uzbekistan had been arrested on suspicion of having committed the attack that killed Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov and his assistant Ilya Polikarpov on Tuesday morning. It added the 29-year-old suspect said he had been “recruited by Ukrainian special forces”. Kirillov, 54, had been the head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops since 2017. He was killed outside an apartment building when a bomb hidden in an electric scooter went off. The bomb was triggered remotely, according to Russian reports. Images from the scene showed shattered windows and scorched brickwork. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) published footage of the interrogation of the suspect, who, it said, faces “a sentence of up to life imprisonment”. The agency said he had been promised ...

China’s foreign minister said Tuesday that Beijing and Washington can achieve “many great things” if they work together, ahead of next month’s inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump. But top diplomat Wang Yi also warned against what he called the US’ “crude interference” on the issue of Taiwan. The world’s two largest economies have butted heads on a range of issues in recent years, from trade and technology to human rights and China’s growing assertiveness towards the self-ruled island of Taiwan. Wang said China’s policy towards the United States “has not changed” during a Tuesday address in Beijing that reflected on the country’s diplomatic work in the past year and its expectations for the future. He said that economic working groups and cooperation on cross-border drug control “fully prove that as long as China and the United States cooperate, we can accomplish many great things”. He also, however, repeated a warning over Taiwan, saying Beijing “resolutely opposed ille...

TikTok made a last-ditch effort on Monday to continue operating in the United States, asking the Supreme Court to temporarily block a law intended to force ByteDance, its China-based parent company, to divest the short-video app by Jan. 19 or face a ban. TikTok and ByteDance filed an emergency request to the justices for an injunction to halt the looming ban on the social media app used by about 170 million Americans while they appeal a lower court's ruling that upheld the law. A group of U.S. users of the app filed a similar request on Monday as well. Congress passed the law in April. The Justice Department has said that as a Chinese company, TikTok poses "a national-security threat of immense depth and scale" because of its access to vast amounts of data on American users, from locations to private messages, and its ability to secretly manipulate content that Americans view on the app. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Washington on ...

A senior Russian general in charge of nuclear protection forces in Moscow has been killed by a bomb hidden in an electric scooter, Russia’s investigative committee said. Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who was chief of the Troops of Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence, was killed on Tuesday outside an apartment building on Ryazansky Prospekt. “Igor Kirillov, the head of the radiation, chemical and biological protection forces of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, and his assistant were killed,” the investigative committee said. Russia’s TASS news agency reported, quoting a law enforcement official, that the explosive device “had a capacity of some 300 grams in TNT equivalent”. Photographs posted on Russian Telegram channels showed a shattered entrance to a building littered with rubble and two bodies lying in the blood-stained snow. A criminal case has been opened. Russia’s radioactive, chemical and biological defence troops are special forces who operate un...

Australia has unveiled a new visa program aimed at attracting skilled workers to address workforce shortages in key industries across the country. The Skills in Demand (SID) visa replaces the previous Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) visa, offering a more streamlined and efficient pathway for professionals seeking to live and work in Australia. The SID visa is divided into three distinct streams, each tailored to meet different workforce needs. The Specialist Skills Pathway targets top-tier professionals with exceptional expertise who can drive innovation and contribute to Australia’s economic growth. The Core Skills Pathway is designed to address workforce shortages in priority sectors, while the Essential Skills Pathway is focused on filling industry-specific gaps through targeted agreements. Additional details regarding the Essential Skills Pathway will be announced in the near future. One of the key features of the SID visa is the reduced work experience requirement, which has...