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These are the key developments on day 1,120 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.Here is the roundup of key events as of Thursday, March 20. Fighting Regional authorities in northeast Ukraine’s Sumy region said Russian drone attacks damaged two hospitals there, while a 29-year-old man was killed and three others were injured in a separate attack on a residential building. Kyiv region’s Governor Mykola Kalashnyk said Kremlin drones damaged several houses near the Ukrainian capital, resulting in a 60-year-old man being injured. Ukraine’s state railway network Ukrzaliznytsia said Moscow’s forces attacked its power system twice in the city of Dnipro, with…

Debt collection in emerging markets often feels outdated and can be costly — damaging borrower trust. As consumer lending surges and regulators push for fairer practices, legacy collection outfits are struggling to maintain pace. ClearGrid aims to help modernize debt collection — and recovery — with AI. The Dubai-based startup, which is emerging from stealth with $10 million in funding ($3.5 million pre-seed and $6.5 million seed), helps banks, fintechs, and lenders recover more debt without resorting to customer harassment. For a startup founded just in May 2023, the backing is significant. Co-founder and CEO Mohammed Al Zaben called it…

SoftBank Group announced on Wednesday that it will acquire Ampere Computing, a chip designer founded by former Intel executive Renee James, through a $6.5 billion all-cash deal as a strategic move to broaden its investment in AI infrastructure. Ampere will be operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of SoftBank after the deal, which is expected to close in the second half of 2025. Carlyle and Oracle, Ampere’s lead investors, will sell their shares in the Santa Clara, California startup. According to SoftBank’s statement, Carlyle holds a 59.65% stake while Oracle holds 32.27%. The startup employs 1,000 semiconductor engineers. In 2021, SoftBank…

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Amadou Ndiaye meticulously ran his fingers across bumps in a piece of paper, making sense of the world he can no longer see.Two hundred years have passed since the invention of braille, the tactile writing system that has transformed the lives of many blind and partially sighted people by offering a path to literacy and independence.“Braille helped me live my life,” said Ndiaye, a social worker in Mali who lost his eyesight as a child. “Before, people asked themselves the question: Here is someone who can’t see, how will he make it? How will he integrate…

PYLOS (Greece): The slow-burn race for the most powerful job in world sport roared into life on Wednesday, set against the dazzling backdrop of the Ionian Sea, where the seven contenders for the International Olympic Committee presidency made their final moves ahead of a vote that will shape the sporting landscape for the next decade. Behind the gilded facades and five-star hospitality of the Costa Navarino resort in Greece’s southwestern Peloponnese, whispers of alliances and voting tactics swirled as IOC members met for the 144th Session the last with Thomas Bach at the wheel. The winner of the presidential election…

LAHORE: The Pakistan football team is set to depart for Dammam, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday ahead of their first match in the AFC Asian Cup qualifier, where they will face Syria on March 25. The match will be held at a neutral venue in Dammam, following the conclusion of the team’s training camp at the Model Town C Block ground here on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the Pakistan Football Federation’s Norma­lisation Committee confirmed that all team members and supporting staff have received their visas. The squad will board a direct flight from Lahore to Dammam on Thursday night. Head coach…

PAKISTAN batter Abdullah Shafique in action during a practice session at the LCCA Ground on Wednesday.—courtesy PCB LAHORE: Pakistan opener Abdullah Shafique, who is set to make a comeback to the national One-day International side, after missing the recent ICC Champions Trophy, has acknowledged that the upcoming series against New Zealand will be held in tough playing conditions. The right-hander, however, emphasised that despite being a young side, Pakistan will give their best effort in the three-match series against the Black Caps, which starts from March 29. Speaking to reporters on the first day of a short preparatory camp at…

CHAMPAGNE, France (AP) — Across wine country in France, Italy and Spain one number is top of mind: 200%.That’s because last week U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a tariff of that amount on European wine, Champagne and other spirits if the European Union went ahead with retaliatory tariffs on some U.S. products. The top wine producers in Europe could face crippling costs that would hit smaller wineries especially hard. Europe’s wine industry is the latest to find itself in the crosshairs of a possible trade spat with the U.S. Among those concerned is David Levasseur, a third-generation wine grower and…

“The enthusiasm into AI actually carries over into everything, which effectively impacts all startups,” said AngelList CEO Avlok Kohli when asked if investors remain as excited about emerging startups outside of AI. According to Kohli, AI startups make up nearly 40% of the startups on AngelList’s platform. Today on Equity, Mary Ann Azevedo caught up with Kohli to discuss how AngelList has evolved its model — from SPVs to collaborating with larger funds, how AI is reshaping the startup landscape, and what founders need to do to thrive in today’s market. Delving into AngelList’s expansion over the past six years,…

OpenAI has launched a more powerful version of its o1 “reasoning” AI model, o1-pro, in its developer API. According to OpenAI, o1-pro uses more computing than o1 to provide “consistently better responses.” Currently, it’s only available to select developers — those who’ve spent at least $5 on OpenAI API services — and it’s pricey. Very pricey. OpenAI is charging $150 per million tokens (~750,000 words) fed into the model and $600 per million tokens generated by the model. That’s twice the price of OpenAI’s GPT-4.5 for input and 10x the price of regular o1. OpenAI is betting that o1-pro’s improved…