LOOK: Int’l Media Center for Asean Summit opens at World Trade Center

Inquirer.net - Nov 13, 2026

MANILA, Philippines — The International Media Center (IMC) at the World Trade Center in Pasay City officially opened on Friday for the 49th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit and Related Summits. This will serve as the working area for thousands of media delegates from Asean countries. It will also be used by dialogue partners

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Climate change made Indonesian fires more severe, scientists say

Nov 13, 2026

Climate change made Indonesian fires more severe, scientists say

SINGAPORE — Wildfires that hit large parts of Indonesia from August to October and plunged much of Southeast Asia into hazardous smoke were made much worse by "record-breaking" heat caused by human-induced climate change, scientists said on Friday. While a very strong El Niño was the dominant factor in determining the extremely low levels of rainfall across Indonesia from July, human-induced climate change contributed around 1.6 degrees Celsius of additional heat during the fire season, said a report by climate research group World Weather Attribution. "The conditions that we saw this year would simply just not have happened in a world without the human contribution to climate change, even with the very strong El Niño that we're seeing," said Theodore Keeping, a researcher into wildfires and extreme weather at Imperial College London who contributed to the report. "You have multiple different drivers changing in different ways, but what we can say with very high confidence is that the driving weather conditions of these fires are getting more severe," he told a briefing. Pramudhian F

FBI says US has seized $1.2 bil. worth of cryptocurrency stolen from Binance

Nov 13, 2026

FBI says US has seized $1.2 bil. worth of cryptocurrency stolen from Binance

WASHINGTON — The FBI said Thursday that it had seized more than $1.2 billion of cryptocurrency reported stolen last month from Binance , the world's largest crypto exchange. The theft of about $6.3 billion from Binance is regarded as the biggest crypto heist in history, and the FBI has previously attributed it to a North Korean hacking group known as TraderTraitor. The U.S. government and private sector have so far combined to freeze more than $2.7 billion of the stolen funds, and the Justice Department said Thursday that it has now obtained court authorization to seize or restrain more than $1.2 billion of that total. Typically in those situations, the U.S. government will file a claim of forfeiture with a judge, who will then determine who has a legitimate claim to the recovered funds. Also Thursday, the FBI blamed North Korea for a separate social engineering scheme that officials say resulted in the theft of $400 million worth of cryptocurrency over the last 18 months. That scheme, known as FaceStealer, involves a complicated chain of events combining the hijacking of popular mess

ICE reports record-high immigration arrests and deportations since Trump's return to White House

Nov 13, 2026

ICE reports record-high immigration arrests and deportations since Trump's return to White House

MINNEAPOLIS — Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested and deported more people during the last fiscal year than at any time in its 23-year history, Homeland Security said Thursday, as President Donald Trump followed through on promises of mass deportations that helped him win back the White House in 2024 but also fueled the political blowback that led to Democrats’ overwhelming victory in last week’s midterm elections. The numbers released Thursday by the department reflect the massive funding that has gone into supercharging immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, with more money for deportation officers, detention facilities and deportation flights. But Democratic members of Congress, buoyed by their sweeping victories in both the House and Senate, are promising vigorous oversight of the agency core to the president's mass deportation mission. ICE said it deported 483,200 people in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. In 2014, 405,090 people were deported under then-President Barack Obama, when some activists labeled him the “deporter in chief.” The

China's access to Nvidia chips in doubt as curbs gain traction in US Congress

Nov 13, 2026

China's access to Nvidia chips in doubt as curbs gain traction in US Congress

US House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Thursday there was growing consensus in Congress on limiting chip exports to China after a spy scandal forced out Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Huang stepped down after reports of a romantic relationship with a businesswoman whom US authorities suspect of spying for the Chinese government. Lawmakers from both parties have since called for tougher restrictions on China's access to advanced AI chips, threatening access to chips that underpin China's surging AI development. And senior White House officials were discussing whether Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick should be pushed out, two people familiar with the situation said, as the desire to take action rose across Washington. A growing number of lawmakers have criticized Lutnick for the administration's refusal to add dozens of Chinese companies to a key US trade blacklist, and over whether the government was properly overseeing Nvidia's exports to China. Nvidia's advanced AI chips are widely used to develop cutting-edge AI models, making the company key to the US race against China to build superior AI

Malaysia probes Megaspeed subsidiary over possible AI chip diversion

Nov 13, 2026

Malaysia probes Megaspeed subsidiary over possible AI chip diversion

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia said Friday it was investigating a subsidiary of Megaspeed International over the possible diversion of advanced AI chips to other countries, widening a scandal involving US chip giant Nvidia. It came the day after Nvidia boss Jensen Huang resigned over an affair, reportedly with Alice Huang -- a suspected Chinese spy and former top executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data centre company. Megaspeed is under scrutiny for allegedly steering Nvidia AI chips to China despite US export rules designed to slow the development of artificial intelligence technology by Beijing. Malaysia's Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) said Megaspeed's local subsidiary Speedmatrix is a tenant at data centres in Malaysia and is allowed to bring AI chips into the country without a permit or license. But since July last year, any entity wanting to "export, reexport, transship or transit high performance US AI chips from or through Malaysia" must get a permit. Giving false information to customs authorities about such items is a "serious offence", the ministry said in

Israeli strike on hospital highlights devastation to Gaza's healthcare system

Nov 13, 2026

Israeli strike on hospital highlights devastation to Gaza's healthcare system

BEIRUT — A deadly airstrike on the biggest hospital in the southern Gaza Strip highlighted the devastation that Israel's campaign has wreaked on the Palestinian territory's healthcare system over the past three years. The strike that hit Nasser Hospital's surgical wing killed six people, including a surgeon and a 13-year-old boy, and heavily damaged operating rooms and patient wards. The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas commander using the hospital as a base, though it did not provide evidence for the claim. Israel has carried out near daily strikes in Gaza despite a ceasefire agreement with Hamas that took effect in October 2025. Israel says it is targeting militants. Israel launched its campaign in Gaza in retaliation for Hamas' deadly October 2023 attack on southern Israel. Direct attacks on hospitals have become rarer during the truce. But Thursday's strike underscored how Gaza's health system is still struggling to recover. Here is a look at Israel's attacks on hospitals, its accusations against Hamas and the impact on Gaza's healthcare system. Israel has attacked Gaza hos

US Commerce Secretary Lutnick to testify before Congress on Nvidia: US media

Nov 13, 2026

US Commerce Secretary Lutnick to testify before Congress on Nvidia: US media

WASHINGTON — US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will testify before Congress on the Nvidia scandal, US media reported Thursday. US lawmakers have called for clarity on what the administration of President Donald Trump knew about Nvidia chief Jensen Huang's extramarital affair with a woman suspected of spying for China. "Secretary Lutnick has proactively agreed to appear voluntarily before the Banking Committee to address their questions," Kristen Eichamer, a spokeswoman for Lutnick, told NBC News. Huang, a pivotal figure in the artificial intelligence boom, quit as Nvidia's chief executive on Thursday after revelations of two extramarital affairs, including one with suspected spy Alice Huang, who is no relation. Lutnick has come under scrutiny as the commerce department was mandated to review companies for national security risks before the Trump administration green-lit Nvidia to sell advanced chips to China. Beijing is in a race for tech dominance against the United States, which restricts the export to China of the most cutting-edge silicon chips. Nvidia, a global leader in producin

Microsoft outage drags on for hours, disrupting Outlook, Teams for businesses and governments

Nov 13, 2026

Microsoft outage drags on for hours, disrupting Outlook, Teams for businesses and governments

Microsoft services such as Outlook and Teams were disrupted for about 10 hours on Thursday as the tech giant struggled to fix issues with some servers, hitting businesses and government agencies globally that use the popular platforms. In its latest update, Microsoft said efforts to improve serviceability were not progressing as expected. "We’re identifying alternate workstreams that can be applied to increase capacity in the face of sustained traffic management imbalances," it said. Downdetector, which tracks outages by collating status reports from a number of sources, showed more than 25,000 reports of Outlook problems in the US at 9:30 p.m. ET (0230 GMT). It also showed outages for several Microsoft services in the Asia-Pacific region, including India, Australia and Japan, early Friday local time. At its peak, Downdetector showed more than 130,000 reports of Outlook problems in the US around 1 p.m. ET on Thursday. In a service health notice, Microsoft said features of Microsoft 365 services that depended on Exchange Online and email were affected, while elements that did not rely on

Was Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's Lover Really A Chinese Spy? US Intelligence Unsure As New Details Emerge

Nov 13, 2026

Was Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's Lover Really A Chinese Spy? US Intelligence Unsure As New Details Emerge

US intelligence agencies have yet to establish conclusive evidence that Alice Huang was recruited by China to gather information about Jensen Huang

Global outage for Microsoft

Nov 13, 2026

Global outage for Microsoft

Microsoft has reported a global outage this morning for many of its services.

Jensen Huang’s Nvidia exit ahead of APEC: Could the China spy controversy complicate Trump’s meeting with Xi Jinping?

Nov 13, 2026

Jensen Huang’s Nvidia exit ahead of APEC: Could the China spy controversy complicate Trump’s meeting with Xi Jinping?

Nvidia's Jensen Huang stepped down as CEO amid a controversy involving a Chinese businesswoman suspected of links to Beijing's intelligence network. With Donald Trump set to meet Xi Jinping at the APEC summit, could the scandal complicate US-China ties and fuel calls for tighter chip export curbs?

Regional creators go multilingual with AI, but will the money follow?

Nov 13, 2026

Regional creators go multilingual with AI, but will the money follow?

Instagram and YouTube’s AI dubbing tools have helped regional creators reach wider audiences, but questions remain over whether translated videos can drive meaningful engagement and earnings while retaining the cultural nuances of the original content.

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