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Spider-Man: Brand New Day Scene Censored in India — and It Could Be a Spoiler
Spider-Man: Brand New Day has had an eight-second kiss scene and some swearing removed from its Indian release, prompting speculation about who the kiss involves and whether it hints at a plot spoiler. The cut has fuelled fan theories about whether Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and Zendaya’s MJ rekindle their romance, or whether the kiss instead…
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The ‘cockroach’ in the machine: How Gen Z is rattling South Asia’s elites
A wave of youth-led protests is sweeping South Asia, with young people in India, Bangladesh and Nepal turning elite scorn into a rallying cry against corruption, nepotism and joblessness. The movement takes its name from remarks by India’s Chief Justice Surya Kant, who compared unemployed young graduates to “cockroaches” — comments he later said were…
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Why China is giving away its best AI models
Chinese AI labs, led by Moonshot AI’s newly released Kimi K3, are giving away powerful “open-weight” models for free, intensifying competition with closed US systems from OpenAI, Google and Anthropic. Kimi K3 reportedly matches or beats some of the best American models at a fraction of the cost, and Moonshot’s decision to release its weights…
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Facial recognition rolled out at Pokémon card stores to stop scalpers
The Pokémon Company introduced facial recognition technology at five Japanese pop-up stores selling its trading card game, its latest measure to curb rampant scalping and the black market that has grown around increasingly valuable cards. The step, applied to customers of elementary-school age and above, follows an earlier requirement for government-issued ID when buying cards…
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Hideo Kojima cameos in Japanese cop show, but his appearance was altered because he looked “too young” despite being 62 years old
Hideo Kojima, the acclaimed creator of the Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding series, has made a cameo appearance in a Japanese television crime drama. Notably, his appearance in the show was digitally altered by producers because he reportedly looked “too young” for the role, despite the game designer being 62 years old. The story…
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Final Fantasy 14 Evercold’s new DPS job will be revealed in October, but Square Enix is already dropping some big, feathered hints
Square Enix has confirmed that the new damage-dealing (DPS) job coming to Final Fantasy 14’s Evercold expansion will be officially revealed in October, though the developer is already teasing details ahead of the full announcement. The reveal is significant for the game’s large community, as new jobs are among the most anticipated additions in each…
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Waltz slams France after stunning social media attack on US after UN vote
France’s mission to the United Nations in Geneva launched a strongly worded social media attack on the United States after a UN vote to grant High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk a further four-year term. France accused Washington of abandoning its role as a defender of human rights, prompting a sharp rebuttal from US…
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Chinese RAM company CXMT makes a $484 billion stock market debut
Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) made a spectacular debut on the Shanghai stock exchange, with shares surging 466 percent to give the firm a valuation of $484 billion. This makes CXMT the most valuable Chinese company listed on the exchange, and highlights the growing role Chinese chipmakers could play as global demand for…
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Animaginary Partners With Gersh To Rep Worldwide Rights On Michael Mankowski’s ‘Getting Lost’ Animated Series
Canadian animation studio Animaginary has partnered with talent agency Gersh to represent worldwide rights to a slate of projects created by Michael Mankowski, centred on the adult animated feature film “Getting Lost”. The deal signals an effort to expand the property into a broader franchise, bringing in agency backing and a new executive producer to…
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Harvard tops nation in foreign cash haul as Cotton demands probe into China funding
Harvard University has received more money from foreign sources, including China, than any other American university, according to federal data compiled by the U.S. Department of Education. The disclosure has prompted Republican Senator Tom Cotton to call for a formal investigation into the elite institution’s financial ties to China, amid wider concerns in Washington about…