Category: 3. Business

A Polish state-owned company has been accused of playing a crucial role in aiding Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, providing a key explosive used in bombs and artillery that have been widely deployed in the Strip.

A report released on Tuesday by a group of pro-Palestinian organisations found the explosives maker Nitro-Chem to have supplied United States arms companies with trinitrotoluene (TNT) for use in military shells, bombs, and grenades that are exported to Israel, a top US ally.

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Poland, the only major TNT producer in the EU and NATO, was identified by the People’s Embargo for Palestine, Palestinian Youth Movement, Shadow World Investigations and Movement Research Unit as the source of the explosive used in the general-purpose Mk 80 series – among the most common air-dropped weapons in the world – as well as the penetrator BLU-109 bomb.

“This report decisively implicates Nitro-Chem and the Polish government as a critical link in facilitating the supply chain of genocide,” Nadya Tannous, an organiser with the Palestinian Youth Movement, told Al Jazeera.

Air-dropped bombs are typically filled with an explosive mix of TNT and aluminium powder. Ninety percent of TNT imported by the US – where there is no domestic production – comes from Poland, the report found. Nitro-Chem has also been selling explosives, including TNT, directly to Israel, according to the report.

While UN experts have found Israel to be committing genocidal acts in Gaza and called on all states to fulfil their legal obligations under the Genocide Convention, the report is evidence of Poland’s role “in the massacre of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians”, said Tannous.

Surviving Israeli bombs in Gaza

Since launching its latest war on Gaza in October 2023, following the Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel, the Israeli army has relied heavily on guided and unguided Mk 80 bombs sold by General Dynamics, the world’s fifth-largest weapons manufacturer.

Video evidence of unexploded Mk 84 bombs – the largest of the series – with markings indicating that the bomb was produced by General Dynamics – confirms that they have been used in the Strip.

Israel is known to have used unguided bombs of the Mk 80 series in the targeting of Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp on October 31, 2023, which could amount to a war crime, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

These were also converted into guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), such as the one used to strike civilian homes in Deir el-Balah on October 10, 2023. Amnesty International, which investigated that attack, called the strikes unlawful and tantamount to a war crime.

According to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Israel dropped more than 25,000 tonnes of explosives on the Strip – equivalent to two nuclear bombs – in the first month of the war.

As fighting intensified, Mahmoud (*not his real name) was sleeping alongside his wife and children in their home in southern Gaza when a loud explosion shook the earth. The walls collapsed on them, and a fire broke out among the rubble. The family was rescued and taken to the hospital.

“After I left the hospital, I didn’t have any shoes, so I walked barefoot on the pieces of glass, rubble, cement and metal,” he said. “I didn’t feel anything, I just stood there for hours and stared at the pile of rubble that, a few hours ago, was our home.”

Thirteen of his relatives were killed in the bombing, including seven children. Mahmoud has since been able to leave Gaza and relocate to Europe with the surviving members of his family.

Footage from the scene shows shrapnel compatible with the Mk 80 bomb series, according to military analysts. Al Jazeera is withholding details of the incident, as well as of the survivor’s identity, to reduce the risk of reprisal or retaliation.

While the family is now miles away, the memories of what they experienced in Gaza have followed them.

“The bombing has been haunting our family every day since. It left all of us traumatised,” Mahmoud said.

Finding out that Poland likely provided the explosive that tore his family apart has left him shaken.

“I feel sadness and disappointment that a country, which advocates for human rights and humanitarianism, has forgotten that there are human beings in the Gaza Strip bombed every day – humans no different than people in Europe,” he said.

“These bombs are used mainly to [target] residential homes, tents made out of plastic sheets, civilian infrastructure … They have a wide effect, they are not precise, and they destroy everything around,” Mahmoud continued.

The Mk 84 has enormous destructive capacity, with a lethal radius of about 360 metres (about 1,180 feet) and an injury radius of up to 800 metres (2,625 feet) from the point of detonation.

“How is it possible that Poland agrees to produce and sell explosive material, knowing it will be used against civilians?” he said.

Al Jazeera has contacted Nitro-Chem and representatives of the Polish government for comment.

Polish TNT for American bombs

General Dynamics has been sourcing TNT for Mk 80 series bomb production from Nitro-Chem since at least 2016.

Polish-made TNT also ended up in the penetrator BLU-109 bomb, which can destroy underground and heavily fortified targets, according to information provided to the authors of the report by the bomb’s US manufacturer, General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS), the Polish company Nitro-Chem and US government databases.

The company’s dealings with the US and Israel have continued despite the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering emergency measures in January 2024 to prevent genocidal acts and recognising genocide as a plausible risk.

In April 2024, Nitro-Chem signed a contract with Paramount Enterprises International to supply TNT for Mk 80 series bombs and, shortly after, the US government approved the transfer of 1,800 Mk 84 bombs to Israel.

Most recently, in April 2025, the company signed its largest contract yet – worth $310m – for the delivery of 18,000 tonnes of TNT in between 2027 and 2029, the report found.

Destruction from Poland to Gaza

The US does not make TNT, a toxic substance that has grave environmental impacts and is classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a possible carcinogen.

In Poland, the Supreme Audit Office found Nitro-Chem’s TNT contributed to the pollution of the country’s largest and most ecologically significant river, the Vistula. Polish media accused the company of disposing of toxic waste in illegal dumping sites.

In Gaza, two years of conflict have caused unprecedented levels of environmental damage, damaging its soil, freshwater supplies and coastline, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Much of Gaza’s vegetation has been destroyed, rendering food production minimal at a time when famine threatens more than 500,000 people. About 80 percent of Gaza’s estimated 250,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed, generating 61 million tonnes of debris, UNEP found. According to the agency, it will take decades to reverse the damage.

Tannous, one of the report’s authors, expressed hope that public pressure might prompt the government in Warsaw to change course.

“Now, as the masses of people in Europe rise in their millions to end government complicity in Israel’s genocide, we call on Poland to end its shipment of Nitro-Chem TNT to Israel,” she said.

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Boutique Address: 〒810-00411-1-45 Daimyo, Chuo-Ku, Fukuoka city, Japan

Opening Hours: from 11:00 – 19:30.

Press Contact

IWC JAPAN  Masayo Soga, PR, Communication and Event Manager

masayo.soga@IWC.com

 

About IWC Schaffhausen

IWC Schaffhausen is a leading Swiss luxury watch manufacturer based in Schaffhausen in the north-eastern part of Switzerland. With collections like the Portugieser and the Pilot’s Watches, the brand covers the whole spectrum from elegant to sports watches. Founded in 1868 by the American watchmaker and engineer Florentine Ariosto Jones, IWC is known for its unique engineering approach to watchmaking, combining the best of human craftsmanship and creativity with cutting-edge technology and processes.

Over its more than 150-year history, IWC has earned a reputation for creating professional instrument watches and functional complications, especially chronographs and calendars, which are ingenious, robust, and easy for customers to use. A pioneer in the use of titanium and ceramics, IWC today specialises in highly engineered watch cases manufactured from advanced materials, such as coloured ceramics, Ceratanium®, and titanium aluminide.

A leader in sustainable luxury watchmaking, IWC sources materials responsibly and takes action to minimise its impact on the environment. Along the pillars of transparency, circularity, and responsibly, the brand crafts timepieces built to last for generations and continuously improves every element of how it manufactures, distributes, and services its products in the most responsible way. IWC also partners with organisations that work globally to support children and young people.

(Reuters) -Microsoft and Nvidia plan to invest in Anthropic under a new tie-up that includes a $30 billion commitment by the Claude ​maker to use Microsoft’s cloud services, the latest high-profile deal ‌binding together major players in the AI industry.

Nvidia will commit as much as $10 billion to Anthropic and Microsoft ‌up to $5 billion, the companies said on Tuesday, without sharing more details including on the timeline.

The announcement underscores the AI industry’s insatiable appetite for computing power as companies race to build systems that can rival or surpass human intelligence. It also ties major OpenAI-⁠backer Microsoft as well as key ‌AI chip supplier Nvidia closer to one of the ChatGPT maker’s biggest rivals.

“We’re very excited to get additional capacity that we ‍can use both to train our models to support Microsoft first party products and to sell together,” Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said in a YouTube video accompanying the announcement. ​

The move comes just weeks after OpenAI unveiled a $38 billion deal to buy ‌cloud services from Amazon.com in its first big push to power its AI ambitions after a restructuring that gave the ChatGPT maker greater operational and financial freedom.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said the startup is committed to spending $1.4 trillion to develop 30 gigawatts of computing resources – enough to roughly power 25 million U.S. homes.

Still, three ⁠years after ChatGPT’s debut, investors are increasingly ​uneasy that the AI boom has outrun fundamentals. ​Some business leaders have noted that circular deals – where one partner props up another’s revenue – add to the bubble risk.

A few ‍large investors have recently ⁠dumped some of their AI holdings, stoking fears that a market selloff is imminent. Tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s hedge fund sold its entire stake in ⁠Nvidia in the third quarter, as has SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, although he has plowed those returns ‌into a massive bet on OpenAI.

(Reporting by Aditya Soni and Jaspreet ‌Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

“This research shows that plain and simple, once again, Amazon is America’s lowest-price retailer,” said Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores. “Customers can trust that when they’re shopping Amazon they’re getting the most affordable everyday low prices across the widest selection, and that we’ll meet or beat the prices of other major retailers. Whether buying everyday household essentials or gifts for friends and family, we’re the best place to shop for low prices—and we’re delivering orders at record-breaking speeds.”

Display

World’s largest cruise ship features Samsung’s commercial-grade hospitality TVs and Smart Signage across guest cabins, crew quarters and shared spaces

Over its partnership of 21 years, Samsung has supplied more than 200,000 displays across Royal Caribbean’s global fleet, reinforcing its role as the cruise line’s leading display technology provider

11/18/2025

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced that it has supplied more than 6,000 hospitality TVs and Smart Signage displays to Royal Caribbean`s Star of the Seas, the world’s best family vacation. The installation spans guest cabins, crew quarters and public areas — including lounges and theaters. This collaboration marks the latest milestone in a longstanding partnership, with Samsung serving as Royal Caribbean’s official display technology provider across the vacation brand`s fleet over 21 years.

Completing its maiden voyage from Port Canaveral, Florida, in August 2025, Star of the Seas is the second ship in Royal Caribbean’s Icon-class series of cruise ships.

Samsung Hospitality TVs and Smart Signage Provide a New Standard of Onboard Experiences

Designed specifically for commercial environments, Samsung’s Crystal UHD Hospitality TVs (HBU8000 model) have been installed in guest cabins aboard Star of the Seas. Through Samsung’s Dynamic Crystal Color technology — which is capable of displaying over one billion colors — the TVs deliver 4K UHD resolution and lifelike, accurate color, ensuring that each guest enjoys clear, vibrant picture quality and an engaging viewing experience throughout their voyage. Each in-room TV also serves as a central information hub that shares a welcome message personalized for each guest, daily activity schedules, destination information and weather and emergency updates, while also offering the ability to revisit onboard programs and announcements at the user’s convenience.

The ultra-slim UHD Smart Signage QMC series is also featured onboard, providing high-resolution content in public areas while maximizing space efficiency.

Two Decades of Collaboration Anchored by Innovation

Since 2004, Samsung has supplied more than 200,000 hospitality TVs and Smart Signage displays across 28 ships in Royal Caribbean’s global fleet. This includes over 6,000 displays for Icon of the Seas — sister ship to Star of the Seas — which set sail in 2024. Backed by 17 consecutive years as the global leader of the commercial display market,¹ Samsung continues to lead the industry in delivering reliable, feature-rich displays tailored for hospitality environments.

BELEM, Brazil — At the U.N. climate talks in Brazil, artificial intelligence is being cast as both a hero worthy of praise and a villain that needs policing.

Tech companies and a handful of countries at the conference known as COP30 are promoting ways AI can help solve global warming, which is driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal. They say the technology has the potential to do many things, from increasing the efficiency of electrical grids and helping farmers predict weather patterns to tracking deep-sea migratory species and designing infrastructure that can withstand extreme weather.

Climate groups, however, are sounding the alarm about AI’s growing environmental impact, with its surging needs for electricity and water for powering searches and data centers. They say an AI boom without guardrails will only push the world farther off track from goals set by 2015 Paris Agreement to slow global warming.

“AI right now is a completely unregulated beast around the world,” said Jean Su, energy justice director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

On the other hand, Adam Elman, director of sustainability at Google, sees AI as “a real enabler” and one that’s already making an impact.

If both sides agree on anything, it’s that AI is here to stay.

Michal Nachmany, founder of Climate Policy Radar, which runs AI tools that track issues like national climate plans and funds to help developing countries transition to green energies like solar and wind, said there is “unbelievable interest” in AI at COP30.

“Everyone is also a little bit scared,” Nachmany said. “The potential is huge and the risks are huge as well.”

The rise of AI is becoming a more common topic at the United Nations compared to a few years ago, according to Nitin Arora, who leads the Global Innovation Hub for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the framework for international climate negotiations.

The hub was launched at COP26 in Glasgow to promote ideas and solutions that can be deployed at scale, he said. So far, Arora said, those ideas have been dominated by AI.

The Associated Press counted at least 24 sessions related to AI during the Brazil conference’s first week. They included AI helping neighboring cities share energy, AI-backed forest crime location predictions and a ceremony for the first AI for Climate Action Award — given to an AI project on water scarcity and climate variability in the Southeast Asian nation of Laos.

Johannes Jacob, a data scientist with the German delegation, said a prototype app he is designing, called NegotiateCOP, can help countries with smaller delegations — like El Salvador, South Africa, Ivory Coast and a few in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — process hundreds of official COP documents.

The result is “leveling the playing field in the negotiations,” he said.

In a panel discussion, representatives from AI giants like Google and Nvidia spoke about how AI can solve issues facing the power sector. Elman with Google stressed the “need to do it responsibly” but declined to comment further.

Nvidia’s head of sustainability, Josh Parker, called AI the “best resource any of us can have.”

“AI is so democratizing,” Parker said. “If you think about climate tech, climate change and all the sustainability challenges we’re trying to solve here at COP, which one of those challenges would not be solved better and faster, with more intelligence.”

Princess Abze Djigma from Burkina Faso called AI a “breakthrough in digitalization” that she believes will be even more critical in the future.

Bjorn-Soren Gigler, a senior digital and green transformation specialist with the European Commission, agreed but noted AI is “often seen as a double-edge sword” with both huge opportunities and ethical and environmental concerns.

The training and deploying of AI models rely on power-hungry data centers that contribute to emissions because of the electricity needed. The International Energy Agency has tracked a boom in energy consumption and demand from data centers, especially in the U.S.

Data centers accounted for around 1.5% of the world’s electricity consumption in 2024, according to the IEA, which found that their electricity consumption has grown by around 12% per year since 2017, more than four times faster than the rate of total electricity consumption.

The environmental impact from AI, specifically the operations of data centers, also includes the consumption of large amounts of water in water-stressed states, according to Su with the Center for Biological Diversity, who has studied how the data center boom threatens U.S. climate goals.

She said these operations will increase the national emissions of the U.S., historically the world’s largest polluter.

Environmental groups at COP30 are pushing for regulations to soften AI’s environmental footprint, such as mandating public interest tests for proposed data centers and 100% on-site renewable energy at them.

“COP can not only view AI as some type of techno solution, it has to understand the deep climate consequences,” Su said.

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Associated Press writer Seth Borenstein in Belem, Brazil, contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org

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This story was produced as part of the 2025 Climate Change Media Partnership, a journalism fellowship organized by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security.

SAN FRANCISCO — Amazon’s Zoox will start giving free robotaxi rides through parts of San Francisco as it accelerates its attempt to challenge Waymo’s early lead in the race to transport passengers in self-driving vehicles.

The expansion announced Tuesday will be confined to a few major San Francisco neighborhoods and limited to people who signed up on a waiting list to ride in Zoox’s gondola-shaped robotaxis, which have no steering wheel. The San Francisco launch comes less than three months after the Amazon-owned robotaxi company launched its first ride-hailing service along the Las Vegas strip.

But Zoox still doesn’t charge people to ride in its robotaxis, something Waymo has been doing since its debut in Phoenix five years ago. The free rides are the next major milestone before charging fares like Waymo and traditional ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft, as Amazon tried to make inroads in autonomous driving — a journey that began in 2020 when the e-commerce Goliath bought Zoox for $1.2 billion.

California regulators still have to approve Zoox’s application to charge for rides in San Francisco — a clearance that Waymo received in August 2023 after overcoming safety concerns raised by city officials. Since then, Waymo’s robotaxis have become a familiar sight throughout San Francisco, where some tourists now make a point of hitching a ride in a self-driving car along with hopping on one of the city’s fabled cable cars that have been operating for 152 years.

Waymo, which started as a secret project within Google in 2009. also operates its robotaxis in San Jose, California, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Austin, Texas, with plans to expand into several other U.S. cities next year. In another sign of Waymo’s accelerating growth, its robotaxis began extending their routes beyond city streets and onto highways in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix.

Just as Waymo has already been doing, Amazon is gearing up to bring Zoox’s robotaxis to other major cities, including Austin and Miami. To help Zoox realize its ambitions, Amazon converted a former bus factory into a high-tech robotaxi plant in Hayward, California — about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco. Zoox eventually hopes to make as many as 10,000 robotaxis annually at the plant.