A research project focusing on the physical processes linked to space weather has been launched at the HUN-REN Wigner Research Centre for Physics (Wigner FK) with the support of the European Space Agency (ESA), the Hungarian Research Network (HUN-REN) announced.
The SWIFT project (Solar Wind Impact on Turbulent Dynamics of the Terrestrial Magnetosphere-Ionosphere System) will examine how solar activity, particularly the solar wind, affects Earth’s magnetic environment. The research is funded through an ESA grant and will rely on measurement data from several international space missions orbiting Earth.
Hungarian researchers aim to explore the key physical processes that transfer solar energy into Earth’s near-space environment. Special attention will be given to the connection between interplanetary and geomagnetic field lines, turbulent plasma phenomena, and the electric currents forming in near-Earth plasma, as well as their interactions.
To carry out the investigations, data will be used from NASA’s MMS and Themis missions and ESA’s Cluster and Swarm missions. According to the announcement, the project’s findings could not only improve space weather forecasting but also support research in astrophysics, fluid dynamics, and even the development of fusion reactors.
The researchers also highlighted the practical importance of the work. Solar storms, such as solar flares, can pose serious risks to infrastructure and technology on Earth. While the Carrington Event of the 19th century caused disruptions mainly to telegraph systems, today similar storms could endanger power grids, pipelines, GNSS navigation systems, and satellites. Improved forecasting could help mitigate such risks and limit potential damage.
Honda Atlas Cars Limited (HCAR), a subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., has confirmed the launch of a hybrid car in Pakistan. The upcoming model will feature Honda Sensing, the company’s advanced driver-assistance system.
Announcement at AGM
The news was shared by HCAR President and CEO Masaya Wakuda during the company’s annual general meeting (AGM). Addressing shareholder concerns, Wakuda noted Honda’s global leadership in hybrid technology, particularly in the United States. He assured that expertise is now being brought to Pakistan.
Wakuda highlighted that the hybrid model will combine eco-friendly performance with enhanced safety features. Honda Sensing will provide drivers with advanced safety and assistance functions, aligning with international standards.
Growing Competition in the Hybrid Market
The announcement comes as competition in Pakistan’s hybrid segment grows stronger. Recently, Toyota Pakistan announced a $100 million investment in hybrid technology. With this move, Toyota is positioning itself as an early leader in the market.
During the AGM, shareholders raised concerns about the government’s decision to allow second-hand car imports up to five years old. HCAR’s chairman explained that such imports are allowed under specific conditions. However, he cautioned that the policy could raise prices of reconditioned cars while increasing government revenue.
HCAR also confirmed that Pakistan’s existing Automobile Policy will stay valid until June 2026. This provides regulatory clarity for automakers and investors in the local market.
Investing.com — Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) shares edged higher Tuesday following results from Viking Therapeutics’ Phase 2 VENTURE-Oral Dosing trial for its oral obesity treatment.
Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) rose 1.4% premarket, while Eli Lilly gained 1.2%. Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) plunged over 30% in premarket trading.
The trial tested Viking’s oral tablet VK2735, a dual GLP-1 and GIP receptor agonist, and met its primary endpoint, with patients losing up to 12.2% of body weight after 13 weeks versus 1.3% for placebo.
However, a 28% treatment discontinuation rate among VK2735 recipients raised concerns, compared with 18% in the placebo group.
Viking said 99% of gastrointestinal-related adverse events were mild or moderate, and an exploratory maintenance dosing arm indicated weight loss could be maintained at lower doses.
Mizuho analyst Jared Holz said the data highlighted challenges relative to Eli Lilly’s offerings.
“Data look inferior to LLY on almost all metrics and the thing to consider here is that patients discontinued at such a high rate over 13-weeks vs. LLY in the mid 20% range — but over 72-weeks; a much longer trial, and therefore LLY looks far better head-to-head,” Holz wrote.
He added that Viking would likely need pipeline improvements or enhanced formulations to regain investor interest.
“A tough day for retail investors ahead – that have been pumping this thing like a 1991 Reebok Dee Brown,” concluded Holz.
The results underscore the competitive pressure in the oral obesity market.
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ESPN star Stephen A. Smith and Entertainment Tonight co-host Kevin Frazier are taking a personal bond as friends for 30-plus years and making it professional.
Smith has tapped his pal for a “strategic partnership” at his Straight Shooter Media, in a move designed to help the former “expand and elevate” the company through original content that helps redefine sports and entertainment storytelling. “By amplifying diverse voices and pushing creative boundaries, this fusion is set to ignite a new era of storytelling and redefine how audiences engage with commentary, conversation, and connection across television, digital platforms and streaming,” per official intel.
“Kevin Frazier is a consummate professional and one of the most respected voices in entertainment,” praised Smith, who hosts ESPN’s number one morning show, First Take. ”Teaming up with him isn’t just a partnership — it’s a statement. We’re here to build something different, something disruptive and something authentic.”
Frazier is best known as a beloved star at Entertainment Tonight. He also founded the digital platform HipHollywood. “Stephen A. is a force — period,” said Frazier. “His vision for Straight Shooter Media is ambitious, timely and exactly what the industry needs right now. I’m thrilled to build something that not only entertains but also informs and empowers.”
Straight Shooter Media borrowed its name from Smith’s New York Times best-seller, Straight Shooter: A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes. The company, previously known as Mr. SAS Productions, produced ESPN’s Up For Debate: The Evolution of Sports Media, and currently shepherds The Stephen A. Smith Show on YouTube.
On the horizon are two original shows on SiriusXM, including a sports show on Mad Dog Radio Channel 82 and a political show on POTUS Channel 124, both to be hosted by Smith. There’s a slate in development that includes docuseries, interview-driven formats and scripted projects.
Pakistan’s Ahmed Daniyal celebrates after the dismissal of Bangladesh’s Shamim Hossain during the second T20 cricket match between Bangladesh and Pakistan at the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on July 22, 2025 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. – AFP
LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday announced pacer Mohammad Salman as the replacement for all-rounder Ahmed Daniyal in the ongoing Top End T20 Series in Darwin.
Daniyal, who injured his right thumb while fielding ahead of the tournament, has already missed Pakistan Shaheens’ opening two fixtures against Bangladesh ‘A’ and Perth Scorchers.
Meanwhile, in today’s fixture, Chicago Kingsmen continued their dominant run in the competition with a comprehensive 69-run win over Pakistan Shaheens at the DXC Arena.
Batting first, the Kingsmen piled up a commanding 206-5 in 20 overs, powered by a crucial 102-run stand between Milind Kumar and Tajinder Dhillon.
Milind played a scintillating knock of 74 off 37 balls, laced with eight boundaries and three maximums, while Dhillon contributed 58 from 37 deliveries.
Opener Shayan Jahangir added 30 runs, but the rest of the batting order failed to capitalise.
For the Shaheens, Mohammad Wasim Jr finished with figures of 2-57 from his four overs, while Saad Masood and Shahid Aziz chipped in with a wicket apiece.
In response, Pakistan Shaheens crumbled under pressure, managing only 137-8.
Opener Yasir Khan top-scored with 38 off 32 balls, followed by captain Irfan Khan (24) and Shahid Aziz (24). Wasim Jr (16*) and Ubaid Shah (13*) offered late resistance, but wickets at regular intervals sealed their defeat.
With two wins from four matches, Pakistan Shaheens currently sit third on the points table with four points and a net run rate of 0.832.
Irfan Khan’s men will now aim for a strong comeback in their next encounter against Adelaide Strikers Academy on August 20.
European leaders are holding fresh talks after their White House meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy amid uncertainty over Vladimir Putin’s readiness to meet the Ukrainian president.
The so-called “coalition of the willing” will first meet virtually, co-chaired by Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, before joining a video conference hosted by the European Council president, António Costa.
Europe’s flurry of diplomacy, after an unprecedented joint visit alongside Zelenskyy to the White House, is aimed at pushing Donald Trump to take a tougher line with Putin, days after their friendly summit in Alaska.
Trump, along with several European leaders in Washington on Monday, said Putin had agreed to face-to-face talks with Zelenskyy in the coming weeks in an attempt to end the three-and-a-half-year war in Ukraine.
Macron on Tuesday proposed Geneva as a venue for the meeting, and a senior US official told Reuters that Hungary was also being considered. Moscow, however, has yet to confirm that any such meeting – which would be the first between the two leaders since the invasion – is in the works.
The Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov has said only that Putin and Trump discussed the idea of “raising the level of representatives” in Ukraine talks. In remarks late on Monday, Ushakov did not clarify what that would entail and made no mention of a possible trilateral meeting with Trump and Zelenskyy.
On Tuesday the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, told state TV that any meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents would have to be prepared “very thoroughly”.
At the heart of Tuesday’s talks among European allies is the question of what security guarantees can be offered to Ukraine. On Monday, Zelenskyy described security guarantees as “a key issue, a starting point towards ending the war” and he appreciated Trump’s indication that the US was ready to be part of that guarantee.
Zelenskyy said those guarantees would be “formalised in some way in the next week or 10 days”, which could prove to be a long time when it comes to diplomacy involving Trump’s White House.
In a social media post late on Monday, Trump said the White House talks included plans for European countries to provide security assurances to Ukraine with the US acting as “coordinator”.
Britain and several European allies have floated the idea of a “reassurance force” that could be sent to Ukraine under a future peace deal to deter renewed Russian aggression. Their plans would need firm US backing and Trump has been resistant to deploying US troops as guarantors of any settlement.
Moscow issued a statement on Monday evening rejecting any prospect of Nato personnel being deployed in Ukraine. “We reaffirm our categorical opposition to any scenarios involving the stationing of a Nato contingent in Ukraine,” Russia’s foreign ministry said.
Emmanuel Macron takes part in a video meeting of the so-called ‘coalition of the willing’ from Fort de Bregancon in Bormes-les-Mimosas, southern France. Photograph: Christophe Simon/EPA
Other proposals for security guarantees include western allies offering Ukraine article 5-style protection, similar to Nato’s collective defence pledge that treats an attack on one member as an attack on all.
In a statement after Monday’s White House meeting, Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, said that while Ukraine would not be joining Nato, western allies would commit to “a collective security clause that would allow Ukraine to benefit from the support of all its partners, including the United States, ready to take action if it is attacked again.”
Zelenskyy has made clear that Ukraine would reject any deal limiting the size of its armed forces, insisting that “a strong Ukrainian army” must be part of the country’s security guarantees. These proposals run counter to the conditions Putin has previously outlined as acceptable for ending the war.
While western leaders adopted an upbeat, congratulatory tone toward Trump at the White House, the gulf between Russia’s demands and Ukraine’s willingness to concede remains vast. There remains widespread confusion over what exactly Trump proposed and what, if anything, Putin agreed to during the Alaska summit. Some fear Trump may have overstated the outcome and misjudged Moscow’s willingness to compromise.
Monday’s White House meeting shed little light on Putin’s territorial terms. The Russian leader has demanded Ukraine’s withdrawal from Donetsk and Luhansk, but Zelenskyy has set a firm red line against ceding land beyond the present occupation or legitimising Moscow’s control.
Some observers say that for all the diplomatic manoeuvring, there has been little real movement towards ending the war. “Nothing had happened in Anchorage on Aug. 15th. Nothing happened yesterday in Washington DC,” Gérard Araud, the former French ambassador to the US, wrote on X. “Putin, Zelenskyy and the European leaders were all relieved: they had avoided Trump taking unwelcome decisions. It was the triumph of empty vagueness and meaningless commitments.”
Nick Frost has sent the internet into a frenzy after a behind-the-scenes video surfaced online. The Daily Mail UK put up a sneak peek of the same on its Instagram handle. Nick Frost and Dominic McLaughlin, who play Rubeus Hagrid and Harry Potter in the series, took over the London streets as they were filmed shooting together.
The Harry Potter series was announced by HBO, slated for a release in 2027. It is said that each season of the series will be as per the novel series, and therefore, the show will be around for a long time. The other cast members consist of McLaughlin playing protagonist Harry, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley.
For those who loved the rapport between our beloved Hagrid and Harry in the movies, gear up for something new and intriguing in the show, as quoted by Frost himself.
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Nick Frost Channels Hagrid With an Almost Uncanny Resemblance
Nick Frost as Hagrid in Harry Potter series | Credits: HBO
Nick Frost, who plays Rubeus Hagrid in HBO’s upcoming reboot of Harry Potter, is seen to have an uncanny resemblance to the original movie Hagrid, portrayed by Robbie Coltrane.
With Frost stepping into the big boots, he has often spoken about the role and the usual comparison that is drawn between him and Coltrane. In an interview with Collider, Nick Frost quotes that,
“I’m going to try and do something, not ‘different.’ I think you have to be respectful to the subject matter, but within that, there’s scope for minutia. I always read Hagrid as he’s like a lovely, lost, violent, funny, warm child.”
He further quipped that,
“I think the beauty of being able to do a book a season means I get to explore that a lot more, and I can’t wait. He’s funny! I want it to be funny and cheeky and scared and protective and childlike. That’s what I’m planning on doing.”
With such a resemblance and thoughts, Frost is giving his best to justify the late actors’ legacy that has brought the character to life and fanned over for all these years.
While some fans expressed their excitement that Frost is a great choice for the role, others have critiqued the look, suggesting that the hair and makeup look unnatural or cosplay-like.
Furthermore, some also argued that Frost is like a spiritual successor to Robbie Coltrane’s portrayal of Hagrid and that the makers should be creative enough to change the approach a bit.
How Robbie Coltrane’s Hagrid Became the Heart of the Harry Potter Films
Just remembering the legendary late actor Robbie Coltrane‘s portrayal of Rubeus Hagrid sends me down memory lane. A teacher, a guide, a friend, and a father figure to Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Hagrid has been one big rock that has helped Harry with his missions.
Despite his size as a half-giant, Coltrane masterfully conveyed Hagrid’s soft-hearted, sensitive, and tearful nature. His fierce loyalty towards Harry and Professor Albus Dumbledore (Richard Harris) tells about his central character.
A lot of us draw comparisons between Robbie Coltrane’s original and Nick Frost’s reprisal as Rubeus Hagrid. But, before that, it is important to know that the two are different. One marked the legacy, the other will step in to give it a new narrative and perspective.
For a generation of fans, including me (unapologetically), Coltrane didn’t portray Hagrid, but he was Rubeus Hagrid. At the same time, laying the foundation, it becomes essential to acknowledge that when time changes, everything progresses.
While there are similarities between the portrayals after the sneak-peek release, Frost himself said that it will be something new and vibrant to watch and binge upon.
While we wait for more such news to unfurl, let us know your thoughts on this banging portrayal and the peek into the sets.
The UK government has dropped its insistence that Apple allows law enforcement officials “backdoor” access to US customer data, Donald Trump’s spy chief, Tulsi Gabbard, says.
The US director of national intelligence posted the claim on X following a months-long dispute embroiling the iPhone manufacturer, the UK government and the US president. Trump had weighed in to accuse Britain of behaving like China, telling the prime minister, Keir Starmer: “You can’t do this”.
Neither the Home Office nor Apple are commenting on the alleged agreement, which Gabbard said meant the UK was no longer demanding that Apple “provide a ‘backdoor’ that would have enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens and encroached on our civil liberties”.
The transatlantic row began when the Home Office issued a “technical capability notice” to Apple under the Investigatory Powers Act, which requires companies to assist law enforcement in providing evidence. Apple responded by launching a legal challenge, which the Home Office demanded be kept secret but judges ordered be made public.
The US vice-president, JD Vance, also complained saying: “I don’t want American citizens to be spied on.” He said it was “crazy” that “we’re creating a backdoor in our own technology networks that our enemies are now using”.
Civil liberties groups cautioned that the backdoor would put politicians, campaigners and minority groups at particular risk of being targeted.
In February, Apple responded by withdrawing the option for its new British customers to enable advance data protection options, saying it was “deeply disappointed” and would never build a backdoor into any of its products. That meant, uniquely, many UK customers were unable to benefit from end-to-end encryption of services, including the iCloud Drive, photos, notes or reminders, making them more vulnerable to data breaches.
Gabbard said: “Over the past few months, I’ve been working closely with our partners in the UK, alongside President Trump and Vice-President Vance, to ensure Americans’ private data remains private and our constitutional rights and civil liberties are protected.”
It is not clear whether the technical capability notice requiring the data access would be withdrawn altogether or altered. It could in theory be limited to allowing access to the data only of UK citizens, although experts cautioned that could be technologically unrealistic. It also raises the danger that other foreign governments could still find a way to use the backdoor.
Neither is it clear whether Apple will be able to offer new UK customers access to its highest levels of data protection again.
The Home Office refused to confirm Gabbard’s claim, saying: “We do not comment on operational matters, including confirming or denying the existence of such notices. We have long had joint security and intelligence arrangements with the US to tackle the most serious threats, such as terrorism and child sexual abuse, including the role played by fast-moving technology in enabling those threats.”
It added: “Those arrangements have long contained safeguards to protect privacy and sovereignty: for example the data access agreement includes critical safeguards to prevent the UK and US from targeting the data of each other’s citizens. We will continue to build on those arrangements and we will also continue to maintain a strong security framework to ensure that we can continue to pursue terrorists and serious criminals operating in the UK. We will always take all actions necessary at the domestic level to keep UK citizens safe.”
The UK-US data access agreement allows UK agencies to submit requests for content of communications directly to communications service providers, including social media platforms and messaging services, in the US, but this must be for the purpose of investigating, preventing, detecting, and prosecuting serious crime, officials said.
Valve has updated how user reviews appear on Steam to ensure consumers primarily see scores calculated from reviews written in their language. The company said the pivot will allow users to more effectively make informed purchasing decisions.
Notably, Valve explained the shift means user reviews will now more accurately reflect the impact of translation issues, cultural references, poor network connections, and other issues that might be region-specific.
“Customers in different regions of the world may have vastly different experiences from each other for the same game. There are a variety of reasons this may happen for a particular game, including translation issues, cultural references, poor network connections, and many others; things that the Overall Review Scores haven’t been able to capture until now,” reads a blog post.
“Calculating a language-specific review score means that we can better distill the sentiment of these different groups of customers, and in doing so, better serve potential customers that belong to those groups.”
The change will impact titles that have over 2,000 publicly visibly reviews—including a minimum of 200 written in at least one language.
“We purposely made these thresholds higher than the 10 reviews required to calculate the Overall Review Score; this is because we wanted to be pretty confident in the language-specific score before showing it to users,” added Valve.
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The company explained review scores might now vary from user to user depending on their primary language. For instance, individual titles might appear to have been more positively reviewed in one language compared to another.
Valve acknowledged the sudden change might invite “some scrutiny” but said it was candid about its motivations in a bid to preserve trust in its review system. Users who want to revert to the older, language-inclusive review system can adjust their Store preferences.
“We’ve erred on the side of being as transparent as possible. To that end, we’ve built many features in User Reviews that can be enabled or disabled, letting you access the raw reviews in many different ways,” Valve continued.
“At the same time, we want User Reviews to be useful to customers from the very start, without them having to twiddle with the many knobs the system has—this is the primary reason why the new language-specific review score system is turned on by default.”
