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Elon Musk’s long-standing dream to colonize Mars has come under sharp criticism from renowned astrophysicist and author Adam Becker, who calls it “the stupidest thing” one could pursue. In a recent interview and in his new book More Everything Forever, Becker argues that efforts by billionaires like Musk and Jeff Bezos to settle Mars are nothing more than “sci-fi fantasies” detached from scientific and ethical realities. Despite Musk’s framing of Mars as a backup plan for humanity in the event of a global catastrophe, Becker insists that even a damaged Earth would remain far more habitable than the red planet. He believes these grandiose space ambitions are more about escaping fears than solving real problems.
Becker takes a blunt stance on Musk’s idea of Mars as a “lifeboat” for humanity. “We could get hit with an asteroid, detonate every nuclear weapon, or see the worst-case scenario for climate change, and Earth would still be more habitable than Mars,” he told Rolling Stone. He cites the planet’s lack of breathable air, radiation exposure, and extreme conditions as insurmountable barriers. His critique also targets the illusion that technology alone can make Mars livable. “Any cursory examination of facts about Mars makes it clear, it’s not a place for humans,” Becker asserts.
Once a strong believer in space colonization, Becker admits that his views changed as he studied the harsh truths of space environments. “As I got older, I realized, ‘Oh, that’s not happening.’ We’re not going to go to space, and certainly not to make things better,” he told The Harvard Gazette. He accuses tech billionaires of pouring resources into escapist dreams instead of addressing problems on Earth. According to him, their space crusades reflect deep-seated fears rather than rational strategy.
Becker isn’t the only critic. Fellow astrophysicist Lawrence Krauss has also denounced Musk’s Mars plan, calling it “logistically ludicrous” and “scientifically and politically dangerous.” Despite these warnings, Musk remains committed to his goal of building a Mars colony with at least one million people, positioning SpaceX as the spearhead of this vision. Yet experts argue that such ambitions, if rushed or poorly planned, could have disastrous consequences both scientifically and socially.
ISLAMABAD – The Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE) has officially released the results for the 2025 SSC Part I & II examinations today at 1:30 pm.
Students who sat for the annual exams earlier this year can now check their results, which were published at 1:30 PM (PST) on Wednesday, July 16, 2025.
Students can easily check their results through the following channels:
After FBISE Result, as the BISE Punjab result nears, The Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore strictly restricted unauthorized access to its Matriculation Tabulation Branches. The move is aimed at ensuring transparency and security for the upcoming 2025 matriculation results.
According to official directives, no outsider will be allowed entry into the areas where sensitive exam result data is processed. This decision addresses growing concerns regarding potential data leaks, interference, and result manipulation.
Matriculation examinations under Punjab’s education boards, including BISE Lahore, were held in March and April 2025. Students are now awaiting their results, which will be officially released on Thursday, July 24, 2025.
A new DBS report entitled New Realities, New Possibilities reveals that businesses are recalibrating their long-term strategies to strengthen financial resilience over the next five years. This includes a greater emphasis on liquidity and foreign exchange (FX) management and data-driven financial intelligence to enable better organisational performance.
The bank gathered insights from over 800 finance leaders, including chief financial officers and corporate treasurers, across seven sectors and 14 markets[1] for the report. To better understand how finance leaders were steering their organisations amidst immediate-term developments, respondents were surveyed in two batches – before and after the US trade tariff announcements in April.
Findings showed that leveraging data-driven financial intelligence to strengthen decision-making remained a top priority for companies over the next five years (Figure 1), with respondents drawn to data visualisation and security monitoring tools to enhance treasury and finance functions. These tools help leaders navigate uncertainty more effectively with sharper sense-making and better threat anticipation, enabling more accurate cash flow forecasting and proactive capital strategies.
Notably, liquidity and foreign exchange (FX) management leapt from seventh place to second. This comes as companies start planning to strengthen financial stability amidst higher upfront costs and potential inventory stockpiling associated with increased market volatility. To do so effectively, over one-in-two said they were exploring more innovative solutions including integrated payments, blockchain-powered capabilities and the setting up of regional treasury centres.
Strengthening working capital efficiency rounded up the list of top three priorities as companies recognised the need to optimise financial returns while enhancing financial flexibility. Some 69% said they are exploring Gen AI-powered solutions to optimise inventory forecasting, overcome prolonged receivables collection periods and improve cash conversion cycles.
Figure 1
Transformation, cost optimisation and sustainability remain ongoing priorities
Amid an increasingly complex business landscape, companies are seeking to enhance agility, strengthen operational resilience and advance sustainability.
About 50% of finance leaders said supply chain reconfiguration continued to be a priority to diversify and strengthen their manufacturing footprint to be closer to customers. A similar proportion planned to review their capital costs by optimising the mix of equity and debt financing. One-in-two companies indicated that trade finance solutions and cross-border payment methods were key strategies for supporting their transformation agendas.
In addition, enabling green initiatives and ensuring compliance with sustainability standards remained a priority for half of respondents. Companies said they were considering various approaches to advance sustainability, including using digital tools to enhance the rigour of ESG reporting (77% of respondents), partnerships with ESG ecosystem networks (64%) and sustainable trade finance solutions (63%).
Han Kwee Juan, Group Head of Institutional Banking at DBS, said: “We are entering a new norm marked by greater uncertainty and an accelerating pace of technological transformation. For businesses, navigating the path to resilience lies in proactive adaptation across several key dimensions, including strengthening data driven decision-making, optimising liquidity and working capital, diversifying supply chains and building new technology capabilities. These enable businesses to not just tide through immediate challenges but to achieve long-term competitive advantage.”
Lim Soon Chong, Group Head of Global Transaction Services at DBS, said: “As stewards of capital and risk management, treasury and finance teams have never been more critical in providing strategic leadership within their organisations. They are stepping up to help navigate fast-changing conditions, build resilience and drive sustainable value creation. To future-proof themselves in a changed world, finance leaders are turning to strategic partners for in-depth insights and a broad suite of solutions. As a leading transaction bank in Asia, DBS has been leveraging our capabilities and regional connectivity to support our clients as they navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with growth.”
New Realities, New Possibilities is the third iteration of DBS’ ongoing thought leadership series tailored for treasury and finance professionals, building on the findings of earlier reports. Each report aims to give finance leaders a deeper understanding of the evolving demands on treasury and finance teams and how companies might capture opportunities amid these shifts.
Read the full report here: go.dbs.com/NewRealitiesReport
[1] Sectors: Automotives, consumer products, energy and renewables, food and agribusiness, health and pharmaceuticals, industrials, technology. Markets: Australia, China, Europe, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, USA, Vietnam
[END]
About DBS
DBS is a leading financial services group in Asia with a presence in 19 markets. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, DBS is in the three key Asian axes of growth: Greater China, Southeast Asia and South Asia. The bank’s “AA-” and “Aa1” credit ratings are among the highest in the world.
Recognised for its global leadership, DBS has been named “World’s Best Bank” by Global Finance, “World’s Best Bank” by Euromoney and “Global Bank of the Year” by The Banker. The bank is at the forefront of leveraging digital technology to shape the future of banking, having been named “World’s Best Digital Bank” by Euromoney and the world’s “Most Innovative in Digital Banking” by The Banker. In addition, DBS has been accorded the “Safest Bank in Asia“ award by Global Finance for 16 consecutive years from 2009 to 2024.
DBS provides a full range of services in consumer, SME and corporate banking. As a bank born and bred in Asia, DBS understands the intricacies of doing business in the region’s most dynamic markets.
DBS is committed to building lasting relationships with customers, as it banks the Asian way. Through the DBS Foundation, the bank creates impact beyond banking by supporting businesses for impact: enterprises with a double bottom-line of profit and social and/or environmental impact. DBS Foundation also gives back to society in various ways, including equipping underserved communities with future-ready skills and helping them to build food resilience.
With its extensive network of operations in Asia and emphasis on engaging and empowering its staff, DBS presents exciting career opportunities. For more information, please visit www.dbs.com.
Challenge your friends in thrilling skirmishes or prove your strategy skills in player-versus-player mode: ranked 1-vs.-1 matchmaking and three free-for-all matches. Custom Private Lobby available to train your skills against a friend or AI. The multiplayer mode is cross-platform compatible, allowing players on all consoles to play together.
Immerse yourself in a miniature ecosystem in the heart of the Fontainebleau Forest. You play as the 103,683rd ant, determined to defend its colony.
In Empire of the Ants, every decision counts, every movement is strategic, and each conquest showcases your skill in navigating a world where the small are powerful! Strategy, exploration, combat, and alliances with local fauna are essential to overcome the many challenges awaiting players.
Developed by the La Rochelle-based Tower Five studio using Unreal Engine 5, the Empire of the Ants video game offers players a real-time strategic experience inspired by Bernard Werber’s iconic saga. Players will dive into an exhilarating adventure, tasked with growing an ant colony through tactical and strategic battles within a world of enormous scale. Strategy, exploration, combat, and alliances with local fauna are essential for overcoming the many challenges that await players.
“THE WORLD OF THE INFINITELY SMALL IS SET TO UNLEASH ITS GREATEST BATTLE”
Bernard Werber’s saga has captivated millions of readers worldwide with its fascinating universe and reflections on human nature. We’re thrilled to offer players the chance to experience this universe from a new perspective with this video game adaptation.
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Clashes raged in the southern Syrian city of Sweida on Wednesday after a ceasefire between government forces and Druze armed groups collapsed and Israel threatened to escalate its involvement in support of the Druze religious minority.
Syria’s Defense Ministry blamed militias in Sweida for violating a ceasefire agreement that had been reached Tuesday, causing Syrian army soldiers to return fire and continue military operations in the Druze-majority province.
“Military forces continue to respond to the source of fire inside the city of Sweida, while adhering to rules of engagement to protect residents, prevent harm, and ensure the safe return of those who left the city back to their homes,” the statement said.
A rebel offensive led by Islamist insurgent groups ousted Syria’s longtime despotic leader, Bashar Assad, in December, bringing an end to a nearly 14-year civil war. Since then, the country’s new rulers have struggled to consolidate control over the territory.
The primarily Sunni Muslim leaders have faced suspicion from religious and ethnic minorities. The fears of minorities increased after clashes between government forces and pro-Assad armed groups in March spiraled into sectarian revenge attacks in which hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority, to which Assad belongs, were killed.
The latest escalation in Syria began with tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks between local Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze armed factions in the southern province, a center of the Druze community.
Government forces that intervened to restore order have also clashed with the Druze, while reports have surfaced of members of the security forces carrying out extrajudicial killings, looting and burning civilian homes.
No official casualty figures have been released since Monday, when the Syrian Interior Ministry said 30 people had been killed. The U.K.-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 250 people had been killed as of Wednesday morning, including four children, five women and 138 soldiers and security forces.
The observatory said at least 21 people were killed in “field executions.”
Israel has launched a series of airstrikes on convoys of government forces since the clashes erupted, saying that it is acting to protect the Druze.
The Druze religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981.
In Israel, the Druze are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the military. In Syria, the Druze have been divided over how to deal with the country’s new leaders, with some advocating for integrating into the new system while others have remained suspicious of the authorities in Damascus and pushed for an autonomous Druze region.
On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that the Israeli army “will continue to attack regime forces until they withdraw from the area — and will also soon raise the bar of responses against the regime if the message is not understood.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Tuesday night that Israel has “a commitment to preserve the southwestern region of Syria as a demilitarized area on Israel’s border” and has “an obligation to safeguard the Druze locals.”
Israel has taken an aggressive stance toward Syria’s new leaders since Assad’s fall, saying it doesn’t want Islamist militants near its borders. Israeli forces have seized a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone on Syrian territory along the border with the Golan Heights and launched hundreds of airstrikes on military sites in Syria.
16 July 2025
The European Central Bank (ECB) has published its third progress report on the preparation phase of a digital euro, which was launched on 1 November 2023 and is laying the foundations for the potential issuance of a digital euro.
Since the publication of the second progress report, the ECB has continued to make progress on the draft digital euro scheme rulebook, which aims to harmonise digital euro payments across the euro area and ensure a modern, user-friendly experience. Extensive feedback from the Rulebook Development Group – comprising representatives from the European retail payments market – has helped improve rulebook sections, as have insights from dedicated ECB workstreams featuring around 50 market participants (representing over 30 organisations) and sessions with industry experts on specific topics such as risk management and dispute management.
At the same time, the ECB has intensified experimentation and user research to ensure that the digital euro meets the needs of end users. Through the recently launched innovation platform, around 70 market participants have conducted technical tests of features such as conditional payments and explored conceptual ideas and use cases for integrating the digital euro into the financial ecosystem. In parallel, the ECB has engaged directly with small merchants, vulnerable consumers and under-represented groups through focus groups, interviews and collaborations with consumer associations. The main objective of this research is to understand the needs, preferences and challenges of diverse user groups to ensure the digital euro’s design is as inclusive and accessible as possible. Findings will be published in the third quarter of 2025.
Continuous engagement with stakeholders remains a cornerstone of the digital euro project. The ECB has intensified its outreach to market participants, merchants and consumers through technical sessions, workshops and bilateral meetings. Particular attention has been given to how the digital euro would fit into the existing European payments ecosystem, to ensure that it complements private sector solutions. As the debate on the legislation progresses, the ECB has continued to provide technical expertise to the European institutions involved and project updates to the euro area finance ministers (through the Eurogroup) and the European Parliament.
“We are pleased to see that our efforts remain on track as we keep working to deliver on the request of EU leaders to accelerate progress on a digital euro,” said Executive Board member Piero Cipollone, who chairs the High-Level Task Force on a digital euro. “In light of today’s geopolitical and economic challenges, we welcome an ambitious pace for the legislative work.”
The digital euro project is a collaborative effort between the ECB, national central banks, market participants, consumer representatives and policymakers. The ECB is committed to providing technical input to support legislative deliberations, and to ensuring that the digital euro meets the highest standards of quality, security, privacy and usability.
For media queries, please contact Josephine Nachtsheim, tel.: +49 170 6620455.
It has been the tropical jewel in one of the UK’s most famous gardens for more than 175 years, and now the Palm House in the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew is to get a green makeover.
The attraction, which houses Kew’s tropical rainforest, will close for five years to allow engineers and botanists to transform it into the first net zero glasshouse in the world.
The £50m plan will result in 1,300 plants – including the world’s oldest potted plant, a gigantic Encephalartos altensteinii that dates from 1775 – being removed from the iron and glass structure and rehoused in temporary greenhouses until their new digs are ready. The plants include 45 plant species on the verge of extinction, and while some can be dug up and placed in containers for relocation, others will be delicately propagated.
The imposing Grade I-listed Victorian structure will have each of its 16,000 panes of glass replaced and recycled, while its soaring wrought-iron frame will be stripped, repaired and encased with a high-tech waterproof paint in the exact shade of white used when the Palm House was first opened to the public in 1848.
But perhaps the biggest change will be the replacing of the Palm House’s ancient gas-fired boiler system and leaky pipework with state-of-the-art air source and water source heat pumps.
According to the gardens’ accounts and annual report, Kew generated £369m for the UK economy in 2023. The renovation of the Palm House and its little sister, the Waterlily House, which account for more than a fifth of Kew Gardens’ carbon emissions, is part of its plan to become climate positive by 2030. Other carbon reduction changes will reduce energy use by 49% across the 200-hectare (500-acre) site.
Tom Pickering, the head of glasshouse collections at Kew, said: “At the heart of this project is the need to protect the extraordinary plant collections housed in the Palm House and Waterlily House. Besides being beautiful, many have cultural, scientific and conservation value, and replacing these collections is unimaginable. Achieving net zero in these historic buildings is an unprecedented task, it’s a complex challenge which must consider the interplay of horticulture, climatic control, engineering, and architecture.”
The redesigned interior of the Palm House will be more accessible and have more places for visitors to sit and wonder at the tropical rainforest collections. Planning permission for the project has been submitted, with funding coming from central government, the Julia Rausing Trust, the World Monuments Fund and other donors.
The renovation is likely to start in 2027, with the exact date dependent on planning permission and funding.