• Tue-07-2025
How news from the Middle East is shaping Gen Z’s mental well-being (June 29, 2025, Arab News)

UNICEF-led study warns constant news exposure is overwhelming Gen Z, fuelling anxiety, disconnection, and growing mental health concerns. Despite feeling informed and engaged, many young people say nonstop digital headlines are undermining their well-being and sense of agency

  • Tue-07-2025
South Korea's brain drain -- Why top talent is leaving (July 7, 2025, The Korea Herald)

As South Korea ramps up its efforts to attract global talent by lowering visa hurdles and expanding scholarship opportunities for international students, its own highly educated professionals are quietly slipping away.

  • Tue-07-2025
UAE’s AI University Aims to Become Stanford of the Gulf (May 23, 2025, Bloomberg)

The UAE is on a mission to become a global player in AI. The country appointed the world’s first AI minister back in 2017, and mandated this month that all primary schools add AI-based topics like algorithmic bias and prompt engineering to their curriculums.

  • Tue-07-2025
A misreading of Gen Z’s ‘political disconnect’ set the stage for Hasina’s ouster (July 4, 2025, The Business Standard)

Once dismissed as politically apathetic and self-absorbed, Bangladesh’s Gen Z shattered long-held stereotypes during the 2024 July Uprising, emerging as a bold, politically aware force that catalysed a nationwide reckoning against authoritarian rule

  • Tue-07-2025
Smart Education Index to monitor digital HE transformation (June 19, 2025, University World News)

A Smart Education Index (SEI) has been proposed to monitor and analyse digital transformation within Bahrain’s universities. The hope is that it will be taken up in other Arab and Gulf countries to help regional higher education institutions measure their digital education progress.

  • Tue-07-2025
Only two years left of world’s carbon budget to meet 1.5C target, scientists warn (June 18, 2025, The Guardian)

The planet’s remaining carbon budget to meet the international target of 1.5C has just two years left at the current rate of emissions, scientists have warned, showing how deep into the climate crisis the world has fallen.

  • Tue-07-2025
New mobile Trojan spying on Southeast Asia users–Kaspersky (June 26, 2025, Business Mirror)

Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky has uncovered a new mobile Trojan, dubbed “SparkKitty,” that is actively spying on users in Southeast Asia—including the Philippines—by infiltrating Android and iOS devices through trojanized apps related to cryptocurrency, gambling, and even TikTok.

  • Tue-07-2025
China’s Gen Z embrace ‘rat people’ trend amid record unemployment (May 17, 2025, Outsource Accelerator)

Instead of chasing jobs in a tough market, many are embracing a slower, reclusive lifestyle, spending days in bed, scrolling on their phones, and avoiding traditional work.

  • Tue-07-2025
'Positive review only': Researchers hide AI prompts in papers (July 1, 2025, Nikkei Asia) (Subscription required)

Research papers from 14 academic institutions in eight countries -- including Japan, South Korea and China -- contained hidden prompts directing artificial intelligence tools to give them good reviews.

  • Tue-07-2025
Death, Bans, and Fines: China’s Top AI-Generated Fake News Stories (June 16, 2025, Sixth Tone)

In an effort to quash the spread of AI-generated disinformation, China’s top internet authority highlighted several viral fake news stories from recent years. As generative AI technologies continue to evolve, China has rolled out a series of regulations to impose legal and technical safeguards to prevent their abuse.