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  Chinese company launches commercial flying taxis Priced at 2.39 million yuan ($332,060), the EH216-S is being advertised as "an innovative solution for urban transportation". Image: EHang EHang, a Chinese drone manufacturer, has introduced its EH216-S model flying taxi for commercial sale on Taobao, an online shopping platform owned by Alibaba. Priced at 2.39 million yuan ($332,060), the EH216-S is being advertised as "an innovative solution for urban transportation". The EH216-S is designed to accommodate two passengers and offers a maximum speed of 130 km/h with a range of 30 kilometres. Its compact design, standing at 1.93 meters in height and 5.73 meters in width, coupled with a maximum takeoff weight of 620 kilograms, aims to provide efficient transportation for short-to-medium distance journeys, says the official website of EHang. For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The EH216-S flying taxi during its debut flight in Latin Am...

  Why are Black voters backing Donald Trump in record numbers? He was famously called the “former white supremacist in chief” by Democrat Congresswoman Cori Bush in 2021. Back in 2018, Hillary Clinton called former US President Donald Trump “ignorant” and “racist” after he reportedly made highly derogatory comments about Haiti and African countries. Even Republican Nikki Haley, who recently dropped out of the race for the presidential nomination, called recent comments Trump made about African Americans “disgusting”. What do the polls say? In 2016, Trump received 8 percent of the Black vote according to the exit polls, the highest level of support by Black voters for any Republican since George Bush in 2000. By the 2020 US presidential election, support for Trump among Black voters had surged to 12 percent. And, while current opinion polls vary, a recent survey from GenForward shows that if the elections were held today, 17 percent of Black voters would vote for Donald Trump while ...

  Artificial Intelligence Act: MEPs adopt landmark law The untargeted scraping of facial images from CCTV footage to create facial recognition databases will be banned © Alexander / Adobe Stock On Wednesday, Parliament approved the Artificial Intelligence Act that ensures safety and compliance with fundamental rights, while boosting innovation. The regulation,  agreed in negotiations with member states in December  2023, was endorsed by MEPs with 523 votes in favour, 46 against and 49 abstentions. It aims to protect fundamental rights, democracy, the rule of law and environmental sustainability from high-risk AI, while boosting innovation and establishing Europe as a leader in the field. The regulation establishes obligations for AI based on its potential risks and level of impact. Banned applications The new rules ban certain AI applications that threaten citizens’ rights, including biometric categorisation systems based on sensitive characteristics and untargeted scrapi...

  The judge overseeing an election interference case against Donald Trump in Georgia has thrown out six criminal charges, but left most in place. Watch Video Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee dismissed key counts relating to soliciting an elected official to violate their oath of office. But the judge said the charges can still be refiled at a later date. Mr Trump was among 19 people charged with a conspiracy to overturn the state's 2020 election results. "The lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is, in the undersigned's opinion, fatal," Judge McAfee wrote in his order on Wednesday. He said the charges do not provide the accused with enough information to prepare their legal defences "intelligently", adding that "this does not mean the entire indictment is dismissed"... See more

  White House announces $300m stopgap military aid package for Ukraine The Pentagon will rush about $300m in weapons to  Ukraine  after finding some cost savings in its contracts, even though the military remains deeply overdrawn and needs at least $10bn to replenish all the weapons it has pulled from its stocks to help Kyiv in its desperate fight against Russia, the White House announced on Tuesday. It’s the Pentagon’s first announced security package for Ukraine since December, when it acknowledged it was out of replenishment funds. It wasn’t until recent days that officials publicly acknowledged they weren’t just out of replenishment funds, but $10bn overdrawn. The announcement comes as  Ukraine is running dangerously low on munitions  and efforts to get fresh funds for weapons have stalled in the House because of Republican opposition. US officials have insisted for months that the United States wouldn’t be able to resume weapons deliveries until Congress pr...