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American rock climber Alex Honnold climbed the Taipei 101 skyscraper on Sunday without any ropes or protective equipment. Cheers erupted from a gathered crowd as he started climbing the 508-metre (1,667-foot) tower earlier Sunday, using the horizontal metal beams to pull himself up with his bare hands. The onlookers cheered again when he paused at one point and turned around to face them, in a red short-sleeve shirt that stood out as he made the climb. Honnold's free solo climb of the iconic building in Taiwan's capital city was being broadcast live on Netflix with a 10-second delay. The ascent, originally scheduled for Saturday, was delayed for 24 hours due to rain. The climb drew both excitement and concern over the ethical implications of attempting such a high-risk endeavour on live broadcast. Honnold, known for his ropeless ascent up Yosemite National Park's El Capitan, climbed up one corner of Taipei 101 using small L-shaped outcroppings as footholds. Periodically, he had to
The United States and Taiwan reached a trade deal on Thursday that cuts tariffs on Taiwanese goods in exchange for USD 250 billion in new investments in the US tech industry. The deal is the latest President Donald Trump has struck such as those with the European Union and Japan since he unveiled a sweeping tariff plan last April to address trade imbalances. Trump also has a one-year trade truce with China to stabilise ties with the world's second largest economy. Trump initially set the tariff at 32 per cent on Taiwanese goods but later changed it to 20 per cent. The new agreement slashes the tariff rate to 15 per cent, the same as levied on other US trading partners in the Asia-Pacific region such as Japan and South Korea. In a statement, the US Department of Commerce said the deal with Taiwan would establish an economic partnership to create several world-class US-based industrial parks in order to help build up domestic production. The department described it as "a historic ..
Gujarat-based Nav Wireless Technologies claimed to have deployed America's first-ever commercial LiFi internet system in New York City. The technology has been installed at the Silicon Harlem office in New York in collaboration with JESCO Venture Labs, Nav Wireless said in a statement. "Launching LiFi in New York is not just a milestone for Nav Wireless, it is a proud moment for India. This is a clear signal that made-in-India innovations can redefine the world's digital future by offering faster, safer, and interference-free connectivity," Nav Wireless Technologies CTO and Co-Founder Hardik Soni said in the statement. Unlike Wi-Fi which relies on radio frequencies, LiFi uses the visible light to transmit data. Nav Wireless claims to be one of the very few global companies with patented LiFi technology. "Through its US partner, JESCO Venture Labs, Nav Wireless will scale LiFi across America, bringing made-in-India technology to government agencies, defense establishments, hospital
Booker Prize-winning author Kiran Desai on Tuesday returned to the coveted literary award longlist with The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny', a novel described by the judges as a vast and immersive tale about a pair of young Indians in America. The 53-year-old Delhi-born author, who won the Booker Prize 19 years ago in 2006 with The Inheritance of Loss', joins 12 writers from around the world for the so-called Booker Dozen of 13 books that will be whittled down to six shortlisted titles by September. Desai's latest novel stands out as the longest on the longlist, weighing in at 667 pages and published by Hamish Hamilton. The shortest is "Universality" by Natasha Brown at 156 pages. "She has spent almost 20 years writing The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny'. Should she win this year, she would become the fifth double winner in the prize's 56-year history, Booker Prize Foundation said in a statement. Desai has a family history with the prize: her mother Anita Desai was shortlisted for th