In pictures: India votes in world's biggest election
BBC
·2 min read
Oops!
Something went wrong.
Please try again later.
Tens of millions of Indians have voted on the first day of a staggered general election that ends on 1 June.
Almost a billion people are eligible to cast their ballots in a seven-phase election to the 543-seat lower house of parliament. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is seeking a third consecutive term.
Several key opposition parties, including the Congress, have formed an alliance in many states to take on BJP. Results will be announced on 4 June.
Key concerns include a jobs crisis, rising prices, a clampdown on dissent and opposition, and the politics of religion.
On Friday, more than 160 million voters in 21 states were eligible to vote for more than 1,600 candidates in 102 seats. With 39 seats, Tamil Nadu in southern India was the day's key battle ground state where Mr Modi's party is trying to make inroads.
The next round of voting will take place on 26 April.
Microsoft has changed its policy to ban U.S. police departments from using generative AI for facial recognition through the Azure OpenAI Service, the company's fully managed, enterprise-focused wrapper around OpenAI technologies. Language added Wednesday to the terms of service for Azure OpenAI Service prohibits integrations with Azure OpenAI Service from being used "by or for" police departments for facial recognition in the U.S., including integrations with OpenAI's text- and speech-analyzing models. A separate new bullet point covers "any law enforcement globally," and explicitly bars the use of "real-time facial recognition technology" on mobile cameras, like body cameras and dashcams, to attempt to identify a person in "uncontrolled, in-the-wild" environments.
Apple on Thursday reported a 10% drop in iPhone sales for the second fiscal quarter, dropping from $51.3 billion to $45.9 billion, year-over-year. Apple’s slow adoption of AI versus competitors like Google and Microsoft likely played a role in consumers’ decision to hold off on purchasing a new iPhone. Apple has promised some big announcements on that front (likely at WWDC in June), but the iPhone 16 itself likely won’t arrive until fall.
Hubble Network has become the first company in history to establish a Bluetooth connection directly to a satellite — a critical technology validation for the company, potentially opening the door to connecting millions more devices anywhere in the world.
Two of our top Anker power banks are back on sale at all-time low prices, including the 20,000mAh Prime portable charger. The sale extends to the Nano charger.
Voters correctly remember that gas prices were cheaper when Trump was president. But that's unlikely to happen again, no matter what Trump might do if he wins a second term.
Ahead of the U.S. presidential election, Google is bringing passkey support to its Advanced Protection Program (APP), which is used by people who are at high risk of targeted attacks, such as campaign workers, candidates, journalists, human rights workers, and more. APP traditionally required the use of hardware security keys, but soon users can enroll in APP with passkeys. Users will have the option to use passkeys alone or alongside a password or hardware security key.
Ford reported April US sales that dipped slightly, but saw continued strength with hybrid and truck sales, highlighting the automaker’s pivot into those vehicles.
AI startups face a different set of challenges from your typical SaaS company. Seseri made it clear that just because you connect to some AI APIs, it doesn’t make you an AI company. “And by AI-native I don't mean you're slapping a shiny wrapper with some call to OpenAI or Anthropic with a user interface that’s human-like and you're an AI company,” Seseri said.
If you’re on the hunt for today’s best CD rates, we’ve narrowed down some of the top offers. Learn more about CD rates today and how to open an account.