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Record-breaking heat wave grips western United States

A record early heat wave striking the western United States on Friday is a one-in-500-year event and almost certainly the result of human-caused climate change, experts say. The heat has been toppling records this week and is set to continue into the weekend across western cities while expanding eastward. Four locations in the desert area near the California-Arizona border registered 44.4 degrees Celsius on Friday, a US national record for March. The readings were recorded near Yuma and Martinez Lake in Arizona, and around Winterhaven and Ogilby in California. Read: Intense heatwave grips US, triggering record-breaking temperatures Already, 65 cities have recorded new March highs, ranging from Arizona and California to Idaho, Weather.com reported. Death Valley reached 40°C on Thursday, while typically cool and foggy San Francisco tied its historic March record at 29°C. In Colorado, skiers were seen hitting the slopes shirtless. The National Weather Service issued extreme heat warni...

Alphabet nears $4 trillion valuation as AI rally lifts shares

Alphabet closed in on a $4 trillion valuation on Monday, set to become only the fourth company to enter the exclusive club, as the Google parent rides an artificial intelligence-driven rally. Shares of the company rose more than 5% to hit a record high of $315.9, giving it a market capitalization of $3.82 trillion. The stock has climbed nearly 70% so far this year, far outperforming AI rivals Microsoft, and Amazon.com. Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple, have previously hit a $4 trillion valuation. Only Nvidia and Apple remain on the list. The surge reflects a striking reversal in sentiment toward Alphabet after some investors feared the company had lost its AI edge to OpenAI after the 2022 launch of ChatGPT, even though it invented much of the underlying technology behind generative AI. Read More: AI in Action: Aga Khan University Explores the Future of Work and Human-AI Synergy Alphabet has regained momentum this year by turning its cloud business, once an also-ran, into a key growth driver, drawing in Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway as an investor and winning strong early reviews for its new Gemini 3 model. Steve Sosnick, chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers, said Berkshire's stake has been a key draw for investors. "Even though it's doubtful Warren Buffett had any role in this purchase ... the market is still in the mindset of anything Berkshire does is worth emulating and to be fair, that's worked for a long time," Sosnick said. Google shares have also rallied as Big Tech emerged in recent months largely unscathed from the bipartisan antitrust push that began in U.S. President Donald Trump's first term. The company sidestepped a forced sale of its Chrome browser after a court found its search business to be an illegal monopoly but stopped short of ordering a breakup. Still, the milestone may fan fears about surging valuations that some business leaders warn have detached market movements from business fundamentals, sparking worries of a bubble reminiscent of the dot-com boom of the 1990s. A wave of circular deals involving OpenAI and Nvidia - two of the companies at the heart of the AI boom - have also amplified the fears. Still, analysts said Google is well-positioned in the AI race, thanks to its strong cash flow, in-house chips that serve as an alternative to Nvidia's pricey processors and a sprawling internet search business that is already benefiting from AI integration.

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At least 32 miners dead after bridge fails at cobalt site in southeast DR Congo

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Indian devotees splurge on jets, gold idols as Hindu temple opens

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