LeBron James, 41, has agreed to join the Philadelphia 76ers on a two-year, $8 million deal, ESPN reported and Klutch Sports confirmed Friday. The move ends the NBA's all-time leading scorer's eight-season Lakers spell, making Philadelphia his fourth franchise. He joins a title-chasing roster of Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown, whom the Sixers traded for from Boston earlier this month.
India men's hockey coach Craig Fulton says the underdog tag suits his side heading into the Hockey World Cup, where the eighth-ranked team has been given a 5% chance. The South African noted India has not neared a World Cup podium in over 50 years. He said the squad is preparing for both the World Cup and Asian Games.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport will hear Senegal's appeal over the disputed 2026 Africa Cup of Nations title on October 8 in Lausanne. Senegal appeared to beat hosts Morocco 1-0 in January's Rabat final, but walked off after a late penalty was awarded; CAF then ruled they forfeited and named Morocco champions. Senegal argues the ruling defies football's Laws of the Game.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, India's second-largest oil marketing company, will press ahead with its refinery capacity expansion despite the recent flare-up in West Asia, Finance Director Vetsa Ramakrishna Gupta told The Hindu on Thursday. He expects the tensions to prove temporary and noted global crude supply remains in surplus. BPCL also said it is confident of recouping losses from the volatility.
A 55-year-old Florida pastor, Scott Winters, has sued OpenAI in San Francisco Superior Court, alleging ChatGPT repeatedly urged him to ignore worsening symptoms and avoid emergency care before he suffered a massive pulmonary embolism. The complaint says the chatbot diagnosed dysautonomia, recommended medications and dismissed his nurse wife's concerns. OpenAI denies wrongdoing, maintaining ChatGPT is not a substitute for professional medical care.
On World IVF Day, marked July 25, doctors are stressing patient safety in fertility treatment. The date honours Louise Brown, the world's first IVF baby, born in England on July 25, 1978. Assisted reproductive techniques, including IVF, IUI, ICSI and embryo freezing, are regulated in India by the ART Act, 2021. Experts note IVF success hinges on 200 variables and hormone-stimulated cycles.
Google is redesigning how Chrome handles website notification requests on Android. From Chrome 155, permission prompts will appear as small, non-blocking pop-ups near the top of the screen rather than full-screen interruptions, and will disappear if ignored, keeping the default permission state. Users can later enable alerts via Site Controls. Google announced the change early because it affects how websites request permissions.
US stocks rose on Friday as oil prices retreated. By late morning the Dow was up 0.70% at 52,073, the S&P 500 gained 0.59% and the Nasdaq added 0.12%. Brent crude fell 2.8% to $97.89, slipping below $100 after Thursday's tanker-attack spike. A new round of US tariffs on 60 trading partners took effect, replacing an earlier temporary global duty.
Members of the All India Mahila Samsrutik Sanghatan submitted a memorandum to Dharwad's Deputy Commissioner on Friday, voicing alarm over a rise in adolescent pregnancy cases in the Karnataka district and seeking remedial measures. They demanded the immediate release of pending social security pensions. The activists, led by district president Madhulata Goudar and secretary Gangubai Kokare, first protested outside the DC's office.
OpenAI is bringing ChatGPT Voice to its Work and Codex tools in the desktop app on macOS and Windows. Eligible paid users can now speak to start tasks, request progress updates and coordinate across multiple agents, with paired iPhone access for remote monitoring. The feature runs on GPT-Live, a full-duplex voice model that listens and speaks simultaneously and supports interruptions.
A Seoul court has dismissed K-pop agency One Hundred Label's 8 billion won ($5.4 million) damages suit against Ju Haknyeon, a former member of The Boyz. On July 16, the court found no valid grounds to void his exclusive contract, which the label ended in June 2025 over a since-debunked scandal. The reporter behind false prostitution claims was indicted for defamation.
India and Israel concluded the second round of negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement, held in New Delhi from July 20 to 23, the Commerce Ministry said Friday. The talks covered goods and services, rules of origin, intellectual property, customs and technical barriers. Both sides called the discussions constructive and committed to an early, balanced and mutually beneficial pact.
Anthropic is expanding Claude's Voice Mode to support its Opus and Sonnet models, not just the lighter Haiku, letting users tackle longer spoken requests. The update also connects voice commands to linked apps like Google Calendar, Slack, Notion and Canva, so users can retrieve information or perform permitted actions. It is rolling out as a public beta on mobile, desktop and web.
WhatsApp is rolling out a redesigned chat interface to select iPhone users, featuring rounder message bubbles and photos, videos and GIFs shown without bubble borders. Feature tracker WABetaInfo spotted the change in the iOS beta, with some TestFlight and a few stable users getting it. The purely visual refresh aligns with Apple's Liquid Glass design. WhatsApp has not confirmed a wider timeline.
A study in Science Advances on Friday reported genome-wide data from 10 individuals whose remains were found in Old Lady Spider Cave, or Abi Srinjamo Bao, some 4,000 metres up in Ladakh's Kargil district. Radiocarbon dating placed them about 1,500 years ago. Their ancestry splits almost evenly between Tibetan and North Indian sources, a blend rarely seen in people living today.
Defending champions India and Pakistan have received direct quarterfinal entry in both the men's and women's cricket events at the Asian Games. India's women open against Japan and could meet Bangladesh or China in the semifinals, while the men's opponents will be set after the preliminary stage. The men's competition runs from September 24 to October 1, cricket's fourth Asiad appearance.
Singer Sonu Nigam postponed his July 25 Delhi tribute concert, 'BOSSitivity - Sonu Nigam Remembers Rafi', at Dwarka's Yashobhoomi to August 15 in solidarity with students protesting the NEET paper leak, telling Hindustan Times it was pushed 'keeping the current sentiment in mind.' Comedian Anubhav Singh Bassi also cancelled his July 25 Talkatora Stadium show, and Soha Ali Khan delayed a podcast episode.
Jurgen Klopp has been appointed head coach of Germany's men's national team through the 2030 World Cup, his first international role. The 59-year-old succeeds Julian Nagelsmann after Germany's Round-of-32 exit to Paraguay at the 2026 tournament, returning to management nearly two years after leaving Liverpool. Unveiled in Frankfurt, Klopp begins against the Netherlands in the UEFA Nations League on September 24.
A US FDA advisory panel on Thursday narrowly recommended easing access to peptides popular with wellness influencers and celebrities, despite agency scientists warning they lack proof of safety or effectiveness. The outside experts urged the FDA to lift restrictions barring pharmacies from compounding injectable peptides such as BPC-157, TB-500 and KPV, promoted for uses like wound healing, ulcerative colitis and opioid addiction.
Indian equities fell for a fifth session on Friday, with the Nifty 50 down 0.43% at 23,767 and the Sensex 0.43% lower at 76,408. Both indices lost over 2.5% for the week, their worst showing in four months, dragged by weak Infosys and IndiGo earnings and rising Middle East tensions. Go Digit, Motilal Oswal and Syrma SGS were among top losers.