Once a farmer, Ram lost his hands and toes within a few years of contracting leprosy, forcing the father-of-three to turn to begging in a desperate bid to feed his family.

That’s where he was spotted by US-born Matthew Rockwell, the founder of Disaster Hack, a non-profit technology startup that is making functional prosthetic hands for those who couldn’t otherwise afford them.

Disaster Hack makes its money doing tech consulting and teaching people to code, while running altruistic ventures on the side like teaching Nepalis IT skills and manufacturing low-cost, basic prosthetics.

Rockwell — who flits between Nepal and the US, where he is part of the tech team behind the annual Burning Man festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert — brought a 3D printer to Kathmandu after a powerful earthquake struck the country in 2015.

Soon, he began printing new hands for those in need: a girl who lost both limbs after being electrocuted by hanging power lines, a construction worker whose hand was crushed beyond repair.

“We’ve only distributed to five so far but we have a list that keeps on growing,” said Rockwell, sitting in a cramped office in Kathmandu, the 3D printer whirling behind him.

Recycled materials

Rockwell only has the capacity to make hands at the moment — a leg requires a more heavy-duty printer — but he has identified more than 7,000 people in Nepal who could benefit from Disaster Hack’s creations.

“A traditional prosthesis costs anywhere between $1000 to $3000 to $5000,” Rockwell explained.

“Now we’re able to produce prostheses for right around $30 so it (3D printing) lowers the cost dramatically for a functional prosthesis.”

Rockwell hopes to bring down the cost even further by recycling plastic bottle tops to make the wire that feeds the printer.

Nepal’s healthcare sector is chronically underfunded and ill-equipped but 3D printing can reduce both the cost and time it takes to bring medical equipment to those who need it most.

The 3D printed hands being manufactured by Disaster Hack take nearly a full day to print, and are comprised of roughly 20 different parts.

Rockwell hopes the mostly volunteer-run project will sow the seeds for something bigger.

He has now trained 20 prosthetists at hospitals in Nepal in 3D printing, and signed a deal with Kathmandu’s largest university to set up the country’s first biomedical 3D printing lab.

Meanwhile for Ram, a new hand could mean a chance to give up begging.

“What should I say, I have nothing to eat. If I stay here I make 100 rupees ($0.97), 50 rupees,” he said from his daily spot on the corner of a busy intersection.

He lifted the new prosthetic hand, and as he slowly contracted the plastic fingers to make a fist, a smile spread across his face.

Many of the injuries were caused by people jumping out of building windows and falling after reacting in panic to the overnight quake, NTV broadcaster said.

The wounded were being treated in the garden of the hospital in Bodrum as the quake caused slight damage to the hospital’s ceiling, Bodrum district governor Bekir Yilmaz said, quoted by Hurriyet daily.

Yilmaz expressed relief there had been no loss of life or anyone seriously injured by the quake on Turkish territory.

However, two people — a Swede and a Turk — were killed on the Greek island of Kos.

The Turkish foreign ministry said its consulate on the Greek island of Rhodes had confirmed the death of the Turkish citizen and was trying to contact the family.

The consulate added that one other Turkish citizen has been seriously injured and taken to Athens. A ferry has also been sent to evacuate 200 Turkish nationals from Kos back to Bodrum.

The epicentre of the quake was approximately 10.3 kilometres (6.4 miles) south of the southwestern resort, a magnet for holidaymakers in the summer, and 16.2 kilometres east of the island of Kos in Greece, the US Geological Survey said.

NTV television said the quake triggered a mini tsunami off the coast of Bodrum, with cars in the resort of Gumbet just outside Bodrum town damaged by the incoming waves that flooded onto roads.

Images showed boats had suffered damaged after being pushed up against the shore while the force of the waves had on its own moved cars.

Jack Ma, the founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group, encouraged young African entrepreneurs and small businesses to take part in global trade on Thursday during his first visit to the continent.

He spoke in Nailab, the technical incubator in Nairobi, where he held talks with young entrepreneurs.

Ma also is a special adviser for young entrepreneurs and small businesses to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

“I come here today not to sell Chinese products but to share with you the entrepreneur spirit,” Ma said. “What is important is that you should make your dream realized, step by step. Make sure your employees and your clients are happy.”

Ma shared his ideas and experiences with the African entrepreneurs and explored opportunities to participate in global trade. He said he aspires to make it easier for young entrepreneurs and small business, particularly in developing countries, to take part in global trade.

“Ma’s speech is inspiring,” said Beverly Mbeke, owner of Urbane Madame, an infographic design company in Nairobi. “I learned to be brave in business and ideas on how to gain access to a big market.”

“It is a fantastic opportunity to meet with one of the greatest business leaders of the modern world,” said Daniel Yu, chief executive of Soko Watch, a small copy of Alibaba in Kenya. “He came in Kenya to highlight the opportunity in the global ecosystem. I am very excited to be building my own small business here and I hope one day I will be as big as Alibaba as well.”

With globalisation as its long-term strategy, Alibaba Group, the world’s largest retailer, aims to serve 2 billion consumers around the world and help create 100 million jobs in two decades.

In the past, globalization benefited just 20 percent of the world — the developed countries and large enterprises. But future globalization should bring benefits to the remaining 80 percent, particularly by enabling small and medium-sized enterprises, he said.

Africa is among a slew of destinations around the globe in which Alibaba aims to establish a foothold.

Alibaba aims to help such enterprises expand beyond their borders by leveraging the power of e-commerce, internet financing, big data, marketing and logistics platforms.

“We believe Alibaba’s experience in China can be applied globally, giving all SMEs the opportunity to participate and compete in a transparent and fair marketplace,” Ma said. “Future economic globalization will allow consumers everywhere to access a truly global purchasing experience.”

Ma was expected to participate in a business roundtable event hosted by the Kenya Private Sector Alliance and the UN conference on the subject Harnessing Africa’s Resources for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth.

The event will be followed by a speech by Ma, Empowered African Young Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses, a Game Changer, at the University of Nairobi.

Ma’s trip to Africa also will take him to Rwanda, where the YouthConnekt Africa Summit will be held in the capital Kigali with the theme Realizing Africa’s youth potential.

Artificial intelligence (AI) could nearly double Singapore’s annual economic growth rates by 2035, according to a new report.

It noted that AI could help the country expand faster than major economies such as the United States, Germany, Britain and Japan.

Accenture Research, in collaboration with Frontier Economics, modelled the impact of AI in 33 economies that together generate more than 80 per cent of the world’s economic output.

The research compared the size of each country’s economy in 2035 in a baseline scenario which shows expected economic growth under current assumptions, and an AI scenario which shows expected growth once the impact of AI has been absorbed into the economy.

With the adoption of AI, Singapore would need 13 years for its economy to double in size, while without AI, it would take 22 years, according to the research.

It also found that AI could potentially increase Singapore’s annual growth rate from 3.2 per cent to 5.4 per cent by 2035, translating to an additional US$215 billion (S$295 billion) in gross value added. AI could raise Singapore’s labour productivity by 41 per cent by 2035, the highest among developed economies.

“Artificial intelligence heralds a dramatic potential for growth for both the Singapore economy and for humans,” said Mr Mark Purdy, managing director and chief economist at Accenture Research.

“Our research strongly shows that AI can unleash remarkable benefits in Singapore and many countries, countering slow economic growth and lagging productivity.”

Singapore is already making a big push into AI. The National Research Foundation announced in May that it would invest up to $150 million over five years in AI.SG, a national programme to boost the country’s AI capabilities. AI.SG will bring together Singapore-based research institutions plus start-ups and companies developing AI products.

But there are also concerns about the impact such technologies might have on existing industries and jobs.

A report published by Dell Technologies and non-profit research organisation Institute for the Future earlier this month noted that an estimated 85 per cent of jobs in 2030 have not been invented yet.

“We’ve been exposed to two extreme perspectives about machines and the future: the anxiety-driven issue of technological unemployment or the over-optimistic view that technology will cure all our social and environmental ills,” said Ms Rachel Maguire, research director at Institute for the Future.

“We need to focus on what the new relationship between technology and people could look like and… prepare accordingly. If we (empower) human-machine partnerships to succeed, their impact on society will enrich us all.”

The national AI development plan, published on the State Council’s website, detailed a three-step strategy to achieve the ambitious goal. It highlights China’s determination to achieve breakthroughs in core AI technologies and accelerate its application in the manufacturing, service, agriculture and other sectors.

To achieve the goal, the AI industry in China is expected to exceed 150 billion yuan in 2020, putting the country on par with leading powers in the technology and its application. The current market size for China’s AI industry was not disclosed.

The plan said more effort will be made to achieve breakthroughs in fundamental research and technologies. By 2025, China aims to more than double the 2020 target of its AI industry to 400 billion yuan. AI will be a major driver of industrial upgrading, widely used in manufacturing, smart city plans, agriculture, defense and other sectors.

Xiang Yang, an AI expert at the China Center for Information Industry Development, said the ambitious plan will motivate companies and universities to step up their research and development in AI.

“It will have roughly the same impact on industry as the government’s Made in China 2025 initiative has had on the manufacturing sector,” Xiang said.

Consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers forecasts that AI-related industries will boost China’s GDP by as much as 26 percent in 2030.

Zhang Yaqin, president of Baidu, said China is highly likely to outpace the United States in the application of AI, as local companies scramble to experiment with new ideas and benefit from the country’s huge user base.

The company plans to mass-produce its driverless vehicles within four years.

Ga o Qiqi, a professor at East China University of Political Science and Law, said China is making rapid progress in AI and produces more science and technology papers and applies for more patents than other countries.

Anand Rao, an AI consultant at PwC, said initially North America would have faster productivity gains from AI than China because of its mature infrastructure. “But China will begin to pull ahead of the US in AI in 10 years after it catches up on both relevant technologies and expertise,” Rao said.

Based on public complain and monitoring by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), 1,500 social media accounts have been identified as fake accounts.

In an email reply, MCMC said the characteristics of these fake accounts are using other’s identity, fabricated organisation or fake details.

MCMC pointed out that a total of 1,500 social media accounts have been identified with follow up actions taken. However, MCMC did not reveal the name list of identified fake accounts.

It said once the fake account users violate Section 233 of Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act 1998, they are liable to a maximum fine of RM50,000 (US$11,661) or a maximum jail of one year or both.

Under the section, anyone who makes any comment, request, suggestion which is obscene, indecent, false, or offensive in character with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass another person is liable to the penalty if convicted.

MCMC said it will also take administrative measure to lodge report against fake accounts to the respective social media platforms as they have violated regulations set by those platforms.

“On offences under other acts, they would be handed over to the respective enforcement agencies.”

Fake account holders would be investigated under the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act as part of the procedure and investigation process. The fake account holders are entitled to defend or appeal against action taken against them.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak said on 9 July that 1,500 fake account holders have been identified from January to June this year and action would be taken against them.

He said these fake account holders release fake news through Facebook, Twitter and other social media. The government would work with police to take action against them including delete the accounts.

The ministry would be going after fake news as those fabricated information have smeared the country.  The ministry would also be taking action against political parties which have crossed the base line.

According to figures released Wednesday by the Japan Tourism Agency, foreign visitors spent more than ¥2 trillion in the January-June period, the first time this milestone has been reached in the first half of the year. Although lavish spending sprees by Chinese visitors cooled off last year, shopping by tourists at department stores and other shops has rebounded, and companies are feverishly drawing up plans to attract more foreign visitors.

However, observers have pointed out that while tourists have the cash registers ringing in major metropolitan areas, the impact has been weaker in regional areas.

Chinese people accounted for 80 percent of the customers at the large duty-free shop that Takashimaya Co. opened at its Shinjuku department store in Tokyo in April. It’s common to see customers in the bustling store paying for their purchases via smartphone. Many are using Alipay app, an online payment platform used by several hundred million people in China. The payment is made after the shop scans a QR code displayed on the customer’s smartphone.

“I can use Alipay in more stores in Japan now, so shopping here has become convenient,” said a 25-year-old man from Hangzhou, China, who bought a luxury watch at the shop.

Takashimaya started introducing Alipay at its major stores across Japan last year. Its duty- and tax-free sales in the 10 consecutive months through June had all been higher than the same month the previous year, with sales in the March-May period reaching ¥12.6 billion, up 50 percent from the same period in 2016.

“Offering more payment methods has certainly been an advantage for us,” a Takashimaya spokesman said.

Overseas visitors who spend ¥1 million or more within one year at Daimaru Matsuzakaya department stores are issued a card that entitles the holder to special privileges and services. Even during crowded times, the holder can complete their tax-free procedures without having to wait in line.

“A growing number of people repeatedly come to Japan on private trips,” a Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores Co. spokesman said. “We want to boost the number of repeat shoppers coming to us.”

Companies’ stepped-up efforts to tap consumption by foreign visitors come at a time when Japan’s chronically low birthrate, aging society and declining population offer little prospect for long-term growth in the domestic market. Instead, hopes are being pinned on spending by tourists.

“Overseas tourists are a growth market that the retail industry has not experienced before,” an industry analyst said. It is also a crucial market that does not require fighting with other companies in the same industry, or with other industries, for a slice of a limited pie.

Getting around getting easier

For foreign visitors, being able to easily travel around the country is another important consideration.

Major taxi companies have launched apps that enable tourists, who may struggle to explain their current location, to call a taxi by using the precise location information of their smartphone. The Tokyo Hire-Taxi Association has started a fixed fare service for rides between Haneda Airport and various locations within the Tokyo metropolitan area. A ride to Shinjuku Ward is set at about ¥7,000, which is about 10 percent to 30 percent less than a normal metered fare would cost.

Tokyo Metro Co. has placed about 870 tablet-type devices at station offices, ticket gates and other locations at all of its 170 subway stations. Equipped with translation apps that can handle 31 languages including English, the tablets make it easier for station personnel to give directions to foreign visitors trying to reach a tourist spot.

Buying continues at home

The products filling the shopping bags of overseas visitors are changing.

According to the Japan Department Stores Association, each visitor to Japan in May spent an average of ¥65,000, a decline of about 20 percent from the same month in 2015. This was a result of the best-selling items shifting from luxury brand goods to comparatively lower-priced cosmetics and food products.

A major factor behind this change is the fact that last year Chinese authorities hiked the customs duty imposed on products purchased overseas and brought into China. But because the number of visitors to Japan is increasing, the overall expenditure is rising.

A conspicuous number of visitors also go shopping on online retailing websites after returning home from Japan. This is called “crossborder e-commerce.” In October, Don Quijote Co., a discount store chain, launched an e-commerce service that delivers items to about 10 regions and nations, including China. According to the company, daily goods such as makeup and processed food products are especially popular among users of this service.

Consumption by overseas visitors tends to be concentrated in major metropolitan areas such as Tokyo and Osaka, so finding ways to help this spending reach regional areas is an issue that needs to be addressed. At a time when more foreign visitors are going on trips to regional areas, companies will need to get more creative to bring in more customers.

Here is a numerical snapshot of the disease.

17 seconds

Roughly 1.8 million people worldwide contracted the AIDS virus in 2016. That figure breaks down to about one infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS every 17 seconds on average, or almost 5,000 per day.

Two-thirds of new cases in Africa

Since 2010, the rate of infection among adults has decreased slowly from 1.9 million then to 1.7 million per year in 2016. Two-thirds of new cases occur in Africa.

Children’s cases cut almost by half

New infections among children have fallen sharply meanwhile, and since 2010 they have been cut almost by half, from 300,000 to 160,000 in 2016.

A key factor has been detection among pregnant women in Africa, followed by treatment with anti retroviral drugs that protect their baby.

Nearing 40 million with HIV

Today, close to 40 million people live with the virus. UNAIDS put their number last year at 36.7 million.

The number continues to increase however owing to continued transmission and increased access to anti-retroviral drugs in developing countries that has raised the survival rate of HIV-positive people.

Deaths halved

AIDS-related deaths have declined by almost 50 percent since a peak of 1.9 million in 2005, to 1.0 million in 2016.

Almost 20 million people now have access to effective treatment when followed regularly.

An estimated 36 million people have died since the AIDS epidemic erupted in 1981 according to the WHO, roughly equivalent to Canada’s population.

 Duterte flew by helicopter into the local military headquarters in a show of support for troops who have been engaged in an almost two month-long battle that has claimed over 500 lives.

“He really showed his courage, he showed his strong support for our soldiers in their fight in Marawi City,” said Lieutenant Colonel Jo-ar Herrera, spokesman of military forces in the warzone.

“It boosted morale and the fighting spirit of the men and women of Task Force Marawi,” Herrera told local media.

Duterte, who was dressed in military camouflage, thanked the soldiers for their efforts and gave out watches and other gifts to cheer the soldiers up, Herrera added.

The president, who declared martial law over the southern Philippines as the fighting began on May 23, stayed inside the camp, inspecting firearms seized from the militants, before departing, the spokesman said.

The fighting in the southern city of Marawi, the Muslim capital of the largely Catholic Philippines, has become the greatest challenge facing Duterte, the first president to hail from the country’s troubled south.

The president has asked lawmakers to allow him to extend martial law over the south until the end of the year to deal with the militant threat but critics fear this would edge the country closer to dictatorship.

The militants, who fly the black flag of the IS, have occupied large parts of Marawi for almost two months, defying airstrikes and artillery barrages, with parts of the city of 200,000 people left in ruins.

The government on Thursday said at least 421 militants had been killed in the fighting which has also claimed the lives of 99 soldiers and police, as well as 45 civilians.

The extremists continue to occupy parts of the city with about 300 civilians still trapped or held hostage by the gunmen.

Massimo Carminati, 59, a convicted gangster with a history of involvement with violent far-right groups, had been accused along with 45 others of operating a “mafia-style” network that used extortion, fraud and theft to divert millions of euros destined for public services into their own pockets.

His right-hand man and fellow defendant Salvatore Buzzi, 61, was handed a 19-year jail term by the court at the capital city’s Rebibbia jail.

The scandal, which led to a 20-month trial in the high-security prison, had been dubbed “Mafia Capitale” by the media.

But judge Rosanna Ianniello said Carminati and Buzzi were guilty of corruption but not of mafia association.

“The sentence is stiff, but the whole trial revolved around the question: ‘Was it mafia or not?’,” Carminati’s lawyer Ippolita Naso said.

“‘Mafia Capitale does not exist,” she said.

Naso added that she had spoken to Carminati and he was “satisfied”.

Both men were already behind bars in prisons in Parma and Tolmezzo where they were kept under the notorious harsh 41-bis regime, aimed at cutting mafia inmates off completely from their former criminal associates.

“The 41-bis will have to be repealed. But who will give Carminati back the 22 months spent under it?” lawyer Giosue Bruno Naso, Ippolita Naso’s father, said.

Carminati and Buzzi watched the verdict by video conference, Carminati standing to hear his sentence while Buzzi sat and took notes.

They will appeal the verdict.

One-eyed Carminati was given a 10-year prison term in 1998 for membership of the Banda della Magliana, a criminal crew which ruled Rome’s underworld in the 1970s and 1980s.

Carminati’s brother Sergio told media at the court that the trial was “ridiculous. Massimo is still paying for the 1980s”.

In 1983, Buzzi received a 30-year prison sentence for the murder of an accomplice in a forged cheques racket.

He served only six years after pursuing his education and successfully portraying himself as a reformed character.

The Rome scandal had been a major factor in leaving the city so cash-strapped it can barely afford to repair its buses when they break down, fill potholes in its streets or prevent trees from falling over for lack of upkeep.