NANJING, China: It’s whip fast, obeys commands and doesn’t leave unpleasant surprises on the floor-meet the AlphaDog, a robotic response to two of China’s burgeoning loves: pets and technology. 

KUWAIT: More than 706,000 people have received their COVID-19 vaccines in Kuwait, or 16.5 percent of the population, health sources said, adding that vaccination has helped drop ICU occupancy from 252 on April 1 to 207 on April 7.

LONDON: Deliveroo shares rose yesterday on the takeaway app’s first full trading day, in contrast to last week’s London stock market launch when they crashed after being snubbed by institutional investors. Deliveroo shares gained 2.7 percent to 287.65 pence, giving the group a market value of £5.3 billion ($7.3 billion, 6.2 billion euros), as small investors joined in the trading.

SAN FRANCISCO: A new coalition of small business groups on Tuesday launched a campaign for tougher US antitrust enforcement, specifically calling for the breakup of online commerce titan Amazon. 

RIYADH: Dangling off sun-dappled skyscrapers, construction workers put finishing touches to a long-delayed financial district in Riyadh that is taking center-stage as competition heats up with Dubai to attract foreign firms. 

KUWAIT: Health Ministry Spokesman Dr Abdullah Al-Sanad announced yesterday that 1,517 new coronavirus infections, 1,325 recoveries and six deaths were recorded over the past 24 hours. 

TOKYO: Japanese investment giant SoftBank Group will buy a 40 percent stake in Norwegian robotics company AutoStore in a deal worth $2.8 billion, the two firms said. The deal is the latest bet by SoftBank, which has spent heavily on some of the tech world’s hottest start-ups and biggest names, ranging from artificial intelligence to biotech companies.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand: New Zealand has approved quarantine-free travel with Australia, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said yesterday, completing a two-way corridor for travel between the largely COVID-free neighbors. 

WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court on Monday handed Google a major win in a long-running copyright battle with Oracle, ruling that the use of the Java programming language for the Android mobile operating system was “fair use".