Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, denies charges that he fatally strangled Anna Yagi, 39, in a hotel on the island of Okinawa

Prosecutors in Japan have filed formal charges against a US marine suspected of murdering and robbing a woman while stationed on the country’s island of Okinawa, according to Japanese media.

Devin Jacob Ballard, a 20-year-old lance corporal assigned to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa, is charged with fatally strangling Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel in the city and stealing from her a backpack containing a wallet, the public broadcaster NHK reported.

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© Photograph: KYODO/Reuters

© Photograph: KYODO/Reuters

© Photograph: KYODO/Reuters

Indian engineering services company L&T Technology Services (LTTS) agreed a five-year contract to back Nokia’s local engineering and R&D work into areas including 5G, AI-based operations and next-generation computing infrastructure.

LTTS plans to establish a dedicated offshore development centre to support the Finnish vendor’s R&D programmes spanning product engineering and development, embedded systems, and software and system integration.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

LTTS added it would also assemble a dedicated engineering team to work with Nokia R&D teams globally.

It stated the development centre would focus on engineering for telecoms and data centre infrastructure, along with employing AI in network automations and developing intelligent automation.

Vivek Jaiswal, SVP of engineering at Nokia, said India is an “important innovation hub” for the vendor and backed LTTS to help “expand our R&D footprint and accelerate innovation”.

He argued is it essential Nokia continues investing in R&D to deliver the “advanced connectivity technologies” AI requires.

For LTTS, the contract aligns with a focus on next-generation computing and AI infrastructure.

LTTS provides AI, digital and engineering R&D services across more than 25 countries.

The agreement comes as Nokia positions AI infrastructure and advanced connectivity as key growth areas during a period CEO Justin Hotard previously called a “super cycle” involving the technology.

The post Nokia taps LTTS to boost Indian R&D appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Faced with a stagnant jobs market, many are spurning children or pets in favour of ‘raising bricks’

Young adults in China looking for a cheaper, low-maintenance alternative to having children or pets have found an answer: raising bricks.

Bricks may not be as cuddly as cats or as life-affirming as human offspring, but they also cost next to nothing. “No cats, no dating, I started raising a brick,” wrote one brick parent on social media.

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© Photograph: xiaohongshu.com

© Photograph: xiaohongshu.com

© Photograph: xiaohongshu.com

The fifth plenum comes against a backdrop of years of purges that have had some analysts wondering if the issue is corruption or a lack of loyalty

When Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, he pledged to stamp out corruption all through the ranks of the Communist party. More than a decade later, the pace of investigations has not slowed. Last year, China’s disciplinary authorities opened investigations into more than 1 million people, including more than 100 officials at or above ministerial or provincial level.

As Chinese Communist party (CCP) officials kick off an important meeting this week, discipline – and party loyalty – is high on the agenda. For those who try to read the tea leaves of elite Chinese politics, concern about the apparent lack of discipline is dominating CCP discussions.

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© Photograph: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images