KHNP, consortium fail to agree on Czech nuclear plant contract
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) announced Thursday that it had ended negotiations with a consortium of Daewoo E&C and Doosan Enerbility over a construction contract for a 26 trillion won ($19.4 billion) nuclear power project in the Czech Republic, after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on key terms. KHNP said it would begin terminating its cooperation agreement with the consortium and prepare a competitive bidding process to select a new contractor, seeking to minimize disruption to construction of the two Korean-designed APR1000 reactors at the country’s Dukovany site. “KHNP and the construction consortium had worked to reach an amicable agreement through working-level negotiations, a dispute mediation committee and management-level talks, but failed to reach a final agreement,” the state-run nuclear operator said. The breakdown follows about 15 months of negotiations after KHNP signed the main contract with Elektrarna Dukovany II, the Czech state-run company in charge of the project, in June 2025. KHNP said the two sides had already been at odds over key contract ter
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Fingular secures US$20M debt line to bet on Malaysia’s near-prime borrowers
Fingular, the Kuala Lumpur-headquartered fintech group behind the AhaPay buy now, pay later (BNPL) service, has secured a US$20 million credit facility from Silverstreak Group, a Singapore-based private credit investor. The money will expand Fingular’s near-prime consumer and SME financing, taking total funding for its Malaysian lending business past US$50 million. Near-prime borrowers sit just […] The post Fingular secures US$20M debt line to bet on Malaysia’s near-prime borrowers appeared first on e27.
The 70/30 rule: Why ASEAN banks still need humans as AI takes over
There was a time when a bank in Southeast Asia could win customers simply by shipping an app that did not crash on payday. That era, a new study suggests, is over. Twimbit, the Singapore-based research and advisory firm, unveiled its inaugural State of CX in ASEAN Banking 2026 at the Twimbit Banking Summit & […] The post The 70/30 rule: Why ASEAN banks still need humans as AI takes over appeared first on e27.
How to use AI in marketing without opening a single dashboard
Every Monday, as a marketer, I used to open nine tabs: Google Analytics, Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools the newsletter platform, the social scheduler and four ad accounts (Google/Meta/LinkedIn/TikTok) I would export, paste, reconcile and start thinking at about 11am. I do not open those tabs any more. Now, on any given Monday, I type […] The post How to use AI in marketing without opening a single dashboard appeared first on e27.
China’s microdrama war heats up as Tencent, ByteDance fight for eyeballs
Shen Jiaoqi, a banker living in southern China’s Guangdong province, cannot stop watching microdramas. The shows are so addictive that she sometimes spends entire days gazing at her phone. One time, she even kept watching while she showered. “Honestly, I was watching for the eye candy rather than the plots,” she said. “The AI has really made the characters look stunning.” Shen is far from alone. Microdramas have exploded in popularity in China over the past few years, offering viewers a quick...
Every department you add makes your startup harder to understand
Open 10 startup websites. Cover the logos. Shuffle the pages. Nothing breaks. “Revolutionising how finance works.” “Trusted by industry leaders.” Nobody asks which leaders. The usual diagnosis is lazy copywriting. It lets the founder off. The real cause is worse: she did everything right. Imagine a Series A software company. Watch one sentence travel through […] The post Every department you add makes your startup harder to understand appeared first on e27.
Thailand, not just Singapore, is Asia’s quiet AI surprise, says NetSuite’s Amit Suxena
Ask a typical AI assistant a question and it answers. Amit Suxena thinks that is already yesterday’s AI. “You don’t need AI where I ask a question and get an answer. I think that’s already passed,” says the GVP and Head of NetSuite Asia, who oversees Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent and Greater China for […] The post Thailand, not just Singapore, is Asia’s quiet AI surprise, says NetSuite’s Amit Suxena appeared first on e27.
SAFE Kids vs. SMART Kids: Is the Philippines ready?
MANILA, Philippines – I attended “SAFE Kids, SMART Policies: A Dialogue on Children’s Online Safety and Digital Rights,” organized by Gorriceta Africa Cauton & Saavedra at The Manila House on Thursday, October 22, to help get the discussion going and give the media, industry leaders, and fellow parents a better understanding of the two bills:
Treasury sanctions North Koreans, Russians for alleged IT fraud
The Treasury Department on Wednesday sanctioned 10 individuals and one entity involved in an alleged scheme to defraud American businesses to benefit the North Korean military. The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned eight North Korean nationals and two Russian nationals, accusing them of facilitating a government-run information technology (IT) scheme to generate...
Kalshi defends Platinum program against scrutiny from Democrats
Kalshi argued Tuesday that its VIP program and platform are "fundamentally different" from those offered by sportsbooks, after several Democratic lawmakers expressed concerns over loyalty programs at both prediction markets and sportsbooks. In a letter shared first with The Hill, the company suggested Kalshi Platinum has no "predatory incentives" because of its distinct business model....
KISS's Gene Simmons on AI in music industry: 'Learn how to use it, otherwise it will use you'
Gene Simmons of KISS fame is urging the music world to get on board with artificial intelligence. The "Rock and Roll All Nite" singer was asked about his stance on AI on NewsNation's "The Hill with Blake Burman" on Tuesday, and whether the technology will be "good or bad" for music. The Hill and NewsNation...
Elon Musk, Jensen Huang have opposing outlooks on AI neoclouds. Who is likely correct?
As investor anxiety over an artificial intelligence bubble mounts, SpaceX’s Elon Musk and Nvidia chief Jensen Huang have offered starkly divergent outlooks on whether the specialist cloud providers powering the boom can survive their mounting debts. While Musk has warned of impending collapses and consolidation among the more than 200 dedicated graphics processing unit (GPU) rental ventures known as “neoclouds”, Huang remains bullish, insisting that robust market demand will unlock the capital...
Shortly after featuring in the Asian Games, Pokémon UNITE to shut down
Pokémon UNITE will end service in March 2027, just months after featuring in the Asian Games in Nagoya, where the Philippines took home a bronze medal. The Pokémon Company announced on October 27 that the multiplayer online battle arena game will shut down on March 23, 2027, ending service on both Nintendo Switch and mobile
