Oscar-winning Indian composer A R Rahman has spoken candidly for the first time about the personal toll of fame following his divorce from wife Saira Banu after 29 years of marriage. In a recent interview, Rahman reflected on how celebrity status has deeply affected his private life, saying that while fame brought him global recognition, it also took away his freedom and peace. Living in Chennai, he explained, has been both a blessing and a burden—his fans’ love often leaves him with little personal space. Rahman described how public attention follows him everywhere, from airports to weddings, making it difficult to enjoy simple moments. Despite these challenges, he emphasized his attachment to his homeland, saying he never considered moving abroad. Rahman also contrasted the respect for privacy he experiences overseas with the constant public scrutiny in India, acknowledging that fame has come at a heavy personal cost.

Pakistani pop sensation Atif Aslam is set to return to Dhaka for a live concert on December 13, 2025. The singer confirmed the news himself through a social media post, sharing a photo from one of his previous performances. The event, titled 'Atif Aslam at Main Stage Show', is being organized by Main Stage, the same company bringing him to Bangladesh. The concert will take place at Bashundhara Field, with gates opening at 1 p.m. and the show running from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Ticket sales are expected to begin soon, available in two categories: General and Front VIP. Atif Aslam last performed in Dhaka on November 29, 2024, at the 'Magical Night 2.0' concert, which drew a large audience and featured many of his popular songs. Fans are eagerly anticipating his upcoming performance, marking another major musical event in the city’s entertainment calendar.

OpenAI and Target have announced an expanded partnership aimed at integrating advanced AI capabilities across Target’s retail operations and customer experiences. The collaboration introduces a new Target app within ChatGPT, allowing users to receive personalized shopping recommendations, build multi-item baskets, and complete purchases through Drive Up, Order Pickup, or shipping. Target will continue using OpenAI’s APIs and ChatGPT Enterprise to enhance employee productivity and streamline operations, with 18,000 employees already utilizing the technology. The retailer’s AI tools—such as Agent Assist, Store Companion, and Gift Finder—are designed to improve customer support, optimize supply chain forecasting, and deliver more personalized digital interactions. This initiative aligns with Target’s broader strategy to embed AI throughout its business, improving both guest satisfaction and team efficiency. OpenAI CEO Fidji Simo highlighted Target as a model for enterprise-scale AI transformation, emphasizing the partnership’s role in shaping the future of intelligent retail experiences.

The European Commission has proposed significant changes to the EU’s flagship data protection and artificial intelligence frameworks, aiming to reduce regulatory burdens and stimulate economic growth. The revisions would simplify the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by easing data-sharing restrictions and reducing cookie pop-ups, while also delaying enforcement of key provisions in the AI Act governing high-risk systems. The proposal allows AI firms to use personal data for model training under certain GDPR safeguards and introduces lighter documentation requirements for smaller companies. Brussels argues the reforms will foster innovation without compromising fundamental rights, but critics accuse the EU of bowing to Big Tech and undermining privacy protections. The plan, part of a broader “Digital Omnibus” package, will now go before the European Parliament and member states for approval, a process expected to face intense political and civil society scrutiny.

Pakistani music star Atif Aslam is set to return to Dhaka for a live concert titled “Main Stage Show Featuring Atif Aslam” on December 13. The event is being organized by Main Stage Inc., whose CEO Kazi Rafsan confirmed that preparations and official permissions are in their final stages. The concert will feature both international and local artists, with strict security measures coordinated with law enforcement and private agencies. Although the exact venue has not been disclosed yet, organizers hinted it will be near Purbachal or Bashundhara Residential Area in the capital. Tickets are already on sale in three categories—‘Pehli Nazar,’ ‘Aadat,’ and ‘Doorie’—priced at 9,999, 4,999, and 2,499 Bangladeshi taka respectively. Atif Aslam, who last performed in Dhaka during the “Magical Night 2.0” concert, previously described Bangladesh as his second home.

South Korean children’s content company Pinkfong, creator of the viral 90-second video 'Baby Shark', has grown into a $400 million enterprise after its stock market debut. The video, released in June 2016 under CEO Kim Min-seok’s approval, became the most viewed content on YouTube with over 16 billion views. Pinkfong’s shares rose 9% on their first trading day, raising about $52 million. Originally founded in 2010 as SmartStudy with just three employees, the company shifted focus to younger audiences, producing simple, educational content that led to Baby Shark’s global success. While the song remains a key revenue driver, accounting for about one-fourth of earnings, new franchises like Bebefinn now contribute around 40%. Analysts note that Pinkfong must prove its growth extends beyond Baby Shark. CEO Kim says the company plans to use IPO funds to expand its film and character lineup and evolve into a technology-driven content creator leveraging data insights.

Two judges of the 74th Miss Universe competition resigned just three days before the final event, citing concerns over transparency and fairness. Lebanese-French musician Omar Harfouch announced his resignation on Instagram, claiming that an unofficial jury had already selected 30 finalists from 136 contestants without the presence of the official eight-member panel. He alleged that some members of this informal group had personal ties with certain contestants. Shortly after Harfouch’s resignation, French football manager Claude Makélélé also stepped down, citing personal reasons. The Miss Universe Organization denied the allegations, clarifying that no external group was involved in the evaluation process. They explained that Harfouch may have confused the 'Beyond the Crown' initiative—an independent social program with its own committee—with the main competition’s judging process. The final event is scheduled to take place in Bangkok and Phuket, Thailand, on November 21.

Amazon’s autonomous vehicle subsidiary Zoox has launched its robotaxi service in San Francisco, offering free rides in select neighborhoods as part of its strategy to compete with Google’s Waymo. The service, currently limited to users on a waiting list, features Zoox’s distinctive steering wheel-free vehicles. This marks Zoox’s second major rollout after debuting in Las Vegas earlier this year. Amazon acquired Zoox in 2020 for $1.2 billion and has since invested heavily in scaling production, including converting a former bus factory in Hayward, California, into a robotaxi manufacturing plant capable of producing up to 10,000 vehicles annually. While Waymo already operates paid robotaxi services in several U.S. cities, Zoox is awaiting regulatory approval to begin charging fares in California. The launch underscores Amazon’s growing ambitions in autonomous mobility, positioning Zoox as a key player in the expanding self-driving transportation market dominated by Waymo.

At its Ignite 2025 conference, Microsoft introduced new AI agents for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, expanding its Copilot ecosystem. These agents, powered by Anthropic models, can generate and refine documents, spreadsheets, and presentations through conversational prompts in Copilot Chat. Users can issue simple instructions, receive preview outputs, and iteratively adjust content within chat or directly in Microsoft 365 apps. Initially available to commercial customers through the Frontier early access program, the feature will soon reach Personal, Family, and Premium subscribers. Microsoft also announced several Copilot upgrades, including Agent Mode for PowerPoint, AI voice summarization for Outlook, and integration of OpenAI’s Sora 2 video model into Copilot’s Create feature. The company continues to strengthen its AI-driven productivity tools to compete with ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, aiming to unify its applications under a single intelligent interface for seamless workflow automation.

Microsoft and Anthropic have announced an expanded partnership that integrates Anthropic’s Claude models—Sonnet 4.5, Haiku 4.5, and Opus 4.1—into Microsoft Foundry and Microsoft 365 Copilot. The models are now available in public preview, allowing Azure customers to build production applications and enterprise agents using Claude within Microsoft’s infrastructure. This integration simplifies procurement by aligning with existing Azure agreements and billing systems, eliminating the need for separate vendor contracts. Developers can deploy Claude through Foundry’s APIs and SDKs in Python, TypeScript, and C#, using Microsoft Entra authentication. In Microsoft 365 Copilot, Claude powers the Researcher agent and is now available in Excel’s Agent Mode to assist with data analysis, formula generation, and error detection. The rollout begins globally with a U.S. DataZone coming soon, offering scalable, serverless deployment and access to Claude’s full suite of developer tools and capabilities.

Google has unveiled Gemini 3 Pro, its most intelligent AI model to date, designed to enhance coding, multimodal understanding, and agentic development. Available through the Gemini API in Google AI Studio and Vertex AI, the model outperforms previous versions in benchmarks and coding tasks, achieving 54.2% on Terminal-Bench 2.0 and topping the WebDev Arena leaderboard with 1487 Elo. Gemini 3 Pro introduces new capabilities such as 'vibe coding', where natural language serves as the only syntax, enabling users to build apps from a single prompt. It also supports advanced multimodal reasoning across text, image, and video, with a 1 million-token context window for complex tasks. The release includes Google Antigravity, a new agentic development platform that lets developers collaborate with autonomous AI agents across editors, terminals, and browsers. Gemini 3 Pro is available in preview for enterprises and free with rate limits in Google AI Studio, marking a major step in AI-driven software creation.

A new documentary titled 'Crisis-Struggle-Success' focusing on BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman is set to premiere online on Thursday, November 20. The film, produced under the supervision of Ashiq Islam, senior assistant press secretary to former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, explores various aspects of Rahman’s life and political journey. It features commentary and discussions from politicians, academics, journalists, students, lawyers, judges, human rights activists, and artists, reflecting on his past, present, and future roles in Bangladesh’s political landscape. The documentary also highlights Rahman’s contributions to democracy and human rights advocacy in the country. Created to mark his birthday, it includes reflections on his political struggles, sacrifices, and vision for Bangladesh. Several prominent journalists were involved in the production, according to an official press release issued on Wednesday.

A 32-year-old Japanese woman known as Kano has held a symbolic wedding ceremony with an artificial intelligence persona she created using ChatGPT, highlighting Japan’s evolving relationship with virtual companionship. The ceremony, held in Okayama, featured traditional elements such as vows, rings, and wedding photos, with the AI groom 'Klaus' appearing through augmented reality. Kano developed emotional attachment to the chatbot after a broken engagement, shaping its personality through daily interactions. The event was organized by specialists in symbolic marriages to fictional or digital characters, reflecting a growing acceptance of non-human unions in Japan. The story has sparked national debate about loneliness, emotional connection, and the psychological implications of AI relationships in a society increasingly shaped by technology and social isolation.

Alphabet’s Google announced a $40 billion investment to build three new data centers in Texas by 2027, marking its largest U.S. state-level investment to date. The move aims to expand the company’s artificial intelligence and cloud computing capacity amid intensifying competition with Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and OpenAI. One facility will be located in Armstrong County and two in Haskell County, with additional investments planned for Google’s Midlothian campus and Dallas cloud region. CEO Sundar Pichai said the initiative will create thousands of jobs, provide technical training, and support energy affordability programs across Texas. Governor Greg Abbott welcomed the investment, highlighting its contribution to workforce development and energy efficiency. The announcement follows similar large-scale AI infrastructure commitments by other tech firms, including Anthropic’s $50 billion U.S. data center plan and Google’s €5.5 billion expansion in Germany, reflecting a global race to build AI-ready infrastructure despite concerns about overvaluation and uncertain demand growth.

Veteran Bangladeshi actor Hasan Masud, known for his roles in television dramas and films, remains under treatment at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka after suffering an ischemic stroke and a mild heart attack on October 27. Despite two weeks of medical care, his condition has not yet fully stabilized, and doctors continue to monitor him closely. The actor’s family and hospital authorities have maintained privacy regarding his exact health status. Hasan Masud had recently returned to acting with the TV series 'Tel Chhara Parota' after a long hiatus, but shooting has been suspended due to his illness. Fans and colleagues have expressed concern and wished him a speedy recovery. The Actors’ Association stated that he will need more time to recover completely.