According to the Energy Transition Index (ETI) published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) recently, the world’s 114 countries are not making the transition to sustainable energy systems fast enough to tackle the issue of climate change.

Elon Musk famously compared the dangers of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to that posed by nuclear; an indication, he said, of the urgent need for regulation of the field. At present, the difficulty of regulating AI as a whole may largely rest in the lack of any one single definition of what artificial intelligence is, which encompasses a wide range of technologies and hence, applications.

The wait is finally over. After weeks of speculation that Uber’s Southeast Asia’s operations would be sold off to Southeast Asian ride-hailing giant Grab, the deal – the largest of its kind in the region – was officially announced earlier today.According to the media release from Grab, Uber’s ridesharing and food delivery business (UberEats) will be integrated into its existing multi-modal transportation and fintech platform.

Southeast Asians are becoming more aware of the need to address their health issues properly, but the underdeveloped state of Southeast Asia’s healthcare infrastructure, as well as resource shortages, still make these needs difficult to address effectively. In many cases, the cost of building new infrastructure to serve these needs is simply too much for national governments to bear all at once.

Biofuel is simply fuel made from biological matter. Contrary to popular belief, biofuels are not a 21st century creation. It has been around since the start of the previous century. Founder of Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford even experimented with the idea of fuelling his Model T’s with ethanol.However, the discovery of fossil fuel deposits completely overhauled the landscape of energy use in the transport sector.

In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, billionaire business magnate, George Soros heavily criticised platform giants – Google and Facebook – who considered themselves “masters of the universe.” They had, in his words, become “monolithic powers” who may one day have near totalitarian control and Soros called for their global dominance and monopoly to be stemmed.“Davos is a good place to announce that their days are numbered,” he concluded dramatically.Regardless of

Microfinance is described by the Financial Times Lexicon as a service where financial institutions will back small start-ups and would-be entrepreneurs with small loans, in the poorest parts of the world. In Southeast Asia, the biggest microfinance players currently include Asia Pacific-based LenddoEFL, Singapore's CredoLab and the Philippines’ Lendr, for example. To add to this mix, Singapore-based ride-hailing service Grab will now join the fray.

More and more Southeast Asian countries are upgrading their existing airports, as well as building new ones. Southeast Asian governments can manage airport capacity in one of two ways: build mega-hub airports or construct smaller, optimum-sized airports which can be scattered across the country. Indonesia, for one, is spreading its airport construction to smaller islands. It is slated to open Kertajati International Airport in West Java in mid-June of 2018.

The news of an impending acquisition by Grab of Uber's Southeast Asian business is now drawing the scrutiny of Southeast Asian regulators. Their concern is that a monopoly on ride-hailing services would hurt instead of benefit consumers in the long run. According to reporting by the Wall Street Journal, Uber is said to have agreed to sell most of its Southeast Asian operations to Grab, in exchange for between 20-30% of Grab’s equity.

In 1990, energy joint venture firm Shell MDS issued the first corporate sukuk in Malaysia worth an estimated US$30-35 million at the time and since then, the country has not turned back. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member remains at the forefront of the global sukuk market till today.What is a sukuk?Sukuks represent certificates of equal value and act as an evidence of a Shariah-compliant investment that’s endorsed by the Shariah Advisory Council.