Iran Launches National AI Assistant to Accelerate Scientific Research

New platform aims to streamline data analysis, academic writing and access to advanced computing tools

Iran has introduced a new artificial intelligence assistant designed to support researchers and modernise scientific workflows across the country. The platform has been developed to empower the national research community by providing integrated access to advanced AI tools within a single digital environment.

According to Mehr NewsREAD MORE

Russian doctors develop method to restore sense of smell in people with post-COVID syndrome
Preliminary results show that patients begin to recognise smells better from the seventh session

Otorhinolaryngologists at the I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University) have developed an olfactory training programme for people with post-COVID syndrome. This was reported by the university’s press service.

“Today, there are neither medicinal nor surgical treatment methods for patientsREAD MORE

Authorities introduce licensing, customs and digital measures to strengthen the country’s investment climate

Egypt aims to double its annual foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows from the current level of around US$12 billion, according to Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Hassan El-Khatib. As reported by Daily News Egypt, a partner of TV BRICS. 

The minister stressed that the state is aiming for sustainable annual GDP growth of 6 to 7 perREAD MORE

Cultural cooperation and shared responsibility take centre stage in discussions on heritage and identity

UNESCO reiterated its firm commitment to the restitution of African cultural heritage, emphasising that the return of displaced cultural property is a cultural right, an act of historical justice, and an essential element of people’s identities, according to ENA, a partner of TV BRICS.  

This message was highlighted during a high-level roundtable held in Addis Ababa, focusingREAD MORE

Can new technologies and knowledge-sharing among BRICS countries transform education? Will digital learning platforms elevate the Global South? And can online education truly replace the traditional model?

In the context of global transformation, education is increasingly viewed as an instrument for shaping the future. It is precisely now, experts believe, that the foundations of new national systems and approaches to education are being laid in the BRICS countries. All member states have different historical and cultural experiences and traditions. However,READ MORE

Parliament has rejected claims that the National Assembly Speaker is protecting or shielding certain witnesses from appearing before the Ad Hoc Committee investigating serious allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal SAPS provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.

In a detailed statement issued on Friday, Parliament said recent media reports suggesting that the Speaker intervened to prevent Paul O’Sullivan and Brian Mogotsi from testifying were incorrect and misrepresented both the Speaker’s constitutional role and the legal framework governing parliamentary processes.

“The Speaker’s actionsREAD MORE

Residents and occupants of a high-rise building in Johannesburg’s inner city were woken from their sleep in the early hours of Friday morning after a fire broke out at a building near the busy Bree Taxi Rank.

City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) confirmed that firefighters responded to the incident at around 03:00 at the corner of Bree and Harrison streets. The fire occurred in a 16-storey building with both residential and commercial sections.

According to City of JoburgREAD MORE

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in Gauteng will on Friday join thousands of residents across the province in remembering the late Ntate David Sejobe (49), a security guard who was killed after being struck by a vehicle while cycling to work along the Golden Highway.

Sejobe died earlier this week in what the EFF has described as a tragic and painful loss for working-class communities, particularly those employed in the private security sector. The party said his death has sparkedREAD MORE

South Africa’s senior football team, Bafana Bafana, will face Panama in two international friendly matches to be played in South Africa next month.

The matches will be played between 27 and 31 March 2026 as Bafana Bafana’s preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

“The matches form a critical component of head coach Hugo Broos’s build-up programme ahead of the global tournament, which will be hosted by the United States of America, Canada and Mexico from 11 June to 19READ MORE

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) was seemingly pressured by its longtime coalition partner, the DA, to urgently meet with the National Freedom Party to iron out their differences and save the KwaZulu-Natal government of provincial unity (GPU) from collapsing.

This was deduced from a confidential letter dated 4 February 2026, seen by the African Times, which was addressed to the IFP’s Provincial Chairperson, Thami Ntuli.

In the letter, the DA in KwaZulu-Natal raised concerns that the IFP was the onlyREAD MORE