HUMANOID robots could be brought to ordinary people’s homes “soon,” according to a new robotics center in Beijing.

The robots, which use AI and resemble human bodies in shape, are expected to help China advance in its technology war with the US.

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Month-old robotics center Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center has so far provided minimal details about its latest project to release a prototype humanoid robot for general use.

But it assured that the robot will be created “soon.” South China Morning Mail reports.

The machines are expected to replenish China’s shrinking workforce as the vast economy looks to upgrade its growth engines with new technology-led “productive forces.”

An unnamed source from the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center told the Beijing Youth Daily: “It is the dream of every humanoid robot company to bring humanoid robots into thousands of households.”

It comes amid China’s fierce ongoing technology war with the United States, and as China faces serious demographic challenges – including a rapidly aging population – and a real estate market crisis.

The center was reportedly established late last year and includes both private and state-owned robot manufacturers.

A source described as a “responsible person” said leading robotics industry experts and researchers at the center were seeking “a common technological platform, public service platform and regulatory standards for the humanoid robot industry.”

They added: “In the future, humanoid robots may enter the automotive industry, 3C manufacturing (computer, communications and consumer electronics) and other fields, further improving the industrial production level.”

There are fears that humanoid robots could be yet another kind of “disruptive innovation” like computers, smartphones and new energy vehicles.

But China hopes to turn the humanoid robot sector into “a major new engine of economic growth” by 2027, according to the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

The center’s humanoid robots are intended to be a technological convergence of artificial intelligence and new materials, and China hopes to make the country more self-reliant – and competitive with the US.

American companies such as Tesla and OpenAI-backed Figure are already working on humanoid robots.

Tesla’s $20,000 (£16,000) Optimus robot, the prototype of which was unveiled in September 2022, was expected to be mass produced within three to five years.

According to a November report from the Research Institute of People’s Daily Online, China is currently the second-largest holder of patents on humanoid robots, with 1,699, after Japan.

The MIIT announced last year its plans to mass-produce humanoid robots by 2025 – about 500 robots per 10,000 employees.

The company believes the robots will be useful for industries such as healthcare, agriculture and logistics.

New plans suggest that China could soon replace human soldiers with robots in future war scenarios.

Advanced robotic soldiers and high-tech drones are expected to be sent to complex overseas missions within the United States next one 10 years.

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DOUBLE Olympic champion Major Heather Stanning OBE immediately returned to her career in the British Armed Forces after 2016.

Stanning, 39, made history by claiming Team GB’s first gold medal in the coxless pair at London 2012.

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Together with her rowing partner Helen Glover, they became the first British female rowers to win an Olympic crown.

But before that, Stanning was appointed to the Royal Artillery from Sandhurst in 2008, where she held the rank of captain.

The two-time champion took up rowing in 2006 and was selected for Team GB’s ‘Start’ programme.

Four years later, in 2010, Stanning was granted a leave of absence from the Army to train for the 2012 Olympics.

In 2011, she and Glover finished second at the World Rowing Championships, 0.1 second behind New Zealand.

But in 2012, the pair completed all three events in the rudderless women’s pair of the World Rowing Cup.

They then opened the scoring for Great Britain’s historic 29 gold medals won at London 2012.

It was the first ever Olympic gold medal for British women’s rowing – a sport that Team GB dominated at the subsequent 2016 Games in Rio.

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After the race, the BBC played a message for Stanning from her regiment, which was deployed to Afghanistan.

Colonel Roddy Lee said: “We are extremely proud of Captain Stanning. She is a credit to the Royal Regiment of Artillery, to the Army and to the nation.”

A month later, Stanning reported back to her garrison and resumed her army career, where she was posted to the Middle East.

She was promoted to major in December 2015 and resumed work full-time in the Army from 2017 before entering the Staff College in September 2017.

Meanwhile, Stanning and Glover continued to compete with Team GB rowing and retained their Olympic crown in 2016.

Stanning announced her retirement from the sport in November 2016 to return to the Royal Artillery, while Glover is targeting her fourth Olympic Games in Paris 2024.

Stanning is now ready for her next challenge.

She is about to take part in the Marathon des Sables, an extraordinary race of 250 kilometers over six days, which has been taking place in the southern Moroccan Sahara since 1986.

Stanning’s team includes three other British army personnel and TV personality judge Robert Rinder.

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The news network Al Jazeera said one of its journalists was held for 12 hours. Said the journalist, Ismail al-Ghoul, had been severely beaten. The Israeli military has not responded to the allegations outrage of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The Gaza Ministry of Health condemned the raid as a “crime against health institutions,” and humanitarian organizations expressed concern about the situation in the complex. The hospital, together with the surrounding area, housed 30,000 patients, medical staff and displaced civilians.

“Hospitals should never be a battlefield,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization. a message on social media warned that the situation “endangered health workers, patients and citizens.

Doctors Without Borders said it was “extremely concerned” about the safety of patients and medical staff at the hospital complex. In a statement On Monday, the organization urged “all warring parties to respect the grounds and perimeter of the hospital and ensure the safety of medical staff, patients and citizens.”

Israel has said the hospital complex served as a secret military command center for Hamas, calling it one of many examples of civilian facilities used by Hamas to protect its activities.

Four months ago, Israeli forces stormed the complex and found a tunnel shaft that they said supported their claim that the armed group had used it to conceal military operations.

Since then, Israel has withdrawn many troops from northern Gaza and shifted the focus of its invasion south. As a result, lawlessness has increasingly taken hold in the north, prompting international aid agencies to suspend operations despite a serious humanitarian crisis.

The Biden administration has become increasingly critical of Israel’s warfare and the toll it is taking on civilians. On Monday, President Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said said that “more innocent civilians have been killed in this conflict, during this military operation, than in all the wars in Gaza combined, including thousands of children.”

“A humanitarian crisis has unfolded across Gaza, and anarchy reigns in areas that the Israeli army has vacated but not stabilized,” he said.

Gabby Sobelman And Rawan Sheikh Ahmad reporting contributed.

The Indian Embassy in Moscow on Wednesday confirmed the death of the man, identified as Mohammed Asfan, adding that they are in touch with the family here.

Hyderabad: A Hyderabad man, who was among the Indians ‘duped’ by agents with the promise of jobs and taken to Russia and forced to work as a ‘helper’ for the Russian army, has died.

The Indian Embassy in Moscow on Wednesday confirmed the death of the man, identified as Mohammed Asfan, adding that they are in touch with the family here.

“We have learned of the tragic death of Indian national Shri Mohammed Asfan. We are in contact with the family and the Russian authorities. The mission will make efforts to send his remains to India,” the Indian Embassy in Moscow said in a message on ‘X’.

When contacted, Asfan’s elder brother Imran said the Indian embassy in Moscow had informed the family about the 30-year-old’s death on Wednesday.

He requested the central government to help them recover his brother’s remains.

“We just came to know through the phone call (in which we were informed about Asfan’s death). We have no other information. His body must be returned. We request the central government to get his body back,” Imran said.

According to Imran, Asfan and two other youths from Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir had reached Russia in November last year as they were promised jobs as helpers in Russian government offices by the officers. He said the Asfan family last spoke on December 31, 2023. Asfan previously worked at a fabric showroom in Hyderabad, his brother said.

Imran said the officers, one of them who has an office in Dubai and runs a vlog and two others from Mumbai, had taken Rs 3 lakh each from the youth.

After reaching Moscow, they had to sign a document in Russian and later realized that they had been recruited as “helpers” in the Russian army, Imran said.

The youths had also contacted the officers and informed them that they were being trained in the use of weapons, but the officers again lied to them and said this was part of their job. But the youths were then taken to the Russia-Ukraine border, Imran said.

Imran said that when they contacted the officers recently, they said that Asfan’s agreement had been cancelled. He was also told that Asfan had been injured, Imran added.

Meanwhile, AIMIM sources said the party’s leader Asaduddin Owaisi had contacted the Indian Embassy in Moscow after Asfan’s family repeatedly approached him in this regard over the past few days.

An official from the Indian Embassy in Moscow also confirmed to Owaisi about Asfan’s death, they said.

The family of another youth from Narayanpet in Telangana, Mohammed Sufiyan, had also approached Owaisi after their relatives were sent to Russia by the officers on the pretext of work but were allegedly forced to fight at the Russia-Ukraine border.

On February 21, Owaisi had told the media that relatives of Indian youth, including some from Telangana, had met him and informed that their relatives had been duped by agents with the promise of jobs and taken to Russia but were allegedly sent to to fight. the border between Russia and Ukraine.

Owaisi had requested the Union government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to hold talks with the Russian government to bring the youth back to India safely.

Dad’s Army star Ian Lavender was remembered by celebs and villagers alike at his funeral at St Mary’s Church in Woolpit, Suffolk on Thursday. 

The actor, best known as the young Private Pike, was the last remaining main cast member from the wartime-set BBC show and died on Friday, February 2 aged 77, with his wife and sons at his side.

The service included an emotional rendition of Bring Him Home by Alfie Boe and Rick Wakeman as well as touching tributes to his role in Dad’s Army. 

Draped on top of his coffin was an army beret worn by his character and a scarf in the colours of his favourite football team, Aston Villa. 

Stars including Tim Healy, of Auf Wiedersehen Pet and Benidorm fame, were also in attendance.

Led by Reverend Ruth Farrell, the congregation heard tributes from his film director son Sam Lavender and musician Rick.

On departure to the churchyard, the Dad’s Army theme tune was played on the organ, to remember his time in the comedy. 

The Birmingham-born actor was well-known in the village of Woolpit, with many residents attending to pay their respects.

Alfie and Ian performed together at the Royal British Legion concert produced by Live Nation and the BBC back in 2015. 

Lavender revealed he would take his cast-members’ secrets to the grave just months before his death. 

He told of how the show’s iconic cast were so close they shared secrets with each other that they ‘never told their wives’. 

The actor admitted that he once promised co-star John Laurie (who played Private James Frazer) that he would never divulge the secrets they shared.

Lavender told the We Have Ways of Making You Talk podcast: ‘I talked with John [Laurie]  for so many hours. He said, ‘There are things I’ve told you I’ve never told my wife, or my daughter. You must promise me you must never tell anybody yourself’.

He went on to gush about his fellow co-stars and recalled filming as ‘great fun’ 10-weeks every year with ‘wonderful people who became great friends’.

Lavender also revealed that the cast were shocked with the show’s success after the first series originally failed to find an audience. 

The post announcing his death read: ‘We are deeply saddened to hear the passing of the wonderful, Ian Lavender.

‘In what truly marks the end of an era, Ian was the last surviving member of the Dad’s Army main cast.’

Lavender, who was born in Birmingham in 1946, was twice married. His first wife was actress Suzanne Kerchiss in a union that lasted from 1967 to 1976, and the pair had two sons Dan and Sam.

From then on, he lived happily with American-born Miki Hardy. The couple married after 16 years together in 1993, following Lavender’s diagnosis with bladder cancer, which was successfully treated. He also survived a heart attack.

Outside of acting, he was a keen supporter of Aston Villa Football Club and chose a claret and blue scarf as part of Pike’s wardrobe.

Lavender had only recently graduated from drama school and had just one previous TV appearance to his name when he was cast in Dad’s Army, in stark contrast to the rest of the cast – who were comic veterans.

He was earning £9 a week during a six-month stint at Canterbury Rep when someone came up to him and said he looked stupid enough to do Pike.

‘I was a complete beginner and I suddenly joined what was probably Britain’s most experienced team of character actors,’ he said.

‘I was in a state of shock finding myself suddenly among so many great actors. When the moment came for me to speak, that funny voice of Pike just came out in a moment of panic.

‘Since then at the start of every new series it has been one hell of a job trying to conjure it up again.

‘But Private Pike took me from obscurity into the TV big time. I could never have achieved that if I hadn’t learned to say: ‘Ooh Captain Mainwaring, my mum said even if the Germans come I mustn’t catch cold.”

The acting gig was only expected to last for eight weeks – but the show’s phenomenal success meant it endured for the best part of a decade. 

Attracting audiences of 18 million, it ran from 1968 to 1977 and saw Lavender become a household name.

As Pike, Lavender was a comedic stooge in the series, frequently berated as a ‘stupid boy’ by the troupe’s Captain Mainwairing, played by Arthur Lowe, although the other members of the reserve army behaved more warmly to him.

Lavender was key to one of Dad’s Army’s funniest moments where he had performed a song that called Hitler a ‘twerp’ in front of German forces.

The Nazi captain says his name will also go on a list of people he will take revenge on. Asked what it is, Captain Mainwaring urges ‘Don’t tell him, Pike’, accidentally revealing his name.

His bungling soldier routine in the Home Guard comedy brought him fan mail from all over Britain – especially from women who wanted to mother him.

‘I get letters from schoolgirls and middle-aged ladies who want to mother me. I miss out on ladies my own age,’ he joked once.

Lavender’s closest friend and mentor amongst the cast was Scottish actor John Laurie, who starred as the gruff undertaker Frazer.

Offscreen, the pair would often chat and tell each other jokes, a skill Lavender learnt from Laurie.

‘If I could choose one member of the cast to survive it would be John,’ Lavender told the Telegraph in 2018.

‘I loved him, actually. He was naughty, he was impish and he suffered no fools.’

In retrospect, Lavender suggested the part of Pike had put limits on his career, once telling The Independent: ‘I’ve certainly been typecast, but nobody expects you to come up with that character.

‘People don’t want Frank Pike, but they do expect you to be funny.’

After years of service in the show’s fiction seat of Wilmington on Sea, guest-starred in many television series and also took to the stage. He treaded the boards with Dustin Hoffman in The Merchant of Venice and also appeared in Sister Act: The Musical.

Outside of Dads Army, his biggest impact on the silver screen was as Derek Harkinson in EastEnders from 2001 to 2005, and again from 2016 to 2017. Initially the boyfriend of Christian (John Partridge), Derek became firm friends with the show’s matriarch Pauline Fowler (Wendy Craig). 

He starred in 240 episodes of the BBC One soap in total.

Lavender was the last surviving member of the Dad’s Army cast. Clive Dunn, who played Lance Corporal Jones, died in 2012, while Bill Pertwee (air raid warden Hodges) died in 2013.

Arthur Lowe died from a heart attack in 1982 and John Le Mesurier, the long-suffering Sergeant Wilson, died the following year.

Lavender made a cameo appearance as Brigadier Pritchard in the 2016 Dad’s Army film, which starred Toby Jones and Bill Nighy.

In the film, The Inbetweeners star Blake Harrison played Private Pike.

As Dad’s Army’s last surviving cast member Ian Lavender passes away, what happened to stars of the beloved BBC sitcom? 

Arthur Lowe: Captain George Mainwaring

Arthur Lowe had a career spanning 37 years and was one of the most recognisable faces on British TV.

Although he was known as Captain Mainwaring, Lowe only began acting professionally in 1945, after the end of WWII where he had been one of the first to be called up in 1939. 

After the end of the war, the actor took part in productions with local troupes before finding fame as the Home Guard platoon leader.

When not acting the pompous and bumbling Captain, Lowe was in productions with Sir Laurence Olivier at the National theatre and worked on shows including the ITV comedy Doctor at Large and an adaptation of David Copperfield in 1974.

The actor suffered from narcolepsy which often meant he fell asleep on set and even in the middle of sentences.

He died at the age of 66 in Birmingham in 1982. 

John Le Mesurier: Sergeant Arthur Wilson

John Le Mesurier appeared in more than 120 films across his career which was slow to start after his flat and the theatre he was working in in Brixton, South London were bombed during the Blitz. 

After serving with the Royal Tank Regiment where he was posted to India, he struggled to find work, often accepting smaller supporting roles. 

He took small roles in films including the 1956 Second World War film, Private’s Progress and the 1969 classic The Italian Job with Michael Caine and was a self confessed ‘jobbing actor’ 

He also appeared in a Coronation Street spin-off series, Pardon the Expression, opposite his Dad’s Army co-star Arthur Lowe.   

He was married three times, most notably to Carry On actress Hattie Jacques but after their relationship broke down his health took a turn and he died in 1983.

James Beck: Private Walker

Beck who was known as the cheeky cockney spiv was rarely out of work, with roles in Coronation Street and A Family At War.

Despite the success of the BBC sitcom, the actor from North London yearned for greater challenges.

Just as the recording of the sixth series of Dad’s Army was wrapping up, Beck suddenly became ill and was rushed to hospital.

Beck, a heavy drinker, died three weeks later due to a combination of heart failure, renal failure and pancreatitis, aged 44.

Arnold Ridley: Private Godfrey

Arnold Ridley who played the elderly bumbling Private Godfrey was much less bumbling in real life. 

A brave soldier who survived the Somme, he was blighted by his wounds which included an almost useless left hand, shrapnel in his legs and he was prone to blackouts after receiving a German rifle butt to the head.

He was honourably discharged from the army due to his wounds and was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his service.

Despite have served in WWI, Ridley volunteered for WWII in 1939 and after serving joined the Home Guard, much like his Dad’s Army character.

In between serving as a soldier, Ridley toured with theatre groups and adapted novels into plays such as Agatha Christie’s novel Peril at End House which debuted on the West End play in 1940

His acting credits also include Doughy Hood, the village baker, in the radio soap opera The Archers.

His great- niece is Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley. 

John Laurie: Private Frazer 

Laurie was a thespian through and through, starting out his career in Shakespeare, he went on to work with Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean and Laurence Olivier.

The Dumfries native starred in classic such as The 39 Steps, Hobson’s Choice and The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp.

The dad’s Army favourite worked all the way up to his death and starred in The Prisoner of Zelda just one year before he died. 

His niece is Star Wars actress Daisy.

He died aged 83 in 1980. 

Ian lavender: Private Pike 

Ian Lavender was the youngest of the cast, getting the part of Private pike at the age of 22. 

The job was only supposed to last for a week but almost 10 years later, he was still playing the part of the lovable Pike. 

While he later revealed that the part of the ‘idiot boy’ cost him other big film roles, he also said he had no regrets about taking the part.

As well as staring alongside comedic greats, he starred alongside Hollywood heavyweights like Dustin Hoffman in The Merchant of Venice.

The actor also took on more tv work including Eastenders as well as theatre – one of his later roles was in Sister Act: The Musical.

He died aged 77.

Clive Dunn: Lance Corporal Jones  

Despite only being 48 when he took on the role of Lance Corporal Jones, he made a name for himself playing the doddery Jones, a type he would lean into throughout his career.

Starting off in touring theatre companies a made his first television appearance in Surprise Attack before taking on a starring role in The Tony Hancock Show.

After playing the old Jones in Dad’s Army, Dunn continued to play grumpy older characters, taking on Charlie Quick, in the slapstick children’s TV series Grandad, from 1979 to 1984.

Despite a a glittering career on tv, Dunn retired to the Algarve where he died in 2012, leaving behind two daughters and a his wife Priscilla, also an actress.

Vladimir Putin was accused today of making a “gesture reminiscent of a Nazi salute” as he opened the so-called Future Games in the Russian city of Kazan.

Independent news channel SOTA said: 'Putin opened the Future Games tournament in Kazan and raised his hand 'to the sun'.

But the dictator “reproduced a gesture reminiscent of a Nazi salute.”

He did this when he opened the games and said: 'Dear friends, thank you very much. Good luck.'

Warmonger Putin, 71, has been accused of a Hitler-like invasion of Ukraine, and agreements with the German war leader in oppressing his people and creating a Russian version of the Hitler Youth, indoctrinating young people in patriotism and military discipline.

But Putin justifies his war against Ukraine by trying to crush the “nationalists,” whom he calls “Nazis,” despite the fact that Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, is Jewish and related to several people killed in the Holocaust.

The Russian mission to the UN said as Putin's forces invaded Ukraine: 'The aim of this operation is to protect people who have suffered humiliation and genocide committed by the Kiev regime for eight years.

“To this end, we will seek to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine, and bring to justice those who committed countless bloody crimes against civilians, including citizens of the Russian Federation.”

Putin insists that it was the Soviet Union that suffered most from the defeat of Nazism in World War II.

The bizarre 'salute' was during the inaugural Future Games – also known as Games of the Future – where Putin was seen alongside recently banned doping skater Kamila Valieva, 17, and former Russian football star Andrei Arshavin who played for Arsenal.

Putin was accompanied at the ceremony by the presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Republika Srpska.

'Sport should remain outside politics, on the contrary, it should unite people. There is no doubt this will be for the better,” he said.

The Kazan Games are billed as a “major sporting event that innovatively combines traditional and esports.”

It includes 21 innovative disciplines such as Phygital Football, Phygital Basketball, Phygital Hockey and Phygital MOBA.

The event involves 2,000 athletes from more than 100 countries and 270 multinational teams.

“We have always been committed to promoting sport and its high humanistic values,” Putin said.

“The Future Games are our gift to the global sports family. I am confident that the true spirit of sport will prevail at these Games.”

Today, Volker Turk, the UN human rights chief, accused Russia of inflicting suffering on millions of civilians. causing serious and widespread human rights violations, destroying lives and livelihoods.”

So far, 14 million people in Ukraine have fled their homes since Russia invaded two years ago.