AI learning startup Yoodli, co-founded by Varun Puri, has raised $40 million in a Series B round led by WestBridge Capital. The platform helps people practise real workplace conversations using AI roleplay and personalised feedback. With clients like Google and Snowflake, Yoodli plans to expand its technology, strengthen coaching tools, and scale its enterprise reach.

Amid the rubble of Khan Yunis, 54 Palestinian couples celebrated a mass wedding - a rare moment of hope after two years of war. Brides in embroidered dresses and grooms waving flags shared their joy. 'We needed a moment of happiness', said groom Karam Musaaed. Another newlywed, Hikmat Usama, said they are ready to 'start rebuilding a new life'.

Digital commerce depends on discovery systems, fulfilment efficiency, user experience design, frictionless payments, and reliable last-mile execution. Each element supports trust, conversion, and repeat behaviour. As competition deepens, brands that treat these services as strategic levers rather than support functions achieve stronger scale and customer retention across categories.

Beginners strengthen fundamentals through small but complete HTML–CSS projects such as landing pages, responsive cards, grid layouts and simple dashboards. These builds teach spacing, structure, typography and adaptability. By iterating on real interfaces, learners build muscle memory that accelerates progression towards professional-grade front-end development.

Strong websites follow a structured life cycle: requirement analysis, wireframing, visual design, development, QA, and optimisation. This sequence reduces rework and keeps usability central. Treating design as iterative rather than a one-time task ensures clearer communication, faster load times, and adaptability as business needs evolve.

India’s VC ecosystem includes early-stage specialists, sector-focused investors and late-stage growth funds. Their decisions influence capital availability, category expansion and founder support. Knowing which funds dominate which sectors helps entrepreneurs target the right partnerships during fundraising and signal stronger market alignment.

Business ventures span proprietorships, scalable startups, franchises, cooperatives and corporate entities, each with distinct risk, capital needs and growth potential. Understanding these structures helps founders choose a model aligned with ambition, control preferences and operational capacity rather than defaulting to familiar or traditional formats.

Different models demand different metric stacks. SaaS relies on retention, expansion, and payback periods; e-commerce depends on contribution margins and repeat cycles; B2B focuses on pipeline quality and conversion velocity. Aligning metrics with real revenue behaviour helps teams remove vanity indicators and make decisions grounded in recurring performance.

Account-based marketing concentrates resources on high-value accounts through coordinated messaging, focused content and intent-driven timing. Its strength lies in reducing wastage, increasing deal relevance and improving sales–marketing alignment. When powered by accurate data, ABM raises win rates and shortens sales cycles in complex enterprise environments.

A phygital approach merges digital ease with offline trust through unified data, real-time inventory visibility, and consistent service across touchpoints. It removes channel friction, enabling reliable fulfilment and personalised engagement. For brands scaling across India, phygital execution improves efficiency by turning fragmented interactions into a single seamless experience.

A phygital approach merges digital ease with offline trust through unified data, real-time inventory visibility, and consistent service across touchpoints. It removes channel friction, enabling reliable fulfilment and personalised engagement. For brands scaling across India, phygital execution improves efficiency by turning fragmented interactions into a single, seamless experience.

The wait time for a US visa for Indian applicants has dropped across major cities, as per reports. In Delhi, the waiting period for the next available appointments for F, M and J visas has dropped from two months to half a month. Wait time for appointments for B-1/B-2 visa interviews in Chennai dropped to three months from five months.

Former diplomat Anil Trigunayat called Russian President Vladimir Putin's upcoming India visit "highly significant and substantive," noting its role in strengthening the 25-year strategic partnership. The 23rd annual summit will address energy security, trade, defence cooperation and key geopolitical issues. Putin will visit India on December 4-5 for high-level talks with Indian leadership.

India has signed a $946 million (around ₹8,000 crore) deal with the US to buy 24 MH-60R Seahawk naval helicopters. Manufacturer Lockheed Martin said these 'Romeo' helicopters are rugged, powerful, and reliable. "This...will enhance the Indian Navy’s maritime capabilities, build interoperability with the US and regional partners, and make both our nations safer and more prosperous," the US said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive in India on Thursday (December 4) at around 6.30 pm. PM Narendra Modi will host a private dinner for him today and President Droupadi Murmu will host a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan tomorrow. He'll honour Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat and then head to Hyderabad House for the India-Russia Annual Summit with PM Modi.

An 18-member Indonesian delegation is visiting Meghalaya to learn from community-led livelihood initiatives under Megha-LAMP. The team visited units in West Jaintia Hills, observing how farmer groups and women-led enterprises boost income, value addition and market access. The exchange aims to strengthen IFAD-backed rural programmes in Indonesia.

India and Russia will discuss next-generation BrahMos missile variants during President Vladimir Putin's visit, including lighter NG models for fighter jets and longer range versions. Talks will also cover hypersonic missile cooperation and a major S-400 missile deal. The BrahMos has proven crucial in recent operations and strengthened India's export prospects.

Healthy soil quietly sustains life, feeding crops, filtering water, and supporting ecosystems. But pollution, deforestation, and chemicals are rapidly damaging this fragile resource. World Soil Day (Dec 5) reminds us to protect the earth beneath our feet through sustainable farming, composting, and mindful land use. Caring for soil safeguards food, water, climate, and future generations.

US President Donald Trump-led administration has ordered increased vetting of H1-B visa applicants for highly skilled workers, including checking their and their family members resumes and LinkedIn profiles, Reuters reported. As per an internal memo, those found "responsible for...censorship or attempted censorship of protected expression" would be considered for rejection, the report added.

A Pakistani immigrant named Luqmaan Khan studying at US' University of Delaware was arrested with a cache of guns, ammunition and body armour, New York Post reported. A manifesto with a plan to "kill all" and achieve "martyrdom" with a mass shooting on the campus were also recovered from him, the report said. Khan was arrested on November 24.

House Democrats on Oversight Committee released "harrowing" photographs and video clips taken on Jeffrey Epstein's private islands in US Virgin Islands. "These new images are...disturbing look into...world of Jeffrey Epstein," a Democrat said. This comes about two weeks after US President Donald Trump signed a law instructing Justice Department to make Epstein documents public within 30 days.

Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said a woman is like "flower" and must be cared for and protected. He stated Western countries saying women wearing hijab won't be able to progress is a "nonsensical logic". "The Islamic Republic has shown a Muslim woman observing Islamic dress code can progress...and be influential both in society & at home," he stated.

Pakistan’s jailed former PM Imran Khan said on Wednesday that Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir deliberately escalated tensions with Afghanistan to please western powers and to present himself internationally as a "mujahid". Imran stated, "Because of his (Munir's) policies, terrorism has spiralled out of control." This comes after Imran's sister met him in prison amid rumours that he had died.

Pakistan will hold bidding for its loss-making national carrier Pakistan International Airlines on December 23. Among the four entities shortlisted to bid is Fauji Fertiliser Company Limited, part of Fauji Foundation which is linked to Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir. The sale is a key component of a $7-billion IMF programme that requires Pakistan to divest loss-making state assets.

Europe's major data centre operator Nebius will leverage its recent multi-billion-dollar contracts with Microsoft and Meta to build its business with traditional and emerging AI firms, Co-founder Roman Chernin said. Nebius had signed $17-billion deal with Microsoft in September and $3-billion tie-up with Meta. The firm is planning to reach 2.5 GW power capacity by 2026 in US and Europe.