Briefly

UNITED STATES

Musk's bid to halt OpenAI shift denied

A US judge on Tuesday denied billionaire Elon Musk's request for a preliminary injunction to pause OpenAI's transition to a for-profit model but agreed to a fast-track trial this fall, the latest turn in the high-stakes legal fight. Musk does not have "the high burden required for a preliminary injunction" to block the conversion of OpenAI, said US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California. Musk and Open-AI, which he co-founded as a nonprofit in 2015 but left before it took off, have been embroiled in a yearlong legal battle.

DR CONGO

Conflict affects 2,500 schools, says minister

More than 2,500 schools have been affected by a continuing conflict between the M23 rebels and the government in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a senior official said on Tuesday. Raissa Malu, state minister in charge of national education, said at a news briefing that the schools have either been destroyed or occupied in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces during the conflict, adding that more than 1 million students have also been affected.

SINGAPORE

Govt splashes millions on coffee shop toilets

Singapore will allocate up to $7.5 million in grants to support the renovation and deep cleaning of coffee shop toilets, according to the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment. A "Public Toilets Taskforce" was formed by the ministry last year to identify lavatories that consistently fared poorly in cleanliness surveys. However, "toilets that demonstrate excellence in design and cleanliness will be able to apply for HTP (Happy Toilet Program) certification", said the ministry in a statement on Tuesday.

Xinhua - Agencies