Latest news with #DeltaForce
American Military News
3 days ago
- American Military News
Video: Fmr. Delta Force operator shares dangerous hostage rescue story
Larry Vickers, a U.S. Army veteran and a former Delta Force operator, shared an account on Thursday of the Delta Force's Operation Acid Gambit hostage rescue of Kurt Muse from a prison in Panama in December of 1989. During a Thursday interview with podcaster Shawn Ryan, Vickers explained that Muse's rescue as part of Operation Acid Gambit was a dangerous hostage rescue attempt due to a prison guard threatening to kill the hostage if the United States attempted to rescue him from Panama's La Comandancia prison. According to The Army's website, Muse was imprisoned in Panama for leading opposition against Manuel Noriega, the former dictator of Panama. 'There was a guard that had told Kurt if there was a rescue attempt, he was going to kill him,' Vickers said. 'Because Kurt, I think, asked him, 'Hey, if there's a rescue attempt for me, what are you going to do?' And he goes, 'I'll kill you.'' 'This guy was in the room right across from Kurt,' Vickers added. 'So the priority was to get down to Kurt as soon as possible to beat this guy. You know, before this guy gets a situational awareness, figures out what's going on, goes over to Kurt's cell, and kills him.' READ MORE: Video/Pic: Last living American hostage released by Hamas During Thursday's podcast interview, Vickers shared details about how he was almost killed by his team's own 'C6 charge,' how the Delta Force Team entered the building after snipers disabled the prison's power, and how the team encountered one of the prison guards before reaching Muse's location. 'He was in a room across, and the G team went in and killed him. Yep, he's armed with a pistol,' Vickers told Ryan. 'I think the guy, I think he was in a shower, if memory serves me correct. G team found him in the shower. I think the guy went for his pistol, already had a pistol in his hand. They killed him.' 'Yep, they got Muse out. They brought in a little, you know, kit, aviator kit bag, and had body armor and a helmet, you know, a body armor and a Kevlar helmet. Peeled him out. I remember seeing him go up the stairs,' Vickers added. 'Couple things. We get up. We tell him, 'Hey, you know, PC secure to get the extraction birds out.' The reason the book's called 'Six Minutes To Freedom' was because from when we touched down to when we called, you know, PC secure, called for EXO was six minutes.'
Straits Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Tencent sales grow fastest since 2021 in solid start to rocky year
encent is among the biggest beneficiaries of a Chinese tech renaissance triggered by DeepSeek. PHOTO: REUTERS Hong Kong – Tencent Holdings' revenue grew at its fastest pace in more than three years, affirming investors' expectations that China's gaming and social media leader will weather a potential global downturn in 2025. The WeChat operator reported a faster-than-anticipated 13 per cent rise in sales to 180.02 billion yuan (S$32.4 billion) in the March quarter. Net income rose 14 per cent to 47.8 billion yuan, missing estimates in part because of rising spending on AI research and initiatives. The numbers may lend confidence to investors who regard China's most valuable company as resistant to much of the economic turmoil surrounding the Trump administration's tariffs campaign. Its shares have gained more than 20 per cent in 2025. Yet Tencent runs a giant cloud, advertising and fintech services business vulnerable to economic shocks and a slowdown in domestic consumption. Tencent is among the biggest beneficiaries of a Chinese tech renaissance triggered by DeepSeek, whose January release of the R1 model upended the idea of US AI dominance and rekindled interest in homegrown technology. Tencent rushed to buy up AI chips around the end of 2024 to serve growing demand from cloud clients. Its apps, including WeChat and the ChatGPT-style Yuanbao, have gained users since integrating with DeepSeek's offering. To counter a plateauing home market, the world's biggest games publisher has also focused on grooming what it calls evergreen franchises – established titles that players will stick with through multiple versions and updates. 2024's breakout hits, Dungeon & Fighter Mobile and Delta Force, helped Tencent stem a contraction in its marquee business. But it remains to be seen whether players will stick around. Still, investors are betting it will successfully experiment with newer initiatives such as mini-games and the Hunyuan foundation model. Executives including billionaire founder Pony Ma have outlined plans to rely on both third-party and self-made models to win the AI race, mirroring a playbook that seeded Tencent's gaming leadership two decades ago. Many observers have drawn parallels between AI and the rise of smartphone apps – a tidal shift that will create new winners and threaten the old guard. Tencent's longtime foe Alibaba Group has only gotten more aggressive, pledging to spend billions to build data centers and investing in many of China's up-and-coming AI platforms. For now, WeChat remains Tencent's most reliable asset as it takes on bigger monetisation roles in area from advertising to mini-games and TikTok-style shopping. Though broader consumer sentiment remains shaky, Tencent has sought to introduce even more features to its all-in-one platform – including a gifting function that's received a mixed reception from both merchants and buyers. Tencent also remains the undisputed leader in mobile games. It earned roughly four times as much as the second closest publisher in 2024, according to Appfigures. It's unclear whether Tencent can replicate the success of last year. Its pipeline for 2025 includes highly anticipated titles like Honor of Kings: World and the Chinese rollouts of Path of Exile 2 and Goddess of Victory: Nikke. But few are considered sure-fire hits like DnF Mobile, which owed its success to loyal players trying out a fresh version of their PC favorite. In a deal announced in March, Tencent said it will invest about US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion) to acquire a 25 per cent stake in a new entity holding Ubisoft Entertainment's most celebrated intellectual properties. That could give the Chinese company a bigger say in shaping the future of global franchises like Assassin's Creed, which Tencent is adapting for mobile. BLOOMBERG Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Economic Times
14-05-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Tencent Q1 revenue rises 13% on AI, gaming boost
Tencent Holdings, China's biggest technology company by market capitalisation, posted a 13% rise in first-quarter revenue on Wednesday, boosted by growth in gaming and AI-enhanced advertising. Tencent, also the world's largest video game company and operator of the WeChat messaging platform, reported revenue of 180 billion yuan ($24.97 billion) for the quarter ended March 31. The results exceeded the 174.6 billion yuan average estimate from analysts polled by LSEG. Net profit for the quarter was 47.8 billion yuan, compared with analyst expectations of 52.2 billion yuan, LSEG data showed. The revenue growth was led by robust performance in the gaming segment, as the company benefited from regulatory easing in China's gaming sector following stringent restrictions in previous years. For the quarter, domestic gaming revenue rose by 24% to 42.9 billion yuan, and international gaming revenue climbed 23% to 16.6 billion yuan. Titles that drove the growth included "Dungeon & Fighter Mobile", launched in May 2024, and shooting game "Delta Force," which debuted in September. Tencent has increased its AI investments, and in March said it would allocate a low double-digit percentage of 2025 revenue to capital expenditure, primarily for AI development. This follows the company's 39 billion yuan AI-focused spending in the fourth quarter of 2024. The company has developed its own proprietary large language model Hunyuan, and in March made public a version called T1. It has also been among the most open of its peers to adopting third-party technology. Tencent became the first major Chinese tech company to integrate technology from DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup that gained prominence early this year with its release of AI models that rival Western counterparts at lower development costs. The DeepSeek integration has been rolled out across Tencent's core products, including WeChat—the company's flagship messaging and payment platform with over 1 billion active users—and Yuanbao, Tencent's AI assistant. Revenues from marketing services for the quarter were 17.7 billion, up 22% year-on-year, partly because of robust AI-driven adtech upgrades whose benefits include more targeted advertising. The company's FinTech and Business Services segment, which includes consumer loans, wealth management and cloud services, posted revenue of 27.6 billion yuan, a 16% increase. ($1 = 7.2086 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Business Times
14-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Tencent quarterly revenue up 13% on AI, gaming boost
[BEIJING] Tencent Holdings, China's biggest technology company by market capitalisation, posted a 13 per cent rise in first-quarter revenue on Wednesday (May 14), boosted by growth in gaming and AI-enhanced advertising. Tencent, also the world's largest video game company and operator of the WeChat messaging platform, reported revenue of 180 billion yuan (S$32.4 billion) for the quarter ended Mar 31. The results exceeded the 174.6 billion yuan average estimate from analysts polled by LSEG. Net profit for the quarter was 47.8 billion yuan, compared with analyst expectations of 52.2 billion yuan, LSEG data showed. The revenue growth was led by robust performance in the gaming segment, as the company benefited from regulatory easing in China's gaming sector following stringent restrictions in previous years. For the quarter, domestic gaming revenue rose by 24 per cent to 42.9 billion yuan, and international gaming revenue climbed 23 per cent to 16.6 billion yuan. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Titles that drove the growth included Dungeon & Fighter Mobile, launched in May 2024, and shooting game Delta Force, which debuted in September. Tencent has increased its AI investments, and in March said it would allocate a low double-digit percentage of 2025 revenue to capital expenditure, primarily for AI development. This follows the company's 39 billion yuan AI-focused spending in the fourth quarter of 2024. The company has developed its own proprietary large language model Hunyuan, and in March made public a version called T1. It has also been among the most open of its peers to adopting third-party technology. Tencent became the first major Chinese tech company to integrate technology from DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup that gained prominence early this year with its release of AI models that rival Western counterparts at lower development costs. The DeepSeek integration has been rolled out across Tencent's core products, including WeChat – the company's flagship messaging and payment platform with over one billion active users – and Yuanbao, Tencent's own AI assistant. Revenues from marketing services for the quarter were 17.7 billion, up 22 per cent year on year, partly because of robust AI-driven adtech upgrades whose benefits include more targeted advertising. The company's FinTech and Business Services segment, which includes consumer loans, wealth management and cloud services, posted revenue of 27.6 billion yuan, a 16 per cent increase. REUTERS
Business Times
14-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Tencent's Q1 revenue rises 13% on gaming strength
[BEIJING] Tencent Holdings, China's biggest technology company by market capitalisation, posted a 13 per cent rise in first-quarter revenue on Wednesday (May 14), driven by growth in its gaming business. Tencent, also the world's largest video game company and operator of the WeChat messaging platform, reported revenue of 180 billion yuan (S$32.4 billion) for the quarter ended Mar 31. The results exceeded the 174.6 billion yuan average estimate from analysts polled by LSEG. Net profit for the quarter was 47.8 billion yuan, compared with analyst expectations of 52.2 billion yuan, according to LSEG data. The revenue growth was primarily fuelled by robust performance in the gaming segment, as the company benefited from regulatory easing in China's gaming sector following stringent restrictions in previous years. For the quarter, domestic gaming revenue rose by 24 per cent to 42.9 billion yuan, while international gaming revenue climbed 23 per cent to 16.6 billion yuan. Key titles driving growth included Dungeon & Fighter Mobile launched in May 2024, and shooting game Delta Force, which debuted in September. REUTERS
