Few economic and social benefits will come to Africans if processing is all done overseas, says Wanjira Mathai

Africa must take greater control in the industries it supplies with raw materials to lift its people from poverty and seize its own destiny in a low-carbon world, one of the continent’s leading environmentalists has urged.

Wanjira Mathai, the managing director for Africa and global partnerships at the World Resources Institute thinktank, said much more of what the continent produced must be processed and made use of close to where it is produced, if the world is to shift to a low-carbon footing.

Human Rights Watch demands investigation into killings in two villages just weeks after Russian troops fly in, amid intensifying conflict

Burkina Faso’s military summarily executed 223 civilians, including at least 56 children, in a single day in late February, according to an investigation into one of the worst abuses by the country’s armed forces for years.

The mass killings have been linked to a widening military campaign to tackle jihadist violence and happened weeks after Russian troops landed in the west African country to help improve security.

Home secretary visits Lampedusa in Italy as National Audit Office says scheme could surpass £580m by 2030

Several flights a month will deport asylum seekers to Rwanda “indefinitely�, the home secretary has said, as he argued that the £1.8m a person cost of the scheme was justified.

James Cleverly, in his first interview since the government’s plan was approved by parliament on Monday, said he had booked a succession of initial flights and was preparing to order the detention of people seeking refuge in the UK so they could be sent to east Africa.

Government U-turn as PM Mia Mottley acknowledges anger from reparations movement over plan to buy Barbados land from Dorset MP Richard Drax

The prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, has halted plans for a multi-million-pound payout to the British Conservative MP Richard Drax for the purchase of 53 acres of the Drax Hall plantation, which he owns.

As revealed in the Observer last Sunday, the payout plan had angered those involved in the Caribbean reparations movement, who said Drax, the MP for South Dorset, should hand over all or part of the 617-acre plantation to the people of Barbados.

Rights chief also warns Britain will be ‘judged harshly by history for its failure to help prevent civilian slaughter in Gaza’

The UK has been accused by Amnesty International of “deliberately destabilising� human rights on the global stage for its own political ends.

In its annual global report, released today, the organisation said Britain was weakening human rights protections nationally and globally, amid a near-breakdown of international law.

The African country accounted for two-thirds of the additional 13.5m people needing urgent help as displacement drove food insecurity globally

Sudan had the world’s largest number of people facing extreme food shortages in 2023 as conflict and displacement drove food insecurity globally, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

The war between rival generals meant Sudan accounted for two-thirds of the additional 13.5 million people needing urgent help last year, while conflict also plunged Gaza into the world’s most severe food crisis with its entire population facing high levels of food insecurity.

‘Transitional council’ takes oath of office after prime minister formally resigns as gang violence continues to rock capital

Haiti’s prime minister, Ariel Henry, has formally resigned and a new provisional government has been sworn in during a secret ceremony at the presidential palace, nearly two months after a criminal insurrection plunged the capital into chaos.

The nine-person “transitional council� was officially established on Thursday during an event at the national palace in Port-au-Prince. As its members took their oaths, Henry, who is in the US having been locked out of Haiti by the gang uprising, announced in a letter that he was stepping down.

Critics of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa say behind remarks is lack of national recognition that slavery should be discussed in schools

Portugal needs to “pay the costs� of slavery and other colonial-era crimes, the country’s president has said, in a rare instance of a European leader seemingly backing the need for reparations.

Portugal has long grappled with calls by campaigners to address its legacy as the European country with the longest historical involvement in the slave trade. During the span of four centuries, nearly 6 million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported across the Atlantic by Portuguese vessels.

Petition filed on behalf of woman known as as Fausia, who underwent a forced pregnancy after being raped

Honduras is being taken to a global human rights body for the first time over its total abortion ban, which campaigners say violates women’s fundamental rights and the country’s international commitments.

The Center for Reproductive Rights and the Honduras-based Centro de Derechos de la Mujer (Center for Women’s Rights, CDM) filed a petition with the UN human rights committee this month on behalf of a woman known as Fausia, who underwent a forced pregnancy after being raped and denied an abortion under Honduras’ draconian laws.

Celebrity fashion designer, who recruited couriers to transport bags from her native Colombia to US on commercial flights, receives 18-month sentence

A leading fashion designer whose accessories were used by celebrities from Britney Spears to the cast of the Sex and the City TV series has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty in Miami federal court on charges of smuggling crocodile handbags from her native Colombia.

Nancy Gonzalez was arrested in 2022 in Cali, Colombia, and later extradited to the US for running a sprawling multiyear conspiracy that involved recruiting couriers to transport her handbags on commercial flights to high-end showrooms and New York fashion events – all in violation of US wildlife laws.

Historic hearing will receive submissions from people whose human rights have been affected by climate change

Julian Medina comes from a long line of fishers in the north of Colombia’s Gulf of Morrosquillo who use small-scale and often traditional methods to catch species such as mackerel, tuna and cojinúa.

Medina went into business as a young man but was drawn back to his roots, and ended up leading a fishing organisation. For years he has campaigned against the encroachment of fossil fuel companies, pollution and overfishing, which are destroying the gulf’s delicate ecosystem and people’s livelihoods.

Anticyclonic conditions have allowed temperatures to reach 35-45C across much of the country

Mexico has been undergoing its first heatwave of the season. The heatwave started on Sunday 14 April, when Mexico City recorded a new date record with a high of 32.9C, surpassing the previous record of 32C from 1998.

Anticyclonic conditions over the region have been responsible for this heatwave by inhibiting cloud formation, allowing temperatures to rise significantly. These conditions persisted through much of last week, allowing temperatures to reach 35-45C across much of the country.

Rivals had said February election won by former general was undermined by state interference and unfair rule changes

Indonesia’s electoral commission has formally declared Prabowo Subianto president-elect in a ceremony, after the country’s highest court rejected challenges to his win by rival candidates.

Prabowo, 72, a former general dogged by allegations of human rights abuses, won a landslide victory in February’s elections, but his two opponents claimed that the vote had been undermined by state interference and unfair rule changes.

A bill passed by Congress and signed by Biden requires owner ByteDance to sell or face a US ban – it’s its biggest threat yet

• Senate passes bill banning TikTok if parent company does not sell it

The House of Representatives passed a bill that would require TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the social media platform or face a total ban in the United States. The Senate passed it less than a week later. Joe Biden signed it a day after the Senate voted yes.

TikTok is facing its biggest existential threat yet in the US. The app was banned in Montana last year, but courts found that prohibition unconstitutional, and it never went into effect.

President says legislation is ‘going to make the world safer’ after months of congressional gridlock threatened support for Kyiv

Joe Biden has signed into law a bill that rushes $95bn in foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, a bipartisan legislative victory he hailed as a “good day for world peace� after months of congressional gridlock threatened Washington’s support for Kyiv in its fight to repel Russia’s invasion.

The Senate overwhelmingly passed the measure in a 79 -18 vote late on Tuesday night, after the package won similarly lopsided approval in the Republican controlled House, despite months of resistance from an isolationist bloc of hardline conservatives opposed to helping Ukraine.

US secretary of state to hold talks with Chinese counterpart and most likely with President Xi Jinping

Antony Blinken has landed in China amid a worsening rift between the world’s two most powerful countries that threatens to overshadow otherwise improving relations.

The US secretary of state arrives with a warning that the US and its European allies are no longer prepared to tolerate China’s sale of weapon components and dual-use products to Russia, which are helping Vladimir Putin rebuild and modernise his arms factories, enabling him to intensify his onslaught on Ukraine.

Bags went missing in Dubai floods, with embassy staff only able to retrieve one instrument and a handful of dress uniforms for defence force musicians

Australia’s and New Zealand’s defence forces are once again coming together at Gallipoli – this time to ensure New Zealand’s military band can play on.

The band’s luggage was among thousands of bags lost during last week’s Dubai floods, with embassy staff only able to retrieve one instrument and a handful of dress uniforms ahead of the 25 April dawn service in Turkey.

Man worked as assistant to Maximilian Krah, top candidate in European parliament elections, say prosecutors

A close adviser to a leading member of Germany’s far-right populist Alternative für Deutschland party (AfD) has been arrested on suspicion on spying for China in the latest high-profile espionage case to have come to light.

The man, identified by prosecutors as Jian G, was accused of “an especially severe instance� of espionage, prosecutors said, following his arrest in the early hours of Tuesday morning. It comes after the arrests of three German citizens accused of industrial spying for China in return for payment.

Homicide detectives begin three-day search for 30-year-old in NSW central tablelands; peak Muslim bodies deny police consulted them in lead-up to Sydney raids. Follow the day’s news live

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As we reported, X has provided an update on its legal challenge against Australia’s eSafety commissioner, stating it had complied with a direction to remove content from the Wakeley church stabbing.

However, underneath the post from the platform’s global government affairs team (which we quoted in our previous post), the video is available to watch in a reply to the post, as of 7.45am AEST.

The eSafety Commissioner required X to remove posts containing a video of the attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, filmed by an innocent bystander. [The bishop] has expressed his desire for the video to remain online.

X believes it has complied with the notice issued by eSafety, and with Australian law, by restricting all the posts at issue in Australia.

Search near Jenolan Caves comes after CCTV footage showed Zrinski in station wagon being driven towards Blue Mountains in November 2022

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Homicide squad detectives are searching bushland near the Jenolan Caves in New South Wales for the body of missing Sydney woman Jessica Zrinski.

The then-30-year-old was last seen outside a Sydney pub in November 2022 before being driven towards the Blue Mountains.

Court hears charges against Cobram man John Torney include assault and intentionally causing injury

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Cobram man John Torney, who allegedly assaulted Emma Bates before she was found dead in northern Victoria, is also accused of breaching a family violence intervention order, a court has heard.

Torney appeared in the Shepparton magistrates court on Friday, flanked by two police officers.

Elon Musk’s X says it opposes demands from Australia’s eSafety commissioner that it remove the content globally

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Social media platform X says it has complied with Australian federal court orders to remove footage of the Wakeley church stabbing, even as the video itself appeared in a post directly below the announcement, visible to users in Australia.

The company says it complied with the law by “restricting� some posts for Australian users. It also argues that the posts should not have been banned in Australia at all, and that the Australian government should not be able to censor what users posted in other countries.

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Sexual assault, intentionally causing injury and unlawful assault among most common charges against police

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Dozens of police officers in Victoria are facing criminal charges, including sexual assault and intentionally causing injury.

A total of 78 officers and public transport police, known as protective services officers, were facing charges for criminal or traffic offences as of 16 April.

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A 26-year-old Beachmere man has been charged with one count of murder and one count of attempted murder

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Homicide detectives have charged a man with murder after a man was found dead and a woman suffered serious head injuries at a home north of Brisbane.

Det Insp David Harbison said it was not a domestic violence-related incident and Frederick Steel Sayers, 26, was not previously known to the victims.

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Director of Palme d’Or-winning film Entre les Murs (The Class) was much praised for humanism in projects

Laurent Cantet, the award-winning film-maker whose creations tackled some of the most complex issues of modern French society, including meritocracy, the education system, diversity and class struggle, has died aged 63 after an illness.

Cantet was best known outside France for his film Entre les Murs (The Class), which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes film festival in 2008. It depicted life inside the classroom of a secondary school in Paris’s diverse 20th arrondissement and the relationship between students – compellingly improvised by non-professional teenagers – and their at times exasperated teacher.

European parliament term ends with warnings about dangers of disinformation and authoritarian forces

The starting gun has been fired on the next European parliamentary elections with more than 600 MEPs departing Strasbourg urged to use their “strength and patience� to fight the far right and disinformation and return a vote across the bloc for democracy.

There were flowers, tears and cheers on Thursday as Roberta Metsola, president of the European parliament, made her last address and MEPs raced back to their respective countries to launch a six-week campaign for re-election.

Pressure group accusing Begoña Gómez of corruption admits media reports allegations were based on may not be true

Prosecutors in Madrid have asked a judge to throw out a preliminary corruption investigation against the wife of Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, as the pressure group behind the complaint admitted its allegations may be based on incorrect media reports.

Sánchez, whose socialist party has governed Spain since 2018, shocked the country on Wednesday night by announcing that he was considering resigning over what he termed a baseless “harassment and bullying operation� being waged against him and his wife by his political and media opponents.

Strong rhetoric is boost for Ukraine reinforcement drive but it is not clear by which mechanism émigrés could be sent back

Poland and Lithuania have said they are prepared to help Ukrainian authorities return men subject to military conscription to the country, after Kyiv announced this week that it was suspending consular services for such men who were now abroad.

“We have suggested for a long time that we can help the Ukrainian side ensure that people subject to [compulsory] military service go to Ukraine,� Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Poland’s defence minister, told the television channel Polsat, though he did not elaborate on what mechanisms could be used.

Annual event in June is designed to make service in volunteer army more attractive amid looming threats

The German parliament has passed a bill creating the first post-unification Veterans’ Day, breaking with a long-held taboo around veneration of soldiers as the country faces up to new looming threats.

MPs in the Bundestag lower house approved the proposal to create a memorial day on 15 June each year, after an agreement between the government and the conservative opposition earlier this month.

Emmanuel Macron says Europe faces existential threat from Russian aggression and calls on continent to adopt ‘credible’ defence strategy. This live blog is closed

Russia has vetoed a UN security council resolution calling on all nations to prevent a dangerous nuclear arms race in outer space, describing it as “a dirty spectacle�.

The resolution, sponsored by the United States and Japan, would have called on all countries not to develop or deploy nuclear arms or other weapons of mass destruction in space, which are already banned under a 1967 international treaty.

About 1,000 US troops will support the military construction efforts, but Joe Biden has ordered them not to set foot on the Gaza shore

US troops have begun construction of a maritime pier off the coast of Gaza that aims to speed the flow of humanitarian aid into the territory, the Pentagon has said, but the complex plan to bring more desperately needed food to Palestinian civilians is still mired in fears over security and how the aid will be delivered.

“I can confirm that US military vessels, to include the USNS Benavidez, have begun to construct the initial stages of the temporary pier and causeway at sea,� Pentagon spokesperson Maj Gen Patrick Ryder told reporters.

UK and US leaders among those calling for release, as families renew pressure on Netanyahu to restart negotiations

The leaders of 18 countries including the US and the UK have called on Hamas to free Israeli and dual-national hostages held in Gaza.

“The fate of the hostages and the civilian population in Gaza, who are protected under international law, is of international concern,� they said. “We strongly support the ongoing mediation efforts in order to bring our people home.�

World Weather Attribution group says intensified El Niño effects caused torrential rain, but rules out cloud seeding as cause

Fossil fuels and concrete combined to worsen the “death trap� conditions during recent record flooding in the United Arab Emirates and Oman, a study has found.

Scientists from the World Weather Attribution team said downpours in El Niño years such as this one had become 10-40% heavier in the region as a result of human-cased climate disruption, while a lack of natural drainage quickly turned roads into rivers.

White House releases joint letter signed with 17 other countries saying such a deal would lead to the ‘credible end of hostilities’

Here are some of the scenes in Jerusalem, where people, including Israeli interior security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have been worshipping during the Passover holiday.

Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Rafah for Al Jazeera, states that two people have been killed there by drone strikes. He writes for the news network:

A surge in attack drones flying over Rafah has taken place over the past couple of hours. At least two people have been hit in what appear to be targeted killings – one in the western part of the city and the other in the east. They were killed when the drones fired missiles about half an hour apart. The tragedy keeps unfolding. The destruction is overwhelming. Everywhere you go, you see rubble-filled roads.

Increase in cost of crude could drive inflation up and force central banks to keep interest rates high

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A serious escalation of tensions in the Middle East would push the price of oil above $100 (£80) a barrel and reverse the recent downward trend in global inflation, the World Bank has said.

The Washington-based institution said the recent fall in commodity prices had been levelling off even before the recent missile strikes by Iran and Israel – making interest rate decisions for central banks tougher.

More than 60 people, including a journalist, arrested at University of Southern California and University of Texas at Austin. This blog is now closed.

• Campus protests: full story

Mike Johnson, the Republican House speaker, will visit Columbia University today to speak to Jewish students and hold a press conference “regarding the troubling rise of virulent antisemitism on America’s college campuses�, his office has said.

New York House Republicans have called on Columbia’s president, Minouche Shafik, to resign immediately for failing to end the protests.

Despite eventual visa backflip by authorities, ABC’s south-Asia correspondent Avani Dias left after being made to ‘feel so uncomfortable’

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The south-Asia correspondent for Australia’s national broadcaster, Avani Dias, has been forced out of India after her reporting fell foul of the Indian government, in a sign of the increasing pressure on journalists in the country under Narendra Modi.

Dias, who has been based in Delhi for the ABC since January 2022, said she felt the government had made it “too difficult� for her to continue to do her job, claiming it blocked her from accessing events, issued takedown notices to YouTube for her news stories, and then refused her a standard visa renewal.

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Opposition says prime minister targeting Muslim minority with ‘hate speech’ and violating election rules

India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been accused of hate speech during a campaign rally where he called Muslims “infiltrators� who had “many children� and claimed they would take people’s hard-earned money.

The opposition accused Modi of “blatantly targeting� India’s 200 million Muslim minority with comments made while addressing voters at a speech in Rajasthan on Sunday.

Thousands of civilians flee as resistance fighters fight to flush out soldiers holed up at eastern bridge border crossing

Fighting raged at Myanmar’s eastern border with Thailand on Saturday, both governments said, forcing 3,000 civilians to flee as rebels fought to flush out Myanmar junta troops holed up for days at a bridge border crossing.

Resistance fighters and ethnic minority rebels seized the key trading town of Myawaddy on the Myanmar side of the frontier on 11 April, a blow to a well-equipped military struggling to govern and facing a test of battlefield credibility.

Experts say Indian PM is hoping to be ‘bigger than Gandhi’ as he aims to win a third term in office

As the distant rumble of a helicopter drew closer, cheers erupted from the gathered crowds in anticipation. By the time India’s prime minister finally stepped on to the stage, bowing deeply while immaculately dressed in a white kurta and peach waistcoat and with a neatly trimmed beard, the chants had reached a deafening pitch: “Modi, Modi, Modi.�

These scenes, at a campaign rally on the outskirts of the Uttar Pradesh city of Meerut, have been replicated across the country in recent weeks as Modi and his Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) seek to win a third term in India’s election, which begins on 19 April and goes on for six weeks.

First phase in world’s largest democratic exercise begins, with 969 million people eligible to vote over six-week period

Voting has begun in India’s mammoth general election, as Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party hopes to increase its parliamentary majority amid allegations that the country’s democracy has been undermined since it came to power 10 years ago.

India’s elections are the largest democratic exercise in the world, with more than 969 million voters, amounting to more than 10% of the world’s population. The voting began at 8am on Friday, when polling opened at 102 constituencies across the country, and will continue over the next six weeks, in seven phases, until 1 June. All the results will be counted and declared on 4 June.

Scientists estimate Vasuki indicus was up to 15 metres long, weighed a tonne and would have constricted its prey

Fossil vertebrae unearthed in a mine in western India are the remains of one of the largest snakes that ever lived, a monster estimated at up to 15 metres in length – longer than a T rex.

Scientists have recovered 27 vertebrae from the snake, including a few still in the same position as they would have been when the reptile was alive. They said the snake, which they named Vasuki indicus, would have looked like a large python and would not have been venomous.

Ministers considering more funding to protect important research sites, with China seen as a particular concern

MI5 has warned universities that hostile foreign states are targeting sensitive research, as ministers consider measures to bolster protections.

Vice-chancellors from 24 leading institutions, including Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College London, were briefed on the threat by the domestic security service’s director general, Ken McCallum, and National Cybersecurity Centre (NCSC) chief, Felicity Oswald.

Suspects, aged 42 and 68, held on suspicion of murder after discovery of plastic-wrapped lower back, buttocks and thigh

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a torso was found wrapped in plastic at a nature reserve in Greater Manchester.

Part of a dismembered body, consisting of the bottom of the back, buttocks and thigh, were found in clear plastic by a passerby at Kersal Dale Wetlands in Salford on 4 April.

Concern grows over legality of government’s approach as new figures show more than 150,000 carers facing huge penalties

• A hero – then sacked. The carer’s allowance whistleblower

New figures show more than 150,000 unpaid carers are now facing huge fines for minor rule breaches, as MPs, charities and campaigners demanded an immediate amnesty.

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, joined calls to write off the vast debts incurred by tens of thousands of people who care for sick, disabled and elderly relatives after experts raised concerns about the legality of the government’s approach.

Former coalition partners’ decision brings Scottish first minister to brink of losing vote, which could make his position untenable

• Explainer: what was the SNP and Greens’ deal?

Humza Yousaf could be forced to quit as Scotland’s first minister after the Scottish Greens announced they would back a motion of no confidence against him at Holyrood.

The Scottish National party’s former coalition partners declared they would vote next week against the man who had “betrayed� them, hours after he unilaterally ended their power-sharing deal.

Teenager charged with trying to kill two teachers and fellow pupil after incident at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman

A 13-year-old girl has been charged with attempting to murder two teachers and a fellow pupil in a school playground stabbing in Wales.

The two adults and child all received knife wounds in the incident at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire. Dyfed-Powys police said they were also investigating threats allegedly made by a 15-year-old boy that alluded to the incident.

Chronic workforce shortages have put nursing staff under unbearable pressure, says union chief

Nurses in England took an average of a week off sick last year because of stress, anxiety or depression, NHS figures reveal.

The disclosure has prompted concern that the intense strains nurses face in their jobs, including low pay and understaffing, are damaging their mental health and causing many to quit.

Police have arrested dozens of students across US universities this week after a crackdown on pro-Palestine protests on campuses. Erum Salam and Margaret Sullivan report from New York

As the Israel-Gaza war grinds on amid a worsening humanitarian crisis, the world’s attention this week was captured by a battle on the campuses of elite US universities. Pro-Palestine student protesters were arrested en masse by New York City police at the prestigious Columbia University, prompting outrage that spread across other college sites.

Guardian US reporter Erum Salam tells Michael Safi that the scene on Columbia’s campus was one of orderly drum circles and organised anti-war demonstrations, not the all-out violent chaos that might have been imagined.

Mogul’s lawyers say decision in New York will strengthen appeal in Los Angeles but victims confident guilty verdict will be upheld

Harvey Weinstein was already expected to spend the remainder of his life in prison for crimes in New York when a Los Angeles jury found him guilty of rape and sexual assault in 2022 and he was sentenced to an additional 16 years.

But on Thursday New York’s top court overturned Weinstein’s 2020 conviction for two sex crimes and found he should receive a new trial, and the California case has taken on even greater significance.

Multiple arrests at crackdown on Emory University campus encampment focused on Palestine and Cop City

Police have carried out multiple violent arrests at Emory University in Decatur, Georgia, in what appears to be the first campus crackdown in recent days to involve rubber bullets and teargas after students set up an encampment in solidarity with Palestine and against Cop City.

On Thursday, Emory students set up multiple tents on the campus’s lawns in protest against the university’s ties to Israel, as well Atlanta’s Cop City, a police and fire department training center that is being constructed on a 171-acre plot in a forest south-east of Atlanta.

Move made after more than 90 demonstrators arrested on campus and university cancels pro-Palestinian valedictorian’s speech

The University of Southern California (USC) has canceled its main stage graduation ceremony, citing new safety measures as student protests over the Israel-Gaza war have surged on the campus.

USC is one of many campuses across the country that have become hubs for student demonstrations against the war, with hundreds of arrests nationwide as tensions escalate. Police arrested dozens of students and activists at USC this week on trespassing charges.

App’s ‘secret source’ algorithm reportedly core to operations of parent company, which sources say make a sale highly unlikely

ByteDance would prefer to shut down TikTok rather than sell it if the Chinese company exhausts all legal options to fight legislation to ban the platform from app stores in the US, four sources said.

The algorithms TikTok relies on for its operations are deemed core to ByteDance’s overall operations, which would make a sale of the app with algorithms highly unlikely, said the sources close to the parent.

World’s largest public company reports $61.86bn revenue after investing billions into artificial intelligence

Profits at Microsoft beat Wall Street’s expectations as its heavy bet on artificial intelligence continued to bear fruit in the latest quarter.

The technology giant has invested billions of dollars into AI in a bid to turbocharge its growth, particularly of its cloud computing services. Its cloud computing revenue surged by more than 20%.