Ai, a “genius” chimpanzee who could recognise more than 100 Chinese characters and the English alphabet, has died aged 49, Japanese researchers said.

Ai, which means love in Japanese, took part in studies on perception, learning and memory that advanced our understanding of primate intelligence, the Center for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior at Kyoto University said in a statement.

She died on Friday from multiple organ failure and ailments related to old age, the school said.

Aside from mastering Chinese characters and the alphabet, Ai could also identify the Arabic numerals from zero to nine and 11 colours, primatologist Tetsuro Matsuzawa said in 2014.

In one study, Ai was presented with a computer screen displaying the Chinese character for pink, along with a pink square and an alternative purple square. The chimpanzee correctly chose the pink square, Matsuzawa said.

When shown an apple, Ai picked out a rectangle, a circle and a dot on the computer screen to draw a “virtual apple”, he said.

Her high ability made her the subject of a number of scholarly papers and media programmes, including studies published in the journal Nature, and earned her the nickname “genius” in popular media.

The chimpanzee from west Africa arrived at the university in 1977, and in 2000, gave birth to a son Ayumu, whose abilities drew attention to studies of parent-child knowledge transfer, Japan’s Kyodo News said.

Ai’s studies helped to establish “an experimental framework for understanding the chimpanzee mind, providing a crucial foundation for considering the evolution of the human mind,” the Center said.

“Ai was highly curious and actively participated in these studies, revealing various aspects of the chimpanzee mind for the first time.”

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has declared himself the “Acting President of Venezuela” days after a US military operation that led to the capture of the country’s President Nicolas Maduro.

The US president shared what appeared to be an edited Wikipedia-style image on his social media platform, Truth Social, portraying himself as “acting president” alongside his official portrait and title.

The post also named US Vice President JD Vance as the “Vice President of Venezuela.”

However, Venezuela’s actual Wikipedia page does not list Trump as acting president, and no international body has recognised or endorsed the claim.

The post followed the US capture and removal of sitting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was flown to New York along with his wife to face federal drug trafficking charges. The operation came after months of US pressure, sanctions, and military activity targeting the oil-rich nation.

Addressing a press conference following the attack, Trump announced: “This was one of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American might and competence in American history.” He further said that Washington would run the oil-rich country until a transition takes place.

During the court hearing on Jan 5, Maduro pleaded not guilty in New York federal court to four criminal counts that include narco-terrorism, cocaine importation conspiracy and possession of machine guns and destructive devices.

He told the federal judge that he had been “kidnapped” from Venezuela and said: “I’m innocent, I’m not guilty.”

Maduro is accused of overseeing a cocaine-trafficking network that partnered with violent groups including Mexico’s Sinaloa and Zetas cartels, Colombian FARC rebels and Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang.

UN Chief Antonio Guterres raised concerns about instability in Venezuela and the legality of Trump’s strike, the most dramatic US intervention in Latin America since the 1989 Panama invasion. US Special Forces swooped into Caracas by helicopter on Saturday, shattered his security cordon and dragged him from the threshold of a safe room.

BENGALURU: An Indian rocket carrying 16 loads of equipment and experiments including an earth surveillance satellite went off track after liftoff on Monday in a fresh setback to the workhorse launch vehicle of the Indian Space Research Organisation.

It was a second disappointment for the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle in about eight months, denting its reputation for reliability, with a more than 90% success rate over about 60 past missions.

The PSLV-C62 lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on the island of Sriharikota at 10:18 a.m. (04488 GMT) carrying the EOS-N1 observation satellite and 15 other payloads developed by startups and academic institutions in India and abroad.

The ISRO’s mission control said the rocket performed normally for most of the flight before an unexpected disturbance and deviation from its path.

“The PSLV-C62 mission encountered an anomaly during the end of the PS3 stage. A detailed analysis has been initiated,” ISRO said in a statement, without giving further details on what had gone wrong or where the rocket ended up.

The PSLV has been central to India’s space programme, having launched missions such as Chandrayaan-1 and the Aditya-L1 solar observatory. It also underpins India’s push to open space manufacturing to private industry.