DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ With Schools in Ruins, Education in Gaza Will Be Hobbled for Years
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Liam Stack | Bilal Shbair | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Amjad Abu Daqqa was among the top students at his school in Khan Younis, excelling in math and English, and he was applying for a scholarship to study in the United States when war erupted in the Gaza Strip last October. Teachers used to reward his good grades with trips to local historical sites or to the pier, where they would watch boats and take pictures of the sunset. He dreamed of going into medicine like his big sister, Nagham, who studied dentistry in Gaza City. But his old life and old dreams now feel far away. “I feel like I am a body without a soul, and I want to feel hopeful again.”

Persons: Amjad Abu Daqqa, Khan Younis, Nagham, ”, Amjad Locations: United States, Gaza, Gaza City, Rafah

A photo taken by Abdallah Dalee in the early hours of February 29 shows a crowd of people waiting by firelight for the aid trucks to cross into northern Gaza. Mark Regev, the Israeli prime minister’s special adviser, initially told CNN that Israeli forces had not been involved. “Most of the people that were killed were rammed by the aid trucks during the chaos and while trying to escape the Israeli gunfire,” Al Za’anoun said. The footage shows hundreds of people gathering around aid trucks on Al Rashid Street. People mourn outside Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City over one of the Palestinians killed during the aid delivery on February 29.

Persons: Abu Watfa, ” Abu Watfa, ’, ”, Al Rashid, Abdallah Dalee, firelight, Abdallah Dalee Gazan, Mark Regev, Daniel Hagari, Al Za’anoun, ” Al Za’anoun, Rashid, Belal, Robert Maher, Richard Weir, Weir, Al Jazeera, “, Abd Rabu, Hamouda Zamil, Dr, Amjad Aliwa, Georgios Petropoulos, ” Mohammed Ahmed, I’ve, ” Ahmed, Ahmed Organizations: CNN, United Nations, Israel Defense Forces ’, IDF, Montana State University, Human Rights Watch, Al, AFP, Getty, Welfare Trust, Welfare, Ummah Welfare, UN Office, Human Rights Locations: Gaza City, Gaza, Israel, Al, United States, Bolton, England, “, Al Nabulsi, Al Kuwaiti

☆ Here’s why YouTube is shelling out to get creators to make short videos
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

New York CNN —YouTube says hundreds of thousands of creators are now earning a paycheck from posting short-form videos on the platform, as it ramps up its race to compete with rivals like TikTok and Instagram. It hasn’t been cheap: the Google-owned platform is shelling out tens of thousands of dollars to some of its top Shorts creators — like beauty influencer Sydney Morgan — every month. YouTube says the fresh data to its ability to incentivize existing creators to try out a new format — and to attract new users. “I make more from just YouTube Shorts (revenue) sharing in a month than I can make on other comparable platforms in a year,” she said. YouTube declined to share data around the total amounts it’s paid to creators for Shorts in the year since it added the feature to the YouTube Partner Program.

Persons: Sydney Morgan —, ” Amjad Hanif, Tara Walpert Levy, Meta, ” Hanif, “ You’re, “ It’s, ”, “ We’ve, ” Walpert Levy, “, ‘, Morgan, YouTubers, ” Morgan, Reddit, aren’t, Destin Sandlin, CNN he’s, ” Sandlin, Sandlin, Hanif, he’s, you’ve Organizations: New, New York CNN, YouTube, Google, Shorts, CNN, Facebook, Kodak, NASA Locations: New York, Instagram, United States

☆ Many Pakistanis Make a Perilous Journey to Vote
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

With tens of thousands displaced from the tribal regions, most candidates vying to represent constituencies there have campaigned in other cities such as Dera Ismail Khan. "Due to the war, people's houses were destroyed," Moulana Jamal Uddin, a candidate from South Waziristan, told Reuters by phone. "I appeal to the people of South Waziristan to vote," he said. Khan Ullah, a 42-year-old shop owner, said he has avoided political gatherings in Dera Ismail Khan because he feared an attack on them was a real possibility. (Reporting by Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan; writing by Ariba Shahid in Karachi; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Persons: Saud Mehsud DERA ISMAIL, Ullah Mehsud, Mehsud, Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan's, Amjad Khan, Khan, hometowns, Maulana Raheem Ullah, Moulana Jamal Uddin, Khan Ullah, Saud Mehsud, Ariba Shahid, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Reuters, Pakhtunkhwa, Pak Institute, Peace Studies, Force Locations: Saud Mehsud DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, South Waziristan, Qaeda, U.S, Afghanistan, Waziristan, Khyber, Taliban Pakistan, Balochistan, KP, Karachi

☆ 'Europe will be challenged from an inflation perspective' following Red Sea tensions, says EnQuest CEO
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via Email'Europe will be challenged from an inflation perspective' following Red Sea tensions, says EnQuest CEOAmjad Bseisu, CEO of EnQuest, discusses geopolitics and political uncertainty going into 2024.

Persons: Amjad Bseisu

CNN —Two journalists imprisoned in Iran following their coverage of the death of Mahsa Amini, which sparked nationwide protests in 2022, have been temporarily released on bail, according to state-run media. Convicted in October, Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi are currently awaiting a verdict on their appeals, according to Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA. But the women were allowed to leave their Tehran jail on Sunday with a bail of 10 billion tomans each (nearly $200,000 each), IRNA reported. Mohammadi was arrested after reporting on Amini’s funeral, according to RSF and the United Nations. “UNESCO welcomed the release on bail today of Iranian journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, two of the three laureates of the 2023 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano Press Freedom Prize.

Persons: Mahsa, Niloofar, IRNA, Hamedi, Mohammadi, Amini, ”, Hamedi’s, Mohamad Hosein Ajoroloo –, –, Amini’s, Amjad, “, Sherif Mansour, Guillermo Cano, Elaheh Mohammadi, —, Niloofar Hamedi Organizations: CNN, United Nations, Committee, Protect Journalists, UNESCO, TIME, Sunday, “ UNESCO Locations: Iran, Tehran, United States, Islamic Republic of Iran, IRNA, East, North Africa

☆ Opinion | An Intense, Searching Conversation With Amjad Iraqi
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Before there can be any kind of stable coexistence of people in Israel and Palestine, there will have to be a stable coexistence of narratives. And that’s what we’ll be attempting this week on the show: to look at both the present and the past through Israeli and Palestinian perspectives. [You can listen to this episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” on the NYT Audio app, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google or wherever you get your podcasts.] Our first episode is with Amjad Iraqi, a senior editor at +972 magazine and a policy analyst at the Al-Shabaka think tank. You can listen to our whole conversation by following “The Ezra Klein Show” on the NYT Audio app, Apple, Spotify, Google or wherever you get your podcasts.

Persons: we’ll, what’s, “, Ezra Klein, Amjad, Benjamin Netanyahu Organizations: Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google, Amjad Iraqi Locations: Israel, Palestine, Gaza, Palestinian

☆ Meta made its Llama 2 AI model open-source because 'Zuck has balls,' a former top Facebook engineer says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Meta released Llama 2 as a mostly open-source AI model in July. Replit CEO Amjad Masad said Mark Zuckerberg took a big risk making the model open-source. AdvertisementAdvertisementSince Meta released Llama 2 as a (mostly) open-source project in July, the AI model has become a huge hit. The AI community has embraced the opportunity, giving Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg his next potentially huge platform. There's the latest Falcon open-source AI model.

Persons: Meta, Amjad Masad, Mark Zuckerberg, —, Zuckerberg, Eric Newcomer, Clem Delangue, Eric Newcomer Masad, Masad, he's, Zuck, didn't Organizations: Service, Google, Facebook, Meta, United Arab Emirates

☆ Cerebral Valley, the AI conference that spawned a $1.3 billion deal, is coming back to San Francisco this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Cerebral Valley, an AI conference run by Eric Newcomer's eponymous publication, just announced its second gathering of 2023. CVAI2 (Cerebral Valley AI Summit version 2.0) will take place on November 15 at the SFJAZZ Center in Hayes Valley, San Francisco. The neighborhood is nicknamed Cerebral Valley these days, due to the plethora of AI startups that have sprouted there. Ali Ghodsi, CEO of Databricks, and Naveen Rao, CEO of MosaicML, met for the first time at the initial Cerebral Valley AI Summit. That's the biggest generative AI startup deal so far, by my counting.

Persons: Vinod Khosla, Reid Hoffman, Adam D'Angelo, Eric Newcomer's, Mustafa Suleyman, Ali Ghodsi, Kanjun Qiu, Chris Lattner, May Habib, Naveen Rao, Jason Warner, Max Child, James Wilsterman, Amjad Masad, Clem Delangue, Emad, Daniela Amodei, Cristobal Valenzuela, Shane Orlick, MosaicML, it's Organizations: SFJAZZ, Service, Industry Locations: Hayes Valley, San Francisco, Wall, Silicon, Jasper

CNN —Protests erupted throughout Iran on Saturday to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old women who died in the custody of Iran’s morality police after being arrested for allegedly not wearing her headscarf properly. Video obtained by CNN showed demonstrations throughout multiple cities in Iran, including capital city Tehran, Mashad, Ahvaz, Lahijan, Arak, and the Kurdish city of Senandaj. Many of the protesters chanted, “Women, Life, Freedom” – a popular rallying cry used after nationwide protests erupted following Amini’s death last year. Some protesters also chanted death slogans against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Mert Can Bukulmez/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty ImagesRallies commemorating Amini’s death were held in other cities around the world like Paris, Brussels and Berlin.

Persons: Mahsa Amini, Ali Khamenei, “, ”, Ellie Borhan, Allison Bailey, Amini’s, Amjad, Maziar Bahari, Amjad Amini, Bahari, IranWire, –, Safa Aeli, Amjad Amini’s, ” –, Amini, IRNA Organizations: CNN, Supreme, Authorities, Getty, Reuters, Helicopters, Human, Agency, Security, Social Locations: Iran, Tehran, Mashad, Ahvaz, Lahijan, Arak, Kurdish, Senandaj, Istanbul, Turkey, Paris, Brussels, Berlin, London, Saqqez, Kurdistan

☆ Sporadic protests continue in Iran as Mahsa Amini anniversary passes
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Newspapers, with a cover picture of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic republic's "morality police" are seen in Tehran, Iran September 18, 2022. Iran International, a London-based television station critical of the Iranian government, in February said it was moving its live broadcasting studios to the United States following threats it faced in Britain. "(Iran) International is a terrorist network, and we will take action wherever and whenever we recognise any terrorist act," the semi-official news agency Fars quoted the minister, Esmail Khatib, as saying. AMINI 'INSPIRED A MOVEMENT'In the demonstrations that followed Amini's death more than 500 people, including 71 minors, were killed, hundreds injured and thousands arrested, rights groups said. Iran's Foreign Ministry rejected as "double standards and lies" Western expressions of support for women's rights in Iran.

Persons: Mahsa, Majid Asgaripour, Mahsa's, Amjad Amini, Esmail Khatib, AMINI, Joe Biden, Amini, Amini's, Conor Humphries Organizations: West Asia News Agency, REUTERS, Rights, Islamic, Kurdistan Human Rights Network, Sunday, Saturday, White, Iran's Foreign, Amnesty International, Dubai, Thomson Locations: Tehran, Iran, Rights DUBAI, Kurdish, Kurdistan, Hamadan, Republic, Saqez, Sanandaj, London, United States, Britain, Fars

☆ Iran's security forces crack down on protests a year after Mahsa Amini's death
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The Kurdistan Human Rights Network, which said the incident was linked to the protests, said special forces entered the ward, beat up the women and fired pellet bullets. In a separate incident, human rights group Hengaw said security forces opened fire in the Kurdish city of Mahabad, wounding at least one person. Earlier, social media and reports by rights groups spoke of security forces taking up positions around Amini's home in Saqez, in western Iran. Speakers led the crowd in chants of "Say her name ... Mahsa Amini," and also recited "We are the revolution" and "Human rights for Iran!" Iran's Etemad daily reported in August that the lawyer for Amini's family also faced charges of "propaganda against the system".

Persons: Mahsa, IRNA, Hengaw, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mahsa's, Amjad Amini, Dilara, Amini, Joe Biden, Biden, Nasser Kanaani, Saqez, Saleh Nikbakht, Toby Chopra, Alex Richardson, Nick Macfie, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Revolutionary Guards, Islamic, Kurdistan Human Rights Network, REUTERS, United Nations, White, Iran's Foreign Ministry, Amnesty International, Thomson Locations: Iran's, Tehran, Kurdistan, Kurdish, Mahabad, Kermanshah, Saqez, Iran, Fars, Karaj, Mashhad, Istanbul, Turkey, In Washington, Britain, U.S, State, Iran's Kurdistan

☆ Iran's security forces briefly detain Mahsa Amini's father
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Amjad Amini was warned against marking the anniversary of his daughter's death before being released, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network said. Iran's official IRNA news agency denied that Amjad Amini was arrested, but it did not say if he was briefly detained or warned. Earlier, social media and reports by rights groups spoke of security forces taking up positions around Amini's home in Saqez, in western Iran. A massive security force presence was deployed in Iran's mostly Kurdish areas on Saturday in anticipation of unrest, according to human rights groups. In the protests that followed Amini's death more than 500 people, including 71 minors, were killed, hundreds injured and thousands arrested, rights groups said.

Persons: Mahsa, Dilara, Mahsa Amini, Amjad Amini, IRNA, Amini's, Saleh Nikbakht, Toby Chopra, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, Kurdistan Human Rights Network, Amnesty International, Thomson Locations: Iran, Istanbul, Turkey, Kurdistan, Saqez, Iran's, Iran's Kurdistan

CNN —Iranian authorities detained the father of Mahsa Amini on the one-year anniversary of her death Saturday, Iranian journalists and rights groups have said. Iranian journalist and founder of activist outlet “IranWire” Maziar Bahari told CNN that Amini’s father, Amjad, has been regularly summoned by security officers in the months following his daughter’s death. US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) in January placed the number at more than 500, including 70 children. Thousands more were arrested during the months of nationwide protest, the UN said in a report in June, citing research released last year by their Human Rights Committee. Iran executed seven protesters for their involvement in the unrest, according to the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Persons: Mahsa, Amini, Maziar Bahari, Amjad, ” Bahari, Amini’s, IranWire, Bahari, Safa, Hengaw Organizations: CNN, Helicopters, Human, News Agency, UN, Rights, Human Rights Committee, UN’s, Human Rights Locations: Iran, Iranian, Kurdish, Saqqez

☆ Syria struggles to contain wildfires as temperatures rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] A wildfire burns near buildings in the countryside, causing some residents to evacuate, in al-Marana village, Homs, Syria July 18, 2023 in this handout image. SHAM FM/Handout via REUTERSDAMASCUS, July 18 (Reuters) - Firefighters were battling on Tuesday to extinguish multiple wildfires raging across the central Syrian countryside, local civil defence officials said, as temperatures reached 40 degrees Celsius in parts of the country. Another was raging across agricultural zones in the adjacent province of Homs, the head of civil defence there told SANA, saying civil defence teams were struggling to contain it due to "the mountainous and rugged terrain". Local outlet Sham FM reported that families from the village of al-Marana had fled their homes as the wildfire approached. They have shrunk Syria's wheat crop in recent years down some 75% from around 4 million tonnes annually pre-war.

Persons: Amjad Hammad, SANA, Marana, Mounira, Kinda Makieh, Maya Gebeily, Alex Richardson Organizations: Firefighters, Sham, Thomson Locations: al, Homs, Syria, DAMASCUS, Hama, Palmyra, Damascus, Maldives

☆ Meta opens AI model to commercial use, throwing nascent market into flux
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Katie Paul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Any incremental improvement in open-source models is eating into the market share of closed-source models because you can run them cheaply and have less dependency," said Masad. The announcement follows plans by Microsoft's largest cloud rivals, Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google and Amazon (AMZN.O), to give business customers a range of AI models from which to choose. Amazon, for instance, is marketing access to Claude - AI from the high-profile startup Anthropic - in addition to its own family of Titan models. Google, likewise, has said it plans to make Claude and other models available to its cloud customers. Until now, Microsoft has focused on making technology available from OpenAI in Azure.

Persons: Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Bard chatbot, Amjad Masad, Claude, Katie Paul, Jeffrey Dastin, Krystal Hu, Kenneth Li Organizations: YORK, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon Web Services, Thomson

☆ Vector database Chroma scored $18 million in seed funding at a $75 million valuation. Here's why its technology is key to helping generative AI startups.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Chroma helps manage vector embeddings, or numerical representations of data AI models can process. The startup raised $18 million in seed funding at a $75 million valuation led by Quiet Capital. The company recently closed a $18 million seed round led by Quiet Capital at a $75 million valuation. Originally, Chroma's tech aimed to serve machine learning engineers who were training and deploying AI models. Because this limits the model's context window, this approach tends to prevent hallucinations, or confident but incorrect responses from AI, Troynikov told Insider.

☆ North Sea oil CEO doesn't expect further output cuts from OPEC+ in the near term
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailNorth Sea oil CEO doesn't expect further output cuts from OPEC+ in the near termAmjad Bseisu, CEO of EnQuest, does not anticipate further cuts from OPEC+ in the near term.

☆ Inside the self-proclaimed first generative AI conference, executives explain why the hot new technology behind ChatGPT is 'not just hype, but something real'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

AI startup Jasper hosted what it claims was the first conference dedicated to generative AI. The mood was reminiscent of the hype around crypto, but attendees say generative AI is here to stay. Thomas Maxwell/InsiderInsiders say generative AI is not just a fadGenerative AI has already run into some road bumps. Anthropic's Amodei said that consumers, businesses, and developers alike are moving at "record speeds" to adopt generative AI. Thomas Maxwell/InsiderWhat's different with generative AI is that large language models have been quietly in development for some time, , executives said.

☆ Powerful earthquake kills at least 200 in Turkey and Syria, toll expected to rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Rescuers search for victims of a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Diyarbakir, Turkey, in this video grab from AFP TV taken Feb. 6, 2023. A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey and northern Syria early Monday, toppling buildings and triggering a frantic search for survivors in the rubble in cities and towns across the area. At least 207 were killed and hundreds injured, and the toll was expected to rise. On both sides of the border, residents were jolted out of sleep by the tremors several hours before dawn and rushed outside in a cold, rainy and snowy winter night. The death toll in government-held areas of Syria climbed to 111 with at least 516 injured, according to Syrian state media.

☆ The UK is fiscally unstable, says North Sea oil CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A British Union flag flies near Big Ben at the Palace of Westminster, in London, UK, on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Jason Alden | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesThe U.K. is fiscally unstable and this has led the government to indulge in "short-termism" by slapping oil majors with windfall taxes, according to Amjad Bseisu, CEO of EnQuest . In November, the British government raised an existing windfall tax on oil company profits from 25% to 35% until 2028. This takes the overall levy rate for North Sea producers to 75%, once the 40% corporation tax charge is applied. U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak initially introduced the windfall tax in May, when he was finance minister in Boris Johnson's government, prior to Johnson's resignation in July.

☆ The UK is fiscally unstable, says Enquest CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThe UK is fiscally unstable, says Enquest CEOAmjad Bseisu, CEO of Enquest, discusses investments in the energy industry in the U.K., windfall taxes, and the volatility of the oil price in 2023.

☆ Davos panel discusses challenges facing renewable energy transition
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailDavos panel discusses challenges facing renewable energy transitionIn a Davos panel on The Future of Energy, EnQuest CEO Amjad Bseisu and Bharat Light & Power Founder and CEO Tejpreet Singh Chopra discuss why the move to renewable energy is not happening as fast as it should.

☆ WEF Davos: The Future of Energy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWEF Davos: The Future of EnergyGlobal energy consumption is expected to grow by just 1.3% in 2023 amid higher energy prices and a slowing economy. Disruption to gas supplies and extreme weather may force countries to fall back on to fossil fuels, delaying the transition to green energy. What does this mean for the immediate future of energy and what about the long-term impact? What difference will China’s reopening make to global energy trends? EnQuest CEO Amjad Bseisu and Bharat Light & Power Founder & CEO Tejpreet Singh Chopra discuss.

☆ How 2 friends at Bain spotted a big compliance risk in the crypto industry — and raised $2.8 million from CRV and Y Combinator to help fix it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | April Joyner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Argus, which makes compliance software for crypto funds and trading firms, has raised $2.8 million. After FTX's fall, crypto firms are focused on compliance but worried about costs, Argus' CEO said. To prevent insider trading, Argus checks employee trades against a list of restricted assets, looking for overlap. Although other startups, such as ComplySci, also offer financial compliance software, Rapaport says that Argus distinguishes itself through its focus on crypto, where compliance procedures are relatively new terrain. "And so they're probably not thinking, 'Can we bring on a new compliance software?'

Search resuls for: "Amjad"

25 mentions found