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☆ Energy Dept. Aims to Speed Up Permits for Power Lines
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Biden administration on Thursday finalized a rule meant to speed up federal permits for major transmission lines, part of a broader push to expand America’s electric grids. The pace of construction for high-voltage power lines has sharply slowed since 2013, and building new lines can take a decade or more because of permitting delays and local opposition. The Energy Department is trying to use the limited tools at its disposal to pour roughly $20 billion into grid upgrades and to streamline approvals for new lines. Under the rule announced on Thursday, the Energy Department would take over as the lead agency in charge of federal environmental reviews for certain interstate power lines and would aim to issue necessary permits within two years. Currently, the federal approval process can take four years or more and often involves multiple agencies each conducting their own separate reviews.

Persons: Biden Organizations: The Energy Department, Energy Department

☆ New data centers require billions of dollars in utility system upgrades. You may end up paying for it.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Daniel Geiger | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

A record surge of data center construction is underway to provide the computing and storage that underpins society's fast-expanding digital footprint and powers artificial intelligence. In areas of the country where data centers have clustered, utilities have unveiled plans to spend billions of dollars to keep up. asked David Springe, the executive director of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates. "Then you have the data centers that are having exponential load growth," Nelson said. Data centers also don't deliver the number of long term jobs – a key yardstick for public benefits – that other industries do.

Persons: Mike DeWine, David Springe, they're, Ryan Augsburger, Augsburger, Ron Nelson, Strategen, ratepayers, Nelson, Steve Helber, That's, PJM, David Lapp, Lapp, Jeffrey Shields, Shields, Kantele Franko, Shelby Moore, Meta, behemoth Blackstone, QTS, John Gavan, Daniel Tait, Tait Organizations: Amazon, Ohioans, Business, Wall, Boston Consulting Group, National Association of State, Consumer, Ohio Manufacturers ' Association, Web Services, Energy, Dominion Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Tech, Wall Street titans, American Electric Power, Buckeye Power, AEP, Buckeye, AEP Ohio, Staff, Intel, Policy Institute Locations: Ohio, ratepayers, Chester , Va, Virginia, PJM, Chicago, New Jersey, New York City, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Columbus , Ohio, Denver, New Albany , Ohio, Minnesota, Columbus, Mississippi

☆ The US and Israeli defeat of Iranian missiles is a big boost for its strained regional alliance
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Paul Iddon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

That's a boost for the regional air defense network the US wants. AdvertisementThe United States shot down more of the incoming Iranian drones than Israel and played a central role in the "multinational air defense operation" consisting of British, French, and Jordanian air forces. An anti-missile system operates after Iran launched drones and missiles towards Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel on April 14, 2024. "Russia will seek to offset the US success in backing Israel by looking to buttress Iran's defense with advanced Russian systems such as the Su-35," Heras said. There were also reports last year indicating Iran also seeks the advanced Russian S-400 air defense missile system.

Persons: —, Biden, Jordan, MEAD, Nicholas Heras, Amir Cohen, Heras, Nadimi, Alexander Zemlianichenko, Su Organizations: Service, Biden, East Air Defense, UAE —, New Lines Institute, United Arab Emirates, REUTERS, Washington Institute for Near East, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, AP Locations: Israel, Russia, Iran, Ukraine, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia, States, Jordanian, Israeli, Mar, Ashkelon, United States, Tehran, Russian, Syria, Moscow, Su

☆ Plan to buy a home in the next year or two? Here are 5 steps to take now to get your finances ready
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Mortgage lenders will consider lots of different metrics and circumstances when assessing your creditworthiness. Check your credit reports and credit scoresTwo other factors lenders will consider are your credit history and credit score. Kill the credit card debtA key way to improve your credit score is to reduce your credit card debt. “The minute they pull your credit score, it is going to [reflect] what is on my credit card that day,” MBA’s Seiler said. “Because there are many variables that affect an individual consumer’s credit score, we can’t say a specific number of months,” FICO’s Zeibert said.

Persons: ”, Avi Adler, Sara Zuckerman, Margaret Poe, Poe, you’ll, Eddie Seiler, Joe Zeibert, You’re, ” Adler, MBA’s Seiler, ” FICO’s Zeibert, “, ” Seiler, Zuckerman, Adler, ” Zuckerman Organizations: New, New York CNN, Long & Foster, Consumer Financial, Bureau, Mortgage, Association Locations: New York, annualcreditreport.com, TransUnion

☆ Here are the 6 California Republicans up for reelection whose competitive districts could determine the House majority in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-31 | by ( John L. Dorman | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

And it is in these districts, from the Central Valley to the outskirts of Los Angeles and down to Orange County, where the House majority will likely be won or lost in 2024. Republicans currently hold a slim 218-seat majority, a precarious position for the party as the 213-member House Democratic Caucus works to flip the chamber this year. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty ImagesKen Calvert, 41st DistrictFirst elected to the House: 1992AdvertisementCalvert is the longest-serving California Republican in Congress. Calvert won most of his races by large margins before redistricting, and he last faced a truly competitive reelection fight in 2008. Valadao's return to Congress was overshadowed by his decision to become one of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach President Donald Trump in the aftermath of the Capitol riot.

Persons: —, Kevin McCarthy —, Joe Biden, Young Kim, Bill Clark, Kim, Ed Royce, Gil Cisneros, McCarthy, Cisneros, Biden, She'll, Joe Kerr, Michelle Steel, Harley Rouda, Rouda, Dana Rohrabacher, Steel, Jay Chen, Derek Tran, Mike Garcia, Tom Williams, Garcia, Katie Hill, Christy Smith, Smith, George Whitesides, Ken Calvert, Calvert, he's, Will Rollins, Rollins, John Duarte, Duarte isn't, Duarte, Jim Jordan's, Jordan, Mike Johnson of, Democrat Adam Gray, Gray, David Valadao, Valadao, TJ Cox, Valadao's, Donald Trump, Rudy Salas, Salas Organizations: Service, Golden State, Business, Republicans, Democratic Caucus, Inc, Getty, California State Assembly, GOP, Democratic, Navy, Biden, NASA, onetime Virgin Galactic, District, California Republican, Republican, House Democrats, Democrat, Trump, Democratic Rep, Capitol Locations: California, Bakersfield, Golden, Los Angeles, Orange County, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Steel, Los Angeles County, Riverside County, Congress, Inland, Corona, Mike Johnson of Louisiana

☆ Here’s how Reddit plans to price shares when it goes public
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Reddit on Monday said it expects to price shares between $31 and $34 each when it makes its long-anticipated initial public offering, which will make it the first social media company to go public in years. Reddit, along with some existing stockholders, plans to offer 22 million shares of the company’s Class A stock, meaning the IPO could raise as much as $748 million from those shares, according to an updated prospectus. Reddit itself expects to earn approximately $450 million in proceeds from the IPO, if shares are priced at the midpoint of its expected range. Reddit is taking the unusual step of giving a portion of those users the opportunity to become shareholders by reserving 8% of its IPO shares, or 1.76 million shares, for its most loyal Redditors. The company has acknowledged that “Redditors’ participation in this offering could result in increased volatility” in its stock price.

Persons: Reddit Organizations: New, New York CNN Locations: New York, IPOs

☆ Democrats Reject Bipartisan Map and Will Redraw N.Y. House Districts
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Democrats seized control over drawing New York’s congressional districts on Monday, rejecting a map proposed by the state’s bipartisan redistricting commission in favor of drafting new lines that could make key swing seats more Democratic. On a day of high drama inside the State Capitol in Albany, party leaders argued that the Senate and Assembly had no choice but to reject the commission map in lopsided votes because it improperly split counties, broke up naturally occurring communities and favored incumbents. But in private conversations, they made little effort to hide their true objective. The exact contours of the replacement districts remained to be seen Monday afternoon. State lawmakers were expected to release a draft of the replacement map as soon as Monday evening, teeing up a vote to approve it later this week.

Organizations: Democratic, Capitol, Assembly, Legislature, Republicans Locations: Albany, New York, Washington, Long Island, Syracuse

☆ After Retreat, Ukraine Digs in to Repel New Russian Attacks in East
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +4 min

The Latest Photos From Ukraine View All 91 Images"The Ukrainian military has established itself on new lines of defence and is successfully repelling attempts by the Russian invaders to develop an offensive," Brigadier-General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi wrote on Telegram messenger. The capture of Avdiivka pushes Ukrainian forces further from the Russian-held bastion city of Donetsk, an important logistics hub used by Moscow to support its operations across partially-occupied eastern Ukraine, a region known as the Donbas. Serhiy Zgurets, director of the Kyiv-based Defence Express consultancy, predicted Russian forces would try to "straighten out" the front line around Mariinka and launch a fresh push around the town of Vuhledar, which is held by Kyiv. Pavel Mogila, commander of an armoured unit in a Russian militia force fighting for Ukraine, said they helped evacuate forces from the city using three vehicles. Moscow unilaterally declared it had annexed the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in 2022 despite not fully controlling any of them.

Persons: Pavel Polityuk, Tom Balmforth, Avdiivka's, Republicans scupper, rearm, Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, Dmytro Lykhoviy, Avdiivka, Serhiy Zgurets, Zgurets, Chasiv Yar, Vladimir Putin, Maksym Zhoryn, Pavel Mogila, Taran, Oleh, Putin, Yuliia Dysa, Peter Graff Organizations: Tom Balmforth KYIV, Kremlin, U.S, Republicans, Ukrainian, Defence Express, Kyiv, Third Assault Brigade, 110th Brigade Locations: Avdiivka, Russia, Bakhmut, Mariinka, Kyiv, Russian, Donetsk, Moscow, Ukraine, Vuhledar, Chasiv, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia

☆ Biden administration is leaning toward supplying Ukraine with long-range missiles
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Courtney Kube | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

MUNICH — After months of requests from Ukrainian officials, the Biden administration is working toward providing Ukraine with powerful new long-range ballistic missiles, according to two U.S. officials. It's to hit deep into the occupied territories, bypassing Russian radio electronic warfare and interceptors," he said, referring to long-range ATACMS. "If you want to hit behind the lines, disrupt their logistics and supplies, destroy their depots of ammunition, you can do it only with long-range missiles," he said. The Biden administration has resisted sending the long-range missiles over the past two years because officials worried Ukraine would use them to strike inside Crimea or Russia and cause Russian President Vladimir Putin to escalate the conflict. "Every advance Russia makes in Ukraine brings Russian weapons closer to the home of a middle-class European."

Persons: Biden, Donald Trump, Trump, Dmytro Kuleba, Antony Blinken, Blinken, Kuleba, It's, Vladimir Putin Organizations: Army Tactical Missile Systems, Republican, GOP, Trump Republicans, Senate, Republicans, Democrats, Senate . Defense, NBC News, Defense Department, U.S, Pentagon Locations: Ukrainian, Kreminna, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, MUNICH, U.S, Russian, Crimean, Israel, Taiwan, Munich, Crimea, Russia, White, Europe, Avdiivka

☆ The US strikes on Iran-linked militants seem to be working, but that likely won't last long
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Paul Iddon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. But experts on the region say that Iran and its militant allies still have the arsenal and motivations to threaten the US. The US airstrikes on February 2 hit 85 targets in seven locations in Iraq and Syria, killing an estimated 40 militiamen . For militias like Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq, it’s to provoke US responses that increase opposition to the 2,500 US troops based in Iraq. “By responding to the attacks, the United States poisons its relationship with local allies and screws up its position in Iraq.

Persons: —, ” Michael Knights, Biden, Joe Biden, ” Joel Wing, Jesenia Landaverde, “, Aron Lund, they’re, They’re, ” Lund, “ They’ve, ” Nicholas Heras, ” Heras, it’s, ” Organizations: Service, Washington Institute, Business, Republican, Command, U.S . Air Force, 28th Bomb, Ellsworth Air Force Base, Staff, US Air Force, New Lines Institute, US, Coalition Locations: Iraq, Syria, Iran, U.S, S.D, United States, America, Baghdad, Lund, Gaza

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Republicans urged the state Supreme Court on Thursday to ignore a report from redistricting consultants that determined GOP-proposed legislative maps were unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders. The liberal-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in December that the current Republican-drawn legislative maps were unconstitutional because not all the districts were contiguous. The court ordered the parties involved in the lawsuit to submit new maps that a pair of consultants then reviewed. While those talks continue, the Supreme Court accepted responses Thursday from Republicans and Democrats to the consultants report. Attorneys for the Legislature argued in their court filing Thursday that the consultants' report was about finding a political remedy to redistricting, not addressing the continuity issue.

Persons: Tony Evers, Evers, Tyler August, Janet Protasiewicz, “, ” Organizations: — Wisconsin Republicans, GOP, Republicans, Assembly, Republican, Democratic Gov, Democrats, U.S, Supreme, Democratic, Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty Locations: MADISON, Wis, Wisconsin

☆ How Axe Body Spray is trying to move beyond teenage boys' lockers
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Ryan Baker | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

If you were a teenage boy in the early 2000s, there's a good chance you wore Unilever 's Axe Body Spray at some point. Axe Body Spray entered the U.S. market in 2002, and within a decade of its arrival, Unilever was bringing in nearly half a billion dollars in domestic sales for Axe products, according to estimates from market research firm Kline & Company. But as the brand took off, its offerings rapidly expanded as it was churning out new lines of body wash and hair care. "They launched all different other products that took the advertising dollars away from the body spray itself. 1 men's deodorant worldwide, selling $1.7 billion worth of deodorant and body spray in 2022, according to Euromonitor International.

Persons: there's, John Hegarty, Bartle Bogle Hegarty, Kline, Ann Gottlieb, Stephan Kanlian Organizations: Unilever, Kline & Company, Fashion Institute, Technology's, Euromonitor Locations: London, U.S

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Democrats are inching closer to overturning Republican-drawn legislative maps that the GOP has used over the past 13 years to grow their majorities and advance their agenda. Republican maps adopted in 2022 by the conservative-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court used the 2011 map as a template and kept largely the same lines in place. The Wisconsin Supreme Court in December agreed and ordered new maps to be drawn in time for the November election. Her vote was the difference maker in the 4-3 December ruling tossing the Republican maps. The Wisconsin Supreme Court also has been asked by Democrats to take up a challenge to the state’s congressional district lines.

Persons: Janet Protasiewicz, Protasiewicz shouldn't, Tony Evers, It's Organizations: —, — Wisconsin Democrats, Republican, GOP, Republicans, Wisconsin Supreme, Democrats, Senate, U.S, Supreme, Republican Legislature, Democratic, Democratic Gov, . House Locations: MADISON, Wis, — Wisconsin, Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Eagerly awaited redistricting reports that will recommend new maps expected to reshape the balance of power in the Wisconsin Legislature are due to the state Supreme Court on Thursday. Republicans have indicated that they plan an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing due process violations, but it’s not clear when that would come. It ultimately will be up to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, with a 4-3 liberal majority, to decide which maps to enact. Evers on Tuesday vetoed a last-ditch effort by Republicans to enact new lines to avoid the court ordering maps. The Wisconsin Supreme Court has also been asked by Democrats to take up a challenge to the state's congressional district lines.

Persons: —, Tony Evers, ”, Evers Organizations: Republicans, GOP, Gov, Democratic, Wisconsin Supreme, U.S, Supreme, Senate, Marquette University, . House Locations: MADISON, Wis, Wisconsin

Now Republicans are making similar arguments in calling for her to not hear the congressional redistricting challenge. The current congressional maps in Wisconsin were drawn by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and approved by the state Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court in March 2022 declined to block them from taking effect. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is under an extremely tight deadline to consider the challenge.

Persons: Janet Protasiewicz, ”, Protasiewicz’s, ” Protasiewicz, “, Scott Fitzgerald, Glenn Grothman, Mike Gallagher, Bryan Steil, Tom Tiffany, Derrick Van Orden, Tony Evers Organizations: Republican, GOP, Elias Law Group, Democratic, Republicans, U.S . Constitution, Wisconsin Democratic Party, Wisconsin Legislature, Republican U.S, Reps, U.S, Rep, Congressional District, Democratic Gov, Supreme Locations: MADISON, Wis, U.S ., Wisconsin

☆ Attacks by Iran's militia allies are placing the Biden administration in a bind
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Paul Iddon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . Attacks against US forces continue despite US warnings and military retaliations in Iraq and Syria. In Syria, the US military targeted facilities used by these militias and Iran's hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC, paramilitary. But as attacks on shipping continued, the U.S. and Britain targeted Houthi positions and weaponry inside Yemen with repeated airstrikes in January.

Persons: —, Biden, Nicholas Heras, Asad, Ryan Bohl, RANE, Bohl, Washington, Lloyd Austin, Heras, Joe Biden Organizations: Service, New Lines Institute, US, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, U.S, U.S . Central Command, East, Screengrab, Ministry of Defense, U.S . Navy, The New York Times, Hamas, Biden Locations: Iran, Iraq, Syria, United States, Baghdad, Gaza, Al, U.S, North Africa, Yemen, Red, Israel, Iranian

The information for the following product(s) has been collected independently by Business Insider: Capital One Venture X Business Card†. The Capital One Venture X Business Card† is available to new applicants. And now you can get those same benefits and more on a version of the card tailored to small business owners: the Capital One Venture X Business Card†. What to know about the Capital One Venture X Business cardWhen Capital One first announced the Capital One Venture X Business Card† in February 2023, it said the card would only be available to customers through a Capital One Relationship Manager. The Capital One Venture X Business Card† has a $395 annual fee.

Persons: you'd Organizations: Business, Venture, American Express, Chase Sapphire, Capital, One, eBay

☆ Louisiana lawmakers approve a congressional map with a second Black-majority district
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Fredreka Schouten | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Louisiana lawmakers on Friday approved a new congressional map that gives the state a second Black-majority US House district and likely puts at risk a Republican-controlled seat. The new map creates a second majority-Black district, slicing through the middle of the state, in a district currently held by Republican Rep. Garret Graves. And, in drawing the new lines, Louisiana’s GOP lawmakers rebuffed a public entreaty from House Speaker Mike Johnson, a fellow Louisiana Republican, to continue fighting the court order. Republican state lawmakers and Landry this week warned that if legislators failed to draw the map themselves, they would hand over the power to a federal judge. The new maps approved Friday protect Johnson’s seat, along with that of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, another Louisiana GOP congressman.

Persons: Jeff Landry, “, ” Ashley Shelton, Justice –, Eric Holder, Black, Troy Carter –, –, Garret Graves, Graves, Mike Johnson, Johnson, ” Graves, Landry, ” Landry, Shelly Dick, Barack Obama, Steve Scalise Organizations: CNN, Republican, Democrats, Louisiana’s Republican, Louisiana’s Black, Republicans, Representatives, Gov, Black, Power Coalition for Equity, Justice, US, National Democratic, Republican Rep, Louisiana Republican, Louisiana GOP Locations: Louisiana, Washington, , Louisiana, Black, Congress

☆ Wisconsin Supreme Court, now under liberal control, overturns Republican-favored legislative maps
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-22 | by ( Andrew Menezes | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the state’s legislative maps, which give Republicans the advantage, are unconstitutional and ordered new lines drawn for the 2024 election. “We are hopeful that the legislative process will produce new legislative district maps,” the ruling stated. During the campaign, now-Justice Janet Protasiewicz, the liberal-favored candidate, called the legislative maps “rigged” and “unfair” and suggested courts should evaluate their constitutionality. After she was seated in August, Democratic-backed groups filed two lawsuits asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to throw out the Republican-drawn maps. “Fortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court will have the last word.”This story has been updated with additional details.

Persons: “, Sam Hirsch, Tony Evers, Friday’s, ”, ” Evers, Annette Ziegler, Janet Protasiewicz, Protasiewicz, Robin Vos, Vos, CNN’s Eric Bradner, Brad Parks Organizations: CNN, Wisconsin Supreme, US, Badger State, Legislature, ”, ” Wisconsin Gov, Democratic, Republican, U.S, Supreme Locations: Wisconsin, ” Wisconsin, ” “ Wisconsin

☆ Fact Check: Video of Syria’s Tadamon massacre shared as showing Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

(Editor’s note: Graphic footage and images linked to in paragraphs two, three, four and five)A video of men in Tadamon, Syria, being pushed into a mass grave and shot has been shared online purporting to show Israeli soldiers shooting civilians in Gaza in 2023. A Facebook user (archived) sharing the video on Nov. 1 wrote: “Israeli military are conducting a war crime on the ground operation in Gaza they're doing exactly what Hitler did to them. Please share it.” Text on the clip reads that Israeli ground troops were conducting a “genocide roundup”. But the video, which shows men in military fatigues shooting blindfolded men in civilian clothes, is unrelated to events in Gaza in 2023. The clip was captured in Syria in 2013, according to researchers who investigated it when it was leaked to them in 2019.

Persons: Hitler, Annsar, Umit, Read Organizations: Institute for, Genocide, New Lines, The Guardian, Reuters, U.S . State Department, Thomson Locations: Tadamon, Syria, Gaza, Damascus, Amsterdam, France

☆ New Video Suggests Israeli-Russian Academic Kidnapped in Iraq Is Alive
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Alissa J. Rubin | More About Alissa J. Rubin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Ms. Tsurkov was kidnapped in late March after having coffee in a Baghdad cafe. Ms. Tsurkov went to Iraq in January to do academic research. Israel and Iraq do not have diplomatic relations; Iraq deems Israel a hostile state and has banned all contact with it. In the video, Ms. Tsurkov, who speaks in Hebrew throughout, is shown alone, seated on a couch. At the end of the video, Ms. Tsurkov speaks directly to her family, pleading with them to help win her release.

Persons: Elizabeth Tsurkov, Tsurkov, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, “, ”, Netanyahu, Sara, Yair, Iraq “, ” Ms, Rina, Arkady, Emma, Avital, David, ” Falih Hassan Organizations: Princeton University, Al, Hezbollah —, Kataib Hezbollah, New York Times, ”, New Lines Institute, Strategy Locations: Iraqi, Israeli, Russian, Baghdad, Al Rabiaa, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Gaza, Syrian, United States

☆ A tide of election worker resignations raises alarms ahead of 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Fredreka Schouten | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —A wave of departures by election officials in key states risks adding new stress to the nation’s election system ahead of next year’s presidential contest, voting rights groups and several state election chiefs warn. The growing alarm over the resignations and retirements comes as officials say election workers continue to face a barrage of threats and harassment and partisan interference in their duties, first ignited by false claims of a stolen White House election in 2020. In King County, Washington – which includes Seattle – Julie Wise, the county election director, recalled receiving a letter over the summer with a rant about elections. Election watchdogs say more action is needed – including boosting federal funding and extending a federal law that criminalizes the release of restricted personal information about federal workers to cover election officials. Brinson Bell began tracking the departures when she became the state’s election chief that year.

Persons: Joe Biden, ”, Adrian Fontes, Pennsylvania –, Republican Al Schmidt, “, Nick Penniman, Schmidt, Donald Trump’s, ” Schmidt, Seattle – Julie Wise, Wise, ’, ” Penniman, Meagan Wolfe, Trump, Wolfe, there’s, Roy Cooper, Critics, Karen Brinson Bell, Brinson Bell, Kathy Holland, Holland, –, Brinson, ” Adam Byrnes, he’s, ” Byrnes, Fontes, ” Fontes, that’s Organizations: CNN, Democrat, Republican, US Justice Department, National Conference of State Legislatures, Committee, ” Workers, GOP, supermajorities, Gov, North Carolina State Board, Emory University, “ Locations: Arizona, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, King County , Washington, Seattle, In Wisconsin, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Alamance County, Swain County, Georgia

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — In a closing message to voters in this year's closely watched Virginia legislative elections, Republican Gov. Virginia is one of four states — the others are Louisiana, Mississippi and New Jersey — with legislative elections this year. The legislative candidates are running this year under maps redrawn during the last redistricting. He said he was “cautiously confident” about the possibility of a GOP trifecta — both legislative chambers as well as the governorship. Biden, who has not announced any plans to campaign in Virginia before Tuesday, recently sent a fundraising email on behalf of Virginia candidates and issued nearly two dozen endorsements.

Persons: Glenn Youngkin, Youngkin, “, we'll, ” Youngkin, Youngkin's, Virginia's, It's, Roe, Wade, there's, ” Sen, Monty Mason, Danny Diggs, Democrat Joe Biden, Diggs, Virginia doesn't, —, “ We're, ” Kay James, Rich Anderson, “ MAGA, “ MAGA Republicans ”, Donald Trump's “, Biden, ”, Heather Williams Organizations: Republican Gov, Republican, Democratic, Virginians, General Assembly, Supreme, Youngkin's PAC, GOP, Democrat, Republican Party of Virginia, Democrats, U.S . House, “ MAGA Republicans, Biden's, Republicans, Democratic Legislative Locations: RICHMOND, Va, Virginia, Louisiana , Mississippi, New Jersey, Southern, U.S, Richmond, Tidewater, Washington, Yorktown, Commonwealth

☆ How ChatGPT Enterprise has helped Canva save hours of time and build better tools
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-04 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The graphic design platform used the software to build its own AI tools, Canva's head of AI told Insider. Here's what ChatGPT Enterprise has automated — and what it still has to work on. AdvertisementAdvertisementOpenAI, one of the most influential artificial intelligence firms, rolled out ChatGPT Enterprise, a version of ChatGPT designed for businesses, at the end of August. AdvertisementAdvertisementEngineers used ChatGPT Enterprise to review Canva's blocklist and flag artist names that were similar to dictionary words for human review. While the company expects to keep using ChatGPT Enterprise moving forward, it doesn't plan on shrinking Canva's workforce.

Persons: Canva, —, ChatGPT, Danny Wu, Estée Lauder, Wu, Mark Muro, Thomas Hexton, Andy Warhol, OpenAI's chatbot, They're, OpenAI Organizations: Enterprise, ChatGPT Enterprise, Service, Software, Brookings Institute, Engineers Locations: Sydney

A federal judge ruled last week that some of Georgia's congressional, state Senate and state House districts were drawn in a racially discriminatory manner, ordering the state to draw an additional Black-majority congressional district. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones, in his 516-page order, also ordered the state to draw two new Black-majority districts in Georgia's 56-member state Senate and five new Black-majority districts in its 180-member state House. Legal challenges to congressional districts are also ongoing in Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. State House and Senate Republicans called for an appeal after the ruling. The judge ordered one new Black-majority congressional district in western metro Atlanta, two additional Black-majority state Senate districts in southern metro Atlanta, two additional Black-majority state House districts in and around Macon, two additional Black-majority state House districts in southern metro Atlanta and one additional Black-majority state House district in western metro Atlanta.

Persons: —, Brad Raffensperger, Chris Carr, Steve Jones, Jones, Brian Kemp, Jones ’, ” Jones, Georgia doesn't, that's Organizations: ATLANTA, District, Georgia’s Republican, Assembly, Republican Gov, U.S, Supreme, Republican, State, Republicans, Democratic, GOP Locations: — Georgia, U.S, Georgia's, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Arkansas , Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, South Carolina , Tennessee , Texas, Utah, Atlanta, Macon

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