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“We know this is silly; we know this is fun,” said Marcy Galando, executive director of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. Members of Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, organized in 1899, care for Phil at a customized space beside Punxsutawney Memorial Library — where there's a window with a view into the creature's burrow. The Punxsutawney groundhog makes predictions but he's not always predictable. In 1998, a groundhog club leader wearing a $4,000 groundhog suit reported being assaulted by a half-dozen young men. Intended to preserve Pennsylvania German culture and traditions, clubs would sometimes fine those who were caught speaking anything but their Pennsylvania Dutch language at meetings.

Persons: Phil, there'll, Bill Murray, ”, there's, Marcy Galando, Joseph, Jesus, Don Yoder, Yoder, he's, didn't, PHIL, Charlie Hart, Hart, Orphie, “ Octoraro Orphie, It's, Travis Lau, ” Lau, groundhogs, William W, Donner, ” Donner Organizations: Historians, University of Pennsylvania, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, University, National Centers for Environmental, Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, U.S Locations: Pa, Pennsylvania, U.S, Canadian, Europe, Jerusalem, United States, Morgantown , Pennsylvania, —, Pittsburgh, Punxsutawney, Quarryville, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania's

☆ Philippines bans American traveler for life, accusing him of writing profanities on immigration form
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The Philippines has banned for life an American traveler whom it accused of writing “profane words” on a digital immigration form and being rude to immigration officers. Anthony Laurence, 34, was refused entry and put on a blacklist permanently following his allegedly “disrespectful” behavior, the Philippine Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said in a statement last week. Laurence, who told CNN he is a property investor who lives in the country intermittently, disputes the immigration authority’s account. He did not respond to CNN’s questions about what he wrote on the form and whether it included any profanities. But he said, “I immediately apologized and the immigration officer wasn’t interested.”“I even hand-wrote an apology to the immigration officer which he wasn’t interested in as well,” Laurence added.

Persons: Anthony Laurence, Norman Tansingco, Laurence, ”, Tansingco, “, wasn’t, ” “, ” Laurence Organizations: CNN, Philippine Bureau of Immigration, Ninoy Aquino, Airport, Air, Cebu – Locations: Philippines, Manila, Bangkok, Thailand, Air Asia, Philippine, Cebu

☆ Tencent says it stockpiled Nvidia AI chips but seeks Chinese replacements
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Hong Kong CNN —Tencent rushed to build up “one of the largest inventories of AI chips in China” before US export restrictions took hold, an executive said Wednesday. It is one of the chipmaker’s advanced AI chips designed for use in data centers, the physical facilities used to store troves of electronic information. In late October, Nvidia disclosed that the just-announced restrictions had come into effect “immediately,” weeks earlier than scheduled. “Going forward, we will have to figure out ways to make … the usage of our AI chips more efficient,” namely by working to retain most of the company’s high-performance chips for training the model, he added. The bot was developed specifically for corporate users, allowing them to catch up on meetings by viewing automated summaries or put together documents more efficiently, Lau told analysts.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN — Tencent, Martin Lau, ”, ” Lau, Tencent, “, Biden, Kai, Fu Lee, Lau Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Nvidia, Bloomberg, Sinovation Ventures, Huawei, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation Locations: China, Hong Kong, China ”, United States, Beijing, Washington, Shenzhen

☆ Hong Kong is paying new parents $2,500 for having a baby but that won’t even pay a month’s rent
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Hong Kong CNN —Hong Kong is to pay new parents more than $2,500 for having a baby in a bid to boost its flagging birth rate, but many residents in the notoriously expensive city say it’s barely enough to cover a month’s rent. In Japan (birth rate 1.3), parents get a monthly allowance of $107 dollars for each newborn until two years of age. For each child between three years old and senior high, parents get $66.7 per month. Hong Kong subsidizes education from kindergarten to senior high, but nursery, the year or two before kindergarten, is not usually covered. “The government should be thinking about how to convince [us] that Hong Kong is conducive to child-raising,” Lau said.

Persons: John Lee Ka, chiu, ” Lee, ”, Ken Lau, Kristy Chan, ” Lau, Kim Yeung, ” Yeung, Paul Yip Siu, Hong, ” Yip, Sze Lai, Sze, Lau, “ Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Hong, HK, CNN, Midland Realty, fai, University of Hong, Society for Community Organization Locations: Hong Kong, East Asia, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, University of Hong Kong

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