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☆ A fast-paced spell-off capped the night: Takeaways from the spelling bee.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Emmett Lindner | More About Emmett Lindner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday came down to its second-ever spell-off, a fast-and-furious tiebreaking round that rewards speed as much as accuracy. When the results were tallied, Bruhat — a 12-year-old from Tampa, Fla. — came out on top with a superhuman total of 29 correct words, seven more words than the previous spell-off winner in 2022. If you weren’t able to watch the finals on Thursday night, here are three takeaways. The difficulty of the finals was immediately apparent: The first speller onstage, Rishabh Saha, misspelled “desmotrope,” a chemistry term. As an eighth-grader, Rishabh will not be eligible to compete in the 2025 Scripps Bee.

Persons: Soma, Faizan Zaki, Bruhat, Rishabh Saha, “, Rishabh Organizations: Scripps, Spelling, Scripps Bee Locations: Tampa, Fla, —

☆ A 12-Year-Old Wins Astonishing Spell-Off at Scripps National Spelling Bee
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Aimee Ortiz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

PinnedTing Shen for The New York TimesTing Shen for The New York TimesCredit... Ting Shen for The New York TimesBruhat Soma held his trophy high after winning the second-ever spell-off at the Scripps Bee. The Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday came down to its second-ever spell-off, a fast-and-furious tiebreaking round that rewards speed as much as accuracy. Image Credit... Ting Shen for The New York TimesThe next competitor, Aditi Muthukumar, was asked to spell Lillooet, a Salishan people of the Fraser River valley in British Columbia. Immediately after Aditi came Bruhat, the night’s eventual champion, who correctly spelled “Okvik,” from an Alaskan geographical name. Image Credit... Ting Shen for The New York TimesFaizan, who is from the Dallas area, came in second place after spelling 20 words correctly in the spell-off.

Persons: Ting Shen, The New York Times Ting Shen, Soma, Faizan Zaki, Bruhat, Rishabh Saha, “, Rishabh, The New York Times Shrey Parikh, ”, Ananya Prassanna, YY Liang, Kirsten Santos, “ Jumano, Aditi Muthukumar, Aditi, “ Okvik, The New York Times Faizan Organizations: The New York Times, The New York Times Credit, Scripps Bee, Scripps, Spelling, Texas, Bee, Lone Star State, Texans Locations: Tampa, Fla, —, Philippines, Southwest, South Plains, Lillooet, Fraser, British Columbia, Texas, Dallas, United States, spellers, California, New York

☆ Migrate to Innovate
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Sponsor Post | Sponsored Microsoft | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

After evaluating several possible routes, American Airlines' customer hub team chose Microsoft's fully managed database service, Azure SQL Managed Instance. "Azure SQL Managed Instance was the only option that met all our requirements," Jayanta Saha, principal data architect at American Airlines, said. Efficiency, security, and cost optimization with Azure SQL Managed InstanceA fully managed cloud database service like Azure SQL Managed Instance is a critical first step in a business' transformation journey, boosting security and productivity while optimizing costs. Azure SQL Managed Instance enables organizations to take a significant step in their digital transformation journey —modernizing their applications, unlocking new potential, and empowering businesses to turn focus to future growth and innovation. Learn more about Microsoft Azure SQL Managed Instance, accelerated by Intel.

Persons: Microsoft's, Jayanta Saha, study3 Organizations: Microsoft, American Airlines, IDC, American, Cloud, Intel, Insider Studios Locations: Gartner1, cybersecurity

☆ How the Humble Sheet Cake Became Top Tier
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Martha Cheng | Sharon Radisch | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The Los Angeles-based baker Michelle Boulos can still picture the sheet cakes she ate as a child: slathered with bright white frosting, decorated with tiny plastic balloons. But the confections she makes and sells via her Instagram account No Good Cakes are something else entirely. On one recent creation, frills of buttercream surrounded an acid green ombré surface inspired by a chemical spill. Boulos, 34, started baking the fantastical cakes out of her home in 2022 after making one for a wedding. “I got bitten by the sheet cake bug,” she says.

Persons: Michelle Boulos, “, Lucie Franc de Ferriere, Rose Wilde, Red, ”, Julie Saha Locations: Los Angeles, Manhattan, Lucie, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

[1/2] The roof of a Pfizer facility shows heavy damage after a tornado passed the area in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, U.S. July 19, 2023. ABC Affiliate WTVD via REUTERSJuly 21 (Reuters) - Most of the tornado damage at Pfizer Inc's (PFE.N) Rocky Mount, North Carolina plant was to the warehouse and not manufacturing facilities, CEO Albert Bourla said on Friday, easing concerns about long-term drug shortages from the plant. Nonetheless, Bourla told a news conference in Rocky Mount that it will be a monumental task to repair the damage. "We are moving full speed to bring this manufacturing plant into action again," Bourla said, noting that crews were working to restore power to the plant. The Rocky Mount plant is one of the largest factories for sterile injectable medicines in the world.

Persons: Albert Bourla, Bourla, Soumi Saha, Saha, Lisa Mulloy, Erin Fox, David Ljunggren, Michael Erman, Shivani Tanna, Rami Ayyub, Doina Chiacu, Cynthia Osterman, Diane Craft Organizations: Pfizer, ABC, WTVD, REUTERS, Pfizer Inc's, U.S, American Society of Health, System Pharmacists, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, FDA, Premier Inc, University of Utah Health, Thomson Locations: Rocky Mount, North Carolina, U.S, Rocky, Bengaluru

July 21 (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc(PFE.N) CEO Albert Bourla said on Friday that tornado damage this week had almost completely destroyed the drugmaker's warehouse at its Rocky Mount, North Carolina, plant, but that production facilities there do not seem to have suffered damage. "It appears that most of the damage sustained at the site was at our warehouse ... the facilities that are producing, (it) doesn't seem that they have suffered any damage." In the meantime, the company is working to identify alternative manufacturing locations for production around the U.S. Nearly 25% of Pfizer's sterile injectables used in U.S. hospitals are produced there, according to the company's website. "There are so many shortages already," said Erin Fox, senior director of drug information at University of Utah Health.

Persons: Albert Bourla, Bourla, Soumi Saha, Saha, Erin Fox, Lisa Mulloy, David Ljunggren, Michael Erman, Rami Ayyub, Doina Organizations: Pfizer Inc, Engineers, U.S, Products, Premier Inc, American Society of Health, System Pharmacists, Pfizer, University of Utah Health, Thomson Locations: North Carolina, Rocky, U.S

☆ Man City edge closer to treble after FA Cup final win over Man Utd
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Martyn Herman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, June 3 (Reuters) - Manchester City moved to within one victory of completing a momentous treble as they deservedly beat arch-rivals Manchester United 2-1 in the FA Cup final thanks to Ilkay Gundogan's record-breaking double on Saturday. City captain Gundogan scored the fastest goal in FA Cup final history with a stunning volley after 12 seconds and struck what proved to be the winner seven minutes after halftime. It is the 13th time the English league and FA Cup double has been achieved. The FA Cup is so nice." It eclipsed the previous fastest FA Cup final goal scored by Louis Saha after 25 seconds for Everton against Chelsea in 2009 and City threatened to run riot against a stunned United.

Persons: Ilkay, Gundogan, Nat Lofthouse, Bruno Fernandes, Pep Guardiola's, Alex Ferguson, Guardiola, Stefan Ortega's, Erling Haaland, David de Gea, Louis Saha, Rodri, Jack Grealish, Kevin de Bruyne, Aaron Wan, Paul Tierney, Tierney, Fernandes, Ortega, Raphael Varane volleyed, De Bruyne's, De, Alejandro Garnacho, Erik Ten, Martyn Herman, Pritha Sarkar Organizations: Manchester City, Manchester United, FA, City, Bolton Wanderers, United . United, Inter Milan, Premier League, League, Champions League, Wembley, Everton, Chelsea, United, Grealish, Inter, Thomson Locations: Manchester, City, Istanbul

☆ Amazon jumps into the generative A.I. race with new cloud service and its own large language models
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Through its Bedrock generative AI service, Amazon Web Services will offer access to its own first-party language models called Titan, as well as language models from startups AI21 and Google-backed Anthropic, and a model for turning text into images from startup Stability AI. Generally speaking, large language models are AI programs trained with extensive amounts of data that can compose human-like text in response to prompts that people type in. Amazon is "really concerned about" accuracy and ensuring its Titan models produce high-quality responses, Bratin Saha, an AWS vice president, told CNBC in an interview. Clients will be able to customize Titan models with their own data. He said Amazon wants to ensure Bedrock will be easy to use and cost-effective, thanks to the use of custom AI processors.

☆ These are the most important executives who joined Google Cloud in 2022 — and the ones who left
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Below is a list of the key executives who left Google Cloud in 2022 — and the most important new hires. At Google Cloud, Gearhart was responsible for the Google Cloud Platform and Google Workspace channel business around the world, according to her LinkedIn profile. Exit: Frank BienBien, a Looker vice president, left Google Cloud in February, two years after Google acquired the data-analytics company for $2.4 billion. A nearly 20-year Microsoft veteran, Jester joined Google Cloud in 2019 as part of an executive hiring spree initiated by Kurian, who had recently taken the helm of Google Cloud. Hire: Kevin MandiaMandia, Mandiant's CEO and cofounder, joined Google Cloud in September after Google completed its $5.4 billion acquisition of his cybersecurity firm.

☆ Manchester City's Mendy found not guilty on six counts of rape
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Manchester City's Benjamin Mendy arrives at Chester Crown Court for his trial following allegations of rape and sexual assault, Chester, Britain, December 22, 2022 REUTERS/Phil Noble/File PhotoLONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy was found not guilty of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault on Friday, while jurors could not reach verdicts on one count of rape and one of attempted rape, British media reported on Friday. The trial had been taking place at Chester Crown Court since August after 13 women made allegations against Mendy and co-accused Louis Saha Matturie. The BBC reported that Mendy covered his face with both hands as the jury foreman repeated "not guilty" to the six counts. The verdicts were delivered on Wednesday but could not be reported until the jury finished considering the remaining two charges. Mendy last played for City against Tottenham Hotspur in August, 2021 and was suspended by the Premier League club later that month when he was arrested.

☆ Cristiano Ronaldo snubs Gary Neville following criticism of the Manchester United forward’s behavior
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Alasdair Howorth | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Cristiano Ronaldo has come under a lot of criticism this season and he’s clearly been listening. On Sunday, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner snubbed former teammate Gary Neville ahead of Manchester United’s Premier League match against West Ham following recent criticism from the television pundit. Neville had criticized Ronaldo’s “unacceptable” behavior in United’s recent league victory over Tottenham Hotspur where the 37-year-old appeared to refuse to come on as substitute before leaving the game early. Neville is not the first pundit to receive the cold shoulder from Ronaldo, who has found himself in and out of the United team this season. Ronaldo has not had a great season for United but could turn around his year with Portugal at the World Cup starting this month.

☆ Turkey's Baykar to complete plant in Ukraine in two years -CEO
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Can Sezer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

ISTANBUL, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Turkish defence company Baykar is planning to complete the construction of its manufacturing plant in Ukraine in two years, its chief executive said on Thursday, after the company became highly renowned for their drones' success in thwarting Russian forces. The aerial drones supplied to Ukraine by Baykar were instrumental in Ukraine's defense against Russian armour and anti-aircraft systems in the first few weeks of the Russian invasion. Its Bayraktar TB2 drone gained so much prominence with the public that Ukrainians composed a song about it and some allies launched unprecedented crowdfunded campaigns to buy more. As part of an agreement between Turkey and Ukraine, signed just before Russia's Feb. 24 invasion, Baykar had agreed to build its second manufacturing plant in Ukraine. CEO Haluk Bayraktar told Reuters on Thursday that plans were moving ahead despite some obstacles created by Russia's invasion.

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