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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The humanitarian situation in conflict-wracked eastern Congo has deteriorated alarmingly in the past 18 months with 8 million people in urgent need of assistance and women and girls subjected to sexual violence on a massive scale -- just in three provinces, a senior U.N. official said Tuesday. M23 rose to prominence in 2012 when its fighters seized Goma, eastern Congo’s largest city on the border with Rwanda. Recently, attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces, which is believed to have ties to the Islamic State extremist group, have also spiked along with intercommunal violence. The scale of suffering and insufficient funding have left humanitarian workers in the impossible situation every day of deciding whether to prioritize water, shelter or medical support for the constant stream of newly displaced people. And one result of the overwhelming needs is that thousands and thousands of children aren’t able to go to school, she said.

Persons: Edem Wosornu, “, ”, Wosornu, Gabriella Waaijman, and.one, aren’t, Waaijman, ” Waaijman Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, Allied Democratic Forces, State, London, International Locations: Congo, U.N, North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri, Rwanda, Goma, Congo’s

☆ To Experience Paris Up Close and Personal, Plunge Into a Public Pool
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( Catherine Porter | More About Catherine Porter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Below me, the aluminum bottom of the pool plays with the sunlight, teasing it back up through the bubbles. The pool windows offer an unobstructed, third-story view. Swimming in Paris is a full-on cultural experience. Many public pools don’t just feel like historical monuments, they are historical monuments. Backstroking beneath the buttresses stretching across the vaulted ceiling of the 99-year-old Butte-aux-Cailles pool feels like backstroking through a cathedral.

Locations: Paris

☆ Here's everything you need to know about ChatGPT, the chatbot everyone's still talking about
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-19 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

ChatGPT has drawn users at a feverish pace and spurred Big Tech to release other AI chatbots. But ChatGPT, the latest in technology known as "large language model tools," doesn't speak with sentience and doesn't "think" the way people do. Other tech companies like Google and Meta have developed their own large language model tools, which use programs that take in human prompts and devise sophisticated responses. Other researchers seem to be taking more measured approaches with generative AI tools. He told Insider he's helping to experiment with a chat bot called "Rentervention," which is meant to support tenants.

Persons: ChatGPT, Here's, what's, OpenAI, Matthew Sag, Koko, Rob Morris, Daniel Linna Jr, he's, Linna Organizations: Big Tech, Microsoft, Emory University, Google, Northwestern University, Committee, Better, Princeton

☆ At Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony Displays Its Heritage and Uncertain Future
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( David Allen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Hints of a progressive Californian spirit were soon in evidence, as composers started appearing onstage at Symphony Hall in Boston to introduce their works, and the atmosphere began to feel more engaged. But Samuel lasted a mere 18 months, stepping down in January for reasons that are still not clear. Smith, who for a long time was the adventurous Philharmonic’s programming guru, is hugely respected, and his hiring is cause for excitement, if some trepidation. In addition, Elizabeth Rowe, the principal flutist whose distinctive, ever-so-slightly melancholy tone has defined the sound of the modern Boston Symphony, has announced that she will leave her position next year. She sued the orchestra in 2018 to secure pay equal to that of the oboist who sits to her left, John Ferrillo.

Persons: Mark Volpe, Gail Samuel, Samuel, Chad Smith, Smith, Malcolm Lowe, Lowe, Joseph Silverstein, Richard Burgin, Alexander Velinzon, Elita Kang, Tamara Smirnova, Elizabeth Rowe, John Ferrillo Organizations: Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Symphony Hall Locations: Boston, Angeles, North America

☆ Biden administration report warns grad school borrowing is 'cause for concern'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Annie Nova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Gatot Adriansyah | Istock | Getty ImagesThe share of federal education debt going to graduate students is at its highest point in history, a new report by the U.S. Department of Education finds. Alarmingly, as graduate school borrowing increases, wages for those with an advanced degree haven't risen nearly as much. "A closer look at borrowing trends and the outcomes of graduate programs … suggest cause for concern," department economists wrote. In 2006, the Education Department introduced the Grad PLUS loan program, which lets graduate students borrow as much as it costs to attend their program. On average, graduate students with debt in 2016 borrowed about $66,000 in total to finance their advanced degree, up from roughly $53,000 in 2000.

Persons: Gatot, haven't Organizations: Istock, U.S . Department of Education, Education Department, Grad PLUS

Climate change coverage has progressed leaps and bounds in recent years. Newsrooms have become far more cognizant about tying extreme weather events, like flash flooding and heat waves, to the larger trend. More alarmingly, perhaps, of the only eight segments that mentioned climate change during this particular window on television, all of them came from CNN and MSNBC. ABC News, CBS News, and NBC News did not tie the fires to climate change in any of the 35 segments that aired. “The best climate coverage pairs human stories with the stories in the data and science.

Persons: ”, Mark Hertsgaard, Hertsgaard isn’t, ” Hertsgaard, Michael Mann, Donald Trump, Max Boykoff, Boykoff, “, Peter Girard, ” Girard Organizations: CNN, Media, MSNBC, Media Matters, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, Department of Earth, University of Pennsylvania, University of Colorado, Trump, Climate Locations: United States, Maui, University of Colorado Boulder

☆ AI is going to eliminate way more jobs than anyone realizes
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Emil Skandul | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

We didn't see the internet coming, but AI is within viewThe adoption of groundbreaking technology is often hard to predict. The World Economic Forum estimated 83 million jobs worldwide would be lost over the next five years because of AI, with 69 million jobs created — that leaves 14 million jobs that will cease to exist during that timeframe. In the US, the knowledge-worker class is estimated to be nearly 100 million workers, one out of three Americans. The small and large compounding effects of productivity growth across many industries are central to the growth trajectory and the long-run effects of AI. This is an alarmingly trivial amount for an economy of $25 trillion GDP and over 150 million workers.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Joseph Schumpeter, Bill Gates, David Letterman, Paul Krugman, Erik Brynjolfsson, —, Brynjolfsson, Robert Solow, Robert Gordon, provocatively, It's, Gordon, David Autor, Maria Flynn, Flynn, –, Georgia –, Emil Skandul, Tony Blair Organizations: McKinsey, Newsweek, Stanford University, Microsoft, Amazon, Cisco, Economic, International Labor Organization, Organization for Economic Co, Development, MIT, Congressional, Office, Department of Labor, Tony Blair Institute Locations: Washington, Singapore, New York, Georgia

☆ Euro zone inflation falls further in comforting sign for ECB
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FRANKFURT, July 31 (Reuters) - Euro zone inflation fell further in July and most measures of underlying price growth also eased, in a largely comforting sign for the European Central Bank (ECB) as it considers ending its severe run of interest rate hikes. Consumer prices grew by 5.3% this month versus 5.5% in June, extending a downtrend that started in the autumn. "Services inflation is the area where monetary policy should have the greatest influence because it reflects domestic demand," Dirk Schumacher, an economist at Natixis said. Hawks could also point at hard data about growth, which showed the euro zone returned to growth in the second quarter of 2023 despite negative sentiment and activity polls. The weak survey data has continued to come in in recent days, fuelling talk of a recession in the euro area that the ECB is still hoping to avoid.

Persons: Frederik Ducrozet, Christine Lagarde, Dirk Schumacher, Natixis, Francesco Canepa, Peter Graff Organizations: European Central Bank, Pictet Wealth Management, ECB, Oxford, Thomson Locations: FRANKFURT

☆ Atlantic Ocean circulation is heading for a collapse around mid-century, scientists report
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The AMOC is a complex tangle of currents that works like a giant global conveyor belt. It transports warm water from the tropics toward the North Atlantic, where the water cools, becomes saltier and sinks deep into the ocean, before spreading southwards. The likeliest point of collapse is somewhere between 2039 and 2070, Ditlevsen said. Warming oceans and melting ice threaten to desatbilize a crucial system of ocean currents in the Atlantic. “The key point of this study is that we don’t have much time at all to do this,” de Menocal said.

Persons: ”, Peter de Menocal, Peter Ditlevsen, Ditlevsen, “, Drew Angerer, Menocal, It’s, haven’t, ” de Menocal, Stefan Rahmstorf Organizations: CNN, Oceanographic Institution, University of Copenhagen, Atlantic, University of Potsdam Locations: Europe, Greenland, Cove, Newfoundland, Canada, Germany

Ron DeSantis of Florida and his advisers waved off his sagging poll numbers with the simple fact that he wasn’t yet an actual candidate for president. Allies are complaining about a lack of a coherent message about why Republican voters should choose Mr. DeSantis over former President Donald J. Trump. His Tallahassee-based campaign has begun shedding some of the more than 90 workers it had hired — roughly double the Trump campaign payroll — to cut swelling costs that have included $279,000 at the Four Seasons in Miami. people and showed Mr. DeSantis with lasers coming out of his eyes. The video drew a range of denunciations, with some calling it homophobic and others homoerotic before it was deleted.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, DeSantis, Donald J, Trump, — Organizations: Republican, Trump, Republicans, Twitter, Mr Locations: Florida, Tallahassee, Miami

☆ More Visible L.G.B.T. People Isn’t A Curiosity or Crisis — It’s Normal - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Jane Coaston | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Then, he said, there was an idea that “a certain amount of gender transgression was spectacular. As long as it’s still in that realm, it’s OK and it’s entertainment.” But he told me that when L.G.B.T. But the vast majority of people are straight and cisgender, and the vast majority will no doubt be so in the future. There’s been an objective increase in the number of visible L.G.B.T. There is no maximum number of people on earth who can be trans before we face civilizational ruin or planetary collapse.

Persons: K.J, Rawson, he’d, “, Hugh Ryan, Ryan, ”, Isaac Schorr, There’s Organizations: Northeastern University, Transgender

☆ Don't call the extreme heat, flooding, and wildfires 'the new normal'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The climate crisis is causing a "new abnormal" characterized by more frequent and intense disasters. More people are connecting their personal run-ins with disasters to the climate crisis. "We're not on a plateau," Leiserowitz, who studies people's attitudes toward the climate crisis, said. Still, the climate crisis remains psychologically distant for many people. These institutions haven't acted fast enough to avert the crisis, climate scientists say.

Persons: Anthony Leiserowitz, We're, Leiserowitz, Chase, Ross D, aren't, Jodi Kelly, Dan Kelly, Steven Senne, Lena Moffitt, Biden Organizations: Service, Yale, Chase Field, Arizona Diamondbacks, Franklin, Associated, North America ., Veterinary Surgical Center Locations: Phoenix, Iran, —, North America, North America . Vermont, Florida, United States, Montpelier , Vermont

☆ US lawmaker urges labelling, restrictions on AI content
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"Continuing to produce and disseminate AI-generated content without clear, easily comprehensible identifiers poses an unacceptable risk to public discourse and electoral integrity." Bennet has introduced a bill that would require political ads to disclose whether AI was used to create imagery or other content. Bennet noted that some companies - including OpenAI and Alphabet's Google - have begun marking some content as AI- generated but added that those companies' policies are "alarmingly reliant on voluntary compliance." He asked the executives to answer a series of questions by July 31, including what standards or requirements they employ to identify AI content and how those standards were developed and audited to establish effectiveness. Microsoft declined comment while TikTok, OpenAI, Meta and Alphabet did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Persons: Michael Bennet, Bennet, Chuck Schumer, Elon Musk, Diane Bartz, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Democrat, Microsoft, Meta, Twitter, Google, Thomson Locations: Washington

☆ Hydropower IPO tests appetite for weather risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Yawen Chen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, June 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - A jumbo hydropower listing may define how investors assess extreme weather risks. Over the last decade, hydropower has been the largest source of clean energy, International Energy Agency data shows. At the top of the range it would raise up to 2 billion euros and be Europe’s largest IPO so far this year. Alarmingly, Hidroelectrica’s gross hydropower generation fell about 15% last year from its annual average of 15.9 terawatt-hours in the decade to 2022. The IPO carries a price range of between 94 Romanian lei and 112 lei (18.95 euros and 22.58 euros) per share, giving the company a potential market capitalisation of 42.3 billion lei to 50.4 billion lei (8.53 billion euros to 10.16 billion euros), Hidroelectrica said in its prospectus.

Persons: Romania’s, Austria’s Verbund, Bogdan Nicolae Badea, Hidroelectrica, Fondul Proprietatea, Franklin Templeton, Lisa Jucca, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, International Energy Agency, World Bank, Alarmingly, Investors, U.S, Thomson Locations: Europe, Romania, Ukraine, Romanian, China, France

HONG KONG, June 16 (Reuters) - China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong said resolutions passed by the European Parliament on Thursday related to the Chinese controlled territory were a "despicable act" and "trampled" on the principles of international law. The European Parliament's resolution titled "The deterioration of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, notably the case of Jimmy Lai" urged Hong Kong's government to release and drop charges against the pro-democracy tycoon and other activists. It also called for the European Council to introduce "targeted sanctions" against city leader John Lee and other officials "responsible for the ongoing crackdown on human rights in Hong Kong". Government officials in Beijing and Hong Kong say that the law only targets a small number of "troublemakers" who threaten national security and that the rights and freedoms of ordinary Hong Kong people are protected. Lai, who is in prison, is facing four charges under the security law and a colonial era sedition law.

Persons: Jimmy Lai, Hong, John Lee, Lee, Lai, Lai's, Sebastien, Farah Master, Jessie Pang, Anne Marie Roantree, Gerry Doyle Organizations: China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Council, United, Government, National Security Law, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Hong Kong, United States, Beijing, China

☆ The Treasury Department may issue $1.6 trillion in T-bills this year as it rebuilds its coffers after the debt ceiling deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Treasury Department may issue $1.6 trillion in bills over the full year, Deutsche Bank said. That's as it looks to rebuild its cash balance following the debt ceiling crisis. On Friday, just before the debt limit bill was signed, the balance was just $23.4 billion. On Friday, just before the debt limit bill was signed, the cash balance in the TGA was just $23.4 billion, down from $140 billion in mid-May. By September, analysts expects the Treasury Department will have restored its cash balance to about $600 billion.

Persons: —, Joe Biden, That's Organizations: Treasury, Deutsche Bank, Service, Treasury Department, JPMorgan

☆ Sudan: Nearly 1.4 million people displaced since civil war erupted, UN report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Sahar Akbarzai | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Even before the fighting intensified, years of political instability meant Sudan had several million people internally displaced. The country also hosted 1.13 million refugees from other conflict-ridden countries, including South Sudan, Eritrea and Syria, according to UNHCR data. Tens of thousands of South Sudanese are flocking home from neighboring Sudan, which erupted in violence last month. Sam Mednick/APAmid the vast displacement, there have been increasing reports of gender-based violence and domestic violence, especially among internally displaced Sudanese populations, the UN Population Fund said. This includes 22 attacks on health facilities, six attacks which impacted warehouses, and nine attacks which affected supplies, among others.

Wall Street and world markets cheered below-consensus U.S. inflation on Wednesday, but they may not be so accommodating if Chinese inflation on Thursday also undershoots forecasts. On the other hand, inflation in China is already extremely low and a sign that the world's second largest economy is struggling to generate demand, momentum and sufficient growth. Charlie Bilello, chief market analyst at Creative Planning, on Wednesday tweeted a list of 34 countries' annual consumer price inflation rates. China's 0.7%, the lowest since September 2021, was comfortably the weakest of them all, by almost two full percentage points. Producer price inflation figures will also be released on Thursday.

☆ A fleet of aging tankers is transporting sanctioned oil around the globe — and it's becoming an insurance nightmare because nobody knows who owns them
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

It's throwing up concerns about a fleet of secretive tankers transporting sanctioned oil globally. Authorities still don't know who to approach for damages, per various media reports. It has delivered an oil cargo to the eastern China province of Shandong before making its way to the shipyard, Bloomberg reported, citing ship-tracking data. The fire has been put out, but authorities don't know who to approach for damages according to various media reports. Russia itself has also put together a "shadow fleet" of more than 100 oil tankers in a bid to skirt Western sanctions, the Financial Times reported in December.

☆ Team by team analysis of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

He passed Leclerc for the second time at the safety car restart on lap 14. He went side by side with Russell in the pitlane during the safety car and was passed by Hamilton on lap 20. Hamilton started fifth but pitted a lap before the safety car was deployed, dropping to 10th. Leclerc, second in the Saturday sprint, started on pole position and took his team's first podium finish of the season. Norris started seventh, lost out when he pitted before the safety car but managed to pass Hulkenberg to move into the points.

☆ Make these 12 investments with strong technical set ups right now while the broader market faces the risk of a 'climactic bear scenario,' according to a longtime chartmaster
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Chartmaster David Keller shared the three biggest risks facing the market right now. The S&P 500 may struggle to break past technical resistance of 4,200 and 4,300. He predicted that if the VIX rises to 20, the S&P 500 would fall to a vital support level of 3,800. The percentage of S&P 500 stocks trading above their 50-day moving average (in green) has fallen below 50% recently. David Keller, StockCharts.comPoor market breadth should be a serious concern for investors, Keller said.

☆ Montana House Republicans ban Rep. Zooey Zephyr from House chamber for remainder of legislative session
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Eric Bradner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The move by Montana Republicans comes just weeks after two Democratic lawmakers in Tennessee were expelled over their protests on the House floor demanding action to address gun violence after a mass shooting at a Nashville school. Until Wednesday’s debate of the resolution to discipline Zephyr, he had refused to recognize her to speak until she apologized. Pro-Zephyr activists packed into Montana’s House gallery on Monday. Republican leaders canceled Tuesday’s scheduled House floor session, and announced late Tuesday night that they would consider “disciplinary action” against Zephyr on Wednesday over her role in Monday’s protests. Rep. David Bedey, a Republican, said Zephyr should have left the House floor or helped try to calm the crowd of protesters on Monday.

☆ Sudanese man braves Khartoum battles to tend to wild animals at his sanctuary
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Anna Magdalena Lubowicka | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"We're struggling on one side to feed our family and children and close ones," he said. Since the warfare erupted on April 15, tens of thousands have already left for neighbouring countries, despite the uncertainty of conditions there. "We're really risking our lives every day to try to reach [the sanctuary], if not every day, every other day," he said. Salih said his team came under live fire in the first few days of fighting, and bombshells hit the sanctuary, including the lion enclosure. We're very scared ... everybody is on their own right now fighting for their own survival."

☆ Dr. Fauci Looks Back: ‘Something Clearly Went Wrong’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( David Wallace-Wells | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +55 min

Dr. Fauci Looks Back: ‘Something Clearly Went Wrong’ In his most extensive interview yet, Anthony Fauci wrestles with the hard lessons of the pandemic — and the decisions that will define his legacy. But when people say, “Fauci shut down the economy” — it wasn’t Fauci. But somehow or other, the general public didn’t get that feeling that the vulnerable are really, really heavily weighted toward the elderly. We also had a public-health system that we thought was really, really good. But it was really, really antiquated.

☆ How women are re-defining ambition to build happier, more successful careers: It isn’t ‘worth sacrificing my mental health for’
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Women continue to face alarmingly high levels of burnout — the extreme circumstances of working and surviving during a pandemic, some workplace experts warn, has cost women their ambition. Overall, nearly half (48%) of women describe themselves as "very ambitious" when it comes to their career, and ambition among women of color is even higher, according to a Momentive/CNBC poll of over 5,000 women conducted last month. Women aren't losing their ambition — they're rejecting a narrow definition of ambition as the pursuit of money and power and writing a new one. But after spending the first 10 months of the pandemic working 85-hour weeks at a pharmacy in Los Angeles, Ismail realized her dream career wasn't sustainable. "I realized the career markers I used to strive so hard to achieve aren't worth sacrificing my mental health for."

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