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☆ Hawaii wildfires: Anger and aid spread amid the devastation
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Bill Weir | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Lahaina, Hawaii CNN —A week after blowtorch winds brought the most horrific disaster in modern Hawaiian history, members of Maui’s working class have become do-it-yourself first responders and cul-de-sac commanders. A woman collects water at a shopping center in Lahaina where different groups are handing out supplies. “We had three families sleep here the first night and we fed them just as if they were local. While the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau took to social media to “strongly discourage” visitors from vacationing on the western side of Maui. At least 99 people have been confirmed dead from the wildfires, and the number could double over the next 10 days, Hawaii Gov.

Persons: Evelio Contreras, Keoki Naihe, ”, he’s, Alika Peneku, “, Brittany Fleck, Charlie Fleck, ” Charlie, Grace Hurt, Josh Green, of Fame waterman, ‘, ’, Archie Kalepa, Kalepa, Deanne Criswell, ” Criswell, ” Naihe, “ We’ve, ” Peneku Organizations: Hawaii CNN, CNN, CNN “ Tourists, Facebook, Hawaii Visitors, Hawaii Gov, Pohaku, of Fame, Ocean Safety, aloha, FEMA, Small Business Administration Locations: Lahaina, Hawaii, Maui, Charlie, “, Peneku, Pohaku, Pohaku Beach

In fact, they were the real-life celebrations of thousands of cinema fans in South India as they welcomed the latest film release by one of the country’s biggest superstars. Fans dance during the screening of Indian actor Rajinikanth's new Tamil-language movie 'Jailer' on the first day of its release in Mumbai on August 10. Punit Paranjpe/AFP/Getty ImagesA cult-like followingRajinikanth, 72, who has starred in more than 160 movies, is near synonymous with South Indian cinema. Its release day became an unofficial public holiday for many with several companies in the cities of Bengaluru and Chennai giving their employees a day off to watch the film. One of the biggest South Indian hits last year, “RRR,” made history by scooping its first Oscar for the best original song, “Naatu Naatu.”Video Ad Feedback This Indian film is nominated for an Oscar.

Persons: ”, Rajinikanth, Rajinikanth's, Punit Paranjpe, Tom Cruise, Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, jubilation, John Lennon, Padma Bhushan, Vibhushan, India’s, Kollywood ”, “, Oscar, M.M, Keeravani Organizations: CNN, Redbooks, Le, Getty, Padma, Confederation of Indian Industry, Globe, Carpenters, The Carpenters Locations: South India, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Mumbai, AFP, Bengaluru, Chennai

☆ Alibaba previews benefits of slimming down
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, Aug 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Just months after announcing a six-way breakup, Alibaba's (9988.HK) corporate overhaul is off to a good start. Quarterly sales jumped 14% year-on-year in the three months to June and all its main business units are growing again. That should ease concern that Alibaba is losing market share to rivals like PDD (PDD.O). In logistics and digital media, both reported positive adjusted earnings before interest, tax and amortisation in the recent quarter, versus losses a year ago. It’s early days but a more focused and less bloated Alibaba is starting to emerge.

Persons: It’s, Robyn Mak, Una Galani, Katrina Hamlin Organizations: Reuters, HK, Twitter, Siemens, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG

☆ AI companies are flocking to San Francisco — giving the city's commercial real-estate market a much-needed boost
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The city may have the recent AI boom to thank for the boost, experts say. According to data from VTS, San Francisco saw a recent boom in demand, experiencing a 10.2% demand increase in the most recent quarter. It's perhaps unsurprising that AI companies seem to have San Francisco in their sights. Quinn said JLL had 10 AI clients eyeing around 750,000 to one million square feet of San Francisco real estate. One AI company, Hive, recently announced it was subleasing three floors of a downtown San Francisco office — taking over space previously occupied by software company Okta, Bloomberg reported.

Persons: Alexander Quinn, Jones Lang LaSalle, Nick Romito –, –, There's, Romito, It's, Quinn, JLL, —, VTS's Romito, He's Organizations: Morning, PayPal, ChatGPT, San Francisco's Mission, San Francisco's, Economic, Workforce Development, Bloomberg Locations: Francisco, VTS, San Francisco, San Francisco's

☆ The secret side of the Mediterranean – by boat in Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Rob Hodgetts | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Tropez of Turkey,” but there are plentiful nooks and crannies to discover away from the crowds. Jetties jut into the emerald water enticing boat crews to dine at the small tavernas, including Captain Ibrahim’s and Rosemary Restaurant. Across the gulf on its own peninsula is pretty waterfront town Bozburun, known for its thyme honey, sponge fishing and traditional boat builders. Bestas Limani is known as Cold Water Bay as it's fed by chilly mountain springs. To the south of Fethiye is Bestas Limani, more commonly known as Cold Water Bay because of the cold springs that flow from the mountains.

Persons: Ada, Tropez of, Captain Ibrahim’s, Rosemary, Cleopatra, Mark Antony, Aphrodite, Sleepy Selimiye, Marmaris, Bükü, Mattia Sobieski, St, Nicholas –, – Organizations: CNN, Baba, Q Locations: Coast . Gulf, Gökova, Yalıkavak, Gümüşlük, Kalymnos, Fenerci, Kos, St, Tropez, Tropez of Turkey, ”, Bodrum, Orak, Maldives, North Africa, Kedrai, Değirmen, Knidos, Hisarönü, Simi, bougainvillea, Turkey, Palamut, Bençik Bay, Loryma, Hellenic, Çiftlik, Marmaris, Ekinçik, Kaunos, . Gulf, Fethiye, imageBROKER.com, Telmessos, Turkish, Tersane, Ottoman, Ruin, Wall, Kayaköy, Lausanne, Gemiler

☆ Wasting Away With Rachael Ray
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( Annie Tressler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When I was 15, I fell in love with the voice of Rachael Ray. That velvety contralto was the soundtrack of my days in the children’s hospital I hated — with its plaid curtains and kind nurses — but called home. For weeks I spent my days hopped up on morphine, in and out of consciousness, nestled in a snake hive of drip tubes and wires. Under doctors’ orders, I ate hardly anything — not a drop of ginger ale, a bite of a cracker or even an ice chip. This was my first foray into a kind of forced asceticism, something that my body, ravaged by this yet-to-be-diagnosed disease, would frequently require.

Persons: Rachael Ray, ’, pang Organizations: Food Network

☆ Paddleball Paul’s Lonely War on Pickleball
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Allie Conti | Lanna Apisukh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

4, right in the middle of the pickleball hive, there was a man by himself who seemed to be in some distress. But really, he was a man who needed to use the bathroom. He was about to serve against a wall to himself when a young blond woman approached. He would have loved an opponent, sure, but what he really needed was somebody to hold the court while he ran to the men’s room. He knew that the moment he stepped away, some pickleballer would set up a net in his space.

Persons: Hulk Hogan Locations: Central Park

☆ Threads has launched at an opportune time, but it'll be tough to outshine Twitter, analysts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Meta launched Threads social media platform — its answer to Twitter — on Wednesday. 10 million users signed up for Threads in the first seven hours of its launch, per CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Analysts say it could be tough for Threads to outshine Twitter's existing power user base. And even though Threads launching at an advantageous time, at least four Wall Street analysts say it could be challenging to outshine the incumbent. After all, it could be difficult to get Twitter users to move, Billy Duberstein, a portfolio manager at Stone Oak Capital, wrote on the Motley Fool website on Wednesday.

Persons: Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Daniel Newman, Newman, hough, witter, ost.News,, ike P roulx,, rove, ames, rian W ieser, Organizations: Twitter, Morning, Elon, Meta, Futurum, Wall Street, otley, NBC

☆ Bluesky says it temporarily paused new sign-ups after fresh Twitter chaos led to a surge in interest. Here's how the platform works.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

It comes amid fresh chaos at Twitter, which placed a limit on the number of tweets users can view. Bluesky, a Jack Dorsey-backed Twitter rival, had to temporarily pause new sign-ups over the weekend after it reported a surge of interest. "We will temporarily be pausing Bluesky sign-ups while our team continues to resolve the existing performance issues," Bluesky wrote in a post on the platform. On Friday, Twitter started requiring people to sign in to view tweets on the platform, a move that irritated some users. However, unlike Mastodon, users don't have to choose a server when they sign up – something that appeared to be an issue for Mastodon users who found the process too complicated.

Persons: Bluesky, Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk, Twitter, Jay Graber, Sam Tabahriti, Dril, Alexandria Ocasio, Musk's, Grimes, There's, Graber, Dorsey Organizations: Twitter, Morning, Mastodon Locations: Alexandria, Cortez

☆ The most reliable AI image detectors can be tricked by simply adding texture to an image — a worrying find as AI disinformation plagues the internet and threatens political campaigns
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Katie Hawkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Adding grain to AI-generated images makes them harder to identify as fake, the New York Times reports. The finding comes as users in the US and abroad begin to use AI images to influence election campaigns. From falsified campaign ads to stolen artwork, AI-generated images have been responsible for a wave of disinformation online in recent months. Now, the New York Times reports that AI detection software — one of the frontline defenses against the spread of AI-generated disinformation — can be easily fooled by simply adding grain to AI-generated images. The Times' analysis comes at a time when users are increasingly deploying AI-generated misinformation online to influence political campaigns, Insider reported.

Persons: Cynthia Rudin, Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, Anthony Fauci Organizations: New York Times, Morning, Times, Duke University

☆ How Easy Is It to Fool A.I.-Detection Tools?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Stuart A. Thompson | Tiffany Hsu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +11 min

“Real” Umm-maybe “Real” Illuminarty “A.I.” A.I. or Not “A.I.” Hive “A.I.” Sensity “Real” Umm-maybe “Real” Illuminarty “Real” A.I. or Not “A.I.” Hive “A.I.” Sensity “Real” Umm-maybe “Real” Illuminarty “A.I.” A.I. or Not “A.I.” Hive “Real” Sensity “A.I.” Umm-maybe “Real” Illuminarty “A.I.” A.I. or Not “A.I.” Hive “A.I.” Sensity “A.I.” Umm-maybe “Real” Illuminarty “Real” A.I.

Persons: Elon Musk, ”, Musk, Chenhao Tan, “, I’m, Ron DeSantis, Cynthia Rudin, Dan Lytle, Midjourney, Kevin Guo, ” Mr, Guo, Biden, Damon Winter, Sensity, Jackson Pollock, Pollock, Marc Fibbens, Shyam Sundar, Sundar Organizations: New York Times, Guerrero Art, Times, University of Chicago, Republican, Duke University, Hive, Photoshop, The Times, The New York Times, Industry, A.I, Center, Intelligence, Pennsylvania State University Locations: A.I, Florida, “, Gettysburg, Pa, New Zealand

☆ Op-ed: In battle with activist Jana Partners, Freshpet unleashes the dogs of war
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Kenneth Squire | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Morris's employment agreement does not have such a provision. Section 7 of his employment agreement governs non-competition and non-solicitation. Basto resigned from Freshpet's board, effective May 31, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Jana attempted to address this by talking to Freshpet about improving corporate governance and adding new directors identified by Jana to the board. The Freshpet board should have looked at this as a gift from heaven.

Persons: Jana Partners, Freshpet, Jana, Scott Morris, Laurence Tribe, Morris, Richard Kassar, J, David Basto, Olu Beck, Basto, Jana directors, –, Shakespeare, Ken Squire, Squire Organizations: Hive Brands, Freshpet, Company, Securities and Exchange Commission, Institutional, Services, 13D Locations: Freshpet, Delaware

☆ 2 blind passengers say being ordered to leave a cruise ship before it set sail was 'humiliating': report
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Two blind passengers told ITV News they were ordered to leave a P&O Cruises ship. P&O Cruises offered them a full refund after first charging the pair a cancellation fee. Two blind passengers who were ordered to leave a cruise ship before it set sail said it was "humiliating" and that they "felt like criminals". Pam May and Jennie Bailie told ITV News they were asked to leave a P&O Cruises Ventura ship in May for "health and safety reasons". They just decided 'oh you're blind you can't be on there'."

Persons: Pam May, Jennie Bailie, Bailie, Donovan Tildesley, Tildesley, Richard Branson Organizations: ITV News, O Cruises, Morning, Daily, Virgin Locations: West Sussex, Southampton, England, Miami, Honduras

☆ How tech companies are working to help detect AI-generated images
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

In recent months, an AI-generated image of Pope Francis in a puffer jacket went viral and AI-generated images of former President Donald Trump getting arrested were widely shared, shortly before he was indicted. Some lawmakers are now calling for tech companies to address the problem. Reality Defender and Hive Moderation are working on the former. Other tech companies like Google appear to be pursuing a playbook that pulls a bit from both approaches. “We need everybody to participate.”For now, however, tech companies continue to move forward with pushing more AI tools into the world.

Persons: Jeffrey McGregor, “ We’re, we’re, ”, McGregor, ” McGregor, Pope Francis, Donald Trump, Vera Jourova, –, “, Dall, ChatGPT, ” Hany Farid, ” Farid, Tom Cruise deepfake, ” Ben Colman, Kevin Guo, ” Guo, —, Andy Parsons, Bing, Farid, ” Parsons Organizations: New, New York CNN, Microsoft, ” Tech, European, Google, Meta, Big Tech, Reality, University of California, CNN, Realty, “, Coalition, Adobe, CAI, BBC, Intel, Sony Locations: New York, EU, Berkeley

☆ Thousands of bees descend on cricket match forcing play to be suspended
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Thomas Schlachter | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —In the world of sport, there are many reasons for games to be suspended or postponed. At a cricket festival in Ireland, a game had to be suspended as a swarm of bees descended onto the pitch forcing everyone in the vicinity to hide from the buzzy mob. The live stream showing the event declared “bees stop play” as the presence of the bees near the clubhouse meant the game had to be suspended for 112 minutes before it could be restarted. The local beekeeper arrived at the cricket ground and found the queen bee – rescuing the cricket fans, players, and umpires from the swarm. The Knights ended up winning the game by seven wickets, overcoming their opponents and the 20,000-strong swarm along the way.

Persons: Mauro Dias, beekeeper Mauro Dias, Oisin Organizations: CNN, Players, Cricket, Zuma Press, Northern Knights, Munster Reds, Knights Locations: Ireland, Cork

☆ Private equity hurtles towards hard Asia reset
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Una Galani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

SINGAPORE, June 7 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Sequoia’s decision to carve out its China business formalises a push for a hard reset in Asia that private equity firms have until now largely been grappling with behind the scenes. These country-agnostic funds accounted for just over half the money raised in 2022 in the region, a 22-year high. Granted, these South and Southeast Asia markets are small at present compared to China; that’s why more firms are seeking bigger-ticket buyouts in Australia and Japan. That will eventually weigh on performance in the region, which for top-quartile Asia funds last year was a very respectable median 25% net internal rate of return, per Preqin. Private equity’s cooling relationship with China, though, is likely to hit hard for most.

Persons: Neil Shen, Shailendra Singh, Singh, Zhang Lei, There’s, Shen, Antony Currie, Katrina Hamlin Organizations: Reuters, Bain & Co, Bain Capital, KKR, XV Partners, Sequoia, Twitter, NEWS Venture, Sequoia Capital, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, China, Asia, Republic, Sequoia, India, Southeast Asia, Greater China, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Hillhouse, Singapore, Australia, Japan, U.S

NEW YORK, June 6 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Sequoia is blazing another new trail in venture capital. As one of Silicon Valley’s pioneers, Sequoia Capital has backed everything from Apple (AAPL.O) to Zoom Video Communications (ZM.O) over the past half-century, and many others in between, including Instagram, 23andMe (ME.O) and DoorDash (DASH.N). The world has changed, however – and changed yet again – since Sequoia opened its doors. Valentine named Sequoia after a tree that lives thousands of years, signifying a plan to survive and grow through any sort of climate. Follow @thereallsl on TwitterFollow @anshumandaga on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSVenture capital firm Sequoia Capital said on June 6 that it would separate its China, India and Southeast Asia, and U.S. and European arms into three businesses.

Persons: Don Valentine, – Roelof Botha, Neil Shen, Shailendra Singh –, Valentine, Sequoia, ByteDance, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Sharon Lam Organizations: YORK, Reuters, Sequoia Capital, Apple, Video Communications, Investments, HK, Sequoia, Venture, Thomson Locations: China, India, U.S, Sequoia, Southeast Asia, United States, Mumbai, Shanghai

☆ Family stands to lose nearly $6,000 in airfare and hotel costs after they were bumped from an overbooked cruise ship
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises have overbooked multiple ships in recent months. One customer said she may lose nearly $6,000 after being bumped from an overbooked cruise. Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises have seen a spate of overbooked ships in recent months, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. 68-year-old Diane Gainey, a frequent cruise-goer, could lose nearly $6,000 in airfare and hotel costs after Celebrity Cruises overbooked her September voyage from Japan. Courtesy of Diane FoleyA Celebrity Cruises spokesperson said the company continuously monitors their sailings to prevent disruptions to guests' travel plans.

☆ World Bee Day 2023: 6 surprising things about bees
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Unfortunately, many bee species are under threat as a result of changes in land use, pesticides, intensive agriculture and climate change — but there are steps you can take to help them thrive. In honor of World Bee Day on May 20, here are six surprising things you might not know about nature’s hardest-working pollinators. “It marks the first report of honey bees of any species foraging for materials that are not derived from plants or water-based fluids. It is also the first clear-cut example of honey bees using a tool in nature.”Honeybees also signal an imminent attack by making a chilling warning noise. Bees are seen on a honeycomb cell at the Urban Bee Hive rooftop site in Woolloomooloo, a suburb of Sydney.

☆ A video captured a Carnival cruise passenger climbing between balconies. Other people on board cheered him on.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Marielle Descalsota | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A male passenger was seen on video climbing between balconies on a Carnival cruise. A video shows a passenger climbing in between balconies on a Carnival cruise as several people cheer him on. In a video posted by the industry website Cruise Hive, a male passenger is shown struggling to climb on a ledge on Carnival's Mardi Gras cruise ship. It's not the first time passengers were caught on video flouting the rules on a Carnival cruise. In April, Carnival banned at least two passengers for life after a TikTok showed them fishing from their room's balcony.

☆ Regional bank stocks could be a market afterthought in the week ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Scott Schnipper | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

For the immediate economic and earnings and growth outlook, it almost seems irrelevant whether regional bank stocks rally, steady or sell off more next week. Regional banks were top of mind for investors this past week, as First Republic failed , the SPDR S & P Regional Banking ETF tumbled more than 10% — twice the five-day loss in the S & P 500 Energy Index, the hardest hit S & P sector — and lenders such as PacWest Bancorp and Western Alliance Bancorp lost billions in market value. And, for all that, the S & P 500 only fell about 0.75% this week. Now the conventional wisdom on Wall Street is that regardless of how the regional bank stocks trade, it's a given that bank lending officers are going to pull in their horns and risk management desks will grow more risk averse. But stocks still face a host of issues, none of which are going away next week.

☆ Crazy videos show a Coast Guard helicopter nearly crashing into the ocean after abandoning a rescue attempt on a Carnival cruise ship during a storm
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The helicopter came close to the water, but the Coast Guard said "superb piloting" helped save it. Videos shared online showed the helicopter hovering over the cruise ship, appearing very shaky and making sudden, jerking movements. The helicopter then turns away from the cruise ship but takes a sharp dive down toward the ocean. The Jayhawk helicopter and the Ocean Sentry were able to return safely to base. In December, the Coast Guard rescued a cruise ship passenger who spent over 20 hours in open water after going overboard.

☆ A deep tech investor predicts these 3 AI startups will become the decacorns of this decade with valuations of over $100 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Amir Khan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Amir Khan is a deep tech investor who's known about ChatGPT for 10 years. OwkinA health tech startup called Owkin, based in Paris, France, is working to build an AI model in partnership with top academic researchers and data scientists. MotionalMotional is a Boston-based autonomous tech startup that is gaining traction by successfully running the world's first robotaxi pilot program. If you've seen the old Batman movies, you would know self-driving vehicles were promised to us in the early 2000s. NexarNexar, a New York-based startup, is also a company working to realize our self-driving car dreams.

☆ 10 Things in Tech: Amazon Slack, industry extinction, and top EVs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Community: Inside Amazon's little-known Slack channel. And that's playing out inside an internal slack channel called #focus-and-pivot-info for employees put on performance improvement plans — also known as PIPs. Go behind-the-scenes of Amazon's little-known Slack channel here. Right as tech companies shrink their headcounts, AI is gaining popularity in the workplace, writes Insider's editor in chief for business, Matt Turner. Thousands of anonymous tech employees fretted over the future of tech compensation.

☆ Thyssenkrupp gives investors wrong kind of breakup
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 24 (Reuters Breakingviews) - An abrupt CEO departure adds yet more problems for Thyssenkrupp’s (TKAG.DE) long-suffering investors. Merz was drafted in after her predecessor Guido Kerkhoff himself left after just 14 months, amid an aborted steel spinoff. Progress on a listing of Thyssenkrupp’s hydrogen business or a steel spinoff has been slow, despite a plan to hive off weaker units. Thyssenkrupp says it will continue its transformation, and appointed a former Siemens (SIEGn.DE) executive, Miguel Ángel López Borrego, to replace Merz. Yet investors still smarting from a minus 37% total return under its last bold CEO now seem to be expecting more of the same.

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