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☆ I asked ChatGPT to help me plan a vacation. Here’s what happened next
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | Chris Dwyer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

So the idea that artificial intelligence chatbots, such as ChatGPT and Bing, can research travel destinations and create itineraries is intriguing. I went to the developer's website, clicked on the word "ChatGPT," registered for an account — and started chatting. "All of the places I recommended have great online reviews," ChatGPT replied, providing ratings from Tripadvisor, Booking.com and Google for each hotel. But ChatGPT couldn't show photographs of the hotels or help book them — although it did provide ample instructions on how to do both. Every city I asked ChatGPT about resulted in the bot praising the local food scene.

☆ The next 'White Lotus' is expected to be filmed in one of these locations in Asia
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Chris Dwyer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

When the HBO black comedy "The White Lotus" premiered in the summer of 2021, it took viewers to Hawaii's sunny Maui. The Maldives was named-dropped near the end of season two of "The White Lotus," leading fans to speculate it would be the next filming location. Cue the theories that "The White Lotus" is heading to the Southeast Asian nation known as "The Land of Smiles." Two characters spent the night in Villa Tasca in the second season of "The White Lotus." Beyond "The White Lotus," the broader trend of traveling to visit iconic TV and movie locations continues to grow.

☆ Why Singapore isn't imposing new travel rules on visitors from China
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

watch nowBut he said travel volumes between Singapore and China are "very low" — with fewer than 1,000 people arriving from China daily. "As of now, we run 38 weekly flights from China to Singapore, compared to around 400 flights pre-Covid," he said. Current rules are effectiveSo far, more than a dozen countries have announced new rules for visitors from China. In the same month, seven imported cases became severely ill, and only one was from China, he said. 'We do not discriminate'Ong noted that while some countries are imposing a pre-departure test requirement on visitors from China, Singapore will "not discriminate because severe cases can originate from any country."

South Korea on Tuesday hit back at claims that its Covid rules for Chinese travelers are "discriminatory," saying more than half of its imported cases are coming from China. Citing South Korea's proximity to China, Choi said a surge in infections in China could put South Korea at risk. But South Korea and Japan — two top destinations for Chinese travelers — said they are not increasing flights in response to China's border reopening. China's embassies in South Korea and Japan announced Tuesday that they would stop issuing visas to "Korean nationals" and "Japanese citizens." Choi said South Korea's new Covid travel restrictions are "only temporary" and were made to "place the highest priority on the health and safety of people residing in South Korea."

☆ European markets head for a positive open as investor sentiment brightens
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

European markets are heading for a positive open on Wednesday, reversing a negative trend seen in the previous trading session. Regional markets were lower Tuesday as investors were caught off guard after Japan's central bank widened its cap on 10-year Japanese government bond yields. The European Central Bank last week hiked its key interest rate from 1.5% to 2% and said it would look to shrink its balance sheet by around 15 billion euros ($15.9 billion) every month from March 2023 to the end of the second quarter. The ECB said rate hikes would need to continue "significantly at a steady pace." The Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank struck similar tones last week and also opted for 50 basis point hikes, matching the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision last Wednesday.

☆ The Bank of Japan Steals Christmas
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Jacky Wong | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Haruhiko Kuroda said the move is aimed at improving the functioning of the government bond market. The Bank of Japan —the last central bank holdout on ultralow interest rates—has sent global markets a nasty early Christmas surprise. The Japanese central bank surprised nearly everyone in the market on Tuesday by raising its effective cap on 10-year government bond yields to 0.5% from 0.25%. Under its yield curve control policy, the BOJ has long intervened to keep bond yields within a specified target range near zero. This latest tweak effectively raised the interest rate for this tenor: 10-year yields shot up to 0.41% from around 0.25%.

☆ Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway hikes stakes in Japan's five leading trading houses to over 6%
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has raised its stakes in Japan's five leading trading houses by at least 1 percentage point to more than 6%, regulatory filings showed on Monday. The conglomerate's stakes rose to 6.6% from 5% in Mitsubishi Corp. , to 6.6% from 5% in Mitsui & Co ., to 6.2% from 5% in Itochu Corp ., to 6.8% from 5.1% in Marubeni Corp. and to 6.6% from 5% in Sumitomo Corp ., filings showed. Marubeni and Mitsubishi shares jumped more than 2% after the news on Monday. Sumitomo and Itochu shares rose about 1%. Shares of Mitsui have climbed more than 40% this year, while Sumitomo and Marubeni have both risen about 30%.

☆ People with disabilities rate the top 10 cities that are easiest for them to travel around
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Goh Chiew Tong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The Valuable 500, a business coalition, released its list of the top 10 most accessible cities in the world. Over 95% of pedestrian walkways, taxi stands and bus shelters in Singapore are also accessible to wheelchair users, seniors or other individuals with disabilities. United StatesLas Vegas The "sheer number" of accessible hotel rooms in Las Vegas makes the city a stand-out choice for travel. Orlando Orlando is well known for being home to iconic theme parks such as Walt Disney World, SeaWorld and Universal Studios Florida. Amsterdam is one of the most bike-friendly cities in the world, with an extensive network of bike lanes.

☆ A Core Question at COP27: Who Will Pay for Climate Change?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Elena Shao | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +10 min

When world leaders gather in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, this week for the annual United Nations climate summit, the debate over who bears financial responsibility for climate change will be center stage. Most Vulnerable, but Least Responsible for Climate Change A vulnerability index developed by the University of Notre Dame measures countries’ exposure, sensitivity and capacity to adapt to the negative effects of climate change. 10 gigatons CO2 Climate change vulnerability index COUNTRY’s Total historical emissions 1 Somalia is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, but has contributed only a tiny fraction of global emissions. Pakistan experienced widespread and deadly flooding this summer that scientists linked to climate change. India 57.1 Gt CO2 0.5 Middle income countries China 249.4 Gt CO2 0.4 Russia 117.5 Gt CO2 Japan 66.7 Gt CO2 Higher income countries United States 421.7 Gt CO2 0.3 United Kingdom 74.9 Gt CO2 Germany 93.1 Gt CO2 Wealthy countries are responsible for half of the world’s emissions since 1850.

☆ Ex-KGB sleeper agent on Russia's nuclear threats: 'Putin is not a suicide bomber'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Putin's repeated nuclear threats during the Ukraine war have raised alarm worldwide. But Jack Barsky, a former KGB agent, threw cold water on the possibility Putin would use a nuke. Putin could even decide to attack Ukraine with a tactical nuclear weapon if he gets desperate enough, Western governments and top Russia analysts have warned. "During the Cold War, it was pretty tense and we got pretty close to nuclear war a couple of times. Shortly after the war began, Putin claimed to have placed Russia's nuclear deterrent forces on high alert.

☆ Toho plans to release a new Japanese Godzilla film next year as the monster's audience grows
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

To capitalize on this moment, Toho, the Japanese film studio that owns the monster and licenses it to Legendary in the U.S., said it will produce a new Godzilla film a year from Thursday, the anniversary of the monster's first film. The new film comes as global audiences have more access to Godzilla content than ever before thanks to deep libraries of movies and TV series on streaming services. The recent box office success of U.S. studio Legendary's Monsterverse, which kicked off with a Godzilla film in 2014 and led to "Godzilla vs. Kong" in 2021, has also helped. The films, especially the most recent installment, have been among some of the most in demand on streaming services. "There's more access to Godzilla than ever before because of streaming services and the internet," said Bill Tsutsui, a historian and academic known for his expertise in Godzilla.

☆ The Japanese yen falls past the key level of 150 to the dollar, hitting a 32-year low as officials say they're ready to intervene
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Japanese yen slid past 150 against the dollar Thursday for the first time since 1990. The breaching of the key level ups pressure on Japan's officials to intervene to shore up the currency. The yen's decline has been driven by the difference in interest rate policy in Japan and the US. We will continue to watch currency moves meticulously and with a sense of urgency," Shunichi Suzuki said, per Reuters. "Little has changed for the yen with Japanese officials seemingly willing to let the currency weaken further by capping bond yields," Nick Cawley, senior strategist at IG's DailyFX, said.

☆ Russia's Gazprom threatens to cut off natural-gas supplies to Europe if price caps are imposed
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The G7 and the EU are in discussions to impose price caps on Russian oil and natural gas. Russia's Gazprom threatened to stop gas supplies to Europe if the price caps are imposed, per Reuters. President Putin last month also threatened to cut off energy supplies if these price caps were imposed. He also threatened to cut off all energy supplies if price caps were imposed. Russian gas deliveries to Europe have fallen by about half this year so far, Gazprom said on September 8.

You can watch all the news from the Tudum event live via Netflix's YouTube channel on September 24. How to watch Netflix Tudum 2022You can watch the Netflix Tudum 2022 livestream event on Netflix's YouTube channel. What is Netflix's Tudum event? Tudum is an annual Netflix event that's a lot like Comic-Con for Netflix fans. Tudum 2022 is a chance for filmmakers to talk about popular and upcoming titles with fans.

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