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☆ DHS task force will examine how to use A.I. to protect homeland security
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, speaks during a new conference in Brownsville, Texas, U.S., on Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021. WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security will establish a new task force to examine how the government can use artificial intelligence technology to protect the country. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced the task force Friday during a speech at a Council on Foreign Relations event. Mayorkas gave two examples of how the task force will help determine how AI could be used to fine-tune the agency's work. Mayorkas asked Homeland Security Advisory Council Co-Chair Jamie Gorelick to study "the intersection of AI and homeland security and deliver findings that will help guide our use of it and defense against it."

☆ Taiwan 'perplexed' by Paraguay candidate questioning of ties
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said Alegre's public comments "certainly have caused some perplexity". We will do our best to maintain diplomatic relations with Paraguay." Paraguay is one of only 13 countries to maintain formal diplomatic ties with Chinese-claimed Taiwan, and China has been stepping up efforts to win over the island's remaining allies. China has long argued that democratically ruled Taiwan is part of its own territory with no right to state-to-state ties, a position Taipei strongly rejects. China demands that countries it has ties with must adopt its position that Taiwan is Chinese territory.

☆ Malaysia slams 'unjust' EU deforestation law for blocking palm oil
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KUALA LUMPUR, April 20 (Reuters) - Malaysia on Thursday said it was disappointed over a European Union law banning imports of commodities linked to deforestation, fearing a hit to its exports of palm oil to the bloc. The law will apply to soy, beef, palm oil, wood, cocoa, coffee, rubber, charcoal, and derived products including leather, chocolate and furniture. Malaysia said the law was a "deliberate effort" to increase costs and barriers for its palm oil sector -- a key source of export revenue for the Southeast Asian country. Smallholders account for 26%, or around 1.5 million hectares of oil palm planted area in Malaysia. Globally, more than seven million smallholders cultivate palm oil for a living and rely on the commodity to escape poverty.

[1/3] Dominion lawyers embrace after Dominion Voting Systems and Fox settled the defamation lawsuit over Fox's coverage of debunked election-rigging claims, in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., April 18, 2023. At least 31 lawyers from nine different law firms worked on the case, court filings show. It was not immediately clear how large a share of the settlement the firm would receive in legal fees. The filings do not include recent costs associated with preparing for trial or the success fees lawyers could earn from the settlement. Fox News also hired Paul Clement and Erin Murphy, top appeals court lawyers who have advocated for conservative causes at the U.S. Supreme Court.

☆ Argentine peso hits record low in black market as economy creaks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Walter Bianchi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BUENOS AIRES, April 20 (Reuters) - Argentina's peso currency sank in widely used parallel markets on Thursday, hitting a record low against the U.S. dollar as concerns grew about the Latin American country's economy, with 104% inflation, reserves dwindling and drought hitting exports. The black market peso , one of several unofficial rates that have flourished as tight capital controls have limited access to official forex markets, weakened almost 4% to 438 per dollar, roughly double the official rate of 218 pesos. The blue-chip swap or CCL rate was at 433 pesos per dollar and the MEP was at 421.3 per dollar, traders said. That has further pressured already weak central bank reserves, forcing it to sell dollars. "The stock (of BCRA reserves) is so small that it cannot withstand negative flows of this magnitude for many more days.

☆ Airbus tells shareholders Europe needs to 'get its act together' on autonomy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Tim Hepher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The chairman of Europe's largest aerospace group, Rene Obermann, told investors last year's invasion of Ukraine by Russia had been a wake-up call. "It has highlighted the essential role that defence plays in society and that European nations need to get their act together for higher levels of strategic autonomy. "We are committed to playing a role of enabler for more co-operation in defence, which we believe is one of the key prerequisites to make sure that Europe maintains its strategic autonomy, Obermann said. He also cited sovereign capabilities for which Europe does not want to depend on the United States. DEFENCE DIVIDENDFrench President Emmanuel Macron is pursing an agenda to beef up Europe's "strategic autonomy" separate from the U.S.-led NATO umbrella, with eastern allies trusting the United States more for their defence.

☆ Exclusive: German authors, performers call for tougher ChatGPT rules amid copyright concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, April 19 (Reuters) - Forty-two German associations and trade unions representing more than 140,000 authors and performers on Wednesday urged the European Union to beef up draft artificial intelligence rules as they singled out the threat to their copyright from ChatGPT. The letter underlined the growing worries about generative artificial intelligence (AI) such as ChatGPT which can mimic humans and create text and images based on prompts. "Generative AI needs to be at the centre of any meaningful AI market regulation," it said. The European Commission, which last year proposed AI rules, will in the coming months thrash out the final details with EU lawmakers and member states before the rules become legislation. The rules should be beefed up to regulate generative AI across the entire product cycle, especially on providers of foundation models, the groups said.

☆ Luxury hotel opens atop Vietnam’s tallest building
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Lilit Marcus | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The new Vinpearl Landmark 81 has just opened inside the country’s tallest building, Landmark 81, in Ho Chi Minh City. It clocks in at 461 meters (1,512 feet) high and overlooks the Saigon River in the eastern stretch of Vietnam’s biggest city. The rest of Landmark 81 is a mix of private residences and public attractions. Vinpearl Landmark 81 is located about 11 km (7 miles) from Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Vietnam’s biggest and busiest airport. Vinpearl Landmark 81, 720A Đ. Điện Biên Phủ, Phường 22, Bình Thạnh, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh 700000, Vietnam; +84 28 3971 8888

"Fox has admitted to telling lies about Dominion that caused enormous damage to my company, our employees and our customers," Poulos said in a statement. Fox anchor Neil Cavuto broke into his news show "Your World" about 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time to report the settlement. In February court filings, Dominion cited a trove of internal communications in which Murdoch and other Fox figures privately acknowledged that the vote-rigging claims made about Dominion on-air were false. Dominion said Fox amplified the untrue claims to boost its ratings and prevent its viewers from migrating to other media competitors on the right. ANOTHER LAWSUIT PENDINGAdding to the legal risks for Fox, another U.S. voting technology company, Smartmatic, is pursuing its own defamation lawsuit seeking $2.7 billion in damages in a New York state court.

☆ EU lawmakers back ban on goods linked to deforestation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The rules aim to eliminate deforestation from the supply chains of a range of everyday items sold in Europe. It will apply to soy, beef, palm oil, wood, cocoa, coffee, rubber, charcoal, and derived products including leather, chocolate and furniture. Indonesia and Malaysia, the world's largest palm oil exporters, have accused the EU of blocking market access for their palm oil. The EU is the world's third-largest palm oil importer. The EU Parliament approved a deal on the rules, which was agreed by EU negotiators last year.

☆ IRS chief urges 2024 budget hike as Republicans criticize $80 bln spending plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Werfel told a Senate Finance Committee hearing that the Biden administration's $14.1 billion fiscal 2024 IRS budget request would allow for further improvements in taxpayer services after the agency improved its call center response times with 5,000 new employees funded by last year's Inflation Reduction Act. "It's not enough resources to fund a tax system in an economy that grows in size and complexity every year," Werfel said of the fiscal 2023 IRS budget of $12.3 billion. The Strategic OperatingPlan calls for spending nearly 60% of the Inflation Reduction Act funds, or $79 billion on expanded enforcement, but only $4.3 billion for taxpayer services. Senator John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, said he was "deeply concerned" that the "funds committed to promoting the administration's radical energy agenda" were similar in size to the taxpayer services spending plan. Some Republicans in the House of Representatives have targeted repeal of the $80 billion in IRS funding as a key spending cut demand for raising the $31.4 trillion federal debt limit this year.

☆ Exclusive: Paraguay opposition leader plans state 'austerity' vs tax hikes on farmers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Daniela Desantis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Soy exports currently face no levies, boosting competitiveness, but the country's diplomatic ties with Taiwan have closed doors to China. Peña, the ruling party candidate, has said publicly he wants to crack down on tax evasion and have more people working in the formal economy. Alegre has criticized Paraguay's current diplomatic relations with Taiwan going back over 60 years, which have made it hard to sell soy and beef to China, a major global buyer. "We are going to solve this based on national interests and of course also based on our alliances in international politics. The current relationship is insufficient, we have a critical position to what we have today," he said.

☆ Why India can't contain 5 million destructive yet beloved stray cows, which killed 900 people in the last four years
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( James Pasley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

About 5 million stray cattle roam India, eating garbage, causing car accidents, attacking people, and spreading disease. Farmers are turning to artificial insemination to control numbers, and the government opened housing sheds across the country. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyThere are more than 5 million stray cattle roaming the streets of India. The cow is a holy animal in the Hindu religion, but stray cattle — mostly abandoned males — have been causing chaos in India. India has a whole lot of cattle — it is the second-largest producer of beef in the world and the largest producer of milk in the world.

☆ McDonald’s is upgrading its burgers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —McDonald’s, which has been focusing on upgrading its core items to boost sales, is rolling out a series of changes designed to improve its signature burgers. The Big Mac will come with more Big Mac sauce. “In an environment where our customers are looking for the simple and familiar, our core menu items have never been more relevant,” he said. McDonald's USAFocusing on promoting its core menu items, rather than introducing new products, is a way to keep processes simpler and reduce friction in the kitchen. “Throughout 2022, some of our most successful campaign platforms brought our customers closer to the core menu items,” Kempczinski said during the January call.

☆ Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls: Tesla, Netflix, Zoom, Biogen, Okta, Amazon, HP Inc. & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

JPMorgan upgrades HP Inc. to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said in its upgrade of HP Inc . that it sees "resilient revenue and margins." JPMorgan upgrades Ollie's to neutral from underweight JPMorgan said it has more confidence in management's same-store sales guide. JPMorgan downgrades Dell to neutral from overweight JPMorgan said in its downgrade of Dell that HP Inc. is better positioned right now. JPMorgan reiterates Amazon as overweight JPMorgan said it came away "incrementally positive" from Amazon's investor letter last week. JMP downgrades Penn to market perform from market outperform JMP downgraded the stock mainly on valuation.

☆ Ukraine awaits US missile system after latest Russian strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The entrance to the Recknitztal barracks, home of the anti-aircraft missile group 24, on the left a mobile launch pad of the Patriot air defense system. The delivery of the Patriot air defense system promised by the U.S. was expected in Ukraine sometime after Easter, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said. Germany and the Netherlands also have pledged to provide a Patriot system each to Ukraine. Separately, a 48-year-old woman and her 28-year-old daughter died Saturday after Russian forces shelled a neighborhood of the city of Kherson, the regional administration said on Telegram. The southern port city was occupied by Russian forces in the early months of the war, but Ukrainian forces regained control of it in November, one of the most notable battlefield defeats for Moscow.

☆ A 9-hour drive in Toyota's new electric SUV showed me how brutal EV road trips can be with the wrong car
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

I drove the new Toyota bZ4X electric SUV from New York to Washington DC, and back. Charging can take a frustratingly long timeThe 2023 Toyota bZ4X AWD Limited. The 2023 Toyota bZ4X AWD Limited. The 2023 Toyota bZ4X AWD Limited. The 2023 Toyota bZ4X AWD Limited.

☆ 35 Ways Real People Are Using A.I. Right Now
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Francesca Paris | Larry Buchanan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +24 min

People are using ChatGPT and other A.I. Here’s how 35 real people are using A.I for work, life, play and procrastination. People are using A.I to …Plan gardens. Chris Norn Researcher at the University of Washington Two years ago researchers cracked the code on using A.I. When you run a Dungeons & Dragons game, Mr. Green says, you have to be creative, but that almost always means pulling from existing fantasy literature.

REUTERS/Agustin MarcarianBUENOS AIRES, April 14 (Reuters) - Argentines, painfully accustomed to decades of spiraling prices, say that the current 102.5%-and-climbing inflation rate is on another level and is making it almost impossible to get by. "In my case, I have zero capacity to save," said Claudia Hernansaez, a publishing company employee. "In one year, beef went from around 1,000 pesos ($4.66) or 1,200 pesos to 2,800 pesos." Paola Lavezzari, also in publishing, said inflation was forcing her to tighten the purse strings and buy cheaper products. Because what you used to consume of a better quality, today is unaffordable," she said.

☆ Barley talks may be 'first step' toward better trade ties with China. Australia hopes wine is next
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

"Barley is the first step in a long process of stabilizing our trading relationship with China," Farrell said Friday, after the two economic giants agreed this week to work toward removing tariffs on Australian barley. Since China's 2020 tariffs on barley, Australia has been essentially blocked from exports to that market worth about $620 million ($916 million Australian dollars) in 2018-19. Don Farrell Minister for Trade and TourismWhen asked about a timeline on a complete resolution to the barley tariffs, the Australian trade minister said he was looking at "the next three to four months." While the future of Australian barley returning to China again is still not confirmed, Farrell is hoping wine could be next on the list. In March 2021, China introduced a crushing five-year tariff of up to 218% on Australian wine.

April 12 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Tuesday approved a $75 million settlement between Smithfield Foods Inc and a class of consumers who accused the pork producer of conspiring to restrict supply in order to keep prices artificially high. Pork consumers last year settled with Smithfield rival JBS SA for $20 million. The judge in a separate order on Tuesday awarded nearly $25 million in legal fees to the plaintiffs firms representing the consumer class. The consumer class attorneys said in a court filing in January that they'd spent more than 37,000 hours pursuing antitrust claims over four years. The case is In re Pork Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota, No.

☆ When it's dumpling-eatin' time in Georgia...
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TBILISI, April 12 (Reuters) - In the mountainous Caucasus nation of Georgia, dumpling-eating is a serious affair. "I'm not Georgian, but the first rule I learnt when I came to Georgia was how to eat khinkali," says Sergei Shirinsky, who dubs himself a connoisseur. That's the first rule," Shirinsky says. "If you add something other than pepper you can go to prison in Georgia," Shirinsky jokes as he manoeuvres the fluffy parcel past his moustache, completing a demonstration of how khinkali should be eaten. The exact origins of the dumpling in Georgia are unclear, but it has been prepared in towns and villages across the country for centuries and different regions still bicker over who invented it and who makes it best.

☆ Here's what's getting cheaper at the grocery store
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Grocery prices finally dipped in March, falling for the first time since September 2020, according to data released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The meats, poultry, fish and eggs index fell 1.4%, pulled down by another month of large decreases in egg prices. In the year through March, grocery prices jumped 8.4%, outpacing overall inflation of 5%. Grocery prices finally fell in March. But more recently, egg prices have been coming down.

☆ Moderna says it expects up to $15 billion in sales of Covid, RSV, flu vaccines in 2027
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Moderna on Tuesday said it expects to see between $8 billion and $15 billion in sales from its Covid, RSV, flu and other respiratory vaccines in 2027. The biotech company said it sees a corresponding operating profit in the range of $4 billion to $9 billion. Those respiratory product estimates are supported by additional research investments of $6 billion to $8 billion "over the next few years," Moderna added. Moderna said earlier this year it expects $5 billion in mRNA Covid vaccine sales in 2023, a steep drop from the $18 billion the shot raked in last year. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company's Covid vaccine remains its only commercially available product.

☆ Chipotle unveils sustainable-restaurant design as it aims to cut carbon footprint in half by 2030
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Next year, more than 100 of the burrito chain's new locations will use all-electric equipment and some additional elements from the new design. Chipotle Mexican Grill on Tuesday unveiled a new all-electric restaurant design aimed at helping the company reach its goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. Chipotle isn't the only restaurant chain looking to its restaurants to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions. And a year earlier, its archrival, Restaurant Brands International's Burger King, revealed a new restaurant design that features solar panels. The company's goal to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 is based on its 2019 baseline of 1.4 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent across its supply chain and restaurants.

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