DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Japan takes earthquake safety seriously. Here's how its culture of preparedness keeps so many people alive.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-05 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

With its history of natural disasters, Japan is one of the countries best prepared for emergencies. Japan now has some of the strictest building codes of any country in the world, The New York Times reported after the 2011 earthquake. Japan installs resilient infrastructureMuch like its buildings, Japan has the experience and the money to fortify its infrastructure against earthquakes. During that 2011 disaster, rapid response teams were able to quickly repair roads to help move supplies and assistance to affected areas. According to the World Bank, historical knowledge may have helped save lives during Japan's 2011 tsunami.

Persons: —, Daniel Aldrich, Aldrich, he's, Kim Kyung, They're Organizations: Service, Reuters, World Bank, Northeastern University, Japan, New York Times, BBC News, Officials, Universal Studios Japan, Kyodo, REUTERS, Japan Meteorological Society, Japan Railways, Japan Times, Guardian, KYODO, Japan Meteorological Agency, NOAA Locations: Japan, Noto, Turkey, Syria, Haiti, Pakistan, Wajima, Tokyo, Mashiki, Kumamoto, Fukushima, Natori

☆ North Korea fires 200 artillery shells near Yeonpyeong Island; South reportedly orders evacuation
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-05 | by ( Lim Hui Jie | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A shelter for protecting residents from potential North Korean attacks stands on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, on Friday, June 26, 2020. South Korea has reportedly ordered civilians on the border island of Yeonpyeong to move to shelters after North Korea fired 200 artillery shells into the sea near the island, local news media said on Friday. Yeonpyeong Island is close to what is known as the "Northern Limit Line," the de facto maritime border that separates the two Koreas. In a major escalation of tensions in November 2010, the island was bombarded by North Korean artillery, killing two South Korean marines and two civilians. North Korea and South Korea are formally still at war, as the Korean War in 1953 ended with an armistice and not a formal peace treaty.

Persons: Ban Organizations: Yonhap News, North Korean, Korea's, Chiefs, Staff, NBC News, Chosun Ilbo, Marine Corps, NLL, Reuters, North, South, United Locations: South Korea, Yeonpyeong, Korea, Korean, , Jangsan, Baengnyeong, Sansan, United Nations, North Korea

☆ BYD beats Tesla for a second straight year after producing more than 3 million cars in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-02 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Arjun Kharpal | CNBCBEIJING — BYD produced more than 3 million new energy vehicles in 2023, surpassing Tesla 's production for a second straight year. Tesla said Tuesday it produced 1.84 million cars in 2023. While total production surpassed Tesla, BYD manufactured 1.6 million battery-only passenger cars and 1.4 million hybrids, putting Tesla on top for battery-only production. Stock Chart Icon Stock chart iconEven though it surpassed the 3 million mark, BYD's annual sales slightly missed CLSA's expectations for 3.05 million vehicles. BYD said it sold 3.02 million new energy vehicles in 2023.

Persons: BYD, Arjun Kharpal, Tesla, Elon, Aito, Geely, Zeekr, Nezha, Joel Ying, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: CNBC BEIJING, Elon Musk's, Monday, Overseas, CNBC, EV, China, EU Locations: Europe, Munich, Germany, China, Hong Kong, Hungary

☆ Pharma giants are hiking prices on over 500 drugs for 2024, report says
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-02 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Read previewPharmaceutical giants Pfizer, Sanofi, and Takeda Pharmaceutical are due to raise prices on more than 500 drugs in the US from January, according to the Reuters news agency. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. It comes as the pharmaceutical sector prepares for the Biden Administration's release of discounted prices for 10 high-cost drugs in September. AdvertisementFurther in the future, the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act includes new provisions to allow the government's Medicaid health program to directly negotiate drug prices with their makers — but only from 2026. It said that three companies, including GlaxoSmithKline, are poised to lower prices in January across at least 15 drugs.

Persons: —, Takeda, Biden Organizations: Service, Pfizer, Sanofi, Takeda Pharmaceutical, Reuters, Business, Biden, GlaxoSmithKline

Meanwhile, there is growing excitement that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will approve the first ever bitcoin ETF, after years of opposition. With all of this excitement comes some quite bold predictions about bitcoin's price. "No rationale for that prediction," Mobius said, except that a bitcoin ETF looks likely and "that has heightened interest" in the cryptocurrency. Yang attributes the anticipated price rise to a bitcoin ETF being approved, leading to higher institutional investment in bitcoin, as well as May 2024's bitcoin halving, which would result in the bitcoin supply being constrained. Alexander told CNBC that during the first quarter of 2024, bitcoin will trade within the $40,000 to $55,000 range, owing to "professional traders creating volatility."

Persons: Filip Radwanski, Bitcoin, bitcoin, FTX, Sam Bankman, Fried, Binance's Changpeng Zhao, Mark Mobius, Mobius, Yang, Luna, James Butterfill, Butterfill, Antoni Trenchev, Trenchev, Carol Alexander, Alexander, Coinbase, Matrixport Organizations: Getty, CNBC, Department of Justice, U.S, U.S . Securities, Exchange, Chartered, University of Sussex, Exchange Commission, SEC, Fidelity, Blackrock, Federal Reserve Locations: U.S, bitcoin, Blackrock

Here are 6 signals investment bankers are watching as they pray for an M&A rebound in 2024. By contrast, activity from private equity firms "was off almost 40%," he said. In 2021, private equity firms transacted $1.5 trillion across 2,869 deals, according to Dealogic. Last year, private equity M&A made up 40% of total activity, according to Goldman Sachs. AI companies, many of which are only now being formed, need to mature, and the winners and losers need to come into focus, bankers said.

Persons: Wall, LSEG, Goldman Sachs, Vito Sperduto, Sperduto, we've, Stephan Feldgoise, Hess, Anthony J, Carfang, Cash, Goldman, Goldman's Feldgoise, Feldgoise, Mark Sorrell, I'm, Harold M, Lambert, Jerome Powell, Greg McBride, McBride, Jonathan Gray, dealmaking, Gray, Rob Chisholm, Chisholm Organizations: Fed, London Stock Exchange, Business, RBC Capital Markets, Conference Board, Conference, Federal, Goldman, Federal Reserve, Private, Bankers, DOJ, FTC, Federal Reserve Board, Bankrate, of Labor Statistics, Cisco, LSEG, Qatalyst Partners, Citi, & $ Locations: LSEG, Ukraine

☆ A few U.S.-listed China stocks doubled in price in 2023. Winners to watch
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-31 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The top-performing U.S.-listed Chinese stocks for 2023 weren't well-known internet names. But topping PDD were three stocks that basically doubled or more for the year: ACM Research , New Oriental Education and Ehang . Overall market struggled Individual stock gains contrast with a steep decline for Chinese stocks overall. The outperforming mainland Chinese stock index was the Beijing Stock Exchange 50 Index, up by about 15% in 2023, according to Wind. Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that ZKH is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Persons: Alibaba, it's, Dong, Goldman Sachs, Ehang, Allen Chang, EHang, Goldman, Hollysys Organizations: PDD Holdings, ACM Research, New Oriental Education, Nvidia, Wings Logistics, United Arab Emirates, Auto, Technologies, Ascendent, Partners, New York Stock Exchange, U.S, CSI, Beijing Stock Locations: China, New, Hong Kong, ., United Arab, Shanghai, Beijing

☆ Women's health is gaining traction — and a top VC predicts a blockbuster IPO for Maven could pave the way for more transactions
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-26 | by ( Blake Dodge | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Investors rely on "exits" such as initial public offerings when assigning valuations to similar companies, Farr said. So the lack of attractive data on this front is helping to hold back the women's health category as a whole, she said. "Depressed valuations are keeping the IPO window latched," the authors of the SVB report wrote. Maven ClinicWomen's health, long neglected by VCs, is gaining tractionHistorically, investment in women's health has lagged behind other parts of healthcare. More than 76% of women's health startups have at least one female cofounder, the SVB report said.

Persons: Chrissy Farr, Farr, Maven, Kate Ryder, SVB, Gina Bartasi Organizations: OMERS Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, Business, Maven

☆ Hundreds of images of child sexual abuse material were found in a massive dataset used to train AI image-generating tools
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-21 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —More than a thousand images of child sexual abuse material were found in a massive public dataset used to train popular AI image-generating models, Stanford Internet Observatory researchers said in a study published earlier this week. The presence of these images in the training data may make it easier for AI models to create new and realistic AI-generated images of child abuse content, or “deepfake” images of children being exploited. The massive dataset that the Stanford researchers examined, known as LAION 5B, contains billions of images that have been scraped from the internet, including from social media and adult entertainment websites. Of the more than five billion images in the dataset, the Stanford researchers said they identified at least 1,008 instances of child sexual abuse material. “Stability AI models were trained on a filtered subset of that dataset.

Persons: ” LAION Organizations: New, New York CNN, Stanford Internet, Stanford, Internet Watch, National Center for, Canadian Centre for Child, CNN, Stability Locations: New York, London

CHANNELVIEW, Texas — For nearly 20 years, Texas environmental regulators have kept a disturbing secret. AdvertisementTexas Community Health News; Texas Commission on Environmental Quality"Any exposure to a carcinogen increases your risk of developing cancer. AdvertisementTim Doty, a former TCEQ mobile air monitoring expert, at the industrial edge of River Terrace Park in Channelview, Texas. In fact, the agency rarely fines companies that violate Texas air pollution laws. Mark FelixHoneycutt's toxicology division soon took an even more dramatic step to weaken Texas' benzene guidelines.

Persons: Loren Hopkins, Hopkins, Mark Felix, TCEQ, AirToxScreen, AirToxScreen Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee, Menefee, Tim Doty, Doty, Solv, He'd, Glenn Shankle, Kelly Keel, Todd Riddle, Riddle, Lopez, Joe Lopez, Dora, Joel Lopez, Randy Lopez, It's, Joel, Felix Benzene, wildcatters, Houston —, Forbes, Lorenzo de Zavala, Alison Cohen, Cohen, Tim Doty's, Houston Mayor Bill White, Shankle, Michael Honeycutt, Valerie Meyers, Meyers, Mark Felix Meyers, Richard Hyde, John Sadlier, Ryder, Hyde, hadn't, Russell Allen, Matt Baker, Jacintoport, Cloelle Danforth, Public Health Watch —, Danforth, Mark Felix Honeycutt's, Eric Schaeffer, Schaeffer, Honeycutt, Jim Tarr, polluters, upended, Mark Felix Fracking, Barnett, Glenn Shankle —, —, Rick Perry, Perry, Sadlier, David Bower, misstep, Baker, Bower, Michael Burgess, Greg Abbott, Abbott, Mark Felix Meanwhile, Randy, That's, Carolyn Stone, Stone, Carolyn Stone's, Mark Felix The, Cynthia Benson, Benson, Mark Felix Tim Doty, Mark Felix K, Jordan Gass Organizations: Public Health Watch, Texas Commission, Environmental, American Petroleum Institute, Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, U.S . Navy, Geospatial - Intelligence Agency, General, Health, Public Health, Rice University, Environmental Protection Agency, Texas Community Health, AirToxScreen Harris County Attorney, polluters, Mark Felix Public Health, TCEQ, Solv, Mark Felix Public Health Watch, myelodysplasia, Houston, Oil, Gas Watch, Texas, Houston Ship, University of California, Houston Mayor, ., . Texas Community Health, NASA, Exxon Mobil, Public, Watch, Environmental Defense Fund, Management, Civil, Air Alliance Houston, Republican, Fort, United, Texas toxicologist, EPA, Texas Tribune, Google, Land Office, . Geological Survey, National Oceanic, Firefighters, U.S . Occupational Safety, Health Administration, Channelview, Improvement Coalition, Health Watch, San Jacinto, K, Texas Legislature, Solv Group, Services Locations: , Texas, Texas, Houston, Channelview's Jacintoport, San Jacinto, California, Jacintoport, Channelview , Texas, AirToxScreen Harris County, Channelview, Harris County, United States, North Channelview, Gulf, Terrace, Joel's, Houston , Texas, Spindletop, Mexico, Republic of Texas, Port of Houston, San Francisco, . Texas, That's, polluters, lacquers, Dallas, Fort Worth, Fort Worth City, Austin, Round, Minnesota, Galveston, U.S

☆ US millennial women are now more likely to die in their late 20s and early 30s than any generation since the World War II era: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-12 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

AdvertisementBaby boomer and Gen X women, meanwhile, saw a respective 6 and 4.4 suicides per 100,000 women when they were aged 25 to 34. While White millennial women saw suicide rates decline, young Black, American Indian or Alaskan Native, mixed-race, and Hispanic women experienced increases. AdvertisementBut millennial women also are faring better in the economyThe decline in safety among millennial women comes despite their improved financial and education status compared to generations before. At least 43.6% of young millennial women in the US have graduated college — a record level in modern history. That's compared to 28% of Gen X women and 22% of baby boomer women who graduated by the time they turned 34, the report said.

Persons: —, boomer, Black, Gen, PRB, Gen X, Sara Srygley, X Organizations: Service, Business, Washington DC, Bureau, Statistics, Centers for Disease Control, Census Bureau, Labor Department, Center for American Women, Rutgers University Locations: American

☆ ‘It’s game on’: The world’s largest iceberg is on the move. Scientists explain why it matters
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-06 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

"It's just astonishingly big and it's a reminder of how much risk we're at from sea level rise." "Antarctica has historically been quite a small contributor to sea level rise, but it is growing, and it is taking up a bigger and bigger share of the sea level rise that we see every year," he added. "So, it's a symbol of the growing dominance of Antarctica in the sea level rise equation." This temperature threshold is widely recognized as crucial because so-called tipping points become more likely beyond this level. Tipping points are thresholds at which small changes can lead to dramatic shifts in Earth's entire life support system.

Persons: Robbie Mallett, A23a, Mallett, Mallet, That's, Gail Whiteman, Taalas, Hollie Adams, NASA Modis Organizations: United Arab Emirates, Continent, University of College London, CNBC, United, NASA, World Meteorological Organization, University of Exeter, WMO, Expo, Bloomberg, Getty Images Bloomberg, Getty Locations: DUBAI, United Arab, Antarctica, New York City, United Arab Emirates, South Georgia, Dubai, COP28, Green

☆ The Ukrainian sniper team claiming the world's longest kill shot described how they shot a Russian officer from over 2 miles away
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Ukrainian sniper team claiming the world's longest kill shot has described shooting a Russian soldier. "I was thinking that Russians would now know that is what Ukrainians are capable of," the sniper told the WSJ. "I was thinking that Russians would now know that is what Ukrainians are capable of," Kovalskiy told the news outlet in a report published Monday. A view from the viewfinder of a Ukrainian sniper rifle at a shooting range amid Russia and Ukraine war in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on August 09, 2023. AdvertisementBefore that shot, British army sniper Craig Harrison was believed to have held the record after killing a Taliban militant from 1.5 miles away.

Persons: Vyacheslav Kovalskiy, —, Kovalskiy, that's, Ignacio Marin, Kovalskiy's, Craig Harrison Organizations: Ukrainian, Service, Wall Street, Security Service, US Marine Corps, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Street, Islamic Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Kherson, Russia, Donetsk Oblast, Canadian

☆ Tel Aviv bourse says no unusual trading ahead of Oct 7 Hamas attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Steven Scheer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

JERUSALEM, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange said on Tuesday that a report by U.S. researchers suggesting there were investors in Israel who may have profited from prior knowledge of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack was inaccurate and its publication irresponsible. "There was nothing unusual in short positions in the stock exchange in the two months before the attack." "The ISA's examinations found, inter-alia, that the average short balances for shares traded on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange declined during the period preceding October 7th," the regulator said in a statement. Their report said "short interest in the MSCI Israel Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) suddenly, and significantly, spiked" on Oct. 2, based on data from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). He also said the short position in Leumi was taken by an unidentified Israeli bank known to the TASE.

Persons: Robert Jackson Jr, Joshua Mitts, Yaniv Pagot, Pagot, Mitts, Steven Scheer, Mark Potter, Leslie Adler Organizations: Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, U.S, New York University, Columbia University, Hamas, Reuters, Israel Securities Authority, Tel, Aviv Stock Exchange, ISA, Leumi, MSCI Israel, Fund, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Thomson Locations: Israel, Leumi, Israel's, agorot, MSCI

At least 118 countries at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai have backed a pledge to improve energy efficiency rates by 4% each year until 2030. In its simplest form, energy efficiency can simply mean using appliances, technology, or electronics that are designed to consume less energy, such as heat pumps or LED lighting. Industries worldwide could save $437 billion per year by 2030 with improved energy efficiency, according to an October 2023 industry collective report by the Energy Efficiency Movement. As a result, energy efficiency improved globally this year by about 1.3% compared with last year, slower than the 2% improvement posted in 2022 due largely to rising energy demand, the IEA's annual Energy Efficiency report said. In the U.S., energy efficiency is beating the global average efficiency improvement rate this year at 4%, with $86 billion allocated for the goal under the Inflation Reduction Act.

Persons: Andrew Boyers, Larissa Gross, Sofie Irgens, Nick Eyre, Gloria Dickie, Katy Daigle, Jan Harvey Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, International Energy Agency, BE, European Union, Industries, Energy, U.S . Department of Energy, IEA, Oxford University, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Watchfield, Swindon, Britain, Dubai, leakages, India, Africa, U.S, Germany, Sweden, Netherlands

☆ Israel considers flooding Gaza tunnels with seawater- WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

It was not clear whether Israel would consider using the pumps before all hostages were released, according to the story. Hamas has previously said it has hidden captives in "safe places and tunnels." The Wall Street Journal said an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) official declined to comment on the flooding plan but was quoted as saying: "The IDF is operating to dismantle Hamas’s terror capabilities in various ways, using different military and technological tools." Israel first informed the United States of the option last month, the Wall Street Journal said, reporting that officials did not know how close Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government was to carrying out the plan. Israel has not made a final decision to go ahead or rule it out, the officials were cited as saying.

Persons: Ronen, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Costas Pitas, Steve Holland, Emily Rose, Don Durfee, Stephen Coates Organizations: Palestinian, Hamas, REUTERS, Wall Street, U.S, Reuters, Street Journal, Israel Defense Forces, IDF, Wall Street Journal, Thomson Locations: Al, Gaza City, Gaza, Israel, United States

☆ The 10 most expensive cities in the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Geneva, Paris, and San Francisco were among the 10 most expensive cities. 1 in a ranking of how expensive 173 cities around the world are. AdvertisementAn EIU article noted that while New York and two other US cities were part of the top 10 most expensive cities based on the cities analyzed, the article stated that "North American cities have, on average, slipped down our cost-of-living ranking." Singapore was also the most expensive city in the world last year when it tied with New York. AdvertisementHere are the most expensive cities, each with their index noted below from the EIU report.

Persons: —, EIU, Hong Kong, Syetarn, Hansakul Organizations: Economist Intelligence, Singapore, Service, Business, New, Swiss, Hong Locations: Zurich, Geneva, Paris, San Francisco, Singapore, New York City, New York, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv, Israel, Copenhagen, Denmark

The Global Cooling Pledge would mark the world's first collective focus on energy emissions from the cooling sector. That would equal one-tenth of expected global emissions, the report said, and would strain electric grids. Organizers hope to see at least 80 countries supporting the cooling pledge, given the urgent need to slash climate-warming emissions and keep people safe from dangerous heatwaves. Nearly three-quarters of the potential for reducing cooling emissions by mid-century can be found in G20 countries, the UNEP report said. UNEP estimates that global efforts to tackle cooling emissions could avoid the release of up to 78 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Persons: Amr Alfiky, Brian Dean, Gloria Dickie, Sarita Chaganti Singh, Katy Daigle Organizations: United Nations, Change, United Arab Emirates, REUTERS, Rights, U.S . State Department, United Nations Environment Programme, Reuters, U.S . Environmental Protection Agency, Sustainable Energy, UNEP, Thomson Locations: Dubai, United Arab, United States, U.S, Kenya, India

☆ Could 'carbon passports' that limit how much we travel be in our future?
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Joey Hadden | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A recent report on the future of travel includes the concept of a "carbon passport." One tour company is proposing a solution: a "carbon passport" that would limit how much carbon travelers could emit each year. "Carbon passports have taken that idea one step further" because they would involve tracking and limiting travel carbon emissions, specifically, Hawkins added. In reality, a carbon passport would be challenging to implementHawkins and Matt Berna, the president of Intrepid in the Americas, said they didn't see a carbon passport as a quick fix, though. To track your flight's carbon emissions, Berna suggests booking through Google Flights, which has included emissions levels since 2021.

Persons: Paloma Zapata —, Zapata, Alex Hawkins, Hawkins, Matt Berna, Berna, it's, Anna Abelson, Jonathan M, Thierry Monasse, there's Organizations: Future Laboratory, Intrepid, Environmental Protection Agency, Sustainable Travel International, Business, The, Laboratory, Tisch Center of Hospitality, New York University, Airlines, International Air Transport Association, Wizz, Google, European Environment Locations: Americas, Greece, Italy, Albania

☆ Spotify ditches popular podcasts 'Heavyweight' and 'Stolen' as CEO doubles down on cost-cutting
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Spotify is cutting two big podcasts, "Heavyweight" and "Stolen," Bloomberg reported. The podcasts in question, "Heavyweight" and "Stolen," will be canceled after completing their current seasons, the report said. Given the cancellations, the streaming giant's viral Spotify Wrapped campaign might soon be overshadowed by a new mantra: "Spotify Scrapped." "Heavyweight" was listed as one of The New York Times' top podcasts of the year and "Stolen" won a Pulitzer Prize and Peabody Award. The news of the podcasts' axing comes as Spotify made its third round of layoffs this year.

Persons: Daniel Ek, —, Ek, Mason Morfit, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Organizations: Bloomberg, Analysts, Service, Spotify, The New York Times, Peabody, Spotify's Gimlet, Financial Times Locations: Stockholm

“Each decade since the 1990s has been warmer than the previous one and we see no immediate sign of this trend reversing,” its secretary-general, Petteri Taalas, said. Experts are divided about one of the most important metrics: The rate of warming. University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann has argued warming has been steadily increasing since 1990, but isn't speeding up. He warned that such warming is fueling increasingly dangerous extreme weather events, coastal flooding and many other “disastrous” impacts. Glaciers in Papua, Indonesia are likely to disappear altogether within the next decade,” WMO said.

Persons: Petteri Taalas, James Hansen, Michael Mann, ” Mann, ” Organizations: United Arab Emirates, United Nations, World Meteorological Organization, WMO, NASA, Warming, University of Pennsylvania, ” WMO, AP Locations: DUBAI, United Arab, Dubai, Papua, Indonesia, “, Africa, Kenya, Kilimanjaro, Greenland, Antarctica

Still, despite the sharp drop in October, job openings remain at historically high levels. And the unemployment rate has come in below 4% for 21 straight months, the longest such streak since the 1960s. The unemployment rate is expected to have remained at 3.9%, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet. Though unemployment remains low, 1.93 million Americans were collecting unemployment benefits in the week that ended Nov. 18, the most in two years. The cooling of the job market could mean a lessening of inflation pressures and less need for the Fed to keep interest rates high.

Persons: —, Rubeela Farooqi, ” Organizations: WASHINGTON, —, Labor, Federal Reserve, The Labor Department, Hollywood, Fed Locations: — U.S

☆ Ukraine is using its advanced Leopard tanks like long-range artillery instead of penetrating battle vehicles, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine is using Leopard tanks more like long-range artillery than attack vehicles, AFP reported. AdvertisementUkraine is using the advanced Leopard tanks it received from its Western allies defensively rather than as penetrative offensive weapons, news agency Agence France-Presse reported. A Leopard tank's 120mm cannon has an effective range of about 2.4 miles, while an M777 howitzer has a 13-mile range, more than 5 times as far. AdvertisementUkraine's allies agreed to give it Leopard tanks in January, after months of Ukrainian requests and after pressure from its smaller allies that didn't have any of their own to give. AdvertisementWhile Ukraine waited, Russia built formidable defenses and turned Ukraine into the world's most heavily mined country.

Persons: —, Volodymyr Zelenskyy Organizations: AFP, Service, Agence France, Ukraine's 21st Mechanised Brigade, Leopard Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Ukraine's, Swedish

☆ China issues safety guidelines for autonomous public transport vehicles
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Baidu's Apollo car with an autonomous driving system, which serves for self-driving taxi services, is seen at the Shougang Industry Park in Beijing, China July 30, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBEIJING, Dec 5 (Reuters) - China on Tuesday issued safety guidelines for the use of autonomous vehicles in public transport, the latest in a series of measures preparing for the increased use of driverless cars. The guidelines apply to autonomous vehicles for passengers including taxis as well as for freight transportation, the Ministry of Transport said in a statement. They also require companies using autonomous vehicles for public transport to be qualified and licensed and state that companies can work together with automakers on such operations. In October, it issued guidelines for highway engineering facilities to support autonomous driving technology.

Persons: Tingshu Wang, Albee Zhang, Zoey Zhang, Brenda Goh, Christopher Cushing Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Ministry of Transport, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Rights BEIJING

☆ Meta's top AI scientist reportedly warned Mark Zuckerberg that Facebook and Instagram could go extinct if they didn't catch up with ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Meta's top AI scientist urged Mark Zuckerberg to make a ChatGPT rival, the New York Times reports. Yann LeCun warned that Facebook and Instagram could potentially go extinct if Meta didn't act. If Meta didn't buckle down on its AI efforts, Facebook and Instagram could go extinct, LeCun warned, according to the report. "I have been thinking about what you said," the CEO told LeCun during a dinner that evening, a person familiar told the Times. Meta didn't immediately reply to Business Insider's request for comment from Zuckerberg or LeCun.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Yann LeCun, Meta, —, OpenAI, Zuckerberg, Instagram, LeCun, Meta didn't, Josh Hawley of, Richard Blumenthal, Meta wasn't, OpenAI —, didn't, Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg Organizations: New York Times, Facebook, Meta, Service, Times, 4chan, Tech, Google, Microsoft, Paris Locations: Menlo Park , California, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Connecticut

Search resuls for: "Port Said"

25 mentions found