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☆ US Green Berets are looking to troops from NATO's newest member as 'mentors' for harsh winter combat
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In March, US Green Berets trained in the Arctic with "mentors" from Finland's Utti Jaeger Regiment. The Utti Jaeger RegimentUtti Jaeger Regiment soldiers during training in May 2019. The Utti Jaeger Regiment takes part in about 40 "executive assistance tasks," which likely includes training and real-world missions, each year. But Finnish forces live in those conditions, and the Special Forces soldiers looked up to them because of it. US Green Berets and Utti Jaeger Regiment troops at a helicopter landing zone in Lapland on March 12.

Persons: Finland's Utti, —, Utti Jaeger, Utti, Lance Cpl, Scott Jenkins, Anthony Bryant, Izabella Workman, I'm, Jaeger, Stavros Atlamazoglou Organizations: Green Berets, Finland's Utti Jaeger, Service, NATO, Utti, Utti Jaeger, US Marine Corps, Utti Jaeger Regiment, US Army, Staff, US Army Special Forces, Green, Special Forces, Special Forces Group, US, Warfare, Finns, 10th Special Forces Group, US Air Force, Utti Jaeger Regiment Helicopter Battalion, Tech, Special Jaeger Battalion, Army, Hellenic Army, 575th Marine Battalion, Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins, School, International Locations: Finland, Ukraine, Russia, Lapland, Finland's, Fort Carson, Colorado, Alaska, Europe, Swedish, Johns

Under the "stress test" exercise, the Fed tests banks' balance sheets against a hypothetical severe economic downturn, the elements of which change annually. WHY DOES THE FED "STRESS TEST" BANKS? It typically publishes aggregate industry losses, and individual bank losses including details on how specific portfolios - like credit cards or mortgages - fared. It announces the size of each bank's stress capital buffer in the subsequent months. For example, the 2022 stress test envisioned a 5.8 percentage point jump in unemployment under a "severely adverse" scenario.

Persons: Banks, Wells, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Michael Barr, Pete Schroeder, Michelle Price, Andrea Ricci Organizations: U.S . Federal, Fed, Citigroup, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase &, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank's U.S, JPMorgan Citigroup, Wells Fargo & Co, Bank, U.S, Treasury, Thomson Locations: Silicon

☆ Opinion | Prigozhin and the Long and Infamous History of Failed Russian Rebellions
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Serge Schmemann | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Theories are already circulating on social media that the entire rebellion was a charade from the start, maybe even staged by Mr. Putin for some convoluted reason. Mr. Prigozhin has waged a long and public feud with Mr. Shoigu over the handling of the Ukraine war and has accused him of giving insufficient support to the Wagner Group. Mr. Prigozhin is the epitome of a post-Soviet villain. Among many other evil deeds, Mr. Prigozhin built the Wagner Group, which first emerged in 2014 during Russia’s invasion of Crimea and has always been closely aligned to Mr. Putin. In his fury, Mr. Prigozhin had his men take control of the southern command center in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, and ordered them to drive north to Moscow on a “march for justice” to meet with military commanders.

Persons: Putin, Prigozhin, Sergei Shoigu, Shoigu, Putin’s, Wagner, ” Organizations: Mr, Wagner, Wagner Group, Central African Locations: Ukraine, Soviet, Crimea, Libya, Syria, Central African Republic, Rostov, Don, Russia, Moscow

☆ As Gen Z enters the workforce alongside AI, staying nimble is key to building a career
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Alexandra York | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Gen Z has an opportunity to learn about and adapt to AI technologies in the workforce. Gen Zers are the youngest component of the workforce and have more working years ahead of them than older generations. But as digital natives, Gen Zers have natural advantages to survive and thrive in this new AI-driven economy. That can give the people adept at using AI more time and energy for the creative, innovative, and thought-provoking work they're looking for. So long as Gen Zers remain flexible and adaptive, they have the potential to flourish in the AI-driven workforce.

Persons: Gen Z, —, Zers, haven't, Gen Zers, Alexander Kvamme, Erin Reilly, Reilly, Reilly doesn't Organizations: Service, Moody College of Communication, University of Texas Locations: Austin

☆ To the Conductor Claudio Abbado, the Orchestra Was a Collective
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( David Allen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Achieving that ideal was no simple task with orchestras of long traditions and routines, though Abbado remade the Philharmonic in his image, and lastingly so. Striving to fulfill that promise led him not only to embrace the energy of youth orchestras, but also to support and found ensembles of like mind: the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra Mozart. The most extravagant was the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, a coterie of colleagues and admirers with whom he gave critically sanctified summer performances from 2003 until just before his death. The breadth is extraordinary — what other conductor was as adept as Abbado in Rossini as well as in Webern and Ligeti? — yet it still excludes records he made for EMI, RCA and Sony, as well as most of his vaunted Mahler from Lucerne.

Persons: Abbado, Martha Argerich, Maurizio Pollini, Schell, “, ”, Karajan, Orchestra Mozart, Rossini, Webern, Ligeti, Mahler Organizations: Berlin Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, Philips, Universal Music Group, EMI, RCA, Sony Locations: Lucerne

☆ Everyone wants to know when consumer demand is going to come back for real. Here's what FedEx execs are watching.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

FedEx's massive overhaul is showing early signs of success but package volumes are still down. For the year ahead, FedEx expects moderate revenue growth of between 1% and 3% year over year. FedEx is expecting package volumes to finally bounce back after five straight quarters of declines. FedEx's guidance for the next 12 months includes moderate revenue growth, somewhere between 1% and 3% year over year. "Green shoots," or signs of potential revenue growth, are beginning to show in Europe however, she said.

Persons: We're, Raj Subramanian, Morgan Stanley, Brie Carere, Carere, hasn't, Jason Furman, Mike Lenz, Subramanian Organizations: FedEx, Tuesday, Target, Harvard Locations: Europe, North America, Trans

☆ The IRS could recover $12 for every $1 spent on scrutinizing the ultra-wealthy's taxes
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Economists find that every extra dollar spent on auditing the top 10% of taxpayers yields $12 in revenue. A new paper from economists at the Department of Treasury, Harvard University, and the University of Sydney looks at the return on investment from IRS audits from 2010 through 2014. They find that while it's much more expensive to audit the wealthiest tax payers, it's still a hearty return on investment. Auditing the top 1% yields $4.25 per dollar spent, and that number soars to $6.29 when auditing the top 0.1%. The findings illustrate how much money might be sitting untapped in what the IRS calls the tax gap — the chasm between taxes owed and taxes paid.

Persons: —, it's, Amy Hanauer, Hanauer, what's Organizations: Service, Department of Treasury, Harvard University, University of Sydney, Treasury Department, Taxation, Economic, Republican, IRS, Office

☆ Dr. Mandy Cohen: Biden chooses the next CDC director
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Betsy Klein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

And as Cohen takes on what’s become an increasingly politicized role at the CDC, Biden heralded her capacity to work across the aisle. I look forward to working with Dr. Cohen as she leads our nation’s finest scientists and public health experts with integrity and transparency,” the president said. Cohen will hit the ground running as leader of the world’s finest public health organization saving lives every day. Walensky announced her departure from her government role last month in the days before the Covid-19 public health emergency lifted. As she prepares to step into the role, Cohen inherits an agency wracked with challenges and low morale.

Persons: Joe Biden, Mandy Cohen, Rochelle Walensky, Dr, Cohen, ” Biden, what’s, Biden, Jeff Zients, Zients, “ Dr, ” Cohen, Walensky, –, Obama, ”, Andy Slavitt, “ She’s, Slavitt, Republican Sen, Richard Burr of, she’s, … I’ve, Mandy, ” Burr, Burr, “, ” Slavitt, Roy Cooper, Cohen “, Trump, Cooper, she’ll Organizations: CNN, US Centers for Disease Control, White House, CDC, North, North Carolina’s Department of Health, Human Services, Trump, Biden, Centers, Medicare, Medicaid Services, Yale School of Medicine, Harvard, of Public Health, The Washington Post, Center for Strategic, Studies, America’s Health Security, Republican, White, Democratic North Carolina Gov, Center for Health Sector Management, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business Locations: North Carolina’s, Chan, “, North Carolina, Richard Burr of North Carolina, North Carolinians

☆ Opinion: A tail of two cities – how Parisians and New Yorkers take on rats
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( David A. Andelman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Indeed, if there’s one attribute shared by New York and Paris it’s rats. The mayor of Paris is forming a committee to look into the cohabitation of the city's citizens with its notorious population of rats. Thomas Samson/AFP/Getty ImagesNot surprisingly, there are some who believe ridding the city of rats with traps and rat poison is utterly inhumane. In contrast, Boulard with his anti-rat vengeance, sounds more like the mayor of New York than the mayor of Paris. Of course, Paris has a far longer history than New York with rats.

Persons: David A, Paris CNN —, David Andelman, Tony, ”, Pont, Pont Royal they’ve, I’ve, Anne Hidalgo, Geoffroy Boulard, quartiers, Boulard, Thomas Samson, PAZ, Douchka Marcovitch, Eric Adams, Ben Regenspan, Adams, Hidalgo’s Organizations: CNN, French Legion of, The New York Times, CBS News, Paris CNN, David Andelman CNN, America’s, Paris Olympics, Pont Royal, Paris’s, hyperlocal, Getty, New York Times, Twitter, Facebook Locations: France, Paris, New York, Raspail, Tuileries, AFP, Manhattan

☆ Opinion | The Genius of Leaving Trump’s Fate Up to 12 Ordinary Floridians
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Deborah Pearlstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

After the Sept. 11 attacks, courts became especially adept at protecting sensitive information even while sharing access to it with the defense and the jury. Juries still found enough information to assess the charges, and in many of those cases, they voted to convict. Despite all the challenges, the framers of the Constitution never doubted that national security crimes belonged in front of juries. The British government had used national security charges to silence its political opponents throughout the Colonies. They matter because the justice system cannot function unless most Americans view it as a legitimate arbiter of social disputes.

Persons: Trump, overreach, Trump’s, vociferously Locations: U.S, Africa

☆ Donald Trump’s Quest to Break America’s Democracy - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Thomas L. Friedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

So part of the way Trump tries to break our system is to redefine the qualities of a leader — at least in the G.O.P. And when that is your definition of winning, people of character like McCain, Cheney and Romney are in your way. You need to strip everyone around you of character, and make everything about securing power and money. That is why so many people who entered Trump’s orbit since 2015 have walked away muddied. His family members and party colleagues have grown adept at running away from reporters’ microphones after every Trump outrage.

Persons: Trump, —, Liz Cheney, Mitt Romney, McCain, Cheney, Romney Organizations: Trump Locations: Miami, Cuban

☆ Oracle is betting its AI future on a company called Cohere. Here's why this little-known startup is becoming OpenAI's chief rival.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Julie Bort | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Oracle is offering generative AI to its customers based on tech from a startup called Cohere. Oracle will be embedding Cohere's generative AI technology into a bunch of its products and Cohere will be using Oracle's cloud to train, build, and deploy its generative AI models, Oracle chairman and CTO Larry Ellison said. One is that Cohere is designed for enterprise customers, meaning companies can use their own data to train their AI models, without sharing that data. But at the moment, Cohere is the only partner Oracle announced to power its generative AI services for customers, though this could change one day. He was a research intern at Google Brain in 2017 when he co-authored a paper on a way of training AI models to improve their abilities to understand language.

Persons: Cohere, Geoffrey Hinton, Fei, Fei Li, Pieter Abbeel, Larry Ellison, That's, Ellison, OpenAI, ChatGPT, Salesforce, Aidan Gomez, cofounders, Nick Frosst, Ivan Zhang, Gomez Organizations: Oracle, Morning, NVIDIA, Salesforce Ventures, New York Times, Microsoft, Wall, Nvidia, Google, Cohere Locations: Cohere, OpenAI, Toronto

☆ The FOMO is real for venture capitalists paying big premiums to invest in AI startups right now
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Callum Burroughs | Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Investors plowed about $25 billion into AI companies in the first three months of 2023. Other US generative AI startups including Adept, Inflection AI, Pinecone and Runway have all raised major rounds in the last few months. AI is minting unicorn-valued companies even in the tech downturnFunding into AI startups was down slightly for the full-year in 2022, matching a broader downturn in tech funding. And VC funding to generative AI startups specifically, many of which are very early-stage businesses, topped $1.7 billion in Q1 2023, per Pitchbook. "No one wants to invest in AI that's going to wipe out humanity," said AlbionVC's Grimm.

Persons: Warren Buffett, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Imran Ghory, Meta, Little, ChatGPT, David Grimm, Nathan Benaich, Benaich, VCs, Geoffrey Hinton, AlbionVC's Grimm Organizations: Blossom, Google, Facebook, Air Street Capital, Investors, EU, Stanford University, Venture Locations: OpenAI, London, Europe, French

☆ The Man Who Turned the World on to the Genius of Fungi
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Jennifer Kahn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Plants managed to leave water and grow on land only because of their collaboration with fungi, which acted as their root systems for millions of years. Even today, roughly 90 percent of plants and nearly all the world’s trees depend on fungi, which supply crucial minerals by breaking down rock and other substances. They can also be a scourge, eradicating forests — Dutch elm disease and chestnut blight are fungi — and killing humans. Without fungi, matter wouldn’t decay; the planet would be buried under layers of dead and unrotted trees and vegetation. But where “Fantastic Fungi” fell decidedly into the old-school, ’shroom-head camp, Sheldrake’s book is more embracing and more optimistic.

Persons: it’s, Sheldrake, twining, Suzanne Simard, ’ shroom, Iris Van Herpen, bodices Organizations: Adidas, HBO Locations: Ikea

Registering for aid and receiving instructions after arriving in Mykolaiv from Kherson, Ukraine, on Tuesday following damage to the Kakhovka dam. Evacuees, who fled after the Kakhovka dam was destroyed, exiting a train in Mykolaiv on Tuesday. In Mykolaiv, the southern port city, an emergency train pulled out of the station to collect people fleeing the rising waters in Kherson, about 40 miles to the east. The city of Kherson straddles the Dnipro River, which has become a front line in the war, dividing the warring armies. It mostly sits on elevated land but there are some neighborhoods close to the river bank where flooding has already been reported.

Persons: ”, don’t, “, Brendan Hoffman, The New York Times Alim, Chupyna, Olha Napkhanenko, Serhiy Prytula, ” Svitlana, Sitnik Organizations: Volunteers, Red Cross, ., The New York Times, Foundation, Telegram, “ Local Locations: Mykolaiv, Kherson, Ukraine, Dnipro, Vasyl, Ostriv, ”, Ukrainian, Russian, Oleshky, Crimea

☆ Secrets of a superyacht and private jet chef
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Francesca Street | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

She loves cooking, traveling and adventure, so she’s working her dream job. So captains or crew would recommend me, clients would recommend me to their friends.” Grace Dvornik, private chef“I was hired as a chef right away on a 64-foot sailing yacht,” says Dvornik. “In my personal experience, I haven’t had many celebrities.”As well as accommodating a range of clients, Dvornik has also acclimatized to a revolving door of colleagues-slash-roommates. While yacht crew are usually confined below deck, Dvornik says there are opportunities to enjoy the perks of living on a superyacht. But working in private aviation, Dvornik gets to spend a bit more time exploring.

Persons: Grace Dvornik, Dvornik didn’t, Dvornik, Dvornik’s, “, ”, “ It’s, Dvornik “, she’d, ” Grace Dvornik, ” Dvornik, She’s, she’s, “ I’ve, she’ll, there’s, ’, haven’t, I’m, deckhands, –, It’s, ” Dvornik’s, they’ve, ” “ I’ve, Grace Dvornik Dvornik, it’s, ” She’ll, ” She’s, “ I’m Organizations: CNN, Ashburton Chefs Academy, George Brown College Chef School, J, Bravo, ” Yacht Locations: Caribbean, Bahamas, superyachts, Clearwater , Florida, Toronto, Canada, Wyoming, “, ”, Italy

☆ Russia's being more cautious with its tanks and trying to hide them after heavy losses in battle, but it's shooting itself in the foot
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Heavy Russian tank and armored vehicle losses have led Russia to change its tactics, according to a new report. A Ukrainian soldier checks a wrecked Russian tank outside of the village of Mala Rogan, east of Kharkiv, on April 1, 2022. "It is pretty rare to find a Russian tank that hasn't blasted ERA on every single surface they can conceivably get it on, including somewhere it's really counterproductive," Watling said. While ERA is quite effective, the Ukrainians know where the weak points are to one-shot kill a Russian tank, though it's not always easy to get a clean shot off. Destroyed Russian tank is seen outside of Izyum district of Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine on October 13, 2022.

☆ Russian Attack Leaves at Least 1 Dead in Kyiv
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Andrés R. Martínez | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At least one person was killed and another was injured on Sunday morning in Kyiv as Russia fired its latest wave of missiles and drones at the Ukrainian capital. A 41-year-old man died after fragments from a drone that was shot down fell on a gas station in western Kyiv, said Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, on his Telegram channel. Ukraine’s armed force have become adept at intercepting the Russian barrages, often shooting down dozens of drones and missiles. As of this month, Ukraine has been using U.S.-made Patriot antimissile systems, one of the most advanced air defense systems, as part of its growing arsenal of weapons. And while some analysts have cast doubt on the abilities of the Kinzhal, Ukraine’s defense against them demonstrates a great capability to withstand Russia’s arsenal, which includes Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones.

☆ How one family turned a job loss into an opportunity to sail the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Audrey Wan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The family decided to leave Hong Kong to return to the Netherlands, where her husband, Jeroen, is from, she said. So the couple sold their home in the Netherlands and bought a secondhand monohull boat to "live and travel the world." Lisa Terauchi-D'RozarioThe family first sailed to France, then to Spain and Portugal, before reaching Sardinia, she said. While living at sea, her family used a water maker to turn seawater into drinking water, she said. The family checked weather forecasts often but, Lisa said, they still encountered situations they were not prepared for.

☆ Get the Best From ChatGPT With These Golden Prompts
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Brian X. Chen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Welcome back to On Tech: A.I., a pop-up newsletter that teaches you about artificial intelligence, how it works and how to use it. A few months ago, my colleagues Cade Metz and Kevin Roose explained the inner workings of A.I., including chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Bing and Google’s Bard. People from all walks of life — students, coders, artists and accountants — are experimenting with how to use A.I. to streamline and improve your work and personal life. As The Times’s personal tech columnist, I’m here to help you figure out how to use these tools safely and responsibly to improve many parts of your life.

☆ F-16s for Ukraine: Kyiv would face big hurdles in using US-made jets
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Ukraine’s quest for US-made F-16 fighter jets received a big boost over the weekend when US President Joe Biden gave his backing for Kyiv’s pilots to be trained to fly them. In fact, one active duty F-16 pilot told CNN that expectations may be way too high. An F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft has its landing gear extended to land at the US military airfield at Spangdahlem, Germany. This is a multi-year process, and that’s just for the basic tactical unit of employment,” the F-16 pilot said. “To bring in Western aircraft, Ukraine might need to repave and potentially extend a number of runways, a process which Russia would likely detect.

☆ Kusama Takes On the Infinite With a Sly Wink
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Will Heinrich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Once a high-profile fixture of the 1960s New York avant-garde, Yayoi Kusama has long since become an icon, in the sense of a visually recognizable brand. Like Coca-Cola, it also goes with anything: A recent collaboration with Louis Vuitton even included Instagram and Snapchat filters. The downside of being a brand might be a certain predictability. Each partial circle is hard against an edge, so that, with its reflection, it appears whole. Among other things, this means that your gaze doesn’t pause at the edge, instead gliding painlessly right into the mirror world.

☆ Russia was trying to kill a Patriot when the US-made weapon took out the Kinzhal missile Putin claimed was unstoppable
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukrainians last week said they'd shot down a Russian hypersonic missile using a US Patriot system. Officials told CNN Friday the Patriot defense system was the target of the advanced missile attack. Putin had previously claimed the deadly Kinzhal missiles were unstoppable. But officials on Friday told CNN the defense system itself was the target of the attack — and the Patriot expertly defended itself. Representatives for Ukraine's Ministry of Defense and the Government of the Russian Federation did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

☆ Opinion | Let the Post-Pandemic City Grow Wild
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Ben Wilson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Every city has acres of in-between land that, if managed well, could become oases of greenery harboring insect, bird and other animal life. The rubble-strewn cities of the Second World War, to the astonishment of their inhabitants, very quickly brimmed with plant and animal life. In central Münster, Germany, piles of rubble were veiled with spontaneously growing pussy willow, mountain maple, birches, yellow mulleins and wild strawberry. Neglected sites were profuse in biodiversity, often containing many more species of plants and insects than nearby parks or even the countryside. Like the Great Trinity Forest, first it was abandoned and then hundreds of species took over, many of them endangered.

☆ In a new hacking crime wave, much more personal data is being held hostage
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Kevin Travers | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Gorodenkoff | iStock | Getty ImagesThe cybersecurity world faces new threats beyond targeted ransomware attacks, according to experts at the recent RSA cybersecurity industry conference in San Francisco. McMann said hackers are now focusing on stealing customer or employee data and then threatening to leak it publicly. At the end of March, OpenAI documented a data leak in an open-source data provider that made it possible to see personal AI chat histories, payment information, and addresses. The team patched the leak in hours, but McMann said once data is out there, hackers can use it. "For example, the LastPass breach saw one of four key individuals targeted on their personal computer, through a personal public IP address getting in through an unpatched solution," he said.

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