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☆ Twitter staff are helping to remove bird logos at its HQ for the X rebrand, but one reportedly broke apart and is still there
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk has started having Twitter's iconic blue bird logo removed at the headquarters. One sign couldn't be taken down as it broke apart, leaving remnants still attached, per an NYT reporter. As Twitter rebrands to X, staff are taking down the iconic blue bird logos at its San Francisco headquarters. The Times earlier reported that work had started on detaching a ten-foot-tall bird icon in the office's cafeteria. "This is an extremely risky move because with X, Musk is essentially starting over while its competition is afoot," he added.

Persons: Elon Musk, Ryan Mac, Yu Liu, Mike Proulx, Forrester, Proulx, Mark Zuckerberg's Organizations: Twitter, San, New York Times, Times Locations: San Francisco

☆ Protesters burn Koran in front of Egyptian embassy in Denmark
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

COPENHAGEN, July 25 (Reuters) - Five anti-Islam activists set fire to a Koran in front of the Egyptian embassy in Copenhagen on Tuesday, the third such incident in Denmark in less than a week, following Koran burnings in nearby Sweden that enraged Muslims. Denmark and Sweden have said they deplore the burning of the Koran but cannot prevent it under rules protecting free speech. Last week, protesters in Iraq set the Swedish embassy in Baghdad ablaze. Tuesday's demonstration in Copenhagen by a group called "Danish Patriots" followed Koran burnings the group staged on Monday and last week in front of the Iraqi embassy. Iraq's foreign ministry on Monday called on authorities of European Union countries to "quickly reconsider so-called freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate" in light of the Koran burnings.

Persons: Trine Baumbach, Louise Breusch Rasmussen, Terje Solsvik Organizations: Patriots, European Union, Islam, University of Copenhagen, Reuters, Thomson Locations: COPENHAGEN, Copenhagen, Denmark, Sweden, Iraq, Swedish, Baghdad, European, Turkey

☆ Podcast: One tourist’s adventure is another person’s crisis zone
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

This special episode delves into the world of adventure tourism. A social media influencer is caught in Sudan’s military conflict and Iraq looks to highlight ancient Babylonian wonders to rebrand as a tourism destination after years of violence. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. Further ReadingFor migrants, the Darien is hell; but the jungle has long drawn tourists tooWhat is happening in Sudan? Fighting in Khartoum explainedIraq's ancient sites, fragile stability spur new trickle of touristsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Organizations: Apple, Google, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Panama’s Darien, Iraq, Darien, Sudan, Khartoum

☆ Drought imperils Iraq's water buffalo and a child's way of life
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Alaa Al-Marjani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Petting a water buffalo before tying a fodder bag around its neck, Mustafa Ahmed tends his father's herd in Iraq's southern province of Najaf where his family have raised animals for generations but lack of water now threatens their livelihood. Iraq forms part of the "Fertile Crescent", land sweeping from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf which has been farmed for thousands of years. But the landscape has been devastated by upstream damming of Iraq's two main rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, lower rainfall trends and decades of conflict. Ahmed's father, Ahmed Abdul Hussein, said the dire water shortage in their home Al-Mishkhab district is forcing him to sell their animals one by one - heartbreaking for his son. Reuters spoke to six families of herders in Najaf province who all said they have had to sell animals or have had livestock die over the last months.

Persons: Mustafa Ahmed, Ahmed Abdul Hussein Organizations: Reuters Locations: Najaf, Iraq, Persian, Mishkhab

☆ Who is the Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The demonstration was called by supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, 48, an influential Shi'ite cleric who commands the loyalty of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. He led two anti-U.S. revolts, prompting the Pentagon to call his Mehdi Army militia the biggest threat to Iraq’s security. In Iraq's sectarian 2006-2008 civil war, the Mehdi Army was accused of forming death squads that kidnapped and killed Sunni Muslims. In 2008, after clashing with the Iraqi army, he disbanded the Mehdi Army, renaming it the Peace Brigades. - Sadr has opposed Iranian influence in Iraq, setting him apart from other Shi'ite leaders who have close ties to Tehran.

Persons: Muqtada, Mehdi, Sadr, Mohammed Sadeq al, Saddam Hussein, Mohammed Baqir, Saddam, sayyid, Prophet Mohammad ., Sadr's, Tom Perry, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Protesters, Pentagon, Mehdi Army, Brigades, Sweden, Thomson Locations: BAGHDAD, Swedish, Baghdad, Sweden, Muqtada al, Sadr, U.S, Iraq, Tehran, Iran, Stockholm, Iraqi

☆ Swedish embassy in Baghdad stormed, set alight over Quran burning plans
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Supporters of Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gather for a protest outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on July 20, 2023. Hundreds of protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in central Baghdad early on Thursday, scaling its walls and setting it ablaze in protest against the expected burning of a Quran in Sweden. Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said embassy staff were safe but that Iraqi authorities had failed in their responsibility to protect the embassy in accordance with the Vienna Convention. Swedish police denied several applications earlier this year for protests that were set to include burning the Quran, citing security concerns. "Yes, yes to the Quran," protesters chanted.

Persons: Moqtada al, Sadr, Tobias Billstrom, Muqtada Sadr, STT Organizations: Swedish, Vienna Convention, TT, Telegram Locations: Swedish, Baghdad, Sweden, Vienna, Finnish, Stockholm, Iraqi

☆ US condemns attack in Swedish Embassy in Baghdad, criticizes Iraq security
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, July 20 (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday strongly condemned the attack on the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad over a planned Koran burning in Stockholm and criticized Iraq's security forces for not preventing protesters from breaching the diplomatic post. "It is unacceptable that Iraqi Security Forces did not act to prevent protesters from breaching the Swedish Embassy compound for a second time and damaging it." Iraq expelled the Swedish ambassador on Thursday in protest of a planned burning of the Koran in Stockholm that had prompted hundreds of protesters to storm and set alight the Swedish Embassy in the Iraqi capital. The United States called on the Iraqi government to honor its international obligations to protect all diplomatic missions in Iraq. "Foreign missions should not be targets of violence," Miller said.

Persons: Matthew Miller, Miller, Doina Chiacu, Alison Williams Organizations: Department, Iraqi Security Forces, Swedish Embassy, Thomson Locations: United States, Swedish, Baghdad, Stockholm, Iraq, U.S

BASRA, Iraq, July 19 (Reuters) - Iraq secured its $27 billion oil deal with France's TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) last week by offering quicker, less risky payback through greater revenue-sharing, a model it could replicate in the future to lure investors. The new deal is designed to allow Total to take a portion of revenues from the Ratawi oil field in Iraq's oil-rich Basra region and use them to help finance three other projects, two senior Iraqi oil officials said. In the end, Total took a 45% share while the state-owned Basra Oil Company took 30% and QatarEnergy 25%. Revenues will be split according to those stakes, one of Iraq's senior oil officials said. Iraq's oil officials said the model could be replicated in the future but that would be considered on a project-by-project basis.

Persons: France's, Aref Mohammed, Silvia Aloisi, Timour Azhari, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, Total, Reuters, Basra Oil Company, Thomson Locations: BASRA, Iraq, U.S, Basra, Ratawi, Saudi, Iraqi, Timour Azhari, Baghdad, Paris

Swedish news agency TT reported on Wednesday that Swedish police granted an application for a public meeting outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm on Thursday. "Yes, yes to the Koran," protesters chanted. [1/5]Protesters clash with security forces members as they gather near the Swedish embassy in Baghdad hours after the embassy was stormed and set on fire ahead of an expected Koran burning in Stockholm, in Baghdad, Iraq, July 20, 2023. Late last month, Sadr called for protests against Sweden and the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador after the Koran burning in Stockholm by an Iraqi man. Two major protests took place outside of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad in the aftermath of that Koran burning, with protesters breaching the embassy grounds on one occasion.

Persons: Muqtada Sadr, Baghdad's, Ahmed Saad, Sadr, Timour Azhari, Anna Ringstrom, Tom Hogue Organizations: Telegram, REUTERS, Sweden, United Arab, United, Thomson Locations: BAGHDAD, STOCKHOLM, Swedish, Baghdad, Sweden, Stockholm, Iraq, Iraqi, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Morocco, United States, Lincoln

☆ Iraq to summon US ambassador over remarks about Christian leader
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid speaks during a news conference as an ancient artifact brought back from Italy is exhibited, following his visit to Rome, in Baghdad, Iraq, June 18, 2023. REUTERS/Ahmed SaadJuly 20 (Reuters) - Iraq's president said late on Wednesday he would summon the United States ambassador to Baghdad over critical remarks by a U.S. State Department spokesperson regarding the Iraqi government's treatment of a top Iraqi Christian leader. "I will say we are disturbed by the harassment of Cardinal Sako ... and troubled by the news that he has left Baghdad," Miller told a press briefing. The Iraqi Christian community is a vital part of Iraq's identity and a central part of Iraq's history of diversity and tolerance," Miller said. Rashid was "disappointed by accusations leveled against the Iraqi government" by Miller and so would summon the ambassador, a presidency statement said.

Persons: Abdul Latif Rashid, Ahmed Saad, Matthew Miller, Cardinal Louis Sako, Sako, Pope Francis, Rashid's, Cardinal Sako, Miller, Rashid, Hatem Maher, Timour, Timour Azhari, Leslie Adler, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, U.S . State Department, State Department, Chaldean Catholic, Iraqi, Vatican Embassy, Chaldean, Islamic, Thomson Locations: Italy, Rome, Baghdad, Iraq, United States, Iraqi, U.S, Iran, Iraq's, Kurdistan, Vatican, Islamic State

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said staff at the Swedish embassy in Baghdad were safe but Iraqi authorities had failed in their responsibility to protect the embassy. Thursday's demonstration was called by supporters of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to protest at the second planned Koran burning in Sweden in weeks, according to posts in a Telegram group linked to the influential cleric and other pro-Sadr media. He stood by the embassy storming on Thursday, telling a press conference the U.S. "has no right to condemn the burning of the Swedish embassy but should have condemned the burning of the Koran". "Yes, yes to the Koran," protesters chanted. Sweden has seen several Koran burnings in recent years, mostly by far-right and anti-Muslim activists.

Persons: Tobias Billstrom, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Mohammed Shia Al, Billstrom, Muqtada al, Moqtada al, Read, Tayyip Erdogan, Ulf Kristersson, Timour Azhari, Anna Ringstrom, Supantha Mukherjee, Johan Ahlander, Marie, Louise Breusch Rasmussen, Ahmed Rasheed, Tom Hogue, Tom Perry, Lincoln, Bernadette Baum, William Maclean, Alison Williams, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: NATO, Sweden's Ericsson, State Department, Telegram, Turkish, Sweden's, Islam, Marie Mannes, Thomson Locations: Iraq, BAGHDAD, STOCKHOLM, Swedish, Stockholm, Baghdad, Iraqi, Sweden, Tehran, Turkey, Washington, Sadr, Copenhagen

☆ Nasdaq beats profit estimates on steady demand for investment products
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 19 (Reuters) - Exchange operator Nasdaq (NDAQ.O) beat estimates for second-quarter profit on Wednesday on the back of consistent demand for its investment-related products and capital markets solutions such as anti-financial crime software. The diversification helped the transatlantic exchange operator blunt the effects of a drought in the U.S. market for IPOs that had soured last year due to rising interest rates and heavy volatility. A total of 23 companies listed on its Nasdaq Stock Market through IPOs in the quarter. In line with CEO Adena Friedman's diversification strategy, Nasdaq inked its biggest-ever deal of $10.5 billion for Thoma Bravo-owned software firm Adenza in the quarter. Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Thoma, Manya Saini, Maju Samuel Organizations: Nasdaq, Thoma Bravo, Thomson Locations: U.S, IPOs, Bengaluru

☆ Meta and Qualcomm team up to run big A.I. models on phones
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

But the AI boom has largely missed the companies that make leading edge processors for phones and PCs, like Qualcomm. The announcement on Tuesday suggests that Qualcomm wants to position its processors as well-suited for A.I. If large language models can run on phones instead of in large data centers, it could push down the significant cost of running A.I. Qualcomm will make Meta's open-source Llama 2 models available on Qualcomm devices, which it believes will enable applications like intelligent virtual assistants. Doing this will allow researchers and eventually commercial enterprises to use the AI models on their own computers without asking permission or paying.

Persons: Cristiano Amon, OpenAI's, Bard Organizations: Qualcomm, Milken Institute Global Conference, Calif, Meta, Nvidia Locations: Beverly Hills

☆ Exclusive: US issues new 120-day waiver letting Iraq pay Iran for electricity
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Arshad Mohammed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, July 18 (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday moved to let Iraq pay Iran for electricity via non-Iraqi banks, a U.S. official said, a step Washington hopes may keep Tehran from forcing unpopular power cuts during the sweltering Iraqi summer. Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed a 120-day national security waiver allowing Iraq - heavily dependent on Iranian electricity - to deposit such payments into non-Iraqi banks in third countries instead of into restricted accounts in Iraq, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity. "We have to help the Iraqis with this perennial pressure from the Iranians to access the money," said the U.S. official. It is not clear, however, whether Iran might ease up on Iraq as a result. Tehran could decide it has greater leverage over Iraq than over other nations and continue to exert pressure.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Donald Trump, Trump, Joe Biden's, Arshad Mohammed, Chris Reese, Sonali Paul Organizations: U.S, Iraq, U.S ., United Nations, Thomson Locations: United States, Iran, Washington, Tehran, Iraqi, Iraq, Baghdad, Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, Israel

☆ Twitter's valuation has been slashed by 47% at Ark Invest since Elon Musk took over
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ark Invest has marked down its Twitter valuation by 47% since it was taken over by Elon Musk, the Wall Street Journal reported. Musk had recently tweeted that Twitter's advertising revenue has been cut in half since he took over the company. Given Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion late last year, the markdown would put the company's current valuation at about $23 billion, based on Ark's estimate. "We're still negative cash flow, due to ~50% drop in advertising revenue plus heavy debt load," Musk said of Twitter on Twitter. We also think that longer term, Elon and team are very serious that they're going to turn this into an everything app," Wood said.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Cathie Wood, Wood, Elon Organizations: Elon, Wall Street Journal, Service, Wall Street, Invest's Venture, Twitter, Fidelity, Ark, Nvidia, Nasdaq Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ 4 major fighter-jet deals could reshape the Middle East's biggest militaries for decades to come
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( Paul Iddon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Middle Eastern countries have for decades been major buyers of advanced fighter jets. Four potential deals involving Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Egypt show that the trend will continue. Four looming acquisitions by Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Egypt show that this trend will not change any time soon. Egypt's EaglesEgyptian Air Force MiG-29s during an exercise in Sudan in May 2021. While the Russian jets couldn't exchange data with Egypt's US-made aircraft, Cairo hoped they could operate as an "air force within an air force" and partially redress its limited air-to-air capabilities.

Persons: Cuneyt, MURAD, Erdogan, Mehmet Kaman, Recep Tayyip Erdogan's, Biden, Sen, Bob Menendez, hasn't, Iran's, Vladimir Putin, Ebrahim Raisi, ALEXANDR DEMYANCHUK, it's, —, Iran hasn't, ATTA KENARE, Mohammed Reza Ashtiani, Iraq's, KARIM SAHIB, Saddam Hussein's, Ali Mohammed, KARI, ASHRAF SHAZLY, Derek Seifert, Frank McKenzie, Israel, Paul Iddon Organizations: Service, United Arab Emirates, Dassault Rafales, Dassault, Vipers, NATO Air Policing, Anadolu Agency, Getty, US, Turkish Aerospace Industries, Getty Images, NATO, Senate Foreign Relations, SPUTNIK, Army Day, Iranian Parliament's National Security, Foreign, Iranian Defense, Rafale, ISIS, Getty Images Iraq, Thales Ground, AIM, Meteor, Egypt's Eagles Egyptian Air Force, Eagles, US Air Force, US Central Command Locations: Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Wall, Silicon, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Poland, Ankara, Syria, Greece, Samarkand, Getty Images Iran, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Soviet, US, Tehran, AFP, Iranian, Persian, Baghdad, France, South Korea, Czech, Iraqi, Balad, Sudan, Qatar, Cairo, Derek Seifert Egypt

[1/2] A view of rubble that remains at the site of the historic Siraji Mosque that was demolished for the expansion for a road in Basra, Iraq July 16, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed AtyBASRA, Iraq July 16 (Reuters) - The demolition on Friday of a 300-year-old minaret of a mosque in Iraq's southern city of Basra to make way for road expansion has enraged locals, religious and cultural authorities who condemned it as a further erosion of Iraq's cultural heritage. Built in 1727, the 11-metre (36 ft) Siraji minaret and its mosque were toppled by a bulldozer at dawn on Friday morning, its brown mud-brick spire with turquoise ornaments disappearing in a cloud of dust. Basra resident Majed al Husseini said, standing by the rubble of the mosque. The Sunni endowment did not respond immediately to a Reuters request for comment.

Persons: Mohammed Aty BASRA, Majed al Husseini, Ahmed al, Badrani, Mosul's Al, Nuri, Basra Governor Asaad Al Eidani, Mohammed Munla, Munla, Timour Azhari, Emelia Sithole Organizations: REUTERS, Islamic, Reuters, Islamic State, Thomson Locations: Basra, Iraq, Iraq's, Mesopotamia, Islamic State, Baghdad, Basra Governor

WASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters) - Partnering with Coinbase Global (COIN.O) may hinder rather than help Nasdaq's (NDAQ.O) bid to win regulatory approval for a bitcoin exchange-traded-fund it wants to launch with BlackRock (BLK.N). The SEC has denied previous spot bitcoin ETF proposals on the basis that they would be vulnerable to manipulation. The SEC last month sued Coinbase, escalating SEC chair Gary Gensler's crackdown on the crypto industry. And with roughly 56% of U.S. dollar bitcoin trading, according to Nasdaq's filing, Coinbase is integral to the U.S. bitcoin market. All told, the SEC has 240 days after it accepts the bitcoin ETF filing applications to make a decision.

Persons: Larry Fink, Bitcoin, Coinbase, Gary Gensler's, John Reed Stark, Sui Chung, Gensler, Joseph Silvia, Dickinson Wright, Silvia, Chung, Richard Marshall, Katten, Marshall, Michelle Price, John McCrank, Hannah Lang, Will Dunham Organizations: Coinbase, BlackRock, Nasdaq, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Cboe Global, Fidelity, FOX Business, Internet Enforcement, BlackRock's, Reuters, Thomson Locations: BlackRock, U.S

☆ July Monthly Meeting: 'The plane is still flying,' Cramer says of the Fed's fight against inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Christopher Alessi | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

July Monthly Meeting: 'The plane is still flying,' Cramer says of the Fed's fight against inflationAn incredible rally in tech stocks led to Nasdaq's best performance in 40 years. What's next? Will the Fed pull off the so-called soft landing many once thought impossible? Jim Cramer and Jeff Marks explain how they are positioning the portfolio ahead of a pivotal earnings season.

Persons: Cramer, What's, Jim Cramer, Jeff Marks

That compares with a 14.8% gain for the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX). Microsoft (MSFT.O), Apple (AAPL.O), Nvidia (NVDA.O), Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and Tesla (TSLA.O) combined account for 43.8% weight in the index, according to Refinitiv data as of Monday's close. The special rebalancing may be conducted at any time if the aggregate weight of companies, each having more than 4.5% weight in the index, tops 48%, according to Nasdaq. COULD THE S&P 500 FOLLOW SUIT? Apple and Microsoft are the only two firms with weight over 4.5% in the S&P 500.

Persons: Hogan, Cameron Lilja, Dow, Wells, Sam Stovall, Sruthi Shankar, Medha Singh, Bansari, David Randall, Shounak Dasgupta Organizations: Nasdaq, Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Riley, U.S . Securities, Exchange, Dow Jones, Tesla, Booking Holdings, Gilead Sciences, Devices, CFRA, Thomson Locations: Wells, Gilead, Bengaluru, New York

☆ Iraq to trade crude oil for Iranian gas to settle power debt - PM
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

July 11 (Reuters) - Iraq will begin trading crude oil for Iranian gas to end the recurring issue of payment delays to Tehran due to the need for U.S. approval, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Sudani said on Tuesday. By trading Iraqi crude for Iranian gas, Sudani said, Iraq would avoid rolling power cuts every summer while working to complete gas capture and extraction projects that would help make the country self-sufficient. The United States has pushed Iraq, OPEC second-largest producer, to cut its reliance on Iranian gas. Iraq spends roughly $4 billion per year on imports of Iranian gas and power while burning massive quantities of natural gas as a byproduct of its hydrocarbons sector. On Monday Iraq signed a massive deal with French oil major TotalEnergies that includes plans to capture gas from oilfields in the southern Basra region.

Persons: Mohammed Shia Sudani, Sudani, Farhad Alaaldin, Henry Rome, Timour Azhari, Arshad Mohammed, David Gregorio, Stephen Coates Organizations: Iraqi, Reuters, State Department, Biden, Washington Institute for Near, Policy, Monday Iraq, Thomson Locations: Iraq, Tehran, Iran, Baghdad, Washington, United States, OPEC, Basra, Erbil

"I was a little hesitant coming as a American, like 'Oh my god my government did really bad things here. Tourists "are messengers who tell these states that Iraq has returned to being a safe country and is not a red line as some say. 'DO NOT TRAVEL'The U.S. and European countries still warn against any travel to Iraq due to security concerns. The U.S. State Department website says: "Do not travel to Iraq due to terrorism, kidnapping, armed conflict, civil unrest". Few of the ancient ruins that dot the country have signs describing their significance, nor accredited tour guides.

Persons: Anna Nikolaevna, Jacob Nemec, Imam Ali, Alaa, Marjani, Jacob Nemec's, Nemec, Ahmed Fakak Al, Badrani, Al, General Abdel, Karim Sudani, Ali Hilal, Hilal, Timour Azhari, Maher Nazeh, Ahmed Saeed, Khalid al, Ros Russell Organizations: REUTERS, Islamic, Tourism, Reuters, Foreign, U.S . State Department, Thomson Locations: Russian, American, Najaf, Iraq, Marjani BAGHDAD, Reno , Nevada, Iran, U.S, Baghdad, Europe, United States, British, Babylon, Mosul, West, Al Qaeda, Islamic State, Ali, Canada, Babil, Mousily

One unit ran a "hackathon," or collaborative engineering event, of so-called generative AI, technology that produces text, images or other new content based on past data. The division, Verafin, was exploring how to imbue such AI into its product for fighting financial crime, he said, adding the technology could create investigative reports. Still, despite using other forms of AI for years, Nasdaq's latest work remains experimental; no code has been published yet drafted by AI, Peterson said. Nasdaq has accessed a preview of Amazon's answer to the generative AI race, namely Amazon Bedrock, a pick-your-preferred technology approach that includes Claude AI from the startup Anthropic. On the longer-term horizon for Nasdaq is integrating the Thoma Bravo-owned software firm Adenza, subject to closure of the $10.5 billion-deal Nasdaq announced last month.

Persons: AUSTIN, Brad Peterson, Verafin, Peterson, We're, Nasdaq's, OpenAI, Claude AI, Thoma, Jeffrey Dastin, Kenneth Li, Deepa Babington Organizations: Nasdaq, Computer, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Thoma Bravo, Thomson Locations: Austin

☆ Iraq, TotalEnergies sign massive oil, gas, renewables deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BAGHDAD, July 10 (Reuters) - Iraq and French oil major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) on Monday signed a long-delayed $27 billion energy deal that aims to increase oil production and boost the country's capacity to produce energy with four oil, gas and renewables projects. TotalEnergies Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanne signed the agreement with Iraqi oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani at a ceremony in Baghdad, with Pouyanne calling it a "historic day". "I hope that this will be a strong signal to other investors to come to Iraq," Pouyanne said. Exxon Mobil, Shell and BP have all scaled back their operations in Iraq in recent years, contributing to a stagnation in oil production. Iraq's oil production capacity has remained at around 5 million barrels per day in recent years.

Persons: TotalEnergies, QatarEnergy, Patrick Pouyanne, Hayan Abdel, Ghani, we'll, Abdel, Pouyanne, Maher Nazeh, Nadine Awadalla, Timour, Louise Heavens, Jason Neely, Christina Fincher Organizations: Monday, Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, Thomson Locations: BAGHDAD, Iraq, Baghdad, Basra, Saudi, U.S, Saudi Arabia, Dubai

☆ History shows Wall Street can sustain its first half advance. How Jim Cramer is playing it
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | In Kevinstankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

While together, the Nasdaq's nearly 20% annual gain in 1983 was quite respectable, the second half was clearly less fruitful. "I don't like the setup now for the beginning of the second half, although I think the second half could be strong." .SPX YTD mountain S & P 500 YTD peformance For the broader S & P 500, recent history suggests that its first-half strength, rising almost 16%, could be built on over the next six months. "That's why I think a strong first half tends to carry over into a strong second half." Stovall said he can envision some choppiness ahead for the S & P 500.

Persons: Jim Cramer, Jim, Wells, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Stocks, tech's, Sam Stovall Sam Stovall, Stovall, UBS Global Wealth Management Claudia Panseri, Claudia Panseri, Panseri, Jim Cramer's, Spencer Platt Organizations: Nasdaq, Procter & Gamble, Club, JPMorgan, Big Tech, FactSet, Federal Reserve, CFRA Research, CNBC, UBS Global Wealth Management, New York Stock Exchange, Getty Locations: U.S

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