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☆ World Bank chief sees $100 bln-plus lending boost from capital moves
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Ajay Banga, World Bank president, participates in global infrastructure and investment forum in New York, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. They would include U.S. President Joe Biden's proposed $2.25 billion supplemental budget request for the World Bank, along with expected contributions from Germany, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Nordic countries, he said. The bank is also examining other ways to expand lending, including providing more loan guarantees, lending against callable capital that is pledged but not paid-in, and special bonds that can serve as hybrid capital. China, India and Brazil got larger shareholdings in the bank in a 2018 capital increase and would likely want more say in a future capital increase, Banga said. "That is a pimple on a dimple on an ant's left cheek compared to what we need in the world," Banga said.

Persons: Ajay Banga, Seth Wenig, Banga, Joe Biden's, I'm, David Lawder, Paul Grant, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: World Bank, Bank, Foreign Relations, International Development Association, MasterCard, CFR, Bank for Reconstruction, Development, Thomson Locations: New York, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, U.S, Marrakech, Morocco, United States, China, India, Brazil

NEW YORK (AP) — If another pandemic happens, the world will again be unprepared. That’s the bleak assessment of former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark, who co-chaired the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, after the U.N. General Assembly held a high-level summit aimed at heading off another pandemic. Other pandemic experts who tracked months of negotiations on the 13-page declaration adopted by the assembly’s 193 member nations were disappointed, too. “I think it’s fair to say that the declaration is a missed opportunity,” Clark said in an interview with The Associated Press on the sidelines of the General Assembly's high-level leaders' meeting. Clark also ticked off the catastrophic economic impacts of the pandemic: a $25 trillion loss to the global economy, and debt and default enveloping many developing countries.

Persons: Helen Clark, ” Clark, Nelson Mandela, Clark, “, Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wasn't, Antonio Guterres, ” Guterres, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, ”, “ We’ve, Edith M, Lederer Organizations: New, Pandemic Preparedness, General Assembly, Associated Press, Health Organization, Pandemic, Liberian, General, The Associated Press Locations: New Zealand

☆ Deutsche Bank examined economic data going all the way back to the 1700s and narrowed down the 4 criteria that indicate a recession is coming — and the US economy just triggered the final warning sign
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Mark Reeth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

And while 12 months of speculation can seem like a lifetime for investors who just want an answer, it's really only a small moment in economic history. Reid and his team spotted plenty of patterns in all that data, including the common warning signs of a recession. For example, scholars and economists have been tracking recession data in the UK since 1700, while Italy only began tracking recessions in 1980. Reid wrote that black swan events such as geopolitical shocks, natural disasters, and global pandemics happen more often than people think. "And that's before we get on to more traditional causes of recessions, like monetary tightening or speculative bubbles," Reid wrote.

Persons: it's, Jim Reid, Reid, would've, Deutsche Bank Reid Organizations: Deutsche Bank Locations: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan

☆ In a first, RNA is recovered from extinct Tasmanian tiger
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

But this study marked the first time that RNA - much less stable than DNA - has been recovered from an extinct species. While not the focus of this research, the ability to extract, sequence and analyze old RNA could boost efforts by other scientists toward recreating extinct species. The Tasmanian tiger resembled a wolf, aside from the tiger-like stripes on its back. The last-known Tasmanian tiger succumbed in a Tasmanian zoo in 1936. Private "de-extinction" initiatives have been launched aimed at resurrecting certain extinct species such as the Tasmanian tiger, dodo or woolly mammoth.

Persons: Emilio Marmol Sanchez, Handout, bioinformatician Emilio Mármol Sánchez, Marc Friedländer, Love, Mármol, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Swedish Museum of, REUTERS Acquire, Tasmanian, Palaeogenetics, Genome Research, Stockholm University, SciLifeLab, Thomson Locations: Stockholm, SciLifeLab, Sweden, Australia, Tasmania, Tasmanian, Washington

☆ To counter China, Biden is backing the World Bank for a bigger role on the global stage
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Charmaine Jacob | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

From left, World Bank President Ajay Banga, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa and U.S. President Joe Biden in New Delhi on Sept. 9, 2023. "There's no way there's enough money in the multilateral development bank, or even in governments ... that can drive the kinds of changes we need for this polycrisis. Biden backs World BankLeaders at the summit agreed that this isn't something the World Bank can tackle alone. The World Bank was created in 1944 to help rebuilding efforts in Europe and Japan after the Second World War. Both the World Bank and IMF have pledged to form a stronger partnership to help countries with their debt struggles, sustainability goals, and digital transition.

Persons: Joe Biden, Ajay Banga, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Narendra Modi, Cyril Ramaphosa, Evan Vucci, CNBC's Tanvir Gill, Banga, Biden, Kristalina Georgieva, CNBC's Martin Soong, Georgieva Organizations: World Bank, World, India's, Afp, Getty, CNBC, Bank, IMF, White Locations: U.S, New Delhi, Europe, Japan, China, Ukraine, People's Republic, China's

[1/3] U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen addresses the media, ahead of the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India, September 8, 2023. She will seek to build G20 support for an "equi-proportional" increase in IMF quota funds paid-in by member countries, which would increase IMF lending resources, but not immediately change its shareholding structure. At the briefing, Yellen said there was significant progress made on international debt relief efforts. "Those are crucial additional resources for reducing poverty, advancing global health security and combating climate change," Yellen said. "Even without Russia's active participation and the tensions the war has created, I still see that G20 is highly effective," Yellen said.

Persons: Janet Yellen, Francis Mascarenhas, Yellen, David Lawder, Swati Bhat, Leslie Adler, Kim Coghill Organizations: . Treasury, REUTERS, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, U.S, Congress, U.S . Treasury, Ukraine, Thomson Locations: New Delhi, India, DELHI, United States, Ukraine, U.S, Washington

☆ IMF, World Bank to step up cooperation on climate, debt, digital transition
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Amit Dave/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies International Monetary Fund FollowWASHINGTON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund and World Bank on Thursday issued a rare joint statement pledging to step up their cooperation to address climate change, debt vulnerabilities and countries' digital transitions. The IMF and World Bank were established in 1944 at a meeting in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. DEBT VULNERABILITIESThe two institutions also said they will incorporate climate considerations into their work on debt sustainability for low-income countries. The IMF and World Bank have worked closely on debt sustainability issues, both pushing for improved restructuring frameworks. On the digital transition, the two institutions said they would collaborate to help countries to connect their citizens to online services and reduce barriers to digital inclusion.

Persons: Ajay Banga, Amit Dave, Kristalina Georgieva, Joe Biden, Banga, David Lawder, Paul Simao Organizations: Ministers, Central Bank governors, REUTERS, International Monetary, Monetary Fund, World Bank, Woods, IMF, Bank, Advisory Group, Sustainability Trust, Thomson Locations: Gandhinagar, India, Bretton Woods , New Hampshire, Banga, U.S

☆ Is Travel Insurance Worth It?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Kat Tretina | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +12 min

Trip cancellation and interruption coverage is the most common form of travel insurance, making up nearly 90% of travel protection plans sold. Travel medical: When you travel to another country, typical health insurance plans — including Medicare — don’t cover you. Like all forms of insurance, travel insurance policies don’t cover every event that can impact your vacation. “When you travel using airline miles and hotel points, most credit card travel insurance policies won’t cover the trips,” says Huffman. “If you do not get travel insurance, you are rolling the dice,” says Hines, who adds she always recommends travel insurance to her clients.

Persons: Kat, we’ve, it’s, ”, Tiffany Hines, Mark Friedlander, ” What’s, Friedlander, Lee Huffman, Huffman, Kevin Payne, Payne, Hines, “ We’ve, won’t Organizations: Global, Travel, Insurance Information Institute, Disease Control, Prevention, World Health Organization, Spirit Airlines, Delta, Allianz Travel Locations: Athens , Georgia, Europe, U.S

☆ Rich, poor countries split over costs of pandemic prevention
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

REUTERS/Bruno Kelly/StringerSince early in the COVID-19 pandemic, global health officials have sought to create a “pandemic treaty” to better prepare for future outbreaks. The governing body of the World Health Organization, or WHO, chose delegates from each of its six administrative regions worldwide to lead the negotiations. Ahead of next week’s meeting, according to officials interviewed by Reuters, the biggest sticking point remains financing for poor countries. The United States and the European Union have both said they support the inclusion of “One Health” provisions in a pandemic treaty. But as a far-reaching and sometimes abstract concept, “One Health” measures could be costly to put into practice.

Persons: ”, Chadia Wannous, zoonotic spillover, Bruno Kelly, Stringer, Lawrence Gostin, ” Gostin, –, Maria Van Kerkhove, “, Deborah J, Nelson, Ryan McNeill, Helen Reid, Sam Hart, Simon Newman, Edgar Su, Paulo Prada, Janet Roberts, Feilding Organizations: LONDON Health, World Health Organization, Organisation for Animal Health, Reuters, REUTERS, WHO, European Union, Center, National, Global Health Law, “, Pacific, Brazilian, South Locations: Geneva, France, United States, Asia, Africa, Latin America, Americas, Southeast Asia, Brazil

☆ Yellen to attend India G20 summit, focus on economy, climate, Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen addresses the media, along with Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on the sidelines of a G20 meeting at Gandhinagar, India, July 17, 2023. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Aug 31 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel to New Delhi to participate in the G20 leaders summit from Sept. 7-10, making her fourth visit to India in 10 months, the Treasury Department said on Thursday. Yellen intends to focus at the summit on strengthening the global economy and supporting low- and middle-income countries by advancing efforts on debt restructurings, the evolution of multilateral development banks (MDBs) and building International Monetary Fund trust fund resources, the Treasury said. The Treasury said Yellen also will rally America's G20 allies to maintain economic support for Ukraine and increase costs on Russia over Moscow's continuing war in Ukraine. Reporting by David Lawder Editing by Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Janet Yellen, Nirmala Sitharaman, Amit Dave, Yellen, Moscow's, Yi Gang, David Lawder, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Treasury, Indian Finance, REUTERS, Rights, . Treasury, Monetary Fund, Bank, People's Bank of, Thomson Locations: Gandhinagar, India, New Delhi, Ukraine, Russia, China, U.S, Indonesia, People's Bank of China's, Beijing

☆ How Merve Emre became the hottest — and most divisive — name in literary criticism
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Anna Silman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +40 min

Last winter, the 37-year-old literary critic and Wesleyan professor Merve Emre stood in front of a microphone in Rachel Comey's Soho boutique. While the others had largely opted to pull boldfaced names from the Review's archives — like a 1985 Gore Vidal piece about Tennessee Williams — Merve Emre would be reading Merve Emre. Emre has penned so many introductions for new anthologies and reissues that one fan joked on Twitter: "every new baby in 2024 comes with an introduction by merve emre." Courtesy of Merve Emre. Over her cocktail, Merve Emre told me what my profile on Merve Emre should be about.

Persons: Merve Emre, Rachel Comey's, Emily Greenhouse, Gore Vidal, Tennessee Williams — Merve Emre, Emre, Diane Williams, who's, Everyone's, Elena Ferrante, Jonathan Franzen, Rachel Cusk, Susan Sontag, Michael Roth, Reading Emre, merve emre, John Guillory, Dorothy Parker, Christopher Hitchens, Jon Fosse, Stephanie LaCava, Batuman, Lawrence, Alison Roman, Frank Gehry, Jason Stanley, someone's, they're, Anna Shechtman, Anne, Maggie Doherty, doesn't, Emre Emre, Roald Dahl's, Matilda, Myers, Briggs, you've, I've, Bain, Chris Bierly, I'd, Amy Lombard, Ferrante, She's, Christian Nakarado, Leo Carey, Jason, Nakarado, hasn't, Emre's, Altan, Emre lasered, Ara Osterweil, McGill, Beyoncé, Osterweil, Al Jazeera, sensitively, Ivy pricks, she's, Michael Berube, He'd, he'd, James Joyce, Simone de Beauvoir, Merve, Sarah Chihaya, —, Mary Butts, Leonora Carrington, Susan Taubes, Taubes, Durga Chew, Christian Lorentzen, Orhan Pamuk, Lena Dunham, Chew, Bose, Yale's, it's, she'd, Taylor Swift, Elif Batuman, Swift, Janet Malcolm, Charlie Kaufman, Roth, we're, What's, Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, It's, Elizabeth Morache, Rebecca Zisser, David Bergman Organizations: The New York, McGill, Times, New York Magazine, The, Yorker, Wesleyan University, Reading, Twitter, McGill ,, Wesleyan, Ivy League, Yale, Shapiro Center, Creative, NBA, Harvard, Bain & Company, Insider Yale, HBO, Congress, NPR, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, New York, Yahoo, Oxford, Oxford . McGill, University of Oxford, Penn State, Fordham University, Boston, Intelligence Squared, Yale Science, University, Whitney Museum, Netflix Locations: Rachel Comey's Soho, McGill , Oxford, Columbia, Norwegian, New Haven , Connecticut, New Haven, Adana, Turkey, New York, Cambridge, Montreal, United States, chiseling, Turkish

☆ How Merve Emre became the hottest — and most reviled — name in literary criticism
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Anna Silman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +40 min

☆ Indonesia upper house speaker says 'important' to discuss means to delay elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A worker walks on the roof of Indonesian Parliament Building in Jakarta, Indonesia, December 5, 2022. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsJAKARTA, Aug 16 (Reuters) - The speaker of Indonesia's upper house of parliament said on Wednesday it was important for the country to discuss the means to delay elections in times of natural disasters, wars, or pandemics. Indonesia, the world's third-largest democracy, must hold national elections every five years, with the next vote scheduled for Feb. 14. Indonesia currently has no framework to delay an election and some politicians have called for the constitution to be amended to allow a postponement. "How do we hold elections in the case of unexpected events occurring, like big natural disasters, wars, revolts, or pandemics," Bambang Soesatyo, the upper house speaker, said in an annual address ahead of Indonesia's Independence Day.

Persons: Willy Kurniawan, Bambang Soesatyo, Bambang, Joko Widodo, Stefanno Sulaiman, Gayatri Suroyo, Stanley Widianto, Martin Petty Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Jakarta, Indonesia, Rights JAKARTA

☆ Archaeologists Find 'Vampire Child' Padlocked in Polish Graveyard
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Researchers have unearthed the skeletal remains of a "vampire child" in a Polish graveyard. The child was buried face down with a triangular padlock on its foot. The skeletal remains of the child, who anthropologists believe was 5 to 7 years old, were discovered in an unmarked, mass cemetery in the Polish village of Pień, near Ostromecko. Triangular padlocks were attached to people’s feet to keep them tethered to the ground once buried, Poliński said. Courtesy of Dariusz PolińskiThere are several reasons a person may have been buried in such a cemetery, Poliński said.

Persons: Dariusz Poliński, Nicolaus, Poliński, Dariusz, Dariusz Poliński Matteo Borrini, Insider's Katherine Tangalakis, Marianne Guenot, Borrini Organizations: Christian Europe, Service, Privacy, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Liverpool John Moore University Locations: Wall, Silicon, Polish, Pień, Ostromecko

☆ India passes data protection law amid surveillance concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017 REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File PhotoNEW DELHI, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Indian lawmakers on Wednesday passed a data protection law that will dictate how tech companies process users' data amid criticism that it will likely lead to increased surveillance by the government. The law will allow companies to transfer some users' data abroad while giving the government power to seek information from firms and issue directions to block content on the advice of a data protection board appointed by the federal government. The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023 gives the government powers to exempt state agencies from the law and gives users the right to correct or erase their personal data. The new legislation comes after India withdrew a 2019 privacy bill that had alarmed tech companies like Facebook and Google with its proposals for stringent restrictions on cross-border data flows. The Internet Freedom Foundation, a digital rights group, has also said that the law does not contain any meaningful safeguards against "over-broad surveillance", while the Editors Guild of India has said it affects press freedom and dilutes the Right to Information law.

Persons: Kacper, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Blassy Boben, Shivam Patel, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: REUTERS, Facebook, Google, Freedom Foundation, Guild of India, Thomson Locations: India

WASHINGTON, July 21 (Reuters) - The White House on Friday launched an office to prepare for and respond to potential pandemics, to be led by Paul Friedrichs, a military combat surgeon and retired Air Force major general who helped lead the Pentagon's COVID response. The new Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy will also take over the duties of President Joe Biden's current COVID-19 and mpox response teams, the White House said. Friedrichs is currently special assistant to the president and senior director for Global Health Security and Biodefense at the White House National Security Council. The White House had been expected to cut down its COVID response team after the U.S. government in May ended its COVID Public Health Emergency. In June, the White House announced the departure of Ashish Jha, the last of the Biden administration's rotating COVID response coordinators.

Persons: Paul Friedrichs, Joe Biden's, Biden, Friedrichs, Ashish Jha, Kanishka Singh, Alison Williams Organizations: Air Force, of Pandemic, Global Health Security, White House National Security Council, White, U.S, White House, Biden, Thomson Locations: United States, Washington

☆ White House secures voluntary pledges from Microsoft, Google to ensure A.I. tools are secure
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

President Joe Biden speaks as he meets with AI experts and researchers at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, June 20, 2023. The seven companies each agreed Friday to a set of voluntary commitments in developing AI technology. Top tech companies and investors are pumping billions of dollars into the large language models behind so-called generative AI. The latest commitments are part of an effort by President Biden to ensure AI is developed with appropriate safeguards, while not hindering innovation. Vice President Kamala Harris previously hosted AI CEOs and labor and civil liberties experts to weigh in on the challenges that come with AI.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, Adam Selipsky, Dario Amodei, Kent Walker, Mustafa Suleyman, Nick Clegg, Brad Smith, Greg Brockman, it's, Kamala Harris Organizations: Google, Microsoft, White, Web, CNBC, YouTube Locations: San Francisco, coders, India

☆ Elon Musk's xAI and OpenAI are going head-to-head in the race to create AI that's smarter than humans
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Kai Xiang Teo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk and Sam Altman are racing to create superintelligent AI. Musk said xAI plans to use Twitter data to train a "maximally curious" and "truth-seeking" superintelligence. Elon Musk is throwing out challenge after challenge to tech CEOs — while he wants to physically fight Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, he's now racing with OpenAI to create AI smarter than humans. On Saturday, Musk said on Twitter Spaces that his new company, xAI, is "definitely in competition" with OpenAI. Over a 100-minute discussion that drew over 1.6 million listeners, Musk explained his plan for xAI to use Twitter data to train superintelligent AI that is "maximally curious" and "truth-seeking."

Persons: Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, —, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, he's, OpenAI, Altman, Semafor, Ilya Sutskever, Jan Leike, Sam Altman — Organizations: Twitter, Intelligence

GANDHINAGAR, India, July 16 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Sunday she was "eager" to work with China on areas of mutual interest, including debt restructurings for poorer countries, and that multilateral development banks needed reforms before capital increases could be considered. "I am eager to build on the groundwork that we laid in Beijing to mobilise further action." U.S. corporations want to see an environment where they could "invest and thrive in China", Yellen said. She said a debt restructuring "user guide" was needed for borrowing countries and other stakeholders to provide clarity about the process. "We should build better banks, not just bigger banks," Yellen said.

Persons: Janet Yellen, Yellen, David Lawder, Aftab, Sudipto Ganguly, William Mallard Organizations: . Treasury, U.S ., Sri, International Monetary Fund, U.S . Treasury, IMF, World Bank, Bank, U.S, Thomson Locations: GANDHINAGAR, India, China, Beijing, U.S, Washington, Moscow, Ukraine, Russia, Gandhinagar, Indian, Gujarat, Sri Lanka, Ghana, United States, Congress, Aftab Ahmed

London/Berlin CNN —Germany announced Thursday that it would reduce its dependence on China in “critical sectors” including medicine, lithium batteries used in electric cars and elements essential to chipmaking. The government published its first ever “Strategy on China,” a 40-page document that highlights the tightrope Berlin must walk in managing its dependence on the world’s second-largest economy amid growing criticism of Beijing’s human rights record and attitude towards international law. China is Germany’s most important trading partner, with imports and exports between the two nations reaching nearly €300 billion ($335 billion) in 2022, according to the government. China is a crucial partner in tackling climate change, pandemics and sustainable development, the strategy paper added. China is a key market for several major German companies, including Volkswagen (VLKAF) and BMW, and the government said it planned to hold talks with firms “particularly exposed to China” with a view to “identifying concentration risks.”

Persons: Berlin CNN —, ”, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s, ” Scholz, Olaf Scholz, Germany Heiko Becker Organizations: Berlin CNN, Siemens, Reuters, Volkswagen, BMW Locations: Berlin, China, ”, Beijing, Germany, overdependent, EU, Bavaria

☆ Bill Gates says AI risks are real but nothing we can’t handle
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Bill Gates sounds less worried than some other executives in Silicon Valley about the risks of artificial intelligence. In a blog post on Tuesday, the Microsoft co-founder outlined some of the biggest areas of concern with artificial intelligence, including the potential for spreading misinformation and displacing jobs. But he stressed that these risks are “manageable.”“This is not the first time a major innovation has introduced new threats that had to be controlled,” Gates wrote. In a blog post earlier this year, Gates wrote: “Could a machine decide that humans are a threat, conclude that its interests are different from ours, or simply stop caring about us? “It reminds me of the time when electronic calculators became widespread in the 1970s and 1980s,” Gates wrote.

Persons: Bill Gates, ” Gates, “, Kevin Scott, Gates, ”, it’s Organizations: CNN, Microsoft, International Atomic Energy Agency Locations: Silicon Valley

☆ Germany publishes new strategy on 'increasingly assertive' China
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] The flags of Germany and China are seen ahead of a meeting between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Berlin, Germany, June 19, 2023. REUTERS/Fabrizio BenschBERLIN, July 13 (Reuters) - Germany published its long-awaited China strategy on Thursday, which took stock of an "increasingly assertive" Beijing and outlined possible responses such as outbound investment controls on cutting-edge technology with military use. However, it was also increasingly assertive in its attempts to change the rules-based international order with consequences for global security. Germany would expand its close relations with Taiwan while continuing to adhere to the "One China policy", which recognises the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China. On the economy, the strategy outlined proposals to reduce critical dependencies on China, in line with what has previously been agreed by the European Union.

Persons: Olaf Scholz, Li Qiang, Fabrizio Bensch BERLIN, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's, Sarah Marsh, Andreas Rinke, Matthias Williams, Friederike Heine, Miranda Murray, Rachel More, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, European, Volkswagen, BASF, BMW, Government, Thomson Locations: Germany, China, Berlin, Beijing, West, Russia, Taiwan, People's Republic of China

☆ Elon Musk launches his new company, xAI
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and owner of Twitter, on Wednesday announced the debut of a new AI company, xAI, with the goal to "understand the true nature of the universe." According to the company's website, Musk and his team will share more information in a live Twitter Spaces chat on Friday. Team members behind xAI are alumni of DeepMind, OpenAI, Google Research, Microsoft Research, Twitter and Tesla, and have worked on projects including DeepMind's AlphaCode and OpenAI's GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 chatbots. Musk seems to be positioning xAI to compete with companies like OpenAI, Google and Anthropic, which are behind leading chatbots like ChatGPT, Bard and Claude. Musk reportedly incorporated xAI in Nevada in March.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, DeepMind's AlphaCode, OpenAI's, Bard, Claude, Dan Hendrycks, Greg Yang, Tesla Organizations: SpaceX, Twitter, Wednesday, Team, DeepMind, Google Research, Microsoft Research, Google, The Financial Times, Nvidia, Fox News Channel, Center, AI Safety, xAI, X Corp Locations: San Francisco, Nevada

☆ ‘Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One’ Review: Still Running
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Manohla Dargis | More About Manohla Dargis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

I don’t know if anyone has ever clocked whether Tom Cruise is faster than a speeding bullet. He racks up more miles in “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” the seventh entry in a 27-year-old franchise that repeatedly affirms a movie truism. That is, there are few sights more cinematic than a human being outracing danger and even death onscreen — it’s the ultimate wish fulfillment! Once again, he plays Ethan Hunt, the leader of a hush-hush American spy agency, the Impossible Mission Force. The whole thing is complicated, as these stories tend to be, with stakes as catastrophic as recent news headlines have trumpeted.

Persons: Tom Cruise, —, Ethan Hunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, handymen, Simon Pegg, Ving, Ethan, ”, that’s, Hunt, Harley Quinn, Rome —, Wade Eastwood, Grace, Hayley Atwell Organizations: Mission Force Locations: “, Paris, Rome

☆ World Bank names CEOs to help bring private funds to climate, development finance
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, July 10 (Reuters) - The World Bank on Monday named 15 chief executive officers including financiers and asset managers to a group launched by the lender's president, Ajay Banga, aiming to marshal more private capital to combat climate change and boost investment in developing countries. Banga announced the initiative at a global finance summit in Paris last month alongside Mark Carney, the U.N. special envoy on climate action, and Shriti Vadera, chair of Prudential Plc (PRU.L). The World Bank and the CEOs will work "to develop, test, implement and ultimately scale financing structures that can most effectively mobilize private capital," Carney said in a statement. He said in a statement that the Private Investment Lab CEOs were a "crucial piece of the puzzle" to devise ways to pull more private sector investment into the intertwined challenges of poverty, climate and fragility. Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Will Dunham and David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Ajay Banga, Joe Biden, King Charles . Banga, Mark Carney, Shriti Vadera, Carney, Thomas Buberl, Larry Fink, BlackRock, Noel Quinn, Hendrik du Toit, Jessica Tan, Sim Tshabalala, Bill Winters, Dilhan, Mark Gallogly, Banga, David Lawder, Will Dunham, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Bank, Investment, U.S, Prudential Plc, World Bank, AXA, HSBC, Shemara, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Ping An, Royal Philips, Standard Bank, Standard Chartered, Sustainable Energy, Tata Sons, Temasek, Cairns, Mastercard, Private Investment, Thomson Locations: Britain, Paris, Macquarie, Banga

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