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☆ When is Cannes Film Festival 2023 and what can we expect?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] The 75th Cannes Film Festival - The Palme d'Or Award - Cannes, France, May 17, 2022. Below are some facts about the Cannes Film Festival and this year's contenders. WHAT IS THE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL AND WHY IS IT CELEBRATED? Cannes is the world's biggest film festival, first conceived in 1939 as an alternative to the then-fascist-influenced Venice Film Festival. Other awards include the Grand Prix, jury prize, best director, best actor, best actress, best screenplay and best short film.

☆ Taiwan's wind industry braves cross-strait risks in clean energy boom
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Sarah Wu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

With large swathes of Taiwan's territorial waters restricted due to defense, shipping and other uses, offshore wind developers will soon run out of space. It's a question of whether you want to pay the price," insurance broker Clive Lin told offshore wind developers in a packed lecture hall in Taipei. Political risk insurance is typically not covered in mainstream insurance policies, so developers have to buy it additionally. The risk of a military confrontation and its impact on Taiwan's wind farms are hard to quantify, analysts say. "In a kinetic conflict invasion, Taiwan's going to have so many other problems, offshore wind is going to be way down on the list," Cancian said.

☆ Drone maker Zipline, on track for 1 million deliveries, adds vitamins, pizzas and prescriptions to cargo
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Carolyn Chun | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

watch nowDrone technology company Zipline, which rose to prominence flying critical medical supplies like blood bags and vaccines over rugged terrain in Rwanda, has seen the commercial side of its business boom. Deals with Walmart, and a new drone design, are making Zipline a bigger player in the world of retail and home delivery, and not only in hard-to-reach places. On Wednesday, the company announced new delivery deals in the U.S., with nutritional supplement and wellness retail company GNC for Salt Lake City, and Seattle-area pizza chain Pagliacci Pizza for the greater Seattle metro area. Pagliacci and Zipline have created a new custom-designed pizza box to fit two 13" pizzas and side dishes in Zipline drones. Rinaudo Cliffton said that Zipline has already delivered in urban cities across the U.S. where people don't expect this technology to start.

China’s espionage law, passed by lawmakers Wednesday, is prompting concerns that Western companies could be required to provide information to Chinese security officials. Photo: PANG XINGLEI/XINHUA/ZUMA PRESSChina rewrote its law against espionage to tighten state control over a wider swath of data and digital activities, an expansion of its power to neutralize perceived foreign threats that raises the risks for businesses operating in the world’s second-largest economy. Foreign executives say the expanded scope and powers of the legislation threaten to turn everyday interactions into national-security offenses and underscore the increasingly hostile environment that many foreign businesses believe they face in the country.

☆ China Detained Communist Party Newspaper Editor After Meeting With Japanese Diplomat Last Year
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Chun Han Wong | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Chinese journalist Dong Yuyu in Japan, in an undated photo from his family. Photo: DONG FAMILYSINGAPORE—A veteran Chinese journalist faces spying charges over his interactions with diplomatic and academic contacts from Japan and the U.S., his family said in their first public comments on the case, more than a year after authorities in Beijing detained him. Dong Yuyu, a senior editorial writer and editor at a leading Communist Party newspaper, was taken into custody in February last year, along with a Japanese diplomat who he was meeting at a restaurant in central Beijing, according to a statement issued by Mr. Dong’s family on Monday.

☆ Americans Corpuz, Yin sit atop Chevron leaderboard heading into final round
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

April 22 (Reuters) - Americans Allisen Corpuz and Angel Yin charged up the leaderboard to share a one-shot lead at 10-under par after a pair of near-flawless performances in the third round of the Chevron Championship on Saturday. "Been playing really solid these last three days," the 25-year-old said in a televised interview. "I've just been trying to tell myself, you know, get more comfortable in contention, just keep learning from every experience." "It was one of those days -- everything felt so easy and everything felt in sync," she said in a televised interview. The second round of the tournament wrapped up early on Saturday after organisers were forced to halt play due to darkness.

☆ What Bard said when Google VC asked the A.I. about the value of corporate diversity
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Carolyn Chun | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Stewart asked Bard, Google's first public version of a generative AI chatbot — and a rival to Microsoft -funded OpenAI ChatGPT — about the value of corporate diversity. The AI generated many of the points she makes in pushing the case for greater diversity in the workplace. Gradient is looking for founders that are building this AI "data moat" and "go-to expertise" into their businesses, she said. But she stressed that as AI is adopted, it is important that the development of the tech reflects diversity in development. Thinking about generational diversity may be as important as ethnic, racial and gender diversity as AI goes mainstream, too.

☆ Not the same major splash as Chevron moves to Texas
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

April 19 (Reuters) - When women's golf crowns its first major winner of the season on Sunday at the Chevron Championship it will not make the same splash it once did. "I'm not really sure," said defending Chevron champion Jennifer Kupcho. "I think there might be snakes in the water here, so might be a little interesting." While a dock can be quickly constructed, it takes years to build traditions and rarely are they transferable. After missing last year's Chevron due to injury, Korda is back to full fitness with four finishes inside the top six in five starts this season, including runner-up at last month's HSBC World Championship.

Members of the Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church in Pattaya, Thailand, last month. A congregation of Chinese Christians seeking asylum abroad is traveling to the U.S. with plans to resettle permanently, capping a three-year quest for a new home outside China that was impeded by repeated legal setbacks and police detention. The 63 members of the Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church, who were detained in Thailand last week for visa violations, have departed the Southeast Asian country for the U.S., a spokeswoman for the United Nations’ refugee agency and a Thai police official told The Wall Street Journal on Friday.

☆ Why some college professors are adopting ChatGPT AI as quickly as students
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Carolyn Chun | Kevin Travers | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In an analysis of professions "most exposed" to the latest advances in large language models like ChatGPT, eight of the top 10 are teaching positions. Post-secondary teachers in English language and literature, foreign language, and history topped the list among educators. Jobs most 'exposed' to generative AI Rank Profession 1 Telemarketers 2 English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary 3 Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary 4 History Teachers, Postsecondary 5 Law Teachers, Postsecondary 6 Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary 7 Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary 8 Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary 9 Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary 10 SociologistsSource: "How will Language Modelers like ChatGPT Affect Occupations and Industries?" But affected jobs – or as the study officially describes it, jobs most "exposed to AI" – does not necessarily mean the human positions will be replaced. And for topics that are very dense, "ChatGPT can even help educators translate some of those lessons or takeaways in simpler language," he said.

☆ Chinese Christians Detained in Thailand While Seeking U.N. Protection
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Chun Han Wong | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Pan Yongguang, pastor of the Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church, in Thailand last year. A self-exiled congregation of Chinese Christians seeking United Nations protection from religious persecution faces potential deportation from Thailand, where police have detained the group along with two Americans who were assisting them. Thai immigration police rounded up 63 members of the Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church on Thursday, taking them from their hotel in the coastal city of Pattaya to a police immigration bureau facility, according to the church’s pastor and an American activist who has been supporting the congregation’s efforts to seek asylum.

[1/2] Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon speaks during the Goldman Sachs Investor Day at Goldman Sachs Headquarters in New York City, U.S., February 28, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidHONG KONG/SHANGHAI, March 31 (Reuters) - A flurry of top financial executives have visited China for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic as global financial giants seek to cement their relations with Beijing at the start of President Xi Jinping's new term. International financial institutions and investors are welcome to expand in China, the chairman of the country's securities regulator said. Goldman Sachs' Solomon and Blackstone (BX.N) CEO Stephen Schwarzman met Peng Chun, chairman of China Investment Corporation (CIC), this week, according to official social media posts from the $1.35 trillion sovereign wealth fund. Meanwhile, Chip Kaye, Warburg Pincus's CEO, met Beijing's major Yin Yong during his visit to the city last week, according to a municipal statement from Beijing.

China is dispatching anticorruption enforcers abroad to chase down fugitives and recover stolen assets, a new extension of Beijing’s international reach aimed at strengthening Chinese leader Xi Jinping ’s crackdown on graft. The Communist Party’s top antigraft body and other government offices tasked with tackling corruption have begun stationing officials in some Chinese embassies, where they would coordinate with foreign authorities on law-enforcement matters, among other duties, according to people familiar with the plan.

☆ China’s Xi to Meet Putin in Moscow Next Week
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Georgi Kantchev | Chun Han Wong | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Chinese leader Xi Jinping plans to visit Moscow next week for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the latest marker of the deep ties between Beijing and Moscow as the war in Ukraine continues into its second year. During the visit, which will take place March 20-22, the two leaders will discuss the conflict in Ukraine, military-technical cooperation and energy trade, the Kremlin said Friday. Several bilateral documents will be signed during the visit, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying the two leaders would have an informal lunch on March 20 before holding talks the following day.

☆ China’s Communist Party Overhaul Deepens Control Over Finance, Technology
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Chun Han Wong | Keith Zhai | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Delegates applauding as Chinese leader Xi Jinping, left, arrives at the closing ceremony for China’s National People’s Congress in Beijing on Monday. China’s Communist Party unveiled a broad overhaul strengthening its role in managing finance, social affairs and technological development, as part of leader Xi Jinping ’s efforts to entrench his brand of top-down rule. A lengthy directive published by state media on Thursday evening outlined the creation of new party agencies and the restructuring of some existing bodies—changes that reinforced the party’s dominance over the government bureaucracy in policy-making. The directive said the shake-up is aimed at improving the party’s ability to govern and exercise “centralized and unified leadership.”

☆ China, Russia, Iran Hold Joint Military Drills in Gulf of Oman
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Dion Nissenbaum | Chun Han Wong | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Warships in the Gulf of Oman during joint Iran, Russia and China military exercises in 2019. The nations are taking part in joint drills in the region again this week. China, Russia and Iran launched joint military exercises on Wednesday in the Gulf of Oman in the latest sign of Beijing’s efforts to expand its influence in the Middle East. China’s Defense Ministry said the five-day exercise would deepen cooperation between the three nations, posing a growing challenge to U.S. interests in the region.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang takes on the job at a challenging time. China’s new premier pledged to shore up growth and restore business confidence in the world’s second-largest economy, seeking to assure the world that Beijing can overcome domestic difficulties and diplomatic tensions that have buffeted his country in recent months. Li Qiang, at his first press briefing in his new government role, acknowledged China won’t find it easy to meet its relatively conservative target of expanding gross domestic product by about 5% this year, as the government focuses on delivering stable prices, creating jobs and supplying ample housing.

Li Qiang is set to be confirmed as premier by China’s legislature on Saturday. China’s incoming premier, Li Qiang, is showing he is more than the mere loyalist to Chinese leader Xi Jinping that many expected him to be. Since rising to No. 2 in the Communist Party hierarchy last fall, Mr. Li has played leading roles in freeing China from zero-Covid and refocusing the government on economic growth, according to people familiar with the matter. Those moves have kindled cautious optimism among entrepreneurs, investors and political analysts that he may be able to exert a moderating influence on his boss, Mr. Xi.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping secured an unprecedented third term as his country’s head of state, completing a transition into the second decade of his rule as he seeks to reassert himself as a global statesman and navigate an increasingly fractious rivalry with the U.S.Mr. Xi is set to become China’s longest serving head of state since the Communist victory in 1949 after the country’s rubber-stamp legislature formally vested him with another five years as president on Friday. His reappointment, approved unanimously by more than 2,900 lawmakers assembled in Beijing, had been considered a formality after the 69-year-old took a norm-breaking third term as Communist Party chief last fall.

☆ TikTok is about to crash Google and Microsoft's search ad wars
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

TikTok search ads have been in beta testing for almost a year on an invite-only basis. One agency source predicts TikTok search ads will become more widely available by Q3. As Google and Microsoft duke it out over the future leadership of artificial intelligence-powered search, TikTok is quietly preparing a big search advertising play of its own. These moves, as well as recent TikTok job posts looking for search ads engineers to develop a "large-scale ads system," indicate a wider rollout of TikTok's search ad product. A TikTok spokesperson said the details it could share about TikTok search ads were limited during its initial testing phase.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, and other leaders attend the opening session of China’s National People’s Congress in Beijing Sunday. In rare direct criticism of Washington, Chinese leader Xi Jinping blamed what he termed a U.S.-led campaign to contain China for worsening the troubles and global uncertainties that his country has faced over the past five years. “Western countries—led by the U.S.—have implemented all-round containment, encirclement and suppression against us, bringing unprecedentedly severe challenges to our country’s development,” Mr. Xi was quoted by state media as saying on Monday.

☆ China’s Xi Jinping Shrugs Off Criticism in Push for Even More Control
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Chun Han Wong | Keith Zhai | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Late last year, Chinese leader Xi Jinping confronted a wave of protests in cities across the country decrying his zero-tolerance Covid-19 controls—a rare rebuke of his centralization of power that included, in some cases, calls for him to step down. Three months later, he is pressing to further concentrate Communist Party control.

☆ China Stumbles in Pursuit of Xi Jinping’s Soccer Goals
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Chun Han Wong | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

HONG KONG—For years, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has pushed to transform his nation into a soccer powerhouse. That quest has become an own-goal, exposing the limits of his top-down control. China remains a perennial underachiever in the game some eight years into Mr. Xi’s soccer overhaul. Its men’s national team still languishes in the middle tier of international rankings, below the likes of Iceland, Iraq and Panama. Some top professional teams have slashed players’ wages or collapsed after they and their corporate owners lost revenues amid pandemic disruptions and a property-market slump.

☆ China Urges End to Ukraine War, Calls for Peace Talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Chun Han Wong | James T. Areddy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

China’s Foreign Ministry issued 12 points, among them a call to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine. China made a fresh call for a cease-fire and peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, seeking to cast itself as a neutral mediator in a one-year-old conflict during which Beijing has struggled to maintain its close partnership with Moscow while not further inflaming tensions with the West. In a 12-point document issued Friday morning in Beijing, China’s Foreign Ministry outlined what it called “China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis,” using its preferred label for the war that Russia launched a year ago.

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