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U.S. officials have said some giving battlefield casualty estimates from Ukraine appeared to have been altered to understate Russian losses. Ukraine said its president and top security officials met on Friday to discuss ways to prevent leaks. The Pentagon said that over the weekend, U.S. officials spoke with allies and had notified the relevant congressional committee about the leak. Some of the most sensitive information is purportedly related to Ukraine's military capabilities and shortcomings. Michael Mulroy, a former senior Pentagon official, played down the lasting impact of the leak.

☆ JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon warns banking crisis will be felt for ‘years to come’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —The banking crisis triggered by the recent collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank is not over yet and will ripple through the economy for years to come, said JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Tuesday. He said that SVB’s high Interest rate exposure and large amount of uninsured deposits were already well-known to both regulators and to the marketplace at large. Current regulations, he argued, could actually lull banks into complacency without actually addressing real system-wide banking issues. Lawmakers in Congress, including Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, have suggested that new legislation meant to regulate banks is in the works. But, wrote Dimon, “the debate should not always be about more or less regulation but about what mix of regulations will keep America’s banking system the best in the world.”

☆ Factbox: JPMorgan's Dimon comments on banking crisis and AI in annual letter
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

April 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. banking crisis is ongoing and will have effects for years to come, JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) CEO Jamie Dimon wrote in a letter to shareholders on Tuesday. Here are some snippets from the letter:ON BANKING CRISIS* "Regarding the current disruption in the U.S. banking system, most of the risks were hiding in plain sight." * "While this crisis will pass, lessons will be learned, which will result in some changes to the regulatory system. * "The debate should not always be about more or less regulation but about what mix of regulations will keep America's banking system the best in the world." * "Regulatory arbitrage is already forcing many activities, from certain types of lending to certain types of trading, outside the banking system."

☆ Premarket stocks: What the OPEC cuts mean for Putin and Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

OPEC+ was formed in 2016 to coordinate and regulate oil production and stabilize global oil prices. What it means for Putin: OPEC+’s decision to cut oil production could have big implications for Russia. After Russia invaded Ukraine last year, the United States and United Kingdom immediately stopped purchasing oil from the country. Higher-priced oil could help Russia pay for its war on Ukraine and also boosts revenue in Saudi Arabia. Current regulations, Dimon argued, could actually lull banks into complacency without actually addressing real system-wide banking issues.

☆ Asian Americans are anxious about hate crimes. TikTok ban rhetoric isn’t helping
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

And the Chinese government’s authoritarian approach to numerous other issues clashes with important American values, said many Asian Americans interviewed for this article. Concerns about China have gone mainstream as US national security officials and lawmakers have publicly grappled with state-backed ransomware attacks and other hacking attempts. People rallied during a "Stop Asian Hate" march to protest against anti-Asian hate crimes on Foley Square in New York, on April 4, 2021. But to Chu, the incident was an example of the way politics surrounding China, technology and national security have fueled anti-Asian sentiment. “Asian American issues are American issues, and all Americans deserve to be treated with respect.

☆ Mistakes by the US's top spies allowed China to turn a deadly mid-air collision into an intelligence coup
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( James Bamford | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +36 min

On April 1, 2001, a US EP-3 spy plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea. One of eleven left in the fleet, the tired 1960s-era spy plane bristled with porcupine-like antennas. Within minutes, however, the fighters had reached the lumbering spy plane, and while Zhao Yu hung back about a half-mile, Wang Wei rapidly closed in. In severe trouble, he immediately radioed the base, telling them he was unable to maneuver and being sucked in by the spy plane. "You are not allowed aboard the aircraft," Osborn said.

☆ Asia shares bounce gingerly as bank fears linger
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Tom Westbrook | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) rose 0.4%. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday, which left Treasuries untraded in Asia and lightened currency trade. S&P 500 futures were flat and European futures rose 0.5%. The tense calm follows a Swiss government-backed buyout of Credit Suisse by UBS that seems, for now, to have cauterised concerns over European financial stability. The broader path for rates, meanwhile, is set to become clearer later in the week when the Fed and Bank of England set policy levels.

☆ Your Data Is Diminishing Your Freedom
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( David Marchese | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +13 min

What inequalities are baked into these data systems? Oregon State UniversityBut it’s almost impossible to function in the world without participating in these data systems that we’re told are mandatory. Which is a concern with, How are these data systems proscribing my freedoms? This is the question of equality and the implications of these data systems’ being obligatory. You get these data systems that load people in, but it’s clear there wasn’t sufficient care taken for the unequal effects of this datafication.

☆ Factbox: Full list of winners at the 2023 Oscars
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LOS ANGELES, March 13 (Reuters) - The 95th Academy Awards took place at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday and were broadcast live on ABC television. The following is the full list of 2023 Oscar winners:BEST PICTURE"Everything Everywhere All at Once"BEST ACTRESSMichelle Yeoh, “Everything Everywhere All at Once"BEST ACTORBrendan Fraser, "The Whale"BEST DIRECTORDaniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"BEST SUPPORTING ACTORKe Huy Quan, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESSJamie Lee Curtis, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM"All Quiet on the Western Front," GermanyBEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM"Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio"BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM"Navalny"BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY"Everything Everywhere All at Once," written by Daniel Kwan and Daniel ScheinertBEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY"Women Talking," screenplay by Sarah PolleyBEST ORIGINAL SCORE"All Quiet on the Western Front," Volker BertelmannBEST ORIGINAL SONG"Naatu Naatu," from "RRR," music by M.M. Keeravaani; lyrics by ChandraboseCINEMATOGRAPHY"All Quiet On The Western Front," James FriendVISUAL EFFECTS"Avatar: The Way of Water"SOUND"Top Gun: Maverick"FILM EDITING"Everything Everywhere All at Once"PRODUCTION DESIGN"All Quiet On The Western Front"COSTUME DESIGN"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," Ruth CarterMAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING"The Whale"DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM"The Elephant Whisperers"SHORT FILM, LIVE ACTION"An Irish Goodbye"SHORT FILM, ANIMATED"The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse"Reporting by Mary Milliken; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

A deeper look at the company's billing practices revealed what appeared to be Medicare fraud, Pérez Aybar said. Fraud flourishesThat's just one of thousands of examples of how Medicare fraud is flourishing — not only in south Florida, but across the country. Taxpayers are losing more than $100 billion a year to Medicare and Medicaid fraud, according to estimates from the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association. This convicted felon says Medicare and Medicaid fraud is "very easy" to get away with. The same pills could be sold and resold multiple times with different phony patients, billing Medicare each time.

☆ US senators unveil bipartisan bill empowering Biden to ban TikTok and other services
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Washington CNN —A dozen US senators unveiled bipartisan legislation Tuesday expanding President Joe Biden’s legal authority to ban TikTok nationwide, marking the latest in a string of congressional proposals threatening the social media platform’s future in the United States. The legislation, called the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology (RESTRICT) Act, does not target TikTok specifically for a ban. In the case of TikTok, lawmakers have said China’s national security laws could force TikTok’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, to provide access to TikTok’s US user data. The bill specifically directs the Secretary of Commerce to “identify, deter, disrupt, prevent, prohibit, investigate, or otherwise mitigate” national security risks associated with technology linked to those countries. But those have expanded to include makers of surveillance cameras and, more recently, apps and software makers such as TikTok.

☆ Big media is gearing up for battle with Google and Microsoft over AI chatbots using their articles for training: 'We are actively considering our options'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Publishers want Google and Microsoft to pay them for the use of media content to train their AI. Media companies are also studying how to change their business models to protect themselves from the bots' threat. Within media companies, the topic is being discussed at the highest levels, from the C-suite to the boardroom. Executives are also strategizing with peers and competitors about the possibility of forging a united position against the tech companies, according to multiple publishing sources. The same year, an Australia law forced tech companies to pay news outlets for linking to their articles.

☆ 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' box office suffered steep decline in second week
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

That's the sentiment from box office analysts after the Marvel Cinematic Universe's latest film "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" saw the sharpest decline in ticket sales from opening weekend to second weekend in franchise history. To be sure, "Quantumania" is one of the worst reviewed Marvel films, with a 48% "rotten" critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes. "Thor: Love and Thunder," "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" and "Spider-Man: No Way Home," a co-production with Sony , all saw second week drops in excess of 67%. The film also has more counter-programming than other Marvel films released in the last few years. He pointed to "Violent Night" and "M3gan," in addition to "Cocaine Bear," as films that have outperformed expectations at the box office.

☆ The editor of a sci-fi magazine says he's getting flooded with plagiarized short stories as AI tools take off: 'It quickly got out of hand'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Its founding editor said the magazine received 500 stories flagged for plagiarism in February alone. But Clarkesworld's founding editor, Neil Clarke, said the magazine received more than 500 submissions flagged for plagiarism in the first 20 days of February. Typically, the magazine would get fewer than 30 such flagged submissions per month, Clarke wrote in a February 15 blog post titled "A Concerning Trend." "It quickly got out of hand," Clarke wrote. I'm tinkering with some, but this isn't a game of whack-a-mole that anyone can 'win,'" Clarke wrote.

☆ Factbox: Key winners at the 2023 BAFTA Film Awards
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Peter Baynton, John Agbaje, Hannah Minghella, Jude Coward Nicoll, Charlie Mackesy and Cara Speller pose with their awards for Best British Short Animation for "The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse" during the 2023 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Film Awards at the Royal Festival Hall in London, Britain, February 19, 2023. REUTERS/Henry NichollsLONDON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - The annual BAFTA Film Awards, Britain's highest honours for film, were held in London on Sunday. Below is a list of the winners in the main categories:BEST FILM"All Quiet on the Western Front"OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM"The Banshees of Inisherin"DIRECTOREdward Berger, "All Quiet on the Western Front"LEADING ACTRESSCate Blanchett, "Tár"LEADING ACTORAustin Butler, "Elvis"SUPPORTING ACTRESSKerry Condon, "The Banshees of Inisherin"SUPPORTING ACTORBarry Keoghan, "The Banshees of Inisherin"ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY"The Banshees of Inisherin"ADAPTED SCREENPLAY"All Quiet on the Western Front"FILM NOT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE"All Quiet on the Western Front"DOCUMENTARY"Navalny"ANIMATED FILM"Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio"ORIGINAL SCORE"All Quiet on the Western Front"EE RISING STAR AWARDEmma MackeyReporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian Editing by Nick ZieminskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Crypto: Regulators are cracking down as FTX fallout casts a shadow over digital assets
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —When FTX collapsed in November, it was a seismic event for the crypto industry. On Monday, New York regulators ordered blockchain firm Paxos to stop issuing BUSD, aka Binance USD, citing “several unresolved issues” related to Paxos’ oversight of its relationship with crypto exchange Binance. Investors typically buy them to store money and facilitate deals within the cryptocurrency infrastructure, making them a bedrock of the crypto ecosystem. “Regulation by enforcement is puzzling for crypto enthusiasts,” said Marcus Sotiriou, market analyst at digital asset broker GlobalBlock, in a note. In January, regulators warned US banks and other market participants about the risks of fraud, volatility, and shoddy risk management in the crypto world.

☆ Exclusive: Inside the extramarital affair and cash-fueled double life of Charles McGonigal, the FBI spy-hunter indicted for allegedly taking Russian money
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

She had dated federal law enforcement officials before. "Charlie McGonigal knew everybody in the national security and law enforcement world," Guerriero said, in an exclusive interview with Insider. One law enforcement source estimated that McGonigal stood to make roughly $300,000 to $350,000 a year, including annual bonuses. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whom she knew from law enforcement circles, let her stay in a guest bedroom. During her relationship with McGonigal, Guerriero says, they never talked about politics.

☆ Streaming services are spending bank on big-budget movies. That's not buying Oscar nods.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Streaming services came up short at this year's Oscar nominations, announced on Tuesday. This year, it only has 15 — nine of which were for its one best-picture contender, "All Quiet on the Western Front." But the nominations also reflect the shifting streaming priorities for media and tech companies coming out of the pandemic. Only one of those four movies got an Oscar nomination — an adapted screenplay nod for "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery." Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone in "Killers of the Flower Moon," an Oscar contender for next year.

☆ How China planted an FBI mole who was discovered only after gutting the CIA's vast spy network
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( James Bamford | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +25 min

At the time, four years after the handover from Britain to China, much of Hong Kong remained a world of neon and noise. "Five years ago, everyone looked down on you if you spoke Mandarin," said a Beijing executive living in Hong Kong. As soon as the Hong Kong Arts Festival ended, the Hong Kong International Film Festival began. In February 2006, Alex Ma, China's mole in the FBI, sent David photos he received from his handlers of five suspected human sources. Born in Hong Kong like Alex, Lee grew up in Hawaii and became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

☆ Kevin Spacey celebrated in Italy at first major speaking event since sexual assault allegations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

TURIN, Italy — Making his first speaking appearance since sexual assault allegations derailed his career, actor Kevin Spacey used a colorful Italian term to thank the National Cinema Museum in the northern city of Turin on Monday for inviting him. “By presenting this award, they are making a strong defense of artistic achievement and for that they should be applauded,” Spacey said. After multiple allegations of sexual assault surfaced, the actor lost his starring role on the Netflix series “House of Cards” and saw other opportunities dry up. Spacey did not directly address the allegations while accepting the award or during the hourlong class. After the master class, fans lined up to take selfies and get DVDs signed.

☆ Kevin Spacey hails Italy museum for having 'the guts' to honour him
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey poses as he is awarded by the National Museum of Cinema of Turin with the "Stella della Mole Award" in Turin, Italy, January 16, 2023. REUTERS/Massimo PincaTURIN, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Kevin Spacey picked up a career award in Italy on Monday, despite controversy over the sex crime allegations that have tarnished the reputation of the Oscar-winning American actor. The Museum of Cinema in Turin said it handed the prize in recognition of Spacey's "personal aesthetic and authorial contribution to the development of the art of drama." "I am surely blessed and grateful and humbled and my heart is very full tonight toward the Museum of Cinema for having had le palle (the guts) to invite me tonight," he said. In the run-up to the award ceremony, the Turin-based La Stampa newspaper ran an editorial headlined "Italy, land of plenary indulgence".

☆ Amazon removes Nazi and neo-Nazi items after human-rights group protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon has since removed the items, but more related products remain, Gizmodo reported. The Simon Wiesenthal Center blasted Amazon for "monetizing Nazi and Neo-Nazi paraphernalia" on its website in a Thursday blog post. The human-rights organization said Amazon allowed various businesses to market and sell items associated with neo-Nazis, including swastika necklaces and face masks. The Simon Wiesenthal CenterCooper went on to note a letter the SWC sent to Amazon in 2022 for featuring 30 films the organization deemed as Nazi propaganda on Amazon Prime. In 2019, Amazon removed Christmas ornaments featuring the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz, according to a report from Insider.

☆ Constantine, the former and last king of Greece, dies at 82
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

ATHENS, Greece — Constantine, the former and last king of Greece, who won an Olympic gold medal before becoming entangled in his country’s volatile politics in the 1960s as king and spent decades in exile, has died. Prince Constantine on his sailboat at the Olympics in 1960. With minimal nostalgia for the monarchy in Greece, Constantine became a relatively uncontroversial figure. Crown Prince Constantine, left, arrives at the Raiding Forces' Headquarters on July 5, 1956. Prince Charles and King Constantine II of Greece attend Sunday service at the Church of St Mary Magdalene on the Sandringham estate in King's Lynn, England, on Dec. 9, 2007.

☆ This scientist was irked by the phrase 'hella' big — so he created 2 new units of measurement
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Metric measurements — also known as the International System of Units, or SI — are managed by a formal international organization. The prefixes Brown came up with are ronna and ronto for 1027 and 10-27 and quetta and quecto for 1030 and 10-30. In fact, SI units used to be based on actual, real-life physical artifacts. "If everyone sticks to SI prefixes," Brown says, "you don't have to go on Wikipedia to find out how long a light-year is or the power in 1 jansky." Pražák proposed sticking to Greek words and letters.

☆ Facial recognition tool led to mistaken arrest, lawyer says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

His attorney, Tommy Calogero, said authorities erroneously linked Reid to purse thefts in Jefferson Parish and Baton Rouge. I said, ‘What is Jefferson Parish?’” Reid said. Reid’s case brings renewed attention to the use of facial recognition tools in Louisiana and elsewhere. Under the latest city rules, all possible matches must undergo a peer review by other facial recognition investigators. Legislation to restrict the use of facial recognition statewide died in a 2021 legislative session.

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