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☆ No Black Sea grain deal ships inspected as Russian deadline looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) - The United Nations said no ships were inspected on Sunday or Monday under a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain, which Moscow has threatened to quit on May 18 over obstacles to its own grain and fertilizer exports. The U.N. and Turkey brokered the Black Sea export agreement in July last year to help tackle a global food crisis that has been worsened by Moscow's war in Ukraine. Officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the U.N. make up a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul, which implements the deal. To help convince Russia to allow Ukraine to resume Black Sea grain exports, a three-year pact was also struck in July 2022 in which the U.N. agreed to help Moscow facilitate those shipments. The Black Sea export deal also provided for the export of fertilizer, including ammonia, but there had been no such exports so far, the United Nations said.

☆ Alberta issues emergency alert for four armed, dangerous suspects
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) - The Canadian province of Alberta issued an emergency alert on Monday for the area of Sunchild and O'Chiese First Nations due to four "armed and dangerous" individuals in that area. The alert was issued at 1:17 PM (7:17 GMT)and is expected to end on Tuesday. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Alberta said it was investigating multiple firearms complaints in the Sunchild and O'Chiese First Nations and asked residents to shelter in place. "RCMP are actively looking for 4 suspects, 2 of which are identified as 28-year-old Colin Beaverbones and 25-year-old Boyd Beaverbones. These suspects are considered armed and dangerous.

[1/2] Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes is seen on video during the hearing of the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 9, 2022. The Justice Department is also seeking a sentence of 21 years for another Oath Keepers leader, Kelly Meggs, who was also found guilty in November of seditious conspiracy by a Washington, D.C., jury. The same Washington jury that convicted Rhodes and Meggs cleared three other co-defendants, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins and Thomas Caldwell, of seditious conspiracy. The charges of seditious conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding each carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Four other members of the Oath Keepers were convicted in January of seditious conspiracy for their roles in the attack.

☆ Biden expected to nominate Jefferson as next Federal Reserve vice chair -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to nominate Federal Reserve Governor Philip Jefferson as the next vice chair, two sources familiar with the matter said on WednesdayIn addition, economist Adrian Kugler is expected to be nominated to an open Fed board seat, with an announcement anticipated in coming days, the sources said. Reporting by Costas Pitas; writing by Jasper Ward; editing by Dan WhitcombOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ USAID pauses food assistance to Tigray region of Ethiopia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Jasper Ward | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced on Wednesday the temporary suspension of its food assistance to the Tigray region of Ethiopia. While describing the move as a "difficult decision", USAID Administrator Samantha Power said the agency recently discovered that food aid intended for people of the region, who are suffering under famine-like condition, was being diverted and sold on the local market. The agency referred the matter to its Office of the Inspector General, which launched an investigation, and sent leaders from its Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance to Ethiopia before deciding to on a temporary pause in food aid, she said. The government and Tigray forces agreed to end the hostilities in November, which has allowed additional aid to reach the region and for some services to be restored. "While food aid to the Tigray Region is paused, other vital assistance not implicated in the diversion scheme will continue, including life-saving nutritional supplements, safe drinking water, and support for agricultural activities and development," she said.

☆ OpenAI has its tentacles in hundreds of companies. Here's how it's making them more productive.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Developers are linking arms with OpenAI to access the large language models powering their apps. In doing so, OpenAI has its tentacles in hundreds of Silicon Valley startups. OpenAI's artificial intelligence technology is now baked into hundreds of apps, making it one of the key levers that help companies and their developers be more productive. The latest company utilizing the company's large language models is Superhuman, an email app with a cultish following. The feature came together so fast, according to Akshay Kothari, the third cofounder and chief operating officer, because Notion hadn't done the grunt work of training a large language model itself.

☆ Ancient Romans Dropped Their Bling Down the Drain, Too
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Franz Lidz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Down the drain is where British archaeologists recently discovered 36 artfully engraved semiprecious stones, in an ancient bathhouse at the site of a Roman fort near Hadrian’s Wall in Carlisle, England. The colorful intaglios — gems with incised carvings — likely fell out of signet rings worn by wealthy third-century bathers, and ended up trapped in the stone drains. The delicate intaglios, fashioned from amethyst, jasper and carnelian, range in diameter from 5 millimeters to 16 millimeters — bigger than a pencil eraser, smaller than a dime. Some bear images of Apollo, Mars, Bonus Eventus and other Roman deities symbolizing war or good fortune. How and why these stones were lost is a subject of some debate among classicists.

☆ US to end COVID-19 vaccination requirements on May 11 -White House
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, May 1 (Reuters) - The United States will end its COVID-19 vaccination requirements for federal employees and contractors, and international air travelers on May 11, when the coronavirus public health emergency ends, the White House said on Monday. "Additionally, HHS and DHS announced today that they will start the process to end their vaccination requirements for Head Start educators, CMS-certified healthcare facilities, and certain noncitizens at the land border. In the coming days, further details related to ending these requirements will be provided," the White House said. Reporting by Jasper Ward; Editing by Eric BeechOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. negotiator says Biden would be warmly welcomed in Pacific
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - The United States needs to accelerate diplomatic "catch up" with the Pacific island region in the face of Chinese competition, a U.S. diplomat said on Friday, adding that he was sure President Joe Biden would be warmly welcomed there if he decided to visit. "Obviously for the Pacific, I am sure they would welcome President Biden, if he were to go there," Yun told the Hudson Institute. A Pacific islands source told Reuters that Biden was also expected to meet with more than a dozen Pacific islands leaders, but the White House National Security Council has not responded to request for comment on the plans. Yun said the level of Chinese coercion in the region that is crucial to U.S. national security, but that had been neglected by the United States, is concerning. "So now we're playing ... a little bit of catch up, I would say, and but you know, we need to accelerate our catch up."

☆ SEC’s Climate-Disclosure Rule Isn’t Here, but It May as Well Be, Many Businesses Say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Richard Vanderford | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A Philips Digital 3T MRI scanner. The company has worked not just to quantify emissions stemming from its supply chain, but also has pushed suppliers to adopt their own carbon-emission targets. Photo: Jasper Juinen/Bloomberg NewsA sweeping U.S. climate-disclosure rule isn’t yet in place, and it is sure to face legal challenges when it is, but many companies have begun assessing greenhouse-gas emissions from parties in their supply chain as if it were. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s rule—which would require public companies to report climate-related risks and emissions data, including so-called Scope 3 emissions that come from a company’s supply chain—is expected to be brought in soon. The agency issued the proposal in March 2022 as President Biden’s efforts to address global warming through legislation stalled in Congress.

☆ 44 of the most promising generative-artificial-intelligence startups of 2023, according to investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

We asked investors to name the most promising generative-AI startups of 2023. VCs were asked to name startups in their portfolios and ones with which they had no financial ties. This past year has seen doom and gloom for most of the tech world, but a small, rapidly growing group of startups have seen a renaissance. In the model layer, third-party and open-source providers like OpenAI and Stability AI train AI models that startups can build upon. Insider asked 22 top artificial-intelligence and machine-learning investors to nominate the early-stage generative-AI startups within this ecosystem they believe show the most promise.

☆ Inside the AI talent wars: Tech companies are ransacking university AI programs at Stanford, MIT, and Cornell in search of engineers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Driven by the recent AI boom, companies are raiding top college campuses for rare technical talent. She's currently on leave from her Stanford AI Ph.D. program to focus on Moonhub. In 2011, new AI Ph.D. graduates took jobs in the tech industry and academia in about equal measure. But since then, the majority of new grads have headed to the AI industry, with nearly double the percentage of AI Ph.D. grads taking industry jobs versus academic roles in 2021, according to Stanford's Institute for Human-Centered AI's 2023 AI Index Report. "All AI companies have roles for people with Ph.D.s and without," said Attaluri, the soon-to-be researcher at DeepMind.

☆ Nine injured in shooting at Texas high school prom party
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 23 (Reuters) - Nine teenagers were shot early Sunday at an after-prom party in Jasper, Texas, prompting what will be an increased police presence at the town's high school this week, officials said. The victims were taken to two hospitals, the sheriff's office said, without reporting on the number of shooters. Jasper High School held its prom, a right of passage for American secondary schools, at a church meeting hall on Saturday night, the TV news reported. The superintendent of the Jasper Independent School District, John Seybold, pledged full cooperation with any law-enforcement investigation "to bring these perpetrators to justice." A week ago, four people were shot dead and 32 wounded at an Alabama "Sweet 16" birthday party in the small town of Dadeville.

☆ Inside the Wild World of Celebrity Keynote Speakers: Drugs, Alcohol
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( David Kushner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +31 min

"I never saw myself as a speaker, let alone a motivational speaker," Leonard tells me while his assistant irons his jeans. 'When I ramble," Hunter told me, "hit me in the leg!" Every plane had been grounded, including the one stuck on the tarmac with an increasingly inebriated Hunter Thompson trapped inside. But by far the most all-consuming task was booking gigs for Hunter Thompson. Just before a debate with G. Gordon Liddy at Brown University, Hunter demanded that Betsy Berg, whom I now worked alongside at GTN, score him some crystal meth.

[1/2] Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts arrives before President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol, Tuesday, February 7, 2023, in Washington. Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTERS/File PhotoCompanies United States Senate FollowWASHINGTON, April 20 (Reuters) - The Senate Judiciary Committee's chairman called on U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts to testify at a May 2 hearing on Supreme ethics reform after earlier urging him to investigate ties between Justice Clarence Thomas and a wealthy Republican donor. The court did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Roberts. The chief justice is a member of the court's 6-3 conservative majority. In inviting Roberts to testify, Durbin also said the chief justice could designate another justice to appear instead.

☆ New York City parking garage collapses, some believed trapped
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 18 (Reuters) - A parking garage collapse in New York City's lower Manhattan caused several injuries on Tuesday, local emergency officials and media reported, adding that some victims may have been trapped in the fallen structure. The second floor of the garage collapsed onto the first, CBS News reported, citing New York City emergency officials. But firefighters responding to the collapse were pulled back from the immediate scene "out of concerns about the structural stability of the building," the New York City Fire Department said in a statement. In the meantime, emergency personnel were doing their best to account for anyone who may have been trapped, the department said. New York City Mayor Eric Adams was briefed on the collapse and was be heading to the scene to survey the damage, his spokesperson said on Twitter.

☆ White Kansas City man, 84, charged for shooting Black teen who went to wrong house
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Jasper Ward | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

April 17 (Reuters) - Prosecutors charged an 84-year-old white Kansas City man with two felonies on Monday in the shooting of a Black teenager who was wounded after walking up to the wrong house when going to pick up his younger twin brothers. "I can tell you there was a racial component to the case," Clay County prosecutor Zachary Thompson told a news conference, without providing further details. But Yarl told police in an interview at the hospital where he was treated that the man told him, "Don't come around here," local media reported, citing court documents. "No child should ever live in fear of being shot for ringing the wrong doorbell," Vice President Kamala Harris tweeted in response to the shooting. Reporting By Brendan O'Brien and Andrew Hay; Editing by Donna Bryson and Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ US Senator Feinstein will step down temporarily from Judiciary Committee
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Senator Feinstein, recuperating from a bout of shingles and facing calls from fellow Democrats to resign, said on Wednesday her return to the Senate has been delayed and she would temporarily step down from the Judiciary Committee. “I intend to return as soon as possible once my medical team advises that it’s safe for me to travel," Feinstein said. She said "my absence could delay the important work of the Judiciary Committee" and has asked to step down until she is able to resume work. U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer will grant Feinstein's request and ask the Senate next week to allow another Democratic senator to temporarily serve on the committee, a Schumer spokesperson said in a statement. Feinstein, who will not run when up for reelection in 2024, is currently the oldest serving U.S. senator.

☆ U.S. Air National Guardsman suspected of leaking intel to be arrested Thursday -source
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, April 13 (Reuters) - An Air National Guardsman suspected of leaking highly classified U.S. documents will be arrested on Thursday in Massachusetts, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters. The New York Times reported that the leader of an online group where the secret documents were posted is a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. Named Jack Teixeira, the national guardsman led Thug Shaker Central, an online group where about 20 to 30 people shared their love of guns, racist memes and video games, the Times said, citing interviews and documents it reviewed. U.S. President Joe Biden earlier on Thursday said investigators were closing in on the source of the leak. Reporting by Katharine Jackson and Jasper Ward; editing by Susan HeaveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. Senate panel to hold hearing on Biden's Labor nominee Su next week
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, April 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Labor committee will hold an April 20 confirmation hearing on U.S. Labor Secretary nominee Julie Su, panel chairman Senator Bernie Sanders said in a statement. President Joe Biden had nominated Su for the Cabinet post in February but her nomination has raised some pushback from industry circles. Reporting by Jasper Ward and Moira Warburton; writing by Susan HeaveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Lanny Davis, a lawyer for Cohen, called Trump's lawsuit "frivolous." "Mr. Trump is once again using and abusing the judicial system as a form of harassment and intimidation against Michael Cohen," Davis said. Trump's lawsuit said Cohen wrongfully called Trump "racist" in the disbarred lawyer's 2020 book, entitled "Disloyal," and fabricated conversations with Trump from when he served as his attorney. Once known for intense loyalty to Trump, Cohen has become a harsh critic and has assisted law enforcement agencies and lawmakers investigating his former boss. Trump filed a suit against James seeking to halt her civil case, but a judge dismissed it, writing that there was "no evidence" that the investigation was undertaken in bad faith.

April 12 (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Donald Trump is suing his former lawyer Michael Cohen for more than $500 million, according to a filing in federal court in Florida on Wednesday. The lawsuit accuses Cohen of violating his attorney-client relationship with Trump by revealing his "confidences" and "spreading falsehoods" in books, podcasts and media appearances. It says Cohen wrongfully called Trump "racist" in his 2020 book, "Disloyal," and fabricated conversations with Trump. Cohen was a top executive at Trump's real estate company and then worked as his personal lawyer when Trump assumed office in 2017. Cohen in 2018 pleaded guilty to violating federal election law through the $130,000 payment to the porn star, Stormy Daniels.

☆ Inside the AI talent wars: Tech companies are ransacking university AI programs at Stanford, MIT, and Cornell in search of rare talent
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

CHICAGO, April 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden picked Chicago to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention, tapping a large liberal city in the heart of the Midwest to hold what could be his nominating party, officials said on Tuesday. "Chicago is a great choice to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention," Biden said in a statement distributed by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Tuesday. The city has hosted several Democratic conventions, including the tumultuous and violent 1968 gathering during the Vietnam War. "There'll be some initial heartbreak, which I'm experiencing right now," said Dominick Perkins, a top Democratic strategist in Georgia. The convention, where delegates will formally select a final Democratic nominee to run in the November 2024 presidential election, will run from Aug. 19-22 next year, the DNC said.

CHICAGO, April 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden and his party selected Chicago to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention, tapping a large liberal city in the heart of the Midwest to hold its nominating party, the Democratic National Committee announced on Tuesday. Chicago beat out New York, another progressive city, as well as Atlanta, a city in the presidential battleground state of Georgia that helped Biden win the White House and gain control of the Senate. “Chicago is a great choice to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention,” Biden said in a statement. The convention, where delegates will formally select a final Democratic nominee to run in the November 2024 presidential election, will run from Aug. 19-22, the DNC said. While he has not officially declared his candidacy, Biden is expected to be the party's standard-bearer in the 2024 general election.

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