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Britain’s MI6 intelligence chief says AI won’t replace human spies

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:58:53 GMT

PRAGUE (AP) — Artificial intelligence will change the world of espionage, but it won’t replace human spies, the head of Britain’s MI6 intelligence agency says in prepared remarks released Wednesday. Richard Moore, director of the U.K.’s foreign intelligence agency, is set to speak in Prague on evolving threats to the West from Russia and Iran, and argue that the “human factor” will remain crucial in an era of rapidly evolving machine learning.“AI is going to make information infinitely more accessible and some have asked whether it will put intelligence services like mine out of business,” he says in extracts released in advance by the U.K. government.“In fact, the opposite is likely to be true,” he adds. “As AI trawls the ocean of open source, there will be even greater value in landing, with a well-cast fly, the secrets that lie beyond the reach of its nets.”Moore, who has previously warned that the West was falling behind rivals in the AI race, will argue that “the un...

Legisladores buscan eliminar cojines tras muertes de bebés

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:58:53 GMT

Dos miembros del Congreso están pidiendo al gobierno federal que tome medidas sobre los para bebés con forma de almohada después de que una investigación de NBC News revelara que ha habido muchas más muertes relacionadas con los productos que las anunciadas previamente por los funcionarios.En una carta enviada el viernes a la Comisión de Seguridad de Productos del Consumidor (CPSC), el senador Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., y la representante Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., describieron los cojines como “productos innecesarios” que ponían en peligro la vida de los bebés.“Es esencial una regla estricta que elimine las tumbonas tipo almohada y otros productos similares que inviten a los padres a usarlos creyendo que estos productos son seguros para el sueño de los bebés”, dijeron Blumenthal y Schakowsky en la carta.Al menos 25 muertes se han relacionado con las tumbonas para bebés desde 2015, informó NBC News este año. En septiembre de 2021, el gobierno federal retiró del mercado más de 3 millo...

Alex Kirilloff has his third consecutive multihit game as Twins beat Mariners 10-3

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:58:53 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — Alex Kirilloff was a double shy of the cycle, Bailey Ober was sharp after a difficult first inning, and the Minnesota Twins defeated the Seattle Mariners 10-3 on Tuesday night.Minnesota (49-47) stays 1 1/2 games ahead of the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central standings, winning its last four of five. Seattle (47-47) has dropped three of five since the All-Star break.Ober (6-4) allowed three runs on six hits in the first inning alone, including a two-run homer, but was efficient for the final five innings, allowing just one more hit.“To go six innings after having a first inning like that is a pretty spectacular thing that he was able to do for us,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It’s a big reason why we won, they (Seattle) didn’t really do anything after the first inning.”Ober struck out five while walking none and now has six consecutive quality starts.“I feel like my first inning I was leaving a lot of stuff in the middle of the plate,” Ober said. “The only ...

Top US economist quits EU job after Macron speaks out

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:58:53 GMT

American economist Fiona Scott Morton won’t take up a job she was offered as the European Commission’s chief competition economist after a political backlash culminating in criticism from French President Emmanuel Macron about the choice of a non-EU candidate for the role.“Given the controversy that has arisen because of the selection of a non-European to fill this position, and the importance that the Directorate General has the full backing of the European Union as it enforces, I have determined that the best course of action is for me to withdraw and not take up the Chief Economist position,” Scott Morton said in a letter published by European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager on Twitter Wednesday morning.Scott Morton’s decision to withdraw comes as the College of Commissioners was due to discuss her appointment on Wednesday, after five commissioners raised concerns about Vestager and President Ursula von der Leyen’s pick for the ...

Finally, UK inflation comes off the boil

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:58:53 GMT

Inflation in the U.K. finally came off the boil in June, bringing relief to consumers, the government — and to the Bank of England. The consumer price index rose 0.1 percent on the month and was up 7.9 percent from a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday. That was down from a headline rate of 8.7 percent in May and, crucially, the first time in five months the numbers had not exceeded market expectations.Although falling energy prices contributed most to the improved picture, the slowdown in price increases was broad-based, with the ONS reporting no major gains in prices for specific goods or services. Food prices, which have become the focal point of popular anger at the highest inflation in over 40 years, inched higher, but their annual gain slowed to 17.4 percent from 18.4 percent in May. The ONS’ measure of core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy elements, fell more moderately, to 6.9 percent from 7.1 percent in May. However, lea...

Russia launches intense night attacks across Ukraine and targets the southern port city of Odesa

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:58:53 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched an intense series of nighttime air attacks sending drones and missiles toward places across Ukraine, targeting the southern port city of Odesa for a second night in a row, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday. Meanwhile, Russian emergency officials in Crimea said that over 2,200 people were evacuated from four villages because of a fire at a military facility. The fire also caused the closure of an important highway, according to Sergey Aksyonov, the Russia-appointed head of the region, which was annexed in 2014. He did not specific a cause for the fire at the facility in Kirovsky district, which came two days after an attack on a bridge linking Russia to the peninsula that the Kremlin has blamed on Ukraine. “A difficult night of air attacks for all of Ukraine,” Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said in a statement on Telegram. Ukrainian authorities reported more drones and missiles sent against more parts of Ukraine than...

FIFA can’t guarantee federations will pay promised $30,000 per player at Women’s World Cup

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:58:53 GMT

FIFA President Gianni Infantino could make no guarantee Wednesday that the member federations will distribute the $30,000 payments promised to every player at the Women’s World Cup. He said at a news conference ahead of the tournament opener that he’s engaging with member federations on the issue. The payments are made the national federations, which are expected to pay the players. But there is no mechanism to directly pay the players the money, which could be life-changing for some. “We are moving of course in the right direction, we have been consulting with associations, with players, to try to go in the right path,” Infantino said. “We have issued these recommendations, but we have an association of associations. So whatever payments we do, we will go through the associations and then the associations will, of course, make the relevant payments to their own players. We are in touch with all the associations.”FIFA had previously confirmed that the 732 players partici...

As Macron’s criticism reverberates, US economist says she won’t take top EU job

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:58:53 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — One day after French President Emmanuel Macron criticized her appointment because of her nationality, the American candidate to become one of the European Union’s chief economists will now not take up the position because of the political controversy it stirred, the bloc announced Wednesday. In a letter to the EU’s executive Commission released early Wednesday, Yale economics professor Fiona Scott Morton wrote that she had “determined that the best course of action is for me to withdraw and not take up the Chief Economist position.” EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who had pushed through the decision to appoint an American to such a high-level position, said, “I accept this with regret and hope that she will continue to use her extraordinary skillset to push for strong competition enforcement.” Macron had not been the only one to criticize the unusual move to take on an American for such a post but his criticism had the most impact. On Tuesday, h...

UK inflation falls by more than anticipated to 15-month low of 7.9%; may limit interest rate hikes

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:58:53 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Inflation in the U.K. has fallen by more than anticipated to a 15-month low, official figures showed Wednesday, a development that may ease the pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates sharply over the coming months, to the potential relief of struggling households.The Office for National Statistics said that inflation, as measured by the consumer prices index, fell to 7.9% in the year to June from 8.7% the previous month. Most economists had expected a more modest decline to 8.2%.The statistics agency said the falling of fuel prices was the biggest driver behind the drop, while food price inflation also pared back, though they remained historically high. Despite the decline, inflation is still running far higher than the Bank of England’s target rate of 2%. As a result, the central bank is expected to raise its main interest rate further at its upcoming meeting in early August. However, the bigger-than-expected fall may mean it only raises it by a...

Climate and violence hobble Nigeria’s push to rely on its own wheat after the hit from Russia’s war

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:58:53 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Abubakar Salisu was terrified when he discovered arid sand in the middle of his farmland, rendering a broad strip unfit for crops. Now, extreme heat is killing his wheat before it is ready for cultivation.Wheat normally requires heat, but in the last three years, farmers in Nigeria’s far north, part of Africa’s Sahel region that largely produces the country’s homegrown food, have seen an “alarming” increase in heat — much more than required, said Salisu, a local leader of wheat farmers in Kaita, Katsina State. Plus, rain is irregular.“The unpredictable rain pattern is affecting us because wheat is planted immediately after the rainy season, but sometimes we will plant it thinking the rain has stopped, only to have it start again, thereby spoiling the seeds,” said Salisu, 48.The vicious heat and rain cycle, worsened by climate change, has contributed to his wheat yield dropping in half.He is not alone — others in northern areas ripped apart by violen...