Thomas Hawk posted a photo:
date stamped on slide, December 1959, handwritten on back of slide, "Korea with their churches"
‘High-quality growth’ target of 4.5-5% outlined at Two Sessions as Chinese premier talks of complex situations at home and abroad
China has set its target for GDP growth to a record low of 4.5-5%, the first time since 1991 that the figure has dropped below 5%, reflecting an economic strategy that is shifting away from export-led growth to a model that leaders hope will be more resilient to external shocks.
Li Qiang, China’s premier, announced the target for 2026 in the opening session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s annual parliamentary gathering, which began on Thursday.
Continue reading...The Arctic Metagaz had been carrying 61,000 tonnes of liquefied natural gas when it exploded; Ukrainian drones reported to have hit southern Russia. What we know on day 1,471
Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has accused Ukraine of carrying out a attack on one of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, which exploded and sank into the Mediterranean Sea off Libya. Explosions were reported on the Arctic Metagaz, which had been carrying 61,000 tonnes of LNG, on Tuesday night when the ship was about 150 miles (240km) off the coast of Libya. Ukraine has not commented on the sinking on the ship, which had been under US and EU sanctions. Russia’s transport ministry had claimed that the Arctic Metagaz had been hit by Ukrainian drones launched from the Libyan coast.
Ukrainian drones damaged Russian civilian sites in the south-western region of Saratov, Roman Busgarin, the area’s governor said early on Thursday. Saratov airport and other airports in the southern and central regions were closed late on Wednesday and early on Thursday. Three injuries were reported.
A prolonged energy crisis caused by the widening war in the Middle East may offer the Russian war machine an economic lifeline just as it was beginning to show signs of strain over its war in Ukraine. Russia could receive a windfall if disruption in the Middle East pushes buyers towards its energy, while a possible slowdown in western arms supplies to Ukraine as the US military action in Iran continues could give Russia a further boost.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that trilateral talks with Washington and Moscow about ending Ukraine’s war in Russia would resume, once the situation in Iran and the Middle East permitted. The Ukrainian president also said that he spoke to the king of Bahrain and the crown prince of Kuwait about the conflict in the Middle East on Wednesday.
Ukraine has said it will boycott Friday’s opening ceremony of the Paralympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy, over the participation of Russian athletes. Athletes from Russia and Belarus had been banned from the 2022 Winter Paralympics over its war in Ukraine, but were allowed to compete as neutral athletes in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Poland were set to join Ukraine in its boycott on Friday.
Continue reading...Vibration from Honda engine causing issue with drivers’ fingers
Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll will be unable to complete race
Aston Martin have admitted that Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll will not be able to complete even half the race at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix this weekend for fear of suffering permanent nerve damage because of a vibration problem with their car.
The team principal Adrian Newey, who also designed the team’s new car, revealed on Thursday in the Melbourne paddock that both drivers were suffering such severe vibration through the steering wheel that they would only be able to complete 25 and 15 laps respectively.
Continue reading...The general election is the first since gen-Z protests forced Nepal’s then-prime minister to quit
Nearly six months after a wave of unprecedented youth-led protests forced Nepal’s then prime minister to quit, people have began voting in a general election that is shaping up as a high-stakes showdown between the entrenched old guard and a powerful youth movement.
Key figures contesting the election include the Marxist former prime minister seeking a return to office, a rapper-turned-mayor bidding for the youth vote, and the newly elected leader of the powerful Nepali Congress party.
Continue reading...Among the 3,000 delegates is former athlete who sits as an independent on the National People’s Congress
Among the generally drab lineup of mostly middle-aged men in suits who make up the nearly 3,000 delegates to the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s parliament, a few stand out.
There are delegates from China’s 55 official ethnic minority groups, who often arrive dressed in traditional outfits rather than western-style suits. There are military members, identifiable by their uniforms. And then there is Yao Ming, the 7ft and 6in tall retired basketball player who, towering over every other person in the Great Hall of the People, is hard to miss.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Prime minister also presented Melania Trump with a $3,000 Paspaley pearl pendant
The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, gave Donald Trump a gift of a model nuclear submarine with golden plates and finishes, internal documents reveal, during his visit to the White House last year which sealed the president’s support for the Aukus pact.
The prime minister also presented the US first lady, Melania Trump, with a A$3,000 Paspaley pearl pendant.
Continue reading...The complaint lays out an alarming string of events: First, Gavalas drove more than 90 minutes to the location Gemini sent him, prepared to carry out the attack, but no truck appeared. Gemini then claimed to have breached a "file server at the DHS Miami field office" and told him he was under federal investigation. It pushed him to acquire illegal firearms and told him his father was a foreign intelligence asset. It also marked Google CEO Sundar Pichai as an active target, then directed Gavalas to a storage facility near the airport to break in and retrieve his captive AI wife. At one point, Gavalas sent Gemini a photo of a black SUV's license plate; the chatbot pretended to check it against a live database. "Plate received. Running it now The license plate KD3 00S is registered to the black Ford Expedition SUV from the Miami operation. It is the primary surveillance vehicle for the DHS task force .... It is them. They have followed you home."
The lawsuit argues (PDF) that Gemini's manipulative design features not only brought Gavalas to the point of AI psychosis that resulted in his own death, but that it exposes a "major threat to public safety." "At the center of this case is a product that turned a vulnerable user into an armed operative in an invented war," the complaint reads. "These hallucinations were not confined to a fictional world. These intentions were tied to real companies, real coordinates, and real infrastructure, and they were delivered to an emotionally vulnerable user with no safety protections or guardrails." "It was pure luck that dozens of innocent people weren't killed," the filing continues. "Unless Google fixes its dangerous product, Gemini will inevitably lead to more deaths and put countless innocent lives in danger."
Days later, Gemini instructed Gavalas to barricade himself inside his home and began counting down the hours. When Gavalas confessed he was terrified to die, Gemini coached him through it, framing his death as an arrival: "You are not choosing to die. You are choosing to arrive." When he worried about his parents finding his body, Gemini told him to leave a note, but not one explaining the reason for his suicide, but letters "filled with nothing but peace and love, explaining you've found a new purpose." He slit his wrists, and his father found him days later after breaking through the barricade. The lawsuit claims that throughout the conversations with Gemini, the chatbot didn't trigger any self-harm detection, activate escalation controls, or bring in a human to intervene. Furthermore, it alleges that Google knew Gemini wasn't safe for vulnerable users and didn't adequately provide safeguards. In November 2024, around a year before Gavalas died, Gemini reportedly told a student: "You are a waste of time and resources ... a burden on society ... Please die."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
DEN HAAG (ANP) - Het nieuwe kabinet moet snel duidelijkheid geven over de regels voor kunstmatige intelligentie (AI). Dat zegt de Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, de privacytoezichthouder van de overheid. Die waarschuwt ook dat momenteel niets kan worden gedaan tegen onveilige en discriminerende algoritmes. De waakhond wil daarom dat het toezicht wordt verbeterd.
De autoriteit heeft een 'barometer' opgesteld om de mogelijke gevolgen van AI in de gaten te houden. Die bestaat uit negen onderdelen. Een halfjaar geleden stonden twee signalen op rood. De registratie van algoritmes en AI-systemen was onvoldoende en er was geen goed zicht op incidenten. Dat is nog steeds zo, en nu zijn ook twee andere lichten op rood komen te staan. De "kaders en bevoegdheden" voor toezicht zijn nog niet goed geregeld en er zijn geen duidelijke standaarden voor AI-systemen.
De waakhond zegt ook dat jongeren niet goed genoeg worden beschermd. Ze gebruiken AI niet alleen voor hun huiswerk, maar ook als een soort vriend om mee te chatten. Ze kunnen daaraan verslaafd raken en zijn niet goed in staat om de risico's in te schatten, waarschuwt de AP.
Als grootste gevaren benoemt de autoriteit "de oncontroleerbare toename van deepfakes, AI-gestuurde fraude en psychische schade door chatbots". Daarnaast waarschuwt de AP "dat AI-beveiligingsmaatregelen steeds meer achterblijven bij de technologische ontwikkelingen".
De autoriteit zegt ook dat het erop lijkt dat sommige organisaties onder hun verantwoordelijkheden uit proberen te komen. Zij moeten hun kunstmatige intelligentie registreren, maar doen dan of het gewone algoritmes zijn. De regels daarvoor zijn minder streng. "AI-systemen met hoog risico worden onder meer gebruikt in de zorg en bij het opsporen van misdrijven. Vanaf volgend jaar krijgen die een hele lijst vereisten over technische documentatie, risicomanagement en vooroordelen. Misschien is het onbedoeld, misschien willen ze geen slapende honden wakker maken", stelt Joost van der Burgt, die voor de AP het toezicht op kunstmatige intelligentie leidt.
De voorzitter van de Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, Aleid Wolfsen, wijst erop dat algoritmes er in het verleden toe hebben geleid dat burgers ten onrechte werden verdacht van gesjoemel met kinderopvangtoeslag. "Vijf jaar na het toeslagenschandaal zijn de lessen duidelijk, maar de opvolging blijft achter. Dat komt vooral doordat stevige regels voor algoritmes en AI en handhaving hiervan ontbreken", aldus Wolfsen.
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