The notion of machine-powered facial recognition is one that predates today’s actual technology for it by many years, thanks to robot POV shots from sci-fi films such as The Terminator and Robocop. But while many advances have been made, facial recognition software is far from infallible, as researchers from Carnegie Mellon University recently found. Here are the details from a report in Quartz: Researchers showed they could […]
Credit: Yale University On the wall of Aaron Dollar’s office is a poster for R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots), the 1920 Czech play that gave us the word “robot.” The story ends with the nominal robots seizing control of the factory of their origin and then wiping out nearly all of humanity. Dollar, fortunately, has something more cheerful in mind for the future of human-robot relations. He sees […]
By Emily Stephenson | NEW YORK NEW YORK U.S. President-elect Donald Trump was set to interview more candidates for top jobs in his administration on Friday and said he expected to have most members of his Cabinet announced next week. Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, is still weighing who to choose as secretary of state. The Republican president-elect said on Thursday he had chosen retired […]
WASHINGTON Donald Trump’s transition team is examining proposals for new non-nuclear sanctions on Iran, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing congressional sources who have been in contact with the president-elect’s team. Officials with Trump’s team have been in touch with fellow Republicans in Congress, where they hold the majority, to discuss possible sanctions separate from last year’s Iran nuclear deal that could focus on its ballistic […]
On the heels of Jeff Gundlach‘s “there’s going to be a buyer’s remorse period” warnings yesterday, the other ‘bond king’ has raised similar fears that the Trump rally is overdone (as are the prospects for growth behind it). Putting aside the book-talking as their bond portfolios suffer, Gross echoes Gundlach’s “Trump’s not the wizard of oz” comments, noting that the next president faces serious structural headwinds and […]
A head of steam for Italian government bond yields. There are no signs of jitters in the eurozone’s third largest debt market this morning in the last day of trading before the country votes in a closely-watched referendum this weekend. Italy’s 10-year bond yields have fallen by as much as 10 basis points this morning (0.1 percentage points) to 1.95 per cent, outperforming a wider rally in […]
An Indian aerospace startup has said that it will launch its mission to the moon in a year’s time, as it takes part in a Google-funded competition to become the world’s first-ever privately held company to make a soft landing there. A group of more than 100 scientists and engineers, including around a dozen former ISRO scientists, make up Axiom Research Labs’ Team Indus. The team is […]
Three weeks after India invalidated its largest bank notes overnight, cash shortages are choking the world’s fastest-growing large economy. While it is too soon for much of the pain to be read from broad economic indicators—in India, even monthly ones, such as industrial output, are released with considerable lag—early signs are coming in. Some of them imply the disruption might not be as deep, or as long-lasting, […]
Photo Poulet à la Normande Credit Gentl and Hyers for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Jerrie-Joy. “Ah, they are not rising!” Marianne Tober cried, in a near panic over her gougères. They weren’t just cheese puffs; they were her Burgundian birthright, well-salted dairy fat given airy form, and her mother’s recipe had never failed her before. But it was true: The gougères […]
ABU DHABI // This National Day, a celebration of 45 years of the UAE, is an opportunity to pay tribute to the country’s remarkable progress and its Rulers. Around the country, Emiratis, residents and tourists are expected to flock to public places to celebrate the occasion. Aziz Al Shamsi, 45, an Emirati, said National Day was a day of unity for all who live in the UAE. […]
Communication is broken, according to Twilio’s VP of Product Management Patrick Malatack, who thinks the root of the problem is that businesses are overlooking the fact that their customers are human. Speaking at StartCon in Sydney, Malatack said there’s a belief among businesses that personalised communication experiences are not scalable, that you can’t humanise communications and serve a wide customer base at the same time. “That’s no […]
By Ju-min Park and Kaori Kaneko | SEOUL/TOKYO SEOUL/TOKYO South Korea and Japan said on Friday they would impose new unilateral sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, following a fresh U.N. Security Council resolution imposed on the reclusive country this week. North Korea has rejected the U.N. resolution, aimed at cutting Pyongyang’s annual export revenue by a quarter after its fifth and […]
President-elect Donald Trump has made a reputation of being very vocal, to say the least, on Twitter, with his tweets certainly getting its fair share of reach and criticism. A report by New York Magazine reveals that Trump, once he is sworn into office on Jan. 20, 2017, will gain access to a system that will allow him to send unblockable text messages to all Americans, a fact that […]
Hello Bill, I’ve followed GATA and LeMetropoleCafe since 1999. Following the work of you, Chris and GATA contributors has been most interesting. I follow a lot of media, including many sites not under the control of the Russian government, such as the Wall Street Journal. For an American who is not an insider GATA is the single best source news and analysis of the economy and financial […]
By Emily Stephenson and Dustin Volz | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump, who pledged on the campaign trail to “drain the swamp” in Washington, is staffing his on-the-ground transition teams mostly with government veterans, including ex-lobbyists, a Reuters review of publicly available information shows. Drawing heavily from former military, congressional and agency staff, he has named about 140 operatives to “landing teams” at various government departments to […]
ABU DHABI // The president of Egypt arrived in the capital on Thursday to attend National Day celebrations and an international conference on protecting cultural heritage. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, met Abdel Fattah El Sisi at the Presidential Airport. During the reception the national anthems of both countries were played, followed by a 21-gun […]
Law Blog rounds up the morning’s legal news: Bitcoin ruling: A federal court ruled that the IRS can serve digital-currency-services company Coinbase with a “John Doe summons” that seeks detailed information on its customers’ transactions from 2013 to 2015. [WSJ] Community policing: Gary, Ind., is among six cities in a program that fights crime by asking officers […] (via WSJ)
Link to Fitch Ratings’ Report: 2017 Outlook: Middle East and North Africa Sovereigns 01 December 2016 Fitch Ratings-Hong Kong-30 November 2016: Persistent low oil prices will maintain economic pressure on the oil exporters of MENA, which together with limited fiscal reform and political risk, lead to a Negative Outlook for the region in 2017, Fitch Ratings says in a new report. With three of the 12 MENA […]
The opposite of a bank run, it turns out, isn’t a good thing either. In the case of India, it is a total banking mess. India’s big bang demonetization program, aimed at rooting out “dirty” money from the economy, has forced $80 billion worth of old rupee notes into bank vaults. At first, this seemed like a boon for banks, who were suddenly flush with cheap funding. […]
By Michelle Nichols | UNITED NATIONS UNITED NATIONS The U.N. Security Council imposed new sanctions on North Korea on Wednesday aimed at cutting the Asian country’s annual export revenue by a quarter in response to Pyongyang’s fifth and largest nuclear test in September. The 15-member council unanimously adopted a resolution to slash North Korea’s biggest export, coal, by about 60 percent with an annual sales cap of […]
EDM pop duo The Chainsmokers have been setting fire to the streaming charts all year long, with four consecutive hit singles, including the longest running number one single of the year, “Closer.” The group released another new single several weeks ago entitled “Setting Fires,” which hasn’t exactly burned up the charts since — but why? Banner Year For The Chainsmokers It’s fair to say the year 2016 […]
30 November 2016 As Saudi Arabia looks to diversify its economy to retain global competitiveness, the 5th Annual Human Asset Management conference 2017 will bring together global HR leaders to address issues pertaining to local talent management and development. Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia approved its National Transformation Program and Saudi Vision 2030, making great headway in enhancing the Kingdom’s global competitiveness. Over the past four decades, […]
By Matthew Mpoke Bigg | ACCRA ACCRA Ghana’s main opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo skipped the country’s only presidential debate on Wednesday, leaving the stage to President John Mahama and four other opponents a week before the election. Aides to the leader of the New Patriotic Party said he decided to stick to his prior campaign commitments, even though it meant missing the chance to present his message […]
To our complete shock, the Government Accountability Office has released a report blasting the Education Department’s understanding of basic mathematics and accounting concepts after finding the department drastically underestimated the costs of Obama’s student loan forgiveness programs. The 100-page report entitled “Federal Student Loans: Education Needs to Improve Its Income Driven Repayment Plan Budget Estimates” found that taxpayers could be on the hook for $137BN of student […]
