Podcasts about European Commission

Jez and Rand are back with another Xbox Two Podcast! This week, we discuss China and the European Commission approving the ABK deal for Xbox, we talk the astronomical pressure content creators are putting on Starfield, and we get into the latest rumors around the big don't-call-it-E3-E3-period! SPONSOR: Get 20% OFF AT MANSCAPED.com with our checkout code XB2! Razors, boxers, trimmers, cologne, deodorant, and MORE! Timestamps: 00:00:00 - START! SUPERCHATS: Showcase predictions, holding the line, Xbox roadmap? 01:00:00 - The Coalition being awesome. Quakecon? Star Wars Jedi Survivor. SCALEBOUND?! 01:50:00 - ABK, CMA, EU, China. 02:30:00 - Fake Xbox showcases. Mid-gen upgrades? 02:55:00 - Patreon Q&A. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/xb2/message

Joff Wild on Founding IAM for Chief IP Officers & EU Commission's anti-SEP Crusade “It became obvious to me that IP was a lot more than laws and court decisions and regulations.  IP was becoming a fundamental business asset, one that people could use to generate profits, build partnerships, go out into the markets, and raise cash.  But no one was writing about that there was no coverage of that. So that said to me, there was an opportunity to create something new.” IAM's founding editor Joff Wild joins Eli from ‘across the pond' to talk about starting a media company to cover the business of intellectual property (IP), the barrage of recent news about the European Commission's misguided standard essential patents (SEPs) proposals, and much more: Joff's journey from tabloids to IP Editing Managing Intellectual Property (MIP) How legacy IP media failed to appreciate/cover IP as a fundamental business asset Founding IAM in 2003 Willing Chief IP Officers into existence with Rob Sterne (of Sterne Kessler) and Ron Laurie “If you create, they will come” – creating the idea of Chief of IP Officers What Chief IP Officers care about: danger & opportunity Strength & weakness of Chief IP Officers Why forward-thinking companies were willing to tell IAM their IP secrets Importance of sharing information for growing IP ecosystem How partnering with Ocean Tomo to host Europe's first patent auction led to IAM's event business Concerns about conflicts with IAM's event business How patents are a clear force for good Why so many new patent-related ventures, business models have failed Difficulty of leveraging IP value Lessons from Nokia & Ericsson about importance of investing in patents over a long period of time EU Commission's power & failure to take patent policy seriously How EU Commission's evidence-free SEP proposals risk destroying EU's global leadership on SEP/FRAND issues Extensive lobbying that led to the SEP proposals Will the EU Commission's SEP proposals become law? Unified Patent Court's potential to become the de facto global patent court Opportunity for Brexit UK to become a pro-patent jurisdiction Is it time for IAM to close down its China office in Hong Kong? Japan's slow patent revolution India's huge potential Why Brazil & Colombia have become hotbeds for protecting patent rights & why Sub-Saharan Africa might be next Advice for Chief IP Officers

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Wednesday, May 17th, 2023. Concordis Education Partners: Classical Christian education has reminded us to aim education at truth, but the trivium has been used as a formula rather than a way of training students in discernment. To teach well, you must coach. Concordis Foundation is offering their third annual BOOT CAMP – a faculty summit – July 11-13th in Moscow, Idaho. This is a three-day intensive teaching training where you learn to coach students, using the trivium, so that you can meet students at all learning levels. Learn more at concordispartners.com https://www.dailywire.com/news/tsa-rolls-out-facial-recognition-technology-test-at-several-major-airports TSA Rolls Out Facial Recognition Technology Test At Several Major Airports The Transportation Security Administration is testing the use of facial recognition technology at airports across the nation, a move that the federal agency claims will help employees more easily identify travelers. Passengers may soon find themselves in a security screening line where they are asked to place their identification into a slot and look into a camera, after which a small screen will take their picture and flash the words “photo complete,” permitting the traveler to continue through the security process without handing their identification to an employee. The technology is currently in use at 16 airports throughout the country, such as those in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, Phoenix, and Salt Lake City, according to a report from the Associated Press. Passengers are allowed to opt out of the pilot program conducted by the TSA, which is a branch of the Department of Homeland Security. TSA employees in the security lines with the technology, which examines whether the identification is real and whether the identification belongs to the traveler, will nevertheless be present to ensure that the system reaches correct conclusions. The test of the technology comes despite a February letter from five members of the Senate, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), who expressed concern over reports that the system could be implemented across the United States as soon as this year if deemed successful. The lawmakers contended that facial recognition technology “represents a risk to civil liberties and privacy rights.” Federal entities already leverage facial recognition technology in various capacities despite the privacy and security concerns: a report published last year by the Government Accountability Office found that 18 out of 24 agencies reported using facial recognition systems in fiscal year 2020, largely for computer access and law enforcement activities, while 14 out of 42 agencies that employ law enforcement officers reported using the technology in criminal investigations. Americans broadly support the “widespread use of facial recognition technology” by police officers who utilize the systems for law enforcement purposes, according to a survey from Pew Research Center, in which 27% of respondents said the policy was a “bad idea” and 46% said the policy was a “good idea.” Other state and local governments have indeed banned biometric recognition technology. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed suit last year against Google and Meta for breaches of state laws which prohibit technology firms from using data such as iris scans, fingerprints, voiceprints, or records of hand and face geometry for commercial purposes without permission. https://www.theepochtimes.com/anheuser-busch-announces-changes-company-amid-bud-light-boycott_5266255.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=BonginoReport Anheuser-Busch Makes Changes to Company Amid Bud Light Boycott Anheuser-Busch revealed that it is making attempts to change its marketing structure in the midst of a backlash after Bud Light produced a can featuring a transgender activist’s face for a social media promotion. While the firm did not make mention of the controversy and boycott, a spokesperson for the brewing giant told Fox2Now in St. Louis that it held a meeting in the city and that “we have communicated some next steps with our internal teams and wholesaler partners.” “First, we made it clear that the safety and welfare of our employees and our partners is our top priority,” the company spokesperson said before adding that a new executive was tapped to head a marketing division. “Todd Allen was appointed Vice President of Bud Light added the spokesperson. “Third, we made some adjustments to streamline the structure of our marketing function to reduce layers so that our most senior marketers are more closely connected to every aspect of our brands activities. These steps will help us maintain focus on the things we do best: brewing great beer for all consumers, while always making a positive impact in our communities and on our country.” For the past month and a half, Bud Light’s sales have taken a nosedive after transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney posted a video with the namesake can on social media, writing “#budlightpartner” in the caption. That led many to believe the light beer was officially partnering with Mulvaney and would launch a campaign with the activist, who is a biological male. Anheuser-Busch executive Brendan Whitworth said in an April 14 news release that the beverage firm had had no intention of sparking division or wading into a political debate. However, Whitworth made no mention of Mulvaney or the backlash. Weeks later, Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Michel Doukeris told investors in a call that there was no partnership with Mulvaney and that only “one can” was produced with Mulvaney’s face. In a subsequent Financial Times interview, Doukeris claimed that the slumping Bud Light sales were sparked by social media-driven “misinformation.” Continuing, the CEO said that people believed it was a campaign. “It was not: it was one post. It was not an advertisement,” he remarked, contradicting the #budlightpartner hashtag that Mulvaney had written. Sales of the product dropped 26 percent year-over-year in the week ending April 22, according to Bump Williams Consulting based on Nielsen IQ data. Meanwhile, sales of rival beers Coors Light and Miller Light both saw their sales rise by about 10 percent each, according to the data. In the midst of the backlash, two Bud Light executives—Alissa Heinerscheid and Daniel Blake—took a leave of absence, the company said. “Given the circumstances, Alissa has decided to take a leave of absence which we support. Daniel has also decided to take a leave of absence,” the company said last month. https://thepostmillennial.com/seattle-to-pay-out-2-3-million-to-whistleblowers-who-revealed-mayor-engaged-in-chaz-cover-up-by-deleting-texts?utm_campaign=64487 Seattle to pay out $2.3 MILLION to whistleblowers who revealed mayor engaged in CHAZ cover-up by deleting texts The city of Seattle will be forced to pay $2.3 million to settle a lawsuit brought by city employees who were mistreated after they helped reveal that thousands of then-Mayor Jenny Durkan’s text messages had been deleted during the violent riots that rocked the city and the deadly Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in the summer of 2020. A whistleblower complaint by the employees helped to reveal that the texts of Durkan, former Police Chief Carmen Best, Fire Chief Harold Scoggins, and other top officials from the summer of 2020 were intentionally deleted. Though the King County Superior Court case was resolved last month, the terms of Seattle’s settlement with Stacy Irwin and Kimberly Ferreiro weren’t finalized until this week and the details were released to The Seattle Times through a public disclosure request on Friday. The $2.3 million payout is in addition to over $770,000, as of April, spent by the city on attorneys to defend the case, the outlet reported. According to the suit, Irwin and Ferreiro claimed that they resigned as public-records officers in Durkan’s office due to hostile conditions and retaliation. The pair claimed they were “subjected to scorn, ridicule, abuse, and hostility … and the demand to perform illegal acts.” The pair sounded the alarm in 2021 when they complained to the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission that the mayor’s office was mishandling records requests. An investigation by the SEEC determined that the mayor’s legal counsel, Michelle Chen, had violated the state Public Records Act by using narrow interpretations of certain requests to exclude Durkan’s missing texts and diverged from best practices by not informing requesters the texts were missing. Under state law, texts and other communications about public businesses by local elected officials must be kept for at least two years and anyone who willfully destroys a public record that’s supposed to be preserved is guilty of a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. The settlement agreement includes $25,000 in lost wages each to Irwin and Ferreiro, while the remainder of the $2.3 million is for general damages and attorneys’ fees. As part of the settlement, the plaintiffs are required to drop the case, destroy city documents in their possession, and never pursue jobs in the city again. Additionally, both parties are barred from talking publicly about the settlement amount. Irwin told the Times that records disappeared and yet, “There’s been no accountability. These officials basically got away with it and the taxpayers are paying.” Ferreiro said, “It’s still a loss for the citizens of Seattle,” because some questions about the actions of city officials “will never be answered.” In August 2022, then-King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg requested that Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall investigate the city officials’ deleted texts, but Cole-Tindall’s office has yet to announce the results. Durkan’s office previously claimed that an “unknown technology issue” caused the texts to go missing but a city-commissioned forensic report found that Durkan’s phone was changed in July 2020 to delete texts automatically after 30 days as well as texts stored in the cloud. Durkan also previously claimed that she dropped her phone in a tide pool on the July 4 weekend of that year. A subsequent forensic report commissioned by business owners and residents suing the city over the deadly autonomous zone revealed that Durkan texts were manually deleted. In February, the city settled that lawsuit for $3.65 million, including $600,000 in penalties for the deleted texts. The settlement came swiftly after a judge sanctioned the city for destroying evidence and noted that Durkan’s excuses “strained credibility.” Over 27,000 texts were deleted from Best’s phone and the most recent forensic reports show that phones used by Scoggins and others were reset in October 2020. In 2022, Seattle paid nearly $200,000 and pledged to improve its public records processes to settle a lawsuit brought by The Seattle Times that alleged the city had mishandled requests from reporters who asked for the messages between city officials. In February, the owner of a Korean restaurant filed a federal lawsuit against the city for the loss of business and expenses incurred during the notorious autonomous zone. Litigation against the city as a result of the zone has already cost Seattle over $11 million. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/bipartisan-bill-pentagon-mexican-drug-cartels-pushing-fentanyl Bipartisan bill would empower Pentagon to take down Mexican drug cartels pushing fentanyl Democrats and Republicans from the House and Senate will debut legislation that would declare fentanyl a national security threat and allow the Pentagon to take new action targeting Mexican drug cartels. Senate Armed Services Committee members Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) shared exclusively with the Washington Examiner Tuesday morning their forthcoming bipartisan, bicameral bill to use their oversight authority of the Department of Defense to force the federal government to take stronger actions against Mexican transnational criminal organizations. "The amount of lives lost in Iowa and across the country due to this deadly drug has far surpassed the federal government’s response, and we must scale immediately to combat this national security threat," Ernst said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner. "This bipartisan work will engage Mexico as an active partner to counter fentanyl trafficking and put the Pentagon’s tools to use to save American lives.” The Disrupt Fentanyl Trafficking Act would require the Pentagon to develop a fentanyl-specific counterdrug strategy, including how to work directly with the Mexican military and to increase security operations with Mexico. Fentanyl is largely moved into the U.S. from Mexico, and the ingredients to make the powerful drug originate in China and are then shipped to producers in Mexico. Ernst and Kaine maintained that enlisting the Mexican government as an equal partner in the war on fentanyl is critical, given the southern neighbor has failed to get a hold of the problem over the past five years. Between 2017 and 2021, fentanyl seizures at the U.S. border increased by 950% — most of which occurred under Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Fentanyl has become the leading cause of death in U.S. adults between 18 and 45. President Joe Biden, in his State of the Union address earlier this year, vowed to do more to tackle the epidemic. Now before we end today, it’s time for a new segment I like to call the rundown: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/15/microsoft-activision-deal-eu-approves-takeover-of-call-of-duty-maker.html European Union regulators on Monday approved Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion acquisition of gaming firm Activision Blizzard, subject to remedies offered by the U.S. tech giant. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said that Microsoft offered remedies in the nascent area of cloud gaming that have staved off antitrust concerns. These remedies centered on allowing users to stream Activision games they purchase on any cloud streaming platform. Europe’s green light is a huge win for Microsoft, after the U.K.’s top competition authority last month blocked the deal. https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/05/15/china-sentences-78-year-old-us-citizen-life-prison-spying-charges.html China sentenced a 78-year-old United States citizen to life in prison Monday on spying charges, in a case that could exacerbate the deterioration in ties between Beijing and Washington over recent years. Details of the charges against John Shing-Wan Leung, who also holds permanent residency in Hong Kong, have not been publicly released. Such investigations and trials are held behind closed doors and little information is generally released other than vague accusations of infiltration, gathering secrets and threatening state security. https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2023/05/15/81-year-old-martha-stewart-poses-for-sports-illustrated-swimsuit/ Martha Stewart, who is 81-years-old, posed for the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, making her the oldest cover model in SI swimsuit issue history. That’s it… that’s all there is with that story. https://www.foxnews.com/sports/horse-euthanized-churchill-downs-broken-leg-becomes-8th-thoroughbred-die-track-last-2-weeks Another horse is dead after running at Churchill Downs, the site of the annual Kentucky Derby. Rio Moon broke his leg on Sunday near the finish line and had to be euthanized. The horse became the eighth to die in the last two weeks at the racetrack - seven died of multiple causes in the days, and hours, leading up to the May 6 Derby. https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/ja-morant-could-face-significant-suspension-to-start-2023-24-nba-season-over-latest-controversy-per-report/ In NBA news… The Memphis Grizzlies could start next season without their best player for a period of time. After an Instagram Live video circulated online that showed Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant holding what appeared to be a gun in a car, the All-Star guard was suspended by Memphis from all team activities. But that's not the only suspension Morant could be facing. The franchise centerpiece could be facing a "significant suspension" from the league, according to Adrian Wojnarowski. The video in question was from an Instagram Live on Saturday, and it shows Morant in a car with friends and for a brief second as the camera pans to him it appears that he is holding a gun. After the video made the rounds on social media, the Grizzlies suspended their star guard. The league then announced it was launching an investigation into the situation.

If 2022 were an earthquake for the global energy system, Europe was the epicenter. Russia's invasion of Ukraine  – on top of a persistent mismatch in supply and demand – sent energy prices skyrocketing. Consumers across the continent struggled to pay their bills. In the year that followed, European governments spent more than €800 billion shielding consumers from these high prices, even as they scrambled to find alternatives to Russian energy. Prices have now returned to their pre-invasion baseline, but the continent's energy system remains precarious. Emergency measures must now give way to a longer-term strategy to secure Europe's energy system, reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, and scale clean energy technology.  What's the outlook for European energy security? How can Europe meet its ambitious clean energy targets? And what technologies are needed to make this possible? This week host Jason Bordoff talks with Ann Mettler about Europe's response to the energy crisis, its plans for decarbonizing its energy system, and the outlook for energy security. Ann is the vice president for Europe at Breakthrough Energy, a network of investment funds, philanthropies, and nonprofits dedicated to scaling low-carbon technologies. She previously served as director-general at the European Commission, where she ran an in-house think tank called the European Political Strategy Centre. Prior to that, she was the executive director of the Lisbon Council, an economic policy think tank she founded in 2003.

In an eleventh round of sanctions on Russia, Brussels is hoping to crack down on the evasion of existing trade restrictions, particularly when it comes to the re-exportation of sensitive technology that can be used on the battlefield in Ukraine. On Monday, the European Commission proposed curbing exports to nations it accuses of helping Moscow get around trade sanctions, as well as blacklisting several Chinese companies that sell equipment that can be used in weapons.

Jacob Krogsgaard continues to lead the way in renewable energy through hydrogen. A journey that has seen him start companies, fund and scale them, and take them public. His latest startup, Everfuel, raised funding from top-tier investors like European Commission, Swedish Energy Agency, Force Technology, and Danish Energy.

In this episode of S&C's Critical Insights, Juan Rodriguez, Co-Head of S&C's European Competition Group and the Firm's Antitrust Group, and associate Marielena Doeding discuss the European Court of Justice's ruling in the Fiat case and its implication for future state aid investigations. This landmark judgment—in which the Court of Justice annulled a General Court judgment and European Commission decision –clarified the parameters under which the Commission may investigate individual tax rulings under state aid rules. Although the judgment reaffirms that the Commission may investigate tax measures for compliance with state aid rules, in doing so, it cannot apply its own version of the arm's length principle to tax measures; in particular, it cannot apply the arm's length principle to tax measures in jurisdictions unless – and then only to the extent that – the law of the jurisdiction incorporates that principle. Instead, the Commission must carefully consider national tax rules to assess whether or not a measure confers a selective advantage for state aid purposes. Sullivan & Cromwell represented Fiat in this litigation. 

EU finance ministers met at the April 2023 informal ECOFIN meeting to discuss the reform of the fiscal governance framework as proposed by the European Commission. Bruegel researchers were asked to contribute to this discussion by providing information on the long-term fiscal needs that countries will have and how well they may be able to meet these needs. In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Maria Demertzis invites Zsolt Darvas and Jeromin Zettelmeyer to share their insights on the implications of long-term fiscal challenges facing the European Union.  In their latest report, the authors identify that the pandemic and subsequent price shocks triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine have increased longer-term fiscal pressures in the European Union through higher debt, higher expected real interest rates and higher public investment needs.  Relevant publication: Zettelmeyer, J., G. Claeys, Z. Darvas, L. Welslau and S. Zenios (2023) ‘The longer-term fiscal challenges facing the European Union' Policy Brief 10/2023, Bruegel This Policy Brief is a version of a paper prepared for the Working Session II of the Informal Meeting of EU Economy and Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, Stockholm, 29 April 2023.

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Proposals for the AI Regulatory Sandbox in Spain, published by Guillem Bas on April 27, 2023 on The Effective Altruism Forum. Translated by Daniela Tiznado. Summary: The European Union is designing a regulatory framework for artificial intelligence (AI) that could be approved by the end of 2023. This regulation prohibits unacceptable practices and stipulates requirements for AI systems in critical sectors. These obligations consist of a risk management system, a quality management system, and post-market monitoring. The legislation enforcement will be tested for the first time in Spain, in a regulatory sandbox of approximately three years. This will be a great opportunity to prepare the national ecosystem and influence the development of AI governance internationally. In this context, we present several policies to consider, including third-party auditing, the detection and evaluation of frontier AI models, red teaming exercises, and creating an incident database. Introduction Everything indicates that the European Union will become the first major political entity to approve a comprehensive regulatory framework for artificial intelligence (AI). On April 21, 2021, The European Commission presented the Regulation laying down harmonised rules on AI –henceforth AI Act or Act–. This legislative proposal covers all types of AI systems in all sectors except the military, making it the most ambitious plan to regulate AI. As we will explain below, Spain will lead the implementation of this regulation in the context of a testing ground or sandbox. This is an opportunity for the Spanish Government to contribute to establishing good auditing and regulatory practices that can be adopted by other member states. This article is divided into six sections. Firstly, we provide a brief history of the Act. The second part summarizes the legislative proposal of the European Commission. The third section details the first sandbox of this regulation, carried out in Spain. The fourth lists the public bodies involved in the testing environment. The fifth part explains the relevance of this exercise. Finally, we present proposals to improve the governance of risks associated with AI in this context. We conclude that this project provides an excellent opportunity to develop a culture of responsible AI and determine the effectiveness of various policies. Brief History of the Act The foundations of the text date back to 2020, when the European Commission published the White Paper on Artificial Intelligence. This was the beginning of a consultation process and a subsequent roadmap that involved the participation of hundreds of stakeholders, resulting in the aforementioned proposal. After its publication, the Commission received feedback from 304 actors and initiated a review process involving the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union as legislative bodies. In December 2022, the Council adopted a common approach. In the case of the Parliament, the vote to agree on a joint position is scheduled for May (Bertuzzi, 2023). The trilogue will begin immediately afterward, and the final version could be approved by the end of 2023, entering into force at the beginning of 2024. Summary of the Act The main starting point of the proposed law is the classification of AI systems according to the level of risk they entail. Specifically, the proposal is based on a hierarchy distinguishing between unacceptable, high, limited, and minimal risks. The first two are the main focus of the regulation. As part of the category of unacceptable risks, practices that pose a clear threat to the safety, livelihoods, and rights of people will be banned. Currently, three practices have been deemed unacceptable as they go against European values: distorting human behavior to cause harm; evaluating and classi...

The US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – a USD369bn legislative package combining large-scale green subsidies with healthcare savings and new revenue measures through to 2032 – is a landmark and welcome US climate policy, that enacts historic deficit reduction to combat inflation. In a clear threat to Europe through its competitiveness effect, the European Commission has presented its response – a detailed piece of legislation labelled the Green Deal Industrial Plan of which the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA) is the central initiative. Ehsan Khoman, Head of Commodities, ESG and Emerging Markets Research (EMEA), discusses MUFG's latest ESG report that examines Europe's response to the transformational US Inflation Reduction Act and why he believes this goldilocks era of regulation will carve the contours of a renewables capex supercycle (see here for the full report). Disclaimer: www.mufgresearch.com (PDF)

This week: Ben Aschenaki, delivery unit lead and rebuild facility lead from Regeneration talks with Ian Welsh talk about the potential of an agroforestry approach and forest coffee supply chain. They discuss the importance of encouraging farmers to steer away from monocultural practices through providing incentives, training, and linking smallholders to international markets.   Plus: US pledges funding to curb deforestation in the Amazon; key vote strengthens new EU corporate due diligence rules; EU strikes deal to set binding sustainable fuel targets for aviation; and, global EV sales to increase by 35% in 2023, in the news digest by Innovation Forum's Bea Stevenson.   And, quick fire insights from the recent sustainable apparel and textiles conference in Amsterdam from European Commission's Malgorzata Golebiewska, Brittany Sage Brown from Kraft Heinz and CottonConnect's Alison Ward.   Host: Ian Welsh

La Commission européenne a rejeté les interdictions d'importation de céréales ukrainiennes introduites par la Pologne et la Hongrie. Les deux pays ont déclaré que ces mesures étaient nécessaires pour protéger leur secteur agricole contre les importations bon marché. Traduction : The European Commission has rejected bans introduced by Poland and Hungary on Ukrainian grain imports. The two countries said the measures were necessary to protect their farming sectors from cheap imports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The European Commission prepares new sanctions against Russia, with special requests from Moldova. Plus: a new report on North Korea's biological weapons programme, Air Serbia introduces 20 new routes and a check-in from the International Journalism Festival in Perugia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of S&C's Critical Insights, Inosi Nyatta, Craig Jones and Sam Saunders discuss new and proposed regulations involving critical minerals in the United States and European Union. Critical minerals, referred to as critical raw materials in the EU, are generally defined to include, among others, cobalt, graphite, lithium, manganese, nickel and rare earth minerals and are key components to clean energy technologies (in particular batteries) and other high-tech products.   In the United States, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which was passed in August 2022, provides an estimated $369 billion in investments in energy security and climate change programs and also creates significant tax incentives for critical minerals to be extracted, processed and/or recycled in the United States or countries that are trade partners with the U.S.   Proposed by the European Commission in March 2023, the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), aims to secure the EU's supply of critical raw materials and bolster Europe's own extraction, processing, refining and recycling of strategic raw materials. The CRMA would create a European Critical Raw Materials Board, set EU-wide targets for annual consumption of strategic raw materials, and establish a streamlined permitting process for strategic projects. However, unlike the IRA, it does not provide any additional funding.

When it comes to AI, what kind of regulations might we need to address this rapidly developing new class of technologies? What makes regulating AI and runaway tech in general different from regulating airplanes, pharmaceuticals, or food? And how can we ensure that issues like national security don't become a justification for sacrificing civil rights?Answers to these questions are playing out in real time. If we wait for more AI harms to emerge before proper regulations are put in place, it may be too late. Our guest Marietje Schaake was at the forefront of crafting tech regulations for the EU. In spite of AI's complexity, she argues there is a path forward for the U.S. and other governing bodies to rein in companies that continue to release these products into the world without oversight. Correction: Marietje said antitrust laws in the US were a century ahead of those in the EU. Competition law in the EU was enacted as part of the Treaty of Rome in 1957, almost 70 years after the US. RECOMMENDED MEDIA The AI Dilemma Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin's presentation on existing AI capabilities and the catastrophic risks they pose to a functional society. Also available in the podcast format (linked below)The Wisdom GapThis blog post from the Center for Humane Technology describes the gap between the rising interconnected complexity of our problems and our ability to make sense of themThe EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) & Digital Markets Act (DMA)The two pieces of legislation aim to create safer and more open digital spaces for individuals and businesses alike RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODESDigital Democracy is Within Reach with Audrey TangThe AI DilemmaThe Three Rules of Humane TechYour Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

Sam Fenwick hears about the European Commission's offer to nations which had imposed restrictions on importing cheap grain from Ukraine. Poland, Hungary and several other European countries had taken the action to protect their farming industries. The European Commission had previously warned those nations' actions wouldn't be tolerated. Plus the taps are turned on to a new natural gas field in Turkey and the Shanghai Motorshow looks towards electric vehicles.

The European Commission has rejected moves by certain member states to ban some imports of Ukrainian grain and other food items. On Monday, Slovakia joined Poland and Hungary in announcing the bans. Transiting goods have been piling up in Central Europe, driving down prices and causing losses for farmers. The EU says a solution must be found that respects the bloc's legal framework.

With the Russian's invasion still going on in Ukraine, one of the only few options to export goods is going through land borders. But Slovakia just joined Poland and Hungary to ban cheap imports from Ukraine such as dairy, meats and grains, in order to protect their own agriculture industries. The European Commission rejects these nations' decisions and warns unilateral moves will not be tolerated. Japanese gaming tycoon Sega Sammy has just purchased Rovio, the company that created Angry Birds. Why is the deal significant in the mobile gaming world and how can they actually make money out of a free mobile game app?

歡迎留言告訴我們你對這一集的想法： https://open.firstory.me/user/cl81kivnk00dn01wffhwxdg2s/comments Topic: The ‘Right to Repair' Movement Gains Ground If you buy a product — a car, a smartphone, or even a tractor — and it breaks, should it be easier for you to fix it yourself? 如果你買了一個產品，例如一輛汽車、一部智慧型手機，甚至是一台拖拉機，結果它壞了，是不是應該讓你自己修理起來更容易些呢？ Manufacturers of a wide range of products have made it increasingly difficult over the years to repair things, for instance by limiting availability of parts or by putting prohibitions on who gets to tinker with them. It affects not only game consoles or farm equipment, but cellphones, military gear, refrigerators, automobiles and even hospital ventilators, the lifesaving devices that have proved crucial this year in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. 多年來，許多種產品的製造商都讓維修變得愈來愈困難，比如限制零件的取得，或對何人有權動手維修施加限制。受影響的產品不止於遊戲主機或農用機具，還有手機、軍用設備、冰箱、汽車，甚至包括今年對抗新冠病毒疫情發揮關鍵作用的救生設備—醫院裡的呼吸器。 Now, a movement known as “right to repair” is starting to make progress in pushing for laws that prohibit restrictions like these. 現在，一項名為「維修權」的運動在推動禁止此類限制的立法上，正取得進展。 In August, Democrats introduced a bill in Congress to block manufacturers' limits on medical devices, spurred by the pandemic. In Europe, the European Commission announced plans in March for new right-to-repair rules that would cover phones, tablets and laptops by 2021. 今年8月，美國民主黨因防疫需要而在國會提出一項法案，旨在阻止製造商對醫療裝置設下限制。在歐洲，歐盟執行委員會3月宣布了新的維修權規定計畫，在2021年以前實施，涵蓋手機、平板電腦和筆記型電腦。 And in more than 20 statehouses nationwide, right-to-repair legislation has been introduced in recent years by both Republicans and Democrats. 近年來，在全美國20多個州的議會裡，共和黨和民主黨都提出了維修權法案。 Over the summer, the House advanced a funding bill that includes a requirement that the Federal Trade Commission complete a report on anti-competitive practices in the repair market and present its findings to Congress and the public. 今年夏天，眾議院推動了一項資助法案，其中責成聯邦貿易委員會做成一份關於維修市場反競爭行為的報告，並向國會和民眾提交調查結果。 The goal of right-to-repair rules, advocates say, is to require companies to make their parts, tools and information available to consumers and repair shops in order to keep devices from ending up in the scrap heap. They argue that the rules restrict people's use of devices that they own and encourage a throwaway culture by making repairs too difficult. 倡議人士表示，維修權規定的目的是要求企業向消費者和維修商家提供零組件、工具及資訊，以免這些裝置最終被扔進垃圾堆。他們主張，目前的慣例對人們使用自己的裝置設下限制，並透過讓維修變得太過困難的方式，助長了一種用完即丟的文化。 They also argue that it's part of a culture of planned obsolescence — the idea that products are designed to be short-lived in order to encourage people to buy more stuff. That contributes to wasted natural resources and energy use at a time when climate change requires movement in the opposite direction to rein in planet-warming emissions. 他們還認為，這是一種計畫性淘汰文化的一部分，即為了鼓勵人們購買更多東西，產品被設計成短命的。在氣候變遷需要採取反向行動來控制溫室氣體排放的此際，這助長了自然資源的浪費以及能源的使用。 Manufacturing a new device or appliance is still largely reliant on polluting sources of energy — electricity generated from burning fossil fuels, for instance — and constitutes the largest environmental impact for most products. 製造一種新設備或裝置在很大程度上，仍仰賴會造成汙染的能源，例如燃燒化石燃料產生的電力，對大多數產品而言，這正是構成最大環境影響的因素。 Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/5015841 Next Article Topic: UK gamers and politicians take aim at console 'scalpers' Furious British gamers and lawmakers are training their sights on "scalpers" who are buying up coveted PS5 and Xbox consoles and selling them online at vastly inflated prices. 氣沖沖的英國玩家和議員將焦點指向「黃牛」，這些黃牛買光搶手的PS5、Xbox電玩主機，然後在網路上以大幅灌水的價格出售。 The popular consoles have also been hard to come by in other parts of the world, but in Britain anger has boiled over to the point where some lawmakers want to ban the practice of reselling them online at higher prices. 這些熱門電玩主機在世界其他地方也一機難求，但是在英國掀起的怒火已沸騰，一些議員為此打算禁止網路高價轉售的作法。 While a PS5 normally costs between £360 and £450 depending on the model, its median resale price on sites like eBay is £650-£750, according to US researcher Michael Driscoll. 根據美國研究員麥可．德里斯考的說法，通常一部PS5依版本差異，售價在360英鎊到450英鎊之間，但在諸如「電子海灣」的網站上轉售價中位數為650到750英鎊不等。 Next Article Topic: Singaporean student plays Pokemon on ingenious ‘Melonboy' 想像你搭捷運時突然有個年輕男子拿著一顆鑲有小螢幕的西瓜淡定的坐到你旁邊，開始認真的玩。 Imagine that you are on the MRT and a young man sitting next to you is playing video games on a watermelon-like console. 近期，就有新加坡民眾在捷運上目睹這奇葩的一幕。一位星國少年自製了一台「西瓜Game Boy」，上面不僅有螢幕和實體的按鈕，裡面還裝載了近期最流行的寶可夢遊戲軟體。 That's the unusual sight some people recently experienced in Singapore when a teenager was seen playing “Pokemon Go” on a self-built console made of a watermelon, a screen and some buttons. 就讀新加坡管理大學的Cedrick Tan，近日在YouTube上分享了自製的水果寶可夢GameBoy，揭露製作過程和最後實驗結果。 Cedrick Tan, a student from the Singapore Management University, has been tinkering with the project on YouTube which has led to him building his own version of Pokemon Emerald inside a fruit. 一向天馬行空的他其實已經有無數的作品，包括將一個地圖放進虛擬實境和利用微軟Excel發送訊息至通訊軟體Telegram。如今他又再次突破自己，將遊戲機成功的裝進蔬果內。 An avid creator, Tan's long list of projects include turning a map into a blank canvas for augmented reality, finding a way to send messages to Telegram using Microsoft Excel, and building a playable Game Boy Advance inside a melon. 當被問起做這個作品的過程時，Cedrick表示其實非常簡單，因為西瓜內部空間非常足夠，電路的連接也非常方便。 When asked about his project, Tan said: “When it came down to actually making the Melonboy, it happened to be really convenient seeing as the melon was very spacious on the inside allowing me to wire everything up with ease.” 遊戲機目前可以成功的開啟，使用的軟體也和原版相符，而挖空的西瓜塞進了一個電池、數個實體按鍵、一個1.8寸的螢幕和小喇叭音響。 The Game Boy emulator can then be loaded and run with the same software as the original game. Inside the scooped-out melon, a power bank, buttons, a 1.8-inch screen, loudspeakers are assembled. Cedrick表示，因為買到瑕疵零件，導致製作過程延宕，西瓜GamBoy花了他將近一個月才完成。若沒有遇到這些問題的話，大概一週以內就能完成，他自信滿滿地說。 According to Tan, the construction took about a month; though he blamed the time-length on a faulty device integral to the game boy. Without the problem, the watermelon-based console could have been finished in less than a week, he said. 「身為一個資管系的學生，我對於電機其實一知半解，所以一切從零開始學，花了一點時間。」Cedrick 說。然而，他對於自己的成果表示滿意，成功的製作出一個有著完整介面的「攜帶式」遊戲機。 “As an information systems student, I have no background in electrical engineering, so learning that from scratch took some time,” Tan recalled. The result is a working game console, complete with a Game Boy Advance emulator and a game controller. 吸睛的西瓜GameBoy影片獲得廣大民眾迴響，這大概也是Cedrick最大的收穫。 But the best thing about Tan's video is the public's reaction to the watermelon game boy. Cedrick也實驗過將西瓜帶去賣場玩，捕捉到許多人好奇的眼光。 On a visit to the market, he played the game console surrounded by real watermelons, which provoked weird looks from passers-by. Cedrick憶起他曾帶著西瓜進火車站，當時還被站務員攔截，詢問他手上的大西瓜是怎麼回事。 Tan also recalled being quizzed about the device when he brought it into a train station. 一位緊張的員工甚至跑到他身邊詢問奇形怪狀的西瓜用途，聽完他的解釋後，員工還非常興奮地將他拉回辦公室要他將作品展現給其他同事看。 A distressed SMRT staff asked him about the strange device, and after hearing his explanation, requested him to show it to her colleagues. 此外，Cedrick坦言他曾經被誤認為西瓜炸彈客，而他從沒想過帶著西瓜會碰上這樣的麻煩。 In addition, Tan said he also experienced another unforeseen problem where someone complained that he was carrying a watermelon bomb. Cedrick也將自己的作品分享到美版PTT Reddit上面，不僅獲得外國網友的讚賞，還有許多人鼓勵他之後利用酪梨和椰子製作遊戲機。 Tan also posted on Reddit about his clumsy contraption, where he received plenty of praise, inspiring him to build different versions in the future, including avocados and coconuts. 不幸地，Cedrick透露，影片上傳YouTube後過了幾天，西瓜就爛掉了。 Unfortunately, Tan revealed that the watermelon had rotted just a few days after his YouTube video was uploaded. 然而，Cedrick表示將會繼續創作，未來也規劃以榴槤製作遊戲，將其命名為「臭Boy痛苦遊戲」。 However, Tan vowed to continue making his creations and could take on the challenge of turning the durian into a game that could be called StinkyBoy's Pain Game. Source article: https://chinapost.nownews.com/20200827-1697494 Powered by Firstory Hosting

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Friday, April 14th, 2023. Fight Laugh Feast Magazine Our Fight Laugh Feast Magazine is a quarterly issue that packs a punch like a 21 year Balvenie, no ice. We don’t water down our scotch, why would we water down our theology? Order a yearly subscription for yourself and then send a couple yearly subscriptions to your friends who have been drinking luke-warm evangelical cool-aid. Every quarter we promise quality food for the soul, wine for the heart, and some Red Bull for turning over tables. Our magazine will include cultural commentary, a Psalm of the quarter, recipes for feasting, laughter sprinkled through out the glossy pages, and more. Sign up today, at fightlaughfeast.com. https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-dairy-explosion-leaves-least-18000-cattle-dead-person-critically-injured Texas dairy explosion leaves at least 18,000 cattle dead, 1 person critically injured Approximately 18,000 cows were killed, and one person was critically injured, in an explosion at a dairy farm in the Texas Panhandle on Monday. The Castro County Sheriff’s Office confirmed with Fox News Digital that the cows were in a holding area before being brought in for milking when the blast occurred at the Southfork Dairy Farm in Dimmitt. Very few cows in the holding area survived, officials told local outlet KFDA. Police said they received eight calls just before 7:30 p.m. Monday about an explosion and fire. Callers said some employees were trapped inside the milking building. When law enforcement officials arrived at the dairy farm, they determined only a woman was trapped in the dairy building. Officials said the trapped individual was rescued from the building and airlifted to UMC Hospital in Lubbock for treatment. Lubbock is located about 80 miles from Dimmitt. Officials said all the other dairy employees were accounted for and were safe. The Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/community-family/legal-abortions-fell-post-roe Legal abortions fell 6% in six months after Supreme Court overturned Roe Legal abortions in the United States dropped more than 6% in the six months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade , a testament to the new rules and regulations that now vary from state to state. A new report released by the Society of Family Planning, called the "#WeCount" report, determined that there were 32,260 fewer abortions from July to December 2022 when compared to data taken in April and May. In the months post-Dobbs v. Jackson's Women's Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade in June, there were an average of 5,377 fewer abortions per month. Telehealth abortions provided through virtual clinics have increased every month since pre-Dobbs in April, and by December, the appointments represented 9% of all abortions across the six months post-Dobbs. The organization found that the effect of the Dobbs decision is based on state abortion policies. States with bans in place witnessed a total of 43,410 fewer people cumulatively having abortions. On the other side, states that permitted abortion access following the end of Roe v. Wade saw a total of 11,150 more people who had abortions. By Dec. 31, 13 states had banned abortion with almost no exceptions, and Georgia imposed a six-week ban. In Georgia, the number of abortions decreased by 40%, according to the report. Florida saw 1,200 more abortions in the months post-Dobbs because state law currently permits abortions up to 15 weeks. The Sunshine State is inching closer to a six-week ban after the state Senate passed the legislation , sending it to the House, where it is also expected to pass, and eventually Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R-FL) desk, where he is likely to sign it. The Dobbs decision also pushed thousands of women to travel long distances to obtain abortions if their home states had restrictions. The report showed that the number of abortions increased significantly in states that have solidified abortion access and are located near states with bans, the largest increases occurring in Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina. Abortions declined significantly in places where the courts overturned proposed bans, such as Arizona and Ohio. Several clinics in Arizona, which allows abortions up to 15 weeks, temporarily shut down while the court determined whether the near total ban that predated Arizona's statehood could be enforced. Eventually, the court ruled that the 15-week ban overruled the near-total ban and went into effect in December 2022. The number of abortions per month in Arizona dropped 85% to 230 between April and July and shot back up to 870 by December, according to the report. In Ohio, a six-week ban went into effect after the Dobbs decision. In that time, the number of abortions dropped 62% from before Dobbs to 790. However, a judge halted the six-week ban, and abortions are now legal up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. The number of abortions now sits at over 1,400 per month. Pro-abortion activists in Ohio created a committee in December to explore putting abortion on the ballot , and in March, the Ohio Ballot Board certified the language of the proposed ballot initiative that would enshrine abortion in the state constitution. https://www.politico.eu/article/euco-eu-crosses-into-the-border-fence-game-migration/ EU vows more cash for frontier policing as border fence debate revives The EU that once largely dismissed border walls as a crude Trumpian solution is vowing to channel “substantial” funds into frontier guards and surveillance equipment, as countries ramp up calls for help paying for their border fences. For several hours at an EU Council summit on Thursday, the only show in town was Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Then the Ukrainian leader left, and a well-worn clash over migration instantly returned. There were stark signs that the bloc’s stance is hardening. Well into the early hours of Friday morning, EU leaders made proposal after proposal, all seeking to stem the rise in people arriving to the Continent outside legal channels. Some wanted Brussels to help pay for border fences. Others stressed a focus on returning rejected asylum seekers. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at one point tried to calm passions, according to one official familiar with the discussion. Did the EU want to turn itself into a fortress? Walls, simply put, do not work, he said, pointing to the U.S.-Mexico border, where a fractious debate over a wall hasn’t abated crossings. Ultimately, however, Scholz and the other EU leaders did back more stringent EU border control methods — an indication of how the EU has toughened its stance on the subject since the apex of the 2015-2016 Syrian refugee crisis. Border fences, especially, were once anathema in much of Europe, treated as a blunt instrument meant more for show than practical use. But a growing coalition of EU countries has now built such barriers, with some wanting Brussels to help pay for more. And while EU officials won’t cross the red line into fence funding, they usually agree to fund surveillance technology and border guards. As EU leaders went round and round, Austria led the pack in pushing for more border resources from Brussels. The country has experienced an increase in migrants arriving through the Western Balkans, often crossing from Serbia into Hungary and then into Austria. At Thursday’s summit, the country got its preferred language into the final statement, which implores the Commission “to immediately mobilise substantial EU funds and means” to help countries bolster their “border protection capabilities and infrastructure.” The statement specifically referenced “surveillance, including aerial surveillance, and equipment.” After the leaders broke up around 3 a.m., Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer lauded the result, which may be the EU’s strongest language yet on the issue. Bulgaria has been a particular focus for Austria. It wants the EU to help reinforce a fence between the EU border country and Turkey, a project it pegs at €2 billion. But the Commission has cautioned that it only has €3 billion left for all fence-related projects, according to multiple diplomats. Austria was not the only country stumping for more border funding. A clutch of countries including Hungary, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Greece signed a letter backing tougher border measures on the eve of the summit. The missive echoed a similar letter from October 2021 that saw 12 member states asking the European Commission to let EU cash go toward border barriers. Von der Leyen, who opposes the EU entering the fence-funding business, said after the meeting that leaders had only agreed to use EU money for infrastructure like cameras, watch towers and vehicles. She even made a point of mentioning that an existing fence the EU was looking to rehab “doesn’t function” since it doesn’t have adequate personnel and surveillance equipment. The effort is part of a series of “pilot projects” von der Leyen said the EU would launch to illustrate, among other things, how an ideal border would process asylum seekers. https://www.conservativereview.com/trans-teacher-allegedly-threatened-to-shoot-students-and-parents-say-the-middle-school-failed-to-notify-them-2659853038.html Trans teacher allegedly threatened to shoot students, and parents say the middle school failed to notify them Parents with children attending Fox Chapel Middle School in Hernando County, Florida, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that school officials failed to notify them after a transgender teacher allegedly threatened to shoot and kill students. Assistant Principal Kerry Thornton and guidance counselor Kimberly Walby contacted the middle school’s resource officer on March 24 to file an incident report regarding a teacher allegedly expressing thoughts about suicidal ideation and possibly shooting students. The report, obtained by Moms for Liberty’s Hernando County chapter, stated that Alexander Renczkowski, a biologically male teacher who identifies as female and goes by the name Ashlee, had confessed to having “bad thoughts” but denied threatening to harm students. According to the report, the teacher stated that “she does not want to harm herself.” Authorities then confiscated three firearms and ammunition from Renczkowski’s home, the report noted. After conducting a threat assessment, Hernando County School District’s mental health coordinator, Sandra Hurst, found that the teacher did not meet the criteria to be involuntarily institutionalized for mental illness under Florida’s Baker Act law, the report added. Renczkowski was reportedly allowed back into the classroom the next day. Several parents told the DCNF that they learned about the incident from a local reporter, not the school. According to the parents, the school did not contact them until 17 days after the report was filed and the news had already circulated. Hernando County Sheriff’s Office released a statement Wednesday about the March incident. “On 03-24-23, the HCSO was notified of, and did investigate, an event at Fox Chapel Middle School,” the sheriff’s office said. “The investigation revealed that no criminal offense(s) occurred; therefore, no arrest(s) could be made. Further, deputies found that the individual did not, at that moment, meet the required criteria for involuntary commitment under the Baker Act.” The sheriff’s office noted that the teacher cooperated with law enforcement to hand over all firearms. The Hernando County School District, Fox Chapel Middle School, and Alexander Renczkowski did not respond to requests for comment, the DCNF reported. https://dailycaller.com/2023/04/12/south-korea-ammunition-biden-administraiton-ukraine/ US Gets 500,000 Artillery Shells On Loan From South Korea To Fill Plummeting Stocks The U.S. reached an agreement last month to obtain 500,000 rounds of 155 mm artillery shells on loan from South Korea, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing a South Korean newspaper. U.S. stocks of the 155 mm round, which see a high level of consumption on the battlefield in Ukraine, have fallen to critically low levels, and the Biden administration sought artillery ammunition from South Korea in March, according to documents seen by the DCNF. South Korea will “lend” the shells to the U.S. rather than selling to avoid the possibility of those shells being delivered to Ukraine in a future assistance package, thereby violating a South Korean policy against supplying lethal items to countries at war, the DongA Ilbo outlet reported, citing government sources, according to Reuters. South Korea’s defense ministry told Reuters that Seoul and allies are exploring a variety of ways to provide Ukraine with much needed munitions but did not speak to specific discussions or agreements. The U.S. for the first time struck a deal with South Korea to purchase 100,000 155 mm rounds for ultimate delivery to Ukraine in November. Routing the deal through the U.S. allowed South Korea to avoid complicity in Ukraine’s attacks on Russian forces, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The shells will primarily serve to backfill U.S. stockpiles, DongA Ilbo reported, according to Reuters. News of the agreement comes after leaked Pentagon documents from March described a conversation between two South Korean national security officials about potentially routing artillery through Poland — alarming officials and prompting Seoul to confront Washington about the disclosure, Reuters reported. The South Korean president’s office affirmed the leaked documents would not damage relations with the U.S., The New York Times reported. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup agreed in a phone call Tuesday that “quite a few of the documents in question were fabricated.” So far, the country has declined to provide overt military assistance to Ukraine, citing its own precarious security situation as its northern neighbor has not relented on threats against Seoul’s sovereignty, according to Reuters. However, Seoul is one of the U.S. key allies in Asia and a large ammunition producer. The U.S. has sent more than 1.5 million 155 mm shells for the Howitzer system to Ukraine, as well as an additional 6,500 GPS-guided rounds, according to a fact sheet that was accurate as of April 4. For comparison, the U.S. produces about 15,000 rounds per month, the NYT reported.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Friday, April 14th, 2023. Fight Laugh Feast Magazine Our Fight Laugh Feast Magazine is a quarterly issue that packs a punch like a 21 year Balvenie, no ice. We don’t water down our scotch, why would we water down our theology? Order a yearly subscription for yourself and then send a couple yearly subscriptions to your friends who have been drinking luke-warm evangelical cool-aid. Every quarter we promise quality food for the soul, wine for the heart, and some Red Bull for turning over tables. Our magazine will include cultural commentary, a Psalm of the quarter, recipes for feasting, laughter sprinkled through out the glossy pages, and more. Sign up today, at fightlaughfeast.com. https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-dairy-explosion-leaves-least-18000-cattle-dead-person-critically-injured Texas dairy explosion leaves at least 18,000 cattle dead, 1 person critically injured Approximately 18,000 cows were killed, and one person was critically injured, in an explosion at a dairy farm in the Texas Panhandle on Monday. The Castro County Sheriff’s Office confirmed with Fox News Digital that the cows were in a holding area before being brought in for milking when the blast occurred at the Southfork Dairy Farm in Dimmitt. Very few cows in the holding area survived, officials told local outlet KFDA. Police said they received eight calls just before 7:30 p.m. Monday about an explosion and fire. Callers said some employees were trapped inside the milking building. When law enforcement officials arrived at the dairy farm, they determined only a woman was trapped in the dairy building. Officials said the trapped individual was rescued from the building and airlifted to UMC Hospital in Lubbock for treatment. Lubbock is located about 80 miles from Dimmitt. Officials said all the other dairy employees were accounted for and were safe. The Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/community-family/legal-abortions-fell-post-roe Legal abortions fell 6% in six months after Supreme Court overturned Roe Legal abortions in the United States dropped more than 6% in the six months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade , a testament to the new rules and regulations that now vary from state to state. A new report released by the Society of Family Planning, called the "#WeCount" report, determined that there were 32,260 fewer abortions from July to December 2022 when compared to data taken in April and May. In the months post-Dobbs v. Jackson's Women's Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade in June, there were an average of 5,377 fewer abortions per month. Telehealth abortions provided through virtual clinics have increased every month since pre-Dobbs in April, and by December, the appointments represented 9% of all abortions across the six months post-Dobbs. The organization found that the effect of the Dobbs decision is based on state abortion policies. States with bans in place witnessed a total of 43,410 fewer people cumulatively having abortions. On the other side, states that permitted abortion access following the end of Roe v. Wade saw a total of 11,150 more people who had abortions. By Dec. 31, 13 states had banned abortion with almost no exceptions, and Georgia imposed a six-week ban. In Georgia, the number of abortions decreased by 40%, according to the report. Florida saw 1,200 more abortions in the months post-Dobbs because state law currently permits abortions up to 15 weeks. The Sunshine State is inching closer to a six-week ban after the state Senate passed the legislation , sending it to the House, where it is also expected to pass, and eventually Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R-FL) desk, where he is likely to sign it. The Dobbs decision also pushed thousands of women to travel long distances to obtain abortions if their home states had restrictions. The report showed that the number of abortions increased significantly in states that have solidified abortion access and are located near states with bans, the largest increases occurring in Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina. Abortions declined significantly in places where the courts overturned proposed bans, such as Arizona and Ohio. Several clinics in Arizona, which allows abortions up to 15 weeks, temporarily shut down while the court determined whether the near total ban that predated Arizona's statehood could be enforced. Eventually, the court ruled that the 15-week ban overruled the near-total ban and went into effect in December 2022. The number of abortions per month in Arizona dropped 85% to 230 between April and July and shot back up to 870 by December, according to the report. In Ohio, a six-week ban went into effect after the Dobbs decision. In that time, the number of abortions dropped 62% from before Dobbs to 790. However, a judge halted the six-week ban, and abortions are now legal up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. The number of abortions now sits at over 1,400 per month. Pro-abortion activists in Ohio created a committee in December to explore putting abortion on the ballot , and in March, the Ohio Ballot Board certified the language of the proposed ballot initiative that would enshrine abortion in the state constitution. https://www.politico.eu/article/euco-eu-crosses-into-the-border-fence-game-migration/ EU vows more cash for frontier policing as border fence debate revives The EU that once largely dismissed border walls as a crude Trumpian solution is vowing to channel “substantial” funds into frontier guards and surveillance equipment, as countries ramp up calls for help paying for their border fences. For several hours at an EU Council summit on Thursday, the only show in town was Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Then the Ukrainian leader left, and a well-worn clash over migration instantly returned. There were stark signs that the bloc’s stance is hardening. Well into the early hours of Friday morning, EU leaders made proposal after proposal, all seeking to stem the rise in people arriving to the Continent outside legal channels. Some wanted Brussels to help pay for border fences. Others stressed a focus on returning rejected asylum seekers. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at one point tried to calm passions, according to one official familiar with the discussion. Did the EU want to turn itself into a fortress? Walls, simply put, do not work, he said, pointing to the U.S.-Mexico border, where a fractious debate over a wall hasn’t abated crossings. Ultimately, however, Scholz and the other EU leaders did back more stringent EU border control methods — an indication of how the EU has toughened its stance on the subject since the apex of the 2015-2016 Syrian refugee crisis. Border fences, especially, were once anathema in much of Europe, treated as a blunt instrument meant more for show than practical use. But a growing coalition of EU countries has now built such barriers, with some wanting Brussels to help pay for more. And while EU officials won’t cross the red line into fence funding, they usually agree to fund surveillance technology and border guards. As EU leaders went round and round, Austria led the pack in pushing for more border resources from Brussels. The country has experienced an increase in migrants arriving through the Western Balkans, often crossing from Serbia into Hungary and then into Austria. At Thursday’s summit, the country got its preferred language into the final statement, which implores the Commission “to immediately mobilise substantial EU funds and means” to help countries bolster their “border protection capabilities and infrastructure.” The statement specifically referenced “surveillance, including aerial surveillance, and equipment.” After the leaders broke up around 3 a.m., Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer lauded the result, which may be the EU’s strongest language yet on the issue. Bulgaria has been a particular focus for Austria. It wants the EU to help reinforce a fence between the EU border country and Turkey, a project it pegs at €2 billion. But the Commission has cautioned that it only has €3 billion left for all fence-related projects, according to multiple diplomats. Austria was not the only country stumping for more border funding. A clutch of countries including Hungary, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Greece signed a letter backing tougher border measures on the eve of the summit. The missive echoed a similar letter from October 2021 that saw 12 member states asking the European Commission to let EU cash go toward border barriers. Von der Leyen, who opposes the EU entering the fence-funding business, said after the meeting that leaders had only agreed to use EU money for infrastructure like cameras, watch towers and vehicles. She even made a point of mentioning that an existing fence the EU was looking to rehab “doesn’t function” since it doesn’t have adequate personnel and surveillance equipment. The effort is part of a series of “pilot projects” von der Leyen said the EU would launch to illustrate, among other things, how an ideal border would process asylum seekers. https://www.conservativereview.com/trans-teacher-allegedly-threatened-to-shoot-students-and-parents-say-the-middle-school-failed-to-notify-them-2659853038.html Trans teacher allegedly threatened to shoot students, and parents say the middle school failed to notify them Parents with children attending Fox Chapel Middle School in Hernando County, Florida, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that school officials failed to notify them after a transgender teacher allegedly threatened to shoot and kill students. Assistant Principal Kerry Thornton and guidance counselor Kimberly Walby contacted the middle school’s resource officer on March 24 to file an incident report regarding a teacher allegedly expressing thoughts about suicidal ideation and possibly shooting students. The report, obtained by Moms for Liberty’s Hernando County chapter, stated that Alexander Renczkowski, a biologically male teacher who identifies as female and goes by the name Ashlee, had confessed to having “bad thoughts” but denied threatening to harm students. According to the report, the teacher stated that “she does not want to harm herself.” Authorities then confiscated three firearms and ammunition from Renczkowski’s home, the report noted. After conducting a threat assessment, Hernando County School District’s mental health coordinator, Sandra Hurst, found that the teacher did not meet the criteria to be involuntarily institutionalized for mental illness under Florida’s Baker Act law, the report added. Renczkowski was reportedly allowed back into the classroom the next day. Several parents told the DCNF that they learned about the incident from a local reporter, not the school. According to the parents, the school did not contact them until 17 days after the report was filed and the news had already circulated. Hernando County Sheriff’s Office released a statement Wednesday about the March incident. “On 03-24-23, the HCSO was notified of, and did investigate, an event at Fox Chapel Middle School,” the sheriff’s office said. “The investigation revealed that no criminal offense(s) occurred; therefore, no arrest(s) could be made. Further, deputies found that the individual did not, at that moment, meet the required criteria for involuntary commitment under the Baker Act.” The sheriff’s office noted that the teacher cooperated with law enforcement to hand over all firearms. The Hernando County School District, Fox Chapel Middle School, and Alexander Renczkowski did not respond to requests for comment, the DCNF reported. https://dailycaller.com/2023/04/12/south-korea-ammunition-biden-administraiton-ukraine/ US Gets 500,000 Artillery Shells On Loan From South Korea To Fill Plummeting Stocks The U.S. reached an agreement last month to obtain 500,000 rounds of 155 mm artillery shells on loan from South Korea, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing a South Korean newspaper. U.S. stocks of the 155 mm round, which see a high level of consumption on the battlefield in Ukraine, have fallen to critically low levels, and the Biden administration sought artillery ammunition from South Korea in March, according to documents seen by the DCNF. South Korea will “lend” the shells to the U.S. rather than selling to avoid the possibility of those shells being delivered to Ukraine in a future assistance package, thereby violating a South Korean policy against supplying lethal items to countries at war, the DongA Ilbo outlet reported, citing government sources, according to Reuters. South Korea’s defense ministry told Reuters that Seoul and allies are exploring a variety of ways to provide Ukraine with much needed munitions but did not speak to specific discussions or agreements. The U.S. for the first time struck a deal with South Korea to purchase 100,000 155 mm rounds for ultimate delivery to Ukraine in November. Routing the deal through the U.S. allowed South Korea to avoid complicity in Ukraine’s attacks on Russian forces, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The shells will primarily serve to backfill U.S. stockpiles, DongA Ilbo reported, according to Reuters. News of the agreement comes after leaked Pentagon documents from March described a conversation between two South Korean national security officials about potentially routing artillery through Poland — alarming officials and prompting Seoul to confront Washington about the disclosure, Reuters reported. The South Korean president’s office affirmed the leaked documents would not damage relations with the U.S., The New York Times reported. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup agreed in a phone call Tuesday that “quite a few of the documents in question were fabricated.” So far, the country has declined to provide overt military assistance to Ukraine, citing its own precarious security situation as its northern neighbor has not relented on threats against Seoul’s sovereignty, according to Reuters. However, Seoul is one of the U.S. key allies in Asia and a large ammunition producer. The U.S. has sent more than 1.5 million 155 mm shells for the Howitzer system to Ukraine, as well as an additional 6,500 GPS-guided rounds, according to a fact sheet that was accurate as of April 4. For comparison, the U.S. produces about 15,000 rounds per month, the NYT reported.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Friday, April 14th, 2023. Fight Laugh Feast Magazine Our Fight Laugh Feast Magazine is a quarterly issue that packs a punch like a 21 year Balvenie, no ice. We don’t water down our scotch, why would we water down our theology? Order a yearly subscription for yourself and then send a couple yearly subscriptions to your friends who have been drinking luke-warm evangelical cool-aid. Every quarter we promise quality food for the soul, wine for the heart, and some Red Bull for turning over tables. Our magazine will include cultural commentary, a Psalm of the quarter, recipes for feasting, laughter sprinkled through out the glossy pages, and more. Sign up today, at fightlaughfeast.com. https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-dairy-explosion-leaves-least-18000-cattle-dead-person-critically-injured Texas dairy explosion leaves at least 18,000 cattle dead, 1 person critically injured Approximately 18,000 cows were killed, and one person was critically injured, in an explosion at a dairy farm in the Texas Panhandle on Monday. The Castro County Sheriff’s Office confirmed with Fox News Digital that the cows were in a holding area before being brought in for milking when the blast occurred at the Southfork Dairy Farm in Dimmitt. Very few cows in the holding area survived, officials told local outlet KFDA. Police said they received eight calls just before 7:30 p.m. Monday about an explosion and fire. Callers said some employees were trapped inside the milking building. When law enforcement officials arrived at the dairy farm, they determined only a woman was trapped in the dairy building. Officials said the trapped individual was rescued from the building and airlifted to UMC Hospital in Lubbock for treatment. Lubbock is located about 80 miles from Dimmitt. Officials said all the other dairy employees were accounted for and were safe. The Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/community-family/legal-abortions-fell-post-roe Legal abortions fell 6% in six months after Supreme Court overturned Roe Legal abortions in the United States dropped more than 6% in the six months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade , a testament to the new rules and regulations that now vary from state to state. A new report released by the Society of Family Planning, called the "#WeCount" report, determined that there were 32,260 fewer abortions from July to December 2022 when compared to data taken in April and May. In the months post-Dobbs v. Jackson's Women's Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade in June, there were an average of 5,377 fewer abortions per month. Telehealth abortions provided through virtual clinics have increased every month since pre-Dobbs in April, and by December, the appointments represented 9% of all abortions across the six months post-Dobbs. The organization found that the effect of the Dobbs decision is based on state abortion policies. States with bans in place witnessed a total of 43,410 fewer people cumulatively having abortions. On the other side, states that permitted abortion access following the end of Roe v. Wade saw a total of 11,150 more people who had abortions. By Dec. 31, 13 states had banned abortion with almost no exceptions, and Georgia imposed a six-week ban. In Georgia, the number of abortions decreased by 40%, according to the report. Florida saw 1,200 more abortions in the months post-Dobbs because state law currently permits abortions up to 15 weeks. The Sunshine State is inching closer to a six-week ban after the state Senate passed the legislation , sending it to the House, where it is also expected to pass, and eventually Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R-FL) desk, where he is likely to sign it. The Dobbs decision also pushed thousands of women to travel long distances to obtain abortions if their home states had restrictions. The report showed that the number of abortions increased significantly in states that have solidified abortion access and are located near states with bans, the largest increases occurring in Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina. Abortions declined significantly in places where the courts overturned proposed bans, such as Arizona and Ohio. Several clinics in Arizona, which allows abortions up to 15 weeks, temporarily shut down while the court determined whether the near total ban that predated Arizona's statehood could be enforced. Eventually, the court ruled that the 15-week ban overruled the near-total ban and went into effect in December 2022. The number of abortions per month in Arizona dropped 85% to 230 between April and July and shot back up to 870 by December, according to the report. In Ohio, a six-week ban went into effect after the Dobbs decision. In that time, the number of abortions dropped 62% from before Dobbs to 790. However, a judge halted the six-week ban, and abortions are now legal up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. The number of abortions now sits at over 1,400 per month. Pro-abortion activists in Ohio created a committee in December to explore putting abortion on the ballot , and in March, the Ohio Ballot Board certified the language of the proposed ballot initiative that would enshrine abortion in the state constitution. https://www.politico.eu/article/euco-eu-crosses-into-the-border-fence-game-migration/ EU vows more cash for frontier policing as border fence debate revives The EU that once largely dismissed border walls as a crude Trumpian solution is vowing to channel “substantial” funds into frontier guards and surveillance equipment, as countries ramp up calls for help paying for their border fences. For several hours at an EU Council summit on Thursday, the only show in town was Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Then the Ukrainian leader left, and a well-worn clash over migration instantly returned. There were stark signs that the bloc’s stance is hardening. Well into the early hours of Friday morning, EU leaders made proposal after proposal, all seeking to stem the rise in people arriving to the Continent outside legal channels. Some wanted Brussels to help pay for border fences. Others stressed a focus on returning rejected asylum seekers. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at one point tried to calm passions, according to one official familiar with the discussion. Did the EU want to turn itself into a fortress? Walls, simply put, do not work, he said, pointing to the U.S.-Mexico border, where a fractious debate over a wall hasn’t abated crossings. Ultimately, however, Scholz and the other EU leaders did back more stringent EU border control methods — an indication of how the EU has toughened its stance on the subject since the apex of the 2015-2016 Syrian refugee crisis. Border fences, especially, were once anathema in much of Europe, treated as a blunt instrument meant more for show than practical use. But a growing coalition of EU countries has now built such barriers, with some wanting Brussels to help pay for more. And while EU officials won’t cross the red line into fence funding, they usually agree to fund surveillance technology and border guards. As EU leaders went round and round, Austria led the pack in pushing for more border resources from Brussels. The country has experienced an increase in migrants arriving through the Western Balkans, often crossing from Serbia into Hungary and then into Austria. At Thursday’s summit, the country got its preferred language into the final statement, which implores the Commission “to immediately mobilise substantial EU funds and means” to help countries bolster their “border protection capabilities and infrastructure.” The statement specifically referenced “surveillance, including aerial surveillance, and equipment.” After the leaders broke up around 3 a.m., Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer lauded the result, which may be the EU’s strongest language yet on the issue. Bulgaria has been a particular focus for Austria. It wants the EU to help reinforce a fence between the EU border country and Turkey, a project it pegs at €2 billion. But the Commission has cautioned that it only has €3 billion left for all fence-related projects, according to multiple diplomats. Austria was not the only country stumping for more border funding. A clutch of countries including Hungary, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Greece signed a letter backing tougher border measures on the eve of the summit. The missive echoed a similar letter from October 2021 that saw 12 member states asking the European Commission to let EU cash go toward border barriers. Von der Leyen, who opposes the EU entering the fence-funding business, said after the meeting that leaders had only agreed to use EU money for infrastructure like cameras, watch towers and vehicles. She even made a point of mentioning that an existing fence the EU was looking to rehab “doesn’t function” since it doesn’t have adequate personnel and surveillance equipment. The effort is part of a series of “pilot projects” von der Leyen said the EU would launch to illustrate, among other things, how an ideal border would process asylum seekers. https://www.conservativereview.com/trans-teacher-allegedly-threatened-to-shoot-students-and-parents-say-the-middle-school-failed-to-notify-them-2659853038.html Trans teacher allegedly threatened to shoot students, and parents say the middle school failed to notify them Parents with children attending Fox Chapel Middle School in Hernando County, Florida, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that school officials failed to notify them after a transgender teacher allegedly threatened to shoot and kill students. Assistant Principal Kerry Thornton and guidance counselor Kimberly Walby contacted the middle school’s resource officer on March 24 to file an incident report regarding a teacher allegedly expressing thoughts about suicidal ideation and possibly shooting students. The report, obtained by Moms for Liberty’s Hernando County chapter, stated that Alexander Renczkowski, a biologically male teacher who identifies as female and goes by the name Ashlee, had confessed to having “bad thoughts” but denied threatening to harm students. According to the report, the teacher stated that “she does not want to harm herself.” Authorities then confiscated three firearms and ammunition from Renczkowski’s home, the report noted. After conducting a threat assessment, Hernando County School District’s mental health coordinator, Sandra Hurst, found that the teacher did not meet the criteria to be involuntarily institutionalized for mental illness under Florida’s Baker Act law, the report added. Renczkowski was reportedly allowed back into the classroom the next day. Several parents told the DCNF that they learned about the incident from a local reporter, not the school. According to the parents, the school did not contact them until 17 days after the report was filed and the news had already circulated. Hernando County Sheriff’s Office released a statement Wednesday about the March incident. “On 03-24-23, the HCSO was notified of, and did investigate, an event at Fox Chapel Middle School,” the sheriff’s office said. “The investigation revealed that no criminal offense(s) occurred; therefore, no arrest(s) could be made. Further, deputies found that the individual did not, at that moment, meet the required criteria for involuntary commitment under the Baker Act.” The sheriff’s office noted that the teacher cooperated with law enforcement to hand over all firearms. The Hernando County School District, Fox Chapel Middle School, and Alexander Renczkowski did not respond to requests for comment, the DCNF reported. https://dailycaller.com/2023/04/12/south-korea-ammunition-biden-administraiton-ukraine/ US Gets 500,000 Artillery Shells On Loan From South Korea To Fill Plummeting Stocks The U.S. reached an agreement last month to obtain 500,000 rounds of 155 mm artillery shells on loan from South Korea, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing a South Korean newspaper. U.S. stocks of the 155 mm round, which see a high level of consumption on the battlefield in Ukraine, have fallen to critically low levels, and the Biden administration sought artillery ammunition from South Korea in March, according to documents seen by the DCNF. South Korea will “lend” the shells to the U.S. rather than selling to avoid the possibility of those shells being delivered to Ukraine in a future assistance package, thereby violating a South Korean policy against supplying lethal items to countries at war, the DongA Ilbo outlet reported, citing government sources, according to Reuters. South Korea’s defense ministry told Reuters that Seoul and allies are exploring a variety of ways to provide Ukraine with much needed munitions but did not speak to specific discussions or agreements. The U.S. for the first time struck a deal with South Korea to purchase 100,000 155 mm rounds for ultimate delivery to Ukraine in November. Routing the deal through the U.S. allowed South Korea to avoid complicity in Ukraine’s attacks on Russian forces, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The shells will primarily serve to backfill U.S. stockpiles, DongA Ilbo reported, according to Reuters. News of the agreement comes after leaked Pentagon documents from March described a conversation between two South Korean national security officials about potentially routing artillery through Poland — alarming officials and prompting Seoul to confront Washington about the disclosure, Reuters reported. The South Korean president’s office affirmed the leaked documents would not damage relations with the U.S., The New York Times reported. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup agreed in a phone call Tuesday that “quite a few of the documents in question were fabricated.” So far, the country has declined to provide overt military assistance to Ukraine, citing its own precarious security situation as its northern neighbor has not relented on threats against Seoul’s sovereignty, according to Reuters. However, Seoul is one of the U.S. key allies in Asia and a large ammunition producer. The U.S. has sent more than 1.5 million 155 mm shells for the Howitzer system to Ukraine, as well as an additional 6,500 GPS-guided rounds, according to a fact sheet that was accurate as of April 4. For comparison, the U.S. produces about 15,000 rounds per month, the NYT reported.

Marking the launch of MPI's Global Skills and Talent Initiative, this webcast features senior policymakers and other experts discussing the extent to which labor market needs should shape future immigration policy decisions, and how countries are adjusting—and could adjust—their immigration systems to meet human capital and competitiveness needs. We were delighted to have remarks from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ur Jaddou; the Deputy Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada, Christiane Fox; the Director of the Migration and Asylum Directorate at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, Michael Shotter; and Patrick Hallinan, Minister Counsellor Home Affairs and Regional Director - Americas, Department of Home Affairs, Australia.

*) Israel troops storm Al Aqsa Mosque for second night targeting Palestinians Israeli troops have stormed Al Aqsa Mosque compound for the second time and attacked Palestinian worshippers inside Islam's third-holiest site. Witnesses said the Israeli forces raided the Al Qibli Prayer Hall after the tarawih prayers, a special prayer during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, beating up Palestinian worshippers. They also fired stun grenades and rubber bullets to force them out of the complex. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society in occupied East Jerusalem said its medical teams treated six Palestinians, two of whom were hospitalised. Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli troops arrested hundreds of people in a police incursion at the mosque. This sparked an exchange of rockets and air strikes, with fears of further escalation. *)China deploys warships near Taiwan after Tsai-McCarthy meeting in US China has sent warships through waters around Taiwan as it vowed a "resolute response" to the island's president meeting US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Three additional warships were detected in waters separating the self-governing island from mainland China on Thursday, while an anti-submarine helicopter had also crossed its air defence identification zone. On Wednesday, the Chinese carrier, the Shandong, was also spotted around 200 nautical miles (370km) off Taiwan's east coast. Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen had held talks with McCarthy in California on Wednesday. China had repeatedly warned both sides that the meeting should not take place. *)Macron, von der Leyen to press China's Xi on Ukraine French and EU leaders will seek to make Europe's case for bringing an end to the conflict in Ukraine in a Beijing meeting with Xi Jinping, a close ally of Vladimir Putin. French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen will have a trilateral meeting with the Chinese president. This will follow a one-on-one meeting between Macron and Xi. Macron, who arrived in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon for a three-day state visit, said he wants to "be a voice that unites Europe" over Ukraine. *) Zelenskyy gets new pledges of military support from Poland Meanwhile in Ukraine, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his troops are facing a difficult situation in the battle for Bakhmut as the war rages on. He refuted claims by Russian forces that the city had been captured, but said the military would take "corresponding" decisions to protect them if they risked being encircled by Russian forces. On Wednesday, Zelenskyy won new pledges of military and economic cooperation during a state visit to Poland. Polish President Andrzej Duda said Warsaw has provided four fighter jets to Ukraine, with another ten expected soon. *) ​Canada agrees to $17B settlement over mistreatment of Indigenous families Canada has agreed to pay $17 billion to Indigenous children and families for discrimination in the child welfare system. The revised deal, announced on Wednesday by the Canadian government and Indigenous groups, boosted the settlement from the nearly $15 billion agreed last year. Some 300,000 children, adolescents and families are expected to receive the settlement. The deal also closed a case brought before a human rights tribunal more than 15 years ago that found the government had underfunded Indigenous children's services.

Peter Stano, Lead Spokesman for the European Commission denounced Russia's plan to move nuclear weapons to Belarus. And, Daniel Fried, former U.S. ambassador to Poland says, Finland's entry into NATO was "a bad day for Russia." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the BBC World Service:  French President Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen, the Head of the European Commission, are in Beijing. Will any deals be made on trade, and can they convince China to taper its support for Russia? The BBC’s Mariko Oi explains. Plus, BBC Correspondent Anna Holligan reports on a court’s decision to overrule a 10% reduction in flights from Netherland’s main airport.

From the BBC World Service:  French President Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen, the Head of the European Commission, are in Beijing. Will any deals be made on trade, and can they convince China to taper its support for Russia? The BBC’s Mariko Oi explains. Plus, BBC Correspondent Anna Holligan reports on a court’s decision to overrule a 10% reduction in flights from Netherland’s main airport.

The French president has landed in Beijing for his first post-Covid visit. Emmanuel Macron is accompanied by the European Commission president, who last week went on the offensive over unfair trade practices and Chinese backing of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Will Ursula von der Leyen speak for other recent EU visitors?

The president of the European Commission has called on Beijing to play a “constructive” role in bringing peace to Ukraine, EY has been banned from taking on any new listed audit clients in Germany for two years, and the makers of popular plagiarism detection software are launching a tool that also detects if essays are created using artificial intelligence chatbots. Plus the FT's Polina Ivanova talks about her colleague Evan Gershkowich who has been detained by Russia. Mentioned in this podcast:EU leaders call on China to coax Russia to halt Ukraine warEY banned by German audit watchdog over Wirecard work Universities express doubt over tool to detect AI-powered plagiarismBlinken demands release of WSJ journalist in call with Russia's LavrovThe FT News Briefing is produced by Fiona Symon, Sonja Hutson and Marc Filippino. The show's editor is Jess Smith. Additional help by Peter Barber, Michael Lello, David da Silva and Gavin Kallmann. Topher Forhecz is the FT's executive producer. The FT's global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. The show's theme song is by Metaphor Music. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the end of a friendly meeting in Moscow, President Xi of China told President Putin of Russia that they are driving changes in the world the likes of which have not been seen for a century. Meanwhile this week President Biden kicked off a Summit for Democracy with $690m funding pledge to democracies all over the world and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, called on Europe to reassess its diplomatic and economic relations with China before a visit to Beijing next week. So what changes are President Xi talking about? Who will be running the world in 20 years time? Is conflict between rival powers inevitable? And is the model of western liberal democracy in decline? Owen Bennett-Jones is joined by: Evelyn Farkas - an American national security advisor, author, and foreign policy analyst. She is the current Executive Director of the McCain Institute, a nonprofit organisation focused on democracy, human rights, and leadership. Evelyn served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia under President Obama Martin Wolf - chief economics commentator at the Financial Times and author of The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism Professor Steve Tsang - political scientist and historian and Director of the China Institute at the SOAS University of London Also featuring: Henry Wang - founder and director of the Centre for China and Globalisation, a think tank with links to the Chinese Communist Party Nathalie Tocci - director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali and an honorary professor at the University of Tübingen Photo: Russia's Putin holds talks with China's Xi in the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21, 2023 / Credit: Reuters Produced by Rumella Dasgupta and Pandita Lorenz

In December 2022, Atara Biotherapeutics' Ebvallo received European Commission approval as the first-ever therapy for adults and children with EBV+ PTLD. The ground-breaking approval represents the first approval of an allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy ever, globally. Atara Bio's CEO, Pascal Touchon, talks to Cell & Gene: The Podcast's Erin Harris about the biopharma's path to regulatory approval, commercialization plans for Ebvallo, an in-depth look at EBV+ PTLD, the connection between EBV and serious diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS), and much more.

Guest: We speak to Grant Smith, a Senior Research Officer in the Energy Systems Research Group, about a new climate-friendly app launched by the university in partnership with the City of Cape Town and the European Commission.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Serious Privacy, Paul Breitbarth of Catawiki and Dr. K Royal of Crawford & Company talk with dr. Laura Drechsler, Research Fellow at the Centre for IT and IP Law (CITIP) at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. They discuss Laura's work on cross-border data transfers, comparing the decisions of the European courts and the guidance of the data protection authorities with the adequacy decisions that have been published by the European Commission. It is clear there is still a lot to learn from the past on how to do adequacy and other data transfers right.As always, if you have comments or questions, let us know - LinkedIn, Twitter @podcastprivacy @euroPaulB @heartofprivacy @trustArc and email podcast@seriousprivacy.eu. Please do like and write comments on your favorite podcast app so other professionals can find us easier. The Leadercast PodcastThe fun way to grow you and your top talent.Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify As always, if you have comments or questions, find us on LinkedIn, Twitter @podcastprivacy @euroPaulB @heartofprivacy and email podcast@seriousprivacy.eu. Rate and Review us! #heartofprivacy #seriousprivacy #privacy #dataprotection #cybersecuritylaw #CPO #DPO

This episode reports on a warning to Okta administrators, a data breach at an Australian financial corporation grows and more

European competition regulators are increasingly focused on sustainability agreements and have published guidance. What are these documents saying and are they consistent? Jay Modrall, Brussels-based competition lawyer, joins Matthew Hall and Aaron Yeater to discuss the current position in the EU and UK. Listen to this episode to learn more about the application of EU and UK competition law to sustainability agreements between companies, including those intended to assist with the fight against climate change. With special guest: Jay Modrall, Senior Counsel, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP Related Links: Netherlands ACM draft Guidelines on Sustainability Agreements January 2021 UK CMA draft Guidelines on Environmental Sustainability Agreements March 2023 European Commission draft Guidelines on Horizontal Cooperation Agreements Hosted by: Matthew Hall, Partner, McGuireWoods London LLP and Aaron Yeater, Managing Principal, Analysis Group, Inc.