Tuesday, April 16, 2024

‘Playing with fire’: Ukraine’s frustration grows with US lawmakers, Europe

 ‘Playing with fire’: Ukraine’s frustration grows with US lawmakers, Europe


Ukraine is raising its standing army by 300,000, as the US stumbles and the EU lacks capacity to defend a future member.

Yuliia takes shelter inside a metro station with her daughter Varvara during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attacks on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 11, 2024. REUTERS/Alina Smutko
Yuliia, a Ukrainian woman, takes shelter inside a metro station with her daughter Varvara during a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine 


Athens, Greece
– Frustration with the United States for holding back critical financial and military aid from Ukraine spilled into the open at the Delphi Economic Forum in Greece last week.

“The Russians are destroying Ukrainian power plants, which is a war crime, but unfortunately they’re getting away with it because as the collective West we have not supplied Ukraine with enough missiles,” Radoslaw Sikorski, the Polish former foreign and defence minister, told Al Jazeera on the sidelines of the meeting.

On the day he spoke to Al Jazeera, Russia unleashed a barrage of some 80 missiles that completely destroyed a thermal power plant in Kyiv, which supposedly has the best air defences in the country.

Monday, April 15, 2024

SM-3 Ballistic Missile Interceptor Used for First Time in Combat, Officials Confirm

 SM-3 Ballistic Missile Interceptor Used for First Time in Combat, Officials Confirm


On Nov. 16, U.S. Missile Defense Agency and Navy sailors aboard USS John Finn (DDG 113), an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System-equipped destroyer, fired a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA guided missile that successfully intercepted and destroyed a mock Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) during a flight test demonstration in the broad ocean area northeast of Hawaii in November 2020. MDA photo.


For the first time in combat, guided-missile destroyers fired missiles developed to intercept ballistic missiles during the U.S. response to the Iranian attack on Israel, USNI News has learned.

USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) and USS Carney (DDG-64), in the Eastern Mediterranean, fired four to seven Standard Missile 3s to intercept Iranian ballistic missiles headed toward Israeli targets over the weekend, two defense officials confirmed to USNI News on Monday.

Carney and Arleigh Burke have versions of the Aegis combat system that were modified to track and target ballistic missiles. The SPY-1D radar on the destroyers cues the SM-3 to attack the ballistic missile. The SM-3 transports a kill vehicle outside the atmosphere to intercept a ballistic missile near the height of its path from its launch point before it reenters the atmosphere to hit its target.

Both the destroyers were placed off the coast of Israel as part of the defensive measures against a Iranian strike in retaliation for an Israeli attack on an Iranian embassy in Syria.

It’s unclear what missiles the Iranians fired toward Israel, but, according to missile analyst Chris Carlson, the fact the Navy used SM-3s points to the likelihood the Iranians used some of its medium-range ballistic missiles with a range of up to 1,800 miles.

First deployed in early 2004 on U.S. cruisers and destroyers, the SM-3s have been part of the U.S. ballistic missile defense network across the world. In 2011, the U.S. announced it would deploy four U.S. BMD destroyers in Rota as part of the European Phased Adaptive Approach to BMD along with missile defense sites based on the Aegis technology in Poland and Romania that also use SM-3s. The EPAA was specifically created during the Obama administration to protect Europe from Iranian ballistic missiles.

Burke is currently part of the U.S. destroyer contingent in Rota, and Carney had previously been stationed there as part of the mission. Likewise, BMD destroyers and cruisers patrol near Japan and South Korea as a hedge against potential North Korean ballistic missile attacks.

While variants of the missile have been in use for more than two decades and have undergone a wide range of tests, they have never been used in a real-world situation.

“Until you use it in combat, there are always questions,” Carlson told USNI News .
 

General Motors to move Detroit HQ to new downtown building, plans to redevelop Renaissance Center

 General Motors to move Detroit HQ to new downtown building, plans to redevelop Renaissance Center


General Motors will move its Detroit headquarters to a new downtown office building next year and redevelop its iconic home along the Detroit River.


National headlines from ABC NewsCatch up on the developing stories making headlines.The Associated Press

DETROIT -- General Motors will move its Detroit headquarters to a new downtown office building next year and work to redevelop its iconic home along the Detroit River, company and city officials confirmed Monday.

The announcement was made at the site of the old Hudson’s department store, which is being developed into a tower and 12-story office building that will house GM and is being built by the Bedrock real estate firm.


Bedrock will join GM, the city, and Wayne County in coming up with ideas to remake the seven-building Renaissance Center, the company's current world headquarters and a showpiece on the city's skyline that's often shown on televised sports broadcasts.

GM CEO Mary Barra said the move to a brand new state-of-the-art office building in the heart of the city will help GM recruit talent in the future. The new site is about a mile (1.6 kilometers) north of the Renaissance Center. The move also keeps GM’s headquarters in the city for the foreseeable future, she said.

"We’re going to be in the heart of the city,” Barra said. “Our people are already excited to be in Detroit and live here. I think having this workspace that’s modern and new that really fits the way people work today, I think it’s definitely going to be an attraction.”

Bedrock Chairman Dan Gilbert said office building on the Hudson’s site on Woodward Avenue was designed and built to house a major corporation. The building and the adjacent tower will have meeting space, retail, a luxury hotel and living space, along what was America’s first paved road, he said.

The move will help Detroit continue to thrive, he said.

Mayor Mike Duggan said GM and Detroit have risen and fallen together for the past century, and he’s pleased to say that “GM and Detroit are rising together again.”

The future of Renaissance Center, home to GM through its brush with death and bankruptcy in 2009 as well as multiple years of huge profits, remains unclear. But the move next year will mark the end of an era for the automotive giant.

The main tower, the tallest building in Detroit, is 73 stories.


Through the years and especially after the pandemic, the number of GM employees at the building has dwindled, and multiple businesses located there have closed.

Barra said GM is open to ideas about the Renaissance Center complex, which the company bought nearly three decades ago. The company invested more than $1 billion there, she said. It's not selling the building at present, but that is possible.

Bedrock owns multiple office buildings throughout the city's downtown and has renovated many of them.

Barra said GM, Bedrock and governments will explore residential, commercial and mixed uses for the iconic tower complex, known locally as the RenCen.

“I am confident that together we can create a right future for that site,” Barra said Monday.

Duggan said Gilbert will know what to do with the complex in the future.

GM bought the tower complex in 1996 and later moved its headquarters there from a site north of downtown. It has housed the company ever since.

Bedrock has been buying up properties downtown for many years and has led its rebirth. Gilbert also runs loan company Rocket Mortgage.

In a 2022 interview, Barra told The Associated Press that GM will keep its main office in the RenCen complex just across the Detroit River from Canada.

But she qualified her statements, saying she couldn't predict what might happen in five, 10 or 15 years. Since then, about 5,000 white-collar workers at GM took early retirement buyouts, and may workers are still on a hybrid office-home work schedule, so GM needs less office space.

The company takes up about 1 1/2 of the RenCen’s towers, which have seen little pedestrian traffic for years. Much of GM’s work force, including product development and engineering, is north of the city at an updated 1950s technical center in suburban Warren. After GM’s 2009 bankruptcy, the company considered moving the headquarters there.

The Renaissance Center was built by Henry Ford II, who formed a coalition in the 1970s in an effort to reinvigorate Detroit’s downtown.

Bedrock announced last week that the final structural steel beam had been put in place on the Hudson's tower, which is expected to have 1.5 million square feet of retail, office, dining, hospitality and residential space.


Trump Media Stock Plunges, Extending Recent Losses

 Trump Media Stock Plunges, Extending Recent Losses


Funds that bet on a fall were set to profit as the parent of Truth Social came under renewed pressure after it registered new shares for a potential sale.


Since former President Donald J. Trump’s company, Trump Media & Technology, began trading, its shares have fallen by about 60 percent.Credit...Michelle Gustafson for The New York Times




Shares of former President Donald J. Trump’s social media company plunged on Monday after the company filed to register the potential sale of tens of millions of additional shares.

Trump Media & Technology’s stock fell 18.3 percent, erasing hundreds of millions of dollars from the company’s market value — and putting a dent in Mr. Trump’s majority stake. Since a surge in its first days of trading as Trump Media, which lifted the value of the company to about $8 billion at one point last month, the company’s shares have dropped by around 60 percent.

Trump Media was expected to register the potential sale of new shares after the completion of its merger last month with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a cash-rich shell company known as a SPAC. Companies that merge with SPACs, or special purpose acquisition companies, typically file a registration statement a few weeks after the deal is completed for the sale of additional securities held by early investors.


Matthew Goldstein covers Wall Street and white-collar crime and housing issues. More about Matthew Goldstein

Joe Rennison writes about financial markets, a beat that ranges from chronicling the vagaries of the stock market to explaining the often-inscrutable trading decisions of Wall Street insiders. More about Joe Rennison



Sunday, April 14, 2024

House Speaker Mike Johnson says he will push for aid to Israel and Ukraine this week

 House Speaker Mike Johnson says he will push for aid to Israel and Ukraine this week


WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday he will try to advance wartime aid for Israel this week as he attempts the difficult task of winning House approval for a national security package that also includes funding for Ukraine and allies in Asia.

Johnson, R-La., is already under immense political pressure from his fellow GOP lawmakers as he tries to stretch between the Republican Party’s divided support for helping Kyiv defend itself from Moscow’s invasion. The Republican speaker has sat for two months on a $95 billion supplemental package that would send support to the U.S. allies, as well as provide humanitarian aid for civilians in Ukraine and Gaza and funding to replenish U.S. weapons provided to Taiwan.

The attack by Iran on Israel early Sunday further ratcheted up the pressure on Johnson, but also gave him an opportunity to underscore the urgency of approving the funding.

Johnson told Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that he and Republicans “understand the necessity of standing with Israel” and he would try this week to advance the aid.

“The details of that package are being put together right now,” he said. “We’re looking at the options and all these supplemental issues.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer at a news conference also said that President Joe Biden held a phone call Sunday with the top Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate, including Johnson. The New York Democrat said there was consensus “among all the leaders that we had to help Israel and help Ukraine, and now hopefully we can work that out and get this done next week.”

“It’s vital for the future of Ukraine, for Israel and the West,” Schumer said.

The White House said Biden “discussed the urgent need for the House of Representatives to pass the national security supplemental as soon as possible.”

Johnson has also “made it clear” to fellow House Republicans that he will this week push to package together the aid for Israel, Ukraine and allies in Asia and pass it through the House, said GOP Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The speaker has expressed support for legislation that would structure some of the funding for Kyiv as loans, pave the way for the U.S. to tap frozen Russian central bank assets and include other policy changes. Johnson has pushed for the Biden administration to lift a pause on approvals for Liquefied Natural Gas exports and at times has also demanded policy changes at the U.S. border with Mexico.

But currently, the only package with wide bipartisan support in Congress is the Senate-passed bill that includes roughly $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby called on the speaker to put that package “on the floor as soon as possible.”

“We didn’t need any reminders in terms of what’s going on in Ukraine,” Kirby said on NBC. “But last night certainly underscores significantly the threat that Israel faces in a very, very tough neighborhood.”

As Johnson searches for a way to advance the funding for Ukraine, he has been in conversations with both the White House and former president Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

With his job under threat, Johnson traveled to Florida on Friday for an event with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club. Trump expressed support for Johnson and said he had a “very good relationship” with him.

“He and I are 100% united on these big agenda items,” Johnson said. “When you talk about aid to Ukraine, he’s introduced the loan-lease concept which is a really important one and I think has a lot of consensus.”

But Trump, with his “America First” agenda, has inspired many Republicans to push for a more isolationist stance. Support for Ukraine has steadily eroded in the roughly two years since the war began, and a cause that once enjoyed wide support has become one of Johnson’s toughest problems.

When he returns to Washington on Monday, Johnson also will be facing a contingent of conservatives already angry with how he has led the House in maintaining much of the status quo both on government spending and more recently, a U.S. government surveillance tool.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a right-wing Republican from Georgia, has called for Johnson’s ouster. She departed the Capitol on Friday telling reporters that support for her effort was growing. And as Johnson on Sunday readied to advance the aid, Greene said on X that it was “antisemitic to make Israeli aid contingent” on aid for Ukraine.

While no other Republicans have openly joined Greene in calling to oust Johnson, a growing number of hardline conservatives are openly disparaging Johnson and defying his leadership.

Meanwhile, senior GOP lawmakers who support aid to Ukraine are growing frustrated with the months-long wait to bring it to the House floor. Kyiv’s troops have been running low on ammunition and Russia is becoming emboldened as it looks to gain ground in a spring and summer offensive. A massive missile and drone attack destroyed one of Ukraine’s largest power plants and damaged others last week.

70 million Americans under severe weather threat from Northeast to Midwest

 70 million Americans under severe weather threat from Northeast to Midwest

From Sunday through Tuesday, hail, winds and a few tornados are possible.
Andrew Spear/Getty ImagesThe aftermath of tornados that came through the region in Indian Lake

Severe weather is projected to impact 70 million Americans from the Northeast Sunday through to Tuesday in the Midwest.

NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has issued an enhanced risk outlook for the multi-region storm system, designating it a level 3 out of 5 risk for severe weather.

In the Northeast, intense thunderstorms are likely to develop late Sunday afternoon in a corridor across the upper Ohio Valley into the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania and the Catskill region in Upstate New York.

Damaging wind, some hail and tornadoes are possible as the storm spreads slowly southward into Sunday evening.
ABC NewsSevere risk forecast for Sunday evening.

A line of these strong to potentially severe storms is projected to impact cities from Pittsburgh to New York Sunday night from 10:00 p.m. ET to 11:00 p.m. ET.

In the Midwest, a dynamic weather system across the Rockies and into the Great Plains from the Dakotas to Texas has the potential to form storms capable of becoming supercells and produce very large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes on Monday.

ABC NewsSevere weather outbreak forecast for Monday and Tuesday.

Scattered severe thunderstorms are likely across the southern to central Great Plains, mainly Monday evening when large hail, damaging wind and a few tornadoes are possible.

Storms may begin as early as 5:00 p.m. CT from Central Texas to Nebraska and then continue to develop overnight across the region.

By Tuesday morning, storms are projected to impact regions from eastern Nebraska to Kansas City, Missouri, and parts of Iowa. These storms may still be strong and possibly severe.
The strongest storms are anticipated in areas from Des Moines, Iowa, to Columbia, Missouri, on Tuesday afternoon.

Scattered severe thunderstorms are likely on Tuesday into the evening from Chicago to east of Dallas.

On Wednesday morning, there may be lingering strong to severe storms in the Ohio River Valley.

Gold and Silver Weather the Storm as Middle East Unrest Shakes Crypto Markets

 Gold and Silver Weather the Storm as Middle East Unrest Shakes Crypto Markets



Over the weekend, cryptocurrency assets saw a significant drop, with the crypto economy shedding more than 5% to fall to $2.3 trillion, while precious metals also saw declines, albeit less severe than the digital currency sector. Amidst the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East, gold fell by 1.18% in the last day; however, in contrast to bitcoin, it has appreciated against the U.S. dollar over the past week. Furthermore, recent survey data suggest that investors hold an optimistic view of gold for the coming week.

Gold Holds Steady Amid Geopolitical Tensions; Recent Survey Highlights Ongoing Bullish Sentiment

On Saturday, tensions escalated as Iran conducted a drone airstrike against Israel, wiping out over $330 billion from the value of the crypto market. Data indicate that BTC dropped 6.9% over the last week due to the weekend’s downturn. The downturn in the crypto market is largely linked to the Iran-Israel conflict, and U.S. equities are anticipated to experience some impact on Monday. Precious metals, however, experienced only minor losses in comparison to BTC and ETH.


Price of gold on Sunday, April 14, 2024
.

Gold remains 0.6% higher for the week despite a 1.18% decrease in the last 24 hours. Silver has declined by more than 2% during the past day, yet weekly figures show that silver is still up by 1.36%. Over the past six months, both precious metals have climbed more than 21%, and despite bitcoin’s downturn, it still posted a 124% gain over the same period. This week’s Kitco News Weekly Gold Survey reveals that investors in Wall Street and Main Street’s precious metals remain bullish, noting that “geopolitical risks” may act as support rather than hinder gains.

The day before the attack, Frank McGhee from Alliance Financial addressed the escalating tensions between Iran and Israel with Kitco, remarking, “The best component that I can see now is that the market is finally paying attention to geopolitical, and as the threat of an Iranian attack on Israel looms, the market has finally just decided to take notice.” During the cryptocurrency downturn on Saturday, metrics further indicate that traders not only sought refuge in U.S. dollar stablecoins, but also gravitated toward gold tokens such as Tether’s XAUT and Paxos’s PAXG, which both experienced notable increases.

Specifically, PAXG soared to $2,855 per coin on Saturday, drawing considerable interest following the public announcement of the drone airstrike at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. While the substantial premium on PAXG has diminished, it maintains a $100 premium over the current gold spot prices. Meanwhile, the premium observed with XAUT was less pronounced, yet it still stands at $25 above the gold spot price as of Sunday afternoon.

What do you think about gold and silver weathering the storm amid the Middle East conflict between Iran and Israel? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.

Saturday, April 13, 2024

Iran launches barrage of strikes toward Israel

 Iran launches barrage of strikes toward Israel

What we covered:


🔸The Middle East has been plunged deeper into uncharted waters after Iran launched dozens of missiles and drones from its territory toward Israel in an unprecedented five-hour strike.

🔸The vast majority of missiles were intercepted outside Israel's territory by aerial defense systems, its military said. There have been no reports of injuries suffered directly through Iranian strikes, according to Israel’s emergency service.

🔸Iran's foreign ministry said the attack was in retaliation to a deadly Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, earlier this month.

🔸President Joe Biden made clear US will not participate in any offensive operations against Iran, according to a senior administration official. But he said Washington's commitment to Israel’s security against Iranian threats remains "ironclad."

🔸US forces intercepted more than 70 drones and at least three ballistic missiles, according to US officials. The US assessment is that Iran’s attacks had been largely unsuccessful.

🔸Here's how to help humanitarian efforts in Gaza and Israel.

Iran warns its response will be "stronger and more resolute" if Israel retaliates following latest strikes


Iran has warned that it will respond with more force if Israel retaliates over this weekend's strikes, which Tehran said were themselves a reply to an Israeli attack earlier this month on its embassy complex in Syria's capital Damascus.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will not hesitate to exercise its inherent right of self-defense when required," Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, said in a statement.

 
Should the Israeli regime commit any military aggression again, Iran's response will assuredly and decisively be stronger and more resolute,” Ambassador Iravani added.
Citing self-defense against repeated Israeli military aggressions, Iravani said the strikes were specifically in retaliation to an Israeli attack on April 1 against what Iran says were diplomatic facilities in Damascus.

Iran claims the attack violated international law and led to the death of seven Iranian military advisors, including key commanders from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The statement also criticizes the United Nations Security Council for “failing to uphold international peace,” allowing Israel to “breach” established international norms and “escalate” regional tensions.

Additional context: Israel has carried out numerous strikes on Iran-backed targets in Syria, often targeting weapons shipments allegedly intended for Hezbollah, a powerful Iranian proxy in Lebanon. 
Israel has not claimed responsibility for the April 1 attack which destroyed an Iranian consulate building in the capital Damascus, including Mohammed Reza Zahedi, a top Revolutionary Guards commander.

However an Israel Defense Forces spokesman told CNN that their intelligence showed the building was not a consulate and was instead “a military building of Quds forces disguised as a civilian building.”

China expresses 'deep concern', calls for ceasefire

China has expressed "deep concern" over the "current escalation" following Iran's attack on Israel, according to a spokesperson for its Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday, adding that it is a "spillover of the Gaza conflict" and a ceasefire should be implemented without delay.

In a statement, China called "on relevant parties to exercise calm and restraint to prevent further escalations."

"The ongoing situation is the latest spillover of the Gaza conflict," the spokesperson said, adding that a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas should be implemented without any more delay.

Beijing did not name or condemn Hamas in the wake of the initial October 7 attacks. Since then, it has condemned the war and been a vocal proponent of an immediate ceasefire and the implementation of a “two-state” solution.
Last month, Chinese diplomat Wang Kejian met Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar, the first meeting between a Chinese and Hamas official publicly acknowledged by Beijing since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
Wang’s visit follows efforts by Beijing to step up its profile as a peace broker in the Middle East conflict.

Google goes all in on generative AI at Google Cloud Next

 Google goes all in on generative AI at Google Cloud Next



Image Credits: Google

This week in Las Vegas, 30,000 folks came together to hear the latest and greatest from Google Cloud. What they heard was all generative AI, all the time. Google Cloud is first and foremost a cloud infrastructure and platform vendor. If you didn’t know that, you might have missed it in the onslaught of AI news.

Not to minimize what Google had on display, but much like Salesforce last year at its New York City traveling road show, the company failed to give all but a passing nod to its core business — except in the context of generative AI, of course.

Google announced a slew of AI enhancements designed to help customers take advantage of the Gemini large language model (LLM) and improve productivity across the platform. It’s a worthy goal, of course, and throughout the main keynote on Day 1 and the Developer Keynote the following day, Google peppered the announcements with a healthy number of demos to illustrate the power of these solutions.

But many seemed a little too simplistic, even taking into account they needed to be squeezed into a keynote with a limited amount of time. They relied mostly on examples inside the Google ecosystem, when almost every company has much of their data in repositories outside of Google.

Some of the examples actually felt like they could have been done without AI. During an e-commerce demo, for example, the presenter called the vendor to complete an online transaction. It was designed to show off the communications capabilities of a sales bot, but in reality, the step could have been easily completed by the buyer on the website.

That’s not to say that generative AI doesn’t have some powerful use cases, whether creating code, analyzing a corpus of content and being able to query it, or being able to ask questions of the log data to understand why a website went down. What’s more, the task and role-based agents the company introduced to help individual developers, creative folks, employees and others, have the potential to take advantage of generative AI in tangible ways.

Google Cloud Next 2024: Everything announced so far





But when it comes to building AI tools based on Google’s models, as opposed to consuming the ones Google and other vendors are building for its customers, I couldn’t help feeling that they were glossing over a lot of the obstacles that could stand in the way of a successful generative AI implementation. While they tried to make it sound easy, in reality, it’s a huge challenge to implement any advanced technology inside large organizations.

Big change ain’t easy
Much like other technological leaps over the last 15 years — whether mobile, cloud, containerization, marketing automation, you name it — it’s been delivered with lots of promises of potential gains. Yet these advancements each introduce their own level of complexity, and large companies move more cautiously than we imagine. AI feels like a much bigger lift than Google, or frankly any of the large vendors, is letting on.

What we’ve learned with these previous technology shifts is that they come with a lot of hype and lead to a ton of disillusionment. Even after a number of years, we’ve seen large companies that perhaps should be taking advantage of these advanced technologies still only dabbling or even sitting out altogether, years after they have been introduced.

There are lots of reasons companies may fail to take advantage of technological innovation, including organizational inertia; a brittle technology stack that makes it hard to adopt newer solutions; or a group of corporate naysayers shutting down even the most well-intentioned initiatives, whether legal, HR, IT or other groups that, for a variety of reasons, including internal politics, continue to just say no to substantive change.

Vineet Jain, CEO at Egnyte, a company that concentrates on storage, governance and security, sees two types of companies: those that have made a significant shift to the cloud already and that will have an easier time when it comes to adopting generative AI, and those that have been slow movers and will likely struggle.

custom model, says Andy Thurai, an analyst at Constellation Research. “While implementing either solution, companies need to think about governance, liability, security, privacy, ethical and responsible use and compliance of such implementations,” Thurai said. And none of that is trivial.

Executives, IT pros, developers and others who went to GCN this week might have gone looking for what’s coming next from Google Cloud. But if they didn’t go looking for AI, or they are simply not ready as an organization, they may have come away from Sin City a little shell-shocked by Google’s full concentration on AI. It could be a long time before organizations lacking digital sophistication can take full advantage of these technologies, beyond the more-packaged solutions being offered by Google and other vendors.

custom model, says Andy Thurai, an analyst at Constellation Research. “While implementing either solution, companies need to think about governance, liability, security, privacy, ethical and responsible use and compliance of such implementations,” Thurai said. And none of that is trivial.

Executives, IT pros, developers and others who went to GCN this week might have gone looking for what’s coming next from Google Cloud. But if they didn’t go looking for AI, or they are simply not ready as an organization, they may have come away from Sin City a little shell-shocked by Google’s full concentration on AI. It could be a long time before organizations lacking digital sophistication can take full advantage of these technologies, beyond the more-packaged solutions being offered by Google and other vendors.


Airspace closures throughout the Middle East ground, divert flights as Iran launches drone attack on Israel

 Airspace closures throughout the Middle East ground, divert flights as Iran launches drone attack on Israel


KEY POINTS

🔸United Airlines and other carriers were affected by the airspace closure.

🔸Israel and Jordan closed airspace as Iran launched a drone strike on Israel, according to U.S. officials.

🔸Iran has said it would retaliate against Israel for a airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
Flightradar24 over the Middle East on April 14th, 2024 after Iran launched drone strikes towards Israel.

Flightradar24 over the Middle East on April 14th, 2024 after Iran launched drone strikes towards Israel.


Airspace closures through the Middle East grounded and diverted flights on Saturday as Iran launched drones toward Israel.

United Airlines, which resumed service to Tel Aviv early last month after suspending Israel flights after the Hamas attacks in October, called off its Newark to Tel Aviv flight on Saturday after Israel closed its airspace. Jordan and Iraq had also closed their airspace, according to Jordanian state-owned media news outlet Al Mamlaka.

"We are closely monitoring the situation and will make decisions on upcoming flights with a focus on the safety of our customers and crews," United said in a statement. The carrier is the only U.S. airline to have resumed service to Israel since October. Delta was scheduled to restart flights to Tel Aviv on June. 7. American Airlines has not resumed Israel service.

United also canceled its flight from Washington Dulles International Airport to Amman, Jordan on Saturday night, "due to unrest in the Middle East." United also canceled its Newark-Dubai flight on Sunday.

It was not clear when flights would resume.

Some flights avoided large swaths of airspace in the Middle East, reroutes that delayed some planes, Swiss International Airlines said.

Flight-tracking site Flightradar24 said multiple flights bound for Tel Aviv and Amman had diverted on Saturday.


Airlines also canceled service scheduled for Sunday. Israel's El Al cancelled more than 20 Sunday flights. Two El Al flights headed for Israel from Thailand diverted to Bangkok. The carrier told passengers not to come to the airport until notified.

Emirates Airline canceled its Dubai-Amman flight scheduled for Sunday. Air France's Israel service was canceled for Sunday and British Airways canceled its two flights to Tel Aviv on Sunday and scrubbed a flight to Amman. Lufthansa also canceled its service to Israel.

Friday, April 12, 2024

Biden's message to Iran about retaliatory strike on Israel: 'Don't'

 Biden's message to Iran about retaliatory strike on Israel: 'Don't'

At the same time, he said he expects an Iranian attack "sooner than later."


US warns of rising threat against Israel from Iran

The State Department has sent new travel restrictions to Americans in Israel as threats of violence from Iran increase.

President Joe Biden told reporters Friday afternoon he expects an Iranian strike on Israel to occur "sooner than later" amid urgent concerns that Iran was about to retaliate for the bombing of its consulate in Damascus, Syria, earlier this month.

Asked for his message to Iran in the tense moment, Biden was blunt, saying simply, "Don't."

"Would the U.S. respond?" ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce asked repeatedly as the president walked away after the end of an unrelated event. He paused, thought for a moment and then returned to the lectern.

"We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed," he said.


Biden's comments come as other high-level U.S. officials worked urgently behind the scenes to pressure Iran to back down from its threat to launch a retaliatory strike -- the latest challenge facing the Biden administration as it tries to avert an all-out regional war in the Middle East.

At the same time, the U.S. was moving troops and other assets to the Middle East as Iran readied a large number of missiles and drones for a potential strike against Israel, according to U.S. officials.

The deployment of American troops was intended to try to deter Iran from launching a large-scale attack and protecting U.S. troops in the region

According to one U.S. defense official, the assets being moved to the region include both "ships and aircraft."

Two U.S. Navy destroyers already deployed in the eastern Mediterranean are equipped with the Aegis combat system, which can protect troops in the region from ballistic defense missiles.

Two U.S. officials said that Iran has readied more than a hundred cruise missiles for a possible strike.

Some 3,400 US troops are in Iraq and Syria with tens of thousands more U.S. personnel in the Middle East region.

Late Friday, as he boarded Air Force One, when asked if he was concerned about Iran killing Americans, Biden told reporters "I’m always afraid of that."

Earlier Friday, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the administration was monitoring the situation "very, very closely," and that while its top priority was ensuring Israel is able to defend itself from a potential Iranian attack, the U.S was also "doing everything we can to protect our people and our facilities."

"It would be imprudent if we didn't take a look at our own posture in the region, to make sure that we're properly prepared as well," he said.

In a sign of how seriously the U.S. views the risk of escalation, the Pentagon confirmed on Thursday that Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla, the commander of U.S. Central Command, had "moved up" a previously scheduled trip to Israel to meet with senior Israeli military leaders "due to recent developments."

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also spoke by phone with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday afternoon "to discuss the current situation in the Middle East and to reaffirm the U.S.'s ironclad commitment to Israel's security against threats from Iran and its proxies," according to Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon's press secretary

NASA unveils probe bound for Jupiter's possibly life-sustaining moon

 NASA unveils probe bound for Jupiter's possibly life-sustaining moon


NASA's Europa Clipper Spacecraft is headed for one of Jupiter's moons to see if it has the right conditions to sustain life.
US space scientists on Thursday unveiled the interplanetary probe NASA plans to send to one of Jupiter's icy moons as part of humanity's hunt for extra-terrestrial life.

The Clipper spacecraft is due to blast off in October bound for Europa, one of dozens of moons orbiting the solar system's biggest planet, and the nearest spot in our celestial neighborhood that could offer a perch for life.

"One of the fundamental questions that NASA wants to understand is, are we alone in the cosmos?" Bob Pappalardo, the mission's project scientist told AFP.

"If we were to find the conditions for life, and then someday actually find life in a place like Europa, then that would say in our own solar system there are two examples of life: Earth and Europa.

"That would be huge for understanding how common life might be throughout the universe."

The $5 billion probe is currently at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, sitting in a "clean room"—a sealed area only accessible to people wearing head-to-toe covering.

The precautions are to ensure the probe remains free of contaminants to avoid transporting Earthly microbes to Europa.

After transport to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Clipper is set to launch aboard a Space X Falcon Heavy rocket and begin an over-five-year journey that involves a pass by Mars to pick up speed.

In 2031, it should be in orbit around Jupiter and Europa, where it will begin a detailed study of the moon scientists believe is covered in frozen water.

"We have instruments like cameras, and spectrometers, a magnetometer and a radar that can... penetrate right through ice, bounce off liquid water and back to the surface to tell us how thick is the ice and where is liquid water located," Pappalardo said.

Mission managers do not expect to find little green men swimming in the water—in fact, they're not even looking for life itself, only for the conditions that could support it.

Scientists know from extreme environments on Earth—like light-starved geothermal vents located deep under the polar ice cap—that tiny beings can find purchase almost anywhere.

And conditions on Europa, which is almost as large as Earth's moon, could provide a similar habitat, offering the tantalizing prospect we are not alone—not even in our own solar system.

"If moons around planets far away from stars could hold life, then the number of opportunities around the solar system, around the universe, where life could take hold, I think goes up dramatically," said Jordan Evans, project manager for the Europa Clipper mission.

Challenges

The science is not easy—a powerful radiation field around Europa could degrade the instruments, which will be getting the equivalent of 100,000 chest X-rays every circuit around the moon.

The vast distances involved mean that when Clipper sends its data back, the signal will take 45 minutes to arrive at Mission Control.

And despite its massive solar array, which unfurls once in space, keeping Clipper powered will be a major challenge, Evans said.

"Right after launch, (the solar panels are) putting out 23,000 watts... but when we're out at Jupiter, so far away from the sun, they're only putting out 700 watts," he said.

"Near Earth, they could power 20 houses continuously. And when we're at Jupiter, just a few light bulbs and some small appliances."

The mission, planning for which began in the late 1990s, is expected to conclude around 2034, when Clipper will likely have reached the end of its useful life.

The probe will then have one final port of call: Jupiter's largest moon, deputy project manager Tim Larson said.

"After we're done with the science mission, the way we end is by crashing into one of the other bodies in the Jovian system to dispose of the spacecraft," he said.

"Right now, the plan is to go into Ganymede."


Drug shortages reach record high in US

 Drug shortages reach record high in US

There are 323 drugs with active shortages in the US, surpassing the previous record high from 2014


There are more active drug shortages in the United States than ever, according to data from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and the University of Utah Drug Information Service.

FILE - In this May 25, 2017 file photo, chemotherapy drugs are administered to a patient at a hospital in Chapel Hill, N.C. A growing shortage of common cancer treatments is forcing doctors to switch medications and delaying care, prominent U.S. cancer centers say. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network said Wednesday, June 7, 2023, that nearly all the centers it surveyed in late May 2023 were dealing with shortages of the chemotherapies carboplatin and cisplatin. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
Drug shortages may mean difference between life and death for some US patients, experts say

The organizations first started tracking drug shortages in 2001. Active shortages previously peaked in 2014, with 320 drugs in active shortage. Shortage levels have fluctuated in the decade since, but have been steadily trending up since 2021 — now reaching a record-high of 323 drugs in the first three months of 2024.

“It’s long past time to put an end to drug shortages,” Paul Abramowitz, chief executive officer of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, wrote in a blog post on Thursday.

“All drug classes are vulnerable to shortages,” he wrote. “Some of the most worrying shortages involve generic sterile injectable medications, including cancer chemotherapy drugs and emergency medications stored in hospital crash carts and procedural areas. Ongoing national shortages of therapies for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder also remain a serious challenge for clinicians and patients.”


Along with the 32 chemotherapy drugs that are in shortage, the five categories of drugs with the most shortages include central nervous system stimulants, antimicrobials, hormone agents and intravenous fluids.

The drug shortage database maintained by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and the University of Utah is based on voluntary reports from practitioners, patients and others that are confirmed with manufacturers. This list often includes more drugs than the number considered to be in shortage by the US Food and Drug Administration because it captures broader impacts on providers and patients.

The average drug shortage lasts about a year and a half, according to government data. More than half of the treatment shortages have persisted for more than two years, according to an analysis by health consulting firm IQVIA. And the average shortage affects at least half a million patients, many of them older adults, according to the US Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, which shared its analysis with Congress in May.

Increased demand can play a role in drug shortages, as with recent shortages of weight loss drugs. But more often, manufacturing and quality problems, such as supply chain gaps and discontinuations, are at the root.

Last week, HHS published a white paper outlining policy suggestions to help prevent drug shortages and mitigate vulnerabilities. Among the key recommendations are collaborations with manufacturers and hospitals that aim to bring transparency to the drug market and incentivize investment in resilient and diverse supply chains.

But the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists has “serious concerns” about parts of this proposal, notably the financial penalties for hospitals that lack resources to comply with the recommendations.

“We all know that managing shortages isn’t enough and is not a sustainable solution to the worsening crisis,” Abramowitz wrote. “Much work remains to be done at the federal level to fix the root causes of drug shortages.”