Amazon is upgrading its decade-old Alexa voice assistant with generative artificial intelligence and plans to charge a monthly subscription fee to offset the cost of the technology, according to people with knowledge of Amazon’s plans. The Seattle-based tech and retail giant will launch a more conversational version of Alexa later this year, potentially positioning it to better compete with new generative AI-powered chatbots ...
Federal Reserve officials grew more concerned at their most recent meeting about inflation, with members indicating that they lacked the confidence to move forward on interest rate reductions. Minutes from the April 30-May 1 policy meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee released Wednesday indicated apprehension from policymakers about when it would be time to ease. The meeting followed a slew ...
In a move to strengthen its sports offerings, Warner Bros. Discovery has signed a five-year sublicensing deal with Disney’s ESPN to broadcast first-round and quarterfinal College Football Playoff games. Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT will carry two first-round games this year and next year and will add two additional quarterfinals games starting in 2026. Disney also has an option to sublicense a semifinals game ...
Spain, Norway and Ireland have announced plans to formally recognize a Palestinian state, in a move that is likely to bolster the global Palestinian cause but strain relations with Israel. Palestinian statehood has been recognized by more than 130 out of 193 member states of the United Nations, according to the Palestine Liberation Organization. “Today, Ireland, Norway and Spain are announcing ...
President Joe Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency threw down a gauntlet on climate this spring, pushing carmakers toward electric vehicles, cracking down on natural gas leaks and forcing power plants to get their planet-warming pollution under control. The new rules could prevent billions of tons of climate pollution from entering the atmosphere from America’s dirtiest industries – pollution that is rapidly ...
Greater spotted eagles are already a species under threat. Now, scientists have found that they have been facing yet another danger: the war in Ukraine. Eagles have been exposed to conflict events while migrating through Ukraine, forcing them to deviate from their usual flight path, according to a study published Monday in the journal Current Biology. Listed as “vulnerable” by ...
Thousands of mostly young protesters surrounded Taiwan’s legislature late into the night on Tuesday, protesting a push by opposition parties to subject the island’s new leader and his administration to tighter scrutiny from a parliament controlled by lawmakers who favor closer ties to China. The protest marks a chaotic start to the presidency of Lai Ching-te, who was sworn in ...
Anger is growing in India after a teenager who allegedly killed two people while drunk driving was ordered to write an essay as punishment, with many demanding a harsher penalty and accusing the judiciary of leniency. The 17-year-old boy was allegedly speeding in a Porsche in the city of Pune on Sunday when the vehicle hit a motorcycle, killing two people, ...
A delegation of Kenyan “command staff” has arrived in Haiti, according to a law enforcement source in the country, ahead of the long-delayed arrival of a Kenyan-led multinational security support force in the Caribbean nation. Members of the delegation are also expected to meet with US and United Nations officials in the country, sources said. The UN Security Council last year authorized a multinational mission to support ...
A team of 16 international healthcare workers stranded in Gaza’s European Hospital has finally been evacuated two weeks after Israel seized the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the enclave, trapping them on site. The group includes Adam Hamawy – an American citizen and former combat surgeon – known for saving the life of US Senator Tammy Duckworth in Iraq 20 years ago. ...