Author: News Desk

United States: OpenAI has debuted a voice-cloning tool that it plans to maintain under strict supervision until security measures are put in place to prevent audio fakes intended to trick listeners. Based on a 15-second audio sample, a model named “Voice Engine” can virtually mimic someone’s voice, according to an OpenAI blog post that presents the findings of a tool’s small-scale test. “We recognize that generating speech that resembles people’s voices has serious risks, which are especially top of mind in an election year,” the San Francisco-based company said. “We are engaging with U.S. and international partners from across government,…

Senegal: The Constitutional Council of Senegal has affirmed Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the opposition candidate, as the winner of the presidential election. His induction as the nation’s fifth president is scheduled for April 2. The provisional results, which were revealed on Wednesday and were based on vote counts from all polling places, were approved by the highest court. In the postponed presidential election held last Sunday, Faye, an opponent of the status quo and a supporter of well-known opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, won more than 54 percent of the total votes. Amadou Ba, the governing coalition candidate and the choice of…

United Kingdom: A report warning that women, younger workers, and those on lower pay are most in danger from automation suggests that there might be a “jobs apocalypse” with the loss of around 8 million jobs in the United Kingdom due to artificial intelligence (AI). According to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), under a “worst-case scenario” for the adoption of new technologies over the next three to five years, entry-level, part-time, and administrative positions are most vulnerable to being replaced by AI. The think tank cautioned that as more businesses use generative AI technologies, which can read and…

United States: Visa and Mastercard have agreed an estimated $30 billion antitrust settlement to reduce credit and debit card costs for retailers in the US. Some of the savings will probably be transferred to customers in the form of cheaper pricing. If approved by the court, it would settle the majority of the claims in the countrywide lawsuit that started in 2005. Some opponents, though, think it might not go far enough. Businesses have long accused Visa and Mastercard of imposing excessive swipe or interchange fees on consumers using credit or debit cards and of preventing them from pointing customers…

United States: US scientists has asserted that they have reduced some of the health advantages of exercise to a tablet form. Although the new medication is still in its early phases of research and development, preliminary mouse studies suggest that it may activate a natural metabolic pathway that is often activated by physical activity. The medication, SLU-PP-332, appears to increase muscular function, endurance, and fitness in mice when given daily; the animals don’t appear to have to exercise any more than they already do. At the 2024 Spring meeting of the American Chemical Society, main investigator and Washington University scientist…

Russia: The group known as ISIL (ISIS) has taken responsibility for the heinous attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall, which resulted in over 145 injuries and at least 60 fatalities. As the crowd gathered to witness the seasoned rock band Picnic on Friday night in the western outskirts of the city, at least five gunmen wearing camouflage and armed with automatic weapons broke into the crowded performance hall, firing into the crowd and detonating explosives that caused a large fire. According to Russian investigations, about sixty individuals had died. Approximately 60 of the 145 injured individuals, according to health officials,…

Japan: Japan’s Nissan and Honda, who are fighting Chinese manufacturers’ hegemony in the auto industry, have decided to explore the prospect of forming an electric vehicle alliance. The technology that helps expedite efforts towards “carbon neutrality and zero traffic-accident fatalities” would be the primary focus of Nissan and Honda’s possible collaboration, the automakers announced. According to the corporations, elements of the feasibility study will deal with EVs and automotive software platforms. “It is important to prepare for the increasing pace of transformation in mobility in the mid-to-long-term, and it is significant that we have reached this agreement based on a…

New research indicates that neurological conditions, including migraine, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and dementia, have become the primary cause of global ill-health, resulting in 11.1 million fatalities in 2021. According to research published in the Lancet, the number of individuals living with or dying from nervous system illnesses has increased drastically over the past three decades, with 3.4 billion people, or 43 percent of the world’s population, impacted in 2021. According to the data in the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factors study, from almost 375 million years of healthy life lost in 1990 to 443 million years in…

Palestine: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has appointed Mohammed Mustafa, his longstanding economic advisor, as the country’s next prime minister. It comes after US pressure to restructure the Palestinian Authority as part of Washington’s post-war strategy for Gaza. Mustafa, an economist with a US education and a political independent, will be establishing a new cabinet for the PA, which has limited authority in areas of the West Bank that are under Israeli occupation. Abbas urged Mustafa to organize plans to reunite administration in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, spearhead changes in the government, security services, and economy, and combat corruption,…

Saudi Arabia: TraiCon Events announced it will be hosting the Fintech Revolution Summit, Saudi Arabia’s leading fintech event, on April 29th and 30th, 2024. Set in Riyadh, the financial hub of the MENA region, the summit aims to gather over 500 experts from the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector, along with fintech leaders to explore the latest trends in financial technology and investment opportunities. The summit is aligned with Saudi Vision 2030’s ambitious goal to transform the kingdom into a cashless society and boost its digital economy, aiming to increase cashless transactions to 70% by 2025. It will…