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Nearly six years ago the European Space Agency surprised its longtime spaceflight partners at NASA, as well as diplomatic officials at the White House, with an announcement that some of its astronauts were training alongside Chinese astronauts. The goal was to send European astronauts to China's Tiangong space station by 2022. "We were welcomed as colleagues and friends by the ‘taikonauts’ and the instructors," said European astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti at the time. "Language and cultural differences are obviously a challenge, but also adds value, as we are all focused on the common goal of space exploration." European astronauts did not fly to the Chinese space station in 2022, however, even though China completed its construction before the end of the year. In fact, Europeans are now unlikely ever to do so, even as the Tiangong facility flies for another decade, or longer, in low-Earth orbit. During his annual press briefing in late January, Josef Aschbacher, director … [Read more...] about Here’s why Europe is abandoning plans to fly aboard China’s space station

Audio player loading… Disney Plus could sell the rights to some movies and TV shows to offset its streaming losses. Per Bloomberg (opens in new tab) , The Walt Disney Company is reportedly looking into the prospect of licensing Disney Plus films and TV series to raise some much-needed cash. The report comes ahead of Disney's Q1 2023 earnings call on Wednesday, February 8, at which CEO Bob Iger is expected to reveal details about the company's revamped streaming strategy. Disney is under pressure to cut costs across its streaming division. The company's Q4 2022 direct-to-consumer operating losses (opens in new tab) – essentially, how much money it pumped into its two main streamers, Disney Plus and Hulu – amounted to an eye-watering $1.5 billion. That figure was almost double what Disney injected into its streaming division in Q3 2022 ($0.8 billion). Understandably, Iger and company are concerned about hemorrhaging even more money over the next 12 … [Read more...] about Disney Plus may follow HBO Max’s lead and sell content to its rivals

Shares of Vodafone Idea Ltd jumped nearly 25 percent after the Indian government allowed the carrier to convert the $2 billion interest on dues owed to the sovereign into equity, which could free up some cash flows in the near term. India had in 2021 approved a bailout package for the debt-strapped telecom companies, allowing them to convert interest on deferred adjusted gross revenue owed to the government into equity. Vodafone Idea decided to avail of that option and will issue 16.13 billion shares at 10 rupees a piece worth 161.33 billion rupees ($1.95 billion), the mobile carrier said. Read Also Reliance Jio Platform Q3 Results: PAT up 28.6% YoY on lower lower spectrum usage charges TRAI dials telcos to discuss calls drops, service quality issues, norms for 5G; meeting on February 17 The company's shares surged as much as 24.8 percent to 8.55 rupees, logging their best intra-day percentage gain in 16 months. The … [Read more...] about vodafone idea: Vodafone Idea surges on better cash flow hopes post debt conversion

North Korea stole more cryptocurrency assets in 2022 than in any other year and targeted the networks of foreign aerospace and defense companies, according to a currently confidential United Nations report seen by Reuters. "(North Korea) used increasingly sophisticated cyber techniques both to gain access to digital networks involved in cyber finance, and to steal information of potential value, including to its weapons programmes," independent sanctions monitors reported to a UN Security Council committee. The monitors have previously accused North Korea of using cyber attacks to help fund its nuclear and missile programs. "A higher value of cryptocurrency assets was stolen by DPRK actors in 2022 than in any previous year," the monitors wrote in their report - submitted to the 15-member council's North Korea sanctions committee on Friday - citing information from UN member states and cybersecurity firms. North Korea has previously denied allegations of … [Read more...] about north korea: Record-breaking 2022 for North Korea crypto theft, claims UN report

A labour court in Kenya ruled that Meta , the parent company of Facebook , can be sued in the East African country after a former content moderator filed a lawsuit against it alleging poor working conditions. The lawsuit was filed by one person on behalf of a group and was also filed against Meta's local outsourcing company Sama. It seeks financial compensation, an order that outsourced moderators have the same healthcare and pay scale as Meta employees, that unionisation rights be protected and an independent human rights audit of the office. The decision from Kenya's employment and labour relations court could have implications for how Meta works with content moderators globally. The US company works with thousands of moderators around the world, tasked with reviewing graphic content posted on its platform. Read Also Meta testing 'members-only worlds' in Horizon Worlds Amazon may face a new antitrust lawsuit in the US: What is it … [Read more...] about meta: Meta can be sued in Kenya by ex-content moderator, the country’s court rules

Democrat President Joe Biden is set to give his second State of the Union address as Commander in Chief of the United States on Tuesday evening before a joint session of Congress. The speech, set to begin at 9 p.m. ET, is Biden’s third address to a joint session of Congress, having given a first one in 2021, then his first State of the Union address in 2022. Now, he gives his second such address–an annual tradition for presidents speaking in the U.S. House chamber before Senators, House members, members of the Cabinet, and members of the U.S. Supreme Court. Biden’s address comes at a particularly fraught time for his presidency, just days after a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spy balloon floated across the continental United States before the president ordered it shot down when it had moved off the South Carolina coast in the Atlantic Ocean. It also comes as Biden faces a special counsel investigation over his mishandling of classified documents from his time as Vice President … [Read more...] about *** SOTU Livewire *** Joe Biden Gives Second State of the Union Address

Google CEO Sundar Pichai unveiled Bard , the company’s response to Microsoft-backed ChatGPT . One of the underlining points in the announcement is the testing and rollout timeline of the conversational AI service. Pichai said that Bard will be first tested by trusted testers before making it available to a larger user base. Soon after Pichai made the announcement, an internal memo was sent to all Google employees saying that the company will need them to test Bard. “Next week, we’ll be enlisting every Googler to help shape Bard and contribute through a special company-wide dogfood,” a report in CNBC quoted Pichai as saying. Notably, the term “Dogfood” is used within companies to imply using one’s own product before launching it. Read Also ChatGPT: Four 'things’ Google will never make AI apps for “We’re looking forward to getting all of your feedback — in the spirit of an internal hackathon — more details coming soon,” he reportedly wrote. … [Read more...] about google: Here’s what Google CEO told employees after introducing ChatGPT competitor Bard