Khazen

Can Abbas lead Palestinian Authority into Gaza after Israel-Hamas war?

The Palestinian leadership in Ramallah, under President Mahmoud Abbas, persists with a strategy of prudent neutrality, closely observing the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel since October 7. Abbas has not signaled any intention to engage with Hamas or entertain the notion of stepping down to make way for new leadership. The trust deficit between Abbas and Hamas has deepened, with Abbas critiquing Hamas for the precarious situation of Gaza’s people and the Palestinian cause, exacerbated by the global view of Hamas as a terror group, complicating potential collaboration. Conversely, Hamas criticizes Abbas for his perceived inaction against Israeli measures and American policies as the Gaza conflict persists.

Abbas’s low-profile stance, cordial Western relations, and adherence to international norms, he argues, are preserving Palestinian nationalism. In private meetings with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Palestinian leadership received commendation for maintaining calm in the West Bank and averting a third intifada, deemed crucial by Palestinian officials in light of the current Israeli sentiment. Abbas has instructed his security apparatus to ensure the West Bank does not mirror Gaza’s turmoil. Despite heightened tensions and provocations from Israeli settlers and hardline politicians, Abbas’s patience is deemed necessary, albeit politically contentious. The Americans, post-conflict, have pledged to support a two-state resolution encompassing the West Bank, parts of Jerusalem, and Gaza. They have reassured Abbas of maintaining the PLO’s central role in Gaza’s future, highlighting its exclusive representation of the Palestinian people.

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How life Began?

 The enigma of life’s inception remains one of the most profound questions challenging the scientific community. The pursuit to unravel this mystery has led researchers to consider the early Earth’s complex chemical landscape, where inanimate substances like water and methane underwent a transition, birthing the very first living cells. This remarkable transformation, believed to have occurred over 3.5 billion years ago, is a process scientists posit could have happened on countless planets across the cosmos. The central dilemma lies in the elaborate nature of even the simplest life forms. Bacteria, for instance, boast an intricate network of over a hundred genes and a plethora of molecules engaging in a dynamic biochemical ballet. The primeval Earth presented a theater of chaos, with a rich diversity of chemicals stirred into action by elemental forces such as volcanic eruptions and fierce winds, painting a complex picture for life’s origins. Wilhelm Huck from Radboud University speaks to the vast “experimental parameter space,” hinting at the limitless combinations and conditions that could have fostered life. Amid this complexity, modern scientists are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to sift through the enormity of data and discern patterns far beyond human analytical capacity. This new frontier is spearheaded by the use of machine learning, which is adept at parsing through extensive and disordered datasets to highlight promising conditions that foster complexity. These digital tools hold the promise of compressing decades of research into a shorter span, guiding us toward a universal theory that not only elucidates the origins of life on Earth but could apply to extraterrestrial realms as well.

The story of life’s origins is intricately tied to chemistry. Leroy “Lee” Cronin from the University of Glasgow underscores the pivotal role chemistry plays in answering these quintessential human curiosities. The field’s rich history dates back to the iconic 1953 experiment by Stanley Miller, who, under Harold Urey’s supervision, simulated Earth’s primordial conditions. His setup yielded glycine, a fundamental amino acid, setting a precedent for the potential of relatively unsupervised chemical processes to edge closer to life. Despite the groundbreaking nature of Miller’s work, the complexity it unveiled posed significant challenges. In the years that followed, “prebiotic” chemistry experiments became more refined, synthesizing a wider array of life’s building blocks, albeit under highly controlled conditions far removed from the randomness of early Earth. The goal now is to revisit the spirit of Miller’s experiment, leveraging machine learning to navigate the labyrinth of uncontrolled chemical interactions.

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Using AI and data is a winning strategy for Formula1 or any industry! the Sky is the limit

The narrative of Ian Clatworthy from Hitachi Vantara is a testament to the transformative power of data in the high-stakes world of Formula 1 racing. His journey, spanning nearly a decade, reveals a saga where the integration of IT services into the motorsport arena revolutionized the field. Clatworthy’s experience with Mitsubishi Ralliart and Honda Racing, two titans of the racing world, provided him with a front-row seat to the digital metamorphosis in this competitive sport.

This transformation is vividly captured in the upcoming Hulu and Disney+ documentary “Brawn: The Impossible F1 Story,” which chronicles the Brawn GP team’s underdog triumph in the Formula 1 World Championship. Despite its short lifespan and limited financial resources, the team’s strategic use of data propelled them to victory. Clatworthy’s role in this team exemplifies how technology can overturn expectations and redefine success. Reflecting on the early days, Clatworthy recalls the nascent stage of IT in motorsports, where even bending rules was part of the game to ensure that engineers had rapid access to crucial car data. This ingenuity was the precursor to a pivotal shift in the 2000s when IT teams became a staple at racing events, affirming the belief that technology could be leveraged to gain a competitive edge.

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What does Hezbollah’s arsenal look like?

by Jonathan Sawaya  — Beirut (AFP) Lebanon’s Hezbollah has been trading daily cross-border fire with its sworn enemy Israel as war rages in Gaza, with the Iran-backed group deploying a large weapons arsenal amassed over decades. AFP looks at the Shiite Muslim group’s firepower and how it has expanded since it fought a war with Israel in 2006.

– Armed and dangerous –

Hezbollah is the only Lebanese faction to have retained its weapons after the end of Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war, and is now considered to have a more powerful stockpile than the national army. It is also the most powerful group in the “axis of resistance” — an alliance of Tehran-supported groups mainly in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and the Palestinian territories. The 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 in Israel, largely soldiers. Since then, “Hezbollah has robustly expanded the quantity and the quality of its arsenal,” said Dina Arakji from Control Risks consultancy. “The group in 2006 reportedly had about 15,000 rockets, while estimates over the past couple of years suggest that this number has multiplied by almost 10 times,” she said. The group has also gained significant combat experience after years of fighting on the side of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s civil war. Skirmishes on the Lebanon-Israel border began on October 8, one day after Hamas attacks against Israel sparked war, but so far Hezbollah has largely limited itself to targeting sites near the Israeli border. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has repeatedly said his group holds advanced weaponry capable of striking deep into Israeli territory.

– Fighters and tunnels –

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Forrester predicts A.I. code flaws will enable new attacks next year

by Louis Columbus @LouisColumbus VentureBeat presents: AI Unleashed – An exclusive executive event for enterprise data leaders. Hear from top industry leaders on Nov 15. Reserve your free pass DevOps teams rely more on AI-coding assistants to boost team productivity by automating coding tasks with only the most conscientious scanning final code for security flaws, Forrester warns in their 2024 cybersecurity, risk, and privacy predictions. The research and advisory firm predicts inconsistent compliance and governance practices combined with many Devops teams experimenting with multiple AI-coding assistants simultaneously to increase productivity will lead to flawed A.I. code responsible for at least three publically-admitted breaches in 2024. Forrester also warns that A.I. code flaws will pose API security risks.

AI-coding assistants are redefining Shadow I.T.

49% of business and technology professionals with knowledge of AI-coding assistants say their organizations are piloting, implementing, or have already implemented them in their organizations. Gartner predicts that by 2028, 75% of enterprise software engineers will use A.I. coding assistants, up from less than 10% in early 2023. Devops leaders tell VentureBeat it’s common to find multiple AI-coding assistants being used across teams as the pressure to produce a high volume of code every day is growing. Tighter timelines for more complex coding combined with the proliferation of over 40 AI-coding assistants available is leading to a new form of shadow I.T. where Devops teams switch from one A.I. assistant to another to see which delivers the highest performance for a given task. Enterprises are struggling to keep up with the demand from their Devops teams for new AI-coding tools approved for use corporate-wide.

CISOs face a challenging balancing act in 2024

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Boycott Campaign Against Pro-Israel Companies Gains Traction in Arab World

A robust boycott campaign targeting Western companies that support Israel is gaining momentum in the Arab world. Sparked by social media, the movement has grown in response to the recent Israeli conflict in Gaza, which has been labeled by some as “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing”. With a death toll of over 10,000 Palestinians, most of […]

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Navigating the Swell of AI Developments into 2024

The air in Silicon Valley was charged as OpenAI’s Dev Day announcements—boasting custom GPTs, GPT-4 Turbo, and an Assistants API—sent ripples of excitement across the globe. As an AI enthusiast, the surge of updates was exhilarating yet overwhelming, coming hot on the heels of a deluge of AI news the previous week. It wasn’t just […]

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LeMa: A Leap Forward in AI’s Mathematical Reasoning from Microsoft

Understanding How LeMa Works: The journey to enhanced mathematical reasoning within artificial intelligence starts with foundational models like LLaMA-2, which are designed to simulate flawed reasoning paths in math word problems. Following this, a more advanced model such as GPT-4 steps in to critique these paths, identifying and explaining errors before suggesting corrections. These iterative refinements are then fed back into the initial models, enriching their learning and reasoning capabilities.

Measurable Improvements in Reasoning: Implementing LeMa has yielded quantifiable benefits. By incorporating LeMa, five different large language models (LLMs) demonstrated enhanced performance on a variety of mathematical reasoning tasks. This method proved superior to merely fine-tuning on conventional chain of thought (CoT) data, showcasing the robustness of LeMa’s approach.

LeMa’s Impressive Results on Datasets: Specialized LLMs, including WizardMath and MetaMath, have reaped the advantages of the LeMa system. These models have achieved unparalleled accuracy on complex datasets, such as 85.4% pass@1 accuracy on GSM8K and 27.1% on MATH, outperforming previous best-performing non-execution open-source models.

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“Escalating Tensions and Military Leadership Challenges in Lebanon

Developments are accelerating in the Gazan field, and with them, the intensity of confrontations in South Lebanon is increasing between Hezbollah and the Palestinian factions on one hand, and the Israeli army on the other, despite being still constrained to the rules of engagement that expanded on the eve of the appearance of the party’s Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, from five kilometers to more than ten kilometers on both sides of the border.

The Lebanese developments concern the interior, Israel, and the outside, especially with the approach of the retirement date of Army Commander General Joseph Aoun on January 10, amid the presidential vacuum and internal clash regarding the necessity of extension for him or appointing a new Chief of Staff to replace him in the leadership position, or handing over the highest rank officer as demanded by the Free Patriotic Movement for many known reasons, mostly dating back to the days of the October 17 revolution, and charging the army leader with the responsibility of keeping the roads closed and accusing him of a coup against President Michel Aoun.

The Strong Republic bloc, sensing the dangerous phase and the army remaining without a leader, proposed a repeated urgent law project to extend the rank of General for one year, which allows the extension for General Aoun in his position. However, the forces’ step did not go down well with the heart of the Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, who probably saw it as an opportunity to return the favor to the forces, who have been boycotting the legislation for over a year. Sources close to Berri told “Lebanon Files” website that the Speaker, as he said, does not legislate “a la carte” or on-demand or delivery, indicating that Speaker Berri will soon call for a legislative session with many law projects on its agenda to be discussed and approved, then we will wait and see. The sources reveal to our site that “there is something being cooked between Presidents Nabih Berri and Najib Mikati to prevent a vacuum in the army leadership, but not in the way of Strong Lebanon or the Strong Republic, as neither of them will achieve their goal, and while refusing to assert the extension for Aoun, they suffice by saying maybe”.

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Saudi Arabia Invests in Web3 and Animoca Brands

Saudi Arabia’s NEOM Company has made a significant move into the Web3 space by investing $50 million into Animoca Brands, a leader in Web3 gaming. This aligns with the Saudi Vision 2030, aiming to diversify the nation’s economy away from oil reliance. This is part of a wider $37 billion initiative to boost the gaming sector. NEOM is a bold project to build a new city named The Line. It’s a linear city, extending 170 kilometers across the NEOM area in northwest Saudi Arabia. The plan is to create a modern city for nine million residents, integrating advanced industries and housing solutions. The investment in Animoca Brands is seen as a step towards modernization. It signals a commitment to developing the Web3 ecosystem, which bridges the current internet (Web2) and the decentralized web (Web3). The focus is on creating enjoyable games that leverage both Web3 and Web2 technologies.

NEOM is envisioned as a beacon of human progress, a city built from scratch that serves as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. It’s designed to be a place where business flourishes alongside environmental conservation, promising an exceptional quality of life.Yat Siu of Animoca Brands commented on the partnership with NEOM, recognizing the project’s ambition to integrate innovative technologies like blockchain. He sees NEOM as potentially the first region to fully embrace the capabilities of blockchain. The NEOM Investment Fund’s strategy includes purchasing convertible notes and shares in Animoca Brands. This investment is meant to enhance Animoca’s ability to grow the Web3 ecosystem, which includes the decentralized internet based on blockchain technology.

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