‘Lebanon is not for sale’: Minister calls for hard-line approach to Syrian refugees

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By Najia Houssari -- arabnews.com --BEIRUT: Bassam Mawlawi, Lebanon’s caretaker interior minister, said on Wednesday that his country “will not allow the random Syrian presence.” He claimed that “a large percentage, exceeding 30 percent, of various and major crimes are committed by Syrians in Lebanon” and “cooperation” is required “to preserve our environment and our country’s identity.” His comments came against the backdrop of growing concern in Lebanon about the increasing numbers of Syrian refugees crossing the border. “Lebanon cannot carry on with the same leniency toward the Syrian presence,” Mawlawi said. “We must limit the number of Syrians present in each apartment and we will not allow more than one family to reside in it.” The aim “is not to regulate the Syrian presence but rather to limit it,” he added.

The number of Syrian refugees officially registered with the UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency, had fallen to 805,326 by the end of March, but officials believes the true figure is double that. Lebanese authorities, who asked the UN agency to stop registering new refugees in 2015, estimate the total number of Syrians in the country now exceeds 2 million. They fear the presence of so many refugees will cause a shift in the demographic balance along sectarian lines. During meetings with governors and mayors, Mawlawi asked authorities not to sign any contracts for Syrians who do not possess proper, legal documentation, and called for Lebanese laws to be applied in full to Syrians just as they are to Lebanese citizens. “We will not accept the exploitation of our country and changing its demographics in exchange for money,” Mawlawi said. “Lebanon is not for sale and we are working as a permanent beehive to address the crisis and stand against the immense harm inflicted on Lebanon, the Lebanese people, and Lebanese demographics as a result of the chaos and unacceptable behavior due to the Syrian displacement.” Syrians are said to run about 4,000 businesses in central and western Bekaa. In the town of Bar Elias alone, about 1,700 out of a total of 2,000 are run by Syrians. In Taalabaya, there are 450, and in Qab Elias, 350. As part of the tightening of controls on refugees, the Ministry of Industry on Wednesday renewed a warning to factory owners that they must not hire Syrians who do not possess the required legal documents and permits, otherwise they could lose their licenses to operate.

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IBM’s CEO says ‘the first thing you can automate is a repetitive, white-collar job,’ but he’s not cutting workers: ‘I’ll get more’

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By Fortune.com -- Paolo Confino -- The CEO of IBM, who has taken heat for suggesting many back-office tasks could be automated, maintains that the technology will create far more jobs that it will eliminate. During an appearance at Fortune’s CEO Initiative conference in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said it was a misconception that increases in productivity have to lead to job losses. “People mistake productivity with job displacement,” Krishna said onstage. He noted that, as IBM phased out a few hundred back-office HR roles over three to four years, as it added headcount in software engineering and sales roles. “The increase was like 8,000,” Krishna said. “The decrease was like 800.” Krishna specified that employees weren’t let go as a result of this transition—rather, certain roles were not backfilled when they opened up. But there's no question that “repetitive white-collar jobs” will be affected by the technology, Krishna said, echoing a point he has raised in the past. “The first thing you can automate is a repetitive, white-collar job,” he said on Tuesday. But while AI could take over 10% to 20% of “lower level tasks,” he predicted it wouldn’t take a person’s job altogether, because no one’s job is composed entirely of these sorts of tasks, he says. He expects his programmers to get 30% more productive thanks to the technology. “I don’t intend to get rid of a single one,” he said. “I’ll get more.”

All of which is a boon for developed countries, where Krishna sees an ongoing labor shortage in the coming years. During his onstage interview at the CEO Initiative, Krishna drew a contrast between the scarce labor market in the developed world, which will be in dire need of supercharging productivity, and the developing world, which will have lots of ready and willing workers to fill open jobs. That’s similar to a point he made in a May interview with CNBC, saying successful implementation of AI was critical to maintaining the current quality of life the developing world enjoys. “Population is flat or, in the worst case, declining,” Krishna said at the time. “So you need to get productivity, otherwise, quality of life is going to fall. And AI is the only answer we got.”

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Jetson raises $15M from Will.i.am and others for personal electric flying vehicle

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by venturebeat -- Dean Takahashi -- Jetson made a splash unveiling its drone-like electric flying vehicle before and now the company has raised a $15 million seed round to help launch the Jetson One in 2024. The vehicle is an electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft that will cost $98,000 and won’t require a pilot’s license to fly, said Rikard Steiber, an investor and senior board adviser in an interview with VentureBeat. That’s still expensive, but it’s another example of science fiction — notably from The Jetsons show in the 1960s — coming to life. “Humanity’s oldest dream has been to fly, and we dreamt about having superpowers and flying out and save the world,” Steiber said. We had the Wright Brothers more than 100 years ago, and Leonard da Vinci and even the myth of Icarus.” Other investors include rapper Will.i.am, who has ordered the first Jetson One off the assembly line, as well as board member Luca Spada.

The investment further positions Jetson as a frontrunner in the emerging field of urban air mobility. This kind of vehicle operates under a Class G license in unregulated air space. It is allowed to go no faster than 63 miles per hour and no higher than 1,500 feet off the ground, Steiber said. It has a flying time of about 20 minutes, which means it might be able to fly a range of 21 miles. Jetson One is categorized in the U.S. as an ultralight aircraft, which can only be flown during daylight in unregulated space. There are various applications, from emergency services to military uses, but the company is focuses on those who want to take the vehicle for short flights. It takes off vertically like a helicopter and lands the same way. It’s one meter wide and so you can fit it in the back of a truck. Other flying cars are more like air taxis and those require pilot’s licenses to fly. Tomasz Patan and Peter Ternström started Jetson in 2017 with the intention of making everyone a pilot. They scored huge hits on social media, garnering more than 48 million views on YouTube with help from comedian Stephen Colbert.

Flying a Jetson One.

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What does the crown prince of Saudi Arabia know that we don’t?

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Opinion by Douglas MacKinnon, opinion contributor -- theHill.com -- Back when I worked in the Pentagon, a colonel in my office would often ask, “How can so many people miss this blinding flash of the obvious?” That question now applies to a rising Saudi Arabia, but some choose to look away from the illuminating flash to deliberately focus on issues that distract from a global shift in power with direct implications for the United States. For instance, it has become common for some journalists and media outlets from the left to go after the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for “sportswashing.” The term refers to countries or regimes using sports to improve their tarnished reputations. Last week, CNBC jumped back onto that bandwagon with an article titled “Saudi crown prince says he will keep ‘sportswashing’ as criticism of the practice grows.”

The article is about an interview that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave to Fox News, which aired last week. CNBC focused on two quotes. The crown prince said, “Well, if sportswashing is going to increase my GDP by way of one percent, I will continue doing sportswashing.” He then continued, “I don’t care … I’m aiming for another one and a half percent. Call it whatever you want, we’re going to get that one and a half percent.” Perhaps, in an attempt to go after Saudi Arabia, the reporter and his editors did not notice the resignation and sarcasm in the voice of the crown prince. He and his government have been dealing with this accusation for a few years now. Critics from the left have long maintained that Saudi Arabia has been using its growing investments in the greater sports world as a way to gain political influence while mending the Kingdom’s reputation from human rights abuses, such as the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. While many on the left seem fixated by that charge, what if it is as simple as the crown prince explained — that the sports investments being made by Saudi Arabia are sound business practices that are returning high profits to the Kingdom?

But, if CNBC truly is concerned about “sportswashing” being used as a cover for human rights abuses, then I would suggest they gaze inward at their parent company, while looking up the definition of the word “hypocrisy.” In February 2022, NBC and NBC sports broadcast the Winter Olympics from China, making tens of millions of dollars in profit. Are the reporters and editors from CNBC interested in the human rights abuses taking place in China? Such as the imprisoning, torture and killing of thousands of Uyghurs and other Muslims — including women and children — in forced labor camps in its Xinjiang province? Did CNBC, NBC and NBC Sports do any in-depth reporting on those atrocities while in the nation?

Would CNBC say China used NBC and NBC Sports as vehicles for “sportswashing”? This being the same China that FBI Director Christopher Wray warned of during a speech last year at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, saying, “the threat posed by the Chinese government here at home to our economic security and our freedoms reached a new level — more brazen, more damaging than ever before, and it’s vital — vital — that all of us focus on that threat together.” Was NBC focusing on that threat? Do Apple and other big tech companies focus on that threat as they collectively make billions of dollars in China? What about Hollywood? Are the studio heads there focusing on the threat posed to America from China while continually partnering with that nation? What about the many American colleges and universities taking hundreds of millions of dollars from China? When it comes to “sportswashing,” “entertainment-washing” and “business-washing,” some in the media either have tunnel vision or don’t want to investigate a nation that some see as the paymaster for more and more around the world.

To be sure, the killing of one journalist by anyone, or any government, is horrific. But assuming we all agree on that, what do we call the imprisonment, torture and killing of thousands of men, women and children in forced labor camps in China? As some in the media obsessively focus on the “sportswashing” being conducted by Saudi Arabia, I would submit that they are missing the much larger picture. The Kingdom is not only becoming one of the most powerful and influential nations in the world, but is moving away from the United States in some real ways in order to hedge its bets. The better question for some in the media might be: “What does the 38-year-old crown prince of Saudi Arabia see that others are missing when it comes to the positioning and security of his nation?”

Does he see a United States in decline? Does he see an ascending China as well as a surviving Russia? Does his nation represent the critical check on Iran amid growing Iranian attempts to destabilize the Middle East? Does Mohammed bin Salman see a growing partnership between his nation and Israel? Does the crown prince see a future for actual sustainable “green energy” while acknowledging that fossil fuels will power the world for the foreseeable future? More importantly, are more and more national and corporate leaders turning to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman because they now view Saudi Arabia — with the world’s fastest growing large economy — as a global powerhouse, based in large part upon the reforms he has instituted? And because of that success and others, do more and more leaders now see the crown prince as one of the most influential voices in the world?

Back in the late 1970s and early ’80s, one of the most famous commercials of all time aired regularly. It was for an investment firm with the slogan “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen.” That same “the room goes instantly silent to hear the words of wisdom” is now taking place on the global stage. When Mohammed bin Salman speaks, some leaders seemingly do go silent to hear every word. Why? The world is changing. Power is shifting. Alliances are being created or reinvented, and Saudi Arabia and the crown prince are behind much of the change. It’s time to focus on the flash. Douglas MacKinnon, a political and communications consultant, was a writer in the White House for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and former special assistant for policy and communications at the Pentagon during the last three years of the Bush administration.

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Is Consciousness Part of the Fabric of the Universe?

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By Dan Falk -- scientificamerican.com -- -- More than 400 years ago, Galileo showed that many everyday phenomena—such as a ball rolling down an incline or a chandelier gently swinging from a church ceiling—obey precise mathematical laws. For this insight, he is often hailed as the founder of modern science. But Galileo recognized that not everything was amenable to a quantitative approach. Such things as colors, tastes and smells “are no more than mere names,” Galileo declared, for “they reside only in consciousness.” These qualities aren’t really out there in the world, he asserted, but exist only in the minds of creatures that perceive them. “Hence if the living creature were removed,” he wrote, “all these qualities would be wiped away and annihilated.” Since Galileo’s time the physical sciences have leaped forward, explaining the workings of the tiniest quarks to the largest galaxy clusters. But explaining things that reside “only in consciousness”—the red of a sunset, say, or the bitter taste of a lemon—has proven far more difficult. Neuroscientists have identified a number of neural correlates of consciousness—brain states associated with specific mental states—but have not explained how matter forms minds in the first place. As philosopher David Chalmers asked: “How does the water of the brain turn into the wine of consciousness?” He famously dubbed this quandary the “hard problem” of consciousness.

Scholars recently gathered to debate the problem at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., during a two-day workshop focused on an idea known as panpsychism. The concept proposes that consciousness is a fundamental aspect of reality, like mass or electrical charge. The idea goes back to antiquity—Plato took it seriously—and has had some prominent supporters over the years, including psychologist William James and philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell. Lately it is seeing renewed interest, especially following the 2019 publication of philosopher Philip Goff’s book Galileo’s Error, which argues forcefully for the idea.

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Everything you need to know about artificial wombs

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Artificial wombs for premature babies -- by Cassandra Willyard MIT Technology Review -- US Food and Drug Administration advisors met to discuss how to move research on artificial wombs from animals into humans. These medical devices are designed to give extremely premature infants a bit more time to develop in a womblike environment before entering the outside world. They have been tested with hundreds of lambs (and some piglets), but animal models can’t fully predict how the technology will work for humans. “The most challenging question to answer is how much unknown is acceptable,” said An Massaro, FDA’s lead neonatologist in the Office of Pediatric Therapeutics, at the committee meeting. That’s a question regulators will have to grapple with as this research moves out of the lab and into first-in-human trials.

What is an artificial womb?

An artificial womb is an experimental medical device intended to provide a womblike environment for extremely premature infants. In most of the technologies, the infant would float in a clear “biobag,” surrounded by fluid. The idea is that preemies could spend a few weeks continuing to develop in this device after birth, so that “when they’re transitioned from the device, they’re more capable of surviving and having fewer complications with conventional treatment,” says George Mychaliska, a pediatric surgeon at the University of Michigan. One of the main limiting factors for survival in extremely premature babies is lung development. Rather than breathing air, babies in an artificial womb would have their lungs filled with lab-made amniotic fluid, that mimics the amniotic fluid they would have hadjust like they would in utero. Neonatologists would insert tubes into blood vessels in the umbilical cord so that the infant’s blood could cycle through an artificial lung to pick up oxygen. The device closest to being ready to be tested in humans, called the EXTrauterine Environment for Newborn Development, or EXTEND, encases the baby in a container filled with lab-made amniotic fluid. It was invented by Alan Flake and Marcus Davey at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and is being developed by Vitara Biomedical.

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