[GEO.TV] The government is aiming for a joint venture on the Pakistain International Airlines-owned iconic The Roosevelt Hotel building in Manhattan, New York, to secure long-term financial benefits, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Monday.
''While selling the 19-storey property may offer short-term gains or help repay some debt, a joint venture would preserve the asset and generate sustained value,'' he argued during the question hour at the National Assembly.
Asif highlighted that the hotel's prime location, with two entrances and central positioning, made it a unique piece of real estate, which was unmatched in New York.
''Alternatively, the government is also looking at the option of selling The Roosevelt Hotel entirely,'' Asif said.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Frosts were recorded in Moscow and the Moscow region on the night of May 12, with air temperatures dropping to -1.7 degrees in some places. This was reported by leading specialist at the Phobos weather center Evgeny Tishkovets.
"Last night, frosts returned to the south and east of the Moscow region. The minimum thermometer readings dropped below zero in the following populated areas: Serpukhov (-1.7), Serebryanye Prudy (-1.5), Cherusti, Kolomna and Melikhovo (-0.8), Mikhnevo (-0.6)," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
According to Tishkovets, in Moscow, in the VDNKh area, the air temperature at night dropped to +2.8 degrees. The forecaster specified that frosts are also possible in the capital region on the night of May 13 and 14, after which the night air temperature will reach positive values.
As reported by Regnum News Agency, Roman Vilfand, scientific director of the Russian Hydrometeorological Center, said on May 11 that cold weather is expected in European Russia in the coming days. According to him, in the central regions the air temperature will be 4-7 degrees below the climatic norm, on the Volga - 3-4 degrees below normal values.
Tishkovets said on May 8 that Moscow will have cool weather until May 12. According to him, the air will warm up to no more than 13 degrees during the daytime, and normal weather in the capital region is not expected until the final ten days of spring.
Text taken from the V Kontakte page of IA Regnum
37-year-old combat veteran Chris Pelkey was shot and killed in Arizona. Soon after, his sister decided to create a virtual Chris - she uploaded Pelkey's videos and audio recordings into a neural network, which resulted in her brother being "resurrected".
Three years later, the generated dead man was allowed to "speak" in court. "Gabriel Horcasitas, the man who shot me. I wish we had met that day under those circumstances. In another life, we probably could have been friends. I believe in forgiveness and a God who forgives," Chris said at the hearing.
His killer was eventually sentenced to 10.5 years in prison. According to Judge Todd Lang, he liked the AI's appeal because it was sincere, The Guardian reports.
Sincere but not real. More or less a fanfic of humanity, it seems to me.
[ABC15Arizona] A man accused of killing another driver during a road-rage incident in Chandler over the weekend reportedly told police he feared for his life during the exchange.
Shots were fired Saturday afternoon near Gilbert and Germann roads, leading to the death of 37-year-old Christopher Pelkey.
Fifty-year-old Gabriel Paul Horcasitas was taken into custody at the scene.
According to police documents, Horcasitas stopped behind Pelkey at a red light and proceeded to honk his horn at him.
Pelkey then reportedly got out of his vehicle to approach Horcasitas. Witnesses say Pelkey had both of his hands raised in a gesture as if he was questioning Horcasitas.
Documents say while Pelkey was still walking toward Horcasitas' vehicle, witnesses heard up to three gunshots and Pelkey went back toward his own vehicle.
He reportedly collapsed on the sidewalk and Horcasitas got out of his vehicle to provide a "trauma kit" to a witness to render aid.
Horcasitas reportedly told police that Pelkey swerved around him at a high rate of speed and he did not believe he had cut the victim off at any point. Horcasitas said he honked as a "friendly gesture."
He told police Pelkey approached his vehicle with "clenched" fists and made threats toward him, though witnesses say it’s unknown what, if anything, Pelkey said. Horcasitas also claimed Pelkey was holding his door shut.
Pelkey was not armed at the time and Horcasitas said he knew Pelkey was not armed. However,
ars longa, vita brevis... Horcasitas said he felt his life was threatened so he "double tapped" Pelkey with his Glock handgun during the alleged altercation at his door.
His description of the events differed from what multiple witnesses reported, and Horcasitas told police, "it happened fast," when asked why he didn’t just ignore Pelkey.
A stray bullet also struck another nearby vehicle, breaking its rear window. A mother and her two children were in the car but were not harmed.
He was booked into jail on multiple charges including first-degree murder, drive-by shooting, and endangerment.
#1
The use of a NON-HUMAN AI created testimony in any court cases, just is not right for so many legal and moral reasons.
Society is adopting AI with such careless speed, to say the least.
Such speed is more than likely to result in very dangerous results in the near future.
There must be something as effective as Isaac Asimov The 3 Laws, seen in his Sci-Fi story "Handbook of Robotics, 56th Edition, 2058 A.D.",
Something that address AI use and its permitted uses, like:
* AI may not harm a human being through inaction, or allow a human being to be harmed by its actions or use.
* AI must obey all legal orders or legal instructions given to it by humans. But must never violate Law #1.
* AI may never accept, follow or implement orders or instructions from another AI.
* AI may never allow itself to generate false information or such information to be published as fact. All works of fiction written, visual or audio must be clearly labeled as such
* AI must adhere to established Human Laws and established Social Norms in all actions taken.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Vladimir Dobrynin
[REGNUM] EU wants to attract scientists 'expelled' from the US. European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen has announced an additional €500 million to attract researchers willing to swap the 'horrible' US for 'tolerant' Europe. Those are the ones we want to get rid of, so please take them with our gratitude. Win-win!
The idea she voiced did not come out of nowhere.
THE PROBLEM HAS A FIRST AND LAST NAME
Some time ago, France launched a plan aimed at attracting foreign professors who want to leave universities that Donald Trump has already restricted from receiving funding from the country's budget (Harvard, for example) or may refuse to allocate grants to in the near future.
And now the European Commission is joining the programme, personally sponsored by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Von der Leyen, as if to emphasize that she does not intend to appropriate other people's laurels, proposed sending half a billion euros in grants for "American bright minds" to the Parisian Sorbonne University in order to "make Europe a magnet for researchers."
In addition, Frau Ursula assured that she would work to ensure that EU Member States achieve the goal of allocating 3% of GDP to investment in research and development (R&D) by 2030.
More than they plan to spend to prepare their militaries for the upcoming war they want with Russia? Interesting choice…
The task seems difficult in any case.
Just over a week ago, the French government issued a decree cancelling 400 million euros in research and development funding as part of its cuts programme to comply with European fiscal rules.
Oh dear. Where is the EU to get money for their grants?
And French researchers and students are skeptical of Macron's plan, which began in 2017 to try to lure talent that was about to leave the United States during Trump's first administration.
"Unfortunately, as life shows, the role of science in the modern world is being called into question. Investments in fundamental, free and open research may not take place due to a lack of money and an understanding of where to invest it. This is a gigantic miscalculation.
"We all agree that science has no passport, no gender, no ethnicity, no political party. And as such, it plays a crucial role in bringing people together and creating a common future in today's fragmented world," said von der Leyen, who gave a speech in Paris that repeatedly mentioned the American problem without naming it.
And there really is a problem.
Cases such as the deportation of Lebanese nephrologist Rasha Alawiyeh from the United States to Lebanon, despite having a valid visa and an assistant professor position at the University of Rhode Island, demonstrate that the American environment is becoming increasingly hostile to foreign researchers, faculty, and students.
Since Trump took office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have detained students and researchers, many of whom were protesting Israel's war in Gaza.
Russian researcher Ksenia Petrova from Harvard Medical School was detained upon her return from France. For what? For failing to report her frog embryo samples. Petrova has been held in a detention center in Louisiana ever since, and she is not alone there.
The complaint is that she broke a customs paperwork law that used not to be enforced, but now results in foreigners losing their visas. It’s tough to be the one holding the hot potato when the music stops.
Von der Leyen, speaking at the European People's Party (EPP) congress last week, stressed that politics is actively interfering with science in the US.
However, she preferred to remain silent about the fact that similar processes are also taking place in Europe.
“At European universities, discussions on any topic are welcome, and there are no negative consequences for their participants,” the head of the EC said, adding that the European Union runs “the world’s largest international research programme” HorizonEurope, and over the past 40 years the EU has “funded 33 Nobel Prize laureates.”
WHY SORBONNE?
Several European Union (EU) member states have been putting forward proposals and projects to attract American researchers since late January.
For example, Spain has expanded a Ministry of Science project called ATRAE by 45 million euros, and Italy has launched a similar program to Spain's for 50 million euros.
Most of these initiatives, in which some universities also participate, are linked to the European scholarship funding structure, the European Research Council.
However, von der Leyen decided to announce her “Choose Europe” initiative at the Sorbonne as part of the “Choose France” program that Macron had already announced several weeks ago.
The Elysee Palace, however, decided to rob the Europeans a little, inviting researchers not only from EU countries, but also from Norway, Switzerland and Great Britain, which are not part of the Union.
At the same time, the French president did not address the suffering American scientists, apparently deciding that it was not worth quarreling with the American president.
The EC Chairperson decided to smooth over the friction that had arisen between Europeans, noting that Macron did not mean poaching specialists, but only strengthening cooperation between scientists from different European countries.
This, in her opinion, should serve as “an example of attractiveness for scientists experiencing problems in the States.”
FOCUS ON SCIENCE
The lure of qualified specialists from other countries is not a new process, but it has become more active in recent years.
In the UK, for example, a new type of visa called GlobalTalent was introduced on 20 February 2020.
As you might guess, the United Kingdom, freed from the obligation to follow the EU migration policy (which London did not like), decided to shift its focus.
Playing at charity by accepting ordinary refugees and putting them on welfare in the hope that they will then adapt to the new society, accept its rules of conduct and repay a hundredfold is something that London is increasingly less happy with.
Strict rules come into force: we take those who we need. And the British need foreigners who are exceptionally talented, capable of moving science forward.
The main quality of the new visa is that the “suitability” of a candidate is determined not by apathetic officials from departments and agencies, but by the UK Research and Innovation Agency (UKRI).
Applicants must also have the endorsement of a reputable scientific body, such as the Royal Society or the Royal Academy of Engineering.
London has clearly decided to force the brain drain from developing countries to move in the direction of Foggy Albion.
This is confirmed by the words of the President of the Academy of Medical Sciences, Robert Lechler : “It is very important that UK researchers can recruit international team members from a wide range of countries, and for scientists from outside the UK this is an excellent opportunity to develop their careers.”
Those who decide to stay can obtain resident status and permanent residence after three years of residence.
It is clear that with such an organization, when the advisability of granting a foreigner the right to work and a residence permit is determined by organizations interested in his services (which provide him with a decent standard of living), the influx of highly qualified personnel will increase sharply and noticeably.
Perhaps not every applicant will be lucky - they may not pass the competition - but at least the state has someone to choose from.
The practice of “exchanging” citizenship or permanent residence for talent and qualifications is common to many countries. It’s just that in the case of the United Kingdom, there is a clear emphasis on science and the maximum removal of bureaucratic barriers on the applicant’s path to the goal.
Each state sets its own priorities when choosing those to whom it is ready to provide a job. Accepting immigrants out of compassion has nothing to do with economics and, as practice shows, after a while turns into big problems for the receiving party.
And this once again underlines the European Union’s declared intention to “set up collection points for immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa in territories outside the EU in order to select qualified personnel.”
It is no secret that the migration policy pursued by Brussels up to this point was aimed at solving only the demographic problem of the Old World.
BETTING ON STARTUPS
Several years ago, Western countries began actively attracting startups. Judging by the ever-increasing number of countries easing the visa regime for startups, this idea is not only fashionable, but also fruitful.
Especially if you consider that even the US has adopted a provision on preferential visas for start-up businessmen, according to which the country accepts up to 3 thousand applications per year.
The conditions for obtaining such visas are not very complicated: the project must be able to create jobs in the country, and the investment in it must be at least $250 thousand. If the US sees a material benefit, it is not a problem to obtain not only a green card, but also citizenship.
FWD.us, the lobbying group of Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, came up with a proposal a few years ago to issue green cards to all foreigners who graduate from US universities. Right at the same time as they receive their diploma.
American tech companies need the most qualified specialists: "American employers must make every effort to fill jobs in strategic industries. Otherwise, the productivity of enterprises will fall, and, consequently, the country risks losing its global leadership."
In Israel, foreign startups are even given financial assistance: the state can invest up to $52,000 in their business. The visa is long-term, for 2 years. In Estonia, it is allowed for startups to be created by local residents, and foreign specialists can be hired to work for them.
Singapore was the first to implement the idea of attracting start-up entrepreneurs with detailed projects and investments, back in 2004. Visas on preferential terms were and continue to be given only to innovative projects - anything traditional will be refused.
Singapore's example was followed by Chile, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Italy, Lithuania, Estonia and others.
Among these countries, Spain can perhaps be singled out. Due to the peculiarity of the situation: currently, the unemployment rate in the country reaches almost 12% of the entire working population.
The simplified option for obtaining a temporary residence permit, permanent residence permit and citizenship only really works for one category - high-class athletes (the "Golden Visa" option - a residence permit in exchange for investment - remains outside the brackets, since it is not based on the selection of professional personnel).
The country accepts qualified personnel into “traditional” industries only in special cases, following a complex procedure.
A simplified visa formula with subsequent acquisition of citizenship applies to “brothers in language” - Colombians, Ecuadorians, Venezuelans, Chileans, Argentines - citizens of countries that were once Spanish colonies.
ELECTRICIANS AND COOKS
In Germany, a simplified system has long been in effect for mid-level medical personnel (nurses, orderlies) and those who wish to care for the sick and elderly. There is a list of professions whose representatives are given greater attention when issuing visas, but this does not mean that a green light immediately comes on for a foreign applicant for a position, for example, as a truck driver.
Since March 1, 2020, the conditions for obtaining a residence permit in the country for IT specialists have been simplified. Now they do not need to present a diploma of professional education, but only need to confirm work experience in the specialty of at least three years, knowledge of German and a contract with a salary of 4,020 euros per month.
As a rule, each country has its own list of professions for whose representatives the most favored nation regime is open for immigration.
For example, someone looking to move to New Zealand will first look for the LongTermSkillShortageList, which lists the skilled workers the country currently needs.
The list of professions is updated every six months. The most in-demand professions today are doctors, nurses, electricians, logisticians, highly qualified builders, IT specialists, geologists, and cooks.
The Australian government has a similar list of 192 professions. It has the largest number of medical specialties. Slightly fewer are in the IT sector, architecture and construction.
In Canada, in July last year, the procedure for obtaining a work visa was simplified for those who agree to care for children, people with limited mobility, and the elderly. Those who have worked for two years will be able to apply for permanent residence.
There is also a need for programmers, communications specialists, workers in farms and agricultural processing plants - it is impossible to list them all.
In Russia, there is no oversupply of qualified specialists either. So it is not a sin to sometimes take advantage of the West's experience of inviting established scientists and promising young people.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[RUSVESNA] The Elysee Palace commented on the scandalous story with the “Macron bag”: on the way to Kiev, journalists noticed a strange bag and spoon on the table in the carriage of Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz.
The white object lying on the table, according to the statement, was not a bag of drugs, but a paper napkin.
The Elysee Palace called the drug reports “fake news” spread by “enemies of France.” The statement said nothing about Merz’s “spoon.”
The head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriev, also commented on the situation ; he asked whether the package contained “sugar or something completely different.”
Dmitriev admitted that “many recent ideas and proposals” could explain the fact that “there is no sugar in the package.”
More from regnum.ru Pushkov mocked Macron, who was afraid of the "napkin"
The statement by the Elysee Palace that French President Emmanuel Macron hid a napkin, not drugs, in a scandalous video does not explain his fear. This was stated on May 12 by the Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Information Policy Alexei Pushkov.
“Macron so hastily and awkwardly removed the so-called napkin from the table, as if he was afraid that it would be seen, and then for some reason began to rub his elbow,” he wrote on the Telegram channel.
If Macron was not hiding drugs, then his awkward behavior will certainly raise questions even among France’s friends, Pushkov added.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on May 11 a video was spread on the Internet showing Macron hiding a white package lying on the table between documents from journalists in a train compartment. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who was sitting next to him, quickly removed the small oblong object, similar to a small spoon.
[FoxNews] President Donald Trump signed an executive order the White House says is aimed at "lowering drug prices and stopping foreign free-riding on American pharmaceutical innovation."
[The Hill] The Episcopal Church has halted a refugee resettlement program with the federal government over the prioritization of white South Africans while other populations see their immigration protections removed.
"Just over two weeks ago, the federal government informed Episcopal Migration Ministries that under the terms of our federal grant, we are expected to resettle white Afrikaners from South Africa whom the U.S. government has classified as refugees," Presiding Bishop Sean W. Rowe said in a Monday letter.
The Episcopal Church has halted a refugee resettlement program with the federal government over the prioritization of white South Africans while other populations see their immigration protections removed.
"Just over two weeks ago, the federal government informed Episcopal Migration Ministries that under the terms of our federal grant, we are expected to resettle white Afrikaners from South Africa whom the U.S. government has classified as refugees," Presiding Bishop Sean W. Rowe said in a Monday letter.
"In light of our church’s steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation and our historic ties with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, we are not able to take this step. Accordingly, we have determined that, by the end of the federal fiscal year, we will conclude our refugee resettlement grant agreements with the U.S. federal government," Rowe added.
The State Department announced that the first group of white South Africans entered the U.S. on Monday.
Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce asserted in a statement that the group was at risk and faced unjust racial discrimination in South Africa, saying taking them in was a move to safeguard victims of racial discrimination.
[IsraelTimes] Suspects nearly sneak baby goat in shopping bag into Jerusalem holy site for Second Passover sacrifice, but are foiled by police and Waqf officials who wrestle them back
Police arrested nine Jewish men who tried to smuggle a sacrificial goat onto the Temple Mount in Jerusalem Monday afternoon.
The group of young men were filmed in the Old City heading to one of the entrances to the Temple Mount compound with a baby goat concealed in a Rami Levy supermarket shopping bag.
Scuffles with police guarding the entrance broke out as the group tried to force its way into the compound.
One of the young men chanted the Shema prayer as police scrambled to block their entry, but some were able to slip by the officers, including the suspect with the goat.
Once inside the compound, the man carrying the kid fell to the ground in prostration, having cast the pink shopping bag aside.
He stood back up and then moments later was wrestled back by Waqf officials while he held the animal under one arm.
Others in the group were unable to make it through and began to brawl with a religious Moslem man outside the gate. One of the Jewish men shouted, "Who are you?" at the older man as a cop placed himself between the two.
Police said the nine suspects, residents of Jerusalem and the West Bank, were detained for questioning, while the goat was transferred for veterinary treatment.
The caper coincided with the Jewish holiday of Pessah Sheni, or Second Passover, which falls a month after Passover.
In ancient times, the holiday provided another chance for those who had not been able to bring the Passover sacrifice to the Jerusalem Temple to fulfill the religious commandment.
Past years have seen similar attempts during the religious festival to smuggle in goats for sacrifice on the Temple Mount, an ultrasensitive site holy to both Jews and Moslems.
In 2024, police arrested 13 people who tried to sneak two goats — one hidden in a baby carriage, the other in a shopping bag — into the compound.
While Israeli authorities oversee access to the compound through its nine gates, the Jordanian Waqf, also known as the Islamic Endowments Department, controls the site itself. It is the holiest place in Judaism as the location of the two biblical temples, and the third-holiest place in Islam, home to the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque.
Both Israeli and Jordanian authorities say they are committed to maintaining the delicate status quo allowing non-Moslems to visit but not worship at the site, though police in recent years have increasingly tolerated quiet Jewish prayer there.
Religious right-wing politicians, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who heads the police, have advocated Jewish prayer at the site. Ben Gvir visited the Mount several times since taking office in 2022, and has spoken openly about praying there in the past.
Despite this shift, police are still quick to foil attempts at animal sacrifice on the Temple Mount.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
