Why is Jeff Bezos raising $100 billion to bring AI to factories? Here’s what to know The Daily Gazette
from news.google.com
06 Market
Iran Tells UN ‘Non-Hostile’ Ships Can Transit Hormuz, If They Coordinate With Tehran gCaptain
from news.google.com
SHADY “zombie” tankers have been seen passing through the mine-riddled Strait of Hormuz using the names of scrapped ships.
Iran has maintained an effective blockade of the vital Persian Gulf chokehold – through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil passes – since US-Israeli forces began their brutal bombing campaign of Tehran.
Ha Nguyen McNeill, the top official at the TSA, is testifying about the dire air travel situation before the House Homeland Security Committee, where she is calling on Congress to fund DHS and “ensure this never happens again.”
McNeill said the TSA has already lost more than 480 transportation security officers during this shutdown, while callout rates have accelerated. At some airports, 40 to 50% of their workforce is calling out of work on certain days, she said.
“This has led to the highest wait times in TSA history, with some wait times greater than four and a half hours,” McNeill said. “We are being forced to consolidate lanes and may have to close smaller airports if we do not have enough officers. It is a fluid, challenging and unpredictable situation.”
While the world fixates on the Strait of Hormuz, China is working to make the entire conversation obsolete.
Each flare up in US Iran tensions sends oil markets into overdrive, with prices swinging and supply fears dominating global narratives. But Beijing is not playing that game. It is building an alternative system designed to sidestep the very risks others are pricing in.
At the centre of this effort is State Grid Corporation of China, a sprawling network that already covers more than 80 percent of the country and powers over a billion people. Alongside China Southern Power Grid, it is constructing what increasingly looks like a long term energy power play. A nationwide supergrid meant to reduce reliance on imported oil and the fragile sea lanes that carry it. LIVE UPDATES
The blueprint is expansive. Ultra high voltage transmission lines are being rolled out at speed, linking inland regions rich in coal, wind and solar to the industrial coastline where demand is concentrated. The aim is to electrify more of the economy, move power efficiently across vast distances, and reduce exposure to external shocks.
The European Union on Tuesday postponed the unveiling of a law that would permanently ban Russian oil imports, coming amid supply disruptions caused by the war in the Middle East.
The April 15 unveiling date has reportedly been removed from the European Commission’s REPowerEU roadmap calendar.
EU Commission energy spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said a new date has not yet been determined, but stressed that Brussels remains “committed to making this proposal.”
Chevron CEO Issues a Stark Warning. Oil Prices Haven’t Peaked. Barron’s
from news.google.com
Good morning. AI is escaping the screen, and that should be setting off both alarms and opportunities in the finance function.
Deloitte’s new CFO Guide to Tech Trends 2026 explores how finance leaders can think strategically about emerging technologies and embrace what’s possible, which in turn elevates their function’s value and helps shape what’s next for their entire organization.
One tech trend on the rise is AI-enabled robotics. AI is no longer confined to dashboards and copilots. “Physical AI,” which is the convergence of AI with robotics, sensors, and real-world systems, marks a turning point. As Deloitte notes, intelligence is becoming “embodied” in factories, warehouses, and supply chains, where autonomous systems can optimize operations in real time. For example, BMW is testing humanoid robots to handle tasks that traditional industrial robots cannot perform, according to Deloitte. Meanwhile, the Bank of America Institute projects that the material costs of a humanoid robot could fall from $35,000 in 2025 to between $13,000 and $17,000 by 2035.
A study published in BMJ Open claims 14.2% of industry payments made to published authors were undisclosed in two major psychiatric journals. The findings put further doubt on the psychiatric industry’s integrity assurance standards. This finding follows a 2020 study that revealed 55.7% of U.S. psychiatrists have accepted pharmaceutical industry funding.
Undisclosed Industry Payments Found in Top Psychiatry Journals – madinamerica.com
Research has shown that financial conflicts of interest (COIs) are a common issue in medicine and psychiatry, with a 2020 paper finding that 55.7% of US psychiatrists accepted some form of industry payment. Studies have found that the pharmaceutical industry spends billions of dollars per year making payments to clinical trial authors, DSM panel members, and FDA committee members, creating COIs at every level of the drug approval process. A 2021 Mad in America investigation revealed that industry paid psychiatrists alone $340 million between 2014 to 2020. The same investigation also reported that financial COIs were present in the testing of every new psychotropic drug approved by the FDA between 2013 to 2017.
A new study published in BMJ Open examines undisclosed financial COIs for physician-authors in two major US academic journals, the American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP) and the Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry (JAMA-PSY). The current work finds that 14.2% of industry payments ($645,135) made to authors published in these two journals between 2020 and 2022 were undisclosed. This research, led by Francis Gesel of the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, additionally finds that nearly all undisclosed payments (96.2%) were made to authors conducting randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
The authors write:
“In our study, 14.2% of the total payments in AJP and JAMA- PSY, amounting to $645,135.70, were undisclosed. These undisclosed payments predominantly comprised research payments (82.6%), with a smaller proportion being general payments (12.6%). The high prevalence of undisclosed payments suggests that existing disclosure policies are insufficient to ensure full transparency. ”
AI chip facility coming to Austin, Elon Musk announces FOX 7 Austin
from news.google.com
Senate Democrats spent five weeks playing hardball over funding the Department of Homeland Security. Now, with ICE agents winning over airport travelers and key Republicans strategizing with the White House, it looks as if Democrats are starting to cave.
According to a new report from Punchbowl News, Democrats are signaling they might accept a deal — one that funds most of the department, but carves out ICE migrant removal operations. Republicans, rather than folding, are preparing to fund those ICE operations themselves through a party-line reconciliation bill.
For the first time in more than a month, there’s optimism that the Senate and the White House can finally find a path to reopening the Department of Homeland Security. Key Senate Republicans returned from the White House late Monday with a noticeably upbeat demeanor over the state of the talks with President Donald Trump, who had just rebuffed a GOP-backed off-ramp.
The framework under discussion would fund all of DHS except for ICE’s migrant removal operations, and could eventually include some reforms that Democrats have been demanding.
Republicans would then try to fund the rest of ICE via a party-line reconciliation bill.
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin just unveiled plans to shoot dangerous asteroids with an ion cannon or ram them out of orbit entirely supercarblondie.com
from news.google.com
Japan will start releasing oil from state reserves on Thursday, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Tuesday, as concerns over supply mount and oil prices soar amid the ongoing…
from japantoday.com
Epic Games said on Tuesday (Mar 24) it would cut more than 1,000 jobs after a drop in engagement for Fortnite, its flagship title, the latest cuts in the video-game industry whose growth has stalled amid economic uncertainty.
The cuts, along with more than US$500 million in savings from lower contracting and marketing spending and unfilled roles would put the company in “a more stable place,” Chief Executive Tim Sweeney said in a note to employees.
The cuts are the latest in the gaming sector, where companies have faced weaker growth as consumers have been sticking with proven titles amid economic uncertainty.
But even those, especially live services games, which depend on a steady stream of new content to keep players engaged, are now showing signs of cracks.
Is AI replacing engineers? Salesforce says it no longer needs to hire them People Matters – HR News
from news.google.com
Trump casts a mail-in ballot in Florida special election as he tries to sharply limit absentee voting AppleValleyNewsNow.com
from news.google.com
Elon Musk unveils mega AI chip project Terafab for Tesla and SpaceX in Austin; says it will ‘redefine chi The Times of India
from news.google.com
Bezos wants 51,600 data satellites Advanced Television
from news.google.com
President Donald Trump is demanding that any deal with Democrats to fund the Department of Homeland Security includes an agreement on requiring photo identification and proof of citizenship in federal elections
The demand merges two battles that Congress has failed to resolve.
“I don’t think we should make any deal with the Crazy, Country Destroying, Radical Left Democrats unless, and until, they Vote with Republicans to pass ‘THE SAVE AMERICA ACT,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday night.
“In other words, lump everything together as one, and VOTE!!! Kill the Filibuster, and stay in D.C. for Easter, if necessary.”
The SAVE America Act, if signed into law, would require photo identification and proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.
Trump has called for the bill to include restrictions on transgender procedures for minors, transgender participation in women’s sports, and mail-in ballots.
Venezuela forgets about Maduro and starts down an irreversible path EL PAÍS English
from news.google.com
The main U.S. indexes were on track to open higher on Monday after President Donald Trump said he would order the military to postpone strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure following “productive conversations” with Tehran.
Iran’s Fars News Agency, however, disputed Trump’s statement, citing a source who said there had been no direct communication with the United States, nor via intermediaries. Israel’s military said it was conducting strikes on Iran.
Still, global markets staged a sharp recovery after Trump’s comments, with Europe’s STOXX 600 and precious metals turning positive, while oil prices fell, signaling improving risk appetite.
IMPERIAL — Whenever the weather changes suddenly, or the skyline becomes shrouded in a windy haze, Fernanda Camarillo braces herself for an asthma attack.
Her condition has become more manageable, but the 27-year-old said it’s still scary when her chest tightens and she starts to wheeze. It was one of her first thoughts when she heard about plans to develop a massive data center next to her home in Imperial County, a farming community near the border of Mexico that struggles with poor air quality.
President Donald Trump is temporarily suspending a key U.S. shipping rule as the Iran conflict tightens its grip on global energy markets.
The White House confirmed Wednesday that Trump issued a 60-day waiver of the Jones Act, the century-old law requiring goods shipped between U.S. ports to travel on American-built, American-owned vessels crewed mostly by U.S. citizens.
The move is aimed at easing pressure as oil prices surge and supply routes get squeezed.
“President Trump’s decision to issue a 60-day Jones Act waiver is just another step to mitigate the short-term disruptions to the oil market as the U.S. military continues meeting the objectives of Operation Epic Fury,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on X. “This action will allow vital resources like oil, natural gas, fertilizer, and coal to flow freely to U.S. ports for sixty days, and the Administration remains committed to continuing to strengthen our critical supply chains.”
There are fears that a period of elevated oil and gas prices could trigger a damaging wave of global inflation.
Oil prices have risen more than 5 percent following an Israeli strike on Iran’s South Pars gasfield as the United States-Israeli war on the country continues to escalate.
Brent crude, the international standard, rose 5 percent to $108.66 a barrel on Wednesday, while US West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1, the price barometer for US oil, gained 2.5 percent to $98.65, widening its discount to Brent to the largest since May 2019 on fears of a prolonged conflict.