Hillary Clinton launching new political group

Von

May 16, 2017

Stepping deeper into the Democratic resistance, Hillary Clinton launched a new political organization on Monday designed to push back against President Donald Trump’s agenda.
NEW YORK — Stepping deeper into the Democratic resistance, Hillary Clinton launched a new political organization on Monday designed to push back against President Donald Trump’s agenda.
The former Democratic nominee used social media to announce the creation of „Onward Together, “ an adaptation from her campaign theme, „Stronger Together.“ The group, she tweeted, will „encourage people to get involved, organize, and even run for office.“
„This year hasn’t been what I envisioned, but I know what I’m still fighting for: a kinder, big-hearted, inclusive America. Onward!“ Clinton wrote.
The announcement comes as Clinton, 69, works to find a new role in an evolving political landscape.
She recently described herself as an „activist citizen, “ but it was unclear how she would continue to inject her voice into national affairs and influence Democratic Party politics. Pondering her future in recent months, she had begun taking long walks in the woods near her suburban New York home, something she joked about on Monday.
„The last few months, I’ve been reflecting, spending time with family — and, yes, taking walks in the woods, “ she tweeted.
Monday’s move all but ensures she will not retain a leadership position at the Clinton Foundation, the continued focus of her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and daughter, Chelsea Clinton.
Republicans quickly lashed out at the leading Democrat.
Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Ahrens said voters rejected Clinton last fall „because she’s completely out-of-touch, untrustworthy, and embraced the failed policies of the past.“
„If Democrats were smart, they’d realize it’s time to move onward from Hillary Clinton altogether, “ Ahrens said.
For her part, Clinton did not reference Trump directly on Monday, but the group’s mission statement takes an indirect swipe at the Republican president by noting she won almost 66 million votes in the last election. That’s about 3 million more than Trump.
Clinton on Monday vowed her organization would support specific groups that help Democrats. She singled out Emerge America, an organization that trains Democratic women to run for office, along with Color of Change, which promotes criminal justice reform and other racial issues.
Onward Together is a non-profit organization that does not have to disclose its donors.
Clinton becomes the latest high-profile Democrat to launch an independent group. Former President Barack Obama, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and 2004 Democratic nominee Howard Dean all helped create political organizations.
„More than ever, I believe citizen engagement is vital to our democracy, “ Clinton tweeted. „I’m so inspired by everyone stepping up to organize and lead.“

© Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765694150/Hillary-Clinton-launching-new-political-group.html
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Trump gave Russia classified intelligence: what we know so far

Von

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May 16, 2017

Trump appears to be putting vital sources of intelligence in jeopardy.
Late on Monday, published a bombshell: President Trump had shared highly sensitive, highly classified information about the ISIS fight with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov when the two men met in the Oval Office last week. The facts of the situation are a little murky, as the Post’s reporters (Greg Miller and Greg Jaffe) took a lot of care to avoid revealing any more classified information in their piece. But here’s what the Post scoop is clear about: To be clear: This isn’ t illegal. The president has the power to declassify whatever he wants. So even though this information was “code-word information, ” the highest level of classification there is in the US system, the very act of Trump telling it to Lavrov had the effect of declassifying it. But this is, nonetheless, extremely dangerous. As the Post makes clear, it could have compromised a potential source of vital intelligence about ISIS plots. Depending on what the Russians do with this information, this could making the US homeland more vulnerable to attack. More broadly, though, it raises questions about whether the Trump administration can be trusted with vital information. The US intelligence community benefits greatly from intelligence-sharing agreements with partners like the Five Eyes (FVEY) agreement with Canada, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia. This is particularly vital when it comes to the war on ISIS. America’s partners in the Arab states — most notably Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan — are critical sources of information on the terrorist group, some of whom have agents inside the ranks of ISIS. US intelligence services really rely on the high-quality information it gets from these states. The fact that the president is blithely sharing sensitive information from one of these programs with the Russians may make allies think twice about continuing to share all of their vital information with the United States. That will certainly be the case for whatever ally’s intelligence methods and practices were just spilled to the Russians during Trump’s brag sessions. Some members of Congress are already furious at the news. “I don’ t know when it will be enough for Republicans to understand that we need to get to the bottom of the connection between the president of the United States and the Russian government, ” Chris Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters. This sort of thing was a concern before Trump’s election. Some intelligence officials refused to brief Trump on vital information, ’s Shane Harris and Carol Lee reported, because they were worried he’ d compromise the sources. ’s Nahal Toosi reported that US allies were explicitly worried that their information would get into the Kremlin’s hands, given Trump’s fondness for Putin, and were thinking about scaling back their cooperation with the US as a result. “If there’s a sense that we’ re cozying up to regimes like Vladimir Putin’s Russia, that could have something of a chilling effect, “ an anonymous senior Obama official told Toosi in January. „The challenge may be in places like Germany, France, potentially even the United Kingdom. If there is a reorientation toward Moscow, there could be some doubts there.” Concerns about Trump’s ability to handle sensitive information were also fueled by showing the president discussing a North Korean missile test with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at an outside table that was in full view of many other diners at the Mar-a-Lago resort. That pales, though, when compared with what has just taken place. Whether through incompetence or an intentional attempt to curry favor with an ally, Trump has handed sensitive information over to the Russians, arguably America’s biggest adversary in the world. And the US may lose out on vital sources of intelligence about terrorism — and perhaps other subjects — as a result. American allies with spies inside or close to ISIS already worry about the safety of their operatives and the quality of their intelligence. Now they have a new fear: that the president of the US might carelessly share it with one of the world’s most dangerous regimes.

© Source: https://www.vox.com/world/2017/5/15/15643720/trump-russia-classified-intelligence-post
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How U. S. dodged a bullet in Friday's massive global ransomware attack

Von

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May 16, 2017

Ransomware attack repercussions continue, but U. S. may have dodged a major hit
SAN FRANCISCO — The massive WannaCry ransomware attack has hit hundreds of thousands of computers from Taiwan to the United Kingdom. Despite the global nature of the attack, few networks and companies in the United States appear to have been hit.
The reason, say cybersecurity analysts, is a combination of luck, geography, and adherence to software updates, though the United States is by no means invulnerable to such attacks.
The attack encrypted all the files on an infected computer and demanded the equivalent of approximately $300 in bitcoin, an untraceable digital currency, to unlock a user’s data. It began Friday and quickly spread, infecting computers at Spanish phone company Telefonica, one-fifth of the hospitals in the United Kingdom — forcing some doctors to halt procedures or turn patients away — as well as automaker Renault and U. S. shipper FedEx. Over the weekend, it hit thousands of computers in Asia.
But fears it would bring companies to a standstill Monday morning weren’t realized.
“The good news is the infection rates have slowed over the weekend, ” said U. S. homeland security adviser Tom Bossert in a press conference Monday. He said the attack affected more than 300,000 victims in 150 countries, but only a small number of U. S. parties fell victim. U. S. federal systems hadn’t been infected, he said.
U. S. roots but few U. S. infections
The WannaCry ransomware takes advantage of flaws in unpatched copies of some versions of Windows, especially Windows XP. Users still running that operating system, which Microsoft stopped supporting three years ago, were vulnerable to an attack. Microsoft issued a patch to fix the vulnerability on March 14 but many systems did not install it.
Ransomware has existed since at least 2005, but this one is different, making the attack more worrisome.
Unlike typical ransomware hacks, which require an individual user to open an emailed attachment or click on an advertisement that contains malicious software, the WannaCry hack appears able to transmit itself without the user doing anything.
“WannaCry is the first one to completely automate, ” said Craig Williams, a senior technical leader at Talos, the security research arm of tech company Cisco.
The ransomware spreads from network to network, using a vulnerability taken from cyber tools released in an online data dump by a group calling itself the Shadow Brokers. Some cyber analysts say the group stole the vulnerability from the National Security Agency.
Asked in a press conference on Monday whether the code had indeed originally come from the NSA, Bossert it “was not a tool developed by the NSA to hold ransom data. This was a tool developed by culpable parties, potentially criminals or foreign nation-states.“
He did not address the issue of whether the original exploitable flaw the ransomware was based on came from NSA cyber tools.
The swift-moving spread of the malware over the weekend prompted some to fear a second wave of locked machines and halted systems on Monday. Adding to those fears: security analysts said unblocked variants of the original malware were attacking.
While the initial version of the ransomware was disabled within about seven hours, at least 469 copycat variations have been released since Monday, according to Andreas Marx with AV-Test, a German-based security testing company.
The United States may have dodged the attack because companies keep software updated, pressured by the threat of lawsuits. “We’ re more litigious, companies know there will be consequences if they’ re not adequately protected, ” said Ed Stroz, co-founder of Stroz Friedberg, a New York City-based digital risk management firm.
U. S. companies and individuals are also more security-conscious — and, frankly, wealthy enough — they can afford to run security programs that proved protective against the software.
„The situation appears to be more under control now, as many companies have reacted (and e.g. deployed the Microsoft security patches) and anti-virus signature are up-to-date and able to kill the current versions of the ransomware, “ Marx said.
Another reason computers in the United States were not so hard-hit is that companies and individuals in the United States are much less likely to run pirated versions of the Windows operating system, said Adam Levin, chair of CyberScout, a data risk service.
That’s not always the case, especially in Asia and eastern Europe, which appear to have been hardest hit by the attack.
“If you buy bootleg software, and we know this is a big problem in other parts of the world, you may be taking on risk you didn’ t even realize you were taking, ” Levin said.
Not every country or company is as aggressive about security patches as it should be. “The U. S. generally has (paid) more attention to security than other countries may, “ said Sean Dillon, a senior security analyst with RiskSense Inc.
People who are running older computers and software may be more vulnerable because they don’t necessarily have access to the newest security bells and whistles.
“Because of the way in which the worm spreads, its success will be directly correlated to organizations that have the vulnerability still open. It’s reasonable to assume that there are large populations of those systems in certain countries, ” said Steve Grobman, chief technology officer at McAfee.
Another explanation has been that WannaCry was not actually active for very long before it was shut down by a 22-year-old security researcher in London who goes by the name MalwareTech. By most accounts, it only ran for about seven hours, from 3: 30 a.m. ET on Friday to about 10 a.m. ET.
Because the malware spread from unprotected network to unprotected network, it relied upon quirks of geography and topology to propagate. Networks within countries and regions tend to be more densely connected than those physically distant from each other, so with the largest sites of infection in eastern Europe and Asia, there weren’ t as many likely jumps it could make to the United States.
Had it found one early on, the U. S. could have been much more heavily hit. Timing, proximity and luck all played parts, said Stroz.
“I never take luck out of the equation, ” he said.
Follow USA TODAY reporters Elizabeth Weise and Mike Snider on Twitter: @eweise & @MikeSnider .

© Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/05/15/ransomeware-attack-wannacry-malware/101710900/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatoday-newstopstories
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Two die in small plane crash in New Jersey

Von

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May 15, 2017

Two crew members died when a small plane crashed in New Jersey on Monday, setting multiple buildings on fire.
May 15 (UPI) — Two crew members died when a small plane crashed in New Jersey on Monday, setting multiple buildings on fire.
The Learjet 35 crashed around 3: 30 p.m. in an industrial area in Carlstadt, about a quarter-mile from Teterboro Airport, close to New York City, according to the Federal Aviation Administration .
The twin-engine plane was attempting to land at the airport en route from Philadelphia International Airport.
The jet crashed into two buildings and burst into flames, witnesses told WABC-TV .
Thick, black smoke was visible from New York City.
A person who worked in one of the buildings hit told WABC-TV the crash occurred about 30 minutes after one of the businesses closed. People in the second building all got out safely.
Steve Case, co-founder of AOL, posted an image an Instagram and wrote: „Was trying to land, but missed the turn. Crashed a few hundred yards from airport.“
He took the photo from the window of another plane.
One witness told WNBC-TV she works at United Door and saw the crash outside her office window.
„We were there working like every day and all of the suddenly we see the airplane coming down, “ she said. „It landed in the parking lot and then we heard the explosion.“
The Learjet occupants were the crew members. No one was hurt on the ground, Carlstadt police said.
The plane’s tail number is N452DA and it is registered to A&C Big Sky Aviation in Billings, Mont.
The Learjet 35, capable of carrying eight passengers and a crew of two, was manufactured from 1973-94, according to Globalair.com .
Designated as a „reliever“ airport, Teterboro’s „focus is on removing the smaller and slower aircraft from the regional air traffic that would cause major congestion at the Port Authority’s commercial airports, “ according to the airport’s website .
The airport is run by the Port Authority of Nww York and New Jersey.

© Source: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2017/05/15/Two-die-in-small-plane-crash-in-New-Jersey/8571494882974/
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In Ransomware Attack, Where Does Microsoft’s Responsibility Lie?

Von

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May 15, 2017

For years, the company has tried to change the perception that its software was vulnerable to hackers. A global cyberattack renewed those issues.
SEATTLE — When malicious software first became a serious problem on the internet about 15 years ago, most people agreed that the biggest villain, after the authors of the damaging code, was Microsoft.
As a new cyberattack continues to sweep across the globe, the company is once again at the center of the debate over who is to blame for a vicious strain of malware demanding ransom from victims in exchange for the unlocking of their digital files.
This time, though, Microsoft believes others should share responsibility for the attack, an assault that targeted flaws in the Windows operating system.
On Sunday, Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president and chief legal officer, wrote a blog post describing the company’s efforts to stop the ransomware’s spread, including an unusual step it took to release a security update for versions of Windows that Microsoft no longer supports. Mr. Smith wrote, “As a technology company, we at Microsoft have the first responsibility to address these issues.”
He went on, though, to emphasize that the attack had demonstrated the “degree to which cybersecurity has become a shared responsibility between tech companies and customers, ” the latter of whom must update their systems if they want to be protected. He also pointed his finger at intelligence services, since the latest vulnerability appeared to have been leaked from the National Security Agency.
On Monday, a Microsoft spokesman declined to comment beyond Mr. Smith’s post.
To prepare for fallout with customers, Judson Althoff, a Microsoft executive vice president, sent an email to the company’s field sales team on Sunday encouraging them to be supportive of businesses targeted by the attack, or even those who were simply aware of it.
“Our key direction to you is to remember that we are in this with our customers — we are trusted advisers, counselors, and suppliers to them, ” he wrote. “More than technical guidance, I want you to make sure you are spending the time needed to understand the concerns they have and that they know we are here to help.”
While Microsoft’s reputation has suffered in the past because of security problems, the company’s stock is barely down from the close of trading on Thursday, just before reports of the ransomware.
“People have extremely short memories when it comes to this, ” said Jan Dawson, an analyst with Jackdaw Research. “I think, realistically, people will move on pretty quickly.”
Microsoft has recognized the risk that cybersecurity poses to it since about 2002, when Bill Gates, the former chief executive, issued a call to arms inside the company after a wave of malicious software began infecting Windows PCs connected to the internet.
“As software has become ever more complex, interdependent and interconnected, our reputation as a company has in turn become more vulnerable, ” Mr. Gates wrote in an email to employees identifying trustworthy computing as Microsoft’s top priority. “Flaws in a single Microsoft product, service or policy not only affect the quality of our platform and services overall, but also our customers’ view of us as a company.”
Since then, the company has poured billions of dollars into security initiatives, employing more than 3,500 engineers dedicated to security. In March, it released a software patch that addressed the vulnerability exploited by the ransomware, known as WannaCry, protecting systems such as Windows 10, its latest operating system.
Yet security flaws in older editions of Windows persist. The company no longer provides regular software updates to Windows XP, a version first released in 2001, unless customers pay for “custom support, ” a practice some observers believe has put users at risk. Late Friday, Microsoft took the unusual step of making patches that protect older systems against WannaCry, including Windows XP, free.
“Companies like Microsoft should discard the idea that they can abandon people using older software, ” Zeynep Tufekci, an associate professor at the school of information and library science at the University of North Carolina, wrote in a New York Times opinion piece over the weekend. “The money they made from these customers hasn’ t expired; neither has their responsibility to fix defects.”
But security experts challenged that argument, saying that Microsoft could not be expected to keep updating old software products indefinitely. Providing updates to older systems could make computers more insecure by removing an incentive for users to modernize, Mikko Hypponen, the chief research officer of F-Secure, a security firm.
“I can understand why they issued an emergency patch for XP after WannaCry was found, but in general, we should just let XP die, ” Mr. Hypponen said.
Despite the high profile of WannaCry, widespread malware outbreaks have become less common over the years, as Microsoft has improved the security of its systems, said Ziv Mador, vice president for security research at Trustwave, a security services firm. But the profits that criminals can make through ransomware and other malicious code ensure the problem will never vanish.
“Even though it’s becoming harder and harder, the incentives have increased tremendously, ” said Mr. Mador, who previously worked on security response at Microsoft.

© Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/technology/cyberattack-microsoft-software-responsibility.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0
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Lotto Ekstraklasa: Ruch i Górnik z licencjami, ale "Niebiescy" rozpoczną rozgrywki z ujemnymi punktami

Von

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May 15, 2017

Ruch Chorzów i Górnik Łęczna poinformowały w poniedziałek, że otrzymały licencję na występy w przyszłym sezonie piłkarskiej ekstraklasy. Śląski klub rozpocznie jednak rozgrywki z trzema ujemnymi punktami. – Ekstraklasa – najnowsze wyniki i relacje ze stadionów.
W miniony piątek Komisja ds. Licencji Klubowych przyznała licencje na występy w przyszłym sezonie piłkarskiej ekstraklasy 14 z 16 występujących w niej obecnie zespołom. Decyzje w sprawie Górnika i Ruchu odroczono do poniedziałku.
Teraz oba kluby poinformowały, że otrzymały licencje. Na razie jednak czeka je ciężka walka o utrzymanie w obecnym sezonie. Po 33 kolejkach ekstraklasy zajmują dwa ostatnie miejsca w tabeli. Ekipa z Łęcznej ma 18 punktów, a z Chorzowa – 17.
Na Górnika Łęczna nałożono nadzór finansowy, w związku z „koniecznością monitorowania prognozy finansowej“.
Galeria Przejdź do galerii »
Piękna żona Miroslava Radovica częstym gościem na trybunach stadionu Legii [FOTO]
Legia Warszawa pokonała Bruk-Bet Teralikę Nieciecza aż 6: 0. Jedną z bramek dla mistrzów Polski strzelił Miroslav Radovic. Grę gwiazdora stołecznego zespołu z trybun oklaskiwała piękna żona i trzech synów.

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'Nobody has the perfect life': Kylie Jenner reveals she's looking for 'what is really going to make me happy' in first Life of Kylie trailer

Von

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May 15, 2017

‚When you grow up on camera everybody feels like they know you but they don’t, ‚ she opines as glitzy clips of her in tight dresses and fans chanting her name roll underneath.
The youngest scion of the Kardashian-Jenner clan – Kylie, 19 – has landed her own reality series and the first look at the show dropped online Thursday.
In the 30-second teaser, images flash in rapid succession showing the daughter of Kris and Caitlyn Jenner from a child to a teen along with a voiceover in which she suggests that there’s more to her than has so far met the eye.
‚When you grow up on camera everybody feels like they know you but they don’t, ‚ she opines as glitzy clips of her in tight dresses and fans chanting her name roll underneath.
Scroll down for video
During the promotional trailer, Kylie is described as a ‚beauty mogul‘ and ‚pop culture icon.‘
She found fame on E!’s Keeping Up With The Kardashians but none of her famous sisters are included in the video.
This time it’s all about Kylie as she’s seen posing with her besties on photo shoots and showing off her lip kits that are part of her Kylie Cosmetics line.
The show is billed as giving fans an inside track on what it’s like to be the reality star and promises to take them inside her private world.
‚Nobody has the perfect life, ‚ she says in her voiceover.
‚Now I can find what is really going to make me happy.‘
She goes on: ‚There’s an image that I have to keep up with.‘
‚Then there’s me, Kylie.‘
It’s the most recent spin-off from KUWTK that momager Kris Jenner has managed to secure from E!
Her former husband Caitlyn starred for two seasons on I Am Cait, that followed the former Olympian in her new life after undergoing gender transition.
The tumultuous relationship between Kris‘ son Rob Kardashian and his at the time fiancee Blac Chyna also aired this past year on Rob & Chyna as they couple prepared to welcome their daughter Dream, born in November.
Other previous related shows on E! included Kourtney And Kim Take Miami, Kourtney And Kim Take New York and Khloe & Lamar.
Life Of Kylie premieres on E! on July 6 and will be shown in the US as well as in the UK and Ireland available on hayu.

© Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-4497760/Kylie-Jenner-stars-trailer-Life-Kylie.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
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Federal scientist crowned Miss USA stirs up controversy over health care remarks

Von

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May 15, 2017

Kara McCullough, a scientist working for the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was crowned Miss USA Sunday, and stirred up controversy.
Kara McCullough, a scientist working for the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was crowned Miss USA Sunday, and stirred up controversy. During the question and answer portion, she was asked if she thinks affordable health care for US citizens is a right or a privilege. McCullough responded by saying it’s a privilege because to have health care, you have to have jobs. McCullough also said she does not consider herself a feminist and prefers the word equalist. Many people on social media said Miss New Jersey should have won as she declared herself a feminist and defined it to mean someone who strives for equality. McCullough, who represented the District of Columbia in the decades-old pageant, was born in Naples, Italy, and raised in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She said she wants to inspire children to pursue careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.“I love science, “ McCullough said after the Sunday event. „I look at this as a great opportunity to … get to experience worldwide culture, as well as just having the opportunity to be impacted by so many children, hopefully in the math and sciences.“McCullough bested 50 other contestants and will represent the U. S. at the Miss Universe contest. This was the second year in a row that the representative of the nation’s capital won the Miss USA title. Last year, District of Columbia resident Deshauna Barber became the first-ever military member to win Miss USA. McCullough said she will be discussing with her supervisor whether she will take a leave of absence from her job at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission during her one-year reign. Miss New Jersey Chhavi Verg, who studies marketing and Spanish at Rutgers University, was the runner-up at the event held at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center on the Las Vegas Strip. Verg was one of five women who participated in the pageant who told The Associated Press they immigrated to the U. S. with their families at a young age. Verg and the women representing Florida, North Dakota, Hawaii and Connecticut described the challenges and opportunities they faced as immigrants. Verg told The AP that she and her parents immigrated from India to the U. S. with only $500 in their pockets when she was 4 years old. Her first winter she did not have a winter coat and the family struggled to adjust.“I want to show Americans that the definition of what it means to be American is changing, “ the 20-year-old said. „It’s not just one face. There are many different people who are Americans, and I feel like Asian-Americans often times are left out of the conversation.“The contestants‘ remarks contrast with the controversy that surrounded the pageant in 2015, when then-part owner and now U. S. President Donald Trump offended Hispanics when he made anti-immigrant remarks in announcing his bid for the White House. Trump co-owned The Miss Universe Organization with NBCUniversal, but the network and the Spanish-language broadcaster Univision quickly cut ties with him, refusing to air the show. Trump sued both networks, eventually settling and selling the pageant to talent management company WME/IMG.

Macron i Merkel za mapą drogową reform UE. Przywódcy gotowi do zmiany traktatów

Von

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May 15, 2017

Prezydent Francji Emmanuel Macron i kanclerz Niemiec Angela Merkel zapowiedzieli w poniedziałek w Berlinie stworzenie mapy drogowej dla reform Unii Europejskiej i strefy euro; zasygnalizowali gotowość do zmiany w razie potrzeby traktatów unijnych.
Macron przyjechał do Berlina dzień po objęciu urzędu prezydenta, demonstrując wolę ścisłej współpracy z Niemcami.
„Uzgodniliśmy, że będziemy bardzo ściśle współpracować“ – powiedziała Merkel. Jak zaznaczyła, „Niemcom będzie powodzić się na dłuższą metę dobrze tylko wtedy, gdy Francja będzie silna“.
Zacieśnieniu niemiecko-francuskiej współpracy ma służyć zapowiedziane na lipiec, po czerwcowych wyborach parlamentarnych we Francji, wspólne posiedzenie obu rządów.
„Chcemy nadać relacjom nową dynamikę“ – powiedziała szefowa niemieckiego rządu . „Jesteśmy przekonani, że powinniśmy obecnie zajmować się nie tylko wyjściem Wielkiej Brytanii (z UE) , lecz musimy przede wszystkim zastanowić się, jak pogłębić i uczynić bardziej odporną na kryzysy i spójną pozostałą Wspólnotę i strefę euro“ – mówiła niemiecka kanclerz. Jej zdaniem projekty niemiecko-francuskie mogą stanowić impuls dla zmian w całej Unii.
Merkel wymieniła politykę zagraniczną oraz politykę obronną jako dziedziny, w których Berlin i Paryż powinny ściśle współpracować. Prezydent Francji dodał szkolnictwo, zapowiadając reaktywowanie dwujęzycznych klas niemiecko-francuskich.
Zarówno Macron, jak i Merkel zasygnalizowali gotowość do zmiany traktatów unijnych w ramach reformowania UE .
„Zmiana traktatów była przez długi czas tematem tabu dla Francji. Dla mnie jednak nie istnieje to tabu“ – oświadczył Macron.
„Jestem za wspólną mapą drogowa, która stworzy perspektywę i poprawi skuteczność w strefie euro i w całej Unii. A jeśli podczas tego procesu reform zajdzie potrzeba zmian i nowych traktatów, to jestem do tego gotowy“ – oświadczył nowo wybrany prezydent Francji podczas swojej pierwszej wizyty zagranicznej.
„Z niemieckiego punktu widzenia zmiana traktatów jest możliwa, jeżeli taka zmiana ma sens“ – poparła Macrona Merkel.
Przyznała, że do wzmocnienia strefy euro nie wystarczy porozumienie między rządami, lecz celowa będzie „legitymizacja“ takiej decyzji za pomocą „europejskiego czynnika“. Merkel zastrzegła, że najpierw trzeba ustalić, „co chcemy zrobić“. Jej zdaniem opinia, że traktatów unijnych nie można zmieniać, jest nierealistyczna i nie uwzględnia zmian zachodzących w świecie
Macron potwierdził wolę przeprowadzenia głębokich reform we Francji. Powiedział, że w minionych 30 latach żadnemu francuskiemu rządowi nie udało rozwiązać problemu masowego bezrobocia. Zapewnił, że jego rząd zajmie się tym problemem.
Na pytanie, czy zamierza powrócić do polityki ścisłego sojuszu z Niemcami, Macron odpowiedział krótkim „tak“. „Europa znalazła się w historycznym momencie“ – podkreślił. Zwrócił uwagę na wzrost nastrojów populistycznych we Francji i innych krajach Europy. „Potrzebny jest nowy start“ – zaznaczył. „Bez Europy nie byłoby ani wolności, ani dobrobytu, ani pokoju“ – dodał.
Prezydent Francji starał się rozwiać wątpliwości niemieckich partnerów obawiających się, że Paryż będzie dążył do wprowadzenia wspólnych obligacji strefy euro i tym samym do uwspólnotowienia długów. „Nigdy nie domagałem się (takich) euroobligacji“ – zapewnił. Opowiedział się natomiast za nowym programem inwestycyjnym w strefie euro. „Musimy zainwestować nowe środki“ – powiedział.
Przed urzędem kanclerskim Macrona witało oklaskami i okrzykami kilkaset osób. Prezydent uznał powitanie za „wzruszające“, zastrzegł jednak, że odebrał wyrazy uznania jako zobowiązanie.

Amazon is helping to remove false wake words from Alexa’s vocabulary

Von

admin

May 15, 2017

Amazon’s smart assistant has gotten pretty good at recognizing its own name (much to the apparent chagrin of many who share it) , but that doesn’ t make it..
Amazon’s smart assistant has gotten pretty good at recognizing its own name (much to the apparent chagrin of many who share it) , but that doesn’ t make it immune from false positives. To make Alexa better at filtering out similar words, Amazon is today introducing a new feature called Cloud-Based Wake Word Verification for third-party manufacturers who have Alexa built into their devices.
This will make their devices more reliable – and more competitive with Amazon’s own Echo product line, which currently uses a similar system to avoid false positives.
The new feature utilizes a sort of two-factor voice identification system. The first step is the same as before, with the hardware (Echo, Echo Dot, etc.) handling the initial detection. After that, however, the word will pass through a secondary verification via a cloud-based process checks for a false positive. If one is detected, Wake Word Verification will direct the hardware to close the audio streaming.
This additional processing won’ t slow down Alexa’s response times, but will instead make interacting with Alexa less annoying as she won’ t accidentally respond to questions you’ ve never asked.
The update goes a small way towards addressing a growing privacy concern around Echo’s presence in the home. The smart home hub is designed to have an always-on mic listening for its wake word – a particular concern when bringing these devices into some of the most private spots in our home.
Amazon recently addressed concern, telling TechCrunch: “Echo Look uses the same on-device keyword spotting as Echo, to detect the wake word and only the wake word. When the wake word is detected, the light ring turns blue to indicate that Alexa is streaming audio to the AWS cloud.”
The new feature will hopefully cut down on false positives, and will turn off that blue LED as soon as the system shifts from wake mode to passive listening.
Third-party hardware developers will have to tweak their systems in order to enable the new feature. At present, the recently announced Ecobee4 is the one device that has it enabled. The smart thermostat represents a shift among Alexa developers. Rather than simply incorporating voice features, the system doubles as a sort of surrogate wall-mounted Echo.
That kind of third-party support, coupled with a number of newly announced Echoes, are likely to only increase privacy questions around these sorts of devices. Today’s announcement marks a small step toward addressing that concern. It will, however, put a bit of a damper on any plans to launch a real-life Echo Silver.

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