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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California, center, is flanked by Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, left, and GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York after the House approved a 45-day funding bill to keep federal agencies open. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite Kevin McCarthy on Saturday forcefully defended House passage of a 45-day stopgap spending bill. The bill, if passed by the Senate, will fund the government through November and avert a shutdown. McCarthy dared his detractors to force a "motion to vacate" — a vote that could end his speakership. A defiant Kevin McCarthy on Saturday told House Republican critics calling for his ouster as speaker to "bring it" after the lower chamber passed a 45-day stopgap spending measure with mostly Democratic votes to avoid a government shutdown. McCarthy, who has been on thin ice with the ultraconservative Freedom Caucus even before he became speaker in January, said that "there has to be an adult in t...

In this edition of Week in Review, we cover Tinder's pricey new subscription, Amazon's investment in Anthropic and the features of Apple's next-gen AirPods. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/3W9lqma via IFTTT

Ukraine drone operators are taking agricultural drones and using them to target Russian tanks. Marko Djurica/Reuters Ukraine is using drones meant for farmers to target Russia's tanks. They retrofit the drones with weapons and other components before sending them into battle. This resourcefulness is part of a larger Ukrainian reliance on low-cost consumer drones. Ukraine has a new weapon against Russia: "The bat." It's a rotor-powered drone that can carry multiple 20-kilogram shells, which Ukrainian forces launch toward Russian tanks. The drone was intended to be used by farmers, The New York Times reported. The machines were supplied by Reactive Drone, a Ukrainian company founded in 2017 to provide farmers with drones that can spray pesticides, according to the Times. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, company founder Oleksii Kolesnyk told the Times he and his team started turning the farming tools into battle machines within days. Kolesnyk...

In response to a tweet from Flexport's Ryan Petersen, Sam Altman said AI's strength is speeding up tasks. Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images/Harry Murphy / Contributor/Getty Images Sam Altman said in a post on X that the strength of AI systems is automating tasks, not jobs. Altman also admitted, however, that AI might be able to do some of today's jobs in the future. "We will find new and much better jobs when that happens!" he wrote. As rapid advances in AI reshape the way we work, many workers are fretting about whether their jobs might be replaced . But ChatGPT boss Sam Altman says we shouldn't start panicking yet. "Important point here: These systems are much better at doing tasks than jobs," he wrote in a post on X on Friday. —Sam Altman (@sama) September 29, 2023   Altman was responding to Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen, who wrote in a post on X earlier this week that certain teams at the logistics company were already s...

China recently implemented new export restrictions on drone components, posing a challenge for Ukrainian forces. Alina Smutko/Reuters Chinese consumer drones are essential to Ukraine's war effort. But recent restrictions placed by China on exporting drones have complicated things. Ukraine is now trying to source consumer drones and their parts from elsewhere — no easy task. China implemented a new rule earlier this month restricting the export of civilian drone materials, citing concerns about their use in foreign wars. The move came more than a year after DJI, a major Chinese technology company, stopped selling drones to Russia and Ukraine. DJI also cited concerns that the two countries were using their products for military operations.  It was true. They were. For Ukraine, these low-cost, Chinese-made drones have become essential to the war effort. Ukrainians retrofit the consumer drones in all kinds of ways so they can deliver added payloads on Russian forces and ...

Elon Musk stepped into the debate on immigration when he livestreamed to 5 million, calling for stronger security measures at the US-Mexico border. The billionaire announced in a post the day before his visit, "We actually do need a wall." Read the original article on Business Insider from Business Insider https://ift.tt/KrUgS9p via IFTTT

The company's toy-focused expansion is its bet that NFTs should have a broader presence, one that’s not limited to the digital world. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/sC0EOgk via IFTTT

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said he assumes Feinstein's replacement will be addressed "the same way it has traditionally been handled.” Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images Dianne Feinstein's seat on the Judiciary committee is now empty in the wake of her death. Some fear that Republicans will block Democrats from replacing her — which they could try to do. But several GOP senators told Insider on Friday that they have no interest in doing that. In the wake of Sen. Dianne Feinstein's death , questions are swirling over how the California Democrat's now-empty seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee will be filled. Some commentators have suggested that Republicans will try to block the appointment of a new Democratic senator to the committee, leaving it without a deadlocked 10-10 margin. That would allow the GOP to slow down — though not entirely halt — the confirmation of many of President Joe Biden's judicial nominees. Could Republicans theoretical...

An activist stands next to a sign as they protest in front of the Supreme Court during a rally for student debt cancellation in Washington, DC, on February 28, 2023. ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images The Education Department announced it's moving forward with the broad student-debt relief process. The next step includes negotiations with stakeholders on the relief. The department is focusing on five groups of borrowers as it crafts the new plan. President Joe Biden's Education Department just took the next step on its second attempt to get broad student-debt relief to millions of borrowers. On Friday, the Education Department released a paper outlining what it is considering as it develops its new plan for broad student-loan forgiveness. At the end of June, the Supreme Court struck down Biden's first plan to cancel student debt using the HEROES Act of 2003, which allows the education secretary to waive or modify student-loan balances in connection w...

Welcome back to Chain Reaction. We’re gearing up for the highly anticipated Sam Bankman-Fried trial. As for other news, it’s been an interesting and somewhat slower week for the crypto community. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/kpDovzJ via IFTTT

  AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/Contributor/Getty Images When COVID forced kids into remote school, the city of Las Vegas learned many couldn't get online. A grant helped officials build a private 5G network that connected hundreds of students for free. Now the city is building its network to boost road safety, air quality, trash collection, and more. This article is part of " 5G Playbook ," a series exploring one of our time's most important tech innovations. When the pandemic hit in 2020 and schools and workplaces suddenly shut down, officials in Las Vegas soon realized something: Many Clark County School District students had little or no internet access at home, meaning they couldn't participate in online learning. So with a $2.1 million grant from the federal Economic Development Administration, they acted quickly to accelerate a previously discussed plan to build a private 5G wireless network that students could access for free at home.  "We h...

iPhone designer Jony Ive, left, is reportedly talking to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman about making an AI hardware device. RCA; Kevin Dietsch at Getty Images iPhone designer Jony Ive and ChatGPT-head Sam Altman may be building an AI product together Masayoshi Son, CEO of SoftBank, is also looped into their conversations, The Information reported. It's not yet clear what the device could look like and what the leaders' involvement would entail. Apple might have taken the smartphone spotlight with its recent iPhone 15 announcement , but a new AI-centered device backed by OpenAI's ChatGPT could one day steal the show — and it could happen with one of the fathers of Apple's iconic device. Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, is reportedly in talks with Jony Ive, the designer of the iPhone, about building a new AI hardware product, two sources familiar with the matter told The Information . The potential AI product is still shrouded in mystery. Details have yet to be revealed a...

YouTube today announced an update to its advertiser-friendly guidelines that relaxes some of its rules around controversial issues, including sexual and domestic abuse, abortions, and eating disorders. The changes will allow YouTube creators to monetize their videos on these topics under some circumstances, though not if they go into graphic detail. YouTube monetization policy lead […] from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/3oMub1E via IFTTT

Sierra Space has raised $290 million in a Series B round to scale its Dream Chaser spaceplane and commercial space station projects, bringing its valuation to $5.3 billion. The company has now raised $1.7 billion to date, a record-setting figure for investment for a commercial space company, Sierra said in a statement. The equity round […] from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/lo1NjXn via IFTTT

Taylor Swift at a Kansas City Chiefs football game. Jason Hanna/Getty Images Rumors had been circulating that Taylor Swift was dating Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce. Swift attended a Chiefs game on Sunday and left a huge impact on the NFL. Fanatics, the NFL's top retailer, said  sales of Kelce's jersey surged nearly 400% on Sunday. It is Taylor Swift's world and now even the NFL is living in it. Swift made a somewhat surprising visit to a Kansas City Chiefs game on September 24 as the guest of star tight end Travis Kelce . The pair were later seen leaving the game together, strengthening the rumors that the two have a blossoming relationship . The impact has already been huge. For example, Fanatics, the NFL's top retailer, told the Associated Press that sales of Kelce's jersey surged nearly 400% on Sunday alone. Sites like ours are even helping all the new fans learn football's rules . A Kansas City Chiefs fan holds up a sign asking if Tay...

“Honestly, and I really can say this with a straight face, we create jobs. Because there’s so much shit to do to actually put these use cases into production, that a lot of our customers can’t fill those jobs fast enough,” May Habib, CEO at enterprise-targeted AI tool Writer, told me onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt […] from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/PxbfYOa via IFTTT

Brandon Southern is a senior leader at Amazon. Brandon Southern Brandon Southern is a senior leader at Amazon and former head of analytics at eBay and GameStop. He writes that hiring managers have to be cautious when hiring because their reputations are on the line.  Southern also says that it's sometimes impossible to replace a bad hire.  This article is part of Talent Insider , a series containing expert advice to help business owners tackle a range of hiring challenges. As a senior leader at Amazon and a people leader for the last 12 years of my career, I've had the opportunity to interview hundreds of candidates.  While I don't believe that the interview processes that I've been involved with have been lengthy or complex, I frequently see social media comments and posts complaining about lengthy interview processes. Some of these posts will cite anything more than two interviews or an hour as being excessively lengthy.  While there are some interview...

President Joe Biden. AP Photo/Patrick Semansky The Biden reelection campaign sees Florida as a potential state on their expansion map, per WaPo. But donors remain skeptical of Florida being a part of Biden's reelection calculus, per the paper. According to WaPo, there were "deep eye-rolls" among donors when Florida was brought up during a presentation. For deep-pocketed Democratic donors, it used to be all about Florida. Florida, Florida, Florida. But that conventional wisdom has shifted dramatically in recent years. As the onetime swing state has taken on an increasingly red tilt — backing Donald Trump for president in both 2016 and 2020, fueling the political ascent of Gov. Ron DeSantis, and electing Republicans up-and-down the ballot in 2022 — donors want to see the party consistently compete in more favorable states like Arizona and North Carolina. Still, that's not stopping President Joe Biden's 2024 campaign staff from trying to win the state ne...

Former Wagner commander Andrei Medvedev is pictured in court in Oslo, Norway April 25, 2023. Gwladys Fouche/Reuters An ex-Wagner group commander was shot at and arrested by Norwegian police, Reuters reported.  Police said Andrei Medvedev was trying to sneak back into Russia illegally. Medvedev abandoned Russia for Norway in January, claiming he feared for his life. Authorities say a former commander of the Wagner group was arrested while trying to cross the Norway-Russia border. Andrei Medvedev was shot at and arrested after authorities suspected he trying to cross the Russian border at an undesignated entry point on Saturday, Reuters reported. Medvedev's lawyer, Norwegian attorney Brynjulf Risnes, told Reuters his client was arrested following a misunderstanding.  "He was up there to see if he could find the place where he crossed (into Norway in January). He was stopped when he was in a taxi. He was never near the border," Risnes told the publication. ...

Republican Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina testifies during a House Rules Committee hearing on Capitol Hill. Mariam Zuhaib/AP Republican Rep. Jeff Duncan had multiple affairs, his wife says in a divorce filing. Duncan has promoted himself as a "strong advocate" for family values. His wife said he also portrayed himself as a "dutiful husband" while being unfaithful.  A tale as old as time is playing out yet again : A politician who promotes the importance of family has abandoned them. This time, it appears to be US Rep. Jeff Duncan, a Republican in South Carolina. Duncan's wife, Melody Duncan, filed for divorce last week, citing her husband's multiple affairs. Melody Duncan, his wife of more than 30 years and mother to his three sons, accused her husband of at least two affairs in the divorce filing, which was first obtained and published by the Index-Journal , a local newspaper in Greenwood. Duncan has been in office for 13 years and has long...

Former President Donald Trump, left, and President Joe Biden. AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File; AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows Trump leading Biden by a 10-point margin (52%-42%). But WaPo suggested the survey may be an outlier after examining several subgroup results. Most national polls taken in recent months have showed a close race between Biden and Trump. As President Joe Biden ramps up his 2024 reelection bid, he continues to face a skeptical electorate, with the incumbent receiving low marks on key issues including the economy and immigration. And with Biden poised to face former President Donald Trump in a potential rematch of their 2020 contest, the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll showed Trump leading the president by 10 points (52%-42%) — a result that even the newspaper suggests may be an outlier. A Fox News national poll released earlier this month showed Trump leading Biden 48%-46% among registered voters, while a recent Qu...

A fatigued Ukrainian soldier in Izyum, Ukraine, on September 28, 2022. Scott Peterson/Getty Images Russia expected a swift victory against Ukraine when it first  invaded the country last February. A combination of strategic mistakes and strong Ukrainian resistance dashed those hopes. Russia has since improved its weapons and defense, setting the stage for a long, deadly war.  When Russia first invaded Ukraine last February, Moscow shocked much of the West and the world when the country managed to fumble an apparent military advantage. Ukraine's top military brass has said that Russia had 10 to 15 times more artillery , while CNN reported that Russian forces outnumbered Ukraine's foot soldiers by more than two to one. But strategic mistakes and an unexpectedly strong resistance from Ukraine dashed President Vladimir Putin's hopes of a swift victory. A senior US defense official acknowledged last February that Russia has been frustrated with its performance. He ...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov holds a press conference during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the United Nations headquarters on September 23, 2023 in New York City. David Dee Delgado/Getty Images Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Saturday the US is "directly at war" with Moscow. His statement comes after the White House pledged $600 million in additional aid to Ukraine. The US has pledged more than $100 billion in aid packages to Ukraine since the invasion began. According to Russian officials, the United States' continued support of Ukraine puts the country "directly at war" with Moscow. "You can call this whatever you want to call this, but they are directly at war with us. We can call this a hybrid war, but that doesn't change the reality," CNN reported Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Saturday after being asked by a journalist when the US will be considered to be directly involved in the ...

Max Verstappen during final practice before the F1 Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka. Mark Thompson/Getty Images When you buy through our links, Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more It's an early race today, but we have everything you need to watch a free F1 live stream of the Japan GP at Suzuka from anywhere in the world. We've tested plenty of international free F1 live stream options this season and can even help you watch one even if your country isn't showing the race today. So take a look at the guide below for everything you need on how to watch the Japan F1 live stream for free from anywhere. See also: How to watch NFL without cable | How to watch Solheim Cup online | Free Champions Leauge Live stream For anyone outside the free live stream countries listed below, geo-restrictions will block you from watching online unless you use a VPN to unlock them . A VPN (virtual private network) will help simulate your device's location to be in ...