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AI safety is hard to steer with science in flux, US official says‘New era in travel’: airports, airlines continue to be sweet spot for biometrics

KABUL, Dec 11 — For Saja, studying nursing at a healthcare institute in Kabul was her last lifeline to make something of herself after women were banned from universities in Afghanistan two years ago. But the Taliban government has crushed this ambition by ordering, according to multiple sources, the exclusion of Afghan women from medical training, sparking panic across institutions. When she heard the news, Saja, who had been at university before women were barred, said it felt like “reliving the same nightmare”. “This was my last hope to do something, to become something,” said Saja, not her real name. “Everything has been taken away from us for the crime of being a girl.” The authorities have made no official comment or confirmation, nor have they responded to the numerous condemnations and calls to reverse a decision that further blocks women’s access to education. Since their 2021 return to power, the Taliban government has imposed reams of restrictions on women, making Afghanistan the only country to ban girls from education after primary school. Directors and employees of health training centres have told AFP they were informed in recent days of the order, issued by the Taliban supreme leader and passed down verbally by the health ministry, to expel women students until further notice. Institutes across the country — which many women had turned to after the university ban — were given a few days to organise final exams. But without an explicit announcement or document clarifying the rules, confusion reigns. Some institutions told AFP they would operate as normal until they received written orders, while others closed immediately or scrambled to hold exams before shuttering. “Everyone is confused, and no one is sharing what is really happening,” said Saja, who was in her first year at a private institute. “We have been given two or three exams each day... even though we already finished our exams a few months back,” said the 22-year-old, adding they had to pay fees to sit the exams. 35,000 women students “We received a lot of concerned messages from students and teachers wanting to know what is going on and asking ‘is there any hope?’” said the director of a Kabul private institute with 1,100 students, of which 700 were women. “No one is happy,” he told AFP from his office steps away from women’s classrooms, where the last lesson on the board advised how to manage stress and depression in patients. According to a source within the health ministry, 35,000 women are currently students in some 10 public and more than 150 private institutes offering two-year diplomas in subjects including nursing, midwifery, dentistry and laboratory work. The Norwegian Afghanistan Committee (NAC) non-governmental organisation, which trains 588 women in institutes managed in collaboration with the health ministry, was verbally informed classes were “temporarily suspended”. This has to be taken “equally seriously as a written document”, said NAC country director Terje Magnusson Watterdal, adding that “there are a lot of people high up within the current government that are quite opposed to this decision”. He hopes, at the minimum, public institutes will reopen to women. International organisations like the United Nations, which has said Afghan women are victims of a “gender apartheid”, have already warned of devastating consequences of the plan, in a country where maternal and infant mortality are among the world’s highest. If implemented, the reported new ban “will undoubtedly lead to unnecessary suffering, illness, and possibly deaths of Afghan women and children, now and in future generations, which could amount to femicide”, UN experts warned Monday. ‘Taken everything from us’ Midwifery students are especially passionate about their studies, according to Magnusson Watterdal. “So many of these young women have been motivated to become a midwife because they have lost a mother or an aunt or a sister in childbirth,” he said. “It’s not just a profession that you choose, it’s a vocation. So, of course, there’s great desperation” among students and staff. Small protests have been held in parts of Afghanistan, according to sources and images circulated on social media. Assal, another student using a pseudonym, received an expedited diploma last week, but has little hope of finding a job in a country where unemployment is widespread and opportunities for women are increasingly limited. “I wanted to practise medicine and study further,” the 20-year-old told AFP. “They had already taken everything from us. Next thing we won’t even be allowed to breathe.” — AFPLeeds 3 Middlesbrough 1: Wober's woe, James relief and who will Ampadu replace?

In a surprise move, Xerox has announced a deal to acquire Lexington, Kentucky-based Lexmark, an acquisition that will create one of the largest printer makers. Xerox said it has agreed to acquire Lexmark from a conglomerate of companies, including Ninestar, that have owned the printer manufacturer since 2016 in a deal worth some $1.5 billion. The merger of Xerox and Lexmark will create a powerhouse printer company, one capable of challenging industry leader HP. “Our acquisition of Lexmark will bring together two industry-leading companies with shared values, complementary strengths, and a deep commitment to advancing the print industry to create one stronger organization,” , chief executive officer at Xerox. “By combining our capabilities, we will be better positioned to drive long-term profitable growth and serve our clients, furthering our Reinvention.” Xerox says the acquisition will improve its global presence, as well as help it compete in the growing A4 color market. The transaction will also strengthen the ability of Xerox to serve clients in the large, growing A4 color market and diversify its distribution and geographic presence, including the APAC region. The new organization will serve more than 200,000 clients in 170 countries with 125 manufacturing and distribution facilities in 16 countries. Combined, Lexmark and Xerox have a top five global share in each of the entry, mid and production print markets and are key players in the large, stable managed print services market. “Lexmark has a proud history of serving our customers with world-class technology, solutions and services, and we are excited to join Xerox and expand our reach with shared talent and a stronger portfolio of offerings,” said Allen Waugerman, Lexmark president and chief executive officer. “Lexmark and Xerox are two great companies that together will be even greater.” “Our shared values and vision are expected to streamline operations and drive efficiencies, taking the best of both companies to make it easier to do business with Xerox,” added Bandrowczak. Xerox went on to outline four specific benefits of the acquisition. The Xerox board has already unanimously approved the deal, which is still subject to regulatory approval and approval by Ninestar shareholders.Suchir Balaji, a 26-year-old former OpenAI researcher turned whistleblower, died in San Francisco on November 26 in a suspected suicide, according to local authorities. The San Francisco Police Department said they found Balaji dead inside his apartment on Buchanan Street after being called to the property for a well-being check at around 1 p.m. on November 26, The Mercury News reported. The past few years have seen dramatic improvements in the capabilities of AI-powered chatbots, like OpenAI's ChatGPT , which rely on large language models to produce content for users. However, the process has also been controversial with some publishers accusing OpenAI of using copyrighted works without permission, and a number of legal cases are currently ongoing. Newsweek contacted OpenAI for comment on Saturday via email outside of regular office hours. The San Francisco medical examiner's office said it determined Balaji's cause of death as suicide. Earlier this week, police said there is "currently no evidence of foul play." Balaji joined OpenAI in 2020 as a researcher, but by 2022 was becoming increasingly concerned about the company's attitude towards copyright law. In an October 23 post on X, formerly Twitter , he said : "I was at OpenAI for nearly 4 years and worked on ChatGPT for the last 1.5 of them. I initially didn't know much about copyright, fair use, etc. but became curious after seeing all the lawsuits filed against GenAI companies. "When I tried to understand the issue better, I eventually came to the conclusion that fair use seems like a pretty implausible defense for a lot of generative AI products, for the basic reason that they can create substitutes that compete with the data they're trained on." Balaji also shared an interview he gave to The New York Times , which is currently suing OpenAI over alleged copyright infringement of the newspaper. In the interview, Balaji said he initially thought "A.I. was a thing that could be used to solve unsolvable problems, like curing diseases and stopping aging." However, over time, he said he soured on OpenAI's position on copyright law, concluding: "If you believe what I believe, you have to just leave the company." Writing on his website, Balaji said he didn't believe the fair use copyright defense was applicable to what OpenAI was doing with ChatGPT, though he noted that "similar arguments could be made for many generative AI products in a wide variety of domains." Speaking in defense of its business practices in a recent court filing, OpenAI said: "The models learn, as we all do, from what has come before. "The fair use defense exists for precisely that reason: to encourage and allow the development of new ideas that build on earlier ones." On November 7, U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon in New York dismissed one lawsuit against OpenAI which had been brought by media outlets Raw Story and AlterNet. OpenAI was founded in 2015 by a group of technology enthusiasts including Sam Altman and Elon Musk , who became its co-chairs. Musk left the company in 2018 after a disagreement about its strategy, and in February 2024 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text "988" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.

Party City to close its stores as company files for bankruptcy LOS ANGELES (AP) — Party City announced that it's going to “wind down” its retail and wholesale operations as it prepares to shutter nearly 700 stores nationwide. The company said Saturday it has also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection "to maximize value for the benefit of the company’s stakeholders.” The New Jersey-based retailer said it will keep more than 95% of its 12,000 employees to help with the process of closing down. Customers have flocked to Party City for Halloween costumes, favors for children’s birthday parties and decorations for New Year’s Eve celebrations for nearly 40 years. It has faced growing competition from Walmart and Target and from occasion-based pop-up stores such as Spirit Halloween. A million taxpayers will soon receive up to $1,400 from the IRS. Who are they and why now? Approximately 1 million taxpayers will automatically receive special payments of up to $1,400 from the IRS in the coming weeks. The money will be directly deposited into eligible people’s bank accounts or sent in the mail by a paper check. Most people shouldn't get their hopes up about receiving the cash. The IRS says it’s distributing about $2.4 billion to taxpayers who failed to claim a Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax returns after missing one of the COVID stimulus payments or receiving less than the full amount. The IRS says most taxpayers eligible for the federal stimulus payments received them. Bluesky finds with growth comes growing pains — and bots Bluesky has seen its user base soar since the U.S. presidential election, boosted by people seeking refuge from Elon Musk’s X, or wanting an alternative to Meta’s Threads and its algorithms. The platform grew out of the company then known as Twitter and was eventually intended to replace it. While this is still very much a pie in the sky, Bluesky’s growth trajectory could make it a serious competitor to other social platforms. With growth, though, comes growing pains. It’s not just human users who’ve been flocking to Bluesky but also bots, including those designed to create partisan division or direct users to junk websites. 'Sonic 3' bests 'Mufasa: The Lion King' at the box office NEW YORK (AP) — In the holiday season battle of big-budget family movies, Paramount Pictures’ “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” sped past the Walt Disney Co.’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” to take the top spot at the box office. The results came just ahead of the lucrative Christmas corridor in theaters. According to studio estimates, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” debuted with $62 million in ticket sales over the weekend. “Mufasa,” however, was humbled in its opening weekend, coming in notably shy of expectations. It returned just $35 million in domestic ticket sales. Amazon and Starbucks workers are on strike. Trump might have something to do with it Amazon delivery drivers and Starbucks baristas are on strike in a handful of U.S. cities as they seek to exert pressure on the two major companies to recognize them as unionized employees or to meet demands for an inaugural labor contract. Strikes during busy periods like the holidays can help unions exercise leverage during negotiations or garner support from sympathetic consumers. One expert says he thinks workers at both companies are “desperate” to make progress before President-elect Donald Trump can appoint a Republican majority to the National Labor Relations Board. Workers at Starbucks, Amazon and some other prominent consumer brands are fighting for their first contracts after several locations voted to unionize. Farmers are still reeling months after Hurricane Helene ravaged crops across the South LYONS, Ga. (AP) — Farmers in Georgia are still reeling more than two months after Hurricane Helene blew away cotton, destroyed ripened squash and cucumbers and uprooted pecan trees and timber. Agribusinesses in other Southern states saw costly damage as well. The University of Georgia estimates the September storm inflicted $5.5 billion in direct losses and indirect costs in Georgia alone. In rural Toombs County, Chris Hopkins just finished harvesting his ravaged cotton crop and figures he lost half of it, costing him about $430,000. Poultry grower Jeffrey Pridgen in Georgia's Coffee County had four of his 12 chicken houses destroyed and others badly damaged. Farmers say more government disaster assistance is needed. Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI’s strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products. But he grew disillusioned with the company and told The Associated Press this fall he would “try to testify” in copyright infringement cases against it. Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge shows price pressures eased last month WASHINGTON (AP) — An inflation gauge that is closely watched by the Federal Reserve barely rose last month in a sign that price pressures cooled after two months of sharp gains. Prices rose just 0.1% from October to November. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, prices also ticked up just 0.1%, after two months of outsize 0.3% gains. The milder inflation figures arrived two days after Federal Reserve officials, led by Chair Jerome Powell, rocked financial markets by revealing that they now expect to cut their key interest rate just two times in 2025, down from four in their previous estimate. Albania to close TikTok for a year blaming it for promoting violence among children TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania’s prime minister says the government will shut down video service TikTok for one year, blaming it for inciting violence and bullying, especially among children. Albanian authorities held 1,300 meetings with teachers and parents following the stabbing death of a teenager in mid-November by another teenager following a quarrel that started on TikTok. Prime Minister Edi Rama, speaking at a meeting with teachers and parents, said TikTok “would be fully closed for all. ... There will be no TikTok in the Republic of Albania.” Rama says the ban will begin sometime next year. Albanian children comprise the largest group of TikTok users in the country, according to domestic researchers. Stock market today: Wall Street rises to turn a dismal week into just a bad one NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose to turn what would have been one of the market’s worst weeks of the year into just a pretty bad one. The S&P 500 rallied 1.1% Friday to shave its loss for the week down to 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped nearly 500 points, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1%. A report said a measure of inflation the Federal Reserve likes to use was slightly lower last month than expected. It’s an encouraging signal after the Fed shocked markets Wednesday by saying worries about inflation could keep it from cutting interest rates in 2025 as much as earlier thought.