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Who is Gerhard Schroeder, Putin's pick for Ukraine peace talks mediation?

Al Jazeera

What are Russia's gains from the Iran war? 'We are not losers; we are winners' Who is Gerhard Schroeder, Putin's pick for Ukraine peace talks mediation? Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder could coordinate talks with the European Union to secure a peace deal in Ukraine - a proposal met with scepticism by EU officials. European Council President Antonio Costa said recently he believed there was "potential" for the EU to negotiate with Russia and to discuss the future of Europe's security architecture. A day later, the Russian leader said the four-year-old war may be "coming to an end", adding that he was ready to hold direct talks with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Moscow or a neutral country. Speaking after Saturday's celebrations for Victory Day, which marks Russia's victory over Nazi Germany in 1945 at the end of World War II, Putin added he would be willing to meet Zelenskyy only once the terms of a peace agreement had already been settled.


Fears of an AI breakthrough force the U.S. and China to talk

Los Angeles Times

Things to Do in L.A. Fears of an AI breakthrough force the U.S. and China to talk Quiet discussions have taken place ahead of President Trump's state visit to China this week to explore reviving talks on an emergency channel, officials told The Times. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here . Discussions have taken place ahead of President Trump's state visit to China to explore reviving talks on an emergency channel for AI matters between Washington and Beijing, officials say. Any talks between the United States and China over AI regulations will be fraught with suspicion and risk.


Robustness of Refugee-Matching Gains to Off-Policy Evaluation Choices

arXiv.org Machine Learning

Previous research has investigated the potential of refugee matching for boosting refugee outcomes, first considered by Bansak et al. (2018). This paper demonstrates the stability of counterfactual impact evaluation results in the context of refugee matching in the United States using a range of off-policy evaluation methods. In order to estimate counterfactual impact and test the robustness of our results, we employ several evaluation methods, including inverse probability weighting (IPW) and multiple variants of augmented inverse probability weighting (AIPW). We also consider various modifications, including alternative modeling architectures and different assignment procedures. The impact estimates remain consistent in magnitude in all scenarios as well as statistically significant in most cases. Furthermore, the estimates are also consistent with the results originally presented in Bansak et al. (2018).


Nonparametric estimation of time-varying network connections by multi-stage smoothing

arXiv.org Machine Learning

Time-varying networks arise in a variety of ubiquitous applications, such as functional brain connectivity [Thompson et al., 2017, Zhang et al., 2020], gene and genomic regulatory processes [Zhang and Cao, 2017, Bartlett et al., 2021], and social or economic environments [Snijders et al., 2010, Kolar et al., 2010]. In these contexts, measurements collected at different time points record how observed connections fluctuate, forming a sequence of network snapshots that reflect the temporal evolution of the underlying system. For example, fMRI studies yield time-indexed measurements of activity across brain regions, from which researchers construct connectivity networks that change over the scanning period [Bassett et al., 2011, Rubinov and Sporns, 2010]. Similarly, in political systems such as the U.S. Senate, legislative cosponsorship records give rise to network snapshots that naturally vary across sessions [Fowler, 2006, Kirkland and Gross, 2014]. General reviews of time-varying network analysis, including methodological developments and representative applications, are provided in Holme and Saram aki [2012] and Kim et al. [2018].


Adaptive auditing of AI systems with anytime-valid guarantees

arXiv.org Machine Learning

A major bottleneck in characterizing the failure modes of generative AI systems is the cost and time of annotation and evaluation. Consequently, adaptive testing paradigms have gained popularity, where one opportunistically decides which cases and how many to annotate based on past results. While this framework is highly practical, its extreme flexibility makes it difficult to draw statistically rigorous conclusions, as it violates classical assumptions: the number of observations is typically limited (often 10 to 50 cases) and decisions regarding sampling and stopping are made in the midst of data collection rather than based a pre-specified rule. To characterize what statistical inferences can be drawn from highly adaptive audits, we introduce a hypothesis testing framework from two 'dueling' perspectives: (i) the model's null that asserts there is no failure mode with performance below a target threshold versus (ii) the auditor's null that asserts they have a sampling strategy that will uncover a failure mode. Leveraging Safe Anytime-Valid Inference (SAVI), we formalize the auditor as conducting 'testing by betting', which translates into simultaneous e-processes for testing the dueling null hypotheses. Furthermore, if the auditor is sufficiently powerful, we prove that these two hypotheses are asymptotically inverses of each other, in that passage of a stringent audit does in fact certify the AI system as being globally robust. Empirically, we demonstrate that our proposed testing procedures maintain anytime-valid type-I error control, outperform pre-specified testing methods, and can reach statistically rigorous conclusions sometimes with as few as 20 observations.


Trouble brewing: Britain's beloved cup of tea could soon taste more BITTER thanks to climate change, campaigners warn

Daily Mail - Science & tech

Death of Alabama woman, 22, 'accidentally' shot in chest by boyfriend's dad is ruled a HOMICIDE Two small airlines join forces to create America's newest budget carrier after Spirit collapse leaves millions scrambling Horrifying final days of killer dad Chris Watts' pregnant wife before she was slaughtered alongside their daughters. Read all the chilling texts and receipts in full for first time: 'My eyes burn from crying' I'm a pastor who attended a secret UFO disclosure meeting. We saw images of'translucent beings' that chilled me to the bone... the files could fulfil a dark biblical prophecy Former NFL player Josh Mauro's tragic cause of death revealed after league was left'devastated' by ex-Cardinals and Giants man's sudden passing at 35 Cheerful Christian mom is pillar of Florida community and loves going on TV... but she has a childhood secret so evil that she stuttered with shock when confronted with it Taxpayers to foot Trump's $1.7 BILLION bill as President sues his own government: 'I'm paying myself' How I lost 3 STONE in 3 WEEKS. I've reversed pre-diabetes and no longer need a knee op: DONAL MACINTYRE's extraordinary investigation Popular megachurch in crisis as senior pastor suddenly quits... as bosses furiously DENY sex scandal Husband of doomed dive group leader says'something must have happened down there' as mystery surrounds why the five attempted to explore'cave so deep even divers with best equipment don't try' Greeks savage Kimberly Guilfoyle as Trump's ambassador opens McDonald's in country celebrated for world-class food Trump touts'fantastic' China trade win on Air Force One... but Wall Street is punishing the President I'm godfather to Candace Owens' daughter and Charlie Kirk was my friend... so I know the real reason she's attacking Erika - and I'll never publicly condemn her Wealthy dad'snarled the worst thing a parent could say' to younger daughter before he allegedly executed wife outside their gated community home during nightmare divorce Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe reunite for son's NYU graduation... as Kate Hudson cheers on her boy at same ceremony with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell'How do you live with that?' Disgraced Eric Swalwell's'blindsided' wife dresses for revenge... as friends reveal brutal toll sex assault scandal has had on young mom Judge declares another mistrial in disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape case Can't lose weight no matter what you do? These are the 7 surprising reasons why, including'healthy' hacks actually making you put on pounds.


Drone delivers 2 pizzas in minutes

FOX News

Flytrex has partnered with Little Caesars to deliver full pizza orders by drone in Wylie, Texas, with food arriving in roughly four and a half minutes.


Russia kills three Ukrainians in 24 hours, accuses Kyiv of violating truce

Al Jazeera

What are Russia's gains from the Iran war? 'We are not losers; we are winners' At least three people have been killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine in the past 24 hours despite a three-day ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump that came into effect on May 9. Regional authorities on Sunday reported one death each in Ukraine's Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kherson regions. Governor Oleksandr Prokudin confirmed the death on Telegram, saying the woman had been struck while walking down the street. Seven people, including a child, have also been injured across the region in drone or artillery attacks since early Saturday, he added. Ivan Fedorov, the governor of the southeastern Zaporizhia region, said one person had been killed and three others injured by artillery and drone attacks in the past 24 hours. In the northeastern Kharkiv region, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said eight people, including two children, were injured in drone attacks on the city of Kharkiv and nearby settlements.


US-Iran ceasefire under strain as Gulf states report drone attacks

Al Jazeera

How well do you know Iran? A fragile ceasefire in the US-Israel war on Iran is coming under growing strain as several Gulf countries have reported drone attacks. Qatar said on Sunday that a drone struck a cargo ship in Qatari waters, sparking a fire, while Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates said they repelled drone attacks. Qatar's Ministry of Defence said the freighter had been arriving in the country's waters from the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, and was hit by a drone northeast of the port of Mesaieed. "The vessel continued its journey toward Mesaieed Port after the fire was brought under control," the ministry said. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said a bulk carrier reported being struck by an "unknown projectile", and a small fire had been extinguished, but there were no casualties from the incident.


Drone strikes ship near Qatar; South Korea reports attack on one of its vessels

The Japan Times

A member of NOPO, Iran's counter-terrorism special force, stands guard under a billboard of Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, on April 23. Doha - A drone struck a commercial vessel in Qatari waters on Sunday, the country's defense ministry said, after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards threatened to target U.S. vessels in the region. Arch-foes the United States and Iran have been clashing in the Gulf and trading accusations in recent days, as Washington waits for Tehran to respond to its latest negotiating position. A commercial cargo vessel in the country's territorial waters -- northeast of Mesaieed Port -- coming from Abu Dhabi, was targeted by a drone on Sunday morning. The incident resulted in a limited fire on board the vessel, with no reported injuries, the Qatari ministry said on X.