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Royals, Maga and tech CEOs: What we learned from state banquet guest list

BBC News

Beneath gilded portraits and suits of armour in Windsor Castle, 160 guests wined and dined at a lavish banquet to fete US President Donald Trump's unprecedented second state visit to the UK on Wednesday evening. Along with the impeccable table settings, three-course meal and custom cocktail, who was there and, just as importantly, who was seated next to who is carefully planned, since the event is as much about diplomacy as it is about fine dining. This year's guest list was conspicuously missing screen stars or celebrity faces, with not even royal perennials like Sir David Beckham or Sir Elton John attending. Instead, the list was mostly royals, tech and finance executives, and politicos from both sides of the Atlantic. From Trump's seat of honour at the centre of the table, next to his host King Charles III, those up and down the table ranged from lesser-known but influential White House players to professional golfers.


Right-Wing Influencers Are Turning to Foreign Affairs

WIRED

Conservative creators are increasingly focusing on foreign policy. Wearing combat helmets and protective vests, some of the US's most popular right-wing creators toured what they called an aid distribution hub in Gaza late last month--a trip carefully funded by Israel's foreign ministry. By way of the nonprofit Israel365, the Israeli government funneled at least $70,000 to 15 MAGA creators to bring them to Gaza's humanitarian sites, the Western Wall, and the Golan Heights, among other areas. "It sits here to spoil and be stolen," Xaviaer DuRousseau captioned a photo of himself standing in front of what he claimed was food aid on X last month . "How is that Israel's fault?"


Where Did the Royals Go So Wrong With Kate Middleton? It's Been Years in the Making.

Slate

This article was originally featured in Foreign Policy, the magazine of global politics and ideas. A family snap of the Princess of Wales with her three children has dominated headlines and group chats since its release on U.K. Mother's Day last weekend. Princess Catherine, whom the palace says is recovering from a January abdominal surgery, is known chiefly for never putting a foot wrong during nearly two decades of intense public scrutiny--first as the girlfriend of Prince William, then as a wife and mother to future kings, and an advocate for uncontroversial but important causes, such as early childhood development. Yet, even for a woman defined by her seeming perfection--Hilary Mantel once wrote that the former duchess appeared to have been designed by a committee and built by craftsmen--the Mother's Day photo of Catherine and her family was judged to be a little too perfect. The uncanny valley of the photo was prime territory for conspiracy theories, already circulating, that the princess is missing or perhaps even dead.


Meta's Chatbot Ingested My Books, So I Asked It What It Thought of Them. What I Learned Was Deeply Worrying.

Slate

When I learned that Meta's programmers downloaded 183,000 books for a database to teach the company's generative A.I. machines how to write, I was curious whether any of my own books had been fed into the crusher. Alex Reisner of the Atlantic has provided a handy search tool--type in an author's name, out comes all of his or her books that the LLaMA used. I typed "Fred Kaplan" and found that three of my six books (1959, Dark Territory, and The Insurgents) had been assimilated into the digital Borg. My first reaction, like that of many other authors, was outrage at the violation. However, my second reaction--also, I assume, like that of many other authors--was outrage that the program didn't include my other three books (The Bomb, Daydream Believers, and The Wizards of Armageddon). Were there really 182,997 books that were better than those three?


Statement by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on the New U.S.-EU Artificial Intelligence Collaboration

#artificialintelligence

Today, the United States and the European Union signed an administrative arrangement to bring together experts from across the U.S. and Europe to further research on artificial intelligence (AI), computing, and related privacy protecting technologies, as underscored in the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) commitment. This collaborative effort will drive responsible advancements in AI to address major global challenges with a joint development model and integrated research to deliver benefits to our societies through five key areas of focus: Extreme Weather and Climate Forecasting, Emergency Response Management, Health and Medicine Improvements, Electric Grid Optimization, and Agriculture Optimization. Together, we are confident the results of our research will extend beyond our partnership to benefit additional international partners and the global science community. Today's announcement also builds on the vision set forth in the Declaration for the Future of the Internet (DFI) for an open, free, reliable, and secure Internet and digital technologies around the world. We look forward to deepening our cooperation with the EU through this initiative.


Lithuanian Foreign Minister: 'No greater threat' than Russia, seeks to preserve 'global rules-based order'

FOX News

Lithuania's Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, talked with Fox News Digital about Russia, China and the'global rules-based order' on the 20th anniversary of his country joining NATO. Lithuania commemorated its entry into NATO this last week and its long-standing partnership with the U.S. as leaders look ahead to the increasingly complex security landscape developing around the world. President George W. Bush visited the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius 20 years ago to welcome the country into the still-growing NATO alliance, applauding the character of member states to "stand in the face of evil, to have the courage to always face danger." "President [George W.] Bush made the most famous speech any American has ever made in Lithuania exactly 20 years ago," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. "That was even before we were a member of NATO, and it was probably the most important security guarantee that we got before Article Five started covering us with its umbrella."


'Your World' on Russian missile strike near Poland-Ukraine border

FOX News

Former US Ambassador to the OSCE discusses Russia's efforts to draw China into war with Ukraine on'Your World.' This is a rush transcript from "Your World," March 14, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: All right, thank you, Martha. We are on top of the same developments you have been following right now, a little too close for comfort. That's the big story, as Russian airstrikes get very, very close to the Polish border. Try a little more than six miles, all of this as we're getting a dispute from the Russians, that they have never called on China for military or economic help. But there are some signs that is not quite the case, and the message we have for China, if it entertains doing just that, and all of this as President Zelenskyy is prepared to address Congress, albeit virtually, on Wednesday. We have got you covered, including a big, big drop in oil today. But that did not allay concerns that inflation is still a big problem. We will get into that in just a second. We are learning today more about the Russian advance on this city, both from the air and from the ground. We have heard the air raid sirens going off today in the Ukrainian capital, and that shelling getting closer and closer. You can see in this video this morning one of those Russian shells hit an apartment building, killing at least two people and injuring nearly a dozen others, the destruction quite widespread as firefighters rushed into the building trying to look for survivors. And a public bus was nearby. Thankfully, it was empty at the time, but it really shows you what the Russians are doing to Ukrainian towns and cities across this country. In the southern city of Mariupol, this drone video showing the pure devastation that Russian forces are inflicting on the civilian population there, indiscriminate firing on civilian areas and this Black smoke rising up across the horizon.


US foreign policy in 2021: Key moments in Biden's first term

Al Jazeera

The administration of President Joe Biden entered office on January 20, 2021, pledging a broad-strokes overhaul of how Washington interacts with the world, promising to be a distinct counterpoint to the disruptive, go-it-alone posture of former President Donald Trump, and tying stability and prosperity at home to US interests abroad in his so-called "foreign policy for the middle class". As 2021 ends, the administration has indeed sought to re-up relations with key allies and position itself as a central player in combating global crises, but has faced criticism for failing to live up to vows of a human rights-leading foreign policy and for what some have described as an over-emphasis on sweeping ideological differences at a time when global cooperation -- particularly between superpowers -- is sorely needed. "2021 was a year of transition. President Biden replaced Trump's impetuousness with pragmatism and realism. There is a greater understanding of what US policy actually is," PJ Crowley, the former US assistant secretary of state for public affairs under President Barack Obama, told Al Jazeera.


US Eyes Iran Over Ship 'Hijacking' As Tensions Rise

International Business Times

The United States said Wednesday it suspected Iranian involvement in the alleged hijacking of a ship in the Gulf of Oman as it vowed to work with Britain to respond to an earlier deadly attack it blamed on Tehran. Oman said that the Asphalt Princess, an asphalt and bitumen tanker, was involved in "a hijacking incident in international waters" and that it deployed aircraft and naval ships. The United States and Britain said that the murky incident in the Gulf of Oman concluded after one day, with the alleged hijackers leaving the Panamanian-flagged vessel. "We believe that these personnel were Iranian, but we're not in a position to confirm this at this time," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters in Washington. "Iran has undertaken a pattern of belligerence in terms of proxy attacks in the region and of course, these maritime attacks," Price said, while adding that circumstances in the latest incident were "still emerging".


The Role of Social Movements, Coalitions, and Workers in Resisting Harmful Artificial Intelligence and Contributing to the Development of Responsible AI

von Struensee, Susan

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

There is mounting public concern over the influence that AI based systems has in our society. Coalitions in all sectors are acting worldwide to resist hamful applications of AI. From indigenous people addressing the lack of reliable data, to smart city stakeholders, to students protesting the academic relationships with sex trafficker and MIT donor Jeffery Epstein, the questionable ethics and values of those heavily investing in and profiting from AI are under global scrutiny. There are biased, wrongful, and disturbing assumptions embedded in AI algorithms that could get locked in without intervention. Our best human judgment is needed to contain AI's harmful impact. Perhaps one of the greatest contributions of AI will be to make us ultimately understand how important human wisdom truly is in life on earth.