View time: 2 min 44
Level : Advanced
Author: natixis-ezine
Baltimore bridge collapse: Who will pay for the destroyed bridge, harmed businesses and lost lives?
Read time : 3 mins
Level : Advanced
By REBECCA BOONE and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press
The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland is a multi-layered tragedy: For the families and friends of those killed or presumed dead, it’s a profound and personal loss. For businesses that rely on the Port of Baltimore, it’s an economic nightmare.
And for the federal courts, it will soon become a balance of dollars and facts, with a network of insurance companies expected to foot at least some of the bill.
The disaster happened early Tuesday when a cargo ship lost power and rammed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. Eight people were on the highway bridge when it collapsed. Two were rescued. The bodies of two more were recovered, and four remain missing and are presumed dead.
The wreckage closed the Port of Baltimore, a major shipping port, potentially costing the area’s economy hundreds millions of dollars in lost labor income alone over the next month, according to the economic analysis company Implan. Continue reading
Warm winter brings early allergy season to much of the U.S. How to protect yourself, according to science.
View time : 1 min 04
Level : Intermediate
As Food Costs Rise, More and More Americans Are Looking To Their Yards To Save Money in 2024
Read time : 4 mins
Level : Intermediate
By Adriana Copaceanu | Wealth of Geeks undefined
Food prices across the board are predicted to increase by 1.3%, according to the latest consumer pricing analysis from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Restaurant dining will see the largest increase – an average of 4.7% and may go as high as 6.2%.
As food costs rise in 2024, even more pennies are squeezed from our monthly budgets. More and more Americans are turning to their own backyards to offset the cost of eating. Planting a garden can save you hundreds of dollars, and for some families, that adds up to thousands of dollars in savings annually.
New Gardener Success
A recent study from Axiom showed that 69.7% of people polled said they would plant more and expand their gardens in 2024. Continue reading
Game Changer: AI rises as video game industry navigates layoffs
View time: 2 min 44
Level : Advanced
Tired of AI doomsday tropes, Cohere CEO says his goal is technology that’s ‘additive to humanity’
Read time : 3 mins
Level : Advanced
By MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writer
Aidan Gomez can take some credit for the ‘T’ at the end of ChatGPT. He was part of a group of Google engineers who first introduced a new artificial intelligence model called a transformer.
That helped set a foundation for today’s generative AI boom that ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and others built upon. Gomez, one of eight co-authors of Google’s 2017 paper, was a 20-year-old intern at the time.
He’s now the CEO and co-founder of Cohere, a Toronto-based startup competing with other leading AI companies in supplying large language models and the chatbots they power to big businesses and organizations.
Gomez spoke about the future of generative AI with The Associated Press. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. Continue reading
Berkeley, California votes to return sacred Native land to Ohlone tribe
View time : 1 min 24
Level : Intermediate
The average bonus on Wall Street last year was $176,500. That’s down slightly from 2022
Read time : 4 mins
Level : Intermediate
By MICHAEL HILL Associated Press
The average Wall Street bonus fell slightly last year to $176,500, as the industry added employees and took a “more cautious approach” to compensation, New York state’s comptroller reported Tuesday.
The average bonus for employees in New York City’s securities industry was down 2% from $180,000 in 2022. The slight dip came even as Wall Street profits were up 1.8% last year, according to the annual estimate from Thomas DiNapoli, the state’s comptroller. Continue reading
Bernie Sanders wants the US to adopt a 32-hour workweek. Could workers and companies benefit?
Read time : 3 mins
Level : Advanced
By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press
The 40-hour workweek has been standard in the U.S. for more than eight decades. Now some members of Congress want to give hourly workers an extra day off.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, the far-left independent from Vermont, this week introduced a bill that would shorten to 32 hours the amount of time many Americans can work each week before they’re owed overtime.
Given advances in automation, robotics and artificial intelligence, Sanders says U.S. companies can afford to give employees more time off without cutting their pay and benefits.
Critics say a mandated shorter week would force many companies to hire additional workers or lose productivity. Continue reading
Content creators worry TikTok ban will cut income
View time: 2 min 12
Level : Advanced