Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh chosen to host the 2030 World Expo

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Level : Intermediate

A supporter of the candidacy of Busan, South Korea, jokes with a supporter Riyadh , Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023 in Issy-les-Moulineaux, outside Paris. In a high-profile showdown, Rome, Busan, and Riyadh are the top contenders as the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) prepares to vote on Tuesday in Paris for the host city of the 2030 World Expo. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

By THOMAS ADAMSON and SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press

ISSY-LES-MOULINEAUX, France (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh was chosen on Tuesday to host the 2030 World Expo, beating out South Korean port city Busan and Rome for an event expected to draw millions of visitors.

Riyadh was picked by a majority of 119 out of 165 votes by the member states of the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions, or BIE.

The vote has been held behind closed doors in Issy-les-Moulineaux, a southwestern suburb of the French capital. The result was greeted with cheers by the Saudi delegation. Busan got 29 votes and Rome 17.

With the stakes high, each city has escalated its campaign efforts, showcasing unique visions and ambitious promises to secure the rights to the globally prestigious event. Continue reading


Company that created ChatGPT is thrown into turmoil after Microsoft hires its ousted CEO

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Level : Advanced

File – Sam Altman participates in a discussion during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in San Francisco. Microsoft has announced that it’s hired Sam Altman and another architect of ChatGPT maker OpenAI after they unexpectedly departed the company days earlier in a corporate shakeup that shocked the artificial intelligence world. Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella also tweeted Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 that the major investor in the chatbot that kicked off the generative AI craze is committed to its partnership with OpenAI. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

By COURTNEY BONNELL and MATT O’BRIEN AP Business Writers

The company that created ChatGPT was thrown into turmoil Monday after Microsoft hired its ousted CEO and many employees threatened to follow him in a conflict that centered in part on how to build artificial intelligence that’s smarter than humans.

The developments followed a weekend of drama that shocked the AI field and fueled speculation about the future of OpenAI, which named a new chief executive on Friday and then replaced her on Sunday. The newest CEO vowed to investigate the firing of co-founder and CEO Sam Altman, who’s been instrumental in OpenAI’s transformation from a nonprofit research laboratory into a world-renowned commercial startup that inaugurated the era of generative artificial intelligence. Continue reading


Navigating Troubled Waters: Moody’s Credit Review and The Struggles of The U.S. Banking Sector

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Level : Advanced

Amaka Chukwuma | Wealth of Geeks undefined

In August, ratings agency Moody’s announced six major United States banks, including Bank of New York Mellon, State Street, and Northern Trust, were at risk of having their credit rating downgraded. An additional 10 mid-sized banks had their credit ratings slashed, exposing the “ongoing strain” within the U.S. banking sector.

This development sent shockwaves through the financial markets, with investors growing concerned about the potential challenges ahead for the banking sector.

The tension evident in Moody’s report is compounded by mounting pressures on funding and potential “weaknesses” in the capital reserves that lenders must maintain. A credit rating downgrade could further elevate the funding costs for these banks, intensifying their financial challenges. Continue reading


Apple’s sales fall for the fourth straight quarter despite a strong start for latest iPhones

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Level : Intermediate

FILE – Customers shop in an Apple store in Pittsburgh Jan. 30, 2023. Apple reports earnings on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer

Apple’s sales remained on a downward slope during the summer, resulting in a full year of declining revenue at the technology trendsetter with a long history of steady growth that turned it into the world’s most valuable publicly traded company.

The slight sales deterioration announced Thursday for the July-September period marked the end of Apple’s fiscal year — a stretch that saw the company suffer a revenue decrease from the prior year in each quarter.

Although this past fiscal year’s revenue only dipped by 3% from the previous fiscal year, it was still a noteworthy anomaly in a business that has been so successful that Apple became the first U.S. company to be valued at $3 trillion earlier this year.

It’s the first time Apple’s fiscal year revenue has dropped since 2019 when sales fell by 2%. Continue reading


Less boo for your buck: For the second Halloween in a row, US candy inflation hits double digits

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Level : Intermediate

An assortment of Halloween candy is shown in this photo taken on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023 in New York. For the second year in a row, U.S. shoppers are seeing double-digit inflation in the candy aisle. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer

Spooked by the high price of Halloween candy? There’s not much relief in sight.

For the second year in a row, U.S. shoppers are seeing double-digit inflation in the candy aisle. Candy and gum prices are up an average of 13% this month compared to last October, more than double the 6% increase in all grocery prices, according to Datasembly, a retail price tracker. That’s on top of a 14% increase in candy and gum prices in October 2022.

“The price of candy has gotten to be outrageous,” said Jessica Weathers, a small business owner in Shiloh, Illinois. “It doesn’t make sense to me to spend $100 on candy.” Continue reading


Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown reels in subscribers as it raises prices for its premium plan

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Level : Intermediate

FILE – A Netflix sign is photographed outside its office building in Los Angeles, Wednesday, April 20, 2022. Netflix reports earnings on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Netflix on Wednesday disclosed summertime subscriber gains that surpassed industry analysts’ projections, signaling the video streaming service’s crackdown on password sharing is converting former freeloaders into paying customers.

In an effort to bring in even more revenue, Netflix also announced it’s raising the price for its most expensive streaming service by $2 to $23 per month in the U.S. — a 10% increase — and its lowest-priced, ad-free streaming plan to $12 — another $2 bump. The $15.50 per month price for Netflix’s most popular streaming option in the U.S. will remain unchanged, as will a $7 monthly plan that includes intermittent commercials.

It also raised its prices for subscribers in the U.K. and France. Continue reading


From Coke floats to Cronuts, going viral can have a lasting effect on a small business

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Level : Advanced

Dominique Ansel ices Cronuts before the opening of his namesake bakery in New York, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. In 2013, before most people knew the term “going viral,” the French pastry chef created the Cronut, a cross between a croissant and a doughnut, at his newly opened New York bakery. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

By MAE ANDERSON AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The Lexington Candy Shop in New York City has served burgers, fries and shakes to hungry patrons for decades. Last remodeled in 1948, the diner is the definition of old-fashioned.

But that hasn’t stopped it from getting a wave of new fans.

In August 2022, this old school business met the new world when Nicolas Heller, a TikToker and Instagrammer with 1.2 million followers known as New York Nico, popped in for a traditional Coke float – Coke syrup, soda water and ice cream. Naturally, he took a video. It went viral, garnering 4.8 million likes.

“The next day (after the video was posted), the lines started forming at 8 in the morning,” John Philis, the diner’s third-generation co-owner, recalls with amazement. “And it was like, huh!” Continue reading


John Grisham, George R.R. Martin and more authors sue OpenAI for copyright infringement

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Level : Intermediate

Author John Grisham appears at the opening night of “A Time To Kill” on Broadway in New York on Oct. 20, 2013, left, and author R.R. Martin appears in Toronto on March 12, 2012. Grisham and Martin are among 17 authors suing OpenAI for “systematic theft on a mass scale.” Their suit was filed Tuesday in New York and is the latest in a wave of legal action by writers concerned that AI programs are using their copyrighted works without permission. (AP Photo)

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — John Grisham, Jodi Picoult and George R.R. Martin are among 17 authors suing OpenAI for “systematic theft on a mass scale,” the latest in a wave of legal action by writers concerned that artificial intelligence programs are using their copyrighted works without permission.

In papers filed Tuesday in federal court in New York, the authors alleged “flagrant and harmful infringements of plaintiffs’ registered copyrights” and called the ChatGPT program a “massive commercial enterprise” that is reliant upon “systematic theft on a mass scale.”

The suit was organized by the Authors Guild and also includes David Baldacci, Sylvia Day, Jonathan Franzen and Elin Hilderbrand among others. Continue reading


Hundreds of flying taxis to be made in Ohio, home of the Wright brothers and astronaut legends

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Level : Advanced

In this 2022 photo provided by Joby Aviation is Joby’s pre-production prototype aircraft at the company’s flight test facility in Marina, Calif. The same Ohio river valley where the Wright brothers pioneered human flight will soon manufacture cutting-edge electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. An agreement announced Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, between the state and Joby Aviation Inc. will bring air taxi production to a 140-acre site at Dayton International Airport by 2025. (Eric Adams/Joby Aviation via AP)

By JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The same Ohio river valley where the Wright brothers pioneered human flight will soon be manufacturing cutting-edge electric planes that take off and land vertically, under an agreement announced Monday between the state and Joby Aviation Inc.

“When you’re talking about air taxis, that’s the future,” Republican Gov. Mike DeWine told The Associated Press. “We find this very, very exciting — not only for the direct jobs and indirect jobs it’s going to create, but like Intel, it’s a signal to people that Ohio is looking to the future. This is a big deal for us.”

Around the world, electric vertical takeoff and landing, or eVTOL aircraft are entering the mainstream, though questions remain about noise levels and charging demands. Still, developers say the planes are nearing the day when they will provide a wide-scale alternative to shuttle individual people or small groups from rooftops and parking garages to their destinations, while avoiding the congested thoroughfares below. Continue reading


BP leader is the latest to resign over questions about personal conduct

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Level : Intermediate

FILE – A sign at a BP petrol station in London, Feb. 7, 2023. Global energy giant BP, one of Britain’s biggest and most recognizable companies, is scurrying to find a new chief executive after CEO Bernard Looney became the latest corporate leader to step down amid questions about his personal conduct. Looney stepped down Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Global energy giant BP, one of Britain’s biggest and most recognizable companies, is scurrying to find a new chief executive after CEO Bernard Looney became the latest corporate leader to step down amid questions about his personal conduct.

Among the most crucial questions facing the company’s board is whether to recruit a leader who will maintain BP’s goal of eliminating net carbon emissions by 2050 as the oil industry struggles to meet climate commitments.

Looney, 53, resigned Tuesday after he accepted that he was not “fully transparent” in his disclosures about past relationships with colleagues. He will be replaced by Chief Financial Officer Murray Auchincloss on an interim basis.

BP conducted an internal review last year after receiving allegations about personal relationships between Looney and other company employees. Continue reading