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Report: Tobacco and food giants made billions in Russia after Ukraine invasion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:47 GMT

Major international corporations that stayed in Russia after the invasion in Ukraine — including Philip Morris and Danone — made hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue in the country last year, a new report has found. After Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February, 2022, dozens of international companies pulled out of Russia to safeguard their reputation or protect their business — but those who stayed have since paid billions of dollars to the Kremlin in taxes on their revenues. The Business of Staying, a report by civil society umbrella group B4Ukraine and the Kyiv School of Economics, found that global corporations raked in $214 billion in revenue in 2022 through their Russian businesses alone — paying $3.5 billion in taxes on their profits.But those figures are “only the tip of the iceberg, and likely a substantial underestimate of the total tax bill,” according to the report. That’s because taxes paid on employees’ salaries or in the form of VAT are not included in th...

AI is already linked to layoffs in the industry that created it

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:47 GMT

(CNN) — Many have raised alarms about the potential for artificial intelligence to displace jobs in the years ahead, but it’s already causing upheaval in one industry where workers once seemed invincible: tech.A small but growing number of tech firms have cited AI as a reason for laying off workers and rethinking new hires in recent months, as Silicon Valley races to adapt to rapid advances in the technology being developed in its own backyard.Chegg, an education technology company, disclosed in a regulatory filing last month that it was cutting 4% of its workforce, or about 80 employees, “to better position the Company to execute against its AI strategy and to create long-term, sustainable value for its students and investors.”IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said in an interview with Bloomberg in May that the company expects to pause hiring for roles it thinks could be replaced with AI in the coming years. (In a subsequent interview with Barrons, however, ...

Belarus opposition leader says anonymous note alleges that her husband died in prison

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:47 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said Tuesday that she received an anonymous note alleging that her imprisoned husband, also an opposition figure, died behind bars. Siarhei Tsikhanouski, 44, a popular blogger and opposition activist, was arrested in 2020 after announcing plans to run against Belarus’ authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, in presidential elections that year. His wife ran against Lukashenko in his stead after the arrest, rallying large crowds of people in her support across the country. Official results of the election handed Lukashenko his sixth term in office but were denounced by the opposition and the West as fraudulent. Amid unprecedented protests that broke out in the aftermath of the vote, Tsikhanouskaya left the country under pressure from the authorities. Her husband was later sentenced to 19 1/2 years in prison on charges of organizing mass riots. Tsikhanouskaya told The Associated Press on Tuesday tha...

Woman, 2 children dead in Missouri shooting; man with possible self-inflicted wound hospitalized

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:47 GMT

ST. ANN, Mo. (AP) — A woman and two children died in a shooting inside a Missouri home.The shooting happened around 9 p.m. Monday in the St. Louis County town of St. Ann. Police Chief Aaron Jimenez told KTVI-TV that officers found a teenage boy dead in the kitchen, a woman dead in the garage, and a 5-year-old girl gravely injured in the living room. The girl died later at a hospital.A teenage girl was shot in the hand. She is expected to recover.Police also found a man with what Jimenez described as a possible self-inflicted gunshot wound. Jimenez said the man had apparently barricaded himself in the home. He was taken to a hospital but his condition wasn’t immediately known.Police said more information would be released later Tuesday.The Associated Press

Chanel haute couture makes a subdued ode to Parisian elegance in fall-winter collection

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:47 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Models did their best to strut the cobblestoned banks of the Seine Tuesday as Chanel showed off its fall-winter collection and celebrated the soul of Paris.Here are some highlights of Tuesday’s fall couture collections, including when The Associated Press caught up with French actress Clemence Poesy.CHANEL’S PARIS“This collection is the portrait of a sensitive yet bold Parisienne,” said Virginie Viard, Chanel’s creative director. “It’s like standing on a line between strength and delicacy.” Tuesday’s assembly of tweeds, silk chiffons, organza and inlaid lace, in a myriad of floral and graphic motifs, was a testament to Viard’s vision of this rich and feminine universe.Despite the sparkle and gleam of golden heels and buttons, the collection embraced a comforting simplicity. Assured yet understated colors, flat-pleated golden tweed skirts, masculine-inspired overcoats, and delicately structured jackets all played into the subtle allure of the show...

Meta looks to target Twitter with rival app called ‘Threads’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:47 GMT

Meta is poised to unveil a new app that appears to mimic Twitter — a direct challenge to the social media platform owned by Elon Musk.A listing for the app, called Threads, appeared on Apple’s App Store, indicating it would debut as early as Thursday. It is billed as a “text-based conversation app” that is linked to Instagram, with the listing teasing a Twitter-like microblogging experience.“Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow,” it said.Instagram users will be able to keep their user names and follow the same accounts on the new app, according to screenshots displayed on the App Store listing. Meta declined to comment on the app.Musk replied “yeah” to a tweet from Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey saying, “All your Threads are belong to us,” along with a screenshot from the App Store’s privacy section showing what personal information might be collected by the new M...

Roger Federer receives a lengthy standing ovation at Wimbledon from fans. And from Princess Kate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:47 GMT

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Roger Federer received a standing ovation of 1 1/2 minutes from spectators including Princess Kate as he entered the Royal Box at Centre Court on Tuesday, when he was celebrated during a brief ceremony for his career and his men’s-record eight singles championships at Wimbledon.Wearing a cream-colored suit with his purple All England Club member’s pin attached to a lapel, along with a striped shirt and polka-dot tie, the retired Federer walked to his seat and stood between his wife, Mirka, and the Princess of Wales in the special section above one of the baselines in the Grand Slam tournament’s main stadium.Federer waved and tapped his chest, repeatedly saying, “Thank you,” as the applause and roars cascaded under the closed retractable roof on a rainy Day 2 at the grass-court event that he once dominated.Before the start of play at Centre Court, an announcer explained that Federer was being honored for “his contributions to tennis — and, particularly, to t...

Princess Kate takes her seat in Royal Box at Wimbledon, right next to Roger Federer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:47 GMT

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Kate, the Princess of Wales, had the best seat in the house Tuesday on Centre Court at Wimbledon — in the front row of the Royal Box and right next to Roger Federer.The future queen, wearing a mint green blazer, made her way down to her seat only moments before Federer was feted ahead of the opening match on Day 2 of the grass-court tournament.Federer, an eight-time champion at the All England Club, sat between the princess and his wife, Mirka.The first match on a wet second day of Wimbledon — with the retractable roof closed — featured Elena Rybakina against American opponent Shelby Rogers. As is tradition at the most traditional of all tennis tournaments, Rybakina opened play on Tuesday as the defending women’s champion.Kate has been somewhat of a regular visitor to Wimbledon since marrying Prince William. The late Queen Elizabeth II, William’s grandmother, made only a handful of trips to the All England Club during her 70-year reign. Her last...

He was the CIA whiz kid in ‘Charlie Wilson’s War.’ His new book offers advice for the US in Ukraine.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:47 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — After the last Soviet troops left Afghanistan in 1989, defeated by an insurgency equipped and guided by the U.S., a two-word cable arrived at CIA headquarters: “WE WON.” It was one of the last moments of the Cold War, credited with helping push the Soviet Union to collapse two years later. But the U.S. would leave behind a country that rapidly fell into civil war, eventually becoming al-Qaida’s training grounds for the Sept. 11 attacks and the site of a two-decade war that ended in U.S. withdrawal and defeat. Decades later, one of the architects of the covert strategy against the Soviets has published a memoir that calls on President Joe Biden’s administration to do more to support Ukraine’s resistance against Russia. In “By All Means Available,” Michael Vickers also reviews what the U.S. can learn from its past missteps and missed warnings in Afghanistan.In the 2007 movie “Charlie Wilson’s War,” which depicts the top-secret U.S. effort in 1...

Grammys CEO on new AI guidelines: Music that contains AI-created elements is eligible. ‘Period.’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:47 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Last month, the Recording Academy announced a series of changes to the Grammy Awards to better reflect an evolving music industry. Of those newly instituted guidelines, protocols involving technological advancements in machine learning sparked headlines: “Only human creators” could win the music industry’s highest honor in a decision aimed at the use of artificial intelligence in popular music.“A work that contains no human authorship is not eligible in any category,” the rules read in part.As the music industry continues to come to terms with this new technology, so too will the Grammys, says Recording Academy CEO and President Harvey Mason jr.“Here’s the super easy, headline statement: AI, or music that contains AI-created elements is absolutely eligible for entry and for consideration for Grammy nomination. Period,” Mason told The Associated Press. “What’s not going to happen is we are not going to give a Grammy or Grammy nomination to the AI portion.”If an AI ...