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Feds halt drawdown at Green Peter Reservoir after local cities complainBy KELVIN CHAN, Business Writer LONDON (AP) — Looking for a new social media platform because X, Threads and Mastodon just aren’t cutting it? You could try Bluesky . People seeking to avoid chaos, noise and political bluster in the aftermath of the U.S. elections are noticing a different mood on the Bluesky social platform, where the vibe is seemingly welcoming and there are noticeably fewer trolls. The site announced it had rapidly added more than a million new users in the week after Election Day, and has emerged as one of the fastest growing rivals to Elon Musk’s X and similar platforms. If you’re tempted to check out the new space, here’s a guide on how Bluesky works: Maybe you’re not ready to commit to adding yet another social media account. No problem — you can still look around on Bluesky without signing up because all posts and profiles are public. You might get a sense of deja vu because the platform’s look and feel are very similar to X. That should be no surprise because Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey was an early Bluesky champion. (Dorsey’s no longer involved with Bluesky, which is owned and run by its executive team as a public benefit corporation.) If you take the plunge and get an account, you’ll need a username. You’ll notice Bluesky handles are a little bit different because they end by default in the site’s domain, .bsky.social. You can personalize your handle to make it more memorable, by using your own website’s domain or buying a custom one through Bluesky. But it might not be something most newbie users need or want to do right away. Bluesky boasts that it gives users “algorithmic choice” to tailor the content they’re shown instead of leaving it up to the whims of a centralized system. “Our online experience doesn’t have to depend on billionaires unilaterally making decisions over what we see,” it says . What it means is that you can follow custom feeds set up by other users, or design your own. If you tap #Feeds in the menu on the left, you’ll see some default offerings like Cat Pics and Gardening. My Bangers is a list of your most popular posts by likes and Catch Up shows the site’s most popular posts from the past 24 hours. You can find more by doing a search and tapping the Feeds button. There’s also the usual “Discover” feed of suggested posts and a chronological feed of accounts that you follow. To help new users settle in, Bluesky has starter packs of recommended feeds and accounts to follow, which anyone can create and share. They don’t show up in Bluesky’s search results but can be found in directories online . Or someone might share one with you. After I signed up, a colleague pointed me to one for major news outlets . There are tens of thousands of starter packs, ranging from broadly appealing topics like Taylor Swift to niche interests like cargo bikes or U.K. comedians . You can follow the whole pack or scroll down the list to choose individual accounts. What about people you followed on X? There’s a browser extension tool called Sky Follower Bridge that will help you find X users who’ve migrated to Bluesky. But check before clicking the follow button to make sure it’s not a different user using the same display name or handle. Ready to join the conversation? You can write posts or reply to others but keep it short because there’s a limit of 300 characters — 20 more than on X. You can also upload photos and videos, though videos can’t be longer than 60 seconds. GIFs and emojis are, of course, available too. You can still @ people by typing in their username, like posts by tapping a heart icon or use hashtags to highlight a theme. Bluesky has added a menu to hashtags, so when you click on one you’ll get different options for seeing, or muting, posts on that topic. Bluesky’s decentralization ethos extends to the content control options it offers. For starters, users can choose in their settings menu whether to see replies, reposts or quote posts in their feed. Specific words or tags can be muted temporarily, or forever, while accounts can be muted or blocked individually, or in bulk by adding them a moderation list. You can even fine tune the level of adult content that shows up in your feed. Bluesky has a team of content moderators to police the site for material that’s illegal or breaks the rules. But it’s also taking a different approach by open sourcing its content moderation system in an attempt to resolve problems with traditional moderation services which it says “lack transparency and user control.” So, individuals or groups can set up their own content filters, or labelers, that go beyond what Bluesky offers. These labelers can be used to categorize content or users, which can then be blocked or hidden. But they could also be used for informational or creative purposes, like curating or verifying content. There are labelers to identify images generated by artificial intelligence or to fact check news posts. You can find lists of labelers online. After I subscribed to a U.S. politics labeler, some posts in my feeds were flagged “!Donald Trump” or “!Democrat politician” and hidden unless I click Show. Follow Kelvin Chan on Bluesky Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.
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Several major universities have warned their international students who went to their home countries for winter break to return to the U.S. before President-elect Donald Trump regains office in January. At least 10 universities, including the University of Southern California (USC), Brown University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have urged their international students to be back stateside before January 20, Axios reported. In an email obtained by the outlet sent to pupils on student visas, USC officials said that being back in the U.S. when the semester begins on January 13 “is especially important given that a new presidential administration will take office on January 20, 2025, and — as is common — may issue one or more Executive Orders impacting travel to the U.S. and visa processing.” “While there’s no certainty such orders will be issued, the safest way to avoid any challenges is to be physically present in the U.S. before the Spring semester,” USC officials added. Harvard and Cornell universities also sent warning emails to international students, the New York Times reported. An email from Arizona State University’s International Students and Scholars Center, obtained by ABC15’s Rachel Louise Just, revealed a similar message: “We are making this advisory out of an abundance of caution to hopefully prevent any possible travel disruption,” the email reads. Spencer Lindquist of the Daily Wire revealed that Claremont McKenna College, a small liberal arts school in California, even offered to get students without “legal status” free consultations with immigration lawyers ahead of Inauguration Day: During a campaign rally earlier this year, Trump said he would “immediately deport” foreign students who participate in “jihadism, or anti-Americanism or antisemitism” after anti-Israel protests took over multiple U.S. campuses:
NoneOusted Syrian leader Assad flees to Moscow after fall of Damascus, Russian state media say DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Russia media say ousted Syrian leader Bashar Assad has fled to Moscow and received asylum from his longtime ally. The reports came hours after a stunning rebel advance swept into Damascus to cheers and ended the Assad family’s 50 years of iron rule. Thousands of Syrians poured into streets echoing with celebratory gunfire, joyful after a stifling, nearly 14-year civil war. But the swiftly moving events raised questions about the future of the country and the wider region. The rebels face the daunting task of healing bitter divisions in a country still split among armed factions. One rebel commander said “we will not deal with people the way the Assad family did." Analysis: Collapse of Syria's Assad is a blow to Iran's 'Axis of Resistance' MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — For Iran’s theocratic government, it keeps getting worse. Its decadeslong strategy of building an “Axis of Resistance” supporting militant groups and proxies around the region is falling apart. Hamas has been batttered by Israel's campaign in Gaza. In Lebanon, Israeli bombardment has crippled Iran’s most powerful ally, Hezbollah, even as Israel has launched successful airstrikes openly inside of Iran for the first time. And now Iran’s longtime stalwart ally and client in Syria, President Bashar Assad, is gone. Who is Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of the insurgency that toppled Syria's Assad? BEIRUT (AP) — Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the militant leader who led the stunning insurgency that toppled Syria’s President Bashar Assad, has spent years working to remake his public image and that of his fighters. He renounced longtime ties to al-Qaida and depicts himself as a champion of pluralism and tolerance. The extent of that transformation from jihadi extremist to would-be state builder is now put to the test. The 42-year-old al-Golani is labeled a terrorist by the United States. He has not appeared publicly since Damascus fell early Sunday. But he and his insurgent force, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, stand to be a major player in whatever comes next. Trump says he can't guarantee tariffs won't raise US prices and won't rule out revenge prosecutions WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump says he can’t guarantee his promised tariffs on key U.S. foreign trade partners won’t raise prices for American consumers. And he's suggesting once more that some political rivals and federal officials who pursued legal cases against him should be imprisoned. The president-elect made the comments in a wide-ranging interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday. He also touched on monetary policy, immigration, abortion and health care, and U.S. involvement in Ukraine, Israel and elsewhere. Trump often mixed declarative statements with caveats, at one point cautioning “things do change.” The hunt for UnitedHealthcare CEO's elusive killer yields new evidence, but few answers NEW YORK (AP) — Police don’t know who he is, where he is, or why he did it. As the frustrating search for UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killer got underway for a fifth day Sunday, investigators reckoned with a tantalizing contradiction: They have troves of evidence, but the shooter remains an enigma. One conclusion they are confident of, however: It was a targeted attack, not a random one. On Sunday morning, police declined to comment on the contents of a backpack found in Central Park that they believe was carried by the killer. Thompson was shot and killed Wednesday outside of a hotel in Manhattan. Trump calls for immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and says a US withdrawal from NATO is possible WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump is pushing Russian leader Vladimir Putin to act to reach an immediate ceasefire with Ukraine. Trump describes it as part of his active efforts as president-elect to end the war despite being weeks from taking office. Trump also said he would be open to reducing military aid to Ukraine and pulling the United States out of NATO. Those are two threats that have alarmed Ukraine, NATO allies and many in the U.S. national security community. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says any deal would have to pave the way to a lasting peace. The Kremlin's spokesman says Moscow is open to talks with Ukraine. Gaza health officials say latest Israeli airstrikes kill at least 14 including children DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian health officials say Israeli airstrikes in central Gaza have killed at least 14 people including children, while the bombing of a hospital in northern Gaza has wounded a half-dozen patients. Israel’s military continues its latest offensive against Hamas militants in northern Gaza, whose remaining Palestinians have been almost completely cut off from the rest of the territory amid a growing humanitarian crisis. One airstrike flattened a residential building in the urban Bureij refugee camp Sunday afternoon. That's according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the nearby city of Deir al-Balah, where the casualties were taken. South Korea's democracy held after a 6-hour power play. What does it say for democracies elsewhere? SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A short-lived martial law decree by South Korea's leader last week raised worries about budding authoritarianism around the world. In the end, though, democracy prevailed. President Yoon Suk Yeol announced that he was declaring martial law and giving his government sweeping powers to crack down on protesters, ban political parties and control the media. Members of the military blocked lawmakers from using the legislature's constitutional power to cancel the power grab. But the National Assembly within hours unanimously voted to do so. Trump's return may be a boon for Netanyahu, but challenges abound in a changed Middle East TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is jubilant about President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House. Trump's first term policies skewed heavily in favor of Israel, and he has picked stalwart Israel supporters for key positions in his administration. But much has transpired since Trump left office in early 2021. The turmoil in the Middle East, the lofty ambitions of Netanyahu’s far-right governing coalition and Netanyahu’s own personal relationship with the president-elect could dampen that enthusiasm and complicate what on the surface looks like a seamless alliance. College Football Playoff's first 12-team bracket is set with Oregon No. 1 and SMU in, Alabama out SMU captured the last open spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff, bumping Alabama to land in a bracket that placed undefeated Oregon at No. 1. The selection committee preferred the Mustangs, losers of a heartbreaker in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game, who had a far less difficult schedule than Alabama of the SEC but one fewer loss. The inaugural 12-team bracket marks a new era for college football, though the Alabama-SMU debate made clear there is no perfect formula. The tournament starts Dec. 20-21 with four first-round games. It concludes Jan. 20 with the national title game in Atlanta.None
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BJP, allies win in Maharashtra polls, lose in Jharkhand
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KUWAIT: For the fifth consecutive year, Zain has announced its platinum sponsorship of the latest and largest edition of Mirzam Expo, Kuwait’s top interior design and home decoration gathering. This year’s event featured participation from over 200 local and international companies, where Zain showcased its latest 5G solutions, offering customers an innovative home experience. Zain’s continued support for this one-of-a-kind annual event reflects its commitment to supporting outstanding local initiatives that highlight national talent and foster entrepreneurship in Kuwait. The exhibition also serves as a platform for Zain to connect with customers and showcase its portfolio of world-class connectivity solutions. Over the course of six days at its dedicated booth, Zain presented the latest solutions, including advanced routers powered by 5G, enabling customers to enjoy superior speed and stability both inside and outside their homes. The company also introduced visitors to its latest sustainability initiatives. On the sidelines of the exhibition, Zain hosted a special session titled Empowering the Digital Future with Zain, which spotlighted cutting-edge future technologies and the innovative solutions within Zain’s portfolio. The session emphasized how Zain leverages innovation to enhance modern digital lifestyles and empower customers with the latest in connectivity. In addition, Zain’s booth showcased the company’s latest initiatives and programs related to its sustainability strategy. Highlights included efforts to reduce Zain’s environmental footprint, minimize carbon emissions, and promote eco-awareness campaigns within the community, contributing to the achievement of sustainability goals. Mirzam is the leading gathering of its kind for interior design and home decoration. Its fifth edition was the largest in its history, featuring participation from over 200 local and international companies across 300 booths, covering 55 categories related to interior and exterior design, décor, furniture, and home essentials.( MENAFN - PR Newswire) SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Seoul Metropolitan government announced on December 9 that it will operate its largest-ever exhibition space for Seoul-based startups at CES 2025, the world's largest consumer Electronics and ICT trade show. The event will run from January 7 to 10, 2025, in Las Vegas, showcasing cutting-edge technologies from emerging companies worldwide. The "Seoul Pavilion," covering 1,040m2 at Eureka Park, CES's startup-focused exhibition zone, represents a 50% expansion from last year. It will feature more startups and award-winning companies than ever before, underscoring Seoul's growing presence in the global tech ecosystem since its debut at CES 2020. The pavilion will spotlight Seoul-based AI, lifestyle, and healthcare startups, offering opportunities for investor matching, on-site competitions, and promotional events. Participating companies will receive comprehensive operational support, including booth setup, innovation award consulting, buyer matchmaking, on-site IR presentations, and media promotion. This year, 104 startups from 16 organizations, including three key Seoul districts (Gangnam, Geumcheon, and Gwanak), five startup support agencies (Seoul Business Agency, Seoul Biohub, and Seoul AI Hub), and eight major universities such as Yonsei, Chung-Ang, and Sogang, will participate. Each startup will be matched with a student supporter from these universities, with 103 highly skilled students offering on-site exhibition assistance, business meeting support, and event management help. A record 21 participating startups have already secured CES 2025 Innovation Awards, presented annually by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) to recognize technological innovation and product excellence. Notable awardees include Leadpoint System, Apollon, GenGenAI, Otiton Medical, and STUDIO LAB. To prepare for CES 2025, the Seoul Business Agency held a launch ceremony on November 29 at Sogang University, gathering representatives from participating companies and support organizations. The event included networking sessions, exhibition support briefings, and IT business workshops. Participating startups were paired with student supporters, beginning months of collaborative planning. Hyun-woo Kim, CEO of the Seoul Business Agency, emphasized, "CES 2025 will be a crucial platform to showcase Seoul's advanced technologies and thriving startup ecosystem. We are committed to supporting our startups, helping them expand into global markets and achieve lasting success." The Seoul Pavilion aims to strengthen the city's role as a global tech hub by fostering cross-border partnerships and expanding international market access for its innovative startups. SOURCE Seoul Metropolitan Government MENAFN15122024003732001241ID1108995560 Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.
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