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10 things in tech you need to know today https://ift.tt/2WnDJhd Associated Press Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Tuesday.
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Business via Business Insider https://ift.tt/1IpULic March 26, 2019 at 03:21AM
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Uber buys rival Careem in $3.1 billion deal to dominate ride-hailing in the Middle East https://ift.tt/2JIvef9 Getty
Uber will spend $3.1 billion to acquire Middle East rival Careem, buying dominance in a competitive region ahead of a hotly anticipated initial public offering. In a press release, Uber said it would pay $1.4 billion in cash and $1.7 billion in convertible notes in a deal that gives it full ownership of Careem. The long-expected agreement ends more than nine months of start-and-stop negotiations between the two companies and hands Uber a much-needed victory after a series of overseas divestments. The notes will be convertible into Uber shares at a price equal to $55 apiece, Uber said, marking about a nearly 13% increase over Uber's share price in its last financing round, led by SoftBank Group Corp more than a year ago. The acquisition makes Careem a wholly owned subsidiary of Uber and it will keep the Careem brand and app intact, at least initially. Careem co-founders Mudassir Sheikha, Magnus Olsson, and Abdulla Elyas are staying on with Careem following the acquisition, the companies said. However, Careem's board will be overhauled, with three seats going to Uber representatives and two belonging to Careem. Sheikha, who is Careem's CEO, and Olsson will have board seats. An Uber spokesman declined to say whom Uber would appoint to the board. The $3.1 billion cash-and-stock purchase buys out all outside Careem investors, the companies said, and Careem stock will be converted into Uber equity. Careem had raised less than $800 million from investors and as of October had a $2 billion valuation. Its backers include German car maker Daimler AG , Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing, Japanese internet company Rakuten Inc, and Saudi investor Kingdom Holding Company. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020, the companies said, meaning it will not be reflected in Uber's first couple of quarterly earnings releases as a public company, although it will likely be disclosed in a public IPO filing. Uber will kick of its IPO next month and is expected to receive a valuation of at least $100 billion. The agreement is subject to regulatory approval, including by antitrust officials in the countries where Careem operates, which could prevent the deal from moving forward or compel the companies to modify the terms. An important moment for UberThe deal is particularly important for Uber, whose ability to be a competitive global ride-hailing player had come into question after it sold its operations in China, Russia, and Southeast Asia to local rivals after sustaining heavy losses. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in a statement called the deal with Careem "an important moment for Uber." Uber has been eager to reach an agreement before the company begins its "roadshow," when it will meet with public market investors prior to listing shares on the New York Stock Exchange. The deal enables Uber to claim dominance in a growing region for ride-hailing outside of the United States. Read more: Lyft will be the first ride-hailing company to go public. Here's how its numbers compare to Uber. Uber operates in more than 70 countries, but faces strong rivals in Latin America and India, and tough regulations in Europe. Talks between the companies had dragged on since at least last summer, sources told Reuters, although they did not get serious until the end of the year. The companies had for years battled in a competition for drivers and riders that had required discounts and subsidies and pushed prices artificially low. Careem over the course of last year grew its business rapidly, including adding a delivery service, and went on to nearly double its valuation, pressuring Uber to increase its bidding price. Toward the end of last year, Careem was entertaining interest from investors for another financing round when Uber moved aggressively to buy the company outright, sources said. The first unicorn exit in the Middle EastCareem, founded in 2012, has a larger presence than Uber in the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan, and Turkey, operating in 98 cities there compared with Uber's roughly 23 locations. "An Uber-Careem merger underscores the huge potential of car-hailing in the Middle East," said Sam Blatteis, CEO at the MENA Catalysts, a Middle East public policy advisory and research firm. The merger also follows the $580 million acquisition of Dubai-based ecommerce company Souq Group Ltd by Amazon.com Inc in 2017, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, spotlighting the Middle East's budding technology scene. "It's the first 'unicorn' exit in the Middle East, and it's representative of things to come out of the Middle East," said David Chao, co-founder and general partner at venture firm DCM and a Careem investor, referring to start-ups valued at $1 billion or more. Uber said its revenue last year was $11.3 billion, while its gross bookings from rides were $50 billion. But the company lost a staggering $3.3 billion, excluding gains from the sale of its overseas business units in Russia and Southeast Asia. Careem does not disclose its earnings. See Also:
SEE ALSO: Uber is on the brink of buying rival ride-sharing company Careem for $3.1 billion Business via Business Insider https://ift.tt/1IpULic March 26, 2019 at 02:57AM
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Conor McGregor announces shock resignation from MMA https://ift.tt/2JCYgNj Photo by Isaac Brekken/Getty Images
Conor McGregor, the notorious and controversial fighter, announced his shock resignation from MMA in the early hours of Tuesday morning. McGregor wrote on Twitter: "I've decided to retire from the sport formally known as 'Mixed Martial Art' today." There had been little indication prior to the tweet that McGregor might go. As recently as last month, key figures in MMA were predicting that McGregor could fight again in 2019, perhaps even twice. However, McGregor's career was in the process of being overshadowed by his behavior outside of the ring. Earlier this month, McGregor was arrested in Florida and charged with robbery and criminal mischief, after allegedly slapping a phone out of the hand of a man trying to photograph him. Associated Press McGregor's last fight was against Khabib Nurmagomedov, who defeated him in October 2018. A brawl after the fight landed him a six-month suspension, which was due to expire on April 7. The UFC boss Dana White said McGregor's retirement "totally makes sense" in text messages sent to ESPN journalist Brett Okamoto, which were then published on Twitter. "He has the money to retire and his whiskey is KILLIN it. It totally makes sense. If I was him I would retire too," White said. "He's retiring from fighting. Not from working. The whiskey will keep him busy and I'm sure he has other things he's working on. "He has been so fun to watch!!! He has accomplished incredible things in this sport. I am so happy for him and I look forward to seeing him be as successful outside of the octagon as he was in it." But not everybody in the industry believes McGregor. Speaking to Sports Center, Okamoto said he is not treating it as an "official" retirement even though White is.
More to follow. NOW WATCH: Meet the stylist who turned LeBron James into a fashion icon See Also:
UP NEXT: Conor McGregor is selling replicas of the T-shirt he got arrested in for $56 Business via Business Insider https://ift.tt/1IpULic March 26, 2019 at 02:45AM
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Uber confirms it’s acquiring Middle East rival Careem for $3.1 billion https://ift.tt/2JE61m1 Uber has confirmed rumors that it’s building out its presence in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia by acquiring Dubai-based ride-hailing service Careem. Reports first surfaced that Uber was in advanced talks to buy Careem last month, and over the weekend fresh rumors emerged that a deal was to be announced imminently. Today, Uber revealed that it is buying Careem in a deal worth $3.1 billion, constituting a combination of $1.4 billion in cash cash and $1.7 billion in convertible notes. While Uber has historically held the largest global footprint of all the ride-hailing firms, the San Francisco-based company has struggled to gain traction in key markets where local players have ruled the roost — this has led Uber to retreat from a number of regions. Back in 2016, Uber sold its Chinese arm to local etaxi giant Didi Chuxing in a $35 billion deal, before going on to join forces with Yandex.taxi in Eastern Europe and then offloading its Southeast Asian operations to Grab exactly a year ago. So today’s announcement is notable insofar as it bucks a recent trend that has seen Uber cede control of its regional businesses to local rivals, while also giving it a foothold in markets it has hitherto not covered. GrowthWith Uber preparing for its initial public offering (IPO), it is seeking new avenues for growth, and Careem offers exactly that. Founded out of Dubai in 2012, Careem today claims more than 30 million users and 1 million drivers spread across 14 markets: the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Lebanon, Pakistan, Kuwait, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Turkey, Palestine, Iraq, and Sudan. The company has raised around $770 million since its inception, with big-name backers including China’s Didi Chuxing, which has previously invested in other ride-hailing services including Lyft and India’s Ola. Careem has been following a similar growth model to that of Uber. While its core business is ride-hailing, it is using the underlying transport network infrastructure to expand into related services, including food and pharmaceutical deliveries. That side of Careem’s business is still in its embryonic stage, but Uber sees room for further growth through pooling their platform and resources in more than a dozen regions that collectively cover around 600 million people. Consolidation has played a big part of the global ride-hailing industry, and other notable deals to emerge including Daimler’s MyTaxi which merged with the U.K.’s Hailo before going on to snap up Taxibeat which has a presence in Greece and Latin America. Last month, rivals BMW and Daimler launched a new $1 billion urban mobility joint-venture, following the merger of their various ride-hailing and car-sharing businesses. It’s clear that Uber has faced increased competition around the world, with Didi Chuxing last year expanding into Mexico, one of Uber’s strongholds. Uber’s decision to snap up Careem puts Uber back on the front foot — it doesn’t want to give away any more of its business to competitors and, ultimately, it is indicative of its wariness of losing more ground as it prepares for life as a public company. Uber said that it expects the Careem acquisition to close in Q1 2020. Business via VentureBeat https://venturebeat.com March 26, 2019 at 01:53AM
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7 injured after Gaza rocket hits house in central Israel, Israel responds with air strikes https://ift.tt/2V1PoCh Screenshot/Ofir Rotem/Israel Defense Forces
Seven people were injured early Monday after a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip hit a home in central Israel. The Israeli Air Force on Monday evening retaliated, striking several Hamas targets across the Gaza Strip, including its so-called "military intelligence" headquarters, the IDF said. According to the IDF, a rocket was launched around 5 a.m. from a Hamas position near Rafah, located in the southern end of the Gaza Strip. The rocket landed on a residential home in the central community of Mishmeret, located around 75 miles (120 kilometers) away from the suspected launch site. Screenshot/Google Maps Seven people inside the house were wounded in the early morning attack, Israel's emergency service Magen David Adom said, including two women, two men, and three children. The injuries ranged from light to moderate, the service said. Read more: The US Navy sailed between China and Taiwan again, and the Coast Guard joined in this time The home, located just 12 miles (20 kilometers) north of Israel's largest city of Tel Aviv, belonged to a British-Israeli family, the BBC reported. The attack also damaged a nearby home and several vehicles. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, though the IDF has blamed Hamas militants for the rocket fire. The IDF also posted drone footage it says shows the home that was damaged. While militants on the Gaza Strip frequently launch rockets into Israel, they often land in open areas or communities located on the outskirts of the region. It is uncommon for a rocket launched from Gaza to land in central Israel, and Monday's incident marks the furthest a rocket launched from Gaza has landed in Israel since 2014, CNN reported. The army said the system had not been triggered prior to the rocket hitting the Mishmeret home because "rocket fire toward the center of the country was not expected at the time," Haaretz said. Israel launched air strikes on several targets in Gaza, including what it called Hamas "military intelligence" headquarters, late Monday and into the morning on Tuesday. The IDF says it launched the air strikes in response to attacks on Israeli communities. The IDF also said it deployed infantry and armored troops to its southern border, and said it was preparing to call up thousands of reservists. Sirens continued to sound in communities in southern Israel early Tuesday morning, the IDF said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was visiting the US, cut his trip short and promised to respond with force. Tensions between Israel and Gaza have risen in recent weeks, and attempts to establish a cease-fire have been elusive. Earlier this month, two rockets were launched toward Tel Aviv, triggering sirens across central Israel. No injuries were reported. Israeli media reported that the rockets had been launched from Gaza by mistake, citing defense officials. Israel responded with air strikes on over 100 targets in Gaza, which injured four Palestinians, Gaza health officials reported. See Also:
Business via Business Insider https://ift.tt/1IpULic March 26, 2019 at 01:39AM
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The Trump administration says it supports striking down the entire Affordable Care Act https://ift.tt/2TZYJOa Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters
The Trump administration said in a Monday court filing that it supports striking down the entire Affordable Care Act. In two sentences, the Department of Justice made an about-face on its previous stance on the health care law colloquially known as "Obamacare." "The Department of Justice has determined that the district court’s judgment should be affirmed," the letter to the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reads. "Because the United States is not urging that any portion of the district court’s judgment be reversed, the government intends to file a brief on the appellees’ schedule." The letter refers to a December decision by US District Judge Reed O'Connor in the Northern District of Texas, which ruled that the individual mandate — which is at the crux of the law — is unconstitutional and therefore the entire health care law is unconstitutional. In 2012, the Supreme Court upheld the individual mandate as a tax penalty: you could be taxed if you weren't covered; in 2017, the Tax Cut and Jobs Act eliminated the tax penalty for those who didn't have health insurance, and in February 2018, Texas and 19 other states filed a lawsuit saying that the individual mandate was now unconstitutional. Judge O'Connor agreed and said that the entire law could not stand. That decision was appealed and the lawsuit is currently in a federal appeals court. Under the former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the DOJ declined to defend provisions protecting people with preexisting conditions — but said the rest of the law could stand, CNN reported. The ACA also includes Medicaid expansion, subsidies to help people purchase insurance, an allowance for kids to stay on their parents' insurance until they are 26 years old, and more. Now, in an apparent shift, the DOJ under the current attorney general William Barr is siding with the judge's ruling. "The Department of Justice has determined that the district court's comprehensive opinion came to the correct conclusion and will support it on appeal," Kerri Kupec, a DOJ spokesperson, told CNN. Led by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, a group of 17 attorneys general are defending the law, and last week newly-elected Democratic governor of Wisconsin Tony Evers pulled his state out of the lawsuit against the ACA. The complete dissolution of the ACA would upend the current health care system and could leave millions without health insurance. On Monday, the Associated Press reported that "11.4 million people have signed up for coverage this year under former President Barack Obama's health law." After the filing, Obamacare supporters and Democratic lawmakers issued statements condemning the Trump administration's decision. Some also criticized Barr's decision to not support one of the country's laws in court. "The ACA means health care coverage for 800,000-plus more people in Washington," Gov. Jay Inslee wrote on Twitter after the news broke. "Trump is attacking our health care again. We've stopped them before and we'll stop them again. Hands off our healthcare." Democrats won a majority in the House of Representatives, running in part on protecting health insurance for Americans; many of the 2020 Democratic candidates are also running on expanded access to health care — including supporting proposals like Medicare for all. President Donald Trump, for his part, has promised health care solutions. However, Republicans have been unsuccessful in "repeal and replace" attempts in Congress. See Also:
SEE ALSO: A federal judge just ruled that Obamacare is unconstitutional, threatening healthcare chaos Business via Business Insider https://ift.tt/1IpULic March 26, 2019 at 12:27AM
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China Expat Entrepreneur: Active Startup Networks Add To Shanghai's Lure https://ift.tt/2HOUm1k Shanghai is China’s most popular city for expatriates and boasts an active startup networking landscape that includes global groups such as Startup Grind and AngelHack. weHustle, a Shanghai startup founded by Ukraine native Marian Danko, aims to create an information-sharing and social network among startup communities. I talked to weHustle’s CEO Danko at the TECOM conference held in Shanghai on Saturday, which attracted several hundred attendees. weHustle, once known as China Classifieds, was an event co-organizer. Danko has been living in China since 2011 and in Shanghai since 2013 Shanghai’s international connections and startup network make it “a comfortable place for startups to be,” Danko said. Excerpts follow. Q. Where’d the idea for TECOM come from? A. At weHustle, we work with tech and entrepreneur communities in Shanghai. Those communities have their own events on a regular basis. If you're interested in entrepreneurship, then we host a platform where you can find information about upcoming events from different communities. We organize small events ourselves as well. I’d never seen an event like TECOM where you have all these communities together, because each community each has their own direction. The idea with TECOM was to bring all these communities in one place, and let them mingle. Q. About how many communities are here? A. We have well over 20 communities represented here. All of them are in Shanghai. Some of them are in other cities as well. And some of them are global, but all of them have a presence here in Shanghai. Q. What are some of the trends happening in communities these days? Are more people joining communities, for example? A. What I see is that communities now are growing. They want to contribute and they want to network. Another a big trend recently is that lots of big corporates are trying to tap into communities. They are looking for innovation among startups. They go to events, and can reach out to hundreds of startups involved in the communities. Bayer and Merck are active. Q. How do Shanghai’s strong points for expat entrepreneurs compare with other Chinese cities? A. I think this is the one of the best places in China just because it's an international city. There are at least 20 communities that we know of and we work with, but there are plenty other communities. For women, you have Ladies Who Tech, IPWS (International Professional Women’s Society) and AngelHack. How do you connect with people here? How do you find media? How do you find investors? These communities run so many events and you can find answers. You get in touch with them, and then you go. You pitch, build your network and grow. Let's say you have a startup in Shanghai and one startup in Nanjing. There’s is a huge difference. Because in Nanjing, there aren’t that many events happening. You have no place to talk about it. Shanghai is a comfortable place for startups to be. Q. What about government policy incentives? A. The Shanghai market is very mature and very structured. There are some (incentive) policies but they're not that big because Shanghai already has a huge ecosystem developed. They do need to push it forward. Second-tier cities or third-tier cities are very active. They have the top-down initiatives that we need to attract more international entrepreneurs and talents, and they're willing to help. But not many things are happening – that’s their challenge. We did a few events outside of Shanghai, but it's tough to attract people. And that's why I believe that the communities they are the pillars of ecosystem, the whole startup entrepreneurship ecosystem. If there are no communities, there isn’t so much happening compared with that bring wide attention and bring people together. When that happens, more startups come and things grow faster. Q. Which second- or third-tier cities do you see as relatively aggressive? A. Chengdu is very impressive and growing. Nanjing is also growing very fast, along with Hangzhou, obviously, because of Alibaba. We did a couple of events in Ningbo, and some of the districts are pushing really hard. --Follow me @rflannerychina
Business via Forbes - Entrepreneurs https://ift.tt/dTEDZf March 26, 2019 at 12:22AM
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Apple releases Swift 5 with ABI stability, library evolution, and more https://ift.tt/2HTAgTK A new premium TV offering (Apple TV+), news and magazine subscription service (Apple News+), and credit card (Apple Card) weren’t the only things Apple unveiled today. In a blog post on Swift.org, Ted Kremenek, manager of the languages and runtimes team at Apple, announced that the newest release of Apple’s compiled programming language for iOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, Linux, z/OS, and other platforms is now officially available, following support in the February beta release of Xcode 10.2 and the debut of Swift Playgrounds 3.0. Swift 5 is source compatible with Swift 4, Swift 4.1 and Swift 4.2, and Xcode 10.2 has a code migrator that can automatically handle some of the necessary source changes. Official binaries for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 16.04 and Ubuntu 14.04 are available for download, as well as a toolchain, and Apple’s released an updated version of the Swift Programming Language guide has on Swift.org. For the uninitiated, the Swift programming language is designed to work with Apple’s Cocoa and Cocoa Touch framework and the existing Objective-C code written for Apple products like the iPhone, Apple TV, and iPad. It’s built with the LLVM compiler framework and debuted with Xcode 6 in 2014, and uses the Objective-C runtime library, which allows it to run alongside C, Objective-C, and C++ in one program. So what does Swift 5 bring to the table? ABI stability is perhaps the highlight — it enables binary compatibility between apps and libraries compiled with different versions of Swift, even when using the compatibility mode with older languages. (For example, an app built with Swift 5 will run on systems that have a Swift 5 standard library installed, as well as those with a hypothetical Swift 6.) Furthermore, the Swift runtime and standard library now shift with the OS, obviating the need for apps deployed to upcoming OS releases to embed the standard Swift library and overlay libraries within the app bundle. As of now, Swift’s declared ABI stable on macOS, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS, A related new feature is module stability, which enables clients to use libraries without having to worry about the compiler with which they were built, and library evolution, which allows developers to ship a new version of a library without having to recompile their clients. And thanks to app thinning, Swift apps on devices running iOS 12.2, watchOS 5.2, and tvOS 12.2 no longer include dynamically linked libraries for the standard library and Swift SDK overlays, resulting in smaller package sizes and faster launch times. Also in tow with Swift 5’s standard library is improved support for raw text in string literals (sequences of characters from the source character set that represent a string value) and result and SIMD vector types, plus enhancements to string interpolation (the process of evaluating a string literal containing one or more placeholders) and performance improvements to dictionaries and sets. Swift 5 also switches the preferred encoding of ASCII and Unicode-rich strings from UTF-16 to UTF-8, which Apple says can result in up to a 50 percent reduction in memory usage. That’s not all. Swift 5 defaults to enforcing exclusive access to memory for both debug and release builds (in Swift 4, runtime checks were only enabled in debug builds), and supports dynamically callable types that Apple says should help to improve interoperability with dynamic languages such as Python, JavaScript, and Ruby. Lastly, the Swift Package Manager includes dependency mirroring and target-specific build settings, along with customized deployment targets and the ability to generate code coverage data. For a full list of changes, check out the release notes on Swift.org. Business via VentureBeat https://venturebeat.com March 26, 2019 at 12:21AM EDUCAUSE Reports that Higher Education Says AI IOT & Social Media Having Limited Impact. What?3/25/2019 EDUCAUSE Reports that Higher Education Says AI, IOT & Social Media Having Limited Impact. What? https://ift.tt/2HFh1xF I’m still stunned by the results of EDUCAUSE’s survey about the relative importance of technologies and technology-enabled processes. “This is the fifth year that EDUCAUSE has tracked the influence of major trends on the IT strategy of colleges and universities.” The most recent survey was published in early 2019. EDUCAUSE “assessed … 49 IT trends and 77 strategic technologies presented … via a single EDUCAUSE survey in the summer of 2018. The survey was distributed to 11,397 EDUCAUSE members as part of the Top 10 IT Issues research, with three reminders sent; 405 individuals (4%) completed the survey.” (Not sure why only 4% responded. Maybe it had something to do with technology.) Nor am I sure why trends data is released “based on the responses of 297 US-based respondents.” The “Low Impact” 13 With those complaints registered, here’s the list of technologies survey respondents declared as “limited impact” technologies:
What did I miss? How in the world could these technologies and technology-enabled processes be declared of “limited impact,” which means, according to EDUCAUSE, that only between 0-20% of respondents believe the technologies deserve a more vaulted position on the strategic technology list? In fact, the technologies on the “low impact” list failed to even make the “worth understanding” list! Here are the categories into which the technologies were slotted:
So what are the most influential technologies? Here’s the list:
From “Limited Impact” to “Worth Understanding” Here are just a few reasons why AI, social media & IOT might be promoted from the "limited impact" list to the "worth understanding" list:
Learning House identifies 4 areas where AI can help:
Education Diveoffers ideas about how AI can enhance operations. Hanan Aldowah et al reports in the Journal of Physics/Conference Series that: “IoT stands to change dramatically the way universities work, and enhance student learning in many disciplines and at any level. It has huge potential for universities or any other educational institutions.” Andy David, writing in D!gitalist, identifies how higher education can be transformed with IOT:
Social media? Same thing. Look at “the important role of social media in higher education” by Sharuna Segaren, “social media Use in higher education,” by Georgios Zachos, Efrosyni-Alkisti Paraskevopoulou-Kollia and Ioannis Anagnostopoulos, and Higher Education Administration with Social Media, by Laura A. Wankel and Charles Wankel, among so many others. What did I miss? And what about the rest of the list? Like “freedom of speech,” “adaptive learning,” and “the use of algorithms to influence institutional and individual choices”? Limited impact here too? What Were They Thinking? It’s hard to imagine how the limited impact technologies list came to be. One theory is that the 297 respondents were technology infrastructure managers – not strategic technologists. Even though the EDUCAUSE survey was about strategic technology, it’s hard to imagine how blended data centers are so much more important than AI. (Remember, there are five levels of impact and AI is on the least impactful level and blended data centers are on the highest.) Another theory is that the depth of understanding of the broad applicability of AI, IOT and social media is low due to their relative newness as possible drivers of higher education processes, models, products and services. Regardless of why AI, IOT and social media failed to make the medium or high impact lists, none of us – and especially those who work in higher education – should believe that AI, IOT or social media will have limited impact on their worlds. Maybe next time there will be 2,977 respondents instead of 297. Maybe next year the results will reflect observable trends. Business via Forbes - Entrepreneurs https://ift.tt/dTEDZf March 25, 2019 at 10:07PM William Barr's summary of the Mueller report is a 2-edged sword that could both help and hurt Trump3/25/2019
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William Barr's summary of the Mueller report is a 2-edged sword that could both help and hurt Trump https://ift.tt/2JEpkf9 Reuters
On Sunday, the biggest cloud hanging over President Donald Trump lifted when Attorney General William Barr announced that the special counsel Robert Mueller did not find evidence that anyone in Trump's orbit "conspired or coordinated with Russia" during the 2016 presidential election. With respect to obstruction of justice, Barr said prosecutors did not come to a conclusion one way or another. "The Special Counsel states that 'while this report does not conclude that the President [sic] committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him,'" Barr wrote. But after reviewing Mueller's findings over the weekend, the attorney general concluded that the president did not obstruct justice. Trumpworld rejoiced at the news, with the president tweeting, "No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION KEEP AMERICA GREAT." Associated Press 'This finding should conclude the matter of conspiracy'Legal experts agree it is significant that Mueller's investigation did not establish that the Trump campaign conspired with Russia to tilt the race in his favor, given that the question made up the crux of the FBI's focus. Barbara McQuade, a former federal prosecutor from the Eastern District of Michigan, told INSIDER, "Mueller is a superb investigator who spent considerable time and resources looking for conspiracy. If he didn't find it, no one could, and this finding should conclude the matter of conspiracy." Read more: Here's Attorney General William Barr's summary of Mueller's report on the Russia investigation But Justice Department veterans also emphasized that the prosecutorial standard for proving conspiracy is higher than the counterintelligence standard used by agencies like the CIA. And they noted that the release of Barr's summary indicates that Mueller's work took on a prosecutorial focus rather than a counterintelligence one. "There is no doubt that there were multiple overtures from the Russians to the Trump campaign, meetings between Trump associates and Russians, phone calls between Trump associates and Russians, and so forth," one former senior Justice Department official who used to work closely with Mueller told INSIDER. "But to be able to prove that there was a conspiracy between Trump and the Russians, that's an incredibly high bar for prosecutors to meet, and if they can't prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, they would decline to bring such a charge, even if they had evidence pointing to that conclusion," the former official added. Legal scholars expressed more alarm, however, with Barr's conclusion that Trump did not obstruct justice after Mueller declined to make a decision one way or the other. Sait Serkan Gurbuz/AP Barr's conclusion on obstruction 'is just plain wrong,' experts sayMany of their concerns stemmed from the views Barr expressed in a memo last year, in which he described Mueller's obstruction investigation as "legally insupportable," adding that it should not be sanctioned by the Justice Department. Barr sent the memo to the Justice Department, Trump's legal team, and lawyers representing other figures of interest in the Russia probe, like senior adviser Jared Kushner, who counseled Trump to fire FBI director James Comey in 2017. In his summary of Mueller's findings, Barr reasoned that because Trump was not guilty of the underlying crime of conspiracy, he did not have corrupt intent when he fired FBI director James Comey, and therefore was not guilty of obstructing justice. Barr noted that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein came to their conclusion without regard to the department's guidelines that say a sitting president cannot be indicted. Matthew Miller, a former Justice Department spokesperson, said on Twitter that he found it "odd" that Barr and Rosenstein came to their own conclusion in the obstruction thread after Mueller's team declined to. "If it is a decision left to Congress, and Mueller wasn't weighing in, why did they?" Miller wrote. "[Barr] could've just passed on Mueller's findings, but decided to put his thumb on the scale after a 48 hour review of the facts." However, CNN reported on Monday that Mueller told Barr and Rosenstein three weeks ago that he would not reach a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice. Associated Press Nevertheless, Jens David Ohlin, a vice dean at Cornell Law School and an expert in criminal law, told INSIDER he was concerned that Barr came to a conclusion in the obstruction thread instead of the special counsel, given the attorney general's history of opposition to the line of inquiry. Ohlin added that it was also "bizarre" that Barr said Trump didn't have corrupt intent because he wasn't guilty of the crime of conspiracy. "That is just plain wrong," he said. "Trump's corrupt intent was broadcast, on national TV, for all to see, when he admitted that he fired Comey because of the Russia investigation. Also, Comey stated that Trump asked him to back off on [investigating former national security adviser Michael] Flynn and Comey refused to comply. The fact that Trump didn't personally conspire with the Russians over election interference isn't relevant to the question of corrupt intent." Trump may not be out of the woods just yetMcQuade expressed similar concerns, telling INSIDER, "Mueller's report did not conclude that Trump obstructed justice, nor did it exonerate him. Why not? Was this because Mueller believed he could not indict a sitting president, and so he was deferring this question to Congress?" She added that Barr's decision to conclude that Trump didn't obstruct justice "would seem to defeat the whole purpose for a special counsel to avoid conflicts of interest by insulating the decision maker from the executive branch chain of command." In light of Barr's summary, a growing number of House Democrats are moving to demand the release of Mueller's full report, as well as the underlying evidence he used to reach his conclusions, as they conduct their own inquiries into the president and his administration. The former senior Justice Department official who worked with Mueller said Trump could find himself in yet another legal quagmire if the department releases the underlying evidence for the Mueller report to Congress. Barr's summary noted that in the obstruction inquiry, Mueller's team laid out all the evidence they had on both sides of the issue and presented it to the Justice Department. In their investigation into whether the campaign colluded with Russia, court filings indicate that prosecutors may have kept several details under wraps to protect ongoing legal proceedings. "They may not have found evidence that rose to the level of criminal conduct," the former official said. "That doesn't mean they didn't find evidence of wrongdoing. If — or when — Congress and the public get that information, it will undoubtedly create another firestorm for the president." Barr is set to testify before a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee on April 9 about the Justice Department's budget. But the hearing will be open for congressional leadership to sit in on, and one congressional aide told INSIDER, "There isn't a chance in hell that Barr doesn't get bombarded with questions about why he usurped Congress' authority and took it upon himself to absolve the man who nominated him — and who he previously said couldn't be guilty of obstruction — of criminal conduct." 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Business via Business Insider https://ift.tt/1IpULic March 25, 2019 at 09:45PM |
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