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Tear gas, clashes as Lebanon protesters try to storm govt HQ

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By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press -- BEIRUT -- Lebanese security forces Wednesday fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters, mainly retired soldiers, who tried to break through the fence leading to the government headquarters in downtown Beirut. The violence came amid widespread anger over the harsh economic conditions in the country, where mismanagement by the ruling class has been rampant for years, preceding the economic meltdown that started in late 2019. The retired soldiers and policemen demanding better pay clashed with riot police and troops. Several people suffered breathing problems from the tear gas. The protesters hurled stones at the officers protecting the government headquarters and repeatedly tried to break through the fence. There was no immediate information about any injuries during the violence. The protest was called for by retired soldiers and depositors who have had limited access to their savings after local banks imposed informal capital controls amid the crisis. The controls restrict cash withdrawals from accounts to avoid folding amid currency shortages. People with dollar accounts can only withdraw small sums in Lebanese pounds, at an exchange rate far lower than that of the black market.

Since early Wednesday, riot police and army special forces were deployed around the government headquarters, an Ottoman-era three-story building known as the Grand Serail of Beirut. Nearly two hours after the violence broke out, the protesters dispersed. The Lebanese pound hit a new low on Tuesday, selling for more than 143,000 pounds to the dollar before making some gains. The pound has lost more than 95% of its value over the past three years. The official rate is 15,000 pounds to the dollar. “My monthly salary is $40. How can I survive,” screamed a retired army officer. Most people in Lebanon get paid in Lebanese pounds and have seen the value of their salaries drop over the past years as the pound crashed.

Lebanon to construct new terminal at Beirut airport

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BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon will construct a $122 million terminal at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport to be operated by a leading Irish airport company when it’s completed in four years, officials said Monday. Lebanon’s only international airport had a major facelift after the country’s 1975-90 civil war and has been working at full capacity for years. The airport has not undergone an expansion since 1998. Caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamie said Terminal 2 will bring in private sector investments worth $122 million and will handle 3.5 million passengers annually when operations begin in 2027. It will add six docking stands as well as remote ones, he said in a ceremony at government headquarters to announce the launch of the new terminal. Terminal 2 will be built where the airport’s old cargo building used to stand, according to Hamie. The project comes as Lebanon is in the throes of its worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history, rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement by the country’s political class.

“The project opens more horizons for air aviation between Lebanon and the world,” caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said. He added that it will help in solving several problems, including crowding at the current terminal. The project will create 500 direct jobs and 2,000 related jobs, Hamie said, adding that Terminal 2 will be for chartered and low-cost flights. Hamie said once Terminal 2 is ready it will be operated by leading European company daa International, an airport company in Ireland. Ireland’s Minister of State James Browne attended Monday’s ceremony in Beirut and was quoted in a statement released by the Lebanese prime minister’s office as saying that the contract signed will deepen business relations between the two countries. The airport currently handles 8 million passengers a year, and the plans are to reach 20 million in 2030, according to the website of national carrier Middle East Airlines.

Netflix building cloud gaming service

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By Ruiqi Chen, Editor at LinkedIn News -- Netflix is developing a cloud gaming service to make its games easily accessible on every device, The Verge reports. Right now, Netflix’s mobile games are listed in the Netflix app — but those titles have to downloaded from Apple's App Store or from Google Play if you want to play them. That awkward setup might explain why less than 1% of the streaming giant’s subscribers interact with its games on a daily basis. Netflix hopes to boost those numbers with its cloud service, which will house Netflix games within the Netflix app.

The company's VP of external games, Leanne Loombe, cautions that work on the project is still at a "very early" stage. If it wants to build a service for iOS devices, Netflix will likely need Apple to relax its cloud gaming app rules.

Surprises in World Happiness Report

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By Melissa Cantor, Editor at LinkedIn News -- On the heels of a pandemic that frayed social ties, the world has seen war break out in Ukraine, economies teeter on the brink of recession, scientists issue "urgent" warnings on climate change and an international banking system left reeling by recent fractures. Pessimism would not be unwarranted — yet global happiness hasn't declined since 2020, according to the United Nations' World Happiness Report. Here are the countries with the highest level of life satisfaction and other findings from the report:

Finland is the happiest country for the sixth year in a row, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Israel and the Netherlands. Australia, Canada and the U.S. take spots 12, 13 and 15 respectively, with France bumped out of the top 20 and now in 21st place. Overall, benevolence toward others is up 25% from pre-pandemic levels.

How AI can save you time: 5 skills you no longer need to learn

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By Imane El Atillah -- euronews.com -- Over the past few months, developments in artificial intelligence (AI) have taken huge strides and its use has skyrocketed, especially after the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. However, while it might be reasonable to start preparing for a world ruled by AI, more often than not results might be exaggerated and AI capacities overhyped. People are scared of an uncertain future where they risk losing their jobs, stability, and value in society as their skills are getting more easily automatable. However, AI will always need human collaboration, and sometimes intervention, to function properly. Sam Altman says 'potentially scary' AI is on the horizon. This is what keeps AI experts up at night "We don't want to be completely over-reliant on AIs in the future, because what happens if the next virus is not the coronavirus but a massive computer virus that basically renders all our computers and destroys or locks all our computer systems?" Bernard Marr, a futurist and internationally best-selling author, told Euronews Next.

Skills you can skip learning thanks to AI

This being said, while AI is not expected to fully mimic humans' abilities, it is becoming good at performing repetitive basic, or robotic tasks. This can save time and offer people space to explore the use of special human capabilities, such as creativity and imagination. "People often get scared when you think about all the capabilities that AI now have. So what does it mean for my job as someone that writes, for example, will this mean that in the future tools like ChatGPT will write all our articles? And the answer is no. But what it will do is it will augment our jobs," Marr added. Here are five skills that you can now skip learning thanks to recent developments in the field of AI.

1. Writing

US helps power-starved Lebanese businesses switch to solar

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By Najia Houssari - arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: The US has launched a $20 million fund to help Lebanese businesses install solar energy systems as owners struggle to stay afloat amid the collapse of the country’s electricity sector. US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea launched the Solar & Renewable Energy Fund on Friday, saying it will help local businesses reduce operating costs, sustain their operations and maintain employment levels. “This fund will support the purchase and installation of solar power generation systems for at least 25 businesses,” she said. Lebanon’s crumbling power sector has forced businesses and households to rely largely on private diesel generators.

Power now is available for only four hours a day, thanks to a $60 million advance approved by the Cabinet in favor of the Electricite du Liban to supply fuel to operate the Deir Ammar and Zahrani plants. However, few trust the state’s sudden generosity. Jamal, a lawyer, said: “Increasing feeding hours to four hours may be a temporary trap to impose the new price on taxpayers, after which we will fall back into darkness.” Shea said: “Lebanese businesses are struggling in this current economic crisis. They have limited access to financing and their capital accounts, like those of all depositors, are trapped in Lebanese banks. For years, Lebanese enterprises relied on unsustainable and costly energy sources harmful to the environment. “The US Agency for International Development contributed $4 million in seed capital to the Solar & Renewable Energy Fund, and we are working to secure an additional $16 million from private investors and other donors.” She added: “The fund will lend capital to enterprises at commercial rates, anticipating that the loans will be repaid within two to three years. This will come from savings on reduced reliance on diesel generators. “We expect that these businesses will cut their operating costs by at least 20 percent, reducing their expenditures on electricity, and thereby boosting productivity and protecting Lebanese jobs.”

Introducing Microsoft 365 Copilot—A whole new way to work

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by microsoft.com -- Colette Stallbaumer, General Manager -- Today, we announced Microsoft 365 Copilot—your copilot for work. Copilot combines the power of large language models (LLMs) with your data in the Microsoft Graph—your calendar, emails, chats, documents, meetings, and more—and the Microsoft 365 apps to turn your words into the most powerful productivity tool on the planet. And it does so within our existing commitments to data security and privacy in the enterprise. Right now, we spend too much time on the drudgery of work and too little time and energy on the work that ignites our creativity and sparks joy.

Copilot is integrated into Microsoft 365 in two ways. It works alongside you, embedded in the Microsoft 365 apps you use every day—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and more—to unleash creativity, unlock productivity, and uplevel skills. Today, we’re also announcing an entirely new experience: Business Chat. Business Chat works across the LLM, the Microsoft 365 apps, and your data—your calendar, emails, chats, documents, meetings, and contacts—to do things you’ve never been able to do before. You can give it natural language prompts like “tell my team how we updated the product strategy” and it will generate a status update based on the morning’s meetings, emails, and chat threads. Recent GitHub data shows that among developers who have used GitHub Copilot, 88 percent say they are more productive, 77 percent say the tool helps them spend less time searching for information, and 74 percent say they can focus their efforts on more satisfying work.1

Reinventing productivity for everyone