All posts tagged: Program

Congress passes short extension of surveillance program

Congress passes short extension of surveillance program

Published by Sam Flores

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., speaks as U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer testifies before a Senate Finance Committee hearing on President Donald Trump’s trade policy, on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 8, 2025. Kevin Mohatt | Reuters The House and Senate on Friday approved a short-term extensive of a section of federal law that allows the warrantless surveillance and collection of foreign intelligence, though a renewal beyond the end of this month remains in jeopardy. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 was set to expire on Monday and allows the government to collect the communications of people outside the U.S., including when they are interacting with Americans. Friday’s votes extend the program to April 30. The short-term extension advanced out of the House only after GOP hard-liners spiked separate five-year and 18-moth proposals to extend the program in the early hours of Friday morning. Why is Section 702 controversial? Supporters argue the warrantless surveillance program is an invaluable tool in protecting U.S. interests and thwarting potential threats. The CIA said this month …

How to get employees to actually care about your L&D program

How to get employees to actually care about your L&D program

Published by Jenni Sidey

Marketers wake up every morning convinced nobody cares about what they’re selling. Most learning and development (L&D) pros assume the opposite, that attention comes with the job title, or at least with the mandatory completion requirement. That gap explains a lot. Mandatory Doesn’t Mean Engaged Think about the last compliance course you clicked through. You showed up. You moved the slider. You passed the quiz. And three days later, you remembered almost nothing. The training counted as “done.” Nobody asked whether it worked. Marketers don’t get that grace period. If they lose your attention, they lose the sale, and they know it in real time. That pressure changes how they think. It should change how we think, too. Relevance Is Rocket Fuel The fastest path to attention is relevance. Not “here’s a module on communication skills.” Real relevance. The kind that makes someone think this was made for me. That means knowing your audience before you build a single slide. What does their day actually look like? What problems grind them down? What language do …

Melania Trump Pushed for Updating a Foster Care Program During a Rare Visit to Capitol Hill

Melania Trump Pushed for Updating a Foster Care Program During a Rare Visit to Capitol Hill

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON (AP) — Melania Trump made a rare appearance on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to push Congress to pass bills broadening access to services for young people in foster care, calling it a “moral imperative.” The first lady began working on foster care issues after President Donald Trump’s first term ended in 2021. Her trip followed a similar and successful lobbying effort last year to get Congress to send legislation to the president to protect women and children from online sexual exploitation. The visit came a week after Melania Trump’s surprise on-camera statement at the White House in which she denied ties to Jeffrey Epstein and knowledge of his crimes, and urged Congress to hold a hearing for his victims. She also demanded an end to “lies” linking her to the late financier and convicted sex offender. On Capitol Hill, she said youngsters in foster care face barriers to housing, transportation and education and other challenges outside the classroom that affect their academic performance. “We can close this gap,” Melania Trump said. “New legislation for …

‘Door Is Not Closed’: Mediators Still Press For Iran Deal After US Demanded 20-Year Halt To Nuclear Program

‘Door Is Not Closed’: Mediators Still Press For Iran Deal After US Demanded 20-Year Halt To Nuclear Program

Published by Jenni Sidey

There’s currently some consensus among international reports that the weekend US-Iran peace talks in Pakistan fundamentally broke down over the nuclear issue. The question of Iran’s enriched uranium has at times over the course of the war taken a front seat and at other times a back seat when it comes to Washington’s evolving justifications and war aims in launching Operation Epic Fury. On Monday a US official has been cited in Axios as saying Iran must halt its nuclear enrichment program for 20 years to end the war, scaling back from an earlier White House demand for a permanent end to enrichment. And that’s when sources say the Iranians countered with a shorter “single digit” period. via Al Jazeera The unnamed sources explained that during talks in Islamabad the Iranian mediators countered with a proposal to halt enrichment for less than ten years. Multiple Middle Eastern countries are still working to mediate a resolution, as both Washington and Tehran moved away from maximalist positions on enrichment. Before the talks, Trump demanded a permanent halt, …

DOGE Made Drastic Cuts to a Global Vaccine Assistance Program. Now There’s a Deadly Measles Outbreak in Bangladesh

DOGE Made Drastic Cuts to a Global Vaccine Assistance Program. Now There’s a Deadly Measles Outbreak in Bangladesh

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Even after prolonged chaos, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency didn’t end up saving taxpayers much money. It did, however, manage to devastate global health infrastructure on its way out. For evidence, look no further than Bangladesh, currently in the grips of one of the worst measles outbreaks in recent memory. According to the Guardian, over 100 children have died as a result of gaps in vaccination coverage, with more than 900 confirmed measles cases reported since the viral flare-up began in March. Two thirds of those impacted are over nine months old, the outlet reported, the age at which infants typically become eligible for measles inoculation. The United Nations has helped the Bangladeshi government kickstart an emergency vaccination drive, but for many families, the damage has already been done. At the heart of the public health failure lies a shortage of vaccine stockpiles. That shortage traces back, at least in part, to the wave of DOGE-driven spending …

U.S. and Iran negotiators to discuss nuclear program, Strait of Hormuz

U.S. and Iran negotiators to discuss nuclear program, Strait of Hormuz

Published by Sam Flores

Negotiators from the United States and Iran are set to meet in Islamabad this weekend for talks aimed at turning their current ceasefire into a durable peace. The truce, announced Tuesday, has been shaky. Israel launched an aerial barrage against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz remains snarled. But after nearly six weeks of war, both Washington and Tehran appear motivated to end the conflict, raising hopes that the talks Saturday, to be led by Vice President JD Vance and senior Iranian officials Abbas Araghchi and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, might produce a deal. Source link

The Future of the Artemis Program Is Riding on Reentry

The Future of the Artemis Program Is Riding on Reentry

Published by skeptic

Specialists did not classify it as a catastrophic failure, but it was a clear sign that something was wrong and could put lives at risk. In response, NASA halted the program’s progress. Artemis II did not go forward until Orion went through a shield redesign, new materials testing, and a complete recalibration of the thermal models. The dream of returning to the moon was delayed for nearly two years. Space history is replete with moments when a problem during reentry forced entire missions to be halted or reconsidered. The case of Soyuz 1 in 1967 is one of the most remembered. The pioneering capsule orbited Earth, but its parachute system failed during reentry, and the spacecraft hit the ground at full speed. Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov died and the program was suspended for 18 months. For NASA, tragedy struck in 2003. A foam fragment hit the left wing of the shuttle Columbia during launch and damaged its heat shield. No one detected the flaw. Upon reentry, heat penetrated the structure and the spacecraft disintegrated. All seven …

Microsoft’s Windows Insider Program is no longer a confusing mess

Microsoft’s Windows Insider Program is no longer a confusing mess

Published by skeptic

Ed Bott / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways Microsoft is making the Insider Program less complicated. Beta channel will be a more reliable preview of the next retail release. Other changes will allow testers to quickly enable/disable new features. Last month, Microsoft took official notice of its customers’ many complaints about Windows 11. Pavan Davaluri, the executive vice president who runs the Windows and Devices group, promised sweeping changes to Windows 11. Today, the company announced the first of those changes in a post authored by Alec Oot, who’s been the principal group product manager for the Windows Insider Program since January 2024. Those changes will streamline the Insider program, which has lost sight of its original goals in the past few years. (For a brief history of the program and what had gone wrong, see my post from last November: “The Windows Insider Program is a confusing mess.”) Also: If Microsoft really wants to fix Windows 11, it should do these …

Author ‘safety program’ launched after rise in harassment and threats

Author ‘safety program’ launched after rise in harassment and threats

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the Well Enough newsletter with Harry Bullmore for tips on living a healthier, happier and longer life Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore A coalition of publishers and literary agencies are trying to counter a growing trend of harassment against members of the literary community with a new initiative. PEN America, the century-old free expression organization, is launching the U.S. Safety Program to provide safety training and other resources for authors amid a wave of censorship efforts around the country. “We have heard from countless authors, illustrators, and translators who are under siege, fending off a steady stream of abuse and threats, online and at book events,” said Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf, co-chief executive officer of PEN America. “Through this new program, the literary and publishing community is stepping up together because writers should not be forced to choose between their safety and their voice.” Jodi Picoult (pictured), Jennifer Egan and Lee Child will be among the writers auctioning off character names for future novels, …

AI design platform Picsart launches a creator monetization program

AI design platform Picsart launches a creator monetization program

Published by skeptic

AI-powered design platform Picsart is launching a creator monetization program, the company told TechCrunch exclusively. The program is open to all creators, with no invite lists and no minimum audience size required. The program invites creators to create original content with Picsart tools for a specific campaign, share it on their social channels, and earn revenue based on how their audience engages. Picsart says the program is designed to reward creative output and performance, rather than focusing on scale or follower count. By launching a creator monetization program, Picsart is evolving from a creative tool into a platform where creators can earn revenue. The company likely sees the move as a way to both attract and retain creators. Once creators sign up for the program, they get access to a dashboard that displays all of the current prompts and creative challenges that they can participate it. For example, one campaign could ask creators to generate cute fluffy creatures using Picsart Aura, the platform’s AI conversational assistant that can generate and animate images and videos through …