From Sam Altman back on the OpenAI board to showering every day – Here are today's Headlines
OpenAI is shaking up its leadership.
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To start off, we're looking into:
Sam Altman returns to OpenAI board
OpenAI is shaking up its leadership. CEO Sam Altman is making a comeback to the board alongside three new directors. This comes on the heels of an investigation into Altman's dismissal last year by the law firm WilmerHale. According to the investigation, Altman's firing wasn't due to financial woes or product safety concerns but rather a breakdown in trust between him and the previous board. To tackle these challenges head-on, OpenAI has introduced new governance rules and reinforced its conflict-of-interest policies. Here's the backstory.
China’s consumer prices rebound
China's consumer prices went up in February, marking the first increase since August. The consumer price index, which measures how much things cost for people, rose by 0.7% compared to the previous year. But prices for factory-made goods continued to fall, dropping by 2.7%. This is the longest period of decline since 2016. One reason for this improvement is that more people bought things during the Lunar New Year holiday. Here's the backstory.
More bumps for Boeing
Last week, reports came out about another incident involving a Boeing plane on February 6, where the rudder pedal used to control an aircraft on the runway became stuck as it touched down. Well, the hits keep on coming. Also last week, a United Boeing 777-200 lost a tire just after the plane took off from San Francisco, and there was an engine failure on a different flight from Houston to Fort Myers. Then, on Friday, another Boeing veered off the taxiway into a grassy area after making an emergency landing because one of the engines had reportedly sucked up some bubble wrap and was spewing flames. Here's the backstory.
To end, we'll look into:
Should you shower every day?
Here’s a question that has a lot of people divided – should you shower every day?
US celeb America Ferrera, known recently for her moving speech in "Barbie," will go for a few days without a shower. But TV personality AI Roker has said he showers twice a day. Kristen Bell ("Frozen") and her husband, Dax Shepard, wait for their kids to get what they call "the stink" before bathing them.
So, it's easy to say there's no "right" answer to whether you should shower every day, as it varies from person to person. A 2021 survey conducted in the US with 5,700 adults found that over 60% showered at least once daily. Harvard Medical School has reported that over 80% of Australians shower daily, but in China, around half of people report bathing twice a week. Click here for more.
In other news ...
📰Russia/Ukraine update: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met with his Turkish counterpart, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Istanbul on Friday. Edrogan has offered to host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, as it's maintained a balanced relationship between both countries since the war began. China's UN envoy has also called for "direct dialogue" between Russia and Ukraine, as it's willing to "build bridges" to bring peace.
Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, said that Ukraine should have "the courage to raise the white flag" and negotiate an end to the war with Russia. Ukrainian and allied officials have criticized the Pope for his statement.
🗞️Middle East update: Egyptian security sources told Reuters that Egypt has been in contact with Hamas and Israeli figures in hopes of restarting ceasefire negotiations that came to a halt after a Hamas delegation left Egypt earlier in the week. There's been difficulty reaching an agreement over a hostage exchange and demands made by Hamas for jailed Palestinians.
US President Joe Biden has criticized Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of "hurting Israel more than helping it." The US has also been delivering aid to Gaza, and a US military ship set sail on Saturday, carrying equipment to build a temporary port off the coast of Gaza for aid to be delivered.
For months, the Yemeni Iran-backed Houthis have been attacking cargo ships in the Red Sea for months, causing major disruption to the global trading route. Over the weekend, the US, UK and France destroyed dozens of drones to stop an attack on a cargo ship and some US destroyers.
📰Haiti update: Last week, an armed gang attacked a major prison in Haiti, leading to thousands of inmates on the loose. Then, the Haitian government declared a state of emergency. Gang fighters have been trying to take control of the Port-Au-Prince airport in an effort to overthrow Haiti's PM Ariel Henry and have now begun attacking police stations. Caribbean leaders called an emergency meeting in Jamaica on Monday about the "dire" situation in Haiti, inviting Brazil, the US, France, Canada, and the UN to join.
🥼South Korea doctor update: In late February, about 70% of South Korea's young doctors and trainees walked off their jobs to protest the government's plan to increase medical degree quotas at universities. The plan is meant to deal with a doctor shortage in one of the world's fastest-aging societies. The government has said that it'll increase young doctors' pay and working conditions but denied that there's a full-scale health care crisis as doctors and nurses have taken on additional work to stabilize the situation. The South Korean PM has also said a period of 24 hours of continuous work instead of the current 36 hours for young doctors will be trialed, among other improvements.
💣North Korea artillery drills: South Korea and the US have been conducting their annual military drills, but this year, they have doubled the number of troops amid rising tensions with North Korea. In response, North Korean leader Kim-Jong Un has overseen artillery firing drills by the Korean People's Army in range of what it called "the enemy's capital," referring to Seoul, state media reported on Friday.
💧Flooding in Indonesia: Days of torrential rain have caused flooding and landslides in several areas in the Indonesian province of West Sumatra, leading to more than 70,000 people evacuating. At least 19 people have been killed, and another seven have gone missing.
📢Holocaust Museum sparks outrage: On Sunday, Dutch King Willem-Alexander defied calls from over 200 mosques not to attend the opening of a Holocaust museum in Amsterdam with Israel's president. Fireworks were set off, and eggs were thrown as thousands of pro-Palestine protestors gathered at the opening ceremony.
📈Nvidia gains on Apple: Despite having its biggest one-day drop in nine months on Friday, Nvidia's shares have soared by 70% in 2024, and the company is gaining on Apple. Nvidia may soon overtake Apple, needing its shares to rise by about US$230 billion to make it the second-most valuable company in the world, behind Microsoft. Meanwhile, on Friday, three authors in the US sued the company for copyright infringement, saying it used their books without permission to train its NeMo platform.
☎️TikTok lobbying backfiring: Officials in Congress have reported they're being inundated by calls from people lobbying against pending legislation that could require ByteDance to divest TikTok in six months or face a widespread ban in the US. Officials said everyone from teens to elderly people are calling in, with one staffer alleging they're saying "TikTok told me to." Well, it doesn't look like this is working in TikTok's favor, with lawmakers saying it's made their worries about ByteDance worse and strengthened their resolve to pass the bill.
📺Elon Musk's run at YouTube: Elon Musk's social media platform, X (formerly known as Twitter), is planning to launch a TV app for Amazon and Samsung TVs next week to encourage users to watch longer videos and compete with YouTube, as first reported by Fortune.
🕑"Invisible overtime" in China: China's Supreme Court has decided that "invisible overtime" – employees who have to stay online after working hours on apps like WeChat – are entitled to legal protection and compensation. So, lawmakers are now planning to discuss creating a legal definition and compensation framework for "working overtime online."
🪙Hong Kong Consensus: One of the world's biggest cryptocurrency conferences is coming to Hong Kong in February of next year. The 2025 Consensus, hosted by CoinDesk, will be at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from February 19-20 and aims to attract around 10,000 attendees.
💐RIP Akira Toriyama: Dragon Ball fans everywhere are mourning the death of the franchise creator Akira Toriyama, who passed away at age 68 after a brain bleed. The franchise is one of the best-selling Japanese comics of all time, and Toriyama reportedly still had a few projects in the works at the time of his death.
🎥Asian Film Awards: At the Asian Film Awards on Sunday, Hong Kong filmmaker Nick Cheuk Yik-him won the award for best new director for his drama "Time Still Turns the Pages," which was also nominated for two other awards, best supporting actor and best editing. "There are limited resources [for filming] in Hong Kong, but this should not be an excuse. We should cook the best dish with all the things we have," he told local media backstage. He will compete for best director and best new director at the Hong Kong Film Awards next month.
👸Princess Kate is back: There have been weeks of speculation over the condition of the UK's Princess Kate since her abdominal surgery, as she has stayed out of the public eye while recovering. But, Kensington Palace released photos on Sunday of the princess with her three children for Mother's Day, with her thanking people for their support. The post also said that the pictures had been taken earlier last week, putting an end to all the rumors.
📸Hong Kong Photo Contest: The results of the Hong Kong Photo Contest 2023, organized by National Geographic, are in. The winning shots will be exhibited at SAVVY in Tsim Sha Tsui and online until March 24. The contest received over 9,000 entries in the categories of landscape, wildlife, city, people, historic building and mobile photography.
Quiz Time!
What air manufacturer is currently under investigation in the US for a series of safety incidents?
- Boeing
- Airbus
- Cessna
- Lockheed Martin
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Written and put together by Joey Fung, Alisha Khan and Christine Dulion
**The answer to the quiz is [1]
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