Tuesday, November 21, 2023

11/21 WAKE-UP CALL: 700 Open AI Workers Say They'll Walk

More than 700 OpenAI workers threatened to quit if the board that fired CEO Sam Altman didn’t resign and restore him to power. It might be too late, though. Microsoft announced late yesterday that it was hiring Altman and Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s president who resigned in protest after Altman was ousted. Microsoft said it would open its doors to more joining from the company behind viral chatbot ChatGPT, which has about 770 employees. Also, the OpenAI board found someone to replace Altman: former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear. The board pushed Altman out in part because of a lack of clarity around his outside business endeavors and a potential risk that OpenAI’s intellectual property could be used in ways that made the board uncomfortable, people familiar with the board’s thinking said.

➤TRUCE THISCLOSE: The chief of Hamas told Reuters on Tuesday that the Palestinian militant group was near a truce agreement with Israel, even as the deadly assault on Gaza continued and rockets were being fired into Israel. Hamas officials are "close to reaching a truce agreement" with Israel and the group has delivered its response to Qatari mediators, Ismail Haniyeh said in a statement sent to Reuters by his aide. The statement gave no more details, but a Hamas official told Al Jazeera TV that negotiations were centred on how long the truce would last, arrangements for delivery of aid into Gaza and the exchange of Israeli hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners in Israel. Both sides would free women and children and details will be announced by Qatar, which is mediating in the negotiations, said the official, Issat el Reshiq.

➤ISRAEL SHIFTS FOCUS:  Israel is shifting the focus of its military campaign to southern Gaza. The country will likely face the hardest stage of the six-week-old war as it seeks to crush Hamas and recover hostages amid a deepening humanitarian crisis. Israeli forces have largely succeeded in taking control of northern Gaza, but they have only partially destroyed Hamas’s military capabilities and haven’t captured or killed many of its top leaders, senior Israeli officers and analysts say. Hamas will almost certainly prove to be a more determined adversary in the south, where the militants will have few remaining options other than to fight.

➤BABIES EVACUATED: Some Gaza hospitals have become such an integral part of the battle between Israeli forces and Hamas, the safest place for patients and staff is elsewhere. Twenty-eight of the 31 premature babies evacuated from Shifa Hospital on Sunday were transported to Egyptian medical facilities Monday, the same day 12 people were killed and others injured in what the Hamas-run Health Ministry said was Israeli shelling at another hospital in north Gaza. Israel said it returned fire from militants but did not shell Indonesian Hospital. Of the original 39 premature babies authorities warned were endangered as fighting around Shifa intensified, eight have died. The surviving ones face an uphill battle after getting sick amid a lack of medicines, clean water and power for incubators along with other substandard conditions at the besieged Shifa, raided by Israeli forces last week.

➤ARGENTINA WANTS TO ADOPT U-S DOLLAR: Argentina’s president-elect wants to adopt the U.S. dollar as the national currency. Javier Milei hopes to eradicate rampant inflation that has for decades ravaged Latin America’s third-biggest economy by replacing the Argentine peso and stripping the central bank of its power to print money. Winning support from the national congress and courts and implementing the possibly harmful plan will be challenging. The country lacks the funds to carry out the proposal, economists say; in recent years, it has lost access to global debt markets.

➤FED COURT EXPECTED TO NARROW SCOPE OF TRUMP GAG ORDER: A federal appeals court panel signaled that it would affirm—but potentially narrow—a gag order on Donald Trump. A lower court had barred the former president from making public statements targeting special counsel Jack Smith, his staff, court employees and potential witnesses in Trump's federal election-interference case. The restrictions aren’t in place while the appeals court decides. Trump has called the gag order unprecedented censorship of a political candidate and unconstitutional. Smith’s office said it was warranted because of Trump’s record of attacks and threats on people involved in court cases against him, which could taint the jury pool. In New York, Trump’s lawyers are mounting a multifront defense against the civil fraud case threatening his personal fortune.


➤SHEETZ DROPS PRICE OF GAS: Gas prices may be down nationwide, but Sheetz is cutting the price even more during Thanksgiving week. The major mid-Atlantic gas station, restaurant and convenience chain with more than 700 locations is reducing the price of its Unleaded 88 gas to $1.99 per gallon this Thanksgiving week, now through Monday, November 27 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Unleaded 88, a fuel blend also known as E15, is 15% ethanol and 85% gasoline, approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for use in all 2001 and newer vehicles. The $1.99 price offers more than $1 in savings per gallon for many shoppers. The national average for unleaded is $3.274 per gallon, according to Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, who posted Monday morning on X, formerly known as Twitter.

💸HOW MUCH MONEY HONEY? A new poll has revealed how much money each age group needs to be happy - with millennials reporting a desired salary of half a million dollars each year. About six in 10 Americans believe money can buy happiness, according to a poll from financial services firm Empower. Median household income in the United States is about $74,000 annually, but respondents said they'd need to earn roughly $284,000 each year to feel content. The majority of respondents said the ability to pay bills on time and live without debt contributes tremendously to their overall satisfaction.

➤SUPREME COURT DECLINES APPEAL FROM DEREK CHAUVIN IN MURDER OF GEORGE FLOYD: The Supreme Court on Monday turned away an appeal by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, leaving in place his conviction for the killing of George Floyd in May 2020. Lawyers for Chauvin had asked the Supreme Court in October to take up his legal battle, which centered around a Minnesota trial court's denial of his requests for a change of venue and to sequester the jury. Chauvin argued that the decision to keep the proceedings in Minneapolis deprived him of his right to a fair trial because of pretrial publicity and the threat of violence and riots in the event he was acquitted.

➤ALL 9 ABOARD U.S. NAVY PLANE THAT OVERSHOT RUNWAY ESCAPE INJURY, HAWAII OFFICIALS SAY: A U.S. Navy plane overshot a runway and went into a bay in Hawaii on Monday, and when the Honolulu Emergency Medical Services Department got to the scene, military officials told the emergency workers that all nine people aboard made it safely to shore with no injuries, spokesperson Shayne Enright said. Coast Guard spokesperson Petty Officer Ryan Fisher said the Coast Guard responded but that rescue operations were quickly called off. "It sounds like all parties involved were rescued," he said.


🎂BIDEN MOCKED OVER PHOTO: Joe Biden has been roundly mocked after posting a photograph of himself sitting alone at a dining table in The White House complete with a flaming birthday cake to celebrate his 81st birthday. 'I turned 81 and all I got was a new social platform! Thanks for the well-wishes, folks,'  Biden wrote as he made his first posting on the social media platform Threads. 'And to the workers at the birthday candle factory, I hope your union got you overtime,' he quipped, as the cake appeared to be engulfed in flames. But followers on other social media were quick to add fuel to the fire. 'There's a portal to hell on a plate in front of him', tweeted one X user.

🦃BIDEN PARDONS TWO TURKEYS:  Two lucky turkeys – and one heck of a birthday party! On his 81st birthday, President Joe Biden pardoned two turkeys from a family farm in Minnesota on Monday as part of a long White House tradition ahead of Thanksgiving. Liberty and Bell will live to see another day. As concerns about his age continue to dominate his 2024 reelection campaign, Biden kicked off the turkey ceremony on the White House South Lawn with a lighthearted jab at himself: "I just want you to know, it's difficult turning 60," he said. The president has often made light of his octogenarian status − "I know I'm 198 years old," he joked in June − as polls show it remains one of his biggest election liabilities. 


🏈NFL EAGLES 21 CHIEFS 17: Jalen Hurts rushed for two touchdowns and the Philadelphia Eagles overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to beat the host Kansas City Chiefs 21-17 on Monday night in a Super Bowl rematch. D'Andre Swift rushed for a touchdown and had 107 scrimmage yards (76 rushing, 31 receiving) as the Eagles, who own the best record in the NFL at 9-1, won their fourth straight game. DeVonta Smith caught six passes for 99 yards, including a long one that set up the winning score.

Patrick Mahomes threw two touchdowns but also threw an interception and finished with just 177 passing yards. He completed 24 of 43 passes for the Chiefs (7-3). Kansas City's Travis Kelce and Justin Watson had touchdown receptions. The Week 11 showdown was a rematch of the highly competitive Super Bowl LVII. The Chiefs won the game 38-35 thanks to Harrison Butker's game-winning 27-yard field goal with eight seconds remaining.

🏈DORIAN THOMPSON-ROBINSON TO REMAIN BROWNS' STARTING QB: Even after the Browns signed veteran Joe Flacco on Monday, rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson will remain Cleveland's starting quarterback, coach Kevin Stefanski said. Thompson-Robinson led the Browns on a game-winning field goal drive Sunday, as Cleveland defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 13-10. Thompson-Robinson completed all four of his passes on the final drive. He finished 24-of-43 passing for 165 yards with an interception.

⚾SOURCES: CARDINALS, FREE AGENT LANCE LYNN REACH 1-YEAR DEAL: Right-hander Lance Lynn and the St. Louis Cardinals agreed on a one-year contract with a club option that guarantees $10 million and reunites the 36-year-old with the team that drafted him a decade and a half ago. Lynn, who spent the first six seasons of his career with the Cardinals, has bounced around to five teams since leaving St. Louis and returns after a season in which he posted an elite strikeout rate but struggled with the home run ball.

⚾YOSHINOBU YAMAMOTO NEGOTIATIONS CAN RUN THROUGH JAN. 4: Yoshinobu Yamamoto will become a free agent Tuesday and major league teams can sign him through 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 4. Nippon Professional Baseball notified Major League Baseball that the 25-year-old right-hander's club, the Orix Buffaloes, was posting him for availability to MLB teams. MLB notified the 30 teams of the posting Monday, and under the agreement between MLB and NPB the negotiating period starts at 8 a.m. Tuesday and extends for up to 45 days.

🏈BRONCOS' KAREEM JACKSON BANNED AGAIN, THIS TIME FOR DOBBS HIT: Denver Broncos safety Kareem Jackson has been suspended without pay for four games for repeated violations of player safety rules, the result of his first tackle since he returned from another suspension. Jackson lowered his helmet and hit Minnesota Vikings quarterback Joshua Dobbs less than two minutes into Sunday's 21-20 Broncos win.


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