May 6 2024

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Greg Loving

May 06, 2024

1 Fewer jobs created, stocks surge

2 AI splitting news media business models

3 Congressman indicted for bribery

4 ELECTION 2024 Abortion not driving voting behavior

5 OPINION Friedman: Saudis modernizing, Israel regressing

Sports

5/6/1954 Roger Bannister runs first 4m mi

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1 Fewer jobs created, stocks surge

Stockmarkets in America rose after underwhelming labour-market data fuelled hopes of interest-rate cuts. The Bureau of Labour Statistics revealed that the American economy added 175,000 new non-farm jobs in April, fewer than expected and well below March’s revised figure of 315,000. Unemployment edged up to 3.9%, from 3.8%. The figures triggered speculation that the Federal Reserve could begin cutting interest rates as early as September.

Economist

2 AI splitting news media business models

Major news outlets are taking opposite approaches to future-proofing their businesses against the threat of AI — with some opting to partner with AI firms, and others suing them, Axios' Sara Fischer writes.

Why it matters: Unlike music and book publishers, news outlets are struggling to present a unified front in their fight for copyright protection. That could weaken their leverage in negotiations with Big Tech to license their content. Eight prominent regional U.S. newspapers joined The New York Times and other news organizations in suing OpenAI (parent of ChatGPT) and Microsoft for copyright infringement this week.
But several other large news publishers, including the Financial Times, AP and Axel Springer, have instead opted to strike paid deals with AI companies for millions of dollars annually.
Between the lines: Ad-based news businesses depend on visitors sent via search. They fear tech companies will use their content to refine AI-based services that will give users information without sending traffic.
Licensing businesses, like AP, have less to lose in striking a deal with AI firms: Most of their revenue is already derived from deals providing access to their content.

Axios

3 Congressman indicted for bribery

Democratic U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas and his wife were indicted on conspiracy and bribery charges and taken into custody Friday in connection with a U.S. Department of Justice probe into the couple’s ties to the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan. From 2014 to 2021, Cuellar, 68, and his wife accepted nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijan-controlled energy company and a bank in Mexico, and in exchange, Cuellar agreed to advance the interests of the country and the bank in the U.S., according to the indictment. Among other things, Cuellar agreed to influence legislation favorable to Azerbaijan and deliver a pro-Azerbaijan speech on the floor of the U.S. House, the indictment states.

4 ELECTION 2024 Abortion not driving voting behavior

You see this 14-point lead for Joe Biden [on the issue of abortion]. But will abortion be important for votes, for folks in their voting patterns? So in our new CNN poll, how does abortion affect your vote for major offices? Candidates must share your views? Only 23%, John. Only 23% of Americans say that candidates must share your views on abortion. So even if they agree with Joe Biden, it doesn’t necessarily mean they vote for him. And more than that, John, when we look at the top issues, the nation’s most urgent issues, look where abortion is on this list. It’s all the way down at 5%. The issues that are at the top of this list are immigration and the economy, which of course are Donald Trump’s best issues,” Enten explained, offering some bad news for Biden’s reelection hopes. Berman concluded the segment, saying, “Democrats are convinced that abortion did help them do well in the 2022 midterm elections. It’s interesting to see if maybe something’s not showing up in the polling, but right now it’s not showing up as a driving issue.”

CNN

5 OPINION Friedman: Saudis modernizing, while Israel regresses

To put it bluntly, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has put his country’s worst religious extremists in jail, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has put his country’s worst religious extremists in his cabinet.

Sports