The oversized proportions are tricky. Heres how to look chic and put together, rather than drowning in your jacket.

What should you wear to work? The answer is, likely, an oversized blazer.

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ASIA:

Singapores March non-oil domestic exports (NODX) shrank 8.3% year-on-year, official data showed on Monday, though the drop was smaller than the previous month and less than forecast. On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, NODX increased 18.4%, Enterprise Singapore data showed, versus the prior months 8.2% decline. Economists had forecast 1.7% growth. The trade reliant city-state has now recorded six consecutive months of year-on-year contraction in the NODX, amid concerns over the economic outlook. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) left its monetary policy settings unchanged last week, even though the inflation rate remains elevated, reflecting policy makers concerns about its growth outlook.

The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today:

• NIKKEI 225 increased 50.81 points or 0.18% to 28,657.57
• Shanghai decreased 3.10 points or -0.09% to 3,367.03
• Hang Seng increased 29.21 points or 0.14% to 20,396.97
• ASX 200 decreased 3.30 points or -0.04% to 7,362.20
• Kospi decreased 11.97 points or -0.46% to 2,563.11
• SENSEX increased 64.55 points or 0.11% to 59,632.35
• Nifty50 increased 5.70 points or 0.03% to 17,624.45

The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:

• AUDUSD increased 0.0036 or 0.54% to 0.67490
• NZDUSD decreased 0.00104 or -0.17% to 0.61876
• USDJPY decreased 0.561 or -0.42% to 134.129
• USDCNY decreased 0.01383 or -0.20% to 6.88057

Precious Metals:

• Gold increased 13.07 USD/t oz. or 0.66% to 2,006.33
• Silver decreased 0.004 USD/t. oz or -0.01% to 25.254

Some economic news from last night:

China:

PBoC Loan Prime Rate remain the same at 3.65%

Japan:

Trade Balance (Mar) increased from -898.1B to -754.5B

Adjusted Trade Balance increased from -1.25T to -1.21T

Exports (YoY) (Mar) decreased from 6.5% to 4.3%

Australia:

NAB Quarterly Business Confidence decreased from -1 to -4

New Zealand:

CPI (YoY) (Q1) decreased from 7.2% to 6.7%

CPI (QoQ) (Q1) decreased from 1.4% to 1.2%...

This week we found out that Australias most embarrassing export, Rupert Murdoch, will pay US$787.5 million to avoid having his corporation further humiliated in court for telling lies about the US election, specifically regarding Dominion voting machines.

While this is a victory, of sorts, for Murdochs enemies, there is no accompanying ruling for Fox News to tell the truth about why they settled out of court, least of all to their own viewers, and it appears they will have some or all of Dominions costs covered by libel insurance.

The prospect of a six week trial of the key Murdoch players (from both sides of the camera), and a potential $1.6 billion settlement, has been whisked away. While Dominion and their investors have had a remarkable payday, it seems unlikely that this result will do any lasting damage to Fox News, or the wider Murdoch empire. Fox News reported $2.9 billion in pro-forma earnings last year, with the company worth upward of $16 billion. Their stock price barely wavered following the announcement.

As for reputational damage, the pre-trial evidence of internal communications from within Fox has made it clear that this is not a news organisation at...

Two GOP senators who have been investigating alleged Biden family corruption for years have stepped up their efforts. After Facebook and Twitter suppressed, to an extent, explosive revelations about Hunter Biden's laptop in October 2020, Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin want more answers. Grassley and Johnson have sent a letter to Zuckerberg noting: "In October 2020, when the New York Post published articles based on evidence from Hunter Biden's laptop, many news and social media organizations inappropriately rushed to censor and discredit the initial reporting and falsely labeled it as 'disinformation.'" Mainstream media outlets have finally admitted that the information gleaned from the laptop was not Russian disinformation but was in fact real.

Via: The Sydney Morning Herald: Tractors have ground to a halt in paddocks across Australia and New Zealand because of a signal failure in the satellite farmers use to guide their GPS-enabled machinery, stopping them from planting their winter crop.

More than 260 fragments of animal bones have been found at the monument. The excavation of an enigmatic stone monument in AIUIa in Saudi Arabia is offering fresh insight into the rituals and culture of Neolithic-era peoples. Called a "mustatil," the structure is one of about 1,600 such rectangular monuments that have been recorded across northern Arabia. As part of a five-year project by the University of Western Australia and the Royal Commission for AlUla, researchers are studying one particular mustatil, dating back 7,000 years, with large slabs of sandstone encircling a long inner courtyard. Within the 140-meter (460-foot) long complex, archaeologists identified 260 fragments of animal remains, namely the skulls, horns, and teeth of domestic cattle such as goats and gazelles.

When Israel launched a war against the Gaza Strip in August 2022, it declared that its target was the Islamic Jihad only. Indeed, neither Hamas nor the other Gaza-based groups engaged directly in the fighting. Nevertheless, the war then raised more questions than answers.

Israel rarely distinguishes between one Palestinian group and another. For Tel Aviv, any Palestinian Resistance is a form of terrorism or, at best, incitement. Targeting one group and excluding other supposedly terrorist groups exposes a degree of Israeli fear in fighting all Palestinian factions in Gaza all at once.

For Israel, wars in Gaza have proved progressively harder with time. For example, Israels so-called Protective Edge in 2014 was very costly in terms of losing lives among the invading troops. In May 2021, the so-called Breaking Dawn was an even bigger flop. That war unified the Palestinians and served as a strategic blow to Israel without considerably advancing Israeli military interests.

Though the Gaza groups provided the Islamic Jihad with logistical support in August 2022, they refrained from directly engaging in the fight. For some Palestinians, this was unexpected and was interpreted by some as indicative of weakness, disunity, and even political opportunism.

Nearly a year later, another war loomed following the release of harrowing footage of Israeli police senselessly beating up peaceful Palestinian worshipers at Al-Aqsa Mosque on the 14th day of the holy month of Ramadan. Again, like in May 2021, Palestinians rose in unison. This time, resistance groups in Gaza and, eventually, Lebanon and Syria fired rockets at Israel first.

Though Israel hit back at various targets, it is evident that Tel Aviv was disinterested in a multi-front war with Palestinians to avoid a repeat of the 2021 fiasco.

The violent and repeated Israeli military raids at Al Aqsa and limited, though deadly, attacks on Jenin, Nablus, and other parts of the West Bank were meant to achieve political capital for the embattled government of Benjamin Netanyahu. But this strategy could only succeed i...

Cometh the new platform, cometh new actions in law, the fragile litigant ever ready to dash off a writ to those with (preferably) deep pockets. And so, it transpires that artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, for all the genius behind their creation, are up for legal scrutiny and judicial redress. Certainly, some private citizens are getting rather ticked off about what such bots as ChatGPT are generating about them.

Some of this is indulgent, narcissistic craving you deserve what you get if you plug your name into an AI generator, hoping for sweet things to be said about you. Things get even comical when the search platform is itself riddled with inaccuracies.

One recent example stirring interest in the Digital Kingdom is a threatened legal suit against the OpenAI chatbot. Brian Hood, Mayor of Hepburn Shire Council in the Australian state of Victoria, was alerted to inaccurate accusations about bribery regarding a case that took place between 1999 and 2004. It involved Note Printing Australia, an entity of the Reserve Bank of Australia. Hood had worked at Note Printing Australia and blew the whistle on bribes being made to foreign authorities. He was never charged with the crime itself. However, answers generated by ChatGPT suggested otherwise, including the claim that Hood was found guilty of the said bribery allegations.

In a statement provided to Ars Technica by Gordon Legal, the firm representing Hood, more details are given. Among several false statements returned by the AI bot are claims that Hood was accused of bribing officials in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam between 1999 and 2005, that he was sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of false accounting under the Corporations Act in 2012, and that he authorised payments to a Malaysian arms dealer acting as a middleman to secure a contract with the Malaysian Government.

James Naughton, a partner at Gordon Legal, is representing Hood. Hes an elected official, his reputation is central to his role, stated the lawyer. It would potentially be a landmark moment in the sense that its applying this defamation law to a new area of artificial intelligence and publication in the IT space.

In March, Hoods legal representatives wrote a letter of concern to OpenAI, demanding that they amend the outlined errors within 28 days, threatening a defamation action against the company in the event they refused to do so.

The question here is whether ChatGPTs supposedly defamatory imputations might fall within the realm of liability. T...

Sun protection has been a topic of conversation for generations. Everyone knows that the sun, although mood-boosting, and offering some health benefits too, can really do some damage. The saying fun in the sun isnt so fun when considering the detriments of too much sun exposure including serious diagnoses like skin cancer. Read the following useful information about sun protection and what to know about how to stay safe in the sun.

Is Sunshine Healthy?

The answer to this question is a million times YES! The sun offers health benefits like boosting our levels of vitamin D which leads to a healthier immune system. The sun also aids in amping up our mood and making us feel happier. Everyone can agree on that. There are many benefits to soaking up the sun but as with anything in life, moderation is key.

The Bad Part

The bad part about staying out in the sun too long is that the sun gives off ultraviolet rays. These are called UV rays for short. These rays are extremely powerful and contain skin-damaging effects. When exposed to the strength of UV rays for too long, your skin will suffer. Sun damage comes in the form of burnt skin, blisters, fine lines, and wrinkles, and sometimes more serious consequences such as skin cancer.

Wear Sunscreen

Further significant doubts have been cast on the accuracy of global surface temperature results following the discovery that electronic thermometers in Australia have read up to 0.7C higher than traditional mercury glass units. The Australian dataset is a major component of global compilations since it provides an important guide to one of the largest land masses in the southern hemisphere. After many years of trying, local freedom of information requests from scientists have forced the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) to release comparative information from the two measuring devices around Brisbane airport. It shows that automatic readings are higher 41% of the time, compared with 32% when the temperatures were the same. Electronic temperatures devices have been in general use in Australia since 1995. The guidance of the World Meteorological Organisation suggests averaging temperatures over a minute to remove corruptions caused by temporary effects such as a sudden gust of...

Link Australian Government goons killing millions of bees by pouring petrol into peoples bee hives....

How to Locate Reliable Pet Insurance

When searching for a proper insurance agent, it is quite a challenging process. Just like it is with other businesses, there are many dog insurance agencies and types to select from. However, you need to know more about insurance companies and agents are not the same. Therefore, a lot of attention is required when choosing an insurance agent that is suitable for you. To help you find a good insurance agent, there are multiple steps that you can take. The first step you should take is to contact and speak directly to your prospective agent.

To meet and discuss your needs and expectations, book an interview with the agents. To help you find a suitable insurance agent, there is no better way than having a one on one conversation now! An insurance agent that is right for you is the one that is keen to listen and inquire more about your needs. However, it might be time to find a new insurance agent if the one you are talking to is only pushing for unwanted plans and policies. If you find the advice given by a particular agent uncomfortable, you can also view here for more to get details about the agency.

Do not make the mistake of paying for an agent who is hard to get along with. When looking for the proper insurance agent, you also need to discover more and observe how quickly they respond to your needs. You probably need to find another agent if the one you are talking to does not seem interested to listen or respond to your wants. Also you should not settle for an agent who keeps on pushing you to purchase more coverage even after they are already aware of your needs. It is, however, common for good agents to sometimes provide more coverage or different policy options.

It is good to find out if you can be offered with all the different types of systems that you may want by your prospective insurance agent. If, for example, you need health, auto, and homeowners insurance, it will not make any sense if you find a suitable insurance agent that only offers one of them. The other thing you need to consider is the period that the company has been into the business of selling insurance. You should not expect perfect services in case you are the first customer to that agent. On the other hand, ensure these agents have been into business for long, you can expect to get high-quality services, knowledge, and experience.

Do your passions include walks on the beach, traveling, and Wilhelms tank coordinates? Germany is warning both soldiers and politicians to be wary of Russian spies who are using dating apps, namely Tinder, to gather intel. Germanys Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD) told the newspaper Welt am Sonntag that members of other intelligence services (e.g. Russia) use social media to specifically establish contacts with members of the Bundeswehr.

Germanys Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution said Russian spy efforts are on par with the Cold War. However, trained young spies are looking to meet all of the men from unfriendly nations. Before the war began, Australias counter-espionage agency ASIO reported that spies from foreign nations were on popular dating apps such as Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble. ASIO director-general Mike Burgess claimed that spies were attempting to interfere in Australias election and said that spying efforts began at the start of the pandemic. ASIO is also tracking suspicious approaches on dating platforms such as Tinder, Bumble and Hinge. My message for any potential victims on these sites is a familiar one if it seems too good to be true, it probably is, Burgess stated.

Beautiful women are extremely effective spies and this tactic has been used throughout history. In fact, some of the gadgets used in James Bond films were inspired by the 39 female spies in Bri...

If anyone was expecting a new tilt, a shine of novelty, a flash of independence from Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wongs address to the National Press Club on April 17, they were bound to be disappointed. The anti-China hawks, talons polished, got their fill. The US State Department would not be disturbed. The Pentagon could rest easy. The toadyish musings of the Canberra establishment would continue to circulate in reliable staleness.

In reading (and hearing) Wongs speech, one must always assume the opposite, or something close to it. Whatever is said about strategic balance, dont believe a word of it; such views are always uttered in the shadow of US power. From that vantage point, Occams Razor becomes a delicious blessing: nothing said by any Australian official in foreign policy should ever be taken as independently relevant. Best gaze across the Pacific for confirmation.

In Wongs address, the ill-dressed clich waltzes with the scantily clad platitude. When Australians look out to the world, we see ourselves reflected in it just as the world can see itself reflected in us. (World, whatever you are, do tell.)

The basis for this strained nonsense is, at least, promising. Variety can, paradoxically, generate common ground. This is a powerful natural asset for building alignment, for articulating our determination to see the interests of all the worlds peoples upheld, alongside our own. Mightily aspirational, is Wong here, though such language seems pinched from the Non-Aligned Movement of the Cold War, one that Australia, US policing deputy of the Asia-Pacific, was never a part off. No informed listener would assume otherwise.

Like a lecture losing steam early, she finally gets to the point of her address: how we avert war and maintain peace and more than that, how we shape a region that reflects our national interests and our shared regional interests. It does not take long to realise what this entails: talk about rules, standards and norms where a larger country does not determine the fate of the smaller country, where each country can pursue its own aspirations, its own prosperity.

That the United States has determined the fate of Australia since the Second World War, manipulating, interfering and guiding its politics and its policies, makes this statement risible, but no less significant. We are on bullying terrain, and Wong is trying to pick the most preferable bully.

She cant quite put it in those terms, so speaks about the regional balance of power instead, with Australia performing the role of handmaiden. She dons the sages hat, consumes the shamans herbal potion, insisting that commentators and strategists have gotten it wrong to talk about great powers competing for primacy. They love a binary. And...

As a homeowner or business owner, ensuring the safety of your electrical equipment is crucial. One way to do this is by conducting Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) regularly. PAT testing is the process of inspecting electrical equipment to ensure that it is safe for use.

PAT testing frequency is a common question that many homeowners and business owners ask. How often should it be conducted? The answer to this question depends on various factors, such as the type of equipment, the environment in which it is used, and the level of risk associated with its use.

In general, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recommends that portable electrical appliances in a low-risk environment, such as an office, should be tested every two to four years. In contrast, equipment used in a high-risk environment, such as a construction site, should be tested every three to six months.

However, its essential to note that these recommendations are not set in stone. The frequency of PAT testing will vary depending on the specific circumstances. For example, equipment that is frequently moved or subject to wear and tear may need to be inspected more frequently.

As a homeowner or business owner, its your responsibility to ensure that your electrical equipment is safe to use. To help you determine the appropriate PAT testing frequency for your equipment, here are some factors to consider:

Type of Equipment

The type of equipment you have will play a significant role in determining how often it needs to be inspected. Some common types of equipment that require PAT testing include:

Electrical appliances

Extension cords

Power tools

Lighting equipment

Kitchen appliances

Portable heaters

Environment

The environment in which your equipment is used is also an important factor to consider. For example, equipment used in a dry, clean office environment will typically require less testing than equipment used in a wet, dusty construction site. Other environmental factors to consider include:

Temperature

Humidity

Tom Graham, founder of Metaphysic.ai, on how generative AI will upend the film industry and change our understanding of whats real.

Tom Graham was a couple of hours away from his keynote conversation with Chris Anderson on stage at TED 2023 in Vancouver when I Zoomed him in search of some definitive answers about AI. Drowning in artificial generative quicksand, buried in amazing news week after week, I needed to grab his hand and come up for air before sinking back into the mud of the next generative artificial intelligence update.

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Transgender basketballer Lexi Rodgers has lashed Basketball Australia for its decision to block her application to join the Kilsyth Cobras women's side in the WNBL1 South basketball league. The decision came after a three-person panel assembled by Basketball Australia concluded that Rodgers was ineligible to play elite-level basketball. However Rodgers has slammed the decision and vowed to continue to fight to pursue her basketball career. 'I sought a different outcome from Basketball Australia. I participated fully and in good faith with the process and eligibility criteria. Consistent with the views expressed by so many, I firmly believe I have a place as an athlete in women's basketball,' she wrote on Instagram.

The mRNA vaccines were released globally in early 2021 with the slogan 'safe and effective'. Unusually for a new class of medicine, they were soon recommended by public health authorities for pregnant women. By late 2021, working age women, including those who were pregnant, were being thrown out of employment for not agreeing to be injected. Those who took the mRNA vaccines did so based on trust in health authorities - the assumption being that they would not have been approved if the evidence was not absolutely clear. The role of regulatory agencies was to protect the public and, therefore, if they were approved, the drugs were safe. Recently, a lengthy vaccine evaluation report sponsored by Pfizer and submitted to the Australian regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) dated January 2021 was released under a Freedom of Information request. The report contains significant new information that had been supressed by the TGA and by Pfizer itself. Much of this relates...