World News: 02 May 2023

Debt ceiling: Janet Yellen warns US could run out of cash by 1 June
The government technically reached its debt limit in January, but Yellen said then that she could use emergency measures to buy time and allow the government to keep paying bills temporarily.
Other forecasters have predicted those emergency measures will last through midsummer or beyond. But the first two weeks of June have long been considered a nail-biter, before an expected inflow of quarterly tax payments on June 15.

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AI 'godfather' Geoffrey Hinton warns of dangers as he quits Google
Dr Hinton's pioneering research on deep learning and neural networks has paved the way for current AI systems like ChatGPT. But the British-Canadian cognitive psychologist and computer scientist told the BBC the chatbot could soon overtake the level of information that a human brain holds.

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UN agency suspends food aid to Ethiopia’s Tigray amid theft
The World Food Program is responsible for delivering food from the U.N. and other partners to Tigray, the center of a devastating two-year civil war that ended with a ceasefire in November. More than 5 million of the region's 6 million people rely on aid.

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Australia to ban recreational vaping in e-cigarette crackdown
Vaping, widely seen as a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes and useful for helping smokers quit, involves heating a liquid that contains nicotine in what is called an e-cigarette and turning it into a vapour that users inhale. But studies have shown the potential of long-term harm from the addictive e-cigarettes.

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Bill C-11: Why is YouTube mad at Canada?
After many twists and turns, and over two-and-a-half years of review, the Canadian government has passed a new law that makes tech giants like YouTube and TikTok support Canadian cultural content.
The law, dubbed Bill C-11, gives the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) broad authority to regulate these platforms, much like they already do with radio and television.

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Ukraine war looms over Switzerland UN presidency
Russia couldn’t escape its war against Ukraine during its highly contentious presidency of the U.N. Security Council, and the war will still loom over Switzerland as it takes over the monthlong presidency Monday for the first time since becoming a full member of the United Nations in 2002.

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Hollywood writers to strike, triggering TV shutdowns amid streaming disruption
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) called its first work stoppage in 15 years after failing to reach an agreement for higher pay from studios such as Walt Disney Co and Netflix Inc. The last strike lasted 100 days and cost the California economy more than $2 billion.
The Guild represents roughly 11,500 writers in New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere. Members were scheduled to start picketing outside of Hollywood studios starting Tuesday afternoon.

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