National Business - The Morning Sun

Microsoft brings Bing chatbot to phones after curbing quirks

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Microsoft is ready to take its new Bing chatbot mainstream — less than a week after making major fixes to stop the artificially intelligent search engine from going off the rails. The company said … more

By MATT O'BRIEN | 2/22/23

The buildings of the banking district are pictured in Frankfurt, Germany, early Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

German business confidence improves for 4th straight month

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A closely watched survey shows that German business confidence has strengthened for a fourth consecutive month as managers look past current problems to take a more optimistic view of the months … more

2/22/23

This photo provided by Kia shows the 2023 Kia Sportage, a compact SUV with a first-time hybrid variant. The Sportage is all-new for 2023 and adds more interior space and technology. (Courtesy of Kia America via AP)

Edmunds: Honda CR-V Hybrid vs Kia Sportage Hybrid

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Both the Honda CR-V hybrid and Kia Sportage Hybrid have been redesigned for 2023. The CR-V has enjoyed its time as the king of small SUVs, but the Kia Sportage and its new hybrid model are … more

By MICHAEL CANTU | 2/22/23

Robin Li, CEO of search giant Baidu, talks about AI during the Baidu Create 2018 held in Beijing, China, Wednesday, July 4, 2018. Baidu Inc., one of China’s biggest search and artificial intelligence firms, said Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023, it plans to implement its artificial intelligence chatbot Ernie into its search services from March. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Baidu to implement ChatGPT-like Ernie Bot chatbot from March

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Baidu Inc., one of China’s biggest search and artificial intelligence firms, says it plans to implement its artificial intelligence chatbot Ernie into its search services from March. In an internal … more

By ZEN SOO | 2/22/23

FILE - The Ram 1500 Revolution electric battery powered pickup truck is displayed on stage during the Stellantis keynote at the CES tech show on Jan. 5, 2023, in Las Vegas. Automaker Stellantis has reported its earnings grew in 2022 from a year earlier as it pressed an industrywide strategy to shift into electric vehicles, leading to a jump in sales. The company said Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023, that net revenue of 179.6 billion euros was up 18% from 2021. It reported net profit of 16.8 billion, up 26% from 2021. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Stellantis earnings rise as EV push drives higher sales

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Automaker Stellantis says earnings grew in 2022 from a year earlier and its push into electric vehicles led to a jump in sales even as it faces growing competition from the industrywide shift. The … more

2/22/23

FILE - Korean pop band BTS performs at the Times Square New Year's Eve celebration in New York on Dec. 31, 2019. Hybe, the South Korean entertainment company behind K-pop sensation BTS, said Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023, it has completed its acquisition of a 14.8% stake in rival SM Entertainment, making it SM’s largest single shareholder. (Photo by Ben Hider/Invision/AP, File)

Korea's Hybe completes purchase of 14.8% stake in rival SM

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Hybe, the South Korean entertainment company behind K-pop sensation BTS, says it has completed its acquisition of a 14.8% stake in rival SM Entertainment, making it SM’s largest single shareholder. … more

2/22/23

Stay down

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I remember watching Mike Tyson's boxing matches on TV in high school. He didn't just box. He hurt people. I remember watching one match where Tyson hit another boxer hard, and he went down. Then, he got up again, and Tyson knocked him back down. more

Dr. Richard Baker, AIF, Fervent Wealth Management | 2/22/23

Just two weeks till success and happiness

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You might be looking for the “six simple rules” version, but the truth is that success isn't so simple. But in the interest of brevity, here are two simple rules that will at least get you pointed in the right direction. more

By Jeff Peyton, Publisher | 2/22/23

The Supreme Court is seen, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in Washington. The Supreme Court on Wednesday, Feb. 22 is weighing whether Facebook, Twitter and YouTube can be sued over a 2017 terrorist attack on a nightclub in Turkey in which 39 people died because their platforms were used by Islamic State terrorists to fuel their growth. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Supreme Court weighs tech giants' liability in terror case

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The Supreme Court will be weighing whether Facebook, Twitter and YouTube can be held responsible for a 2017 terrorist attack on a nightclub in Turkey. Thirty-nine people died, and plaintiffs claim … more

2/22/23

FILE - A virtually empty Red Square closed for security reasons prior to Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual state of the nation address, is seen between the Historical Museum, left, and the Kremlin Wall, right, in Moscow, Feb. 21, 2023. U.S. officials say Russia is now the most sanctioned country in the world. But as the war nears its one-year mark, it's clear the sanctions didn't pack the instantaneous punch that many had hoped. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

No economic 'knockout' yet from West's sanctions on Russia

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One month into the invasion of Ukraine, President Joe Biden declared that sanctions against Russia had rendered the ruble almost immediately “to rubble.” U.S. officials say Russia is now the most … more

By FATIMA HUSSEIN | 2/22/23

FILE - The sun rises behind the landfall facility of the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline and the transfer station of the OPAL gas pipeline, the Baltic Sea Pipeline Link, in Lubmin, Germany, July 21, 2022. Russia clashed with the United States and other Western nations Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023 over the Kremlin’s call for a U.N. investigation of last September’s sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines from Russia to Western Europe. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

Russia and West clash over probe of Nord Stream sabotage

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Russia has clashed with the United States and other Western nations over the Kremlin’s call for a U.N. investigation of the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines from Russia to Western … more

By EDITH M. LEDERER | 2/21/23

India's Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs Ajay Seth, second right, speaks during a press conference on the eve of G-20 financial conclave in Bengaluru, India, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. Top financial leaders from the Group of 20 leading economies are gathering in the south Indian technology hub of Bengaluru to tackle challenges to global growth and stability. India is hosting the G-20 financial conclave for the first time in 20 years. (AP Photo/Sibi Arasu)

G-20 finance chiefs to tackle global economic threats

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Top financial leaders from the Group of 20 leading economies are gathering in the south Indian technology hub of Bengaluru to tackle challenges to global growth and stability. India is hosting the … more

By SIBI ARASU and ELAINE KURTENBACH | 2/21/23

FILE - New Zealand's Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr speaks to the media in Wellington, New Zealand on May 8, 2019. New Zealand's central bank hiked its benchmark interest rate by a half-point Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023 to 4.75% as it continues trying to wrestle down inflation. (AP Photo/Nick Perry, File)

New Zealand hikes key interest rate to 4.75% despite cyclone

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New Zealand’s central bank has raised its benchmark interest rate by a half-point to 4.75% as it continues trying to wrestle down inflation. The increase, which can raise the borrowing costs for … more

By NICK PERRY | 2/21/23

FILE - Elon Musk departs the Phillip Burton Federal Building and United States Court House in San Francisco on Jan. 24, 2023. Attorneys for a Tesla shareholder urged a Delaware judge on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, to invalidate a 2018 compensation package awarded by the company’s board of directors to Musk that is potentially worth more than $55 billion. (AP Photo/Benjamin Fanjoy, File)

Musk's Tesla pay package under scrutiny in Delaware court

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Attorneys for a Tesla shareholder are urging a Delaware judge to invalidate a 2018 compensation package awarded to CEO Elon Musk that is potentially worth more than $55 billion. The plaintiff’s … more

By RANDALL CHASE | 2/21/23

FILE - Workers stand near train tracks, Sept. 27, 2021, next to overturned cars from an Amtrak train that derailed a few days prior near Joplin, Mont., killing three people and injuring others. A piece of track was bent along a curve near the accident site and the misalignment got worse as freight trains traveled over the area, the National Transportation Safety Board said in investigative documents released on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

Bent track a factor in Montana Amtrak crash that killed 3

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Investigators probing a fatal 2021 Amtrak train derailment in Montana say the track had been bent along a curve near the accident site and the problem had been getting worse as freight trains … more

By AMY BETH HANSON and MATTHEW BROWN | 2/21/23

FILE - Exploration drilling continues for Permitting Lithium Nevada Corp.'s Thacker Pass Project on the site between Orovada and Kings Valley, in Humboldt county, Nev., shown beyond a driller's shovels in the distance on Sept. 13, 2018. Conservationists are seeking an emergency court order to block construction of a lithium mine near the Nevada-Oregon line. The new request filed Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in federal court in Reno comes after a judge there directed the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to revisit part of its approval of the plans but allowed construction to go forward in the meantime. (Suzanne Featherston/The Daily Free Press via AP, File)

New emergency bid to appeal, block huge Nevada lithium mine

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Conservationists are seeking an emergency court order to block construction of a lithium mine near the Nevada-Oregon line. The new request filed Tuesday in federal court in Reno comes after a judge … more

By SCOTT SONNER | 2/21/23

Microsoft President Brad Smith addresses a media conference regarding Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard and the future of gaming in Brussels, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Microsoft makes case for Activision merger amid EU scrutiny

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Microsoft’s Xbox video game division has announced new partnerships with Nintendo and chipmaker Nvidia. The moves come as Microsoft is trying to persuade European regulators to approve its planned … more

2/21/23

FILE - The angel Moroni statue atop the Salt Lake Temple is silhouetted against a cloud-covered sky, at Temple Square in Salt Lake City on Feb. 6, 2013. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its investment arm will pay $5 million in fines. The SEC alleges the church used shell companies to obscure the size of the portfolio under the church's control.(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

Mormon church fined $5M for obscuring size of portfolio

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its investment arm will pay $5 million in fines. The SEC alleges the church used shell companies … more

By SAM METZ | 2/21/23

FILE - Jose Andres, founder of World Central Kitchen, exits Veselka with chef Chef Olesia Lew, Sept. 16, 2022, in New York. Fidelity Charitable, the nation’s largest grantmaker, announced Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, that 2022 was another record-setting year, with $11.2 billion in grants awarded by its donor-advised fund holders, up 9% over 2021. According to Fidelity Charitable’s report, the three most popular grantees in 2022 were Doctors Without Borders USA, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and World Central Kitchen, which moved from No. 26 in 2021 to No. 3 last year. (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman, File)

Fidelity Charitable's $11.2B in grants in 2022 breaks record

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Fidelity Charitable, the nation’s largest grantmaker, announced Tuesday that 2022 was another record-setting year, with $11.2 billion in grants awarded by its donor-advised fund holders, up 9% over … more

By GLENN GAMBOA | 2/21/23

A gondola is docked on a dry canal during a low tide in Venice, Italy, Monday, Feb. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Luigi Costantini)

Prolonged low tides see smaller canals dry up in Venice

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Some of Venice's secondary canals have practically dried up due a prolonged spell of low tides linked to a lingering high-pressure weather system. Since the canals essentially serve as streets in … more

2/21/23