Obama tells COP26 world ‘still falling short’ on fighting climate change

Published

3 years ago

November 8, 2021

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Barack Obama has told the COP26 summit that the world is “collectively and individually… still falling short” on fighting climate change.

The former US president is making a speech at the start of the second week of the Glasgow event.

“We have not done nearly enough to address this crisis. We are going to have to do more,” said Mr Obama.

He went on to say: “We are nowhere near where we need to be at,” adding that most countries had failed to meet their promises from the Paris Agreement.

Live – Obama addresses summit – as Saudi accused of trying to block final COP decision

He warned: “The consequences of not moving fast enough are becoming more apparent all the time.”

He also criticised his successor Donald Trump for pulling out of the Paris deal, but said under President Biden the US government was “once again engaged” in the climate battle.

“Some of our progress stalled when my successor decided to unilaterally pull out of the Paris agreement,” Mr Obama told delegates.

“I wasn’t real happy with that.”

Mr Obama also said it was “discouraging” that the leaders of China and Russia, countries vital to the climate change battle, were not at the summit.

Their plans so far show an apparent “dangerous lack of urgency and willingness to maintain the status quo”, said the former US president.

“We can’t afford to stay where we are. The world has to step up and it has to step up now,” he said.

“There are times when I am doubtful that humanity can get its act together before it’s too late. Images of dystopia start creeping into my dreams.”

However, he called cynicism “the recourse of cowards” and told delegates the world cannot afford to feel a sense of hopelessness.

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GPT-4o: OpenAI to begin rollout of latest version of artificial intelligence chatbot

Published

3 hours ago

May 13, 2024

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GPT-4o: OpenAI to begin rollout of latest version of artificial intelligence chatbot

The new version of the ChatGPT AI chatbot has been unveiled and offers near-instant results across text, vision and audio, according to its maker.

OpenAI said it was much better at understanding visuals and sounds than previous versions.

It offers the prospect of real-time ‘conversations’ with the chatbot, including the ability to interrupt its answers.

The firm says it “accepts as input any combination of text, audio, and image and generates any combination of text, audio, and image outputs”.

GPT-4o is to be rolled out over the next few weeks amid a battle by tech firms to develop ever-more advanced artificial intelligence tools.

Monday’s announcement showed tasks such as real-time language translation; using its vision capability to solve a maths question on a piece of paper, and to guide a blind person around London.

GPT-4o can respond to audio in as little as 232 milliseconds, with an average of 320 milliseconds, which the company says is similar to human response time.

To try to ease concerns over bias, fairness and misinformation, the Microsoft-backed company says the new version has undergone extensive testing by 70 external experts.

It comes after Google earlier this year had a major PR blunder over images generated by its Gemini AI system.

GPT-4o model will be free, but premium ‘Plus’ users get a greater capacity limit for messages.

Previous versions of the chatbot have caused unease in schools and universities due to some students using it to cheat by producing convincing essays.

When it launched two years ago, ChatGPT was said to be the fastest-ever app to reach 100 million active monthly users.

The announcement also stole a march on Google, which is expected to tomorrow show off its own new AI features at its annual developers’ conference.

Worshippers stop teenage boy armed with rifle from entering church full of children in Louisiana

Published

8 hours ago

May 13, 2024

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Worshippers stop teenage boy armed with rifle from entering church full of children in Louisiana

A 16-year-old suspect armed with a rifle has been stopped from entering a church full of children by worshippers during a livestreamed service, say authorities in Louisiana.

The boy tried to get into the St Mary Magdalen Church, in Abbeville, through the back door at around 10.30am on Saturday (4.30pm UK time), according to police.

A livestream of the incident that was seen by Sky News’ partner outlet NBC News showed a man approaching Reverend Nicholas DuPre after 48 minutes to whisper something.

Rev DuPre then stopped the service and asked churchgoers to pray with him, while some people were heard panicking and screaming.

Around 60 children were inside and waiting to take their first Holy Communion when worshippers confronted the armed suspect.

The Louisiana Catholic church said they then took him outside before calling the police.

On the livestream, police officers could seen walking through the church, as boys ran across the altar and the clergy took shelter, NBC News reported.

Someone was heard to say over a loudspeaker: “Guys, just get ahold of your children, go slowly. We did apprehend a child, he is in custody.”

In a statement, Abbeville Police Department said that upon arrival, officers arrested the suspect and then searched the church.

The force added the teenager was charged with terrorising the church and two counts of possession of a firearm by a juvenile.

Witnesses told TV station KADN that he was dressed all in black and armed with the rifle, NBC News reported.

Police chief Mike Hardy thanked the churchgoers who intervened for their “quick response and remaining calm throughout this matter”.

The church also said it now plans to have uniformed law enforcement officers outside of its masses “out of an abundance of caution”.

First victim in Jaws has died aged 77

Published

17 hours ago

May 13, 2024

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The swimmer who was the first victim in the 1975 blockbuster Jaws has died.

Susan Backlinie died in her home in California at the age of 77, according to her agent. Her death was first reported by The Daily Jaws website.

The opening scene of Steven Spielberg‘s classic features Ms Backlinie running along the beach and before diving into the water and skinny dipping.

Her character Chrissie Watkins is then suddenly pulled under the water and she screams as she is violently attacked by an unseen great white shark.

Ms Backlinie had been a champion swimmer when cast in the film. She told The Palm Beach Post in 2015 that Spielberg told her: “When your scene is done, I want everyone under the seats with the popcorn and bubblegum.

“I think we did that,” she said.

In the documentary, Jaws: The Inside Story, Spielberg called Ms Backlinie’s sequence “one of the most dangerous” stunts he’s ever directed.

“She was actually being tugged left and right by 10 men on one rope and 10 men on the other back to the shore, and that’s what caused her to move like that.”