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Kosovo Serb Party Opposes KFOR Withdrawal from Ibar Bridge
Worldn1-serbiabalkan-insight14d ago2 sources

Kosovo Serb Party Opposes KFOR Withdrawal from Ibar Bridge

The Srpska Lista party has expressed strong opposition to the potential withdrawal of KFOR peacekeepers from the flashpoint Ibar Bridge in Mitrovica. They are requesting an urgent meeting with the KFOR commander to discuss their concerns about the security implications of such a move.

Veteran TV Director Ralph W. Hemecker Dies at 65
Culturevarietyhollywood-reporterdeadline1mo ago3 sources

Veteran TV Director Ralph W. Hemecker Dies at 65

Ralph W. Hemecker, a prolific television director known for his work on shows like 'Blue Bloods' and 'Once Upon a Time,' has passed away at the age of 65. His career spanned numerous popular series.

US and Iran Exchange Fire in Hormuz Strait, Fueling Oil Price Hikes
BusinessBBCbloombergNYT+111FTle-mondewapoThe GuardianNPRAl Jazeeradr-dkFox News+103 more3mo ago114 sources

US and Iran Exchange Fire in Hormuz Strait, Fueling Oil Price Hikes

US and Iranian forces exchanged fire in the Strait of Hormuz, escalating tensions in the region. This renewed hostility led to a significant increase in oil prices and caused volatility in global stock markets.

Live-Action Moana Remake Struggles at Box Office Debut
CultureforbesTimes of Indiavariety+2hollywood-reporterscreen-rant1mo ago5 sources

Live-Action Moana Remake Struggles at Box Office Debut

The live-action remake of Disney's 'Moana' has had a disappointing box office debut, struggling to make a significant splash with its opening weekend. This comes as 'Supergirl' also saw a rapid decline in its box office performance.

DC Comics Reveals Villain Destined to Kill The Flash
Culturescreen-rant4mo ago

DC Comics Reveals Villain Destined to Kill The Flash

DC Comics has officially named the specific villain who is destined to eventually kill The Flash, a revelation that is set to profoundly change the hero's legacy. This announcement has significant implications for the future of the character.

Labour’s Send reforms get this right: disabled children in mainstream schools is transformative for everyone | Frances Ryan
PoliticsThe Guardian6mo ago

Labour’s Send reforms get this right: disabled children in mainstream schools is transformative for everyone | Frances Ryan

It doesn’t fit neatly on a Treasury spreadsheet, but there is huge value in disabled and non-disabled pupils learning together When I was 11, a woman at the hospital asked me what school I was starting in September. I still remember her surprise when I told her I would be going to the local girls grammar, as the hoist pulled my wet limbs out of the physio pool. I was a child but already familiar with those few seconds: the time between a person seeing my wheelchair and the flash across their ...

PwC engineers built an AI agent to tackle the corporate world's least sexy task: spreadsheets
TechnologyBusiness Insider6mo ago

PwC engineers built an AI agent to tackle the corporate world's least sexy task: spreadsheets

PwC, like many consulting firms, is investing heavily in engineering talent. Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images PwC's engineers have created a new AI agent to tackle enterprise-grade spreadsheets. Spreadsheets are unsexy, but crucial to corporate operations, PwC exec Matt Wood told Business Insider. Traditional AIs "just kind of shrug and give up" when they meet a big spreadsheet, Wood said. The real way to judge a company's AI expertise isn't in the flashy headlines, but by looking at the "unsexy" work rolling out behind the scenes, Matt Wood, PwC's global and US commercial technology and innovation officer, told Business Insider. If Wood's theory holds — that real AI prowess shows up in unglamorous advances — PwC's latest launch is certainly notable. After all, what could be less sexy than spreadsheets? The Big Four firm announced this week that it has developed a "frontier AI agent" capable of reasoning over vast, enterprise-grade spreadsheets — something that conventional AI systems struggle with because of their complexity, size, and interdependencies. The agent can understand and navigate spreadsheets, mimicking "how experienced practitioners work: scanning, searching, jumping across tabs, integrating charts and receipts, and reasoning," PwC said in a press release. Why spreadsheets matter Wood, who joined PwC in 2024 from a role as vice president of AI at Amazon Web Services, said that when he started, he'd noticed the wraparound, ultra-wide monitors filled with spreadsheets: "That's all anybody was working on," he said. But these were not "your school soccer team budget spreadsheet," said Wood. The spreadsheets that power large enterprises are enormously complex, often containing millions of cells, charts, graphs, images, receipts, and dozens of interlinked workbooks. "They are more like financial engines than they are spreadsheets," he told Business Insider. These files often underpin business-critical decisions, yet PwC "found that even today's modern AI was very poorly suited to managing these big enterprise spreadsheets," Wood said. "They just kind of shrug and give up for want of a better word." Matt Wood, PwC's global and US commercial technology and innovation officer. PwC Creating an AI capable of understanding and reasoning across large, complicated spreadsheet applications is what PwC's engineers set out to solve. Their solution was a "genuine advance in the field," Wood said. The agent has unlocked use cases across assurance, advisory, and tax, and boosts time saving on some tasks "from literally days to hours," said Wood. He gave the example of audit walkthroughs, where teams previously spent weeks manually gathering and validating evidence across numerous complex spreadsheets that existing AI tools couldn't handle. Now, users simply upload the files, and the frontier agent automatically maps their structure, extracts relevant data, and performs validation and consistency checks — tasks that would otherwise require combing through millions of rows by hand. The result is faster meetings, less back-and-forth with clients, and cleaner, structured data ready for deeper AI-driven analysis, he said. Consulting powered by engineers PwC's AI spreadsheet agent was built in-house by engineers — a function the firm has been rapidly expanding as it shifts beyond the traditional roles associated with the Big Four. In January, PwC launched a dedicated tech engineering career track to attract more technical talent, saying it wants to become "a destination for top engineering talent." Previously, the firm offered only consulting and accounting career paths. Wood told Business Insider that adding the engineering track is "a signpost" of its future plans. At the same time, PwC is retraining non-technical employees. The US branch of the firm recently announced a companywide workplace learning strategy focused on knowledge sharing and on developing a mix of human and AI skills needed for the future. Wood described the work engineers do at PwC as having two modes: "transforming today" and "building for tomorrow." The first focuses on improving current workflows — reducing back-and-forth with clients, increasing trust, and delivering work more efficiently. The second reimagines professional services from scratch: "If you were to start from a blank piece of paper, what would professional services look like in an AI agent world?" said Wood. PwC engineers also work directly on client engagements, building AI systems tailored to specific projects. For example, they help organizations reorganize and redesign their finance functions from the ground up using agents, Wood said. Many of the consulting industry's top players are pursuing similar investments in technical talent as AI reshapes the work they do. Accenture, already one of consulting's most technically sophisticated players, has added nearly 40,000 AI and data professionals in the last two years. They now account for roughly 10% of its global headcount. EY, another Big Four firm, has added 61,000 technologists since 2023, according to its latest annual report. Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at pthompson@businessinsider.com or Signal at Polly_Thompson.89. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely. Read the original article on Business Insider

Lithuania Considers Removing Flashing Green Traffic Light Signal
Worlddelfi-lt12d ago

Lithuania Considers Removing Flashing Green Traffic Light Signal

Lithuania is considering eliminating the flashing green traffic light signal, as drivers report that the inconsistent system, where some lights flash green before turning yellow while others switch directly, causes confusion and potentially dangerous situations.

FlashForge AD5X CoreXY 3D Printer Released
Cultureign2mo ago

FlashForge AD5X CoreXY 3D Printer Released

The FlashForge AD5X, a CoreXY 3D printer offering multi-color and mixed material capabilities, has been released for under $230, suitable for both beginners and advanced enthusiasts.

Green Apple Entertainment Signs Four-Film Deal with AllBlk; Danielle Nicolet’s Directorial Debut to Lead Lineup (EXCLUSIVE)
Culturevariety5mo ago

Green Apple Entertainment Signs Four-Film Deal with AllBlk; Danielle Nicolet’s Directorial Debut to Lead Lineup (EXCLUSIVE)

Producer and distributor GreenApple Entertainment has signed a four-film deal with AllBlk, the popular streaming service for Black television and film from AMC Networks. Thriller film “Long Time Listener” will kick off the line-up, premiering on April 2. The film marks the directorial debut of Danielle Nicolet (“The Flash,” “Central Intelligence”), who also stars alongside […]