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On August 13th, the U.S. Treasury Department reported on Wednesday that the U.S. budget deficit has surged to its highest monthly level in more than five years, driven by soaring Medicare costs and continued pressure from federal debt interest payments. In addition to the significant single-month increase, the cumulative deficit for the first 10 months of fiscal year 2026 has approached $1.8 trillion, exceeding the figure for the same period in fiscal year 2025. The total deficit in July reached $432.3 billion, an increase of approximately 48% compared to the same period last year, marking the largest single-month deficit since March 2021 and setting a new July record. Medicare spending reached $174 billion that month, up from $103 billion in June, bringing the total for the year to $955 billion. This was the largest single expenditure in July, far exceeding Social Security spending of $141 billion and net interest payments on national debt of $104 billion. Furthermore, tariff rebates also impacted the budget by $33 billion. Additionally, U.S. fiscal revenue was negatively affected by a calendar factor of $99 billion, as the first day of the month was a non-working day. For years, Trump has urged the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates to ease debt costs. Since his nominee, Warsh, took over as chairman in May, he has ceased criticizing the Fed.On August 13th, Reuters, citing sources, reported that Alphabet, the parent company of Google (GOOG.O), is undergoing a major leadership reshuffle at Google DeepMind, with some teams moving from DeepMind to the Google corporate system, further weakening DeepMinds autonomy. Sources said that Google co-founder Sergey Brin has been urging core AI employees in recent months to "fully commit" to the Gemini model and push for AI research in areas such as "recursive self-improvement." Following this reshuffle, DeepMind head Demis Hassabis will become chairman, with his deputy Kolai Kavukuoğlu taking over leadership responsibilities. Google stated that Kavukuoğlu will have final say on major decisions at DeepMind. Sources said that Google has postponed the release of the new flagship Gemini model by two months because internal testing showed it still lags behind competitors in areas such as programming. Analysts believe that Alphabets restructuring aims to accelerate AI commercialization and regain a competitive edge in model development, but some employees worry that DeepMinds long-term research autonomy may further decline.On August 13, according to a statement from the Iraqi Prime Ministers Media Office, Iraqi Prime Minister Mullah Zaidi met with visiting U.S. Central Command Commander General Robert Cooper on August 12. During the meeting, Zaidi reiterated Iraqs commitment to the established timetable, namely, September 30th is the final date for the international coalition forces to end their military mission in Iraq and complete their withdrawal. Zaidi stated that October 1st will be a new day in Iraqi history, when Iraq will completely rid itself of all foreign military presence, realize its territorial sovereignty, continuously enhance its national security and military capabilities, and safeguard its own security and stability.According to Saudi media Alhadath: Yemeni government armed forces launched drone attacks on Houthi gathering points in Yemens Jawf province.Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Alimi: The Houthi movement in Yemen will not go unchallenged. There is no contradiction between the governments continued deterrence operations and its pursuit of peace.

Social Media Restricts But Doesn't Eliminate Misinformation

Charlie Brooks

Nov 10, 2022 14:38

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Social media analysts say a substantial number of unconfirmed tweets and Facebook posts on Wednesday questioned Democratic midterm election victory. Disinformation didn't reach dimensions after Joe Biden's 2020 triumph.


Researchers who study misinformation are examining online chatter after Tuesday's election. Then-President Trump's baseless tweets about election fraud in 2020 sparked a deadly Capitol siege. Later, Twitter banned Trump.


This time, less popular users on Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) and Meta Platform's Facebook have raised issues about Arizona's disputed election results, claiming voting machine problems and slow counting.


Nationally, Republicans made slight gains, while Democrats surpassed predictions. Control of Congress was too close to call as of Wednesday evening.


Some critics said the lack of such laws in other states contributed to voter fraud, noting that Republicans won comfortably in Florida after adding voting limits.


The Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project, which monitors social media, stated, "We see people claiming the Democrats won because of widespread fraud."


Conspiracy theories aren't as popular as they were before.


Mike Caulfield, a University of Washington research scientist and part of the Election Integrity Partnership consortium, stated, "There are a lot of frozen balls in the air, and we're wondering when they'll fall or whether they've disappeared for good."


According to the partnership, some Republican commentators may be limiting themselves from spreading voting fraud charges in Arizona, where the party is sure to win partially.


According to partnership researchers, election officials and internet disinformation experts countered false narratives on social media more effectively than in 2020, helping to prevent erroneous charges.


Inconsistent behaviors from social networking platforms.


Facebook and Twitter can give fact-checking context to election-theory posts. Reuters' analysis of fraudulent posts lacked this background.


Facebook limits the dissemination of conspiracy material by promoting it less; problematic posts get a few hundred likes at most. The company declined to comment on the tool's efficacy, citing the ongoing vote count.


Common Cause, which monitors social media for voting suppression, claimed Tuesday that Twitter has not removed offensive posts.


Twitter, now controlled by Elon Musk, sacked roughly half of its employees last week, including those who curated and promoted trustworthy content.


Twitter rejected the comment.


A Twitter user who claimed a masked man was "cheating in front of the cameras" was suspended.


Seth Bluestein, Philadelphia's city commissioner, called the video fake.


Bluestein: "I voted today at East Passyunk Community Center." "The interior photo I shot tonight is not of a Philadelphia polling station. Another dangerous lie."