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International News

Study questions safety claims about Tesla autopilot’s steering feature

The study, released Friday by Quality Control Systems Corp., a data analysis company in Maryland, examined the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 2017 conclusion that there was a 40 percent reduction in the rate of crashes by Tesla vehicles that resulted in the deployment of air bags after they were equipped with Autosteer, a part of the automaker’s suite of automated driver-assist systems it markets as Autopilot.

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AIG swings to loss, hit by catastrophes and volatile market

The company’s general insurance unit reported an underwriting loss of $1.1 billion, compared with a loss of $846 million a year ago, largely due to Hurricane Michael and the California wildfires.Still, AIG said its general insurance accident year combined ratio – which excludes changes from losses incurred in past years – was 98.8 for the quarter, compared with 100.2 a year ago.

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Google, Amazon expanding smart home device data gathering

The commercial success of voice assistants has bolstered dozens of companies working to build interest in internet-enabled televisions, kitchen appliances and other devices. Many people first start tinkering with connected appliances after buying a smart speaker. Surveys show about a quarter of U.S. smart speaker owners regularly use them to control something else, a percentage analysts expect to rise.

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No one’s safe: Bezos nude selfie leak triggers alarm for all billionaires

“The perception among very affluent people is often ‘I have this level of wealth, I’m untouchable,’’ said Mark Johnson, chief executive officer of Sovereign Intelligence, a McLean, Virginia-based risk analytics firm. “But the systems they have in place for protecting their personal identifiable information are very weak.”
Ultra-wealthy individuals are particularly susceptible because so much of their data are often centralized through family offices, which typically lack the robust firewalls and encryption capabilities of banks and large corporations.

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International push to improve food safety

Climate change and the globalization of food production, coupled with a growing global population and increasing urbanization, pose new challenges to food safety.  Food systems are becoming even more complex and interlinked, blurring lines of regulatory responsibility.  Solutions to these potential problems require intersectoral and concerted international action.

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