(VOR News) – On Tuesday, Mark Rutte, the secretary-general of NATO, avoided questions regarding Ukraine’s possible accession to the military alliance, asserting that the country’s forthcoming peace discussions with Russia should take precedence over the provision of further arms.

Prior to a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting, Rutte expressed these remarks shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asserted that the inclusion of territories currently under Kyiv’s governance in the alliance’s membership could terminate “the hot stage” of the nearly three-year conflict in Ukraine, where Russian forces are encroaching further into their western neighbour.

NATO fronts are not moving eastward.

“It is progressing slowly westward,” Rutte commented. Consequently, we must guarantee that Ukraine attains a position of power. The Ukrainian administration must thereafter ascertain the subsequent course of action, encompassing the initiation and execution of peace negotiations.

The leaders of the 32 NATO countries underscored that Ukraine is on a “irreversible” path to membership during their July summit in Washington.

Nevertheless, certain parties, particularly the United States, have opposed advancement while the conflict persists and before the establishment of the nation’s borders. Ukraine’s accession is contingent upon unanimous agreement from all 32 members.

NATO has consistently aimed to prevent involvement in a broader battle with nuclear-armed Russia, and the alliance was founded on the principle that an attack on one member is regarded as an attack on all.

NATO membership could be extended to the country’s international borders.

Rutte stated, “I contend that we should refrain from engaging in detailed discussions regarding the potential structure of a peace process,” in reply to enquiries from journalists.

He stated that ensuring Ukraine has the necessary resources to attain a position of strength at the commencement of peace negotiations must be the initial step.

Ukrainian officials underlined definitively on Tuesday that they would not endorse any provisional solutions or compromises about NATO membership.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, referencing its “bitter experience of the Budapest Memorandum,” issued a vehement statement asserting that Ukraine “will not accept any alternatives, surrogates, or substitutes for its full membership in NATO.”

In return for security guarantees from Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom, Ukraine consented to relinquish its Soviet-era nuclear weapons, which constituted the third-largest nuclear arsenal globally, as stipulated in the international agreement signed in Hungary’s capital thirty years ago.

The Budapest agreement was characterised as a “monument to myopia in formulating strategic security decisions” in a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

It asserted, “We are convinced that Ukraine’s complete membership in NATO is the sole genuine guarantee of security for Ukraine and a deterrent against further Russian aggression towards Ukraine and other nations.”

Andrii Sybiha displayed the Budapest Agreement to journalists at NATO headquarters.

This document does not guarantee transatlantic or Ukrainian security. “Consequently, we must avoid repeating the same errors,” he articulated in English.

Rutte stated that he highlighted the backing of China, North Korea, and Iran for Russia, which poses a threat to the United States and the Asia-Pacific region, during his recent discussion with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

Rutte asserted that the leaders of China and North Korea would be incentivised to endorse the application of force in other regions, thus emphasising that “any agreement regarding Ukraine must be advantageous, as we cannot permit a scenario where we celebrate with Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping or others.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged that the conflict will ultimately conclude with negotiations and maybe a compromise, asserting that Ukraine’s allies must “do what it takes to support their self-defence for as long as necessary.”

Starmer asserted in a speech late Monday, “Position Ukraine as favourably as possible for negotiations to ensure they achieve a fair and enduring peace on their terms, safeguarding their security, independence, and right to determine their own future.”

SOURCE: AP

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(VOR News) – Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company’s cloud computing business, introduced Nova, a set of generative artificial intelligence and multimodal models, during Tuesday’s re:Invent conference.

Electronic gadgets with a focus on text include the Micro, Lite, Pro, and Premier models. According to Andy Jassy, the CEO of Amazon, during his presentation, AWS subscribers already have access to Micro, Lite, and Pro. Early 2025 is when Premiere is expected to be released.

Images and films are produced by the Nova Canas and Nova Reel models, respectively. Both of these services were launched today by Amazon Web Services.

Jassy said that “We have persistently advanced our frontier models, and these models have achieved significant progress in the past four to five months.” Because we thought they were valuable, we assumed you would too.

Micro, Lite, Pro, and Premier are also available.

The main distinctions between Nova versions are their sizes and capabilities.

Micro’s reduced latency allows it to analyse text and respond more quickly than its rivals, outperforming them. Micro just receives text and outputs it automatically. Lite processes text, video, and image inputs efficiently and rapidly. Pro provides the best levels of accuracy, speed, and affordability across a range of sports. For jobs requiring a lot of pressure, Premier’s most sophisticated version is perfect.

Pro and Premier have the same textual, photo, and video analysis capabilities as Lite. All three can analyse papers and provide summaries of meetings, events, and charts, according to Amazon.

According to Jassy, the Nova models are some of the fastest and least expensive in their respective classes. They are accessible via Amazon’s intelligence development platform, Amazon Web Services Bedrock. This platform makes it possible for them to be optimised for cost savings and efficiency.

Jassy issued a statement saying: “We have refined these models to integrate with proprietary systems and APIs, which enables you to execute multiple coordinated automated processes — agent behaviour — with greater ease.” “I find these to be very convincing,” the speaker said.

Each and every reel and Canas

These days, Amazon’s most successful generative media initiatives are Canvas and Reel.

Canvas allows users to create and edit images using prompts. Different options for image arrangement and colour are included in these questions. Instead, the more ambitious Reel approach uses prompts to produce six-second films. Users of the Reel app can spin, zoom, and pan in all directions.

Reels will soon be able to make two-minute videos, Amazon says.

Throughout the presentation, Jassy stressed that Reel and Canvas had features that ensure proper use. Examples of security methods include content screening and watermarking. In closing, he stated, “We aim to restrict the production of detrimental content.”

The data that Amazon Web Services utilises to train its generative models seems to be unknown. In a prior statement to TechCrunch, the company claimed to have used both private and licensed data.

Customers are rarely informed of this information by providers. Because they see it as a strategic benefit, some people keep training data and other information confidential. Information gathered during training may be used in intellectual property issues, which would deter information sharing.

In the case that one of its models replicates an image that is protected by intellectual property rights, Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides its clients with indemnity.

What will happen at Nova soon? Amazon’s speech-to-speech technology will receive spoken input and provide modified output, according to a statement released by Jassy. The model is expected to be completed by 2025’s first quarter. By mid-year 2025, a “any-to-any” strategy is expected to be implemented.

Jassy stated that “you will have the capability to input text, speech, images, or video and produce text, speech, images, or video.” The goal of developing and applying frontier models is to shape the future.

SOURCE: TC

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Beef prices have reached record highs on grocery store shelves in Canada as many grocers and butchers prepare for the busiest time of year of the holiday season.

According to Statistics Canada, a kilogram of ground beef now costs an average of $13, up from $10 in 2020, and a sirloin steak now costs roughly $22, up from less than $16.

Joel Orlik, the proprietor of Wellington Butchery in Ottawa’s west end, told CTV News that he anticipates the increases and orders his chops ahead of time. Despite his desire not to scare away buyers, he knows the market’s current state.

“We charge what we think we have to charge, but we’re always cognisant of the fact that we’re also the community store,” he said.

Orlik considers Wellington Butchery, a fine craft butcher, but over the years, the price differential has been comparable to that of retail grocers.

“The food stores have been catching up with me on price. “When they sell something similar to our quality, they’re not far off,” Orlik stated.

The beef market has faced severe challenges, including mad cow disease 20 years ago and the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced cattle farmers to sell up most of their herds.

Sylvain Charlebois, a food distribution expert and Dalhousie University professor believes the rising prices are partly due to North American farmers selling their herds owing to rising feed costs. The price of a steer has risen by 64 percent since 2020, affecting grocers, butchers, and consumers alike.

Unfortunately, they’re likely going to rise even more over the next couple of years.” Charlebois said.

“They experienced a tremendous catastrophe with mad cow 20 years ago, and when prices rise, many people say, ‘Let’s sell now. Let’s go out and do something else. That’s exactly what is going on. This is why prices are so expensive. “Who can blame them?”

According to Charlebois, the size of Canadian herds has been constant since 1987. Such high levels have not been recorded in the United States since 1951.

“Because of droughts, feed costs went up, and when feed costs go up dramatically, cattle ranchers tend to sell off their herd,” according to Charlebois. He believes beef is so expensive around the holidays that people seek more affordable protein sources.

“I believe turkeys will be priced fairly this year, as we witnessed at Thanksgiving. In certain parts of Ontario, we saw turkey for $0.90 per pound. Charlebois spoke.

“Beef is perhaps one of the most volatile things at a supermarket. It has been like this for many years.”

Strong demand for steaks and ground beef in North America also drives up prices. Charlebois observes that if farmers do not reinvest in the market, prices will continue to grow over the next two to three years.

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