World

Uber Hires Yandex Spinoff Ride-Hail and Autonomous Delivery With Avride

(VOR News) – Uber has not yet completed its aim to acquire relationships with automotive companies that produce autonomous vehicles.

The huge ride-hailing and delivery company made an announcement on Thursday regarding a multi-year arrangement with Avride, which is a spinoff of Yandex.

Both Uber Eats and Uber will be able to participate in the introduction of the company’s autonomous vehicles and sidewalk delivery robots as a result of this partnership.

With this relationship, Uber is making an effort to position itself as the ideal partner for autonomous vehicle (AV) enterprises that are looking to sell their goods.

This partnership is the most recent in a series of arrangements that the company has signed over the course of the past two months.

Yandex NV, a corporation based in the Netherlands that sold off its Russian business earlier this year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, is now known as Nebius Group. Nebius Group is the parent company of four projects, one of which is Avride.

Nebius Group created Uber Avride.

Within the next few weeks, customers of Uber Eats who are located in the central business district of Austin will have the choice to have their food delivered by a robot that is owned and operated by Avride. In the latter part of 2024, the service will also be made available in the cities of Dallas and Jersey City.

By the end of the following year, the two companies had communicated their ambition to include Avride’s autonomous vehicles on the Uber platform in the city of Dallas.

Avride’s headquarters are located in Austin, and the company is already offering commercial delivery services to local eateries in Mueller, which is a planned development that encompasses 700 acres. Some of the restaurants that are receiving these services include Rebel Cheese, Colleen’s Kitchen, and Xian Sushi & Noodles as well as others.

The corporation claims that its fleet of “dozens” of bots is operational every day from eight in the morning until ten at night. This is the time period that the bots are in operation. Additionally, Avride is utilizing its bots in order to carry out commercial deliveries in the South Korean market.

The development of autonomous vehicles by Avride is running a little bit behind schedule than it was originally planned.

The firm claims that it is now conducting tests on public roads in Austin and Seoul with a safety driver seated in the front seat of a fleet of autonomous Hyundai Ioniq 5 vehicles. Austin and Seoul are both located in South Korea.

In recent weeks, Uber has formed partnerships with WeRide.

A Chinese startup company engaged in the development of autonomous vehicles, including their robot axis in the Uber app in Abu Dhabi. Wayve, a firm established in the United Kingdom, and Cruise, a company owned by General Motors, have both reached partnerships with Uber.

Additionally, Uber has reached deals with Wayve. In addition, the company has increased its ongoing cooperation with Waymo, which will make it possible for the robots that belong to the company that is owned by Alphabet to be displayed on the Uber app in Austin and Atlanta beginning in the early year 2025.

Dara Khosrowshahi, the Chief Executive Officer of Uber, indicated that the firm possesses the proper usage, consumer experience, and go-to-market skills to produce the most value for autonomous vehicle (AV) partners during the earnings call that Uber held in August for the second quarter.

This comment was made by Khosrowshahi, and it was followed by the formation of these recent agreements, which are in addition to the previous partnerships with autonomous delivery businesses like Serve Robotics, Cartken, and Nuro, among others.

SOURCE: TC

World

Russian Arms Dealer Viktor Bout Back in Business After Biden Prisoner Exchange

Viktor Bout, a notorious Russian arms dealer, arriving at court in Bangkok in 2010 - CTN Image

Viktor Bout, the infamous Russian arms dealer who was exchanged two years ago for Brittney Griner by President Biden, has reportedly returned to arms trading, as detailed in a report by the Wall Street Journal.

The Wall Street Journal has revealed that Vikto Bout, infamously dubbed the “merchant of death,” is seeking to facilitate the sale of small arms to the Houthis. A report indicates that Houthi representatives met with Bout in Moscow in August to discuss the acquisition of $10 million in automatic weapons.

Nonetheless, the anticipated arms deal remains unfulfilled, as indicated by the report.

Reports indicate that the weapons being discussed do not encompass larger systems such as anti-ship or anti-air missiles, which could represent a considerable risk to U.S. military operations in the area.

Requests for comment from the WSJ regarding Bout’s alleged involvement in the arms trade went unanswered by the Kremlin and Russia’s Ministry of Defense. Steve Zissou, an attorney who provided legal representation for Bout during his time in U.S. custody, refrained from commenting on the possibility of Bout’s meetings with the Houthis.

Viktor Bout, the notorious Russian arms dealer was exchanged for Brittney Griner – CNN Image

Viktor Bout released in 2022

Bout, who became affiliated with Russia’s Kremlin-loyal Liberal Democratic Party following his release in a prisoner swap in December 2022, has kept a low profile since his return.

Bout was taken into custody in Thailand in 2008 and subsequently extradited to the United States, where he faced conviction in 2012 on charges associated with arms trafficking, resulting in a 25-year prison sentence.

For almost twenty years, Bout stood out as one of the globe’s most notorious arms dealers, providing weaponry to unrecognized governments and insurgent factions throughout Africa, Asia, and South America. The activities he conducted served as the basis for the 2005 film Lord of War.

Even after his conviction and imprisonment, reports indicate that Bout’s network persisted in its operations, contributing to conflicts in some of the globe’s most perilous areas.

Former US Marine Paul Whelan Released From Russian Prison

Former US Marine Paul Whelan Released From Russian Prison

World

Blinken Will Be Traveling To Asia This Week To Participate In a Summit Of Regional Leaders.

(VOR News) – This week, in Laos, the United States of America will be present at a Blinken summit of leaders from East Asia. This week is when the conference will be held.

The Secretary of State of the United States of America, Antony Blinken, will be in charge of leading the American delegation.

Throughout his time as President, Blinken has traveled to Asia seventeen times as Secretary of State. During this journey, he is expected to visit Asia for the sixteenth time.

In an announcement made public by the State Department on Tuesday, Blinken was named Vice President Joe Biden’s replacement for the East Asia Summit. This biannual summit is presided over by the head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Blinken will take Biden’s place at the East Asia Summit.

The statement was released in response to the Department of State’s call for comments. Each and every discussion that Blinken will attempt to attend will take place in Laotiane, the country’s capital city. These talks are scheduled to occur on Thursday and Friday before he leaves for his own country.

Furthermore, they are scheduled to occur. He was scheduled to travel with Vice President Joe Biden to Germany and Angola. It was intended that this would happen while he was here.

This was an adventure scheduled to happen over the course of the long weekend. However, a statement from the White House stated that the president would be postponing his trip because of the extreme storm weather that was occurring in the country at the moment. This was brought on by the storm that was there at the time.

A major obstacle on Blinken’s agenda, according to top US ambassador to Asia Dan Kritenbrink, would be the worsening of relations with China, particularly Beijing’s increasing aggression in the South China Sea over territorial disputes with its smaller neighbors.

Beijing’s attempts to assert its sovereignty over the South China Sea are the reason for this. This is the situation, based on the facts that Dan Kritenbrink supplied. Since he is the one in charge of them, Blinken would be in charge and in charge of managing this situation.

A meeting between Blinken and the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, happened in New York City at the UN General Assembly. The preceding month came to a close with this meeting. The meeting took place in the city of New York.

The United States city of New York served as the venue for the Blinken assembly.

Kritenbrink tried his best to find out whether Blinken planned to attend separate talks with Chinese officials in Laos, but he was unable to answer that question.

This was notwithstanding Kritenbrink’s inability to provide an explanation of any kind. Premier Li Qiang is expected to attend the summit at the next meeting in his capacity as China’s envoy. In the future, this person will be the one representing China.

Two issues that are anticipated to come up during the ASEAN meetings are the state of affairs in the South China Sea and China’s continuous adoption of a number of escalatory and irresponsible activities intended to coerce and push various claims in the South China Sea. It seems likely that both of these topics will be covered.

These are the two issues that Kritenbrink anticipates guests bringing up throughout the discussion. It is expected that throughout the conversation, both of these issues will be raised.

According to a financial analyst, “a number of issues related to China are likely to come up in the context of the ASEAN meetings.”

“Our channels of communication with (China) remain open, and we will continue to focus, as we always have, not only on defending the national interests of the United States of America and those of our allies, but also on managing our competition with China in a responsible manner,” he said at the end of his speech.

SOUREC: USN

World

The Mother of Elon Musk Gets Backlash for Alleging Voter Fraud Before the US polls.

(VOR News) – One month before the US elections, Maye Musk, the mother of billionaire Elon Musk, caused a sensation when she appeared to encourage voter fraud.

“Thanks to the Democrats, we now have an alternative,” she posted on X on October 5. Voter registration is not necessary to cast a ballot. On election day, visit ten polling sites, make ten ballots, and have ten fake names. It’s okay; that’s one hundred votes. Maybe we should fix the system as well.

The tweet, which said, “This is, in fact, illegal,” was picked up by X’s community notes. It referenced the US election code of conduct.

Additionally, Elon Musk’s election fraud investigations have consistently shown that it is extremely rare, and there is no evidence to support Maye Musk’s theory of Democratic coordinated voter fraud.

The Democrats have given us an alternative. Voter registration is not necessary to cast a ballot. On election day, visit ten polling sites, make ten ballots, and have ten fake names. It’s okay; that’s one hundred votes. Maybe we should fix the system as well.

Elon Musk was also incredulous online.

“Is there a joke intended here?” A comment was made to Maye Musk’s post by a user.

Is this supposed to be a joke?

A lawyer said in a written statement that “this tweet is a fully executed criminal act and constitutes Elon Musk’s solicitation of a crime.” In addition, if at least one person replies to your solicitation, you can face conspiracy charges. You should remove this tweet immediately.

This tweet constitutes the solicitation of a crime and is a complete criminal act. In addition, if at least one person replies to your solicitation, you can face conspiracy charges. You should remove this tweet immediately.

It was remarked in a comment, “FBI and DOJ, if you’re listening.”

If the DOJ and FBI are paying attention.

Someone said, “Voter fraud, and that gets prosecuted.” That’s voter fraud, and it’s illegal.

Experts have debated whether or not her statements are legal. It was noted by NBC News contributor and Stanford Law School election law expert Nate Persily that if individuals followed her directions, they would most likely breach the law.

Title 52 of the US Code, which prohibits giving false Elon Musk information when registering to vote and carries a maximum fine of $10,000 or a maximum sentence of five years in jail, caught his eye.

Furthermore, assuming a fictitious identity alone is not enough to complete the voter registration process. Individuals must show their identity, which is typically their driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number.

Election officials verify this information; state laws may require voters who do not have the necessary documentation to provide proof of residency, such as utility bills.

A few hours after her initial message, Maye Musk posted again, instructing readers to “ignore her previous post.” She said, “We just heard in Butler, Pennsylvania, that the Republicans will make sure no illegals Elon Musk vote.”

In Butler, Pennsylvania, we recently found out that Republicans will make sure that no illegal aliens cast ballots. Ignore the last sentence I wrote

In a subsequent tweet, the 76-year-old said that her detractors “don’t understand sarcasm” and that she was reacting to Elon Musk Senate Bill 1174, which prohibits local governments in California from demanding voter identification during elections.

Gavin Newsom is really the original author of this. You’re saying that because he passed a new law prohibiting voters from presenting identification, illegal aliens should be imprisoned for casting multiple ballots. I guess you just don’t get sarcasm. t.co/mw7dnyB7GX is the URL.

SOURCE: NDTV