Iran nuclear talks are back on. After a brief holiday break, negotiations to end Iran's nuclear program in exchange for removing economic sanctions against Tehran resume on Monday in Vienna. What are the prospects? About as dim as the last time we wrote about this. Western powers say time is running out because the Iranians are slow-walking the talks so they can continue to enrich uranium well beyond the limits in the original agreement, while the Iranians are playing hardball by demanding that all sanctions be lifted first. Iran also wants a guarantee that the US won't ditch a new deal the way Donald Trump did with the old one in 2018. If Iran keeps enriching uranium at the current pace, the current terms being discussed could soon be obsolete. However, should the talks fail in the end, the US says it has military options to prevent the Iranians from getting the bomb.
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Last month, as part of its European Digital Commitments, Microsoft introduced new initiatives to support the development of multilingual AI models and to help safeguard Europe’s cultural heritage. To help close the AI language gap, the company is working with partners across Europe to expand access to multilingual data and to advance open-source models that reflect the region’s linguistic diversity. Microsoft is also launching a new call for proposals to increase digital content for ten underrepresented European languages and is expanding its Culture AI initiative. Building on successful projects in Greece and Italy, the company is partnering with the Ministère de la Culture and Iconem to digitally recreate Notre-Dame. This work aims to ensure that Europe’s iconic landmarks are preserved for future generations through immersive, AI-powered experiences. Read more here.
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