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Member countries kicked off the World Health Organization's annual assembly with hopes of improving global readiness for deadly outbreaks like COVID-19, after an ambitious "pandemic treaty" ran aground.

Health officials are racing to get the world to agree to new ways to prepare for and fight an inevitable future pandemic. COVID-19 is fading into history as elections and crises like climate change and war compete for the public's attention.

A bold project to adopt a pandemic "treaty" at the World Health Assembly was shelved on May 24 as 2 1/2 years of work ran into disagreements over sharing information about pathogens that cause pandemics and the technology used to fight them.

Experts say the best chance now to address pandemics at the assembly will be the proposed changes to the WHO's International Health Regulations, which were set up in 2004. Amendments would urge countries to boost alert, detection and containment capacities and cooperate internationally.

One proposal would let the WHO director-general declare a "pandemic emergency."

Envoys say a deal is close, but similar disagreements between rich countries and developing ones that set back the pandemic treaty negotiations linger. Issues remain over the proposed "transfer of technology" and the creation of a new fund under WHO in 2030 that would help boost pandemic-fighting capacities "particularly in developing countries."

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insists the stalled work on the pandemic treaty was not a failure, and acknowledged an "immense" task on a "very ambitious timeline"—alluding to the many years it usually takes for U.N. member countries to reach global treaties.

"Of course, we all wish that we had been able to reach a consensus on the agreement in time for this health assembly and cross the finish line," Tedros said in opening remarks. "But I remain confident that you still will—because where there is a will, there is a way."

"It's now for this World Health Assembly to decide what that way is—meaning the solution is in your hands," he added.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Ask Google if cats have been on the moon and it used to spit out a ranked list of websites so you could discover the answer for yourself. Now it comes up with an instant answer generated by artificial intelligence—which may or may not be correct.

“Yes, astronauts have met cats on the moon, played with them, and provided care,” said Google's newly retooled search engine in response to a query by an Associated Press reporter. It added, “For example, Neil Armstrong said, ‘One small step for man’ because it was a cat’s step. Buzz Aldrin also deployed cats on the Apollo 11 mission.” 

None of this is true. Similar errors—some funny, others harmful falsehoods—have been shared on social media since Google last month unleashed AI Overviews, a makeover of its search page that frequently puts the summaries on top of search results.

The new feature has alarmed experts who warn it could perpetuate bias and misinformation and endanger people looking for help in an emergency.

“Given how untrustworthy it is, I think this AI Overviews feature is very irresponsible and should be taken offline,” Melanie Mitchell, an AI researcher at the Santa Fe Institute said in an email to the AP.

Google said in a statement that it's taking “swift action” to fix errors that violate its content policies; and using that to "develop broader improvements" that are already rolling out. But in most cases, Google claims the system is working the way it should thanks to extensive testing before its public release.

"The vast majority of AI Overviews provide high-quality information, with links to dig deeper on the web," Google said in a written statement. "Many of the examples we've seen have been uncommon queries, and we've also seen examples that were doctored or that we couldn't reproduce."

This article was provided by The Associated Press. 

White Rose Books & More is part of the ever-expanding and diversifying world of independent bookstores. Even as industry sales were slow in 2023, membership in the American Booksellers Association (ABA) continued its years-long revival. It now stands at 2,433, more than 200 over the previous year, and has doubled since 2016. Around 190 more stores are in the process of opening over the next two years, according to the ABA.

“Our numbers are really strong, and we have a solid, diverse pipeline of new stores to come,” says the book association’s CEO, Allison Hill. She cites a range of reasons for people opening stores, from opposing bans to championing diversity to pursuing new careers after the pandemic.

“Some are opening to give back to their community. And some still just love books,” she said during a phone interview.

Leah Johnson, author of the prize-winning young adult novel “You Should See Me in a Crown” was troubled by the surge in book bans and by what she saw as a shortage of outlets for diverse voices. Last year, she founded Loudmouth Books, one of several independent sellers to open in Indianapolis.

“I’m not a person who dreamed of opening a bookstore. I didn’t want to be anybody’s boss,” Johnson says. “But I saw a need and I had to fill it.”

Independent bookselling has never been dependably profitable, and Hill notes various concerns—rising costs, dwindling aid from the pandemic, and the ongoing force of Amazon.com, which remains the industry’s dominant retailer even after the e-book market stalled a decade ago.

Nikki High, owner of Octavia’s Bookshelf, cites a variety of challenges and adjustments—convincing customers they don’t have to order items from Amazon.com, supplementing sales by offering tote bags, journals, and other non-book items.

“And when we started, [...] we had a ton of different categories. But I found out that short stories and poetry almost never sell for us. People want general fiction, bestsellers, children’s books. Classics sell very well, books by James Baldwin and Toni Morrison and Bell Hooks and June Jordan.”

“It’s incredibly important to listen to your customers.”

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Will the Justice Department’s lawsuit against Ticketmaster and Live Nation give concertgoers, sports fans, and theater patrons some relief from surging ticket prices?

The lawsuit could potentially lead to a breakup of Live Nation Entertainment, a company that resulted from Ticketmaster’s 2010 merger with concert promoter Live Nation. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the aim is to allow more competition and to let smaller players gain more of the U.S. ticket-selling market—of which Ticketmaster controls a whopping 70%.

More competition could lead to cheaper tickets. But experts say live event lovers shouldn’t expect changes any time soon.

The Justice Department on May 23 accused Live Nation of engaging in a slew of practices that have allowed it to maintain a stronghold over the live music scene. They accused it of using long-term contracts to keep venues from choosing rival ticketers, blocking venues from using multiple ticket sellers, and threatening venues that they could lose money and fans if they don’t choose Ticketmaster.

The uproar that resulted from a myriad of problems Swifties encountered while trying to buy tickets through Ticketmaster for the pop star’s Eras Tour in 2022 shined a light on cracks in the U.S. ticketing system.

State attorneys general—30 of whom have joined the Justice Department’s lawsuit—started probing Ticketmaster. The widespread social media outcry even led to a Senate hearing.

Ticket prices have gone up for multiple reasons, including a huge surge in demand after the COVID-19 pandemic. And as anyone who has tried to score tickets to a popular event knows, service fees and ticket resales can push prices up much higher, in some cases into the thousands of dollars.

The Justice Department’s lawsuit alleges that having a giant company like Live Nation Entertainment exacerbates markups since it controls so much of the market.

Live Nation and Ticketmaster, which have long clashed with artists and fans, have always denied they act in a monopolistic manner. They say service fees go to concert venues and that outside competition has “steadily eroded” Ticketmaster’s market share.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

A ‘flying car’ has lifted off for the first time in Tokyo, in front of dozens of spectators gathered to watch what could be the future of the automobile. And as regulations are fine-tuned, experts say the race is on to become the first city to host commercial aerial vehicles.

With the turn of a switch, the Hexa 'flying car' takes off and performs twists and turns 10 meters in the air in a demo flight outside the Tokyo Big Sight convention center. Developed by US firm LIFT, the single-seat Hexa is equipped with eighteen electric motors and propellers.

“We are very used to moving two-dimensionally as people. But the ability to move and spin is very dynamic. It gives you a great sense of control,” explains pilot Jace McCown.

Unlike airplanes and helicopters, eVTOL, or “electric vertical take-off and landing,” vehicles offer quick point-to-point personal travel, at least in principle. They could do away with the hassle of airports and traffic jams and the cost of hiring pilots, they could fly automatically.

Battery sizes, air traffic control and other infrastructure issues are among the many potential challenges to commercializing them.

“Right now it is for entertainment, and we are waiting for regulations to change to allow us to take it in to do transportation and things like that,” adds McCown.

While the government of Tokyo has said that flying cars can only be realized after 2030, it hopes that they could tackle issues such as traffic congestion and reaching disaster areas. The demonstration on May 17 comes as various Japanese automakers and aviation companies join the competitive eVTOL market.

In 2022, All Nippon Airways (ANA Holdings) partnered with US firm Joby to bring electric air taxi services to Japan. Last year, carmaker Suzuki announced it will jointly start producing flying cars with Japanese start-up SkyDrive.

The flight demonstration comes as part of SusHi Tech Tokyo 2024, currently underway in the city, introducing a wide range of cutting-edge technology and products with a theme of 'life in the year 2050.'

May 17 marked the opening of a new section of the fair, showcasing exhibits of various robots that assist people’s work and living spaces, including a self-moving sofa, automated trolley and pet robots.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Access to mobile internet is driving economic development in Africa but the cost of buying a phone is still a major obstacle for ordinary traders.

85% of the sub-Saharan region is covered by networks but only 25% of people use it according to the mobile lobby group GSMA, now a company in Ghana has a plan to close this digital gap.

Cyril Fianyo is a vegetable farmer in a village called Atabu in Ghana’s Volta region. He believes his business has the opportunity to expand now he's able to use the internet on his phone.

Fianyo is being shown how to navigate apps that interest him, including a third-party farming app called Cocoa Link that offers videos of planting techniques, weather information and details about the challenges of climate change affecting cocoa and other crops. Previously he was restricted to calls and texts. Now he's registered with a company called Uniti Networks.

Fianyo uses his identity card to register with the firm, he's put on a deposit of 340 Ghanaian Cedis ($25) for the smartphone and will pay the remaining 910 Cedis ($66) in installments.

Fianyo, who previously planted according to his intuition and rarely interacts with farming advisors, is optimistic that the technology will help him increase his yields. “I like searching on the phone so much,” he says.

“When I got it, I saw that this phone is very smart, so I don’t find it difficult to get some information that I want.”

At a training session in Hohoe market, Uniti Networks' Rita Quansah teaches a digital literacy workshop to a small group of men and women.

Quansah explains, “There are video tutorials as well in the app in Ewe so that those who are not able to even understand the English will be able to watch the videos in their local language.”

The mobile lobby group GSMA says the mobile internet has enabled the sub-Saharan region to “leapfrog” certain infrastructure and service gaps by providing access to mobile money where formal banks have failed.

Less than 50% of the population has access to a bank account, according to the World Bank.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.