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Hard Numbers: Bukele 2024, German troops in Lithuania, Manipur unrest, Chinese deepfake scam

June 26, 2023
Carlos Santamaria
Illustration of El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele beside the national flag.
Gabriella Turrisi

154: On Monday, El Salvador's strongman President Nayib Bukele officially registered to run for reelection next year. Although the Supreme Court — packed with Bukele loyalists — ruled in 2021 that this doesn't violate constitutional term limits, opposition lawyers say a second term is expressly forbidden by Art. 154.

4,000: Germany will permanently deploy 4,000 troops in Lithuania, as the Baltic nation has been demanding for years in order to protect NATO's eastern flank. It's the latest example of Germany’s changing defense policy amid the Zeitenwende ("historic shift") in response to Russia's war in Ukraine.

50: India's government has ordered the chief minister of northeast Manipur state to up his game on restoring peace there after more than 50 days of continued unrest. The violence erupted in early May, after the BJP-led state government granted the Meitei community — which accounts for half of the population — Scheduled Tribe status, giving them certain privileges that other Manipur minorities resent.

400,000: An influencer with almost 400,000 followers on Douyin (Chinese TikTok) had his account banned for scamming people into ordering fake Russian products from his e-commerce biz by masquerading as a Russian soldier fighting in Ukraine. The AI-generated “Pavel Korchatie" was exposed as a deepfake when users noticed that the IP addresses of the videos were located in Henan province, China.

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New study by Microsoft and EY offers insights into AI’s role in disability inclusion

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Globally, one in five people identify as neurodivergent, an umbrella term that refers to variances in how the brain processes information. A new collaborative study between Microsoft and Ernst & Young reveals insights into how AI-powered tools like Microsoft 365 Copilot are transforming experiences for the neurodiverse in the workplace. The study involving over 300 neurodivergent or disabled employees found that 91% consider Copilot helpful for communication, 85% believe it creates a more inclusive workplace, and 76% say it aids their work performance. This study is part of Microsoft’s ongoing work to increase understanding of how Copilot and other Microsoft tools can improve the workplace. Read more here.

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