Three days before leaving office, President Joe Biden has made a surprising announcement: He declared that a decades-old proposed Constitutional amendment enshrining equal rights on the basis of sex is now the law of the land.Except it isnt.A senior administration official told CNN that Biden was not taking executive action but merely stating an opinion that the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was in effect. The National Archives the federal government agency that is the official keeper of the Constitution has stated for years that they cannot legally publish the amendment, because theyre bound by a Department of Justice holding that says they cant. Plus, Donald Trump is about to take office and will likely express a different opinion.Whats going on?The Equal Rights Amendment, which states that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex, was overwhelmingly approved by Congress in 1972 and sent to the states for ratification. Congress originally set a deadline of 1979 for ratification; it was later extended to 1982.That deadline came and went without enough states voting to ratify, and the understanding from the political and legal establishment has generally been that the ERA was dead.But progressive advocates have for years been trying to use some creative but dubious legal arguments to claim that enough states actually have ratified the ERA and it should go into effect.Some states voted to ratify the ERA after the deadline passed, and advocates claim that the deadline as well as the fact that some states also rescinded their ratification should simply be ignored. An existing DOJ opinion (issued during Trumps first term) held that the deadline has legal force, but advocates have argued that Biden should simply reject that opinion and just make it law.With his new announcement, Biden is in a sense giving advocates what they want sort of. Advocates had urged him to instruct the National Archives to publish the amendment and make it officially part of the Constitution, a move that would provoke a legal battle. But Biden is not going that far. Hes just, his aides claim, stating his opinion. So its unclear whether this will lead to anything at all.Everyone knows the deadline for approving the Equal Rights Amendment expired decades ago. What this legal argument presupposes is, maybe it didnt.For a proposed amendment to go into effect and officially become part of the Constitution, three-quarters of state legislatures 38 of 50 states need to ratify it. And, in 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to do so for the ERA.But there are two problems. First, only 35 not 38 states had ratified the ERA by the time the deadline set by Congress hit in 1982.Second, five of those states who ratified had subsequently voted (before the deadline) to rescind their ratifications which, if respected, would cut the number of ratifying states down to 30. (Initially, the amendment had broad bipartisan support, but a backlash from conservatives brewed as the 1970s went on and turned Republicans against it.)It has long been taken for granted that the deadline killed the ERA. But progressive advocates and legal experts came up with an idea: what if we simply ignore the deadline? (The technical argument is that Congress did not make the deadline part of the amendments text, so therefore, it is extraneous and should be ignored despite Congresss extremely clear intent.) These experts also say states lack the power to un-ratify an amendment theyve approved.So in the past few years, two more Democratic state legislatures gradually approved the amendment. And in 2020, Virginia became the 38th to do so, bringing it to the magic number if, again, you ignore the deadline and the five states that rescinded approval.But that year, Trumps Justice Departments Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion that Virginias approval didnt matter, because the congressional deadline was real and binding. (They did not resolve whether states can rescind ratification.) The battle to make Biden and his appointees declare the ERA in effectOnce Biden took office, however, progressive womens rights advocates urged Biden to override that DOJ opinion; but for years, neither Biden nor his DOJ did so. And Bidens appointee to head the National Archives, Colleen Shogan, said that given the DOJs opinion, it would be illegal for her to publish the amendment and make it law.Kamala Harriss defeat and Bidens imminent departure from office spurred a renewed push from activists, who hoped Biden would see this as a legacy-making opportunity and would feel newly emboldened to defy political and legal caution.Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) took up the charge, arguing that Biden should cement his legacy as a defender of womens rights by instructing Shogan to disregard DOJs guidance and publish the amendment. Advocates have also argued that Shogan should simply do it herself, but last month, Shogan again asserted that it would be illegal for her to do so. Now, three days before leaving office and five full years after Virginia became the 38th state to approve the ERA by advocates optimistic math Biden has in one way acceded to progressives demands by asserting the ERA is the law of the land. However, importantly, Biden is not directly instructing Shogan to publish the amendment, which is what the advocates were actually asking him to do.If Biden had actually been serious about fighting and trying to win a legal battle to make this amendment go into effect, he surely would have begun that battle long before the imminent end of his term. Still, with the announcement, Biden did succeed in passing the hot potato to make Shogan look like the bad guy for trying to follow the law. The pressure is on; already, in December, Kate Kelly of the Center for American Progress told the New York Times that Shogan was an unelected appointee who is making it her job to keep women and queer people out of the Constitution. One way or another, this push seems headed for defeat. Even if Shogan has an about-face and the National Archives made the amendment official before Trump came in, a legal fight would soon ensue to determine whether that could stand a fight that would ultimately be decided by a very conservative Supreme Court. And even if the Court surprisingly let the amendment stand, that same Court would be in charge of interpreting what its broad principle means and theyd likely define it quite narrowly.So all this seems like something between an empty stunt and a doomed last stand. There will be many important and meaningful battles ahead to protect womens rights under the Trump administration but this isnt one of them.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More: Politics

Destiny 2's Exotic vendor, Xur, is back again this week here's how to find him, what he's selling, and whether we recommend his offerings before he vanishes againTech17:04, 17 Jan 2025What is Xur selling this week?(Image: Charleen Bougourd/Bungie Inc.)Destiny 2 is seeing declining player numbers, fans seem to be enjoying Act 3 of Episode Revenant at least.It's Friday, and that means we're off to take our strange coins to Xur to buy exotic weapons and armour for our Guardians to tear through the new Slayer's Fang Exotic Mission with.This year's Final Shape expansion mixed things up for the tentacle-faced NPC, meaning Xur can now sell a much more varied list of items, and he's only ever found in one spot. Luckily for you, we'll cover where he is, and what he has, for January 17 - 21.Here's what Xur is offering for Guardians this week in Destiny 2(Image: Bungie Inc.)While Xur used to appear in multiple places, hopping between planets, he can now be found at Destiny 2's main social space, The Tower.Head to Cayde's ramen shop, and down the alley next to it to find Xur. He only appears from 5PM GMT/ 10AM PDT/ 1PM EDT on Friday to 5PM BST/ 10AM PDT/ 1PM EDT on Tuesday .Struggling to find him? Check out our screenshot below for his exact location on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.Here's where Xur can be found post-Final ShapeAs of 5PM GMT/ 10AM PDT/ 1PM EDT, Xur is selling:Wardcliff Coil Catalyst - 71 Strange CoinsLord of Wolves Catalyst - 71 Strange CoinsWormhusk Crown (Hunter) - 41 Strange CoinsCrest of Alpha Lupi (Titan) - 41 Strange CoinsThe Stag (Warlock) - 41 Strange CoinsExotic Class Item - 41 Strange CoinsThe Xurfboard (Skimmer/Sparrow) - 97 Strange CoinsHe was also selling these weapons:Hawkmoon (with Snapshot Sights, again) - 23 Strange CoinsThe Jade Rabbit - 23 Strange CoinsFighting Lion - 23 Strange CoinsD.A.R.C.I. - 23 Strange CoinsDestiny 2's famous exotic seller, Xur, is back again.(Image: Bungie Inc.)Xur will also sell materials, including Engrams, via the More Strange Offers section, while he also has the following Legendary Weapons which cost 17 Strange Coins each.True Prophecy (Hand Cannon)Extraordinary Rendition (SMG)Pleiades Corrector (Scout Rifle)Outlast (Pulse Rifle)Negative Space (Sword)Tarantula (Linear Fusion Rifle)Quickfang/Crown-Splitter/Eternity's Edge (Class Swords)As of the Final Shape expansion, Xur has his own reputation system, similar to what you've likely seen with the Gunsmith and other vendors.By ranking up his reputation rank, you can earn the following from him:Rank 4: Enhancement Core x 7Rank 7: Enhancement Prism x 3Rank 10: Exotic Engram x 2Rank 13: Ascendant ShardRank 16: Ascendant AlloyReset Rank: Exotic CipherOnce you've reset the rank, these change to the following:Rank 4: Enhancement Core x 3Rank 7: Enhancement PrismRank 10: Exotic Engram x 2Rank 13: Enhancement Core x 5Rank 16: Enhancement Prism x 2Reset Rank: Exotic CipherArticle continues belowFor the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.

The Switch 2 is hitting the road (Nintendo)Nintendo has officially unveiled the Switch 2, and you can get the chance to play it early at a slew of hands-on events around the world.The Nintendo Switch 2 announcement may have been light on details but it was very upfront about when you can get a chance to play it.Nintendos next console features bigger Joy-Cons, additional ports, and seemingly mouse-like functionality, although its technical specifications havent yet been confirmed (based on leaks though, it will be around the level of a PlayStation 4).If the reveal has made you hungry to get your hands on the console, Nintendo has announced various Nintendo Switch 2 Experience dates around the world where you can do just that.Where can I play the Nintendo Switch 2 early in the UK?So far, Nintendo has only announced Switch 2 Experience dates in London in the UK. This event will take place at the ExCel London convention centre from Friday April 11 to Sunday April 13, 2025.How can I register for the Nintendo Switch 2 Experience?For the London dates, you can register for free on Nintendos website here, from where youll be entered into a randomly selected draw. Registration is open now until Sunday, January 26 at 11.59pm GMT, so you have some time to enter.When you register, you have to pick a specific time slot on a chosen day. You can only enter once across all days, so you cant put yourself down for multiple draws. According to Nintendos FAQ page, each session is expected to last around four hours. All entrants will need to have a free Nintendo Account. You can either register as an individual or as a group of up to six people, although the latter requires everyone to have a Nintendo Account that is linked to the same Nintendo Account family group. You can find details about how to link members into one family group here.Children aged six and under do not need an individual ticket to attend and can join with their parent or guardian who has a ticket. If your child is aged seven and over, they need to be registered by someone who is aged 18+ as part of a family group.Following the deadline date, those who have won tickets will be notified by email.What are the other dates around the world?You can check out a list of all the dates below, across the US, Europe, Asia and the rest of the world.Nintendo Switch 2 Experience datesEurope:Paris, Grand Palais April 4-6London, ExCel convention centre April 11-13Milan, The Mall April 25-27Berlin, Station Berlin April 25-27Madrid, Chamartin Station May 9-11Amsterdam, Taets Art and Event Park May 9-11US:New York, Center415 April 4-6Los Angeles, Television City April 11-13Dallas, Embarcadero Building at Fair Park April 25-27Canada:Toronto, Enercare Centre at Exhibition Place April 25-27Oceania:Melbourne, Centrepiece at Melbourne Park May 10-11Asia:Tokyo April 26-27Seoul May 31-June 1Hong Kong TBATaipei TBAEmailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.More TrendingTo submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

While the world waits to see if Barbie 2 will ever come to pass, the director and co-writer behind that billion-dollar sensation is quietly making power moves in other cinematic realms. Weve known for awhile that Greta Gerwig is spearheading Netflixs Chronicles of Narnia reboot, but a new report reveals the C.S. Lewis adaptation will get an IMAX showcase before it arrives on the streamer. According to Puck News, Gerwigs Narnia movie will hit about 1,000 IMAX screens worldwide on Thanksgiving Day 2026 and will not appear on Netflix until Christmas, with a two-week IMAX run guaranteed and an option to add a third if theres enough audience interest. Also, theres a chance Narnia might also play in some non-IMAX theaters ahead of its streaming debut. In addition, Netflix has committed to market the IMAX release like a typical theatrical tentpole movie and identify Narnia as a Netflix/IMAX title from the outset. Puck reports this deal came about in spite of Netflixs well-known preference against showing its movies theatricallyunless said showing is in service of drumming up awards nominationsbecause co-CEO Ted Sarandos realized the importance of placating the Oscar-nominated Gerwig, whose films besides Barbie include Little Women and Lady Bird. She also co-wrote Disneys upcoming live-action Snow White. The outlet points out that the 1,000 IMAX screens for two weeks is a wider and longer release than a similarly high-profile Netflix productionRian Johnsons Glass Onion: Knives Out Mysteryreceived back in 2022, and wonders if perhaps more big-name directors will follow Gerwigs example and push Netflix for similar deals. (You have to guess fans sure wouldnt mind a similar release strategy for Guillermo del Toros Frankenstein, which is slated to hit the streamer at some point this year.)Are you excited to see Gerwigs Narnia on the big, big screen in 2026or will you wait a few weeks more to stream it on Netflix? Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

Nursery School and Elsa Triolet Center / Richter ArchitectsSave this picture! Luc BoeglyUniversityMitry-Mory, FranceArchitects: Richter ArchitectsAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:2546 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2024 PhotographsPhotographs:Luc Boegly More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. Richter architectes et associs have completed a school complex in the most recent area of Mitry-Mory. It's located on an orthogonal and regular urban grid that stretches from Tremblay all the way to the plain that separates Mitry-le-Neuf from Mitry-Bourg.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The program joins a nursery school, a leisure center, and a school lunchroom for the nursery and primary school classes. The project is an answer to the necessary distancing of children from the public space and recalls teachers' attachment to generous volumes and to opening the classrooms of the former school. The ensemble is designed as a small village at the heart of which is a double courtyard out of sight and protected from the noise of the city.Save this picture!Save this picture!The distribution of technical networks allows for avoiding reliance on false ceilings. As a result, it was possible to organize surprising volumes under the roof, which is part of the development of an open spatiality on the exterior and the sky.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Vegetation is planted in strategic places, including little touches, to present to each room with a direct view of greenery, either onto a patio or a small garden. The strong presence of wood accentuates the blending of interior and exterior to provide children with a continuous landscape in perpetual movement.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessProject locationAddress:Mitry-Mory, FranceLocation to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.About this officeRichter ArchitectsOfficePublished on January 17, 2025Cite: "Nursery School and Elsa Triolet Center / Richter Architects" 17 Jan 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1025827/nursery-school-and-elsa-triolet-center-richter-architects&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

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In this edition:We introduce privacy enhancements for multiparty deep learning, a framework using smaller, open-source models to provide relevance judgments, and other notable new research.We congratulate Yasuyuki Matsushita, who was named an IEEE Computer Society Fellow.Weve included a recap of the extraordinary, far-reaching work done by researchers at Microsoft in 2024.NEW RESEARCHAI meets materials discoveryTwo of the transformative tools that play a central role in Microsofts work on AI for science are MatterGen and MatterSim. In the world of materials discovery, each plays a distinct yet complementary role in reshaping how researchers design and validate new materials.Read the storyNEW RESEARCHDistributed training enables multiple parties to jointly train a machine learning model on their respective datasets, which can help address the challenges posed by requirements in modern machine learning for large volumes of diverse data. However, this can raise security and privacy issues protecting each partys data during training and preventing leakage of private information from the model after training through various inference attacks.In a recent paper, Communication Efficient Secure and Private Multi-Party Deep Learning, researchers from Microsoft address these concerns simultaneously by designing efficient Differentially Private, secure Multiparty Computation (DP-MPC) protocols for jointly training a model on data distributed among multiple parties. This DP-MPC protocol in the two-party setting is 56-to-794 times more communication-efficient and 16-to-182 times faster than previous such protocols. This work simplifies and improves on previous attempts to combine techniques from secure multiparty computation and differential privacy, especially in the context of training machine learning models.Read the paperNEW RESEARCHTraining and evaluating retrieval systems requires significant relevance judgments, which are traditionally collected from human assessors. This process is both costly and time-consuming. Large language models (LLMs) have shown promise in generating relevance labels for search tasks, offering a potential alternative to manual assessments. Current approaches often rely on a single LLM. While effective, this approach can be expensive and prone to intra-model biases that can favor systems leveraging similar models.In a recent paper: JudgeBlender: Ensembling Judgments for Automatic Relevance Assessment, researchers from Microsoft we introduce a framework that employs smaller, open-source models to provide relevance judgments by combining evaluations across multiple LLMs (LLMBlender) or multiple prompts (PromptBlender). By leveraging the LLMJudge benchmark, they compare JudgeBlender with state-of-the-art methods and the top performers in the LLMJudge challenge. This research shows that JudgeBlender achieves competitive performance, demonstrating that very large models are often unnecessary for reliable relevance assessments.Read the paperNEW RESEARCHCongestion games are used to describe the behavior of agents who share a set of resources. Each player chooses a combination of resources, which may become congested, decreasing utility for the players who choose them. Players can avoid congestion by choosing combinations that are less popular. This is useful for modeling a range of real-world scenarios, such as traffic flow, data routing, and wireless communication networks.In a recent paper: Convergence to Equilibrium of No-regret Dynamics in Congestion Games; researchers from Microsoft and external colleagues propose CongestEXP, a decentralized algorithm based on the classic exponential weights method. They evaluate CongestEXP in a traffic congestion game setting. As more drivers use a particular route, congestion increases, leading to higher travel times and lower utility. Players can choose a different route every day to optimize their utility, but the observed utility by each player may be subject to randomness due to uncertainty (e.g., bad weather). The researchers show that this approach provides both regret guarantees and convergence to Nash Equilibrium, where no player can unilaterally improve their outcome by changing their strategy.Read the paperNEW RESEARCHResearch and development (R&D) plays a pivotal role in boosting industrial productivity. However, the rapid advance of AI has exposed the limitations of traditional R&D automation. Current methods often lack the intelligence needed to support innovative research and complex development tasks, underperforming human experts with deep knowledge.LLMs trained on vast datasets spanning many subjects are equipped with extensive knowledge and reasoning capabilities that support complex decision-making in diverse workflows. By autonomously performing tasks and analyzing data, LLMs can significantly increase the efficiency and precision of R&D processes.In a recent article, researchers from Microsoft introduce RD-Agent, a tool that integrates data-driven R&D systems and harnesses advanced AI to automate innovation and development.At the heart of RD-Agent is an autonomous agent framework with two key components: a) Research and b) Development. Research focuses on actively exploring and generating new ideas, while Development implements these ideas. Both components improve through an iterative process, illustrated in Figure 1 of the article, ensures the system becomes increasingly effective over time.Read the articleSpotlight: Microsoft research newsletterMicrosoft Research NewsletterStay connected to the research community at Microsoft.Subscribe todayOpens in a new tab Microsoft Research | In case you missed itMicrosoft Research 2024: A year in reviewDecember 20, 2024Microsoft Research did extraordinary work this year, using AI and scientific research to make progress on real-world challenges like climate change, food security, global health, and human trafficking. Heres a look back at the broad range of accomplishments and advances in 2024. AIOpsLab: Building AI agents for autonomous cloudsDecember 20, 2024AIOpsLab is a holistic evaluation framework for researchers and developers, to enable the design, development, evaluation, and enhancement of AIOps agents, which also serves the purpose of reproducible, standardized, interoperable, and scalable benchmarks. Yasuyuki Matsushita, IEEE Computer Society 2025 FellowDecember 19, 2024Congratulations to Yasuyuki Matsushita, Senior Principal Research Manager at Microsoft Research, who was named a 2025 IEEE Computer Society Fellow. Matsushita was recognized for contributions to photometric 3D modeling and computational photography. View more news and awards Opens in a new tab

US regulators want to make it easier for people to know whats in each of their alcoholic drinks of choice. The Treasury Departments Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau has announced it is seeking public comment on two proposals aimed at overhauling how nutritional facts are displayed on beer, wine, and liquor packaging by requiring nutrition labels on bottles and cans for the first time ever. That said, the health information may not come in the form of physical labels.[ Related: Is drinking alcohol ever good for you? Heres what the science says. ]According to a forthcoming Federal Register notice first reported by the Associated Press on January 16th, the reform is intended to follow the bureau mandate to ensure that labels provide consumers with adequate information about the identity, quality and alcohol content of alcoholic drinks. The information would likely be displayed similar to existing nutrition labels, and include the amount of alcohol content, calories, carbohydrates, fat, and protein per serving. Sugar content, however, would remain optional to list on labels. A second proposed rule would federally require companies to identify any top allergens such as milk, eggs, shellfish, and nuts.If approved, the changes would achieve a goal that consumer advocacy groups have spent over two decades pursuing for the $2.5 billion industry.The proposals represent a momentous step toward ensuring consumers have access to the information they need to make informed choices, follow health guidelines, and avoid allergic reactions, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) wrote in a statement published on Thursday. The CSPI also referred to its March 2024 survey, in which 63-77 percent of the over 1,500 Americans polled indicated support for at least some form of mandatory content labels.While companies may voluntarily disclose nutritional information on the products, many still do not. A 2021 survey of the 150 top US beer and wine brands found that only 28 percent of former and none of the latter featured a full Serving Facts label. Just one beer at the time had an Alcohol Facts label.The CSPI first filed a Citizen Petition in support of better nutritional and alcohol content transparency in 2003. In 2022, they sued the Treasury Department for 19 years of alleged inaction on the petition.If nutrition facts become mandatory, however, they could vary from the traditional paper labels. The AP also noted on Thursday that while some prominent trade groups already said they would support the reforms, they would prefer it to be in the form of digital labels.Given the unique nature of winemaking, the most accurate and least burdensome approach to providing nutrition information to consumers would be to allow the option of off-label disclosure via QR code or other electronic means, said the Wine Institute, with the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States echoing similar hopes.Regardless, it will take some time before nutrition factsphysical or otherwiseare legally required for alcohol. After an open comment period and subsequent review, the new rules would take effect five years from their approval date.The post US may finally require Nutrition Facts labeling for alcohol appeared first on Popular Science.