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98-Year-Old Computer Art Pioneer Vera Molnar Presents At Venice Biennale For The First Time

By
Koko Lawrence
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The NFT boom has renewed people’s interest in the earlier phases of the digital art movement, and with that renewed attention, Vera Molnar, 98, is now an object of fascination. Considered to be the first woman artist to incorporate computers in her practice, Molnar is enjoying long awaited recognition for her contributions and will now be presenting her work at the Venice Biennale for the first time.

Curated by Francesca Franco, Molnar will present her new work Icône 2020 at a Collateral Event at the Atelier Muranese.

“I wanted to connect by two passions,” Franco said. “The history of computer art and this city, Venice.” Franco, a Venice native, completed a PhD in the history of computer art at the Birkbeck University of London. It was during this time that she became familiar with Molnar’s work. “I began to interview her and study her as one of the pioneers of computer art, and in time we began to collaborate.”

Franco and Molnar previously worked together on the exhibition “Algorithmic Signs” at Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa Venice. This time, Franco and Molnar worked together to create something in Venice that would be deeply rooted in its artisanal history. Franco found a team of glassmakers from the island of Murano. Set just off of the coast of Venice, Murano has been the site of exquisite glass production since the Middle Ages. Their creations were so popular that vases, jewelry and other glass goods were traded around the world. Muranese beads even reached Native Alaskan communities before Christopher Columbus ever arrived on America’s shores.

A team of expert glassmakers worked with Molnar to create her first ever glass work in the furnaces of Atelier Muranese, which also has a gallery space where Molnar’s work will be exhibited.

“She’s 98 so she was really, really excited to work with a new material,” said Franco. “She loves surprises, unexpected materials, so when I asked her if she wanted to work with glass in 2019, her first reaction was like, ‘Oh, yes, let’s do it.’”

Icône 2020 is split into two parts. Hanging from the ceiling is a square of thick glass partially coated in gold leaf from which cubes have been seemingly punched out. The cubes, irregular in shape, lie on the ground beneath the floating aspect of the work.

Made-in-Nigeria chocolates hit European markets in July

By
Henry Williams
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Chocolates produced in Ondo State, Nigeria will hit European markets from July beginning with the UK.

The chocolates are produced at the recently-completed Sunshine Chocolate Factory at Alade Idanre in the state.

Robo Adhuze, managing director of the company, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Akure that the export of chocolate bars from Nigeria would increase revenue from non-oil exports.

He said also that adding value to cocoa, a readily-available commodity in Ondo State would boost the state’s economic development.

He said the chocolate bars would be launched in London by Amb. Sarafa Isola, Nigeria’s high commissioner to the United Kingdom.

Insecurity: Buhari summons service chiefs, others

By
Henry Williams
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President Muhammadu Buhari has again summoned the Service Chiefs and other major stakeholders in the country’s security architecture to a meeting over the nation’s intractable security challenges.

The meeting which is taking place inside the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, BusinessDay gathered is a fallout of the last week’s Council of State meeting, which deliberated on the insecurity ravaging the country.

This is as the Federal government is said to have intensified, behind the scenes moves to rescue the about 68 passengers abducted inside the Abuja-Kaduna train.

It was reliably gathered that the meeting is expected to review the progress on the rescue plans

Recall that Jigawa Governor, Abubakar Badaru had hinted that the President will meet with the security Chiefs, but could not provide further details.

Insecurity: State Police Now Better Option –Obasanjo

By
Koko Lawrence
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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has canvassed state police to tackle the growing insecurity in the country.

Obasanjo said the creation of state police would be a better option than community policing.

The former President said state police should be given a priority above community policing to curb the wave of insecurity ravaging the country.

The Special Assistant to Obasanjo on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi in a statement quoted the former president as saying this when the leadership of the National Association of Ex-Local Government Chairmen in Nigeria paid him a courtesy visit in Abeokuta on Wednesday.

Obasanjo spoke on the need to strengthen the traditional system and the local government administration.

He said, “Our situation in Nigeria concerns everyone, particularly, the case of terrorism. The case has gotten over the issue of community police. It is now state police. It is from that state police that we can now be talking about community police.

“I prepared during the popular Murtala/Obasanjo administration, because I believe that there is need to enable that tier of government to work truly as a local government. They have their own Executive, Judiciary and Legislature.

“They were working and they were very visible, building and managing roads, looking into education, health, local administration, agriculture, but they were all gone.”

Obasanjo, who was presented with a letter of a life patron, assured them that he would look into their request, assuring further that he would be available on request for their needs.

Speaking on the initiative, Obasanjo who commended the people behind the formation of the body, said that the development clearly showed that some local chairmen in the country were better than even the top elected leaders.

Earlier, Ashipa told the former President why they decided to come together in all the 774 local governments in the country, saying, “We can also contribute to the economy and political developments of the country.

“And realising your position as father of local government in Nigeria, we need you to actualise our goals, hence this all important visit. And to come and say happy 85th birthday celebrations.”

Party Politics: Group Promises To Buy APC Presidential Nomination Form For Osinbajo

By
Koko Lawrence
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Members of the progressive group (TPP) have expressed the readiness to procure the All progressive congress (APC) expression of interest and nomination forms for the Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo in pursuit of his presidential ambition.

TPP’s chairman, Senator Kabiru Gaya, who made this known to reporters in Abuja, explained that the gesture speaks volume of the depth of acceptability of Osinbajo among Nigerians.

Gaya, who chairs the Senate committee on INEC, maintained that Osinbajo would not be intimidated by his adversaries to drop his presidential ambition.

The Kano-born politician contended that Osinbajo stands out as the most competent aspirant to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari after his tenure in May 2023.

“Even an internal issue of the price of our party’s nomination form is being deliberately misinterpreted in some circles when we feel confident that unlike moneybags, our truly populist candidate is popular enough to pool supporters’ token donations and raise such money with ease,” Gaya said.

Tesla Races Ahead Of Rising Costs With Price Hikes

By
Koko Lawrence
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FILE PHOTO: A logo of electric vehicle maker Tesla is seen near a shopping complex in Beijing, China, January 5, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo

The results of Tesla Inc. surpassed past Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, as higher prices helped insulate the electric vehicle maker from supply chain chaos and rising costs.

The results should also raise $ 23 billion in new payout to CEO Elon Musk, already the world’s richest man.

Tesla has been an outlier since the pandemic outbreak, posting record delivery and earnings for several quarters when rivals wrestling with global supply chain snarls rolled production stops.

Shares of Tesla rose 5% after the close of regular trading.

On an investor conference call, Musk said that Tesla has a straight shot to achieve 60% vehicle delivery growth this year and remains confident to see 50% annual delivery growth for several years.

Tesla has raised its prices in China, the United States and other countries after Musk said in March that the U.S. electric carmaker was facing significant inflationary pressures in raw materials and logistics amid the crisis in Ukraine.

“Our own factories have been running under the capacity for several quarters as the supply chain has become the main limiting factor, which is likely to continue through the remainder of 2022,” Tesla said in a statement.

The price increases are designed to cover higher costs for the next six to 12 months, which protects Tesla on orders for cars that it cannot supply for a year.

“Price increases are pretty much above the price inflation,” said Craig Irwin at Roth Capital.

“Chinese production issues seem well managed, and we expect that Austin and Berlin will pose the threat of Shanghai’s 19-day outage,” he said, referring to Tesla’s two new factories in Texas and Germany that have started delivery in the recent months.

The results allow Musk to meet a hat trick of performance goals worth a combined $ 23 billion in new compensation. He receives no salary and his payment package requires Tesla’s market capitalization and financial growth to achieve a series of escalating targets.

The world’s most valuable automaker said revenue was $ 18.8 billion in the first quarter ended March 31, against estimates of $ 17.8 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. This is up 81% from a year earlier.

Revenue from sales of its regulatory credits to other automakers jumped 31% to $ 679 million in the first quarter of a year earlier, helping boost revenue and profits.

Actors Launch Campaign Against AI ‘Show Stealers’

By
Koko Lawrence
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Actors’ livelihoods are at risk from artificial intelligence (AI) unless the law changes, a union warns.

Equity, the performing arts workers union, has launched a new campaign, “Stop AI Stealing the Show”.

AI can use samples of an actor’s voice or face, to generate content including so-called “deep fakes”.

“From automated audiobooks to digital avatars, AI systems are now replacing skilled professional performers” the union says.

It warns of “dystopian” consequences unless copyright law adapts.

Equity highlights a number of different ways actors’ voices and likenesses may be used.

For example actors may work with AI firms to create systems that can generate artificial voice-overs or to help them create digital “avatars”.

And “synthetic” performances can be created using AI, in some cases even allowing deceased actors to appear in films.

While AI-generated performances can be a useful creative tool, the union is concerned that actors may not always be able to control the use of their likeness, or their likeness may be used without consent or adequate remuneration.

AI generated “deep fake” videos of celebrities have become increasingly popular online.

Actor Talulah Riley who supports the campaign told the union “As a performer, it is vital that my voice and my image are my own, no matter how easily and cheaply those things can be digitally replicated. I believe that performers must be rewarded fairly for the content we create.”

Government To End N200b Yearly Electricity Subsidy In December

By
Koko Lawrence
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The Federal Government is looking at ending tariff shortfall, averaging N200 billion yearly, in the power sector by the end of the year.

Between 2015 and 2020, the shortfall reportedly stood at about N2.4 trillion, averaging N200 billion yearly. The shortfall accrued from suppressed charges for electricity consumption.

By implication, Nigerians may, from December this year, be compelled to pay the actual cost of energy consumed.

This comes as the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said emerging challenges, especially insecurity, are already frustrating the sector.

The Secretariat of the Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP) disclosed that the government is considering that tariff shortfall comes to an end before the end of the year.

The Minister of Finance, Budgets and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, had earlier said that the Federal Government had quietly removed all subsidies in the power sector with a plan to gradually end subsidies on petrol.

“We are cleaning up our subsidies. We had a setback, we were to remove the fuel subsidy by July this year but there was a lot of pushback from the polity. We have elections coming and also because of the hardship that companies and citizens went through during the COVID-19 pandemic, we just felt that the time was not right, so we pulled back on that.

“But we have been able to quietly implement subsidy removal in the electricity sector and as it is, as we speak, we don’t have subsidies in the electricity sector. We did that overtime by carefully adjusting the prices at some levels, while holding the lower levels down,” Ahmed had said.

Speaking at a media workshop, a member of PSRP Secretariat, Balije Madu, said: “We are aiming that tariff shortfall goes away by end of the year.”

Madu said although electricity capacity in the country has had challenges in recent times, government has sustained the grid at about 4,500 megawatts.

About nine years after the sector was privatised, Madu admitted that the sector remained at a foundational level, adding that there was a need to trim expectations from the sector.

According to him, until the foundation is properly laid, the capacity expected from the sector could remain elusive.

Chairman of NERC, Sanusi Garba, said the inability to fix adequate tariffs led to challenges facing the distribution companies. He added that the development affected the financial viability of the distribution companies.

“A lot of things happened relating to the financial viability of the DisCos, because if tariffs were static and they have inflation and FX issues then distribution companies will have under-recovery of revenue,” he said.

Garba admitted that the situation must have affected the companies in raising necessary capital and operating expenses.

Coming at a time when banks are already at loggerheads with most of the DisCos as well as the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company over the inability to pay back loans and remit invoiced amounts, Garba said a lot needs to be done to get the DisCos out of the current quagmire.

According to him, the challenges with the utility are not only about funding but also governance, capacity and other issues.

Christians Rally Against California Abortion Legislation

By
Angel Gimalo
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A bill that critics argue could decriminalize infanticide in California drew hundreds of people to the state’s capitol Tuesday as the legislation continues to move forward in Sacramento.

Demonstrators — including Pastor Jack Hibbs and other pastors and christians — descended on the state capitol to lobby legislators ahead of a committee vote on Assembly Bill 2223.

The day of advocacy was led by Capitol Resource Institute, California Family Council and Real Impact.

According to Hibbs, the pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills and head of the advocacy group Real Impact, close to 3,000 people attended.

However, news reports have estimated around 1,500 participants.

Opponents say the new bill would protect mothers and their accomplices who kill or let die breathing newborns from criminal prosecution.

But supporters of the bill, which passed the Assembly Health Committee on an 11-3 vote Tuesday, say it would prevent women from being prosecuted for any “actions or omissions” related to pregnancy, “including miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion, or perinatal death.” Proponents have also pushed back on claims that the bill would decriminalize infanticide.

While definitions of “perinatal death” vary, many refer to the demise of newborns up to seven days old. But under California code, the perinatal period is defined as “the period from the establishment of pregnancy to one month following delivery.”

Amid critics’ concern with the bill’s inclusion of “perinatal death,” Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, who authored AB 2223, recently modified the bill’s language to narrow the definition of perinatal death to include “due to a pregnancy-related cause.”

But the California Family Council contends that since “pregnancy-related cause” is not defined in the bill, a mother who takes the life of her newborn could potentially cite postpartum depression as such a “pregnancy-related cause.”

AB 2223 also states: “People also need to end pregnancies by abortion, including self-managed abortion, which means ending one’s own pregnancy outside of the medical system.” The bill cites what it describes as “out-of-date provisions” that allow healthcare providers and others to report pregnancy losses to law enforcement.

The bill describes mothers as “pregnant people” and says the threat of facing civil or criminal penalties for adverse pregnancy outcomes is the “result of systemic racial inequities.”

In an interview with The Christian Post, Hibbs called the proposed legislation “literally unbelievable.”

“How can this possibly be justified by anyone’s worldview, no matter what?” Hibbs asked. “By what means, by what logic have you come to this conclusion that a baby can be murdered up to 30 days after birth, and there’ll be no accountability. It’s literally unbelievable.”

According to the California Family Council, the bill “also removes the duty of a coroner to determine how a newborn died if the death is known or suspected to be the result of a self-induced or criminal abortion.”

“If a coroner decides to investigate a newborn’s death under these circumstances, the reason for the newborn’s death can’t be used to prosecute anyone involved with the death,” the Calfornia Family Council warned in a statement. “This law would leave babies born alive after a failed abortion vulnerable to murder or death by neglect.”

“The bill also gives a mother the right to sue any law enforcement agency for investigating or threatening to investigate her ‘pregnancy outcome’ including the perinatal death of her child,” the statement adds. “So if someone finds a dead newborn in a dumpster, law enforcement is expected to ask no questions or look further into the matter if they suspect the child died after a failed abortion or from any “pregnancy-related cause.”

The legislation comes as two California women were charged with “fetal murder” for causing the stillbirths of their fetuses, one of which is serving an 11-year prison sentence after drug use was found to have contributed to the death of her baby.

Nigerian Government Reiterates Commitment To Efficient Power Supply

By
Angel Gimalo
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The Federal Government says it is committed to ensuring an efficient power supply industry that will guarantee adequate, reliable and affordable electricity for Nigerians.

Mr. Sanusi Garba, Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said this on Wednesday in Abuja at a one-day workshop for media.

The workshop was organised by the NERC in collaboration with the Power Sector Recovery Operation (PSRO) Secretariat.

Garba said that the Federal Government initiated the Power Sector Recovery Plan (PSRP) with the support of the World Bank to achieve the goal of Nigerians having access to adequate, reliable and affordable electricity in Nigeria.

“Notwithstanding the power supply industry is now private sector driven, its relevance to economic growth and industrial development will require strategic
government interventions.

“ At this developmental stage, the industry’s challenges require that all hands be on the deck to achieve an efficient and effective power supply industry that we desire for our economic development,” he said.

Garba listed the objectives of the PSRP to include the power sector’s financial viability, improve electricity supply reliability to meet the growing demand.

Others, he said were to strengthen the sector’s institutional framework, implement policies that promote and encourage investors’ confidence and institutionalise a contract-based electricity industry.

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