Thursday☕️

May 18, 2023 • 4 min read

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U.S. Dollar:

Iraq's Interior Ministry has placed a ban on transactions involving the U.S. dollar. This action comes ahead of Iraq's prospective entry into the BRICS alliance, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
Iraq aims to curb the unstable black market exchange rate and reinforce the use of its national currency, the Iraqi Dinar, especially in foreign exchange markets. Penalties, including fines and imprisonment, will be imposed on those who breach this rule.
The goal of this new policy is to lessen the dependence on the U.S. dollar and promote Iraqi sovereignty and economic stability. General Hussein Al Tamimi has warned that repeated violations will lead to increasing fines and imprisonment.

FBI Audit:

An internal report from the FBI has found 8,000 FBI unwarranted searches of U.S. citizen communications in 2021 and 2022. The audit was carried out by the FBI Office of Internal Auditing (OIA), focusing on compliance with rules for querying data under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978.
FISA permits the collection of electronic data from foreign individuals overseas, including communications involving U.S. citizens. Any search involving a U.S. citizen must meet a specific criteria, including factual indication of retrieving foreign intelligence or evidence of a crime.
The report found a 4% noncompliance rate in queries between July 2021 and March 2022, with the most frequent issue being insufficient justification for the search. Despite an improvement compared to the previous year's rate of 18%, the results did not satisfy privacy advocates.
The OIA has suggested further changes to querying procedures, including enhancing the FISA query compliance monitoring program, ensuring all users complete mandatory training before accessing FISA data, and modifying the system to alert users of input errors.

Apple Personal Voice:

Apple gave a sneak peek on Tuesday of a multitude of accessibility features set to be introduced "later this year" with its upcoming iPhone update. One of these features, dubbed "Personal Voice," is projected to be part of the iOS 17 roll-out.
It is designed to empower iPhones and iPads to generate digital replicas of a user’s voice for both in-person dialogues and telephone, FaceTime, and audio calls. Apple elaborated that the Personal Voice feature will fabricate a synthesized voice bearing resemblance to the user, fostering more personalized connections with family and friends.
This feature is particularly beneficial for users suffering from conditions that progressively impair their speaking abilities.

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