Australia Productivity Growth at 60-Year Low as Reforms Selected
Australia's Productivity Commission has identified 15 priority reforms to examine in the course of five inquiries it's conducting for the government to try to boost economic efficiency and raise living standards.
Productivity growth is at its 'lowest ebb in 60 years,' said Danielle Wood, chair of the commission, highlighting the urgent need to tackle the issue. Australia's long economic expansion has dulled enthusiasm for politically risky change, leading to calls for a renewed reform agenda as the economy begins to sputter.
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CNET
33 minutes ago
- CNET
Create a PowerPoint With AI: How to Do It With Prezi AI
Have you ever spent hours perfecting a slide deck, only for it to be unused or be over the top? There's a way you can bypass working long hours and just whip something up in the theme you want, fast: use artificial intelligence. AI tools can be your best coworker in a bid to impress without burning out -- saving you hours of obsessing about presentations so you can focus on delivery, not design. While Copilot in Microsoft PowerPoint is one choice, I also found a dedicated AI presentation maker. What is Prezi? Prezi AI was the tool I chose after a Google search for what to use to make a presentation. I liked that it sounded Aussie (we shorten the names of everything), and the pricing is accessible. It has a free basic version and various tiers that range from $19 to $39 per month. I went with the mid-range, because the lowest tier didn't come with infographic capabilities. It's $29 per month with a 14-day free trial. Prezi AI promises to create "your best presentation in minutes." Let's see about that. Getting set up with Prezi AI I signed up to Prezi AI Premium and put a reminder in my phone about the free trial end date. I was prompted to enter information about the presentation, so Prezi AI could suggest content and design ideas. You can also upload a PDF, which can be helpful for the AI or skip this step for now and choose a template. Screenshot by Amanda Smith/CNET For the sake of this example, I pulled out some initial brainstorming work I did for a creative campaign that I wanted to present to an agency client. I used this text box to tell Prezi AI what I was looking to achieve. First Prompt: "I want to professionally and creatively present my initial thinking on a campaign for Zayed National Museum in the UAE. I want to combine my notes with the strategist's notes so I can present my idea by telling a story and taking them on a journey. I prefer a minimalist, elegant design. Do you need me to upload the document?" I quickly found out that it's not really an AI chat tool, because it generated a mock design without answering my question. Screenshot by Amanda Smith/CNET Instead, I saved all the notes into a PDF and re-created the prompt. Prezi AI only uses text content, so don't upload graphics or charts. Refining and finalizing your AI slide deck I liked how it created a "storyboard" presentation, but some of the imagery was off. For example, it had photos of Steve Jobs and the Bucket List movie with Morgan Freeman -- likely because it features a trip to Egypt, although still very off-brand for a UAE campaign. An image of Steve Jobs was an odd pick for the AI tool. Screenshot by Amanda Smith/CNET I also added these two sentences to the original prompt: "Only use imagery from this website: Incorporate all of the text from the PDF and don't add more to it." Again, it was way off brand, mostly because AI has a hard time understanding cultural sensitivities and nuances. It also even included an image from Pixar movie The Incredibles. Screenshot by Amanda Smith/CNET I didn't love the output, as it had a hard time following simple instructions like "only include the copy from the PDF," so I picked the one I preferred the most and edited it -- plugging in critical copy it missed and removing images. How long does it take to make an AI presentation? It took me about 30 minutes to make all the tweaks it needed, and while that wasn't ideal, it still would've taken me much longer to put together an initial deck like this. I would've agonized over the design. It's certainly not perfect, but it's better than wasting precious time trying to do it from scratch. Here's an example slide I didn't have to change: Screenshot by Amanda Smith/CNET I also liked how the slides move from one to the next, not just swiping to the right but interactively moving like along a map -- you can check it out here. And the more you use AI programs, the more they learn about your style preferences, making the editing process easier each time. Just always make sure you check the words and images it produces. Other AI tools for PowerPoint presentations There are a lot of options out there, but here are some of the PowerPoint-compatible slide generators available. Most have a free tier, or a free trial:
Yahoo
38 minutes ago
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Turn Cornwall into industrial zone for net zero, Miliband urged
Cornwall should be made into an industrial hub to fuel net zero, government scientists have urged Ed Miliband. Britain's favourite holiday county and the broader South West of England have been deemed an energy 'super-region', meaning its geology is suited to a raft of new energy-based industries. The hot volcanic rocks lying below parts of Cornwall and Devon make them a top prospect for geothermal energy, according to the British Geological Survey (BGS), which advises the Government on the country's earth science. 'Deep geothermal resources alone could provide enough energy to satisfy the UK's heating needs for at least 100 years,' the quango said. The brines found in many of Cornwall's abandoned mines are also rich in lithium, a mineral essential for making batteries. Meanwhile, Dorset offers the potential for energy storage with rocks suitable for creating caverns to store natural gas or hydrogen, according to the quango. There are already separate plans to create such caverns under Portland Harbour, Britain's former biggest naval base. 'South-west England has significant deep geothermal resources offering opportunities for sustainable heat and power generation,' the BGS said. 'The region's sedimentary basins provide potential sites for carbon capture and storage (CCS), energy storage and geothermal projects … the region is well placed to support the UK's decarbonisation plans.' The Eden Project near St Austell already exploits the region's natural advantages, keeping visitors warm using heat extracted from rocks 3.3-miles beneath its surface. However, the idea of expanding such schemes into a major industry in a county valued for its coastlines, landscapes and tourism is likely to face opposition. The South West is one of several areas whose geology the BGS suggests could support the move to net zero. Others include Northern Ireland, central Scotland, northern England and East Anglia. 'These geological super regions contain subsurface formations and conditions that are favourable to multiple different technologies within a relatively small area,' it said. The Scottish Central Belt is also deemed to be a rich source of geothermal energy with warm underground strata easily accessible via the region's many abandoned coal mines. Michelle Bentham, BGS chief scientist for decarbonisation and resource management, said: 'In Europe, geothermal energy is used much more widely. In the UK, we don't use it as widely and it's always been a bit of a Cinderella of clean energy technologies.' The BGS said careful planning for such technologies in these areas could help unlock an estimated £40bn of annual investment and support the Government's target of creating 650,000 jobs through renewable energy by 2030. Ms Bentham added: 'In the North Sea, we could potentially become a hub for carbon storage in Europe for countries that don't have the right geology who are trying to decarbonise.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
38 minutes ago
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Insurrection? Rebellion? Overwhelmed? Can Trump legally take control of California's National Guard?
A version of this story appeared in CNN's What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here. President Donald Trump has built his presidency around stretching the bounds of presidential authority, and his response to protests over an immigration crackdown in Los Angeles is no exception. He invoked a rarely used law to federalize the National Guard over the objection of Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and local officials, who did not want to bring in the military. Trump may have the authority to take over the National Guard, but the move highlights the two-track command structure of National Guard units, which are normally deployed by a state's governor. The law cited by the White House to take control of the National Guard cites three reasons for that extraordinary step to be taken: the United States, or any of the Commonwealths or possessions, is invaded or is in danger of invasion by a foreign nation; there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States; or the President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States 'It sounds like all three to me,' said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, when asked during congressional testimony which reason the White House was citing. Thus, to the White House, protests launched by job site and Home Depot deportation raids are the equivalent of invasion, rebellion and something the US government doesn't feel like it can handle without the military. It's a far cry from Trump's first term, when his Defense Secretary Mark Esper said, 'The option to use active-duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort, and only in the most urgent and dire of situations,' when the administration considered using the military to address widespread protests related to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. The law also requires orders to be sent through state governors, but rather than cooperating, Newsom has complained the White House has illegally overstepped its authority and put troops on the street without adequate plans to feed or house them. The National Guard — the modern version of a state militia — has roots that predate the founding of the country. A series of laws beginning in the early 20th century gave the president and the federal government more power to standardize the National Guard, but they are still mostly supposed to be a state force. 'There's a tension,' said former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a CNN political commentator who also served in the Illinois Air National Guard. 'How is the National Guard actually a militia if the president, against the wishes of the governor, can activate that militia against its own state?' Unless Trump ultimately invokes the Insurrection Act, Kinzinger said, the use of the National Guard must be extremely limited to roles such as guarding federal buildings. The Insurrection Act is a rarely invoked law, passed in 1807 and updated during Reconstruction, that dictates the extreme situations in which US troops can be used on American streets. Trump did not cite the Insurrection Act when he federalized California's National Guard. Hegseth said the military — Trump also called up Marines from Twentynine Palms, California — is required to protect ICE agents doing their jobs on the streets of Los Angeles. unknown content item - Mobilizing the military to act in US cities is not unprecedented in US history. President Dwight Eisenhower called up the 101st Airborne Division to protect Black students in Little Rock, Arkansas, during the integration of public schools in 1957. The most recent example of the National Guard being deployed in a state over the authority of its governor was in 1965, during the Civil Rights Movement, when President Lyndon B. Johnson cited the Insurrection Act to deploy the National Guard to protect marchers led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Alabama. The most recent example of the Insurrection Act being cited to deploy the National Guard came in the early 1990s, when California Gov. Pete Wilson asked the federal government for help responding to riots after four Los Angeles Police Department officers were acquitted in the horrific beating of Rodney King. Those riots were widespread and deadly, in contrast with the smattering of skirmishes in Los Angeles this week. Each of those instances involved the Insurrection Act, a law passed in 1807. While Trump has called protesters and rioters 'insurrectionists,' he has not technically invoked the Insurrection Act. People can legitimately debate whether the Los Angeles protests warrant federalizing the National Guard, but Trump cited no law in giving Hegseth authority to mobilize regular military to help in the response. Approximately 700 Marines were mobilized. What may be alarming about Trump's order, according to Elizabeth Goitein, an expert on presidential emergency powers at the Brennan Center for Justice, is that he did not specifically mention Los Angeles, which means he could have essentially OK'd the use of the military across the country for protests against ICE actions that have not yet occurred. 'ICE activity is happening across the country, and will likely draw protests in many places,' Goitein wrote in a detailed thread on social media. 'Trump is authorizing military deployment nationwide, regardless of whether protests involve violence *or are even happening yet.*' That means Americans should be prepared for the possibility of more deployments around the country, something that runs against the American tradition of separating military force from police force. Sending troops and Marines to Los Angeles was necessary, according to Rep. Zach Nunn, a Republican congressman from Iowa and a member of his state's National Guard. 'We have a sanctuary city in LA that refuses to stand with federal law enforcement. We have cops who are bleeding in the street,' he told CNN's Kasie Hunt, referencing skirmishes between law enforcement and protesters. Trump said more service members could be on the way. 'We have to make sure there's going to be law and order,' the president told reporters at the White House on Monday. Even if the Marines aren't directly involved in policing or interacting with protesters, their presence challenges what has been normal in the US. 'An army turned inward can quickly become an instrument of tyranny,' Goitein wrote in her thread. 'That's why domestic deployment should be an absolute last resort.' California is suing the federal government for overstepping its authority, and Newsom invited Trump to arrest him, an idea the president embraced when taking questions from reporters at the White House, but which would be unprecedented since the Civil War. After some Trump supporters argued he should have invoked the Insurrection Act to delay certification of the 2020 election, Goitein was among the many scholars who argued that the laws concerning extreme uses of presidential power needed to be updated and clarified. There is one law, the Posse Comitatus Act, that largely bars the use of the military inside the US. But there is also the Insurrection Act, which has not changed much since the 1870s, when it was used by President Ulysses S. Grant in an attempt to smother the early Ku Klux Klan. That's when Congress amended the Insurrection Act to give presidents more authority. But it did not define the term 'insurrection' or lay out how presidential power should be curbed. Grant went as far as to suspend writ of habeas corpus, the legal principle by which people can't be imprisoned without trial or appearance in court. Critics of the Trump administration argue his actions to militarize the situation in Los Angeles are intended as a sort of theater but are making the situation worse. 'We have domestic law enforcement agencies capable of handling these problems on almost every circumstance,' said Kori Schake, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, appearing on CNN on Monday. 'The standard for invoking the Insurrection Act has historically been very high, and it would be an ominous sign for the Trump administration to invoke it in these circumstances,' Schake said.
