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NYC transit agency MTA suspends Twitter service alerts over pricing,


Shortly after midnight Thursday, several New York City subway trains slowed to a crawl as emergency crews tended to a person discovered on the tracks in lower Manhattan.

The delays were flagged for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s rail control center, where a customer service agent typed up a straightforward warning for early-morning riders to consider alternate routes.

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But while the message was quickly posted to the MTA’s website and app, the alert never made it to the subway system’s Twitter account, with its 1 million followers.

The agency’s access to the platform’s back-end, officials soon learned, had been suspended by Twitter without warning.

It was the second such breakdown in two weeks and the reaction inside the MTA was swift. By Thursday afternoon, senior executives agreed to cease publishing service alerts to the platform altogether.

The decision put the country’s largest transportation network among a growing number of accounts, from National Public Radio to Elton John, who have reduced their Twitter presence or left the platform since its takeover by Elon Musk.

It also caught riders, and some in the MTA, off guard, even as other transit agencies considered following suit.

“The train schedule is always messed up. It’s convenient to have the answers all in one place,” lamented Brandon Gubitosa, a Queens resident, who said he checked for service alerts on the MTA’s Twitter feed before leaving for his commute each morning. “There should be some responsibility for Twitter to make sure this service doesn’t disappear.”

For its part, Twitter has signaled that the days of private accounts disseminating troves of information at no cost may be ending.

Last month, the company announced a new pricing system that would charge for access to its application programming interface, or API, which is used by accounts that post frequent alerts, such as transit and weather agencies.

MTA officials estimated the cost could run as high as $50,000 a month. For a transit agency that faces a multi-billion dollar deficit, paying that much raised concerns.

“The amount that is being posed is astronomical,” said Shanifah Rieara, the MTA’s acting chief customer officer. “We are all about bringing ridership back. We should not be paying to communicate service alerts to our customers.”

Those that don’t agree to pay, Twitter warned, will begin to see their service “deprecate,” a process that some agencies say is already underway.

On Friday, the Bay Area Rapid Transit System announced its alerts were temporarily unavailable due to technological issues, though a spokesperson said they hoped to have the issue fixed soon.

A spokesperson for Chicago Transit Authority confirmed they were considering ending alerts, citing what they described as Twitter’s “diminished” effectiveness for real-time transit information.

Beyond the pricing, MTA officials offered other reasons for leaving Twitter, including the added vitriol and the move away from a chronological timeline.

They also pointed to a desire to push customers toward in-house products, such as a pair of apps known as MYmta and TrainTime. They provide times for the subway and commuter rail system, respectively.

A request for comment was sent to Twitter’s communications office. Twitter responded only with an automated reply.

The MTA’s decision to scale back its use of Twitter comes as many institutional users of the platform wrestle with changes Musk has made in an effort to make the service profitable, including asking users to pay for identity verification checkmarks.

Service alerts are valuable tools on New York City’s massive rail and bus system, where mechanical problems, track fires, repair work and other issues can cause subway trains to get delayed or diverted to lines where they don’t ordinarily run.

Only a few years ago, riders were often left in the dark about those changes until they were already on subway platforms, where transit workers would bark announcements through scratchy speakers or hang paper signs about changes.

Now, information about service, including the real-time position of subway cars, are available through a variety of electronic sources, both on people’s smartphones and in stations.

Consumer research has suggested that subway riders seeking information on Twitter account for a relatively narrow slice of riders.

Last month, more than 3 million people visited the MTA’s homepage and nearly 2 million others used the two apps, according to an authority spokesperson.

In addition to service alerts, the MTA’s customer service agents use Twitter to provide real-time responses to questions and concerns — a back-and-forth that often serves to calm riders’ frayed nerves.

Last month, the agency sent out 21,000 replies on Twitter — responses that offered a valuable public window into the MTA’s customer service policy, according to Rachael Fauss, a senior policy advisor at the watchdog group Reinvent Albany.

“There was a personalization to it that was interesting,” Fauss said. “There’s an opportunity to see how the MTA responds to riders that you don’t get without Twitter.”

For now, the agency said it would continue responding to customers on Twitter. But officials acknowledged there were no guarantees about whether that would remain the case long term.

“The MTA gets blamed for a host of things, so we need a reliant and resilient way to communicate,” said Rieara. “In (Twitter’s) current stage, we can’t put our customers in a position to be guessing whether or not they have the most updated information.”

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Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi meets with CEOs of leading Norwegian companies

H.H. Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, has met with a group of CEOs from leading Norwegian companies, as part of their participation in the UAE-Norway Investment Forum, held alongside his official visit to the Kingdom of Norway.

During the meeting, H.H. Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed underscored the UAE leadership’s commitment to strengthening economic cooperation with its international partners.

He highlighted that investment in innovation and knowledge is a cornerstone for achieving sustainable development, noting that enhancing collaboration with Norwegian companies across key sectors will open new avenues for mutual economic growth between the two countries.

The UAE-Norway Investment Forum, taking place in Oslo, aimed to highlight available investment opportunities and strengthen trade relations between the UAE and Norway, fostering shared interests and supporting innovation and knowledge-based economic visions.

-wam

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At the Indonesia International Book Fair 2024, TRENDS inaugurates 10th global office, releases four books

As part of its Asian research tour, partnership with Aletihad News Center, and
primary sponsorship of the Indonesia International Book Fair 2024, TRENDS
Research & Advisory inaugurated its office in Jakarta, marking its 10th location
worldwide. It also released four books in Indonesian.
The inauguration event was attended by ambassadors of the UAE, Bahrain, and
Jordan to Indonesia, chairpersons of the UAE and Indonesian Publishers’
Associations, the Director of TRENDS’ Jakarta office, and a group of researchers
and academics.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Mohammed Abdullah Al-Ali, CEO of TRENDS
Research & Advisory, stated that TRENDS’ international offices—set to reach 15
by the end of 2024—aim to enhance the Center’s research efforts and deepen its
role in disseminating knowledge, thus serving as a global knowledge bridge.
He emphasized, “At TRENDS, we believe in the importance of cooperation
between think tanks and prioritize this endeavor. We believe the TRENDS office in
Jakarta will enhance the exchange of knowledge and ideas between think tanks in
Asia and the Middle East, opening new horizons for collaboration in various
fields.”

Four books in Indonesian
As part of the Jakarta office’s inaugural activities, four books were released in
Indonesian, including the 11th and 12th books of the Muslim Brotherhood
Encyclopedia and Global Trends in AI and Automation and the Future of
Competition between Man and Machine: An Analytical Forward-looking Vision.

Hostility to Arab states
The 11th book of the Muslim Brotherhood Encyclopedia, The Concept of the State
According to the Muslim Brotherhood, highlights its hostile stance toward Arab
states since its inception. The group views them as an obstacle to its ascent to
power. It opposed the modern principles upon which these states were built,
considering them incompatible with the group’s unique interpretation of Islam,
which it claimed to embody exclusively.

Exclusion of nonconformists
The 12th book, The Muslim Brotherhood: Rejection of Tolerance and Exclusion of
Nonconformists, examines the Muslim Brotherhood’s stance towards
nonconformists, individuals, and entities. The book reveals the group’s binary view
of the world, categorizing others as allies or adversaries. It ties these relationships
to the Brotherhood’s internal power struggles and self-serving interests.

Global Trends in AI
The third book, Global Trends in AI, explores significant developments in AI and
its impact on various aspects of life, including the economy, society, and
governance. It also offers a comprehensive analysis of technological advancements
in AI, its applications across sectors, the ethical and social challenges it presents,
and its future trajectory.

Automation

The fourth book, Automation and the Future of Competition between Man and
Machine: An Analytical Forward-looking Vision, addresses the growing challenges
faced by the human workforce in the face of widespread automation and AI
applications. The book concludes that while automation presents a significant
challenge to the labor market, it simultaneously creates new opportunities. It
emphasizes the importance of preparing for this shift through skills development,
continuous education, and adopting economic and social policies that support the
workforce.

Prominent pavilion and active presence
The TRENDS’ pavilion at the Indonesia International Book Fair has attracted
numerous visitors, including academic researchers and officials, such as the
ambassadors of the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, and Turkey. Additionally,
chairpersons of Arab and Indonesian publishers’ associations, authors, publishers,
and students visited the pavilion. All were impressed with and praised TRENDS’ diverse, valuable publications. They also commended TRENDS’ active
international presence and ability to address global developments with rigorous
analytical research.
Dr. Mohammed Abdullah Al-Ali honored the esteemed guests, including
ambassadors of the UAE and Bahrain to Indonesia, Wedha Startesti Yudha,
Chairperson of the Indonesia International Book Fair Committee, Arys Hilman
Nugraha, Chairman of the Indonesian Publishers Association, and others,
presenting them with TRENDS’ publications and commemorative shields.
Additionally, he awarded TRENDS’ Research Medal to Ni Made Ayu Martini
Indonesian Deputy Minister of Marketing, Tourism and Creative Economy
It is worth noting that during its current Asian research tour, TRENDS announced
the launch of the TRENDS Research Medal, awarded to individuals who make
significant contributions to the development of scientific research and promote collaboration with TRENDS in strengthening a culture of research across various fields.

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US determined to prevent full-scale war in Middle East, Joe Biden tells UNGA79

US President Joe Biden highlighted the US Administration’s determination to prevent a wider war that engulfs the entire Middle East region, noting that a diplomatic solution “remains the only path to lasting security to allow the residents from both countries to return to their homes on the border safely”.

In remarks he made today before the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA79), the US President said, “Full-scale war is not in anyone’s interest,” adding that a diplomatic solution is still possible.

He also touched on “the rise of violence against innocent Palestinians on the West Bank”, and the need to “set the conditions for a better future”, which he said featured “a two-state solution, where the world — where Israel enjoys security and peace and full recognition and normalised relations with all its neighbours, where Palestinians live in security, dignity, and self-determination in a state of their own”.

President Biden underscored the ceasefire and hostage deal put forth by Qatar and Egypt, which the UN Security Council endorsed. He said, “Now is the time for the parties to finalise its terms, bring the hostages home,” adding that this would help ease the suffering in Gaza, and end the war.

-WAM

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