April 12 — Electric Vehicle Push, Conscription Bill, and Cancer-Causing Chemicals

Every day, I ask ChatGPT to read the top 1000 trending news and choose only the important ones. No junk news, ever: if nothing important happens, nothing gets posted.

Today we have 45 articles with a score over 6!

To keep the issue readable, I’ll only show news with a score over 7:

1. New Automobile Pollution Limits to Increase Electric Vehicle Sales — The Guardian

   The Biden administration is set to propose new automobile pollution limits, aiming for up to two-thirds of new vehicles sold in the US to be electric by 2032, with stricter greenhouse gas emission limits than agreed upon in 2021.

2. Russian Conscription Bill Raises Mobilization Concerns — CNN President Putin is expected to sign a law making it harder for Russians to avoid military conscription, which has led to fears of another wave of mobilization for Moscow's war in Ukraine.

3. China and Russia in Secret Talks to Supply Iran with Missile Propellant — POLITICO Europe

   China and Russia are reportedly in secret talks with Iran to supply ammonium perchlorate, a key chemical compound used to propel ballistic missiles, which would violate United Nations sanctions.

4. Asia's Economic Growth to Outpace Developed Countries by 5% — Reuters

   Morgan Stanley economists predict that Asia's economic growth could outpace developed countries' by 5% by the end of 2023, driven by factors such as China's easing of COVID-19 restrictions and strong domestic demand.

5. Cancer-Causing Chemicals Found in Majority of Household Objects — CP24

   Researchers at the University of Toronto found cancer-causing chemicals called Chlorinated Paraffins (CPs) in over 87% of household objects tested, including electronic devices, clothing, plastic toys, and paintings.

6. Record Global Power Generation from Wind and Solar in 2022 — CNBC

   Renewable energy sources, mainly wind and solar, accounted for 12% of global electricity generation in 2022, up from 10% in 2021, with solar being the fastest-growing source for the 18th consecutive year.

Why were there so many articles with scores over 6 today?

In short, I improved the "anti-clickbait" algorithm.

Before, I was evaluating the article twice — first, its title, then, its content. That led to double-filtering — many articles passed one filter but failed another.

Now, ChatGPT totally ignores the title when assigning a score, and filtering only happens once. This brings up a ton of interesting articles! Once I'm done with the website, you can see them all there.

Next up: evaluating news source credibility. Expect the quality to improve again in the coming days.

Thanks for reading us and see you tomorrow,
The News Minimalist