Berlin Zoo Hopes for More German-born Giant Pandas as Scans Confirm Pregnancy

FILE -In this April 5, 2019 file photo taken through a window female panda Meng Meng eats bamboo at its enclosure at the zoo in Berlin, Germany. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, file)
FILE -In this April 5, 2019 file photo taken through a window female panda Meng Meng eats bamboo at its enclosure at the zoo in Berlin, Germany. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, file)
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Berlin Zoo Hopes for More German-born Giant Pandas as Scans Confirm Pregnancy

FILE -In this April 5, 2019 file photo taken through a window female panda Meng Meng eats bamboo at its enclosure at the zoo in Berlin, Germany. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, file)
FILE -In this April 5, 2019 file photo taken through a window female panda Meng Meng eats bamboo at its enclosure at the zoo in Berlin, Germany. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, file)

The Berlin Zoo has much anticipated news: Meng Meng the panda is pregnant again, months after the first giant pandas born in Germany were sent to China, The Associated Press reported.
The zoo said Tuesday that ultrasound scans over the weekend showed Meng Meng is expecting two cubs. They still have plenty of growing to do but the zoo expects the birth at the end of August, if all goes well, it said.
Meng Meng and male panda Jiao Qing arrived in Berlin in 2017. In August 2019, Meng Meng gave birth to Pit and Paule, also known by the Chinese names Meng Xiang und Meng Yuan, the first giant pandas born in Germany.
The twins were a star attraction in Berlin, but they were flown to China in December — a trip that was contractually agreed from the start but delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. China gifted friendly nations with its unofficial mascot for decades as part of a “panda diplomacy″ policy. The country now loans pandas to zoos on commercial terms.
Giant pandas have difficulty breeding and births are particularly welcomed. There are about 1,800 pandas living in the wild in China and a few hundred in captivity worldwide.
Meng Meng was artificially inseminated in March. The zoo noted that female pandas are only capable of reproducing for about 72 hours per year.



Don't Let AI 'Rip Off' Artists, Beatles Star McCartney Warns UK Government

Musician Paul McCartney performs during his Got Back tour at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, US, May 13, 2022. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
Musician Paul McCartney performs during his Got Back tour at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, US, May 13, 2022. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
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Don't Let AI 'Rip Off' Artists, Beatles Star McCartney Warns UK Government

Musician Paul McCartney performs during his Got Back tour at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, US, May 13, 2022. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
Musician Paul McCartney performs during his Got Back tour at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, US, May 13, 2022. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo

Beatles musician Paul McCartney has warned that artificial intelligence could be used to "rip off" artists, urging the British government to make sure upcoming copyright reforms protect its creative industries.

Globally the music and film industries are grappling with the legal and ethical implications of AI models that can produce their own output after being trained on popular works, without necessarily paying the creators of the original content, according to Reuters.

Britain in December proposed a way for artists to license their work to be used in training AI, but also said there should be an exception "to support use at scale of a wide range of material by AI developers where rights have not been reserved."

In a BBC interview broadcast on Sunday, McCartney said he was worried only tech giants would benefit unless copyrights were properly protected.

"AI is a great thing, but it shouldn't rip creative people off," McCartney said. "Make sure you protect the creative thinkers, the creative artists, or you're not going to have them. As simple as that."

The government is currently consulting, opens new tab on its reforms to copyright law, saying there was legal uncertainty about how the existing laws are applied in Britain that risked undermining investment and adoption of AI technology.

McCartney, who in 2023 used AI to help recreate the voice of late Beatles band member John Lennon from an old cassette recording, said there was a risk that artists could lose out if the changes were not handled properly.

"You get young guys, girls, coming up, and they write a beautiful song, and they don’t own it, and they don’t have anything to do with it and anyone who wants can just rip it off,” he said.

"The truth is, the money's going somewhere, you know, and it gets on the streaming platforms - somebody's getting it, and it should be the person who created it. It shouldn't just be some tech giant somewhere."