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Recent Articles
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AI companies accused of copyrighted infringement
Opinion | Editorial The open letter signed by Scarlett Johansson and hundreds of other creatives didn’t land because it was polite. It landed because it said the quiet part out loud: training commercial AI systems on copyrighted work without permission is theft dressed up as inevitability. The industry has spent years insisting this was a philosophical debate about progress. It isn’t. It’s a business choice—and a corrosive one. The letter, organized through the Human Artistry Campaign, rejects the soothing language that has insulated AI companies from accountability. “Learning,” “absorption,” “transformation.” These words are doing legal work, not descriptive work. They exist to blur a simpl… |
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Latest Epstein files include emails between Ghislaine Maxwell and LA28 Olympics head Casey Wasserman
The latest cache of investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein released Friday include personal emails exchanged more than 20 years ago between Casey Wasserman, chairman of the LA28 Olympics organizing committee, and convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former romantic partner. In emails sent in March and April 2003, Wasserman — who was married at the time — writes about wanting to see Maxwell in a tight leather outfit, she offers to give him a massage that can “drive a man wild,” and the pair discuss how much they miss each other, according to files released and posted online by the U.S. Department of Justice. Representatives for Wasserman did not immediately respond to The Times… |
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US Embassy in Baghdad attacked with missile that hits helipad
The United States Embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad has been hit by a missile attack that caused smoke to rise from the building. An Iraqi security source told Al Jazeera on Saturday that the attack destroyed part of its air defence system, without giving further details. A missile struck a helipad inside the US Embassy in Baghdad, two security officials told The Associated Press news agency. The projectile landed within the embassy’s boundaries in the Green Zone, the heavily fortified district in central Baghdad that houses Iraqi government institutions and foreign embassies, added the security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they are not authorised to speak with the pr… |
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Kristi Noem and the politics of cruelty
Kristi Noem’s defense of the ICE agent who killed Renee Nicole Good has ignited one of the most explosive political firestorms of her career. Her remarks—branding Good a “domestic terrorist” and standing behind a podium emblazoned with a Nazi-era slogan—have drawn condemnation from lawmakers, activists, and ordinary citizens who see her as emblematic of authoritarian excess. The controversy is not a passing headline; it is a defining moment that reveals the deeper instincts of a politician who has built her career on toughness, loyalty, and spectacle, but who now finds herself accused of weaponizing cruelty into policy. The reaction to her stance has been visceral because it touches a raw ne… |
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Typhoon forces Japan to evacuate over two million people while heavy rain shuts down parts of Taiwan
Authorities in Japan are evacuating more than two million people and issuing warnings for floods and landslides as Typhoon Mekhhala approaches the region. Torrential rains and strong winds from the typhoon, which is currently a tropical storm, are also battering Taiwan, forcing authorities to shut down parts of the island. Japan is bracing for at least two typhoons from the Pacific Ocean and the stronger one, Mekkhala, is expected to make landfall over the weekend, according to the national weather agency. A stationary seasonal rain front was being fed with warm and moist air, it noted, causing intense rainfall, particularly in western regions. Mekkhala was located off the coast of Okinawa’s… |
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Audrey Hepburn Biography
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and philanthropist who lived from 1929 until 1993. Hepburn was a big figure in Hollywood in the 1950s and 1960s. She starred in famous movies including Roman Holiday (1956), The Nun's Story (1956), and Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). Later, Audrey Hepburn stopped acting and became a UNICEF ambassador. Audrey Hepburn was born in Belgium on May 4, 1929, to an English father and a Dutch mother. Because her father worked as an insurance salesman, the family moved a lot between England, Holland, and Belgium. Her parents split in 1935, in part because her father was a Nazi sympathizer. Audrey, who was six years old at the time, said subsequently that the divorce… |
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How Epstein lured girls to his Zorro Ranch and kept authorities away
Jeffrey Epstein was a wealthy American financier whose life became synonymous with scandal, privilege, and criminal exploitation. His trajectory from teaching mathematics at the Dalton School to managing money for billionaires illustrates how he leveraged charm and connections to infiltrate elite circles. Yet beneath the veneer of sophistication lay a predatory system: Epstein cultivated relationships with powerful figures while simultaneously orchestrating a network of abuse, exploiting minors under the guise of mentorship and opportunity. His 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution was a mere glimpse into the scale of his crimes, which resurfaced in 2019 when he was indicte… |
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UK weighs removing ex-Prince Andrew from succession line amid Epstein probe
The British government is weighing new legislation that could remove the former prince, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, from the line of royal succession, according to reports. Officials in the United Kingdom, speaking on condition of anonymity to the BBC on Friday, said the decision could follow after the police finish their investigation into the ex-prince’s ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “The move would come after the ongoing police investigation has concluded,” the BBC reported. The UK’s Press Association news service said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government “will consider introducing such legislation once the police have finished their investigation” into Mou… |
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The Death of an Open Web Has Already Begun
Feature Editorial We are currently experiencing the most significant deception in human history. It began with the promise of "frictionless" living—a world where every necessity, from your morning protein shake to your child’s educational software, could be summoned with a single, mindless click. We were told that the subscription model would liberate us from the "drudgery" of errands and the "burden" of ownership. However, as the digital revolution comes to an end, it becomes clear that convenience was actually the trap. Once inside our gates, it didn't bring freedom; it brought a persistent, systemic drainage of our finances and a quiet, algorithmic execution of independent voices. The Psy… |
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An Orca Calf Was Trapped Alone Inside a Remote Lagoon
VANCOUVER ISLAND — For nearly a month, a young orphaned killer whale trapped inside a shallow lagoon off Vancouver Island became something rare in modern news: a story people followed not because they were told to be angry, terrified, or politically divided, but because they desperately wanted something living to survive. This week, after repeated failures, dangerous tidal conditions, and growing fears the animal would either starve or succumb to isolation, the calf finally escaped the lagoon and rejoined its pod in open water. The rescue unfolded near Zeballos on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island, where the young female orca had remained trapped since late March after her pregnant mot… |
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Rebecca Grossman murdered 2 boys when she sped through a crosswalk
This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here. Rebecca Grossman murdered two young brothers when she sped through a Westlake Village crosswalk, a jury found two years ago. Now, a state appeals court has upheld that verdict. Grossman, the co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation, is serving 15 years to life in state prison for the second-degree murders of 11-year-old Mark Iskander and 8-year-old Jacob Iskander. On Tuesday, the California 2nd District Court of Appeal upheld the Feb. 23, 2024, conviction of the wife of renowned surgeon Peter Grossman. Rebecca Grossman’s six-week trial was filled with dramatic testimony and evidence that she struck the bo… |
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Trump officials have tried to justify ICE shootings
This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here. Just a few hours after Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a statement that said, without evidence, that the 37-year-old registered nurse “wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem would later imply Pretti had been “asked to show up and to continue to resist” by Minnesota’s governor. Multiple videos from the scene immediately undercut those claims, and there has been no indication in the days since that Pretti threatened or planned to hurt law enforcement. Several high-profil… |
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A Big Win For A Lonely Woman
Human Interest Opinion / Perspective For forty years, a stoneware crock sat on a porch in New York, a silent sentry against the biting winters and the humid, heavy summers of the Northeast. It was, for all intents and purposes, a piece of lawn debris. It held no flowers; it served no function. To the woman who lived behind the screen door, it was simply "there"—a familiar shape in a life that had slowly become a series of familiar, quiet shapes. When her birthday approached, she looked at the heavy salt-glazed vessel and allowed herself a modest, almost apologetic hope: perhaps it was worth a hundred dollars. A hundred dollars for a birthday treat, or perhaps a utility bill, or just the smal… |
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Daughter and son-in-law charged with killing four family members in 2015
Shocking new charges have been brought in the case of a family that was brutally murdered in their homes on Halloween night in 2015. Cathy Scott, her husband Michael Scott, Mr Scott's mother, Barbara, and Ms Scott's mother, Violet Taylor, were murdered on Halloween night in 2015. Now, the couple’s daughter, Amy Vilardi, and her husband, Rosmore "Ross" Vilardi, have been arrested and charged in their deaths. Ms Vilardi and her husband were featured in tearful television interviews following the murders, but are now considered the prime suspects in the slayings, according to The Daily Beast. The four adults were found shot and killed in their homes in Pendleton, South Carolina, on 2 November 2… |
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Oil prices are skyrocketing but companies will not rush to drill in California
If you are an oil producer with wells in California and global oil prices have risen to over $100 a barrel in the last week, are you going to drill new wells? It’s a question that touches the lives of hundreds of thousands of Californians who either live near oil wells or receive royalty checks as mineral rights owners. Experts said probably not, given this state’s aging fields and the unpredictability of global prices. It’s too early for data that will show if companies have ordered more drilling rigs on their fields — known as the rig count — since the U.S. and Israel invaded Iran and sent oil prices soaring. But analysts and producers say only if prices stay above $80 for at least a year … |
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Catherine OHara as The Girl Who Became Our Comic Conscience
Catherine O’Hara stunned the world when she chose to walk away from Saturday Night Live. It was an incredible opportunity, one that could launch a career overnight, but she declined it. The stakes were high—she risked fading into obscurity before anyone recognized her name—yet that choice demonstrated her determination to forge her own path. She grew up in Toronto, the youngest in a large family, surrounded by the noise and warmth of siblings who never let her fade into the background. Catherine was quick to laugh, quicker to make others laugh, and she discovered early that humor was her way of connecting. She would mimic voices, invent characters, and turn ordinary afternoons into small per… |
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The astonishing number of bodies that have been abandoned atop Mount Everest
As India plans to retrieve the body of ‘Green Boots’, experts explain to Maroosha Muzaffar why Everest’s dead are rarely brought home. For decades, mountaineers from across the world have risked their lives to climb Mount Everest. Many succeed in reaching the summit and navigating the dangerous journey down. But a surprisingly high number do not, and their bodies remain scattered across the slopes of the world’s tallest mountain. As India plans to launch a daring mission to retrieve the body of one such climber who died on the mountain 30 years ago, experts warned that the process to bring back the dead from Everest is as arduous as the climb to summit itself. Though modern equipment and exp… |
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Nvidia CEO Huang denies he is unhappy with OpenAI says 'huge' investment planned
Business TAIPEI, Jan 31 : Nvidia plans to make a "huge" investment into OpenAI, probably its largest ever, CEO Jensen Huang said on Saturday, denying he was unhappy with the ChatGPT maker. The chipmaker in September announced plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI, a deal that would give OpenAI the cash and access it needs to buy advanced chips that are key to maintaining its dominance in an increasingly competitive landscape. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the plan had stalled after some inside the chip giant expressed doubts about the deal. The report said Huang had privately underlined to industry associates in recent months that the original $100 billion agreement … |
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The Quiet Bravery of the Thai Cave Rescue
In the summer of 2018, while the internet argued itself into exhaustion over everything else, twelve boys and their coach disappeared underground. They were members of the Wild Boars soccer team, ages eleven to sixteen, swallowed by rising floodwaters inside Tham Luang cave. The cave flooded fast, as it always does in monsoon season. What didn’t flood was panic—at least not in the way we’ve come to expect. The world remembers the headlines. What it forgets is the texture of the response. This was not a story driven by billionaires, brand logos, or performative outrage. It was a story powered by farmers diverting irrigation channels, monks opening temples as staging grounds, doctors calculati… |
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Stanford Godmother of AI Launches Spatial Intelligence MasterClass
MasterClass, the personalized learning platform, has announced the launch of Dr. Fei-Fei Li: AI’s Future – and Yours, a class that covers the current state of AI development, its real-world applications and the role individuals can play in influencing how the technology evolves. Known as the “Godmother of AI,” Li is a Stanford professor, cofounder and CEO of World Labs and founding director of Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute. Her foundational research on ImageNet helped spark the deep learning revolution behind every AI product in use today. The class is available now on MasterClass, where members have unlimited access to 200+ instructors with an annual membership. The class begins wh… |