US and UK leaders’ talks dominated by row with Russia over use of Storm Shadow missiles
Joe Biden dismissed sabre-rattling threats made by Vladimir Putin as the US president met with the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, at the White House on Friday.
Biden said he did not accept that Ukraine using western-made Storm Shadow missiles to bomb targets in Russia would amount to Nato going to war with Moscow.
Continue reading...Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith, incarcerated in Michigan, accused the music mogul of sexual assault 27 years ago
Lawyers for Sean “Diddy” Combs have moved to overturn a $100m judgment awarded this week to a Michigan prison inmate who accused the music mogul of sexual assault 27 years ago.
Two emergency motions filed at Lenawee county’s circuit court accuse Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith of launching a “frivolous” lawsuit against the entertainer, who they insist he never met.
Continue reading...Judge reduces sentence to four years of probation for Peter Cichuniec, who injected McClain with ketamine in 2019
A Colorado paramedic convicted in the death of Elijah McClain, a Black man whose name became part of the rallying cries for social justice that swept the US in 2020, is being released from prison after a judge reduced his sentence to four years of probation on Friday.
Judge Mark Warner ruled that “unusual and extenuating circumstances” in the case justified reducing the five-year prison sentence for Peter Cichuniec, the Denver Post reported.
Continue reading...US secretary of state announces new sanctions against the Russian state-backed media company
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has announced new sanctions against the Russian state-backed media company RT, formerly known as Russia Today, after new information gleaned from the outfit’s employees showed it was “functioning like a de facto arm of Russia’s intelligence apparatus”.
The Russian government in 2023 established a new unit in RT with “cyber operational capabilities and ties to Russian intelligence”, Blinken claimed, with the goal of spreading Russian influence in countries around the world through information operations, covert influence and military procurement.
Continue reading...Controversies over AI-generated material spurred release of guidelines addressing transparency and historical accuracy
Over a year after the dual Hollywood strikes put a spotlight on the industry’s adoption of AI, film-makers have often found themselves at a crossroads – how to use generative AI ethically, if at all? Where to draw the line on synthetic material? Documentary film-makers, in particular, have faced mounting concerns over “fake archival” materials such as AI-generated voices, photos or video.
As Hollywood continues to adopt artificial intelligence in production, a group of documentary producers have published a groundbreaking set of ethical guidelines to help producers, film-makers, studios, broadcasters and streamers address questions over use of the technology.
Continue reading...Russian leader’s warning of potential direct war with Nato regarded as sabre-rattling to weaken support for Ukraine
US officials and lawmakers shot back after Vladimir Putin said that Nato’s potential lifting of restrictions on Ukraine to launch long-range strikes over the border into Russian territory would mean Nato countries were “at war” with Russia.
The prime minister, Keir Starmer, met with the US president, Joe Biden, on Friday at the White House, where the two were expected to discuss – though not necessarily announce – a loosening of restrictions on Storm Shadow missiles that would allow Ukraine to strike targets as far as 155 miles inside Russia.
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Donald Trump is set to give a press conference for the first time since his debate with Kamala Harris on Tuesday.
He’ll speak to reporters at his golf course in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, a wealthy community near Los Angeles.
Continue reading...Eugene and Dan Levy set to host this weekend’s big TV awards where historical drama series and controversial Netflix miniseries are predicted to be big winners
Big-budget epic Shōgun is set to become a historic winner at this weekend’s Emmy awards, a ceremony that itself is also making history.
It’s the second Emmys in the same year, an unprecedented and expensive challenge for the industry, a traffic jam insisted by last year’s dual strikes which led to a postponement.
Continue reading...US Pacific north-west region workers voted 96% in favor of the strike and walked off the job early on Friday
Tens of thousands of Boeing workers walked off the job early on Friday after voting overwhelmingly to strike for higher pay, halting production of the planemaker’s strongest-selling jet as it wrestles with chronic output delays and mounting debt.
The company said on Friday it was ready to talk and “get back to the table to reach a new agreement” as striking workers picketed.
Continue reading...Thursday’s bomb threat came after Trump repeated unfounded rumor that immigrants were ‘eating the pets’
The mayor of Springfield, Ohio, has said that the bomb threat made on Thursday that forced the evacuation of the city hall, two schools, and other buildings was explicitly anti-immigrant and hostile to the city’s Haitian community, following Donald Trump’s stoking of a rightwing conspiracy theory that some residents’ pets are being eaten.
Rob Rue, the mayor, accused national Republicans who are amplifying wild rumors from a far-right provocateur that Haitian immigrants in Springfield are hunting and eating other people’s pets of “hurting our city”.
Fears mount that election deniers could disrupt vote count in US swing states
Microsoft billionaire fights US election disinformation
Palestinian advocacy groups pressure Harris as election looms
Continue reading...Trump promises to end electric vehicle mandate. Harris has been silent, risking swing state autoworkers’ critical votes
As the critical swing state of Michigan hangs in the balance, experts warn that Democrats’ poor messaging over the shift to electric vehicles could lose them the state in November’s election.
“I will end the electric vehicle mandate on day one, thereby saving the US auto industry from complete obliteration, which is happening right now,” Donald Trump told the Republican national convention in a speech this summer that would reach tens of millions of people.
Continue reading...Researchers are finding heat-related illnesses can also contribute to heart disease and cognitive impairment
At a dialysis center in Atlanta, Lauren Kasper tended to patients resting in hospital beds, some too sick to be transferred to a chair. Many arrived in wheelchairs or walked with canes, their bodies weakened from kidney disease.
As she hooked them up to dialysis machines, Kasper, a nurse practitioner, was struck by how young many of her patients were.
Continue reading...International reaction muted over Russia’s warning about allowing Kyiv to strike it with western-made missiles
European leaders have dismissed Vladimir Putin’s warning that the west would be directly fighting Russia if it allowed Kyiv to strike Russian territory with western-made long-range missiles.
The US and UK are discussing, in conjunction with other allies, allowing Kyiv to strike military targets inside Russia with Storm Shadow missiles, which can hit targets up to 155 miles (250km) from their launch site.
Continue reading...Trump says he won’t debate Harris but claims he won the matchup; Harris tells North Carolina crowd that Americans should see another one
In an interview with the Financial Times, Leonard Leo, the conservative activist who was involved in the effort to build the current rightwing supermajority on the supreme court, says he will spend $1b to fight liberal cultural influence in the United States.
“We need to crush liberal dominance where it’s most insidious, so we’ll direct resources to build talent and capital formation pipelines in the areas of news and entertainment, where leftwing extremism is most evident,” Leo told the FT in a rare interview.
“Expect us to increase support for organisations that call out companies and financial institutions that bend to the woke mind virus spread by regulators and NGOs, so that they have to pay a price for putting extreme leftwing ideology ahead of consumers.”
As the United States approaches a critical election, I can’t sit quietly as Donald Trump – perhaps the most serious threat to the rule of law in a generation – eyes a return to the White House. For that reason, though I’m a Republican, I’ve decided to support Kamala Harris for president.
Trump failed to do his duty and exercise his presidential power to protect members of Congress, law enforcement and the Capitol from the attacks that day. He failed to deploy executive branch personnel to save lives and property and preserve democracy. He just watched on television and chose not to do anything because that would have been contrary to his interests. Trump still describes that day as beautiful. And as for those subsequently convicted of committing crimes, he describes them as hostages.
Any discussion about fidelity to the rule of law has to include Trump’s 34 state felony convictions, his state civil financial judgment of libel based on sexual abuse, as well as the pending federal elections interference case, not to mention the recently dismissed federal documents case that Special Counsel Jack Smith is continuing to pursue. Standing alone, these charges, convictions and judgments show that Trump is someone who fails to act, time and time again, in accordance with the rule of law.
To be fair, I have spoken with Trump only once. I do not really know him. It is telling, however, that several senior officials who worked for him in the White House now refuse to support him, including his vice president, chief of staff, defense secretary and national security adviser. Their unwillingness to endorse their former boss is an indictment of his character at a level equal to his many, many criminal indictments.
Continue reading...Residents were rattled by a 4.7 magnitude quake while firefighters are trying to put out blazes east of the city
Millions of residents in the Los Angeles area were rattled by a 4.7 magnitude earthquake that hit early on Thursday morning and came as the region continues to battle multiple wildfires that yet to be brought under control.
The quake’s epicenter was 4 miles north of Malibu, according to the US Geological Survey. The tremor unleashed boulders on to a Malibu road, visibly shook Santa Monica’s historic 1909 wooden pier and jolted people from bed. No injuries or damages were immediately reported.
Continue reading...Democratic nominee criticizes Republican rival and says ‘we owe it to the voters’ to have second TV debate
Kamala Harris held a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina on Thursday, calling for another round of debate with Donald Trump, two days after her strong showing in Philadelphia against the former president.
“I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate,” she said to applause, “because this election and what is at stake could not be more important. On Tuesday night, I talked about issues that I know matter to families across America, like bringing down the cost of living … but that’s not what we heard from Donald Trump.”
Continue reading...Scientific research on pigeon missiles and dead trout also win at awards for amusing studies with serious implications
In a stark demonstration of how award-winning breakthroughs can come from the most unlikely directions, researchers have won an Ig Nobel prize for discovering that mammals can breathe through their anuses.
After a series of tests on mice, rats and pigs, Japanese scientists found the animals absorb oxygen delivered through the rectum, work that underpins a clinical trial to see whether the procedure can treat respiratory failure.
Continue reading...City council approved proposals risking ire of Republicans threatening to withhold millions in state funding
A Tennessee judge has ruled that three gun control questions can go on the November ballot in Memphis, even as top Republican state leaders have threatened to withhold tens of millions of dollars in state funding should city leaders put the initiative before voters.
The Daily Memphian reports that Shelby county chancellor Melanie Taylor Jefferson sided with the Memphis city council, which sued the Shelby county election commission last month for refusing to put gun control measures on the ballot.
Continue reading...‘Strawberry’ models can break down complex problems into smaller logical steps, an area where other AIs stumble
OpenAI said on Thursday it was launching its “Strawberry” series of AI models designed to spend more time processing answers to queries in order to solve hard problems.
The models are capable of reasoning through complex tasks and can solve more challenging problems than previous models in science, coding and math, the AI firm said in a blog post.
Continue reading...UK PM responds to Putin’s threat that use of long-range British missiles inside Russia would put it at war with Nato
Keir Starmer has told Vladimir Putin that he started the war in Ukraine and could end it at any time after the Russian leader warned that any use of long-range British missiles into Russian territory would put Nato at war with his country.
The prime minister spoke en route to Washington to see US president Joe Biden as he sought to justify a western decision made behind closed doors that would allow Ukraine to attack inside Russia with partly British-made Storm Shadow missiles.
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