Software glitch hits Pennsylvania county forcing extension of voting hours
Officials say a software issue which stops ballots being scanned has delayed many people from casting their vote.
Meta to let US national security agencies and defense contractors use Llama AI
Company typically prohibits its use for ‘military, warfare, nuclear industries or applications, [and] espionage’
Meta announced Monday that it would allow US national security agencies and defense contractors to use its open-source artificial intelligence model, Llama. The announcement came days after Reuters reported an older version of Llama had been used by researchers to develop defense applications for the military wing of the Chinese government.
Meta’s policies typically prohibit the use of its open-source large language model for “military, warfare, nuclear industries or applications, [and] espionage”. The company is making an exception for US agencies and contractors as well as similar national security agencies in the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, according to Bloomberg.
Continue reading...XL bully dog put down after fatal attack on North Yorkshire girl, 10
Savannah Bentham, from the Malton area, killed by family pet in attack police said was out of character
An XL bully dog has been put down after fatally attacking a 10-year-old girl in North Yorkshire last week.
Savannah Bentham, from the Malton area, was fatally attacked by her family’s pet dog at home on Friday. On Tuesday, the dog was identified as an XL bully and was euthanised by a vet, North Yorkshire police said.
Continue reading...French court jails 18 members of English Channel people-smuggling network
The longest sentence of 15 years is given to Iraqi national Mirkhan Rasoul, who was accused of leading the network.
Nearly all of US states are facing droughts, an unprecedented number
More than 150 million people and 318m acres of crops are affected by droughts after summer of record heat
Every US state except Alaska and Kentucky is facing drought, an unprecedented number, according to the US Drought Monitor.
A little more than 45% of the US and Puerto Rico is in drought this week, according to the tracker. About 54% of land in the 48 contiguous US states is affected by droughts.
Continue reading...Sara Sharif’s father says stepmother was ‘true villain’ as he denies murder
Jury heard that Urfan Sharif tried to call an ambulance for his daughter but was told to ‘leave it'
The father of Sara Sharif denied killing his daughter as he claimed the 10-year-old’s stepmother was the “true villain of the piece”, a court was told.
Urfan Sharif tried to save his “limp” daughter and begged for an ambulance, only to be told: “Leave it; she’s dead,” jurors heard.
Sharif wept as he described Sara as a “beautiful angel” and denied abusing her, saying: “I did slap her; I never beat her … I have lot of flaws. I’m not even an average father. I never beat her any of the time. Never.”
Continue reading...Shetland man’s bond with otter becomes subject of award-winning film
Documentary about Billy Mail’s connection with orphaned pup Molly airs on National Geographic next week
National Geographic will be streaming a new documentary about an unlikely bond between a man and an otter in Shetland.
Billy Mail met Molly, a starving pup, in 2021 when he saw her jumping off a pontoon into the sea near his Shetland home. Mail wanted to see how close he could get to her before she fled. But it turned out that Molly had no intention of running away.
Billy and Molly: An Otter Love Story will be available from 14 November on Disney+, and will air on 15 November on National Geographic
Continue reading...Asia’s export-driven economies brace for upheaval under Trump
Former US president's proposals for sweeping tariffs threaten to hobble exports that drive the region's growth.
Video: Donald Trump ‘first to acknowledge’ if he loses a fair election
US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has cast his vote in Florida.
Senior Tories urge Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick to settle differences
Leader names rival in shadow cabinet but announcement marred by leaks suggesting Jenrick wanted bigger job
Senior Conservatives have urged Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick to rapidly settle any differences after the unveiling of the full shadow cabinet was marred by briefings and concern over lingering rivalries.
Badenoch, who became leader after defeating Jenrick in a vote of Tory members, held her first shadow cabinet meeting on Tuesday, having named a team including three rival candidates, Jenrick among them, and a series of party centrists.
Continue reading...Algeria silent after civil war book wins top French award
Algerian Kamel Daoud wins the Prix Goncourt for his novel Houris, a searing account of his country’s 1990s conflict.
Endangered pygmy hippo calf Haggis born at Edinburgh zoo – BBC.com
- Endangered pygmy hippo calf Haggis born at Edinburgh zoo BBC.com
- ‘Moo Deng? Who Deng?’ Meet Haggis the Baby Pygmy Hippo. The New York Times
- 2 adorable pygmy hippos pitted against each other in cuteness contest The Associated Press
- Is Haggis, The Pygmy Hippo Born In Scotland, The New Moo Deng? TODAY
- Baby Haggis is the new Moo Deng: A pygmy hippo is born in Edinburgh NPR
Mystery cargo-plane fires linked to Russian plot to plant bombs on aircrafts: officials – New York Post
- Mystery cargo-plane fires linked to Russian plot to plant bombs on aircrafts: officials New York Post
- Russian Plot Placed Incendiary Devices on Cargo Planes in Europe, Officials Say The New York Times
- Russia suspected of sending incendiary devices on US- and Canada-bound planes, Wall Street Journal reports CNN
- Exploding parcels in Europe part of plot to target US flights, officials say Reuters
- Western officials suspect Russia was behind a plot to put incendiary packages on cargo planes The Associated Press
Iran claims German-Iranian dissident died before he could be executed
Top Iranian officials previously referred to an execution when reacting to Jamshid Sharmahd’s death on 28 October
Iran has claimed that an Iranian-German duel national who had been sentenced to death died last week before his execution could be carried out.
“Jamshid Sharmahd was sentenced to death, his execution was imminent, but he died before it could be carried out,” the judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir told reporters without elaborating. It is understood Tehran claims he suffered a stroke.
Continue reading...Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu fires Defence Minister Yoav Gallant
Netanyahu says he has lost confidence in Gallant over the management of Israel's ongoing wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
Barry Keoghan hits out at ‘disgusting’ online trolls using his son against him
Saltburn actor tells Louis Theroux podcast about his difficult childhood and decision to keep his child offline
Oscar nominee Barry Keoghan has hit back at “disgusting” online trolls who he claimed use his relationship with his son as “ammunition” against him.
The 32-year-old Irish actor, who is dating US singer-songwriter Sabrina Carpenter, has a two-year-old son, Brando, with his former partner.
Continue reading...AstraZeneca shares tumble after reports China unit is linked to insurance fraud
Pharmaceutical’s weight loss pill described as ‘underwhelming’, also piling pressure on share price
AstraZeneca shares tumbled on Tuesday wiping £14bn off the value of Britain’s biggest drug maker, after a report that dozens of senior executives at its China unit could be implicated in an insurance fraud case in the country’s pharmaceutical sector.
Also putting pressure on the share price, early data on AstraZeneca’s experimental weight loss pill published on Monday was described as “somewhat underwhelming” by analysts at Deutsche Bank, who reiterated their “sell” rating on the stock.
Continue reading...‘Entirely normal’: Why counting US votes takes time, is not a sign of fraud
With Trump already setting 'groundwork for yelling fraud', experts stress vote count in tight US election may take days.
Video: Israeli military attacks Kamal Adwan Hospital in besieged north Gaza
Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital has patients fleeing from the hospital’s top floors as it was attacked by Israel’s military.
‘We expect to win’ says Trump’s running mate JD Vance
A confident Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance spoke to reporters in Cincinnati, Ohio.