Author: Reporter

Vice President Harris highlights fight for reproductive rights in Wisconsin visit on anniversary of Roe v. Wade

Vice President Kamala Harris blasted Republicans as heartless extremists for trying to ban women from access to safe abortions, as she rallied in the key battleground state of Wisconsin on January 22, marking the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Vice President Harris has been pushing the Democratic effort to restore reproductive rights. In her speech, she singled out Donald Trump, who is tightening his grip on the Republican presidential nomination, for saying he was “proud” of helping to limit abortions. With the help of Senate Republicans who denied outgoing President Obama and then incoming President Biden their right...

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Top Israeli officials at odds with Netanyahu and his self-serving strategy for war against Hamas in Gaza

A member of Israel’s War Cabinet cast doubt on the country’s strategy for releasing hostages held by Hamas, saying only a cease-fire could free them, as the prime minister rejected calls from the United States to scale back its offensive. The comments by Gadi Eisenkot, a former army chief, marked the latest sign of disagreement among top Israeli officials over the direction of the war against Hamas, now in its fourth month. In his first public statements on the course of the war, Eisenkot said that claims the dozens of hostages could be freed by means other than a...

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Fair use: Maker of ChatGPT braces for legal fight with The New York Times and authors of copyrighted works

A barrage of high-profile lawsuits in a New York federal court will test the future of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence products that wouldn’t be so eloquent had they not ingested huge troves of copyrighted human works. But are AI chatbots — in this case, widely commercialized products made by OpenAI and its business partner Microsoft — breaking copyright and fair competition laws? Professional writers and media outlets will face a difficult fight to win that argument in court. “I would like to be optimistic on behalf of the authors, but I’m not. I just think they have an...

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Microsoft’s new AI chatbot button brings first significant change to computer keyboards in decades

Some computer keyboards are making room for an artificial intelligence chatbot button, as Microsoft unveils its first major keyboard redesign in three decades. Starting in January, some new personal computers that run Microsoft’s Windows 11 operating system will have a special “Copilot key” that launches the software giant’s AI chatbot. Getting third-party computer manufacturers like Dell to add an AI button to laptops is the latest move by Microsoft to capitalize on its close partnership with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and make itself a gateway for applications of generative AI technology. Although most people now connect to the internet — and...

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Creators House: A space of freedom and healing for families grieving a loved one killed by police

Some of the mystery and controversy shrouding a sprawling Los Angeles-area property owned by a national Black Lives Matter nonprofit have dissipated for dozens of families grieving a loved one killed by police. The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation Inc., which was widely criticized last year for purchasing a $6 million compound with donations that followed racial justice protests in 2020, hosted the families for a dinner at the home this fall. The event coincided with an annual conference in southern California, where hundreds who are affected by police violence meet to find support in their journeys to...

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Scathing federal report details cascading failures by law enforcement in handing Uvalde school shooting

Police officials who responded to the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, “demonstrated no urgency” in setting up a command post and failed to treat the killings as an active shooter situation, according to a Justice Department report released on January 18 that identified “cascading failures” in law enforcement’s handling of one of the deadliest massacres at a school in American history. The Justice Department report, the most comprehensive federal accounting of the haphazard police response to the shooting at Robb Elementary School, identified a vast array of problems from failed communication and leadership to inadequate technology and training....

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