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Culture capital celebrations tinged with sadness

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:47 GMT

It is one of the most sought-after titles European cities vie for - the European Capital of Culture.The initiative was developed in 1985 and has, to date, been awarded to more than 60 cities across the European Union and beyond.The final city for the next round of “culture capitals” has just been decided – Bourges in France.The capital of the province of Aquitaine at the end of the Roman Empire,Bourges, with a population of just over 60,000, carefully maintains its heritage from a glorious past.A city of art and history, Bourges is noted for its monuments: the Jacques Coeur Palace and the Saint-Etienne Cathedral – included on the UNESCO World Heritage list – as well as its old streets and half-timbered houses.It joins three other European cities which will share the coveted title in 2028.They are České Budějovice in the Czech Republic and Skopje in North Macedonia.The title of European Capital of Culture rotates around eligible countries and České Budějovice and Skopje wer...

90-year-old woman with dementia found after vanishing in San Bernardino

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:47 GMT

A 90-year-old Asian woman with dementia who disappeared in San Bernardino Wednesday has been found, police said.Metna Filanen was located Thursday afternoon in the area of North F Street and West 25th Street, the San Bernardino Police Department stated in an update on Instagram. Filanen was said to be in stable condition. Filanen went missing Wednesday around 7 p.m. from 365 E. Commercial Road, which is near Waterman Avenue.No further details about her disappearance were disclosed.

How you can spot artificial intelligence-generated content

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:47 GMT

(WHTM) — In a world where technology is growing, people may come across fake images or even videos of celebrities, politicians, coaches, and more.These videos are mostly for comedic content, but can also be used as a way to scam people or to make people believe this "real" person said something they never said.This recently occurred in November 2023 when a sponsored video of "Gordon Ramsay" appeared on TikTok. Video appears to show actor Michael B. Jordan crashing his Ferrari in Hollywood This video claimed to show Ramsay telling people they could get 100% off cookware.The catch: this was not Gordon Ramsay. It was an artificial intelligence (AI) version of Ramsay being used to steal people's identities.With the 2024 Presidential election fast approaching, people should be on the lookout for AI versions of any politician. This can include videos, images, or even just the voice of any politician. This defunct Pennsylvania roller coaster was briefly the largest of its kind Accordi...

Opinion: Women’s groups have stayed silent too long on Hamas’ violence

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:47 GMT

The events of Oct. 7 and the war that has followed, at an incomprehensible scale of civilian violence and death, is devastating. This war so far away feels palpably close to us all and has shaken our community to its core.For us as women, there has been an additional aspect of the attacks on Oct. 7 that has felt like a double assault: the systemic rape of women and girls by Hamas terrorists and the lack of response from the world.Sexual and gender-based violence is horrific, with emotional wounds that linger well beyond the physical wounds. The healing process for the survivors of the Oct. 7 assaults begins with being heard and believed. We cannot overstate the importance of supporting these women, like we would all survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.We recoiled when reading about Shani Louk, a 23-year-old German Israeli, who can be seen in a Hamas-made video, semiconscious and half-naked, being taken to Gaza in the back of a pickup truck with men sitting astride her. Ano...

Review: Wright is brilliant in smart, funny ‘American Fiction’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:47 GMT

By Lindsay Bahr | Associated PressJeffrey Wright’s Thelonious “Monk” Ellison is at the end of his rope at the beginning of ” American Fiction, ” a crowd-pleaser that’s both funny and smart in its satire of race, media, artists, identity politics and even Hollywood. It opens in theaters this week.A classic frustrated artist, Monk is a professor and an author who writes literary stories that he wants to see in the world. He’s not interested in race, or at least the kind of “Black misery porn” stories that seem to be omnipresent, whether it’s in the Black history month advertisement on television with images of addicts and slaves, or at a book convention.The latest hit that has him fuming is a book called “We’s Lives In Da Ghetto,” written by a comfortably upper middle class Black woman (Issa Rae) who gives interviews about how dismayed she was in her post-college job at a literary agency that she didn’...

CDC sounds alarm about low vaccination rates amid rising respiratory virus activity

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:47 GMT

By Deidre McPhillips | CNNThe US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there is an “urgent need” to boost vaccination coverage amid increasing levels of respiratory disease.“Low vaccination rates, coupled with ongoing increases in national and international respiratory disease activity caused by multiple pathogens, including influenza viruses, SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), and RSV, could lead to more severe disease and increased healthcare capacity strain in the coming weeks,” the agency wrote in a Health Alert Network advisory Thursday. “In addition, a recent increase in cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) following SARS-CoV-2 infection in the United States has been reported.”RELATED: California is on pace to have fewest annual deaths in four years, from all causesAbout 7 million fewer adults have gotten their flu shot so far this season compared with the last virus season. Overall, uptake is about 36% for both adults and children...

Abcarian: Cheney’s tell-all book shows GOP losing its principles

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:47 GMT

You don’t read a book like former Wyoming U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney’s tell-all looking for literary pearls.You read it to find out what was going on behind the scenes in Congress after the 2020 election, as Donald Trump’s Republican sycophants and enablers schemed with him to overturn the results of a legitimate U.S. election. You read it to remember just how feckless Trump was when he was in power, and to remind yourself exactly what he is capable of should the nightmare of a second Trump term come to pass.Oh, and of course you read it because who could ever tire of revelations about former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s spinelessness and treachery? God, what a snake. No, strike that. Snakes actually have spines.After forcefully blaming Trump for Jan. 6, McCarthy went to Mar-a-Lago to suck up to the former president, Cheney writes in “Oath and Honor,” because he needed money. Nearly every major corporate donor had threatened to withdraw support from R...

Andre Braugher diagnosed with lung cancer months before death

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:47 GMT

By Alli Rosenbloom | CNNEmmy-winning actor Andre Braugher, who died earlier this week at age 61, had been diagnosed with lung cancer a few months prior to his death, his publicist Jennifer Allen told CNN on Thursday.The news was first reported by the New York Times.Allen stated at the time Braugher’s death was announced on Monday that he had suffered a “brief illness” and specified on Thursday it was lung cancer.Known for his Emmy-winning role on “Homicide: Life on the Street” and for his comedic chops in NBC’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” Braugher was a beloved actor known to many.Following his stunning debut as a soldier in the 1989 war-era film “Glory,” Braugher amassed dozens of film and TV credits throughout his career.Braugher earned a second Emmy in 2006 for the FX miniseries “Thief,” amassing 11 nominations overall.Related ArticlesTV Streaming | Jury in Jonathan Majors assault trial to begin deliberations TV Streaming | Ivanka Trump appears with ‘pa...

Former Facebook executive pleads guilty to stealing $4 million from company

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:47 GMT

By Olivia LaBorde | CNNAn Atlanta woman pleaded guilty to stealing more than $4 million from Facebook while she was an executive at the company.Barbara Furlow-Smiles attends the 2020 Sisters’ Awards at Skirball Cultural Center in March 2020 in Los Angeles, California.(Robin L Marshall/Getty Images) Barbara Furlow-Smiles who worked as a lead strategist, global head of employee resource groups and diversity engagement at Facebook, Inc., now known as Meta, from about January 2017 to September 2021 according to U.S. Attorney Northern District of Georgia Ryan K. Buchanan’s Office.“This defendant abused a position of trust as a global diversity executive for Facebook to defraud the company of millions of dollars, ignoring the insidious consequences of undermining the importance of her DEI mission,” said Buchanan in a statement.According to the US Attorney, Furlow-Smiles used her Facebook expense account to live a luxurious lifestyle in California and Georgia.Furlow-Smiles fraud...

Navy officer released from Japanese prison booked into California federal prison

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:47 GMT

By Jake Tapper and Jennifer Hansler | CNNUS Navy officer Lt. Ridge Alkonis, who was jailed in Japan for negligent driving that resulted in the death of two people, has been booked into a federal prison in Los Angeles following his transfer to the US, according to a family spokesperson and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.“We can confirm Ridge Alkonis is in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) Los Angeles,” a BOP spokesperson told CNN.A family spokesperson, Jonathan Franks, said in a statement that “Lt. Alkonis is now housed in a notorious federal lockup in Los Angeles, and BOP tells us it will take up to 90 days to approve Brittany and the kids to visit him. We believe the BOP can and should release Ridge immediately – it is outrageous he is spending the night in jail.”The BOP spokesperson said the bureau had nothing to add when asked by CNN when Alkonis’ family might be able to visit him.Earlier Thursday, the Alkonis family said...