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James Patterson, Margaret Atwood among thousands of writers urging AI companies to honor copyrights

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:40 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — James Patterson, Suzanne Collins and Margaret Atwood are among thousands of writers endorsing an open letter from the Authors Guild urging AI companies to obtain permission before incorporating copyrighted work into their technologies. “Millions of copyrighted books, articles, essays, and poetry provide the ‘food’ for AI systems, endless meals for which there has been no bill,” the letter reads in part. “You’re spending billions of dollars to develop AI technology. It is only fair that you compensate us for using our writings, without which AI would be banal and extremely limited.”The letter is addressed to OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft and other AI producers. The Guild announced Tuesday that other signers include the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelists Jennifer Egan, Michael Chabon and Louise Erdrich, as well as authors Jonathan Franzen, Celeste Ng, Nora Roberts and Ron Chernow.“If creators aren’t compensated fairly, they can’t afford to create,” Roberts sa...

Las Vegas police serve search warrant in Tupac Shakur murder investigation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:40 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Authorities in Nevada confirmed Tuesday that they served a search warrant this week in connection with the long-unsolved killing of rapper Tupac Shakur.Shakur was fatally shot in September 1996 in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. He was 25.The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said the search warrant was executed in the nearby city of Henderson. The department did not provide further details on the search, citing the open investigation.Associated Press, The Associated Press

Liberty and tacos for all: Taco Bell prevails as Taco John’s abandons trademark to ‘Taco Tuesday’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:40 GMT

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Taco Bell rang up a win Tuesday in its quest to make “Taco Tuesday” free of trademark restrictions, with Taco John’s formally abandoning its decades-old claim to own the phrase amid a challenge from its bigger rival.In a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Cheyenne-based Taco John’s gave up any further claim to “Taco Tuesday” in 49 states, ending a high-profile spat with Taco Bell. But the dispute looks to keep simmering on the Jersey Shore, where Gregory’s Restaurant & Bar in Somers Point promised to keep fighting Taco Bell over the exclusive right to hold “Taco Tuesday” promotions in New Jersey.“We’re hanging in there. We’re sticking by our guns,” Gregory’s Restaurant & Bar attorney Stephen Altamuro said.While “Taco Tuesday” has become a well-known phrase often used at restaurants and elsewhere, Taco John’s has worked hard to defend its more than 40-year-old trademark of the term in the 49 states besides New Jerse...

Two European spyware firms added to US export blacklist

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:40 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Commerce Department added two Europe-based spyware companies to its technology export blacklist on Tuesday for developing surveillance tools deemed to have threatened U.S. national security as well as the privacy and integrity of individuals and organizations worldwide.Such tools are regularly used for political repression and other human rights abuses, including for spying on journalists and intimidating political dissidents.The sanctioned companies are in Greece-based Intellexa S.A., Hungary-based Cytrox and related entities in Ireland and Macedonia. Intellexa and Cytrox have been linked to Predator spyware, whose reported use in Greece helped precipitate the resignation last year of two top government officials, including the national intelligence director.Commercial spyware firms already on the Commerce Department’s so-called Entity List — essentially making it illegal for U.S. companies to do business with them — include Israel’s NSO Group...

Israel’s Herzog tells Biden its democracy remains sound amid US concerns over judicial overhaul

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:40 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel’s figurehead president Isaac Herzog sought to assure President Joe Biden that Israel remains committed to democracy amid deepening U.S. concerns over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial plans to overhaul his country’s judicial system and ongoing settlement construction in the West Bank.Sitting by Biden’s side at the start of their Oval Office meeting on Tuesday, Herzog told Biden that Israel’s democracy remains “sound, strong” and “resilient” while acknowledging the country is going through a fractious moment. Herzog’s visit comes a day after Biden spoke with Netanyahu by phone and invited him to meet in the U.S. this fall, although the president expressed reservations about several of the Netanyahu hard-right coalition’s policies. Netanyahu’s government is pushing forward with judicial changes that have sparked widespread protest in Israel and he has authorized the construction of thousands of new housing un...

Canadian arrested by U.K. police at on suspicion of membership in terrorism group

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:40 GMT

OTTAWA — British police have arrested a Canadian man on suspicion of being a member of a terrorism group.The Metropolitan Police in London, England say counterterrorism detectives arrested a 28-year-old Canadian national at Heathrow Airport shortly after noon.They say the man had just arrived on a flight from Canada, and that the investigation related to the arrest hours earlier of a man in east London.Both men stand accused of membership in a proscribed terrorism organization, which could carry a sentence of up to 14 years in prison if charges are laid.The men are currently being held without a warrant, which can be done for a maximum of 48 hours under the U.K. Terrorism Act.In an email, Metropolitan Police say they are not naming the terrorism group as the investigation is ongoing, and that they would only confirm the identity of the people they arrested if they are charged with an offence.This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2023.The Canadian Press

In backlash over their expulsions, 2 Tennessee Democratic lawmakers raised $2M combined

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:40 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee state Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones have raised more than $2 million combined through about 70,400 campaign donations after Republican lawmakers abruptly expelled the Democrats this spring for their gun control protest on the House floor.The vast majority of those small donations came over just a few days when the two had been kicked out, but not yet reinstated. If Republicans kept the two young Black House members in office, they would not have been allowed to fundraise as sitting lawmakers while a legislative session was ongoing.Instead, each of the two lawmakers saw a flood of campaign cash beyond the norm for even Republican legislative leaders to raise, let alone two freshman Democrats who are in the superminority.Campaign finance reports that were due by the end of Monday show how much Democrats capitalized on the national attention. Jones and Pearson were expelled over a breach of decorum rules for their protest calling for the GOP to...

Prosecutor cites risky investments as ‘grave’ violations, in closing of Vatican financial case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:40 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican prosecutor insisted Tuesday that his indictments of 10 people, including a cardinal, for alleged financial crimes held up under two years of testimony, criticism and defense motions, as he began closing arguments in a trial that exposed the unseemly financial underbelly of the Holy See.Prosecutor Alessandro Diddi opened two weeks of hearings to summarize his case by accusing officials in the Vatican secretariat of state of committing “grave violations” of internal norms and canon law when they decided in 2012 to start investing the pope’s money in “highly speculative” investments, including in a 350 million euro (US $390 million) London real estate venture.“There’s not a single faithful (Catholic) who has donated a euro thinking that this euro would be used in speculative operations,” Diddi said, alleging that such canonical violations amounted to criminal abuse of office and embezzlement.The sprawling Vatican trial originated in the London deal but g...

Virginia NAACP demands to see governor’s criteria for restoring voting rights to felons

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:40 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Virginia NAACP on Tuesday called on Gov. Glenn Youngkin to establish clear and publicly available criteria for restoring the voting rights of convicted felons who have served their time, saying the system now is secretive and could discriminate against people of color.Youngkin has come under scrutiny since his administration confirmed earlier this year that it shifted away from a system used by three of his predecessors that was partly automatic. Two lawsuits have been filed over Youngkin’s process, which critics have said is confusing and does not have clear standards on when an application should be granted or denied.The governor’s “painfully slow opaque process is sure to have a discriminatory impact on Black Virginias and other Virginians of color, as well as communities where they live and work,” Robert Barnette Jr., president of the NAACP Virginia State Conference, said during a news conference Tuesday.In Virginia, a felony conviction...

Northwestern University president announces newest measures amidst hazing scandal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:40 GMT

EVANSTON, Ill. — For the first time in over a week, the leader of Northwestern University is speaking out as a football hazing scandal continues to make national headlines.President Michael Schill released a letter to the faculty and staff of the university on Tuesday afternoon in which he said he intends "to do whatever is necessary to address this situation" in the athletic department.In doing so, he announced a pair of external reviews that will take place, with the first concerning the school's "accountability mechanism" along with its ability to detect threats to student-athletes. Northwestern will also have an outside firm look at the culture of athletics at the school and "its relationship to the academic mission." First lawsuit filed in Northwestern hazing scandal Schill said that both will be conducted with feedback from faculty, staff, and students at the school and will be made publicly available.This comes as the hazing scandal with the football program has led to the ...