A retired welterweight and betting expert make their picks for UFC Fight Night from Kansas City.

There's another change at the top, and an NL-heavy top 10 dominate our rankings.

Europeans see Ukraines security as vital to their own and want to defend the principle of no border changes by force, even if President Trump does not.

Two decades had passed since Nascimento Blair was last in Jamaica, his homeland. Much had changed, including Mr. Blair himself.

Ben Hovland, Commissioner of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, speaks at the National Association of Secretaries of State winter meeting, Feb. 16, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)2025-04-24T12:05:55Z CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) State and local election officials from across the country are meeting Thursday to consider President Donald Trumps executive order that seeks major changes to how elections are run, the first time those in charge of the nations voting will formally gather to weigh in on its implications.The U.S. Election Assistance Commissions Standards Board, which is holding a public hearing in North Carolina, is a bipartisan advisory group of election officials from every state that meets annually.The commission, an independent federal agency, is at the center of Trumps executive order. The March 25 order directs the commission to update the national voter registration form to include a proof-of-citizenship requirement, revise guidelines for voting systems and withhold federal money from any state that continues to accept ballots after Election Day. Voting rights groups, the Democratic Party and Democratic officials in 21 states have sued, arguing that the Republican president is exceeding his authority under the Constitution and interfering with states power to set election rules. They want to block the commission from taking action to implement the executive order. The Constitution says its up to states to determine the times, places and manner of how elections are run, while Congress has the power to make or alter regulations for presidential and congressional elections. It does not grant the president any authority over how elections are administered. Congress created the Election Assistance Commission after the 2000 presidential election, which included a contested outcome in Florida, to help states update their voting equipment.Under the 2002 law, the commission was charged with distributing federal money for new voting equipment, creating voluntary guidelines for voting systems, establishing a federal testing and certification program for them, and overseeing the national voter registration form. It also has worked closely with the states to gather an array of data and share ideas on how to run elections more efficiently. Trump, who continues to make false claims about the 2020 presidential election, instructed the commission to take appropriate action within 30 days to require documentary proof of citizenship on the national voter registration form. The order outlines acceptable documents as a U.S. passport, a REAL ID-compliant drivers license or official military ID that indicates the applicant is a citizen, or a government-issued photo ID accompanied by proof of citizenship.The requirement has caused widespread concern that it will disenfranchise millions of voters who dont have a passport or ready access to their birth certificate or other documents that will prove their citizenship. Similar laws at the state level have caused disruptions, including during town elections last month in New Hampshire and in Kansas, where a since overturned law ended up blocking the voter registrations of 31,000 people who were citizens and otherwise eligible to vote. Trumps order also directed the Election Assistance Commission to take all appropriate action to cease federal money for any state that fails to use the form that includes the proof-of-citizenship requirement, though a handful of states are exempt under federal law from using the national form.Some states would have to halt their practice of counting late-arriving mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day. If they dont, Trumps executive order directs the commission to withhold election-related funding. Oregon and Washington have filed a separate lawsuit against the executive order, saying it would upend their elections because they rely entirely on mail voting.

Javid Moghaddasnia, Director of Customer Engagement, discusses American Giant clothing while being interviewed at the company's showroom in San Francisco, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)2025-04-24T11:02:49Z WASHINGTON (AP) Americans trust in President Donald Trump to bolster the U.S. economy appears to be faltering, with a new poll showing that many people fear the country is being steered into a recession and that the presidents broad and haphazardly enforced tariffs will cause prices to rise.Roughly half of U.S. adults say that Trumps trade policies will increase prices a lot and another 3 in 10 think prices could go up somewhat, according to the poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About half of Americans are extremely or very concerned about the possibility of the U.S. economy going into a recession in the next few months.While skepticism about tariffs is increasing modestly, that doesnt mean the public is automatically rejecting Trump or his approach to trade. However, the wariness could cause problems for a president who promised voters he could quickly fix inflation. Trump shows vulnerability on the economyThree months into his second term, Trumps handling of the economy and tariffs is showing up as a potential weakness. About 4 in 10 Americans approve of the way the Republican president is handling the economy and trade negotiations. Thats roughly in line with an AP-NORC poll conducted in March.Matthew Wood, 41, said hes waiting to see how the tariffs play out, but hes feeling anxious.Im not a huge fan of it, especially considering China and going back and forth with adjustments on both ends, said Wood, who lives in West Liberty, Kentucky, and is unemployed. Personally, it hasnt affected me as of yet. But, generally, I dont know how this is going to come to an end, especially with the big countries involved. Still, Wood said he changed his registration from Republican to independent, having been turned off by Trumps attitude and deference to billionaire adviser Elon Musk. Wood voted for Trump last year and said hes willing to give the president until the end of the year to deliver positive results on tariffs. About half of U.S. adults, 52%, are against imposing tariffs on all goods brought into the U.S. from other countries. Thats up slightly from January, when a poll found that 46% were against tariffs. Driving that small shift largely appears to be adults under age 30 who didnt previously have an opinion on tariffs.Trump supporter Janice Manis, 63, said her only criticism of Trump on tariffs is that he put in a partial 90-day pause for trade negotiations with other countries.Actually, I think he shouldnt have suspended it, said Manis, a retired sheriffs deputy from Del Rio, Texas. Because now China is trying to manipulate all of these other countries to go against us, whereas if he would have left all the tariffs in play then these countries would be hit hard. But, oh, well, things happen. Skepticism remains about Trumps tariff approachNot quite 100 days into Trumps second term in the White House, people around the country are bracing for possible disruptions in how they spend, work and live. The U.S. economy remains solid for the moment with moderating inflation and a healthy 4.2% unemployment rate, yet measures such as consumer confidence have dropped sharply.Trump has used executive actions to remold the global economy. Hes imposed hundreds of billions of dollars a year in new import taxes albeit partially suspending some of them launching a full-scale trade war against China and pledging to wrap up deals with dozen of other countries that are temporarily facing tariffs of 10%. Financial markets are swinging with every twist and turn from Trumps tariff pronouncements.Many Americans are not convinced this is the right approach. About 6 in 10 say Trump has gone too far when it comes to imposing new tariffs, according to the poll.Stocks are down this year, while interest charges on U.S. government bonds have climbed in ways that could make it more costly to repay mortgages, auto loans and student debt. CEOs are scrapping their earnings guidance for investors and seeking exemptions from Trumps tariffs, which hit allies such as Canada and even penguin-inhabited islands.Trump seemed to recognize the drag from tariffs as he highlighted this week the possibility of a deal with China. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had also said in a closed-door speech that the situation with China is not sustainable. Widespread concern about rising grocery pricesAbout 6 in 10 U.S. adults are extremely or very concerned about the cost of groceries in the next few months, while about half are highly concerned about the cost of big purchases, such as a car, cellphone or appliance. Less than half are highly concerned about their ability to purchase the goods they want a sign of the economys resilience so far. Retirement savings are a source of anxiety about 4 in 10 Americans say their retirement savings are a major source of stress in their lives. But fewer only about 2 in 10 identify the stock market as a major source of anxiety.This whole tariff war is just a losing situation not only for the American people but everybody worldwide, said Nicole Jones, 32. Its revenge and everybodys losing on it.The Englewood, Florida, resident voted last year for then-Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced the incumbent president, Joe Biden, as the Democratic nominee. Jones hadnt given much thought to tariffs until recently, and now, as an occupational therapy student, she also worries about losing her financial aid and facing high amounts of educational debt.Things are more expensive for us, she said.And most Americans still think the national economy is in a weak state.The difference is that Republicans who largely thought the economy was in bad shape when Biden was president now feel more optimistic. But Democrats have become much more bleak about the countrys financial future.It wasnt all sunshine and rainbows, but we were doing fine, Jones, a Democratic voter, said about the economy before Trumps policies went into effect.___The AP-NORC poll of 1,260 adults was conducted April 17-21, using a sample drawn from NORCs probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points. JOSH BOAK Boak covers the White House and economic policy for The Associated Press. He joined the AP in 2013. twitter mailto AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX Thomson-DeVeaux is the APs editor for polling and surveys.

Generative AI is a power and water hungry beast. While its advocates swear itll change the world for the better, the tangible benefits today are less clear and the long term costs to both society and the environment may be enormous. Even the federal U.S. government knows this, according to a new report published Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a nonpartisan watchdog group that answers to Congress.The GAOs AI reports goal is to succinctly explain to legislators what media outlets and researchers have been explaining for years: the infrastructure necessary to produce generative AI presents a massive strain on the planet.The GAO investigators wanted to know what the real world effects of generative AI were on humans and the environment.To answer these questions, we interviewed agency officials and other stakeholders, including industry and academic researchers; held an expert meeting; attended AI conferences; and reviewed agency documents and other literature, the report said. The final 47 page document amounts to a meta-analysis of existing data.One immediate obstacle to the investigators was AI companies lack of transparency around their water usage. Generative AI uses significant energy and water resources, but companies are generally not reporting details of these uses, the GAO said. Things also vary greatly depending on where in the U.S. an AI model is trained. It doesnt cost the same amount to cool a datacenter in Texas as it does in Oregon.But what the GAO could figure out was startling.It is not unusual to see new data centers being built with energy needs of 100 to 1000 megawatts, roughly equivalent to powering 80,000 to 800,000 households, the GAO said. It added that 40 percent of that cost is just cooling the data center, a cost thats expected to increase as the planet heats up.Geography mattered a lot. If a model is trained in the northwestern U.S. where 44 percent of electricity generation comes from hydropower, the carbon emissions are lower than if the model is trained in the Midwest, where 38 percent of the electricity is generated from coal, the report said.The report also estimated the carbon costs of specific models. Googles Gemma2 topped the list with 1,247.61 metric tons of carbon. OpenAIs GPT3 came in at 552 metric tons. Training Metas Llama 3.1 405B model has spewed 8,930 metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere, according to the report.The GAO report also noted that using generative AI as a search engine was far more costly than traditional search methods. One estimate indicates using generative AI could cost 10 times more than a standard keyword search, it said. According to the GAOs estimates, AIs doing 250,000,000 queries a day would use as much electricity as 26,071 U.S. households use in a day and 1,100,836 gallons of water.OpenAI CEO Sam Altman joked on X earlier this month that the company was spending tens of millions of dollars paying the electricity costs to generate responses to people saying please and thank you to ChatGPT. Every time that happens, a little more water is burned and a little more carbon is released.When it came time to assess human harms, the GAO report also cited a lack of data. Assessing the safety of a generative AI system is inherently challenging, it said. These systems largely remain black boxes, meaning even the designers do not fully understand how the systems generate outputs. Without a deeper understanding, developers and users have a limited ability to anticipate safety concerns and can only mitigate problems as they arise.We have, of course, seen the harms firsthand. People have used generative AI to make non-consensual porn of classmates, coworkers, celebrities, and strangers. People have killed themselves after long conversations with AI companions. AI slop is filling up the internet like an invasive species of plant strangling an estuary.The GAO report touched on some of these issues, but brought it all back to an underlying issue: a lack of transparency from the companies making AI. If harms were to occur because of the above risks or other issues, they would likely be compounded by the challenge of identifying the accountable party, the GAO said. This challenge is rooted in some of the core attributes of generative AI systems, which largely remain black boxes.

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01170-4Reconstructions of the evolutionary relationships among blood-cell clones from individuals with the blood cancer chronic myeloid leukaemia reveal that the cancer clone grows exceptionally quickly, reaching rates of between 10,000% and 1,000,000% per year. This variability in growth rate could explain differences in responses to cancer treatments.

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08922-2Analysis of more than 95% of each diploid human genome of a four-generation, twenty-eight-member family using five complementary short-read and long-read sequencing technologies provides a truth set to understand the most fundamental processes underlying human genetic variation.

Bayern Munich will secure the Bundesliga title on Saturday with a win over top-four hopefuls Mainz if rivals and reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen fail to beat Augsburg.

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has scolded Endrick after his missed goal-scoring opportunity in Wednesday's 1-0 LaLiga win at Getafe.

The conclave to select the next pontiff has not started yet, but meetings to set the agenda and to decide on the logistics of mourning for Francis were gathering pace.

Catholics and Protestants who saw Pope Francis as a guiding moral figure are losing their voice.

Pope Francis, the first pope from the Americas, died Easter Monday at age 88. The Onion honors the late pontiff by looking back on his life and legacy.1936: Jorge Mario Bergoglio is born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Italian immigrants Regina Mara Svori and God.1953: First ponders priesthood after whiffing on seven different prom invites.1969: Ordained as a priest despite failing the parallel parking portion of the exam.1983: Briefly considered throwing it all away for a woman named Rosa who told him she liked his shirt.19901998: Legendary run with the Chicago Bulls.2013: Named Pope of the Year by Time magazine.2014: Modernizes Catholic Church by allowing jean robes on casual Fridays.2015: Discovers he can hide extra dessert under his hat without anybody noticing.2024: Concerns for his health grow as Pope Francis is increasingly seen standing in an open grave.2025: Dies without telling anyone the password for the Vaticans Hulu account.The post Timeline Of Pope Francis Life appeared first on The Onion.

The post Drake Catches Himself Singing Not Like Us In The Shower appeared first on The Onion.

Its been a guiding principle in how I run my household.READ MORE...

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters after signing executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-04-24T12:47:48Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump on Thursday offered rare criticism of Vladimir Putin, urging the Russian leader to STOP! after a deadly barrage of attacks on Kyiv, Ukraines capital.I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying, Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!Russia struck Kyiv with an hourslong barrage of missiles and drones. At least nine people were killed and more than 70 injured in the deadliest assault on the city since last July. Trumps frustration is growing as a U.S.-led effort to get a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia has not made progress.Trump lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday and accused him of prolonging the killing field by refusing to surrender the Russia-occupied Crimea Peninsula as part of a possible deal. Zelenskyy has repeated many times during the war that began when Russia invaded in February 2022 that recognizing occupied territory as Russias is a red line for Ukraine.Zelenskyy noted Thursday that Ukraine had agreed to a U.S. ceasefire proposal 44 days ago as a first step to a negotiated peace, but that Moscows attacks had continued.Trump is set to meet later Thursday with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stre to discuss the war in Ukraine, U.S. tariffs and other issues.Norway, a member of NATO and strong supporter of Ukraine, shares a roughly 123-mile (198-kilometer) border with Russia. AAMER MADHANI Madhani covers the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Relatives grieve over the bodies of members of the Jalis and Al-Sharbasi families, killed in an Israeli army airstrike on Yaffa School in Gaza City, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)2025-04-24T08:51:33Z Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 28 people, mostly women and children, the territorys Health Ministry said Thursday. Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas and renewed its air and ground war over a month ago. It has sealed off Gazas 2 million Palestinians from all food and other imports since the beginning of March to pressure Hamas to release hostages. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining 59 captives, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas.The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 hostages. Most have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israels offensive has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.Heres the latest: At least 28 dead as Israel pounds GazaIsraeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 28 people, mostly women and children, according to the territorys Health Ministry. At least nine people were killed in a strike on a police station in the northern Jabaliya area, the ministry said. The Israeli military said it targeted a command and control center for Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group. At least seven people were killed, including a mother and her two children, and another two children, in three strikes on the southern city of Khan Younis. Strikes in central Gaza killed six people, including two women and two children. An airstrike on a home in Gaza City killed four children and their parents, the Health Ministry said.

Adam Chace picked a pretty good time to create a data archiving product for turbulent times. I first saw an ad for PrepperDisk on Reddit soon after the election of Donald Trump: Take lifesaving websites into any emergency, and Be SHTF (Shit Hits the Fan) Proof, the ads read.PrepperDisk is a mini internet box that comes preloaded with offline backups of Wikipedia, street maps, survivalist information, 90,000 WikiHow guides, iFixit repair guides, government website backups (including FEMA guides and National Institutes of Health backups), TED Talks about farming and survivalism, 60,000 ebooks and various other content. Its part external hard drive, part local hotspot antennathe box runs on a Raspberry Pi that allows up to 20 devices to connect to it over wifi or wired connections, and can store and run additional content that users store on it.It doesn't store a lot of content (either 256GB or 512GB), but what makes it different from buying any external hard drive is that it comes preloaded with content for the apocalypse.I was interested in PrepperDisk because I care about data hoarding and archiving more broadly, but I wanted to talk to Chace after it became clear that a lot of his sales seemed to be a direct result of Trump being elected president.Sales increased dramatically in the early part of the new administration as economic uncertainty and even uncertainty about government data prevailed, Chace told me. Elon Musk is pulling data off of federal websites, and we want to make sure people realize is like, Hey, this might have a use case even when the internet itself remains up, but there might be political reasons why that data isnt available.The National Institutes of Health, we have their entire website on our device, and some of their information has been pulled off the internet, he added. "We have gotten a lot of questions about the content thats getting deleted. The National Library of Medicine is one we get asked about a lot as it has had content deleted. Weve had customer ask about whether the Prepper Disk copy of Wikipedia would continue to have entries that might get deleted by the government. Yes. Our copy of FEMAs emergency management website, Ready.gov, has gotten a lot of questions as that website was part of the DOGE sweep. Amusingly I had a customer also ask what the Gulf of Mexico was called on our maps [its still the Gulf of Mexico]. It is clear that folks are looking at the overall permanency of data on the Internet and our product as a way to control some of that.PrepperDisk is similar to a DIY, open-source project that started in 2012 called Internet in a Box and which has become popular in rural areas in developing countries where internet access is sparse. The idea is basically that you can carry around an external hard drive-sized, mini version of the internet with you that creates a local network your phone or laptop can access.I was also interested in PrepperDisk because, unlike a lot of prepper products, PrepperDisks marketing is relatively understated. Chace doesnt consider himself to be a prepper, and generally doesnt sell the product in apocalyptic or conspiratorial terms. It feels more like a project designed to preserve and distribute vulnerable data from the internet than a project designed for the end of the world.I personally wouldnt categorize myself as a prepper, though Im the son of an Eagle Scout and was a Boy Scout myself, and Ive always been a sort of be prepared kind of guy, Chace said. I was discussing with my son that, especially in the current climate, theres a threat to the persistence of information, things we always thought would be available, like government resources from FEMA, suddenly theres a question mark around that information.Chace admits that an enterprising person could (and many do) build similar DIY products with a Raspberry Pi and an external hard drive. But his goal was to build something accessible to nontechnical people.Our goal has been to take what some open source products do and make it more of a refined, commercial-grade consumer product, he added. Despite the name, Chace said a lot of his customers arent necessarily preppers, they are largely people who are worried about important websites going offline. Others are people who want to take a smaller version of the internet camping in remote areas.Then there are, of course, people who store them in go bags.We do have the kind of classic, Im getting it and putting it in an EMP bag and putting it somewhere safe and hope I never need it, he said. And then we have a customer who bought it basically to have it be available for his kids to use when theyre on vacation.

Nature, Published online: 24 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01253-2The relationship between pathology in the brain and alterations in the gut microbiome could lead to therapies even if its not clear which changes come first.

Nature, Published online: 22 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01282-xTrove of potato genomes reveals genetic bottlenecks and past flirtations with wild varieties. Plus, scientists have used lasers to create the perception of a brand-new colour and physicists express doubt over a biosignature from a distant planet.

Both clubs are down 0-2 heading into Game 3. Plus, it's Game 2 of the Battle of Florida! Here's what to know.

Arsenal are confident they will make Real Sociedad midfielder Martn Zubimendi their first major summer signing despite interest from Real Madrid, sources have told ESPN.

The German government scaled back its prediction for 2025 to zero economic growth, citing the turbulence caused by U.S. tariffs, as well as stubborn bureaucracy and high energy prices.

From the first haircut to emotional support, a regularly updated guide covers what health professionals have learned about helping ex-hostages transition from captivity to freedom.

SILVER SPRING, MDEmphasizing that these guidelines had already been issued to the public plenty of times, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a passive-aggressive safety alert Thursday reminding Americans that the serving tongs were there for a reason. We just thought wed let everybody know that serving tongs are not there for decoration, they are there to be used, read the statement, the impetus for which was said to be the fact that the American public had apparently forgotten how to use them and needed its memory refreshed. Were not sure why we have to keep reminding you, since you seem to love buffetsthis is your third plate, right? And before you all bother asking: No, it doesnt matter if you managed to take one cookie and not touch the others. No, you wont get sick from touching the tongs that everyone else touched. No, we dont believe you when you say youve thoroughly washed your hands before approaching the food. Seems like you should have picked up on this by now, but were sure you have a really good reason to think you dont have to follow the rules like everybody else. At press time, the FDA had reportedly followed up with a condescending step-by-step video demonstrating how to use serving tongs.The post FDA Issues Passive-Aggressive Reminder That Serving Tongs There For A Reason appeared first on The Onion.

MARYVILLE, TNRelying on a precise measurement as though a slight miscalculation could be lethal, local woman Anna Gardner, who is said to be on a diet, reportedly weighed out peanut butter Thursday like it was hard drugs. Several reports indicated that Garner precisely laid a dollop of the Jif peanut butter onto a kitchen scale and removed the excess with a knife to make sure it was the right amount as if she were portioning out a Schedule I substance that she planned to sling to junkies on the streets. According to sources, upon licking a bit of the peanut spread off the knifes blade, Gardner let out a sigh of pleasure and said Thats the stuff in the manner of a notorious drug lord who, after testing out the purity of her product, runs the knife across her own cheek and mutters Im loco. At press time, reports confirmed a blissful Garner was passed out on the couch with an empty glass of peanut butter and banana smoothie by her side like a woman strung out on black tar heroin.The post Woman On Diet Weighing Out Peanut Butter Like It Hard Drugs appeared first on The Onion.

I need it for park days.READ MORE...

The lives of most Wii consoles ended sometime in the early 2010s, left to collect dust in dorm rooms and parents dens, having run their last Just Dance disc long ago. But at least one Wii is finding another life hosting a website.Security engineer Alex Haydock found a discarded sacrificial Wii at the 2024 Electromagnetic Field festival swap shop, he wrote on his blog (which is now running on that Wii). He took it home intending to use it to emulate and homebrew games, but hed noticed while browsing the website for the open-source operating system NetBSDwhich has options for installing a Unix-like operating system on devices like Dreamcasts, Amiga and Atari machines, and many morethat it had an option for a Wii installation.As soon as I discovered this was fully supported and maintained, I knew I had to try deploying an actual production workload on it, he wrote. That workload is the blog youre reading now.Haydock wrote set-by-step instructions on how he softmodded the Wii on his site, which you can check out for yourself if you have a sad old console lying around and a need for a web host. Youll need the Wiimotes and sensor bar, he notes, because a lot of this process relies on installing channels (applications on the Wii menu, for the unfamiliar) on the Wii itself.Part of it is of course simply the fun of taking a piece of tech people are very familiar with and trying to get it to do something it was never designed to do, Haydock told me in an email. But I also find that the fastest way for me to learn new concepts and technologies is when something breaks and I end up having to fix it. If I follow a tutorial and something 'just works', it's almost like losing an opportunity to really appreciate the complexity of what's going on underneath.On Wednesday, his Wii blog made it to the top of technology forum Hacker News, meaning potentially hundreds of thousands of people clicked through to the site at the same timea load that could easily hug any lesser website to death. But the Wiiweb held up. This is where the Wii really managed to impress. Watching the graphs as the post went live was great fun. I spent a few hours watching as the load spiked, trying to work out where the post had been shared to cause each of the sudden bursts in traffic, Haydock told me. The page spent about four hours at the number one spot on Hacker News, he said, and was on the front page for 20 hours.At its peak a few hours in, the Wii was serving around 40 requests per second, and it was still serving a steady 10 requests per second near the end of the front page run. I was shocked but the Wii kept up amazingly well the entire time. It could easily have handled more, he said. Based on the figures I've got, I'm pretty sure the (not great) upload speed on my home connection would become the bottleneck way before the Wii itself would.He said he hopes to bring the Wii back to the festival where it started in 2026, and continue to serve the blog from it, in the middle of a field.Originally I expected I'd run it like this for a few days or weeks, until I got tired of fixing it when it fell over, Haydock said. But it's been so stable that I do now plan to run it like this indefinitely. Especially now that some helpful folk have pointed out how to get it to boot directly into the NetBSD environment. Although I did quite enjoy having a production Wiimote.

Nature, Published online: 24 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01180-2Telltale signs of chatbot use are scattered through the scholarly literature and, in some cases, have disappeared without a trace.

French guard Nolan Traore, a projected top-20 pick, will enter the 2025 NBA draft, he told ESPN on Thursday.

The Bucks have reached a multiyear extension with GM Jon Horst, sources told ESPN. Milwaukee has made the playoffs in all eight of Horst's seasons as GM.

The bill, which divided Republicans, would have required most libraries to keep material deemed sexually explicit away from minors.

Ms. Noem could feel this person as they snatched her bag, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security said.

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Robert E. Crimo III watches the jury selection process during the first day of his trial, accused of opening fire on a suburban Chicago Independence Day parade, killing seven people, at the Lake County Courthouse, Waukegan, Ill., Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, Pool, File)2025-04-24T04:01:29Z WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP) The suburban Chicago man who admitted to fatally shooting seven people and wounding dozens of others during a 2022 Independence Day parade was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti handed down seven consecutive sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole, as prosecutors requested, for the first-degree murder charges after hearing emotional testimony from survivors and the relatives of those killed in the shooting.This court has absolutely no words that could adequately describe and capture the horror and pain that was inflicted on July 4th, the judge said. Robert E. Crimo III, 24, has a complete disregard for human life and is irretrievably depraved, permanently incorrigible, irreparably corrupt and beyond any rehabilitation, she said. After years of unpredictable legal proceedings, Crimo changed his plea to guilty last month just moments before opening statements at his trial.Dozens were wounded in the shooting in the suburb north of Chicago. They ranged in age from their 80s to an 8-year-old boy who was left paralyzed from the waist down. Crimo refused to attend his sentencing hearing Wednesday or Thursday despite Rossettis previous warnings that the case would proceed without him. Crimo also declined to provide a written statement in court ahead of sentencing. Hes always known that he was facing life in prison, said Crimos public defender, Gregory Ticsay. He has spared this community the lengthy trial.Survivors and witnesses told the court about how their lives have changed since he killed seven people and hurt dozens more. Keely Roberts, whose 8-year-old son Cooper Roberts was the youngest victim, called Crimo cowardly for not attending. You will not hear my grief, she said. You are now irrelevant. Its unusual for defendants to skip trial, especially sentencing, but constitutionally they have the right not to attend, said David Erickson, a former state appellate judge who teaches at Chicago Kent College of Law. Often in violent cases, defendants will explain themselves or profess innocence before sentencing. Certainly in crimes of violence its not unusual for a defendant to show some remorse, Erickson said.Some survivors called Crimo a monster while another cited their faith in forgiving him. Many described feeling empty or facing deep sadness since the shooting. Some no longer attend public gatherings. Erica Weeder described how she and her husband were injured and helpless on the ground, watching others bleed out. For weeks, there was shrapnel in her body and a bullet lodged in her husbands elbow. A mass shooting is like a bomb blast throughout a community, she said.Prosecutors argued that Crimo was fully in control of his actions as he fired 83 shots over 40 seconds.This was his evil plan. He intended to end the happiness that he saw around him, said Lake County States Attorney Eric Rinehart.Crimo pleaded guilty to 21 counts of first-degree murder three counts for each person killed and 48 counts of attempted murder. Each first-degree murder count carries a maximum life sentence in Illinois. Even in his absence, prosecutors made sure Crimos own words were heard Wednesday, revealing parts of the trove of evidence prepared for trial, including key parts of Crimos videotaped confession. In the interview, which defense attorneys tried to have thrown out, a blank-faced Crimo slumped in a chair with arms crossed. He told officers that he briefly reconsidered the attack because of a problem with the gun. He later fixed the weapon. I walked up the stairs, jumped on the roof and opened fire, he said.Crimo was calm and cavalier, even laughing and joking, said Brian Bodden, a Highland Park police officer.Prosecutors recreated the horror of the day in the upscale community of about 30,000 people north of Chicago, showing video and asking witnesses to recount the terrifying aftermath of the attack. In one video, a marching band played Youre a Grand Old Flag before shots were fired. Musicians carrying instruments ran as emergency sirens blared. Many cried during the testimony, while others put their arms around each other inside the Lake County courtroom. The seven people killed were Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; Eduardo Uvaldo, 69; and married couple Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35.Crimos father, Robert Crimo Jr., a former mayoral candidate, served less than two months in jail on charges in connection with how his son obtained a gun license.__Associated Press writer Scott Bauer contributed to this report from Madison, Wisconsin.

The Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)2025-04-24T15:10:52Z Follow live updates on President Donald Trump and his administration WASHINGTON (AP) The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to allow enforcement of a ban on transgender people in the military, while legal challenges proceed.The high court filing follows a brief order from a federal appeals court that kept in place a court order blocking the policy nationwide.President Donald Trump signed an executive order a week into his term that claims the sexual identity of transgender service members conflicts with a soldiers commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in ones personal life and is harmful to military readiness.In response, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a policy that presumptively disqualifies transgender people from military service.But in March, U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle in Tacoma, Washington, ruled for several long-serving transgender military members who say the ban is insulting and discriminatory, and that their firing would cause lasting damage to their careers and reputations. Trumps Republican administration offered no explanation as to why transgender troops, who have been able to serve openly over the past four years with no evidence of problems, should suddenly be banned, Settle wrote. The judge is an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush and a former captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Corps. In 2016, during Barack Obamas presidency, a Defense Department policy permitted transgender people to serve openly in the military. During Trumps first term in the White House, the Republican issued a directive to ban transgender service members, with an exception for some of those who had already started transitioning under more lenient rules that were in effect during Obamas Democratic administration. The Supreme Court allowed that ban to take effect. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, scrapped it when he took office. The rules the Defense Department wants to enforce contain no exceptions.Thousands of transgender people serve in the military, but they represent less than 1% of the total number of active-duty service members.The policy also has been blocked by a federal judge in the nations capital, but that ruling has been temporarily halted by a federal appeals court, which heard arguments on Tuesday. The three-judge panel includes two judges appointed by Trump during his first term. In a more limited ruling, a judge in New Jersey also has barred the Air Force from removing two transgender men, saying they showed their separation would cause lasting damage to their careers and reputations that no monetary settlement could repair.___Follow the APs coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.

Civitai, a hugely popular site for sharing AI models and a critical piece of infrastructure for AI-generated pornography across the internet, yesterday announced that it will now ban content depicting incest, self-harm, and fetishes featuring bodily excretions like urine, vomit, menstruation, and diapers. The site is also demonetizing content featuring the likeness of real people and making it harder to find.As many of you know, the world of AI content is under increasing scrutiny - from regulators, legislators, and the general public, Civitai said in a post explaining the policy and content adjustments. Platforms like ours are being held to higher standards around safety, legality, and accountability. Weve always striven to be a place for innovation, creativity, and openness, but some things have to change in order to continue operating, growing, and protecting our users. Depictions of firearms being pointed at people and mind-altered states like hypnosis are also now forbidden on Civitai.Despite its claim that its being held to a higher standard, the type of content Civitai has updated its policies to ban has long been on the edge of whats acceptable even on porn sites, and is in fact banned on many platforms. While its an established fetish that consenting adults engage with regularly, adult content involving diapers is especially sensitive for internet platforms because it could be interpreted as featuring minors. In 2023, for example, Sam reported that Patreon had banned a ton of accounts that created adult baby/diaper lover, or ABDL content which was popular in the furry community and a source of income that suddenly disappeared for some.Incest as well is normally a step too far for most porn sites because its illegal in many jurisdictions, which is why so many adult videos engage with this taboo via the now common porn trope of step- sister/brother/mother/father. Weapons, content depicting self harm or harm to others, and content featuring certain bodily fluids are also commonly prohibited even on adult platforms. All of these are banned on OnlyFans, for example.Civitai is giving users 30 days before it starts removing content violating these new policies. Click any of these links at your own risk, but a quick search reveals that Civitai currently does hold many AI image generation models specifically for the purpose of generating images of people inserting guns into vaginas, ABDL, menstrual pads, and so on. Did I mention this website is backed by Andreessen Horowitz, one of the biggest venture capital firms in silicon valley? AnywayOn one hand, despite trying to downplay the obvious popularity of adult content on its site and its critical role in making it easier for people to generate non-consensual adult content, in many ways the policy update shows that Civitai is dealing with the same moderation challenges that all adult sites deal with, and that its subject to the same pressures. One of the big reasons adult sites and other internet platforms are banning the same type of content is that they are all getting pressured by payment processors, without which it is much more difficult for them to make money. This is famously why Pornhub changed its entire approach to content moderation and banned millions of unverified content from its platform in 2020. Civitai, Visa, and Mastercard did not respond to requests for comment.On the other hand, Civitais moderation might be more challenging because AI image generators make it incredibly easy to produce an infinite stream of images that will create more or less whatever a user describes in a prompt. Its just a massive amount of wild content.Thats probably why Civitai also announced that it now demands users include generation metadata on all mature content, and why it announced it has partnered with AI moderation service Clavata, whose image ingestion and analysis system represents the most advanced and accurate solution we have encountered to-date, according to Civitai.The one upside of the changes will be not seeing 20 new diaper loras [AI models] a day, one user said in the official Civitai Discord. But the new censorship is a bit over the line when it gets into common themes like drunk hanky panky and gunplay.Even though scat, diapers, piss, etc are squicky for me, Im always apprehensive when they get censored, because then its usually a matter of time until things that I do enjoy, and other things, get censored as well, another user said. The canary in the cave, as it were.Other updates to Civitais policy signal that the site is finally taking some type action on models that are designed to recreate the likeness of real people. Content tagged with the names of real celebrities or real-person will be hidden from feeds, ads will not show up next to this content, and users will not be able to tip each other with Buzz, Civitais on-platform currency, for this content. The latter is especially notable because Civitai had previously introduced a bounties feature which allowed people to offer a certain amount of Buzz to any other user who created an AI model for generating the likeness of real people.This isnt the first time Civitai has done a major overhaul of its content moderation policies. Following 404 Medias investigation in 2023 which showed that Civitai users were generating images that could be categorized as child pornography, the platform introduced radical new measures to stop abuse on its site.

Health care is a weighted issue for LGBTQ+ people. Due to income disparities, particularly forlesbians, bisexual and trans women and people of color, access to health care and essential services is often limited.Among queer and trans people,canceris more prevalent,HIV is more prevalent,autoimmune disease is more prevalentandsubstance abuseis more prevalent.Another issue which is rarely discussed is the higher rate of mental illness: depression and anxiety are common for LGBTQ+ people, often as a factor of coping with familial breaks, stigma and ostracization.Suicidality suicidal thoughts, attempts and even completion is higher among LGBTQ+ people, withLGBTQ+ youth at high risk.STIs sexually transmitted infections are also a concern, with HIV transmission still high, and gonorrhea on the rise. Several outbreaks ofmpoxin recent years have raised the issue of STIs contracted via traveling.These overlapping issues of more illness and less access to care is a confounding one for LGBTQ+ people.Pervasive illnessWhat is rarely discussed in the queer and trans community or in the larger community about LGBTQ+ health care is how pervasive some illness is and how specific deficits with regard to health care exacerbate that reality.Cancer is the most concerning issue among these illness factors. Lack of access to preventative care as well as to early intervention for cancer among queer and trans-identified people leads to poorer outcomes and makes actual deaths a real possibility.Lesbians and bisexual women have higher rates ofbreast cancerwhile gay men and trans people are at greater risk for a range of cancers.LGBTQ+ people are also at higher risk for HPV, which causes cervical, anal, testicular and throat cancers. There is a vaccine for HPV that can be given between ages 10 and 45.Not receiving preventatives like the HPV vaccine or appropriate testing like mammography or prostate screening can limit eventual treatment options with a cancer diagnosis.Health care providersOne of the biggest impediments for LGBTQ+ people in accessing preventative and other health care is having a regular health care provider. There are a myriad of reasons for this, including affordability and fear of homophobia and/or transphobia as well as fear of stigmatization.These are not unreasonable concerns given how little research into LGBTQ+ health outcomes has been conducted. Lack of medical resources and social support are other factors.There is also a lack of medical care, including gender-affirming care. In aged health care settings, there is limited access to full treatment options as well as pronounced instances of medical mistreatment.Challenges for LGBTQ+ people of colorAs problematic as treatment for LGBTQ+ people is overall, LGBTQ+ people of color face unique challenges. Racism is pervasive in America and in the health care system. Cultural mistrust of the medical system from generations of mistreatment of particularly Black patients plays a significant role. LGBTQ+ people of color also feel scrutinized for their sexual orientation and gender identity leading to suspicion regarding the system as a whole and providers who are not themselves people of color.Yet this presents an additional problem, as there are far fewer Black and brown providers available for people to access. A 2023 study published inJAMA Network Openfound that Black primary care physicians practiced in fewer than half of U.S. counties between 2009 and 2019. The same study showed that a 10% increase in Black physician representation was associated with a more than 30-day increase in life expectancy for Black individuals highlighting the real, measurable impact of provider diversity.Opening up a broader discussion about the serious need for more access to providers of color and in lieu of having more such providers, working to educate providers who are not people of color to better understand these issues for LGBTQ+ people of color to better help patients.What the experts sayTheNational Institute of Health(NIH) andCenters for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) both had information on their individual websites on LGBTQ+ people. However, the Trump administration has taken steps to remove this information. In particular, the CDC website states,Per a court order, HHS is required to restore this website as of 11:59PM ET, February 14, 2025. Any information on this page promoting gender ideology is extremely inaccurate and disconnected from the immutable biological reality that there are two sexes, male and female. The Trump Administration rejects gender ideology and condemns the harms it causes to children, by promoting their chemical and surgical mutilation, and to women, by depriving them of their dignity, safety, well-being, and opportunities. This page does not reflect biological reality and therefore the Administration and this Department rejects it.Robert F. Kennedy Jr., appointed Secretary of Health by Donald Trump, has been widely criticized for promoting vaccine skepticism and controversial theories. He has previously referenced aclaim originally circulated by radio host Alex Jones suggesting that certain chemicals in the water may affect sexual development in animals, and has drawn connections between those chemicals and gender identity in humans.In his 2021 book, Kennedy claimed that AIDS isnt caused by the HIV virus but instead spread by gay men using poppers and other recreational drugs in gay bars and clubs. He appeared towalk back some of these theories when he later voiced support for Pepfar, the U.S. program that supplies antiviral AIDS treatments in Africa, but the damage may already have been done. The theory of AIDS denialism, which Kennedy echoed, was popularized in the 1980s by biologist Peter Duesberg of the University of California, Berkeley. Though Duesberg wrote about his claims in multiple publications, his work has long since been widely discredited.Kennedy spreading this theory of how AIDS is spread 50 years after the fact could have disastrous effects. In addition to it being false, it also blames gay men for the disease. This victim-blaming could ratchet up homophobia, create stigma and force people who are HIV+ underground.The growing visibility of LGBTQ+ identityA2024 Gallup pollshowed that 7.6% of Americans identify as LGBTQ+. But breaking down that number into different age groups shows a different demographic with Gen Z coming in at 30% far more willing to disclose than their Gen X and Baby Boomer parents age groups.What can be done to lower the health care risks associated with being LGBTQ?Educating providers and the medical industrial complex itself to the unique needs of LGBTQ+ people is key. Creating a safe space for all LGBTQ+ people in health care settings is essential. Providers wearing Pride symbols have been shown to make people feel they have an ally in their provider. Doctors offices have the opportunity to clearly signal that they are welcoming spaces not leave patients guessing or feeling like acceptance is up for debate.Above all, queer and trans people need space to speak openly about what it really means to be under-served and to name the stigma and fear that often come with navigating the health care system.The post Health care is a weighted issue for LGBTQ+ people appeared first on News Is Out.

It's getting hot in here!Lisa Vanderpump is a reality TV icon known for serving up plenty of delicious drama on many popular shows including The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Vanderpump Rules, and her latest hit series Vanderpump Villa.Along with the sexy cast of staffers, season two of Villa features even more steamy shenanigans with guest appearances by The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and lovable TV villain Paulie Calafiore."What about the Mormons? Aren't Mormons supposed to be well behaved? Why do they save it for us? I never thought that was possible," Vanderpump tells PRIDE. See on Instagram As if all of the wild hookups didn't bring deliver enough bingeable television, Vanderpump also recruited her OG Vanderpump Rules star Stassi Schroeder to help stir the plot throughout the season."I was born for this! Let's bring it on. I get to go to Italy all summer with my family and snoop on people? That's a dream. The amount of people just hooking up! They're not even drinking cocktails. They're this wild sober. It's insane," Schroeder adds.Outside of her plethora of TV projects, Vanderpump is reaching all-new levels of success in Las Vegas. The entrepreneur has opened three extravagant bars and restaurants on The Strip. Plus, she's slated to open the Vanderpump Hotel early next year.With so many accomplishments under her belt, the OG RHOBH had to throw some shade to her former co-stars."The crown is heavy darling! They tried to steal it and look what happened. I also said I'm passionate about dogs, just not crazy about bitches. Don't forget about that one," Vanderpump says.Vanderpump Villa is streaming now on Hulu. To see the full interview with Lisa Vanderpump and Stassi Schroeder, check out the video at the top of the page.

Nature, Published online: 24 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01290-xA small, preliminary trial and studies in mice draw links between fibromyalgia and alterations of the gut microbiome.

Nature, Published online: 24 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09027-6Editorial Expression of Concern: A melanocyte lineage program confers resistance to MAP kinase pathway inhibition

Rodriguez led West Virginia to prominence when he was its head coach in the aughts. Can he work his magic again in 2025?

Fans in the raucous right-field grandstand at Doug Kingsmore Stadium have been ragging opposing teams for more than two decades.

by Jeff Ernsthausen, Mica Rosenberg and Avi Asher-Schapiro ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. In an unusual move, the administration of President Donald Trump has canceled a $3.8 billion contract to build an immigrant detention camp in Fort Bliss, Texas, just days after issuing it.That doesnt mean the job wont go forward. Sources told ProPublica the administration still intends to move ahead with the plan to build a tent detention camp at Fort Bliss. A site visit for interested contractors took place on Wednesday.The job promises to be highly sought after as Trump officials plan to pour billions of dollars into building detention facilities as part of the presidents push to deport more immigrants.Why the contract was posted and then canceled is unclear. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement awarded the contract on April 10 to Deployed Resources, a privately held company, according to data posted on a federal procurement website.ProPublica published a profile of the company on April 11, describing its ascension from running facilities at music festivals into a government contracting juggernaut that, like other vendors, is pursuing billions of dollars in detention contracts planned under Trump. Company executives, ProPublica found, had hired more than a dozen former government insiders as it built its business over the years. Recent hires included some high-ranking former officials from ICE, the agency that would be tasked with carrying out Trumps promises of mass deportation.Then, on April 13, the administration reversed course and terminated the contract with Deployed Resources for convenience, according to data posted to the federal contracting site.An ICE spokesperson confirmed that the award was made and then canceled, and that a revised procurement action for Fort Bliss is currently active and ongoing. The agency did not answer questions about why it reversed course.Deployed Resources has not responded to requests for comment. On its website, the company says it is dedicated to safely and efficiently providing transparent facility support and logistical services, anytime, anywhere.The awarding and cancellation of such a large contract to a company in such a short time is extremely unusual, according to a ProPublica review of contracting data going back a decade.In solicitation documents, the government said it needs a facility with the capacity to hold thousands of immigrants before they are deported.Its possible, but not yet clear, that Deployed Resources could win the contract following a subsequent round of bidding. It likely is not the only bidder interested in the job, which could be broken up into two pieces.Since mid-March ICE has housed detainees at a tent facility in El Paso, Texas, operated by Deployed Resources, that was previously used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The Department of Defense awarded Deployed Resources a contract to run the site for ICE, an ICE spokesperson told ProPublica.Current and former agency officials said holding ICE detainees in tent facilities which in the past have generally held people for shorter periods of time raises significant concerns about potential health and safety risks. An ICE official at a recent border security conference said Deployed Resources was adding more rigid structures within its tents, which could address such concerns.Trump, upon returning to office in January, signed a series of executive orders declaring an emergency at the border and enlisting the military to help with immigration enforcement. In early April, the administration issued a request for bids on new detention facilities across the country that could be worth up to $45 billion.The rush of immigration contracts comes as the Trump administration guts federal programs and fires thousands of workers in other wings of the government. Joel Jacobs contributed data analysis.

After an early wobble, markets resumed rising after Chinese officials pushed back on comments from President Trump and others suggesting that tariffs may ease via negotiations.

Adding words to our chatbot can apparently cost tens of millions of dollars. But some fear the cost of not saying please or thank you could be higher.

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