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World needs to be ‘vigilant’ as AI technology improves and deepfakes spread: UN adviser

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:11:15 GMT

Toronto, Ontario (CTV Network) — A UN adviser says the world needs to be “vigilant” as artificial intelligence technology improves, allowing for more realistic-looking deepfakes.Deepfakes refer to media, typically video or audio, manipulated with AI to falsely depict a person saying or doing something that never happened in real life.“A digital twin is essentially a replica of something from the real world… Deepfakes are the mirror image of digital twins, meaning that someone had created a digital replica without the permission of that person, and usually for malicious purposes, usually to trick somebody,” California-based AI expert Neil Sahota, who has served as an AI adviser to the United Nations, told CTVNews.ca over the phone on Friday.Deepfakes have been used to produce a wide variety of fake news content, such as one supposedly showing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy telling his country to surrender to Russia. Scammers have also used deepf...

A dozen critically endangered red wolf pups were born at the North Carolina Zoo

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:11:15 GMT

(CNN) — The North Carolina Zoo has welcomed three litters of red wolf pups, bringing in a dozen new members of the world’s most endangered wolf species.The wolves were born during a three-day period in late April and are part of the zoo’s red wolf breeding program, it said in a news release.“All pups and their mothers are healthy and doing well. This is the first time in the Zoo’s breeding program that three litters were born in one spring,” the zoo said in the release.Next month, the zoo plans to announce a public naming poll for one of the litters.With the addition of the new pups, the zoo’s breeding program now has 36 red wolves, making it the second-largest pack in the United States, after Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington, the news release noted.“These births are important because many of our wolves, once matured, have been moved to other breeding packs to continue to help bring this species back from near extinction. Our hope is that more and more red wolve...

Religious theme park in Orlando demolished

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:11:15 GMT

Orlando’s controversial religious theme park, The Holy Land Experience, sees its final days as it is torn down.The end of an era was marked once claws tore at the last of the Roman Coliseum, one of the most iconic landmarks of the park. The attraction opened in 2002 and told the story of Jesus through the eyes of Christianity. Though it was revered by many, it was also mocked. The park’s gift shop sold Holy Land fanny packs and, using bean bags, guests could hit the devil with their best shot.YouTuber Vincent Rodriguez lives in Orlando and bought a ticket out of curiosity.“It was a pretty interesting experience,” said Rodriguez. “There was a lot to see and do. I could see why it had been here in Orlando so long.”But eventually, the park was no longer able to make a profit, causing the gates to close several years ago.“You have to be successful 365 days a year,” said theme park expert Abe Pizam, who believes that in the motherland of th...

Rain today, “pick of the weekend” tomorrow

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:11:15 GMT

7Weather- Welcome to the weekend! Today it’ll be wet, so grab the umbrella. Rain will be heavy at times this afternoon and tonight. Temperatures stay in the 60s. We’ll clear out by tomorrow morning. The weekend ends much better with milder temperatures in the 70s and some sun. We’re watching subtropical moisture moving up the East Coast and a cold front draped across the Ohio Valley. These two will interact and bring us the rain, heavy at times.Let’s time out the rain. Light rain moves in for most of us by midday. The rain will be heavy at times this afternoon. Rain continues through tonight. Downpours are possible. By the time we wake up tomorrow morning, a front will have cleared the region. There will be thicker cloud cover and a lingering shower for the Cape. More clouds in the morning tomorrow, before we get some sun through the day on Sunday.T-Swift fans will be singing in the rain tonight. More mild weather for her final concert tomorrow!Allergy suffer...

Baseball/softball notebook: Red-hot Weymouth on the move

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:11:15 GMT

Joe Paolucci knew his team possessed plenty of talent. To see it all come together, however, was hard to expect.Behind ace Sean Zaslaw and a relentless lineup that has four hitters batting over .400, Weymouth heads into the final week of the regular season with a 15-4 record, with wins in 11 of its last 12 games.The Wildcats hold a season sweep over Braintree to go splits versus Div. 2 favorite Milton and perennial Div. 1 contender Walpole.“Every year here I have been cautiously optimistic but it has not worked out,” said Paolucci, who is in his ninth season as head coach. “I knew with a caliber pitcher like Sean Zaslaw he could take us to 6-7 wins. Between what he has been doing and 3-4 other guys, it’s turned into a great year.”Senior first baseman Andrew Ferguson is batting .481 to go with three home runs and 21 RBIs. Paolucci’s shortstop, senior Gill Dolan, is one of the top overall players in the Bay State Conference as evidenced by his .468 ...

There's a chance of thunderstorms in these San Diego areas

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:11:15 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The Southern California coast has been experiencing "May Gray" the past few days, but it looks the mountain areas of San Diego County may experience some action weather wise this weekend.As a precursor to what could come, the National Weather Service San Diego issued a special weather statement around 3:15 a.m. Saturday for Pine Valley, Campo and Potrero in the Mountain Empire area that warned of winds gusts around 40 mph. That advisory expired about an hour later. San Diego metro area among the most expensive in US to raise a child Looking ahead, NWS forecasts a chance of thunderstorms for some mountain ranges. In a weather map released at 3:13 a.m. Saturday, the following San Diego County areas have an over 10% chance of thunderstorms for the day, according to NWS.-- Mt. Laguna has a 16% chance.-- Campo has a 12% chance.-- Julian has a 30% chance.-- Borrego Springs has a 12% chance-- Palomar has a 23% chance.(National Weather Service San Diego)While there is a chanc...

Suspected impaired driver arrested in North York hit-and-run

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:11:15 GMT

Toronto police say a suspected impaired driver is in custody after being involved in several reported collisions in North York.Authorities were notified of a single-vehicle crash around 9:30 a.m. on Saturday in the Bathurst Street and Steeles Avenue East area on the Toronto-Vaughan border.Police said a male driver fled the scene along Steeles Avenue East but was taken into custody a short time later.A Toronto police spokesperson tells CityNews 680 a suspected impaired driver was sent to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.It’s believed the same driver was involved in at least three crashes — near Centerpoint Mall in North York, Bayview and Steeles, and the reported collision near Bathurst and Steeles.It’s unclear if anyone else was injured, but Toronto police don’t believe anyone was seriously hurt.

DeSantis asks that judge be disqualified from Disney’s free speech lawsuit

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:11:15 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Gov. Ron DeSantis is asking that a federal judge be disqualified from the First Amendment lawsuit filed by Disney against the Florida governor and his appointees, claiming the jurist’s prior statements in other cases have raised questions about his impartiality on the state’s efforts to take over Disney World’s governing body.DeSantis ‘ attorney filed a motion in federal court in Tallahassee on Friday seeking to disqualify U.S. District Judge Mark Walker from overseeing the lawsuit filed by Disney last month. The lawsuit alleges that DeSantis and his appointees violated the company’s right to free speech, as well as the contracts clause, by taking over the special governing district that previously had been controlled by Disney supporters after Disney opposed Florida legislation that critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.”The Republican governor’s motion was filed a day after Disney announced that it was scrapping plans to ...

G7 leaders warn China not to conduct ‘interference’ as Zelenskyy arrives at summit

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:11:15 GMT

HIROSHIMA, Japan — Canada and the G7 have reasserted their intention to decrease their economic dependency on China while specifically calling on the country not to conduct “interference activities.”The leaders gathered for their annual summit in Hiroshima, Japan put out a joint communiqué on Saturday that included the new language on foreign interference at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s request.It warned China it must “act in accordance with its obligations” under the treaties that govern diplomatic and consular relations, “and not to conduct interference activities aimed at undermining the security and safety of our communities, the integrity of our democratic institutions and our economic prosperity.”A Canadian official said during a media briefing ahead of the document’s release that Trudeau had specifically raised the issue with his counterparts from the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.World leade...

Jonathan Glazer rocks Cannes with a chilling Holocaust drama from a different perspective

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:11:15 GMT

CANNES, France (AP) — Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest,” a chilling Auschwitz-set drama shot through “a 21st century lens,” has delivered the Cannes Film Festival’s first critical sensation by approaching the Holocaust from an unlikely perspective. “The Zone of Interest,” which premiered to rave reviews Friday night, dramatizes the life of a fictional German family whose handsome home and tasteful gardens abut the outer wall of Auschwitz. There, they live a mostly peaceful, mundane life, while incinerators rumble in the background, smoke rises from the gas chambers, and muffled screams can be heard. The father is Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel), a Nazi commandant who designed Auschwitz, who lives with his wife, Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) and children. “The Zone of Interest,” loosely based on a Martin Amis novel, rigorously follows the family’s daily lives while atrocity thrums next door. “What it’s trying to do is talk to the capacity within each of us for viole...