Aid In Gaza, DeNiro’s Speech Censorship, & Sports Illustrated’s AI Problem
November 29, 2023
Curbing Israel’s Enthusiasm
The U.S. appears to be slightly changing its approach to the Israel-Hamas war as the temporary ceasefire set up before Thanksgiving is reaching its end. Earlier this week, the White House announced that it would be sending 54,000 pounds of medical and food aid into Gaza by way of Egypt, with the first of three delivery flights arriving on Tuesday. The aid comes at a critical time for Gaza as the winter season looms over the territory’s thousands of displaced people. The U.S. has also made it clear to Israel that the increased levels of humanitarian aid aren’t tied to the recent temporary ceasefire, and that the IDF would be expected to allow future aid shipments into Gaza even if another ceasefire deal isn’t hammered out in time.
White House officials also say that they’ve warned Israel to not repeat the aerial bombardment strategies that the IDF has deployed in northern Gaza as the military prepares for an offensive in the southern half of the territory. Most of Gaza’s 2.2 million inhabitants have been pushed to the south in the face of the IDF’s offensive in Gaza City.
Besides putting pressure on Israel to allow more aid into Gaza, the U.S. has also sent CIA Director William J. Burns to Qatar to lead negotiations for a longer ceasefire agreement beyond the 10-day maximum Israel has said it will accept. In order to power this deal, the hostage releases that have been going on would likely need to expand to include the release of men and military personnel – mainly women and children have been released over the past week. Burns is also expected to push for the release of American hostages being held by Hamas.
Some Good News
- Zimbabwean ranger brings unloved painted dogs back from brink (Guardian)
- Sea turtle nests break records on Florida, US beaches (CBS)
- All 41 workers rescued from collapsed tunnel in India after 17-day ordeal (CNN)
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Finland Ices Out Its Neighbor
- Finland has announced plans to temporarily close its entire 830-mile border with Russia. The closure comes in response to what Finland says is a “hybrid operation” by Moscow, which involves Russia sending waves of asylum seekers into Finland across the border in order to pressure its Nordic neighbor. So far in November, over 900 people have sought asylum in Finland by way of Russia, though most of those asylum seekers came from countries including Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria.
- “This is an organised activity, not a genuine emergency,” said Finnish prime minister Petteri Orpo. “I think this is another example of how Russia is using many different tools to put pressure on neighbours. We have seen them using energy, we have seen them using cyberattacks, we have seen them using different kinds of clandestine operations to try to undermine our democracies.”
Solving The Snafu In Sierra Leone
- The West African country of Sierra Leone is on high alert following a series of attacks on military barracks and prisons over the weekend. While the leaders of the weekend attacks have mostly been detained, authorities are trying to track down some of the prisoners who are still on the loose.
- On Tuesday afternoon, gunshots were heard in a suburb of the nation’s capital, Freetown, as security forces continued operations to track down the prisoners. There’s currently a nationwide curfew in place from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. as authorities investigate the possible coup. President Maada Bio called it an “attack on democracy,” though his presidency has been called into question following a disputed election earlier this year.
Additional World News
- Elevator drops 650 feet at a platinum mine in South Africa, killing 11 workers and injuring 75 (ABC)
- Crépol murder: French pledge to tackle ultra-right after teen killing sparks protests (BBC)
- Germany is having a budget crisis while the economy struggles (ABC)
- Europol arrest hackers allegedly behind string of ransomware attacks (TechCrunch)
- Wife of Ukraine’s top military intelligence official hospitalized with apparent heavy metals poisoning (CNN)
- North Korea claims spy satellite has photographed White House and Pentagon (Guardian)
“Don’t ever doubt yourselves or waste a second of your life. It’s too short, and you’re too special.” – Ariana Grande
A Monologue For The Ages
- Robert DeNiro took the stage at the Gotham Awards in New York this week to present the Historical Icon & Creator Tribute for “Killers of the Flower Moon.” DeNiro read some remarks about the film before pointing out that the first half of his speech hadn’t shown up on the teleprompter. He then pulled out his phone and read the missing section anyway, attacking Florida, John Wayne, and the former president in the process.
- He said, “History isn’t history anymore. Truth is not truth. Even facts are being replaced by alternative facts and driven by conspiracy theories and ugliness,” before noting that Florida is teaching “that slaves developed skills which can be applied for their personal benefit” and mentioned John Wayne’s backward view on Native Americans.
- DeNiro (sort of) tied his rant back to the film, saying, “Lying has become just another tool in the charlatan’s arsenal. The former president lied to us more than 30,000 times during his four years in office, and he’s keeping up the pace in his current campaign of retribution. But with all his lies, he can’t hide his soul. He attacks the weak, destroys the gifts of nature, and shows disrespect – for example by using ‘Pocahontas’ as a slur.” The actor then refused to thank the film’s backers, Apple, blaming them for the teleprompter issues.
Alex Jones Learns About Generosity
- The Sandy Hook families, who won nearly $1.5 billion in their case against Infowars founder Alex Jones, have offered to settle that debt for at least $85 million over 10 years. Lawyers for the families said they believed the proposal was a better way to help resolve the bankruptcy issues facing Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems.
- The families’ lawyers offered Jones two options: either liquidate his estate and give the proceeds to creditors or pay them at least $8.5 million a year for 10 years — plus 50% of any income over $9 million per year. The lawyers were not kind to Jones in their documents, despite the generosity of offering to take a $1.4 billion pay cut.
Additional USA Reads
- Hunter Biden agrees to testify publicly before the House Oversight Committee (NBC)
- Jewish groups sue University of California over ‘unchecked’ antisemitism (Politico)
- Cyber-attack closes hospital emergency rooms in three US states (Guardian)
- Rosalynn Carter’s motorcade has arrived at the tribute service she designed herself before she died (CNN)
- Ex-girlfriend of Vermont shooting suspect reported his alleged harassment to police (NBC)
- The women who made painful choices challenge Texas’s severe abortion ban (Guardian)
- Massive fire destroys several South L.A. homes in ‘a blink of an eye’; 3 injured (LAT, $)
S.I.’s A.I. Issue
- One of the biggest sports publications in the world has been busted for publishing articles “written” by mysterious authors who don’t exist anywhere else online, with their pictures on the website being AI-generated images. Sports Illustrated was exposed in a report published by Futurism – though the report stopped short of accusing the publication of publishing AI-written articles.
- A spokesperson for Sports Illustrated’s parent company said that the articles in question were contracted out to a third-party company named AdVon Commerce. “We have learned that AdVon had writers use a pen or pseudo name in certain articles to protect author privacy — actions we don’t condone — and we are removing the content while our internal investigation continues and have since ended the partnership,” said the spokesperson, adding that “AdVon has assured us that all of the articles in question were written and edited by humans.” They wouldn’t lie, right?
Additional Reads
- Child driving stolen construction forklift leads Ann Arbor police on chase (NBC)
- Americans Love Avocados. It’s Killing Mexico’s Forests. (NYT, $)
- Elephant herd tramples car after baby struck along Malaysian highway (CNN)
- What is no-fault divorce, and why do some conservatives want to get rid of it? (CNN)
- The Envy Office: Can Instagrammable Design Lure Young Workers Back? (NYT, $)
- Our galaxy’s black hole spins fast and drags space-time with it, scientists say (CNN)
- Parthenon Sculptures: Greek prime minister ‘annoyed’ by Britain’s Rishi Sunak canceling meeting over spat (CNN)