Thursday, March 4 top stories
It is Thursday, March 4. Here are today’s top stories.
In Seattle’s Chinatown-International District, police said a person randomly assaulted a young Asian American woman by striking her face with a rock in a sock. KOMO News said the woman was knocked unconscious and had a fractured nose and chipped teeth. The woman’s boyfriend, who is white, was also struck in the head and needed eight stitches. The suspect took off and police are investigating it as a “bias crime.” This adds to a growing nationwide concern about bias and violence towards Asian people that is motivated by nonsensically blaming them for the coronavirus pandemic.
The House passed a policing bill named the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Axios explained the the bill aims to greatly reduce qualified immunity for police officers, bans chokeholds at the federal level, prohibits no-knock warrants in federal drug cases, and outlaws racial profiling. The bill also would establish a national registry of police misconduct to be managed by the Department of Justice. All but two Democrats were in favor of it, while all Republicans were opposed. We’ll see what Senators do with the bill.
Congress is still working on President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus package. Democrats have adjusted a proposal to set a strict limit on who can get the $1,400 stimulus check by removing any payments for those earning $80,000 or more individually or $160,000 for a household. The previous cap was $20,000 higher. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis) is opposed to the bill and is trying to force the entire 600-page bill to be read on the Senate floor, which would take 10 hours. Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the Senate would stay in session for as long as it takes to finish voting on the package.
There are two videos of a man that looks exactly the same as Tom Cruise on TikTok, but they are not Tom Cruise but a deepfake. The term means someone put a digital mask to create a fake video that looks like the real thing. Look at this clip from NBC’s “Today.”
The anchors said even the voice, including his laugh, was perfect.
There are ethical concerns that this technology can be used to hurt others, especially political or well-known people or for revenge pornography. A study from the University College London said fake audio or video content is the “most worrying use of artificial intelligence in terms of its potential applications for crime or terrorism.” Some suggested there be laws enacted to regulate these kinds of videos.
Other AI threats are using driverless vehicles as weapons, creating tailored phishing messages, disrupting AI-controlled systems, harvesting online information for blackmail, and AI-authored fake news.
[Sponsored Video from Sorenson: www.sorenson.com]
There is controversy with the British monarchy and Oprah and CBS over an interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, which will be released on Sunday. A trailer showed Markle saying that [Buckingham Palace] is spreading out false information about them and that she isn’t afraid to lose things because there have been a lot that has been lost already. Harry said things have been very tough and that he didn’t want to see a repeat of what happened to his mother, Diana.
Buckingham Palace said Meghan was a bully who mistreated staff. There is pressure for CBS and Oprah to delay the interview because Queen Elizabeth II’s husband, Prince Philip, has been hospitalized for weeks and underwent heart surgery yesterday. But the interview video is set to be released on Sunday worldwide.
SpaceX tested another Starship rocket prototype yesterday in Texas. It launched into the sky and flew itself back on Earth and successfully landed upright. But eight minutes later, it exploded.
SpaceX’s CEO Elon Musk is usually optimistic despite explosions, saying it helps the team to improve the prototypes. SpaceX hopes to use the Starship to carry humans and cargo to the moon and Mars in the future.
CBS News reported that several orangutans and bonobos at the San Diego Zoo have received an experimental Covid-19 vaccine that was developed by a veterinary pharmaceutical company named Zoetis. Great apes can get the Covid-19. In January eight gorillas at the San Diego Zoo were infected. Lions and tigers at other zoos have also tested positive for Covid-19. Animal conservation groups said there should be special concern for all species of gorillas because they are endangered or critically-endangered and Covid-19 could wipe out entire families or groups who are living in close quarters.
That’s all the top stories for today. See you later and stay with the light.
https://news.yahoo.com/high-school-teachers-nose-teeth-162414380.html
https://komonews.com/news/local/stranger-attacks-asian-couple-in-chinatown-as-hate-crimes-spike-in-king-county
https://www.today.com/tmrw/tom-cruise-deepfake-videos-tiktok-leave-people-baffled-t210704
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200804085908.htm
https://www.axios.com/george-floyd-justice-policing-act-house-e5f8361c-2940-464a-a56c-93ae0febab93.html
https://www.axios.com/senate-relief-ron-johnson-schumer-e53be482-4483-4915-8774-5c7f157965a0.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/03/us/biden-stimulus-checks.html?campaign_id=57&emc=edit_ne_20210303&instance_id=27695&nl=evening-briefing®i_id=85783343&segment_id=52723&te=1&user_id=2965744ad183e0850dfc9488215de450
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9325545/Meghan-Harry-confirm-Oprah-interview-ahead-despite-Prince-Philips-health-battle.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/spacex-starship-rocket-prototype-nails-landing-blows-rcna341
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/great-apes-san-diego-zoo-receive-covid-19-vaccine/