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China’s Risky Power Play in the South China SeaChina’s coast guard ships have swarmed and collided with Philippine boats. A New FlashpointFor months, the latest target of China’s power play was a Philippine coast guard ship, the Teresa Magbanua. Philippine coast guard Chinese ships Noon, June 17 A group of Chinese ships moved to block the Philippine vessel. SECOND THOMAS SHOAL SABINA SHOAL A Chinese ship began tailing a Philippine ship around 8 a.m. More Chinese ships waited here. 6 p.m. SECOND THOMAS SHOAL SABINA SHOAL The Chinese ships followed the Philippine ship.

Persons: Teresa Magbanua, Sabina, Thomas, ”, Jay Batongbacal, Sabina Shoal, Hu Bo, Ferdinand R, Marcos Jr, Mr, Hu, Marcos, Manlia, Jan, Thomas Shoal, “, Rommel Ong, Wu Yanan, Samuel Paparo, General, Lei Organizations: South China, Bank, University of the, Philippine Coast Guard, Coast Guard, Associated Press, Armed Forces, Facebook, Ateneo School of Government, Philippine Navy, Philippine, China Coast Guard, Reuters, THOMAS, SECOND, Strategic, International Studies, Pacific Command, Theater Command, United, Liberation Army’s Academy of Military Sciences, People’s Liberation Army Locations: South, Philippine, China, Philippines, United States, Chinese, Spratly, Scarborough Shoal, Vietnam, PHILIPPINES SPRATLY, Palawan, SPRATLY, PHILIPPINES Palawan, Sabina, Manila, Asia, University of the Philippines, South China, Beijing, Shoal, Palawan ., China’s, U.S, United

☆ When Do Women Have the Right to Kill in Self-Defense? - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-04 | by ( Rachel Louise Snyder | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +45 min

Mr. Ford kept their daughter at home to ensure Ms. Ford wouldn’t tell anyone in the emergency room how Robert’s injury happened. Ms. Ford, now 65, is serving a sentence of life without parole at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla. Leigh Goodmark, the author of the book “Imperfect Victims,” said that self-defense law imagines two parties of equal strength, size, weight and physical capability. But where self-defense law really fails to capture a woman’s experience is around the question of imminence. For women like Ms. Ford, Ms. Ayobi and many others, killing their way out of a relationship was an act of salvation — for themselves, for their children.

Persons: Anita Ford, Barry Ford, They’d, Robert, they’d, she’d, didn’t, wouldn’t, Ford, Ford’s, ” Mr, Debra Gomes, “ It’s, ”, I’m, —, George Wright, Wright, — Lionel Cashman, John Aldridge —, Aldridge, Cashman, Ms, “, Theresa Jones, Caroline Light, Michal Goldstein, Agatha Nyarko, they’ve, Cynthia Gillespie, doggedly, Gillespie, Leigh Goodmark, Nancy Grigsby, She’s, ” Ms, Grigsby, she’s, Shajia Ayobi, Ghulam Ayobi, Ayobi, Masiula, he’d, Debbie Mukamal, Andrea Cimino, what’s, proctors, proctor, we’d, Weeks, Miranda Gallegos, Janeen Snyder, Debby Saravia, Jamie Monroe, Malinda Jones, Mukamal, We’re, Lenore Walker, Walker, Karla Porter, Porter, It’s, Michal Buchhandler, Raphael, Mary Anne Franks, shouldn’t, Angelique Lyn Lavallee, Kevin Rust, Bertha Wilson, ’, Justice Wilson, Elizabeth Sheehy, George Zimmerman, Kyle Rittenhouse Organizations: Defense, Fords, Stanford, School’s Criminal, Center, Central, Central California Women’s, National Commission, An Ohio Supreme, Northwest Women’s Law Center, Violence Network, Ford, Stanford Criminal Justice Center, California Institution, Women, Research, Widener University, George Washington University, University of Ottawa Faculty of Law Locations: United States, Central California, Chowchilla, Mexico, Huntington Beach, Calif, Lakewood, An Ohio, Florida, Seattle, Ohio, Afghanistan, Sacramento, Canada, California, manila, Chino Hills, Los Angeles, D.U.I.s, San Jose, Maryland, New York , California, Oklahoma

☆ Pakistan’s Ex-Spy Chief, an Imran Khan Ally, Is Arrested
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-12 | by ( Salman Masood | Christina Goldbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

His arrest is the first time in Pakistan’s history that a current or former chief of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence, or I.S.I., has faced court-martial proceedings. It is widely seen as part of the latest crackdown on allies of the imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who handpicked General Hameed to serve as spy chief during his tenure. Officials have accused General Hameed and his brother of attempting to acquire ownership of the housing development by arresting and blackmailing its owner, according to court proceedings. Officials also accused General Hameed of violating the Pakistan Army Act after retiring in 2022, according to the news release, though it did not specify the exact charges. The act prohibits officials from engaging in political activities for two years after retirement.

Persons: Gen, Faiz Hameed, Imran Khan, Hameed, General Hameed Organizations: Inter - Services Intelligence, Inter, Services Public Relations, Pakistan Army Locations: Islamabad

☆ China’s Great Wall of Villages
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-10 | by ( Muyi Xiao | Agnes Chang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +14 min

China’s Great Wall of Villages China has moved thousands of people to new settlements on its frontiers. Mr. Akester and Mr. Barnett, who have studied Tibet’s border villages for years, reviewed The Times’s findings. In neighboring Xinjiang and Yunnan, The Times identified six new and 59 expanded border villages. (China says there are hundreds of villages like them, but few details are available and many appear to be mere upgrades of existing villages.) A Times investigation found 12 villages in disputed areas Disputed areas Villages in disputed areas Other villages CHINA CHINA TIBET Arunachal Pradesh Controlled by India Claimed by China BHUTAN INDIA MYANMAR 50 miles CHINA CHINA TIBET Arunachal Pradesh Controlled by India Claimed by China BHUTAN MYANMAR INDIA 75 miles Source: RAIC Labs and The Times analysis of Planet Labs satellite imageryChina makes clear that the villages are there for security.

Persons: ”, Xi Jinping, Bhutan Gyalaphug, Tian Shan Wang, Matthew Akester, Robert Barnett, Akester, Barnett, India Demchok, ” Mr, Xi’s, Brahma Chellaney, Mr, Chellaney, Liu Pengyu, Brian Hart, India Migyitun, Jing Qian, Tenzin, “ Organizations: Daily, New York Times, RAIC Labs, Planet Labs, The Times, SOAS University of London, India, China United Front News Network, Times, ”, Embassy, Local, Planet Labs India, China Power, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Maxar, Center for, Asia Society, Communist Party, Human Rights Watch Locations: China, India, Beijing, Arunachal Pradesh, Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Tajikistan Fumin, Aimin, Vietnam, Luozha county, Shannan, Tibet Autonomous, Fumin, Xinjiang, Yunnan, China’s, CHINA CHINA TIBET Arunachal Pradesh, China BHUTAN INDIA MYANMAR, China BHUTAN MYANMAR INDIA, New Delhi, South China, Washington, ” India, Ladakh, Times, ”, Center for China, Central Asians, Dokha

☆ Why Syphilis Is on the Rise in the U.S., and How to Stop It - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-25 | by ( Ina Park | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

That’s the credo of Elizabeth Glaser, a public health nurse for the Indian Health Service, who drives thousands of miles throughout the Navajo Nation searching for community members with the infection. While other reportable sexually transmitted infections declined or remained flat during the pandemic, over 207,000 cases of syphilis were reported in 2022, an 80 percent increase since 2018 and the highest number reported since 1950. Most disturbing within this trend is the rise in congenital syphilis. Over 3,700 cases were reported in 2022, which is more than double the number of cases of mother-to-child transmission of H.I.V. To tackle congenital syphilis, we must cast off societal squeamishness about S.T.I.s and invest in proven control strategies: public education, testing, treatment and contact tracing.

Persons: Elizabeth Glaser, they’re, Glaser Organizations: Indian Health Service Locations: United States

☆ A Daily Pill to Prevent S.T.I.s? It May Work, Scientists Say.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-18 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A daily dose of a widely used antibiotic can prevent some infections with syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia, potentially a new solution to the escalating crisis of sexually transmitted infections, scientists reported on Thursday. Scientists still have to resolve significant questions, including whether S.T.I.s might become resistant to the antibiotic and what effect it could have on healthy gut bacteria in people taking it every day. The approach would be recommended primarily to people at elevated risk of sexually transmitted infections during certain periods, said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, an infectious diseases physician at the University of Southern California who was not involved in the new work. “The number of people who are really going to be offered this and take this is still very small,” he said. “In general, the more choices we have for people, the more prevention options we have, the better.”

Persons: Jeffrey Klausner, “, ” Organizations: University of Southern Locations: University of Southern California

☆ The Chinese Base That Isn’t There
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-14 | by ( Agnes Chang | Hannah Beech | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +10 min

Security gate Chinese-funded buildup CAMBODIA Chinese warship CAMBODIA CAMBODIA Dry dock and other repair facilities Before After China insists it is not building a naval base in Cambodia. CHINA Ream, CambodiaThe Chinese Base That Isn’t There New facilities and the months-long presence of Chinese warships show Beijing’s growing global influence. In 2020, something curious happened at Cambodia’s Ream military base, on the Gulf of Thailand. The Chinese military presence near one of the world’s most vital sea lanes raises fundamental questions about Beijing’s ambitions. “The Ream military base is Cambodia’s, not the military base of any country,” Mey Dina, the commander of the base, told The New York Times.

Persons: CHINA, —, ”, Jan, John, “ We’re, Lloyd J, Austin III, ” Mey Dina, Mey Dina, Xi Jinping, dredgers, Ream, Gregory B, Poling, ‘ Ream, Xi, Hun Sen, Mr, Hun Sen’s, Hun Manet Organizations: U.S . Defense Department, Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University, Agence France, Navy, Planet Labs, Ream, Pentagon, New York Times, China’s, China’s Djibouti Naval, Basketball, Djibouti ETHIOPIA Perimeter, NAM Ream, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Cambodian, Congressional Research Service, White, AMERICA Ports, SOUTH AMERICA SRI LANKA, China, China ASIA EUROPE CHINA AFRICA Djibouti Ream SRI LANKA, United States Military Academy Locations: CAMBODIA CAMBODIA, China, Cambodia, CHINA Ream, Thailand, Ream, South China, American, Cambodian, U.S, People’s Republic, China’s, Djibouti, Horn of Africa, China’s Djibouti, YEMEN Djibouti, Djibouti ETHIOPIA, THAILAND, Cambodia Malacca, Africa, Asia, Southeast Asia, Djibouti Ream Africa, ASIA EUROPE, China CHINA AFRICA Djibouti, AUSTRALIA, China ASIA EUROPE CHINA AFRICA Djibouti, United States, Spratlys

☆ NASA Says No Plan to Use SpaceX to Rescue Boeing Starliner Astronauts
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-10 | by ( Kenneth Chang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

For two astronauts supposedly stranded in space, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore of NASA are certainly enjoying living aboard the International Space Station for an extra month or two. “We are having a great time here on I.S.S.,” Ms. Williams said during a news conference from orbit on Wednesday. She added: “I’m not complaining. Butch isn’t complaining that we’re up here for a couple of extra weeks.”

Persons: Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, ” Ms, Williams, I’m, Butch isn’t, ” Organizations: NASA, Space Station

☆ Astronauts Are Not Stuck on the I.S.S., NASA and Boeing Officials Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-28 | by ( Kenneth Chang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Two NASA astronauts who traveled at the start of June to the International Space Station were originally scheduled to return home a couple of weeks ago, completing a test flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Instead, the astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, will remain on the station for several weeks longer as NASA and Boeing engineers continue to study misbehaving thrusters on the vehicle. But don’t call the astronauts stuck or stranded, officials said on Friday. “We’re not stuck on I.S.S.,” Mark Nappi, the program manager at Boeing for Starliner, said during a news conference on Friday. “The crew is not in any danger.”

Persons: Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, “ We’re, ” Mark Nappi, “ Organizations: NASA, International Space, Boeing, Starliner

☆ ‘Black Barbie: A Documentary’ takes a deeper look at a trailblazing doll
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Kaila Nichols | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

And so she did: “Black Barbie: A Documentary,” her newly-released project, takes a deeper look at the story behind Black Barbie and its impact on representation in the toy business, and culture more broadly. The first Black Barbie (pictured center) wore a bold red dress, gold jewelry and an afro. The actual Black Barbie doll didn’t become a reality until decades later, after the company hired Kitty Black Perkins in 1976 as its first Black designer. “Having Black Barbie (dolls) just reinforces the fact that being Black is fly and amazing — and that Black women are gorgeous. Black Barbie is also validation for us filmmakers, everybody who worked on it, being seen and heard in this industry,” she added.

Persons: Lagueria Davis, Beulah Mitchell, Davis —, —, Barbie, ” Davis, Black Barbie, Black, Shonda Rhimes, Misty Copeland, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Maxine Waters, Copeland, Muhammad, Mitchell, Ruth Handler, Patricia A, Turner, Handler, “, ” Mitchell, “ Christie ”, Julia ”, Christie, Julia, Diahann Carroll, Kitty Black Perkins, Black Barbie’s, Black Perkins, ” Black Perkins, Aaliyah Williams, ”, ’, White, Yolanda Hester, Shani, Stacey McBride, Irby, McBride, Kitty, Stacy, Williams Organizations: CNN, Mattel, SXSW, Black, Netflix, “ Locations: Mitchell’s

☆ Fallout From Cyberattack at Ascension Hospitals Persists, Causing Delays in Patient Care
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Reed Abelson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In more than a dozen states, doctors and nurses have resorted to paper and handwritten treatment orders to chart patient illnesses and track them, unable to access the detailed medical histories that have long been available only through computerized records. For more than two weeks, thousands of medical personnel have turned to manual methods after a cyberattack on Ascension, one of the nation’s largest health systems with about 140 hospitals in 19 states and the District of Columbia. The large-scale attack on May 8 was eerily reminiscent of the hack of Change Healthcare, a unit of UnitedHealth Group that manages the nation’s largest health care payment system. The assault shut down Change’s digital billing and payment routes, leaving hospitals, doctors and pharmacists without ways to communicate with health insurers for weeks. Patients were unable to fill prescriptions, and providers could not get paid for care.

Organizations: District of Columbia, Healthcare, UnitedHealth Group

Meanwhile, OpenAI on Monday launched a new AI model and desktop version of ChatGPT, along with a new user interface. Gemini AI updatesGoogle introduced updates to Gemini 1.5 Pro, its AI model that will soon be able to handle even more data — for example, the tool can summarize 1,500 pages of text uploaded by a user. Generative AI tools such as chatbots and image creators continue to have issues with accuracy, however. New search featuresThe tech giant is launching "AI Overviews" in Google Search on Monday in the U.S. AI Overviews show a quick summary of answers to the most complex search questions, according to Liz Reid, head of Google Search. Google Search found the model of the record player and suggested that it could be malfunctioning because it wasn't properly balanced.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Andrej Sokolow, Anthropic, OpenAI, There's, Pichai, Gemini, Apple's Siri, Prabhakar Raghavan, Liz Reid, you'll, that's, Google's, Tony Stark's, —, ChatGPT, Demis Hassabis Organizations: Google, Getty, Gemini, Monday, Gmail, Astra Project Astra, Marvel, Astra Locations: U.S

☆ F.D.A. Approves Antibiotic for Increasingly Hard-to-Treat Urinary Tract Infections
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Andrew Jacobs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved the sale of an antibiotic for the treatment of urinary tract infections in women, giving U.S. health providers a powerful new tool to combat a common infection that is increasingly unresponsive to the existing suite of antimicrobial drugs. The drug will be marketed in the U.S. as Pivya and will be made available by prescription to women 18 and older. It is the first time in two decades that the F.D.A. has approved a new antibiotic for U.T.I.s, which annually affect 30 million Americans. is committed to fostering new antibiotic availability when they prove to be safe and effective.”

Persons: U.T.I.s, Dr, Peter Kim Organizations: Drug Administration, Drug, Research Locations: Europe, U.S

☆ An ISIS Terror Group Draws Half Its Recruits From Tiny Tajikistan
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Neil Macfarquhar | Eric Schmitt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Even though he spent five years in Tajik prisons as a teenager, she said he never exhibited signs of violent extremism. “We need to understand — who is recruiting young Tajiks, why do they want to highlight us as a nation of terrorists?” said the mother, Muyassar Zargarova. Many governments and terrorism experts are asking the same question. Tajik adherents of the Islamic State — especially within its affiliate in Afghanistan known as the Islamic State Khorasan Province (I.S.K.P. ISIS-K is believed to have several thousand soldiers, with Tajiks constituting more than half, experts said.

Persons: ”, Muyassar Organizations: Islamic Locations: Moscow, Tajikistan, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Khorasan Province, Russia, Iran, Turkey, Europe

☆ AI Garbage Is Already Polluting the Internet - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Erik Hoel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In other words, significant numbers of researchers at A.I. conferences were caught handing their peer review of others’ work over to A.I. And the closer to the deadline the submitted reviews were received, the more A.I. Some A.I.-generated scams are easy to identify, like the medical journal paper featuring a cartoon rat sporting enormous genitalia. Many others are more insidious, like the mislabeled and hallucinated regulatory pathway described in that same paper — a paper that was peer reviewed as well (perhaps, one might speculate, by another A.I.?

Locations: A.I

Political preferences are often summarized on two axes. models allows us to see how a model’s political preferences develop. Source: Rozado (2024), The Political Preferences of LLMsWhat determines the political preferences of your A.I. Political preferences learned from those topics may then be broadly applied across the board to many other subjects as well. If one wants to steer this process directionally, Mr. Rozado proves it is straightforward to do.

Persons: Chatbots, Tomi Um, David Rozado, Rozado’s, —, ’, Elon Musk, ” A.I, Google’s Gemini, tinker, Rozado, RightWingGPT, LeftWingGPT, chatbots Organizations: Google, Big Tech, Conservative, Government, Self, Mr, Liberal, Democratic, Yorker, YouTube, Facebook Locations: A.I, —, America

☆ An Antibiotic After Sex Greatly Reduced Syphilis and Chlamydia Cases
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A single dose of doxycycline, a widely used antibiotic, taken after sex halved the incidence of chlamydia and early syphilis among gay and bisexual men and transgender women in San Francisco, city health officials announced on Monday. The findings offered a glimmer of hope amid a rising tide of sexually transmitted infections nationwide. In San Francisco, gay and bisexual men and transgender women who had a history of S.T.I.s or multiple sex partners were given a supply of the antibiotic and asked to take two 100-milligram pills within 72 hours of unprotected sex. New cases of chlamydia and early syphilis — but not gonorrhea — dropped over the course of about a year. “It’s not subtle, it is very fast and we’re seeing the beginning of it, not the end,” Dr. Hyman Scott, a medical director at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, said in an interview.

Persons: —, “, Dr, Hyman Scott Organizations: Conference, San Francisco Department of Public Health Locations: San Francisco, Denver

☆ Russian Skaters Stripped of Olympic Gold but Will Still Get the Bronze
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Tariq Panja | Andrew Das | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

International skating’s governing body on Tuesday stripped Russia of its victory in the team figure skating event at the 2022 Beijing Olympics and awarded the gold medal to the United States. The move came one day after the teenage Russian star Kamila Valieva, who had led her team to an apparent victory in the team event, was banned for four years for doping. But rather than disqualify Russia’s team for including an ineligible skater, the governing body, the International Skating Union, adjusted the results of the competition in a way that awarded Russia the bronze medal instead. In a statement announcing the revised results, the skating union said that it had disqualified Valieva and dismissed all the points she had accumulated. Those alterations, it said, put the United States in first, with Japan second and Russia third.

Persons: Kamila Valieva, Valieva Organizations: Beijing, International Skating Union, Japan Locations: Russia, United States, Canada

☆ Syphilis Is Soaring in the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Syphilis, once nearly eliminated in the United States, continues to resurge, reaching the highest rate of new infections recorded since 1950, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday. More than 207,000 cases were diagnosed in 2022, the last year for which data are available. That represents an 80 percent increase since 2018, and 17 percent over the previous year’s tally, according to a new C.D.C. said more than 3,700 cases of congenital syphilis were reported in 2022, roughly 11 times the number recorded a decade ago. Experts pointed to a slew of reasons for the continued increases in syphilis and other S.T.I.s.

Organizations: Centers for Disease Control Locations: United States, resurge

NEW YORK (AP) — Norman Jewison, the acclaimed and versatile Canadian-born director whose Hollywood films ranged from Doris Day comedies and “Moonstruck” to social dramas such as the Oscar-winning "In the Heat of the Night," has died at age 97. Throughout his long career, Jewison combined light entertainment with topical films that appealed to him on a deeply personal level. (Jewison lost out for best director to Mike Nichols of "The Graduate"). Among those who encouraged Jewison while making “In the Heat of the Night”: Robert F. Kennedy, whom the director met during a ski trip in Sun Valley, Idaho. Jewison shifted to feature films in 1963 with the comedy “40 Pounds of Trouble,” starring Tony Curtis and Suzanne Pleshette.

Persons: — Norman Jewison, Doris Day, Oscar, “, Jeff Sanderson, Jewison, Jim Crow, ”, Rod Steiger, Sidney Poitier, James Baldwin, ’ Bosley Crowther, Bonnie, Steiger, Mike Nichols, Robert F, Kennedy, nodded, ‘, ’, Cher, Steve McQueen, Thomas, Denzel, Washington, Rubin “, ” Carter, Malcolm X, Spike Lee, shouldn’t, Lee, ” Jewison, Margaret Ann Dixon, Dixie, Kevin, Michael, Jennifer Ann, Agnes, God ”, Lynne St, David, Judy Garland, Danny Kaye, Harry Belafonte, Tony Curtis, Suzanne Pleshette, James Garner, McQueen, Edward G, Robinson, Carl Reiner, Eva Marie Saint, Alan Arkin, Sylvester Stallone, Jimmy Hoffa, Al Pacino, Bruce Willis, Michael Caine, Tilda Swinton, ____, Bob Thomas Organizations: Canadian, New York, Hollywood, ‘, Denzel Washington, Washington, Governor General’s Performing Arts, Canadian Film Centre, Toronto Film, Victoria College, BBC, CBC, Universal, MGM, Cincinnati, Vietnam, AP Entertainment Locations: Canadian, Philadelphia, Clyde, Sun Valley , Idaho, Mississippi, Canada, Toronto, London, Hudson

With a dearth of new releases in cinemas, Paramount Pictures' Tina Fey-scripted musical “Mean Girls” pushed its two-week total past $50 million, along with $16.2 million internationally. The top 10 films collectively accounted for just $51.3 million in box office, according to Comscore. The Jason Statham thriller “The Beekeeper,” from Amazon MGM Studios, remained in second place, grossing $8.5 million in its second weekend to bring its total to $31.1 million. Warner Bros. “Wonka,” six weeks into its smash run in theaters, was third, with $6.4 million in ticket sales. In its fourth week of release, the Blitz Bazawule-directed film starring Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson and Danielle Brooks, grossed just $720,000.

Persons: Oscar, Tina Fey, it's, Ariana DeBose, Jason Statham, “ Wonka, It's, Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell, Bridget Jones's Baby, Ava DuVernay's “, Aunjanue Ellis, Taylor, Isabel Wilkerson, Yorgos, Emma Stone, Cord Jefferson's, ”, Jeffrey Wright, Jonathan Glazer’s, Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P, Henson, Danielle Brooks, Comscore, “ I.S.S Organizations: Paramount Pictures, U.S, Bleecker, Audiences, Hollywood, Amazon MGM Studios, Warner Bros, Sony Pictures, Searchlight, Globe Locations: Russia

☆ ‘I.S.S.’ review: Ariana DeBose stars in an outer-space thriller that can’t maintain the gravity of its premise
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —If “Alien” broke ground as a haunted house movie in outer space, “I.S.S.” moves the suspense thriller into a similar confined and tense setting. Set in the near future, the film hinges on a mixed Russian-American crew aboard the International Space Station. Bringing that modern wrinkle to Cold War-era paranoia is ripe with possibilities, especially given the frostier interactions between the US and Russia in recent years. Ariana DeBose in the outer-space thriller "I.S.S." “I.S.S.” premieres January 19 in US theaters.

Persons: Ariana DeBose, John Gallagher Jr, Gordon, “, ” Chris Messina, Costa, Pilou Asbæk, Masha Mashkova, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, CNN Films ’, Nick Shafir, burnishing, ” Organizations: CNN, Space, CNN Films, “ Locations: Russian, American, Russia, I.S.S

☆ ‘I.S.S.’ Review: Ariana DeBose’s Turn as a Space Warrior
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Manohla Dargis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Three Americans, three Russians and one exceedingly cramped office hovering 250 miles above Earth — what could possibly go wrong? Given the typical genre coordinates, the 95 minute running time and historic hostilities between Russia and the United States, the more relevant questions here are when and how quickly and entertainingly things will go kablooey in “I.S.S.,” an enjoyable, low-wattage thriller set on the International Space Station. There are nothing but bilateral hugs and smiles when the space newbie Kira Foster (Ariana DeBose) arrives on the station, having been shot into the story on a Russian Soyuz rocket. The movie — written by Nick Shafir and directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite — flashes its wailing red alarms early and often. The space station itself — a cluttered warren with tangles of wires, claustrophobic chambers and eerily weightless bodies — makes a convincing pressure cooker.

Persons: Kira Foster, Ariana DeBose, John Gallagher Jr, —, Nick Shafir, Gabriela Cowperthwaite —, who’s, Alexey, Pilou, gruffly, Kira Organizations: Space, Russian Soyuz Locations: Russia, United States, “ I.S.S, Russian

☆ Arts Calendar: Happenings for the Week of January 14
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-14 | by ( Wsj Arts In Review Staff | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A scene from ‘Hazbin Hotel’ Photo: Prime VideoFilm• “I.S.S.” (Jan. 19): After war breaks out on Earth, tensions are high among those onboard the International Space Station in Gabriela Cowperthwaite ’s sci-fi thriller starring Pilou Asbæk , Ariana DeBose , John Gallagher Jr. and Chris Messina . • “Which Brings Me to You” (Jan. 19): Lucy Hale and Nat Wolff , in this romcom from Peter Hutchings , play a pair who, after sparks fly when they meet at a wedding, decide to take things slow to see if there’s something deeper between them.

Persons: ”, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Pilou Asbæk, Ariana DeBose, John Gallagher Jr, Chris Messina, •, Lucy Hale, Nat Wolff, Peter Hutchings Organizations: International Space Locations: Gabriela

☆ What to Know About OpenAI’s Chaotic Weekend
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( John Koblin | More About John Koblin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On Friday, Mr. Altman was abruptly dismissed as OpenAI’s chief executive. Details for his surprise departure are still emerging but a dispute with a fellow founder of OpenAI appears to have played a role. Mr. Sutskever also objected to what he perceived as his own diminished role inside the company. “It doesn’t seem at all implausible that we will have computers — data centers — that are much smarter than people,” Mr. Sutskever said recently on a podcast. I don’t know.”Two other OpenAI board members, Tasha McCauley and Helen Toner, have ties to the Rationalist and Effective Altruist movements, who have been concerned that A.I.

Persons: Altman, Steve Jobs, OpenAI, Ilya Sutskever, Sutskever, Mr, Tasha McCauley, Helen Toner, Altman “, ”, Brad Lightcap, Sam Organizations: Apple, Rationalist

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