FTC investigating ChatGPT creator OpenAI over consumer protection issues
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has launched an investigation into ChatGPT creator OpenAI and whether the artificial intelligence company violated consumer protection laws by scraping public data and publishing false information through its chatbot.
Pulitzer Prizes award Washington Post for Jan. 6 coverage
The Washington Post won the Pulitzer Prize in public service journalism Monday for its coverage of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, an attack on democracy that was a shocking start to a tumultuous year that also saw the end of the United Statesโ longest war, in Afghanistan.
Deputy Virginia AG resigns over posts lauding Jan. 6 rioters
A state official says a deputy Virginia attorney general has resigned after The Washington Post raised questions about social media comments the newspaper reported she made about the 2020 election, the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and other matters.
Bob Woodward to take on final days of Trump's presidency
Woodward is teaming with Costa on a book about the waning days of Donald Trumps administration and on the initial phase of Joe Bidens presidency. The book does not yet have a title or release date. (AP Photo)NEW YORK โ Bob Woodward's next book finds him in the familiar world of documenting a presidency's ending. Woodward is teaming with Washington Post colleague Robert Costa on a book about the waning days of Donald Trump's administration and on the initial phase of Joe Biden's presidency. Woodward already has written two best-sellers on Trump, โFearโ and โRage.โFor the new book, Woodward and Costa will have competition, from other Post reporters.
Virginia Military Institute removes Confederate statue
Crews prepare to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson from the campus of the Virginia Military Institute on Monday, Dec. 7, 2020, in Lexington, Va. (AP Photo/Sarah Rankin)LEXINGTON, Va. โ The Virginia Military Institute removed a prominent statue of Confederate Gen. Thomas โStonewallโ Jackson on Monday, a project initiated this fall after allegations of systemic racism roiled the public college. But โVMI does not define itself by this statue and that is why this move is appropriate,โ he added. VMI said the statue will be relocated to a nearby Civil War museum at a battlefield where dozens of VMI cadets were killed or wounded. But he said it would not remove the statue of Jackson, who owned enslaved people, or rethink the names of buildings honoring Confederate leaders. In 2015, VMI did away with requiring freshmen to salute the statue each time they passed it, Wyatt said.
Florida becomes 3rd state in US to surpass 1 million COVID-19 cases
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. โ The Florida Department of Health added 8,347 additional cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the stateโs known total of cases since March 1 to 1,008,166. Nine months to the day after the first coronavirus infections were diagnosed in Florida, the state becomes the third in the nation to surpass 1 million cases. Florida and Duval County daily COVID-19 case increases since June 1Hospitalizations related to COVID-19 continued to rise, with 4,279 confirmed cases in hospitals on Tuesday afternoon. Duval County hospitals report 224 COVID-19 patients, 46 in Clay County and 22 in St. Johns County. Columbia County reports it has no available ICU beds while Clay County is down to 14% of available intensive care beds.
Florida nears 1 million COVID-19 cases
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. โ The Florida Department of Health on Monday confirmed 6,658 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the stateโs known total of cases to 999,319 since March 1 when the first person in the state tested positive. There were five additional deaths reported in Jacksonville on Monday, which pushes Duval Countyโs total above 600. Florida and Duval County daily COVID-19 case increases since June 1Hospitalizations related to COVID-19 continued to rise, with 4,160 confirmed cases in hospitals on Monday afternoon. Duval County hospitals report 211 COVID-19 patients, 48 in Clay County and 22 in St. Johns County. Nomi Health run @FLSERT Regency Mall #COVID19 Test Site in Jacksonville, Florida.
5 Things to Know for Today
FILE - In this Jan. 3, 2017, file photo The Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward arrives at Trump Tower in New York. Woodward, facing widespread criticism for only now revealing President Donald Trump's early concerns about the severity of the coronavirus, told The Associated Press that he needed time to be sure that Trump's private comments from February were accurate. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:1. N95S ARE STILL IN A SHORTAGE White House officials say the U.S. has all the medical supplies needed to battle COVID-19, but health care workers, hospital officials and even the FDA say thats not the case. CHIEFS BAN NATIVE IMAGERY AT ARROWHEAD Kansas City fans wont be wearing headdresses or face paint at the NFLs opener amid a nationwide push for racial justice following the police-custody death of George Floyd
Book: Kim Jong Un told Trump about killing his uncle
As he engaged in nuclear arms talks with Kim, Trump dismissed intelligence officials' assessments that North Korea would never give up its nuclear weapons. Trump told Woodward that the CIA has no idea how to handle Pyongyang. Critics said that by meeting Kim, Trump provided the North Korean leader with legitimacy on the world stage. Kim wrote to Trump that he believed the deep and special friendship between us will work as a magical force." But the sources did not provide details and told Woodward, according to the book, that they were surprised Trump had disclosed it.
Book: Trump said of virus, 'I wanted to always play it down'
You just breathe the air and thats how its passed, Trump said in a Feb. 7 call with Woodward. Trump told Woodward on March 19 that he deliberately minimized the danger. The Washington Post, where Woodward serves as associate editor, reported excerpts of the book, Rage" on Wednesday, as did CNN. The book is based in part on 18 interviews that Woodward conducted with Trump between December and July. "Trump never did seem willing to fully mobilize the federal government and continually seemed to push problems off on the states, Woodward writes.
Increase in alcohol-related deaths over past 2 decades in U.S. is jarring
To look at the numbers of alcohol-related deaths in the United States over the past 18 years, it can be quite jarring -- and that number is increasing at an alarming rate, experts say. Of the deaths associated with alcohol between 1999 and 2017, there was an increase in the rate of death of women by 85%, as compared to men at 35%. Experts will diagnose someone with AUD once a drinking problem becomes severe. MedicationsThere are now currently three medications in the United States that have been approved and can help people stop or reduce their drinking and prevent relapse. Click here to learn more about alcoholโs effect on the United States.
EPA plans to relax coal power plant waste rules
George Frey/Getty ImagesWASHINGTON, D.C. - The Environmental Protection Agency is planning Monday to relax rules regulating how power plants store waste from coal power plants and the release of water containing toxic chemicals into nearby waterways, according to a source familiar with the plans. The proposals scale back two Obama administration rules from 2015 that affect the disposal of fine powder and sludge, otherwise known as coal ash. Coal ash can contain mercury, arsenic and other metals that could negatively affect both human health and the environment at large. The new rules would allow extensions that could keep unlined coal ash waste ponds open for up to eight additional years and allow plants to discharge wastewater that captures the waste through a membrane system, though many plants would be exempt. The rule relaxation comes as companies in the coal industry claimed in court that the current rules were unaffordable and as the Trump administration has taken a "pro coal" stance under the President.
Man accused of Capital Gazette killings admits guilt, reports say
WBAL via CNN(CNN) - Jarrod Ramos, the man accused of killing five employees at the Capital Gazette newspaper last year, has admitted guilt in a Maryland court, according to the newspaper and the Washington Post. Ramos made the admission Monday in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, days before his trial was set to begin. The plea is not final until it is accepted by Judge Laura Ripken in an ongoing hearing, the papers reported. CNN has reached out to Ramos' attorney and the Anne Arundel County district attorney, but has not gotten a response. Ramos allegedly stormed the Capital Gazette's offices in June 2018.
Second man arrested in rapper Mac Miller's death
Mac Miller, a rapper and producer who began his rise in the music industry in his late teens, has died, his attorney David Byrnes tells the Washington Post. (CNN) - A second man has been arrested following rapper Mac Miller's accidental overdose death last year in Los Angeles. Ryan Reavis, 36, of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, was charged with a series of drugs and weapons offenses, including possession of marijuana, prescription drugs and drug paraphernalia. Lake Havasu City is in western Arizona about 200 miles from Phoenix. Another arrest weeks earlierEarlier this month, a California man was arrested for allegedly giving the rapper drugs laced with fentanyl days before his death, the DEA said.
JAY-Z's Company to Co-Produce Super Bowl Halftime Show and Oversee NFL's Social Justice
JAY-Z will have a say in who performs at Super Bowl halftime shows -- but it probably won't be himself! The deal will also see JAY-Z's Roc Nation serving as a co-producer of the Super Bowl halftime show. Do I hope hell perform in the Super Bowl sometime in the next several years? Maroon 5 ended up headlining the halftime show this year, alongside Travis Scott and Outkast's Big Boi. Check out our exclusive interview with the triple-threat star:RELATED CONTENT:Jennifer Lopez Talks Possibility of Playing the 2020 Super Bowl Halftime ShowSoulja Boy Weighs In on Travis Scott's Super Bowl Halftime Show Backlash (Exclusive)Untangling Travis Scott and Colin Kaepernick's Super Bowl Halftime Show Drama
Reports: Proposed peace deal could bring troops home from Afghanistan
CNN Video(CNN) - The Pentagon is preparing to withdraw thousands of troops from Afghanistan as part of a proposed peace deal with the Taliban, both The Washington Post and Fox News reported Thursday. So far, no agreement has been finalized, Fox News said. The withdrawal would cut the number of troops in the country from 14,000 to between 8,000 and 9,000, the Post said. Months of negotiations have taken place between the Taliban and Zalmay Khalilzad, an Afghanistan-born American diplomat who was appointed by President Donald Trump, the Post said. An agreement could be finalized ahead of the Afghan presidential election in September, but officials cautioned that Taliban leaders could delay that timetable.
People are flocking to this stunning turquoise lake -- there's just one slightly gross problem
A young woman poses for pictures by a Novosibirsk energy plant's ash dump site, nicknamed the local "Maldives," on July 11, 2019 (ROSTISLAV NETISOV/AFP/Getty Images). The man-made lake is a stunningly gorgeous shade of turquoise -- which seems to be the reason why people are flocking there to take photos for Instagram. The Washington Post said it best: The Siberian lake isnt a natural wonder. Here are some good excerpts:Last week, our ash dump (was) the star of social networks.You cannot swim in the ash dump. The bottom of the ash dump is muddy!
Judge dismisses Sandmann lawsuit against the Washington Post
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images(CNN) - A very significant ruling in the media law world came Friday: A federal judge in Kentucky dismissed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the Washington Post. High school student Nicholas Sandmann filed the lawsuit after video of his encounter with Native American elder Nathan Phillips at a March for Life rally in Washington, DC, went viral online. The Washington Post said it's "pleased" with judge's decision. Sandmann's parents told WaPo that they plan to appeal the decision. "I believe fighting for justice for my son and family is of vital national importance," Ted Sandmann told the newspaper.
WaPo: Budget deal nears, would require Trump's approval
Negotiators for the White House and congressional leaders were working out details, but any agreement would still require the president's approval, the Post said. The White House had sought cuts to reach a deal, but sources told the Post any such cuts would happen at a later time, and could be reversed by a future session of Congress. The House will recess next week, leaving a tight timeline for approval. The Senate plans to remain in session and additional week, allowing more time for a vote and the president's signature, the Post added. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.