Author: Reporter

Unlocking history: Declassified JFK assassination records could shed light on Cold War intrigues

Millions of documents related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas have already been made public, but President Donald Trump has ordered the release of thousands of still-classified files. Trump signed the executive order on January 23 as part of a flurry of executive actions taken in the first week of his second term. Many people who have studied previously released documents say the public should not anticipate any earth-shattering revelations. But there is still intense interest in details related to the assassination and the events surrounding it, and other figures of that time. Of...

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AI’s Sputnik Moment: How DeepSeek caught up with American tech companies at a fraction of the cost

A frenzy over an artificial intelligence chatbot made by Chinese tech startup DeepSeek was upending stock markets on January 27 and fueling debates over the economic and geopolitical competition between the U.S. and China in developing AI technology. DeepSeek’s AI assistant became the No. 1 downloaded free app on Apple’s iPhone store on January 27, propelled by curiosity about the ChatGPT competitor. Part of what is worrying some U.S. tech industry observers is the idea that the Chinese startup has caught up with the American companies at the forefront of generative AI at a fraction of the cost. That,...

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Tech stocks tumble with heavy losses for Nvidia as a Chinese competitor threatens to upend AI frenzy

Wall Street’s superstars tumbled on January 27 as a competitor from China threatened to upend the artificial intelligence frenzy they have been feasting on. The S&P 500 dropped 1.5%, dragged down in large part by a 16.9% fall for Nvidia. Other Big Tech stocks also took heavy losses, and they pulled the Nasdaq composite down 3.1% for its worst loss in more than a month. The damage was focused on AI-related stocks, while the rest of the market held up much better. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 289 points, or 0.7%, and the majority of U.S. stocks climbed....

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Naftali Furst: Auschwitz survivor tells stories from 80 years ago as witnesses to the Holocaust dwindle

Naftali Fürst will never forget his first view of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, on November 3, 1944. He was 12 years old. SS soldiers threw open the doors of the cattle car, where he was crammed in with his mother, father, brother, and more than 80 others. He remembers the tall chimneys of the crematoria, flames roaring from the top. There were dogs and officers yelling in German “get out, get out!” forcing people to jump onto the infamous ramp where Nazi doctor Josef Mengele separated children from parents. Fürst, now 92, is one of a dwindling number of...

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Eighty years after liberation: Global leaders confront modern atrocities on Auschwitz anniversary

The world’s focus will be on the remaining survivors of Nazi Germany’s atrocities on January 27 as world leaders and royalty join them for commemorations on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The main observances take place at the site in southern Poland where Nazi Germany murdered over a million people, most of them Jews, but also Poles, Roma and Sinti, Soviet prisoners of war, gay people, and others targeted for elimination in Adolf Hitler’s racial ideology. The anniversary has taken on added poignancy due to the advanced age of the survivors, and an awareness that they...

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Salute debate: Extremists are embracing Musk’s straight-arm gesture regardless of what he meant

Right-wing extremists have been celebrating Elon Musk’s straight-arm gesture during a speech on January 20, although his intention was not totally clear. “I just want to say thank you for making it happen,” Musk said during a speech at Capital One Arena, referring to Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election. Then he pounded his hand on his chest, and extended his arm straight outward and upward with his palm facing downwards. He turned around and made a similar gesture facing the other way. “My heart goes out to you,” he said. Many social media users noticed that the...

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