Eleven inmates escaped from the Orleans Parish Justice Center in Louisiana, authorities said Friday. Officials discovered the inmates missing during a routine head count around 8:30 a.m. Friday, Sheriff Susan Hutson said at an afternoon news conference, calling it a “very serious and unacceptable situation.” It’s not clear how they …
Read More »Michael J. Fox to guest star on next season of ‘Shrinking’
Michael J. Fox is returning to his roots. The five-time Emmy Award winner will guest star in the third season of the Apple TV+ series “Shrinking.” The streaming service and the actor shared a collaborative Instagram post with the news Thursday. “Big feelings incoming. Michael J. Fox joins the Shrinking cast as a …
Read More »NYU withholds diploma of student who used commencement speech to address Israel-Hamas war
New York University said it is withholding the diploma of a student who delivered an unapproved commencement speech to address what he called the “atrocities currently happening in Palestine” during the Israel-Hamas war. The prestigious private university quickly condemned the speech delivered by student Logan Rozos on Wednesday. “NYU strongly …
Read More »Trump returns to Washington with investment agreements but no major peace deals
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — President Donald Trump is returning to Washington on Friday after a diplomatic tour of the Middle East, where he pitched American business and secured investment pledges but failed to reach long-promised peace deals in Gaza and Ukraine. Marked by high-level talks and lavish displays …
Read More »Musk’s xAI says Grok’s ‘white genocide’ posts came after unauthorized change to the bot
Elon Musk’s xAI on Thursday evening made its first public comment about the latest controversy surrounding Grok, writing in a post on X that an “unauthorized modification” caused the chatbot to generate variations of a “specific response on a political topic.” That controversial topic was “white genocide” in South Africa, and Grok was …
Read More »Ukraine and Russia finally begin direct talks after false start
ISTANBUL — A diplomatic frenzy consumed Istanbul’s Dolmabahçe Palace on Friday, as Russia and Ukraine sat down to hold their first direct peace talks since the early months of this three-year war. Amid repeatedly changing plans, diplomats from Moscow, Kyiv, Washington, London, Paris and Berlin were attempting to navigate the …
Read More »Israeli strikes kill over 250 people in Gaza, officials say, as Trump wraps up Middle East tour
Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed 250 people in the last 36 hours, bringing the official death toll to over 53,000, according to local health officials, as President Donald Trump tours the Middle East with few remarks on Israel’s intensifying war on the enclave. The U.S. would no …
Read More »Angel Reese, Napheesa Collier among top players to watch this season
A face of the WNBA for two decades, Diana Taurasi, has retired. A new collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players union — one that could bring higher salaries — is under negotiation. And while the WNBA Finals in four of the last five years have featured either …
Read More »Charles Strouse, Broadway composer of ‘Annie’ and ‘Bye Bye Birdie,’ dies at 96
NEW YORK — Three-time Tony Award-winner Charles Strouse, Broadway’s industrious, master melody-maker who composed the music for such classic musical theater hits as “Annie,” “Bye Bye Birdie” and “Applause,” died Thursday. He was 96. Strouse died at his home in New York City, his family said. In a career that …
Read More »Sailing from Oregon to Hawaii after quitting his job turns a man with a cat into social media star
HONOLULU — Midway while sailing across the Pacific with just his cat named Phoenix, Oliver Widger reflected on why he thinks his many followers — more than a million on TikTok and Instagram — are drawn to his story of quitting his 9-to-5 job and embarking on a journey from …
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