Today: October 14, 2024
Today: October 14, 2024

Latest From The Los Angeles Post

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3 ways AI is transforming music

Musicians and producers can already utilize AI to realistically reproduce the sound of any instrument or voice imaginable. Paul Campbell/iStock via Getty Images Each fall, I begin my course on the intersection of music and artificial intelligence by asking my students if they’re concerned about AI’s role in composing or producing music. So far, the question has always elicited a resounding “yes.” Their fears can be summed up in a sentence: AI will create a world where music is plentiful, but musicians get cast aside. In the upcoming semester, I’m anticipating a discussion about Paul McCartney, who in June 2023

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Florida’s academic standards distort the contributions that enslaved Africans made to American society

Enslaved Africans built landmarks like the White House, the U.S. Capitol and New York’s Wall Street. Bettmann via Getty Images The state of Florida ignited a controversy when it released a set of 2023 academic standards that require fifth graders to be taught that enslaved Black people in the U.S. “developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their benefit.” As a researcher specializing in the history of race and racism in the U.S., I – like a growing chorus of critics – see that education standard as flawed and misleading. Whereas Florida would have students believe that

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For Mark Zuckerberg’s Threads, the real rival is still TikTok — not the former Twitter

Threads, the simple, bare-bones text-based social network created by Facebook owner Meta, burst onto the scene during a particularly bad week for the rival then still known as Twitter. It quickly amassed 100 million signups — a huge feat for a newcomer in the space — and was dubbed as a “Twitter killer.” By week two, though, signups began to drop off. As of Aug. 7, the number of people who used Threads daily hovered around 10 million on Android phones, down from 49 million when it launched a month earlier, according to research firm SimilarWeb. Is Mark Zuckerberg’s latest

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Russia targets Ukrainian city of Odesa again but Kyiv says it shot down all the missiles and drones

Russia launched three waves of nighttime air attacks against the southern Ukraine port city of Odesa, officials said Monday, though the Ukrainian air force said it intercepted all 15 incoming Shahed drones and eight Kalibr missiles. Falling debris from the interceptions damaged the dormitory of an educational facility in the city, a residential building and a supermarket, Odesa Gov. Oleh Kiper said. Two employees of the supermarket were hospitalized, Kiper said. The Kremlin’s forces have pummeled Odesa in recent times, aiming at facilities that transport Ukraine’s crucial grain exports and also wrecking cherished Ukrainian historical sites.

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Sudan’s top army general accuses paramilitary of war crimes in televised speech

In a rare televised speech Monday, the head of Sudan’s military accused the rival paramilitary force of committing war crimes as all-out civil war threatens to engulf the northeast African country. Sudan was plunged into chaos in April when months of simmering tensions between the military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open fighting in Khartoum and elsewhere. In a speech broadcast on Sudan TV, Burhan accused the RSF and Dagalo of committing violations under the falsehood of promising to restore democracy. “How can you

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Hawaii mourns the dead in ferocious wildfires while officials warn the full toll is not yet known

As Hawaii residents mourned those killed in ferocious wildfires, officials warned that the full human and environmental toll was not yet known and the recovery only just beginning. Twenty dogs and dozens of people will make their way through neighborhoods reduced to ash, searching burnt out cars and homes for the dead. With the toll at 96, this is already the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. Two fires have not yet been completely contained, including the one that demolished the historic town of Lahaina, according to an update from Maui County late Sunday.

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Poland’s government wants to ask voters loaded questions on border security as part of election

Poland’s government said Monday it wants to ask voters whether they want dismantled a recently-built border wall that blocks unauthorized migration from Belarus. The loaded question is one of four the right-wing ruling party wants to ask in a referendum it intends to hold alongside the Oct. 15 parliamentary elections. The Law and Justice party is intent on winning an unprecedented third term in the elections. Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on social media that the question will ask: “Do you support the pulling down of the barrier on the border on the Polish Republic with

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Sweden calls for vigilance abroad after Quran desecrations and protests

A senior Swedish official said Monday Swedes abroad and businesses linked to Sweden“should observe increased vigilance and caution,” following recent Quran burnings in the country and protests in the Muslim world. Henrik Landerholm, Sweden’s National Security Adviser, said there are signs of “a heightened threat” to the country and to Swedish interests abroad, adding the security situation has worsened. In a statement, Landerholm said that “representatives of terrorist groups have called for attacks against Sweden. States and other actors have helped amplify such messages.” He said Sweden has gone from being considered a “legitimate” target to

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Russia’s currency hits the lowest level since beginning of the war in Ukraine

The Russian ruble has reached its lowest value since the early weeks of the war in Ukraine as Western sanctions weigh on energy exports and weaken demand for the national currency. On Monday, the Russian currency passed 101 rubles to the dollar, continuing a more than 25% decline in its value since the beginning of the year and hitting the lowest level in almost 17 months. President Vladimir Putin’s economic adviser, Maksim Oreshkin, on Monday blamed the weak ruble on “loose monetary policy” in an op-ed for state news agency Tass. He said a strong ruble is

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Men alleging abuse at Japanese talent agency are interviewed by company investigators

Two men who say they were sexually abused as teenagers by a Japanese entertainment mogul were interviewed Monday by a special team set up by the talent agency to look into the allegations. Junya Hiramoto and Shimon Ishimaru, both former members of a boys’ dance-and-song group called Johnny’s Junior, said they still want an apology and compensation from Johnny & Associates. “They haven’t admitted anything, and they haven’t apologized,” Hiramoto told reporters after the interviews. “We desire a peaceful resolution. There is no point in taking the bloody, contentious route of fighting it out with hatred.” The

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Heavy rains trigger floods and landslides in India’s Himalayan region, leaving at least 22 dead

Heavy monsoon rains triggered floods and landslides in India’s Himalayan region, leaving at least 22 people dead and many others trapped, officials said Monday. A cloudburst in mountainous Himachal Pradesh state’s Solan district on Sunday night killed nine people in the area, and nine more bodies were pulled out from under mud and debris after two landslides in Shimla, the state’s capital, authorities told the Press Trust of India news agency. Four others were killed in heavy rains and a landslide in the state’s Hamirpur district, they added. The state’s chief minister, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, said

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Thousands of pieces of unexploded ordnance found buried in ground at Cambodian school

Cambodian authorities have temporarily closed a high school where thousands of pieces of unexploded ordnance from the country’s nearly three decades of civil war have been unearthed. The ordnance was found at the school in the northeastern province of Kratie after deminers were invited to search for buried landmines on the campus before a new building was constructed, Chheang Heng, the provincial deputy chief for education. More than 1,000 students study at Queen Kossamak high school. The site was an ammunition warehouse during the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s before being turned into a

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German foreign minister stuck in Abu Dhabi after another government plane problem

Germany’s foreign minister was stuck in Abu Dhabi on Monday after a technical problem on her government plane — the latest in a succession of such incidents — forced it to return to the airport rather than continue to Australia. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was due to arrive in Canberra on Monday night at the start of a visit to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. But her German air force Airbus A340 had to return to Abu Dhabi after a refueling stop because of “a mechanical problem with the landing flaps,” ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer wrote on

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Russia targets Ukrainian city of Odesa again but Kyiv says it shot down all the missiles and drones

Russia launched three waves of nighttime air attacks against the southern Ukraine port city of Odesa, officials said Monday, though the Ukrainian air force said it intercepted all 15 incoming Shahed drones and eight Kalibr missiles. Falling debris from the interceptions damaged the dormitory of an educational facility in the city, a residential building and a supermarket, Odesa Gov. Oleh Kiper said. Two employees of the supermarket were hospitalized, Kiper said. The Kremlin’s forces have pummeled Odesa in recent times, aiming at facilities that transport Ukraine’s crucial grain exports and also wrecking cherished Ukrainian historical sites.

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Sudan’s top army general accuses paramilitary of war crimes in televised speech

In a rare televised speech Monday, the head of Sudan’s military accused the rival paramilitary force of committing war crimes as all-out civil war threatens to engulf the northeast African country. Sudan was plunged into chaos in April when months of simmering tensions between the military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open fighting in Khartoum and elsewhere. In a speech broadcast on Sudan TV, Burhan accused the RSF and Dagalo of committing violations under the falsehood of promising to restore democracy. “How can you

Uncategorized

Hawaii mourns the dead in ferocious wildfires while officials warn the full toll is not yet known

As Hawaii residents mourned those killed in ferocious wildfires, officials warned that the full human and environmental toll was not yet known and the recovery only just beginning. Twenty dogs and dozens of people will make their way through neighborhoods reduced to ash, searching burnt out cars and homes for the dead. With the toll at 96, this is already the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. Two fires have not yet been completely contained, including the one that demolished the historic town of Lahaina, according to an update from Maui County late Sunday.

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South Africa’s unemployment is a ‘ticking time bomb.’ Anger rises with millions jobless

As Lebohang Mphuthi works amid the chaos of boisterous children during a lunch break at the Omar H.S. Ebrahim elementary school in South Africa — the kids are pushing, shoving and spilling food everywhere — she can’t help but think how this is as far from her dream job as it can get. Four years after graduating with a degree in analytical chemistry, the only work the 26-year-old has found is as a student assistant at a public school in Pretoria. Her responsibilities include handing out meals to the children and limiting the chaos as best she

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Pakistan’s caretaker premier is to be sworn in as people celebrate Independence Day

Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar is to be sworn in Monday as Pakistan’s prime minister to head a caretaker national government that will oversee parliamentary elections. Kakar, who is comparatively new to politics, has been representing his Baluchistan province in the Senate since 2018. On Sunday, Kakar quit as the head of his small Baluchistan Awami Party and quit as a senator after being named by outgoing premier Shehbaz Sharif and opposition leader Raza Riaz to oversee the vote and run the day-to-day affairs of the government until the people elect a new government. It is normal practice in Pakistan

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Heavy rains trigger floods and landslides in India’s Himalayan region, leaving at least 22 dead

Heavy monsoon rains triggered floods and landslides in India’s Himalayan region, leaving at least 22 people dead and many others trapped, officials said Monday. A cloudburst in mountainous Himachal Pradesh state’s Solan district on Sunday night killed nine people in the area, and nine more bodies were pulled out from under mud and debris after two landslides in Shimla, the state’s capital, authorities told the Press Trust of India news agency. Four others were killed in heavy rains and a landslide in the state’s Hamirpur district, they added. The state’s chief minister, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, said

Uncategorized

Thousands of pieces of unexploded ordnance found buried in ground at Cambodian school

Cambodian authorities have temporarily closed a high school where thousands of pieces of unexploded ordnance from the country’s nearly three decades of civil war have been unearthed. The ordnance was found at the school in the northeastern province of Kratie after deminers were invited to search for buried landmines on the campus before a new building was constructed, Chheang Heng, the provincial deputy chief for education. More than 1,000 students study at Queen Kossamak high school. The site was an ammunition warehouse during the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s before being turned into a

Uncategorized

German foreign minister stuck in Abu Dhabi after another government plane problem

Germany’s foreign minister was stuck in Abu Dhabi on Monday after a technical problem on her government plane — the latest in a succession of such incidents — forced it to return to the airport rather than continue to Australia. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was due to arrive in Canberra on Monday night at the start of a visit to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. But her German air force Airbus A340 had to return to Abu Dhabi after a refueling stop because of “a mechanical problem with the landing flaps,” ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer wrote on

Uncategorized

Russia targets Ukrainian city of Odesa again but Kyiv says it shot down all the missiles and drones

Russia launched three waves of nighttime air attacks against the southern Ukraine port city of Odesa, officials said Monday, though the Ukrainian air force said it intercepted all 15 incoming Shahed drones and eight Kalibr missiles. Falling debris from the interceptions damaged the dormitory of an educational facility in the city, a residential building and a supermarket, Odesa Gov. Oleh Kiper said. Two employees of the supermarket were hospitalized, Kiper said. The Kremlin’s forces have pummeled Odesa in recent times, aiming at facilities that transport Ukraine’s crucial grain exports and also wrecking cherished Ukrainian historical sites.

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Niger’s coup leaders say they will prosecute deposed President Mohamed Bazoum for ‘high treason’

Niger’s mutinous soldiers say they will prosecute deposed President Mohamed Bazoum for “high treason” and undermining state security, hours after they said they were open to dialogue with West African nations to resolve the mounting regional crisis. The announcement on state television on Sunday night, by spokesman Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane, said the military regime had “gathered the necessary evidence to prosecute before competent national and international authorities the ousted president and his local and foreign accomplices for high treason and for undermining the internal and external security of Niger.” Bazoum, Niger’s democratically elected president, was

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New Zealand, whose pandemic response was closely watched, removes last of COVID-19 restrictions

New Zealand on Monday removed the last of its remaining COVID-19 restrictions, marking the end of a government response to the pandemic that was watched closely around the world. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the requirement to wear masks in hospitals and other healthcare facilities would end at midnight, as would a requirement for people who caught the virus to isolate themselves for seven days. New Zealand was initially praised internationally for eliminating the virus entirely after imposing nationwide lockdowns and strict border controls. But as the pandemic wore on and more infectious variants took

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South Africa’s unemployment is a ‘ticking time bomb.’ Anger rises with millions jobless

As Lebohang Mphuthi works amid the chaos of boisterous children during a lunch break at the Omar H.S. Ebrahim elementary school in South Africa — the kids are pushing, shoving and spilling food everywhere — she can’t help but think how this is as far from her dream job as it can get. Four years after graduating with a degree in analytical chemistry, the only work the 26-year-old has found is as a student assistant at a public school in Pretoria. Her responsibilities include handing out meals to the children and limiting the chaos as best she

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