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Why change AFCON now?

Al Jazeera

When the president of the Confederation of African Football, Patrice Motsepe, announced plans to move AFCON from a two-year to a four-year cycle, it raised a big question: Who actually benefits from that change? Samantha Johnson speaks to sports analyst Usher Komugisha about the power dynamics shaping the debate, and what it could mean for African football. Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua: Is this good for Boxing?


The Danger of Reducing America's Venezuela Invasion to a 60-Second Video

WIRED

January 3 marked the return of US military intervention in Latin America. While the events unfolded between Caracas and Brooklyn, social networks had already fabricated their own reality. A fire is seen in the distance at Fort Tiuna, Venezuela's largest military complex, following a series of explosions in Caracas on January 3, 2026. Geopolitics are being reduced to videos lasting just a few minutes. Social media has surpassed traditional media, not only in the speed with which it is created and shared, but also in its ability to frame our reality. People have the illusion of knowing what is happening and why within just a few hours--or less--of major world events. But reality is more complicated.


Winners and Sinners: What to expect from the Golden Globes

BBC News

Sinners, Marty Supreme and One Battle After Another are among the films set to compete at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night. Frankenstein, Sentimental Value, Hamnet and Wicked: For Good are some of the other films going for gold at the ceremony in Los Angeles. A new category, best podcast, has been introduced this year, while Adolescence, The Pitt and The Studio are nominated in the TV categories. The Golden Globes are a major milestone of the film awards season, and take place with less than a fortnight to go until the announcement of the Oscar nominations (22 January). The Globes hand out more trophies than many other ceremonies, as they split their film categories by drama and musical or comedy.


Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,417

Al Jazeera

Could Ukraine hold a presidential election right now? Will Europe use frozen Russian assets to fund war? How can Ukraine rebuild China ties? 'Ukraine is running out of men, money and time' Russian forces launched artillery and drone attacks on Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region on Saturday, killing a 68-year-old man, wounding three others and causing fires to break out in residential buildings, according to Ukraine's emergency service. Russian shelling also killed another person in the Kramatorsk district of Ukraine's Donetsk region, the service said.


Google employee made redundant after reporting sexual harassment, court hears

BBC News

A senior Google employee has claimed she was made redundant after reporting a manager who told clients stories about his swinger lifestyle and showed a nude of his wife. Victoria Woodall told an employment tribunal she was subjected to a campaign of retaliation by the company after whistleblowing on the man who was later sacked. Google UK's internal investigation found the manager had touched two female colleagues without their consent, and his behaviour amounted to sexual harassment, documents seen by the BBC in court show. The tech giant denies retaliating against Woodall and argues she became paranoid after whistleblowing and began to view normal business activities as sinister. In her claim, Woodall says her own boss subjected her to a relentless campaign of retaliation after her complaint also implicated his close friends who were later disciplined for witnessing the manager's behaviour and failing to challenge it.


North Korea's Kim Yo Jong urges South Korea to investigate drone incidents

The Japan Times

North Korea's Kim Yo Jong urges South Korea to investigate drone incidents Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, arrives at the Vostochny Сosmodrome before a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, in Russia's far eastern Amur region in September 2023. Seoul - North Korea's Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, urged South Korea to investigate recent drone incidents for detailed explanations, in a statement carried by state media Sunday. Kim said she personally appreciates Seoul for making a wise decision to announce its official stance that it has no intention of provocation, warning that any provocations will result in terrible situations, the official Korean Central News Agency said. Drones were flown from South Korea into North Korea earlier this month, after another intrusion in September, North Korea's military said on Saturday, which was soon followed by South Korea's response that they were not operated by the military. South Korea also said there would be a thorough investigation of a civilian possibly having operated the drones, making clear its stance of having no intention of provocation. Clear is just the fact that the drone from the ROK violated the airspace of our country, Kim said.


David Lammy: JD Vance agrees that sexualised AI images on X are 'unacceptable'

The Guardian

Lammy said Vance, usually known as an AI enthusiast, expressed concern about how technology was fuelling'hyper-pornographied slop' online. Lammy said Vance, usually known as an AI enthusiast, expressed concern about how technology was fuelling'hyper-pornographied slop' online. David Lammy: JD Vance agrees that sexualised AI images on X are'unacceptable' Exclusive: US vice-president'sympathetic' to concerns over Grok-generated pornography, says deputy PM JD Vance, the US vice-president, has agreed that it is "entirely unacceptable" for platforms such as X to allow the proliferation of AI-generated sexualised images of women and children, David Lammy has told the Guardian. The deputy prime minister said Vance, usually known as an AI enthusiast, expressed concern about how the technology was being used to fuel "hyper-pornographied slop" online when they met in Washington on Thursday. The comments come amid a growing transatlantic row over the use of X's artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, to manipulate thousands of images of women and sometimes children to remove their clothing or put them in sexual positions.


Grok is Gross

Slate

Trump says Venezuela strike was about oil, Grok has become a tool for disturbing deepfakes, and Trump is freezing $10 billion in child care in 5 blue states. Please enable javascript to get your Slate Plus feeds. If you can't access your feeds, please contact customer support. Check your phone for a link to finish setting up your feed. Please enter a valid phone number.


Indonesia blocks access to Musk's AI chatbot Grok over deepfake images

Al Jazeera

Indonesia has become the first country in the world to block Elon Musk's Grok chatbot over the risk of fake, AI-generated pornographic content. The country's communication and digital affairs minister said on Saturday that "the practice of non-consensual sexual deepfakes" is a "serious violation of human rights, dignity, and the security of citizens in the digital space". The move comes a day after Grok limited image generation and editing features on Musk's social media platform X to paying subscribers as it sought to tamp down mounting criticism over the deepfakes. Musk has been threatened with fines as several countries are pushing back publicly against Grok, which allowed users to alter online images to remove the subjects' clothes. The billionaire has said anyone using Grok to create illegal content would face the same consequences as uploading such material directly. But European officials and tech campaigners slammed this week's move to limit the AI tool's features to paying subscribers on X, saying it failed to address their concerns.


Heritage Foundation warns America 'dangerously close' to family breakdown point of no return

FOX News

Heritage Foundation report argues the American family is in crisis, proposing policy changes including $2,500 newborn investment accounts to reverse trend.