Wednesday 28 June 2023

Madonna postpones tour due to serious bacterial infection : NPR


The performer Madonna, onstage at the 65th Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles in February.

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images


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The performer Madonna, onstage at the 65th Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles in February.

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Madonna was hospitalized with what her management calls “a serious bacterial infection.” It is unclear if the singer and actor, now 64 years old, remains in a hospital as of Wednesday afternoon. Her international “Celebration” tour, which was supposed to begin in Vancouver on July 15, has been postponed. It was meant to mark her 40th anniversary as a singer.

In a post published on Instagram Wednesday afternoon, the artist’s longtime manager, Guy Oseary, wrote: “On Saturday, June 24, Madonna developed a serious bacterial infection which lead to a several day stay in the ICU. Her health is improving, however, she is still under medical care. A full recovery is expected.”

Other details, including the type of infection and the anticipated recovery time, have not been made public. In Oseary’s statement, he noted that all her current commitments, including her upcoming tour, have been paused for now.




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Monday 26 June 2023

AI helps dentists catch more cavities gum disease


Gum disease (periodontitis) affects more than 47% of Americans — or nearly 65 million people — including former Major League Baseball player Alex Rodriguez, who recently announced he has the condition.

As artificial intelligence continues to expand into dental and medical uses, dentists are relying on the technology to quickly and accurately detect and prevent periodontitis, decay, bone loss and other gum health issues.

Now, VideaHealth, a medical technology company in Boston, has created a dental AI platform that is available to 90% of dental practices in the U.S., the company said. 

The FDA-approved system analyzes patients’ X-ray images using an algorithm trained on hundreds of millions of data points — more than 50 times the number of X-rays most dentists see in their lifetime, according to the company — to provide treatment recommendations for patients.

“VideaAI lets dentists examine X-rays for cavities and radiographic bone level findings, comparing them against our AI algorithms,” Boston-based Florian Hillen, VideaHealth’s founder and CEO and an AI research fellow at Harvard Business School, told Fox News Digital. 

With traditional dental screenings, X-ray analysis is used for diagnosis and treatment planning — but 50% of dental decay is missed and 30% results in wrongful diagnosis, he also said.


Dentists are now relying on AI to detect and prevent gum health issues.
VideaHealth

His company’s system “identifies 43% more cavities and reduces the error rate of misdiagnosis by 50%, and also reduces false positives by 15%,” he said. 

“Our analysis enables more accurate diagnoses and better preventative care.”

AI a ‘great equalizer’ for dentists, patients

In addition to enabling faster, more accurate findings, VideaAI also gives dentists the data and confidence to engage better with their patients, Hillen said.

“It also helps dentists achieve more streamlined workflows in their offices, resulting in reduced human error and mistakes,” he added.


The AI system 'analyzes patients' X-ray images' and is FDA-approved.
The AI system ‘analyzes patients’ X-ray images’ and is FDA-approved.
Getty Images/iStockphoto

For patients, the AI tool helps to improve their dental health by catching cavities, abscesses, lesions and oral diseases before these issues evolve into much larger problems. 

“With the right dental care, the risk of medical complications from diabetes, heart disease and other illnesses can be significantly decreased,” Hillen said.

AI also helps increase patients’ trust by showing them “the complete picture,” Hillen said.


AI allows dentists to be more accurate and lower the error rate when diagnosing patients.
AI allows dentists to be more accurate and lower the error rate when diagnosing patients.
VideaHealth

“Today, a lot of dental relationships are asymmetric,” he said. “Patients don’t know if they need the X-rays or the treatment plan — and sometimes they want a treatment they don’t need.”

Historically, patients don’t always accept their dentists’ recommendations, Hillen pointed out — “the majority of the time, they don’t,” he said. 

As a result, the dental issues continue to worsen until there is a significant issue.

Fifty percent of dental decay is missed and 30% results in wrongful diagnosis.

“You wouldn’t walk around with an infection in your finger — you’d treat it and deal with the issue immediately,” he said. 

“So why do so many adults walk around with mouth infections? And do they even know they’re increasing their risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiac issues and dementia?”

Hillen said he sees AI as “the great equalizer” in that it can provide an unbiased, data-driven analysis that the dentist and patient can review and discuss together.

“With AI, findings are easier to explain to patients, who trust their dentists more — which means patients are more likely to move forward with necessary treatments rather than delay care,” he said.

VideaAI in action


42 North Dental was one of the first offices to introduce the VideoAI tool.
42 North Dental was one of the first offices to introduce the VideoAI tool.
VideaHealth

A dental service organization in Boston called 42 North Dental was one of the earliest adopters of the VideaAI tool.

“We’re big believers in technology and aiding our doctors to provide the best care possible,” the company’s chief clinical officer, Boston-based Michael A. Scialabba, DDS, told Fox News Digital. 

“AI is essential for practitioners because it is unbiased, and it provides us with the opportunity to identify lesions that we might miss without it.”

When 42 North Dental started reviewing dental AI options, the dentists first examined 100+ images with the naked eye.


This technology allows dentists to remain unbiased and identify problems they may not have found on their own.
This technology allows dentists to remain unbiased and identify problems they may not have found on their own.
VideaHealth

When they viewed those same images again with VideaAI, they found nearly 20% more cavities, Scialabba said.

The practice has also seen its treatment acceptance rates increase by 20%.

“The common misconception is that dentists overdiagnose, but this is not accurate,” Scialabba said. 

The practice has also seen its treatment acceptance rates increase by 20%.

Rather, he said, dentists “are conservative, and underdiagnosis is the bigger issue. VideaAI can help us see issues before they are visible to the naked eye, so we can offer recommendations and stave off bigger issues.”

Implementing AI has helped 42 North Dental prevent mistakes, reduce missed diagnoses and improve oral health by detecting cavities and early bone loss, which is an indication of gum disease, Scialabba said. 

“This will help drive better overall health and reduce instances of chronic diseases,” he said. “Increasingly, AI in dentistry can help detect and prevent issues ranging from diabetes to cardiovascular disease and early-onset dementia.”

He added, “This isn’t aspirational — this is the truth.”

The practice’s patients have also enjoyed having a clearer, more visual window into their own dental health, Scialabba said.

“Patients now have an unbiased and data-backed understanding of their X-rays and diagnosis,” he said. “AI takes out the emotion and bias for both the dentist and the patient, and provides a straightforward way to talk about treatment plans using just the facts.”

He added, “This approach puts more control into the hands of patients, so they can make the smartest and most meaningful decision for their oral care.”

More than a year after implementing VideaAI, 42 North Dental is now in the process of rolling out the tech to all of its locations.

Not a replacement for ‘human experience’

While dental AI has been shown to improve outcomes for patients and efficiency for practices, it’s not meant to replace trained professionals, experts say.

“Dentists and hygienists will always remain a critical part of the equation in disease diagnostics, as they have the context of years of experience, patient histories and in-person examinations,” Scialabba told Fox News Digital.

“AI in dentistry can help detect and prevent issues ranging from diabetes to cardiovascular disease and early-onset dementia.”

“At the end of the day, it’s a combination of AI and using human experience — a tool for the dentists to use,” he added.

Beyond just analyzing X-rays, Scialabba said that clinicians serve as their patients’ collaborators, advisers, educators and partners — and AI helps them deliver the best care possible.

“The clinical experience and insights dental professionals bring to the table cannot be underestimated, but the AI offers objective, consistent observations to consider when making their decisions and recommendations,” he added.



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Saturday 24 June 2023

The mutiny in Russia may be over. But it still damages Putin : NPR


Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the nation on Saturday after Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company, called for armed rebellion and reached the southern city of Rostov-on-Don.

Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP


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Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the nation on Saturday after Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company, called for armed rebellion and reached the southern city of Rostov-on-Don.

Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

A mutiny by Russia’s Wagner Group of mercenaries appears to have ended with the leader recalling his troops, but the uprising may have done irreparable damage to the image of President Vladimir Putin at home and abroad, analysts say.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the shadowy private army that has played an outsized role in the fighting in Ukraine, claimed on Saturday to be in control of Russia’s military headquarters in the city of Rostov-on-Don, a key installation the Kremlin has used as a base for its offensive operations in Ukraine. Wagner forces then began making their way toward Moscow in what looked to the outside world like an attempted coup d’etat.

Within hours, however, Prigozhin — a former close confidant of Putin who had accused Russia’s military leadership of attacking and killing his soldiers — said he had commanded his forces to return to their bases.

Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, says despite the apparent end of the mutiny, the Russian leader will undoubtedly be weakened by the strong challenge to his authority.

“He will try to compensate by making the regime even more hands-on,” Gabuev told NPR. “The regime will become increasingly more repressive at home.”

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the the Wagner Group, is pictured during a funeral ceremony in Moscow on April 8. Prigozhin’s uprising may have done irreparable damage to the image of President Vladimir Putin at home and abroad.

AP


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Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the the Wagner Group, is pictured during a funeral ceremony in Moscow on April 8. Prigozhin’s uprising may have done irreparable damage to the image of President Vladimir Putin at home and abroad.

AP

Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul says there’s “no doubt” that Prigozhin’s mutiny weakens Putin and “raises doubts about his ability to continue to govern Russia in an effective way.”

For months, Prigozhin has been an unusually vocal critic of the Russian military, and in particular of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, whom he has accused of incompetence and whose resignation Prigozhin demanded.

Late Saturday, Prigozhin announced on social media that his forces were ending their “march for justice” to Moscow that saw the mercenaries make their way from the southern city of Rostov-on-Don to the outskirts of the Russian capital. He ordered the forces to “turn our columns around and go in the opposite direction back to a field camp as planned.”

In what appeared to be part of a deal, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the criminal case against Prigozhin and his fellow mutineers would be dropped and that the Wagner boss himself will “go to Belarus.” Wagner troops who did not participate in the uprising will sign contracts with Russia’s Ministry of Defense.

Samuel Charap, a senior political scientist at the Rand Corp, cautions that at the moment, little is known, but “one thing we know for certain is that Putin’s authority is irreparably damaged.”

“It’s sort of like a Wizard of Oz moment, where it turns out that the people who have the guns are not willing to use them to prop up your authority,” he says.

An armored personnel carrier is parked in a street in the city of Rostov-on-Don early Saturday.

Vasily Deryugin/Kommersant Photo/AFP via Getty Images


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An armored personnel carrier is parked in a street in the city of Rostov-on-Don early Saturday.

Vasily Deryugin/Kommersant Photo/AFP via Getty Images

Oleg Ignatov, senior Russia analyst at the Crisis Group, says it’s possible that Prigozhin will be arrested or killed and that Wagner would be “disbanded or assimilated into the conventional armed forces.”

“Then, the war in Ukraine will surely go on, alongside likely even more crackdowns in Russia,” he says.

After Prigozhin announced he was standing down, Julia Ioffe, a Russia expert and Washington correspondent for Puck News, tweeted: “Okay, so what happens now? I can’t imagine Putin says ‘it’s all water under the bridge’ and everything goes back to normal?”

Meanwhile, the messy uprising, which played out in plain view of the world, is good news for Ukraine, where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said of the mutiny that “Russia’s weakness is obvious.”

Andrew Weiss, who oversees research on Russia and Eurasia at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, thinks that Putin is bruised, but can’t be counted out.

“There’s no mistaking the overall decay and degradation of the Russian regime led by Vladimir Putin as a result of the war in Ukraine,” Weiss says. “The problem for him is he’s stuck and there isn’t a way out of the mess that he’s created both for himself as well as for Russia as a whole.”

“But this is a leader who has survived for 20 plus years because he’s very tactical and very street smart and knows when to throw a punch,” he says. “That’s the guy we’re dealing with … not someone who’s going to shrink off into the corner and feel embarrassed or humiliated.”




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Friday 23 June 2023

Everything you need to know about OceanGate


OceanGate Expeditions is the owner and operator behind the Titan submersible, which had five people on board when it experienced what the Coast Guard called a “catastrophic implosion” amid its journey to the Titanic shipwreck.

The privately-owned US company was founded in Everett, Wash., in 2009 by Guillermo Söhnlein and Stockton Rush to build out a fleet of three five-person submersibles that would be used to take tourists down to the famed wreck.

Söhnlein left OceanGate 10 years ago, though Rush continued on as the company’s CEO, developing three submersibles named Antipodes, Cyclops 1 and Titan.

OceanGate’s Titanic expedition is billed on its website as an eight-day trip that provides a “chance to step outside of everyday life and discover something truly extraordinary.”

Up to four of those days could be spent underwater. OceanGate assured on its site that the 22-foot vessel was equipped with up to 96 hours of oxygen.

Tickets run for $250,000, and travelers must be at least 17 years old, the site adds.

The trip departs from St. John’s Newfoundland, Canada, before sailing 380 miles offshore and diving 12,500 feet below the surface to the Titanic.

The Titan’s latest expedition, which began its descent to the sea floor on June 18, was the only OceanGate Titanic tour slated to take place in 2023, which passenger Hamish Harding cited was due to weather in an Instagram post ahead of his departure.


OceanGate Expeditions is the owner and operator behind the Titan submersible, which experienced what the Coast Guard called a “catastrophic implosion” amid its journey to the Titanic shipwreck.
Boston Globe via Getty Images

Titan weighed 21,000 pounds and could travel at the speed of 3 knots, or 3.5 miles per hour. It had a single porthole for up to two people to look out of at any time.

The passengers included 61-year-old OceanGate boss, Rush, as well as Titanic specialist Paul-Henri Nargeolet, UK billionaire explorer Hamish Harding and Pakistani billionaire and mogul Shanzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Sulaiman.

Here’s everything else you need to know about the vessel.

What’s next for OceanGate?

Legal experts are divided as to whether OceanGate faces legal liability over the Titan disaster given that the passengers all signed waivers that spelled out the risk to their safety.

One lawyer thinks that the next of kin will have an uphill legal battle in court if they decide to sue OceanGate despite past allegations of negligence and the most recent tragedy.

“The chance of family members of the passengers having a successful lawsuit against the company is close to zero,” attorney Sherif Edmond El Dabe, a partner with El Dabe Ritter Trial Lawyers, told Insider.

“The passengers knowingly participated in an extremely hazardous activity and they knowingly assumed great risk,” he added.

Miguel Custodio, an attorney at the law firm Custodio and Dubey LLP, agreed, telling the outlet: “Everyone on board knew this wasn’t a vacation or a sightseeing trip, and the disclaimer appears to have made the risk of death very clear multiple times.” 


Titan's passengers, pictured L-R: Pakistani billionaire Shanzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Sulaiman, Titanic specialist Paul-Henri Nargeolet, OceanGate boss Stockton Rush and UK billionaire explorer Hamish Harding 
Titan’s passengers, pictured L-R: Pakistani billionaire Shanzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Sulaiman, Titanic specialist Paul-Henri Nargeolet, OceanGate boss Stockton Rush and UK billionaire explorer Hamish Harding 
AP

It’s all thanks to an ironclad, three-page document that spells out the risks for Titan passengers that includes an eye-popping admission that the craft “has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body and may be constructed of materials that have not been widely used on human occupied submersible.”

The document, which was provided to a passenger last summer, also states that the signer would “assume full responsibility for the risk of bodily injury, disability, death and property damage due to the negligence of [OceanGate] while involved in the operation,” according to TMZ, which was first to publish it.

The company also provided a litany of worst-case scenarios in covering itself from liability, including possible exposure to high-pressure gases, high-voltage electrical systems and “other dangers” that could lead to disability, injury or death.

Other experts, however, said that the waivers do not shield the company from legal action.

If OceanGate expeditions is found to have engaged in “gross negligence,” which is defined as wanton or reckless conduct affecting the life of another, it could make the company vulnerable to lawsuits.

Michael Sturley, a professor of maritime law at the University of Texas, told Bloomberg News that the families of those who perished could still sue.

Sturley cited a letter from William Kohnen, chairman of the Marine Technology Society’s manned submersibles committee, addressed to Stockton Rush, the OceanGate CEO, warning him that he was misleading the public with false claims that the Titan met industry safety standards.

Rush made several comments about safety regulations in the years leading up to the Titan disaster. He criticized industry safety standards as “illogical” and lamented that they were stifling innovation. Last year, he told CBS reporter David Pogue that “at some point, safety is just pure waste.”

These comments and Sturley’s letter could be used as evidence in a lawsuit brought by the families of the deceased, according to Sturley.

“It shows that the company was on notice that the unanimous view of other people in the industry was that they should be doing things that they apparently weren’t doing,” Sturley said.


The famed Titanic wreck lies 12,500 feet below water.
The famed Titanic wreck lies 12,500 feet below water.
Arthur Loibl/Instagram

Will OceanGate go out of business?

It’s unclear if OceanGate will cease operations after Titan’s tragic implosion.

Söhnlein, OceanGate’s co-founder who’s now a minority shareholder, said on Friday that the company’s executives “will be considering the company’s survival,” according to Forbes.

He said the board of directors will weigh in on OceanGate’s fate for the next several weeks, the outlet reported.

Certain landing pages of OceanGate’s website went offline after it announced the loss of Titan.

Meanwhile, OceanGate is also unlikely to foot the bill for the rescue mission that was launched to find the missing Titan submersible — and the operation is expected to cost millions of dollars, according to experts.

Ret. Adm. Paul Zukunft, who commanded the Coast Guard from 2014 to 2018, told The Washington Post that “it’s no different than if a private citizen goes out and his boat sinks.”

“We go out and recover him. We don’t stick them with the bill after the fact.”

Deep-sea robots will continue searching the sea floor for clues about what happened deep in the North Atlantic.


German adventurer Arthur Loibl was on Titan's first-ever journey to the Titanic shipwreck. Although he survived, he called the trip a "suicide mission" from which he was lucky to escape.
German adventurer Arthur Loibl was on Titan’s first-ever journey to the Titanic shipwreck. Although he survived, he called the trip a “suicide mission” from which he was lucky to escape.
Facebook

How many successful missions has Titan done?

OceanGate Expeditions started offering trips to the wreckage site of the Titanic in 2021. Since that time, the Titan submersible made just two successful voyages to the Atlantic Ocean seabed where the Titanic lay.

The ill-fated mission that ended in tragedy this week was just the third such trip.

Arthur Loibl, 60, a German adventurer, took the maiden voyage in the Titan submersible in August 2021. He told the German news outlet Bild that the trip was a “suicide mission” from which he was lucky to escape alive.

“I was incredibly lucky back then,” Loibl told Bild.

Loibl paid nearly $110,000 to dive down more than 12,000 feet to the wreckage site. He said that the mission ended up being launched five hours late due to electrical issues.

Loibl also said that a 1,600-meter dive by the submersible had to be “abandoned.” When the bracket of the stabilization tube ripped, it had to be “reattached with zip ties,” he said.

When asked to describe the voyage, Loibl said: “You need strong nerves, you mustn’t be claustrophobic and you have to be able to sit cross-legged for ten hours.”

Loibl was joined by French Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 73, and Stockton Rush, the 61-year-old CEO of OceanGate Expeditions.

Nargeolet, Rush, British businessman Hamish Harding, and Pakistani magnate Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, died in what authorities called a “catastrophic implosion” which destroyed the Titan this week.


Guillermo Söhnlein (right) and Stockton Rush (left) founded OceanGate Expeditions in Everett, Wash., in 2009. Rush was one of the five passengers aboard the Titan when it imploded.
Guillermo Söhnlein (right) and Stockton Rush (left) founded OceanGate Expeditions in Everett, Wash., in 2009. Rush was one of the five passengers aboard the Titan when it imploded.
OceanGate/Facebook

How Titan launched

OceanGate Expedition’s Titan submersible is a 9-foot-high, 8-foot-wide, 22-foot-long vessel weighing 25,000 pounds.

The vehicle, which is designed to take tourists deep underwater, differs from a submarine, which is autonomous and self-powered.

The Titan, on the other hand, is a submersible, meaning that it is launched underwater from a platform that can be carried out to sea aboard a mother ship that can recover it.

The submersible is then submerged a few dozen feet below the surface of the ocean.

A submersible has limited power reserves. Its electric thrusters enable it to travel at a speed of 3 knots, or 3.5 miles per hour.

OceanGate said it was equipped with LED lights, a sonar navigation system, and high-end camera equipment as well as a life-support system that can keep five people alive for up to 96 hours.

OceanGate workers on the surface ship track the location of Titan and send text messages to the pilot with navigation instructions.

The Titan and its support ship left the port of St. John’s in Newfoundland, Canada last Friday.

The Canadian support ship which monitored the Titan lost contact with the submersible about an hour and 45 minutes later after arriving at the wreckage site of the Titanic on Sunday.

The submersible’s last known position was near the Titanic, whose remains lie some 370 miles southeast of the Newfoundland coast.


OceanGate had a fleet of three five-person submersibles. It's first one was named Antipodes (pictured), and could reach a depth up to 1,000 feet.
OceanGate had a fleet of three five-person submersibles. It’s first one was named Antipodes (pictured), and could reach a depth up to 1,000 feet.
OceanGate/Facebook

OceanGate’s submersibles

OceanGate’s crown jewel was Antipodes, which it acquired in 2009.

According to a brochure on the company’s site, Antipodes could travel up to 1,000 feet underwater, had capacity for five people and could carry up to 72 hours of life support.

OceanGate purchased a second five-person submersible in 2012, which was reconstructed into Cyclops 1 — a 20,000-pound vessel that could carry up to 80 hours of life support.

While it served as a working prototype for Titan, Cyclops 1 would only travel to depths of 1,640 feet, while Titan was designed to explore beyond depths of 13,000 feet, where the Titanic wreck lies.

Titan is OceanGate’s newest submersible. The vessel was constructed out of carbon fiber and titanium, and was equipped with 96 hours of oxygen.

However, it also contained some other off-the-shelf components, including scaffolding poles for the sub’s ballast and a video game controller in place of a steering wheel.

Specifically, a modified Logitech F710 wireless controller was used to operate Titan.




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Russia accuses Wagner chief of urging armed mutiny


Russian state media reports that the FSB, Russia’s security services, have opened a criminal case against Prigozhin, accusing him of “calling for an armed rebellion”. The Kremlin has also said “necessary measures are being taken”, according to Russian news agency Interfax.



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Thursday 22 June 2023

TikTok Chief Operating OfficerV Pappas stepping down


TikTok Chief Operating Officer V. Pappas is stepping down after five years with the short-video company owned by China’s ByteDance, according to an email seen by Reuters on Thursday.

In an email to staff, Pappas said they would be taking on an advisory role for the company during the transition.

“Given all the successes reached at TikTok, I finally feel the time is right to move on and refocus on my entrepreneurial passions,” said Pappas, who uses the pronoun they.

ByteDance Chief Executive Shou Chew also announced Thursday in a memo to employees shared with Reuters that Zenia Mucha, previously a 20-year veteran at Walt Disney, will join TikTok as chief brand and communications officer.

Adam Presser, TikTok’s chief of staff, will become head of operations and oversee content, user operations and distribution, Chew said.

TikTok has faced scrutiny worldwide over security concerns due to its Chinese ownership.


“Given all the successes reached at TikTok, I finally feel the time is right to move on and refocus on my entrepreneurial passions,” said V Pappas, who uses the pronoun they.
MICHAEL REYNOLDS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

V Pappas statement on Twitter
In an email to staff, Pappas said they would be taking on an advisory role for the company during the transition.

US lawmakers last week introduced new legislation to protect Americans’ user data from being used by US adversaries.

Last month, TikTok sued Montana after it became the first state to ban the app state-wide.




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George Santos bond was set by his father and aunt : NPR


Rep. George Santos (R-NY3) speaking to reporters outside a federal courthouse on Long Island in May after he was charged with 13 federal crimes.

Brian Mann/NPR


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Brian Mann/NPR

Rep. George Santos (R-NY3) speaking to reporters outside a federal courthouse on Long Island in May after he was charged with 13 federal crimes.

Brian Mann/NPR

One of the many mysteries swirling around New York’s embattled Republican Rep. George Santos has finally been resolved.

A federal court on Long Island today released of the names of two individuals who backed a $500,000 bond for Santos.

Turns out one was his father, Gercino dos Santos Jr. The other was his aunt Elma Santos Preven.

Their support allowed Santos to walk free after he was charged on May 10th with 13 crimes including fraud, money-laundering and theft. He pleaded not guilty.

Meanwhile, the House Ethics Committee released a statement Thursday saying its investigation of Santos is running parrallel to the Justice Department’s prosecution.

“The Committee is aware of the risks associated with dual investigations and is in communication with the Department of Justice to mitigate the potential risks,” the panel’s leaders said in a statement.

They noted that roughly 40 subpoenas have been issued and said their probe is is expanding to include allegations Santos “fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits.”

Santos family members bailed him out

For weeks, the identity of Santos’s bond backers remained unknown, sparking widespread speculation. On May 25, a group of news organizations including NPR asked the court to make their names public.

Santos and his attorney argued that releasing the names would expose the congressman’s backers to a public backlash and could put them at risk of “attacks and harassment.”

“There is great concern for the health, safety, and well-being” of the individuals, wrote Joseph Murray, Santos’s attorney, in a court filing.

Attorneys representing media outlets argued in a legal filing that transparency serves the public interest.

“That the identities … have been shielded from public scrutiny, particularly in light of the specific charges against Rep. Santos, only breeds suspicion that [they] could be lobbyists, donors, or even fellow-congressmen or public officials seeking to exert influence,” wrote Jeremy Chase and Alexandra Settelmayer with the firm Davis Wright Tremaine.

Two federal judges sided with news organizations, leading to Thursday’s release of names.

Investigations continue

Santos won election last November in New York’s 3rd Congressional District. Shortly after, news accounts revealed that he fabricated much of his personal and professional resume, lying about his family’s heritage, his education and his professional accomplishments.

Those actions sparked numerous local, state and federal investigations.

In its statement today the House Ethics Committee outlined the scope of its probe, to include possible “unlawful activity” during Santos’s 2022 congressional campaign, violation of federal conflict of interest laws, and sexual misconduct allegations in olving “an individual seeking employment in his congressional office.”

Indeed, financial backing of Santos’ bond was only one unanswered question about the sources of his money. Critics say it’s also unclear how he funded his congressional campaign and how he spent that money.

Santos has acknowledged some of his deceptions but repeatedly denied any criminal wrongdoing.



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Madonna postpones tour due to serious bacterial infection : NPR

The performer Madonna, onstage at the 65th Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles in February. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images hide ca...