UNITED STATES

An acquaintance has been charged in the death of a Philadelphia journalist who went from sleeping on the street to working for the mayor to writing columns on the city’s most pressing social issues. Robert Edmond Davis, 19, faces murder, weapons counts and related charges in the death of Josh Kruger, 39, who was shot and killed at his Philadelphia home Oct. 2. A warrant had been issued for Davis four days later and authorities have said they have video of him in the area of Kruger’s home before the shooting. Davis was arrested at his South Philadelphia home Wednesday night. Authorities have said the motive behind the killing remains unclear but that the pair were in a relationship. MURDERED PHILADELPHIA JOURNALIST JOSH KRUGER ‘WAS A CHEERLEADER’ FOR THE CITY, FORMER COLLEAGUE SAYS PHILADELPHIA JOURNALIST SHOT DEAD INSIDE HOME AT AGE 39 It was not clear Thursday if Davis has retained an attorney. His mother, Damica Davis, told The Philadelphia Inquirer that if her son did kill Kruger, there’s no excuse, noting “it’s tragic what happened, but I feel like my son is a victim in this, as well.” Kruger was shot seven times at about 1:30 a.m. and collapsed in the street after seeking help, police said. He was pronounced dead at a hospital a short time later. The slaying was felt deeply at City Hall and among people involved in the many causes he cared about: addiction, homelessness, HIV and LGBTQ+ advocacy, journalism and bicycling, to name a few. “One of the worst parts of being homeless in urban America is feeling invisible. When people don’t recognize your humanity, you begin to question it yourself,” he wrote in a 2015 column for The Philadelphia Citizen, just three years after he himself slept outside a law firm near Rittenhouse Square. FORMER PA POLICE OFFICER FACES REINSTATED MURDER CHARGE LINKED TO MOTORIST SHOOTING In more recent columns, he condemned City Council members as cowards for banning supervised injection sites in most parts of the city; dismissed debates about politically correct language over homelessness as beside the point; and, in a final column, dove into the city’s collective grief over the sudden death last month of Temple University’s acting president JoAnne Epps. Kruger handled social media for the mayor and communications for the Office of Homeless Services from about 2016 to 2021. He left city government to focus on writing projects. He wrote at various times for Philadelphia Weekly, Philadelphia City Paper, The Philadelphia Inquirer and other publications, earning awards for his poignant and often humorous style. On his website, he described himself as a “militant bicyclist” and “a proponent of the singular they, the Oxford comma, and pre-Elon Twitter.”



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Publish date : 2023-10-27 15:35:55

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Newly-minted House Speaker Mike Johnson told FOX News in his first television interview since gaining the gavel that the U.S. stands firmly behind Israel, while back at home, lawmakers and the Biden administration alike must find common ground and acknowledge “God is not done” with America yet. Johnson told “Hannity” the House is primed to proffer a $14.5 billion support bill for Israel, slightly more than what the Louisiana Republican said Israel – via the White House – has asked for. However, a key difference between the House appropriation and other federal support is that the money will come in exchange for “pay-for’s” in the budget, rather than simply printing the money. Johnson said the figure is a “very specific number tied to very specific measures” and that each dollar should be offset by a cut elsewhere. BLACK FORMER MISS ISRAEL TEARS INTO BLM FOR SUPPORTING PALESTINIANS In terms of potential U.S. military involvement in Israel’s fight for survival against Iran-backed Hamas, Johnson said he is hopeful to avert a boots-on-the-ground situation, but added that during a White House meeting Thursday he reminded President Biden’s staff that they have limited ability to directly respond without congressional approval. The Founding Fathers, he said, envisioned a “multitude of wise counsel” in such matters, which he noted is why Congress has the power to declare war, not the executive branch. Johnson added that he has met previously with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and agreed that while Americans talk of “existential threats” stateside, Israel faces one or more daily. “Their neighbors want to eliminate them,” he said. “America will back [Netanyahu] up – they tell us when we’re in Israel the reason we’re able to sustain ourselves and survive is because everybody knows our big ally is America.” The perception America must continue to depict is that of the premonition that the United States will defend freedom, in an effort to stave off true military conflict, Johnson went on – citing former President Ronald Reagan’s platform in that regard. As for Republicans in his caucus who lean toward a more isolationist foreign policy, Johnson said he understands their concern that America “cannot be dropping money out of helicopters” with a $33.6 trillion debt, but also that we must show our regard for “nations of free people around the world.” FLASHBACK: CALLS MOUNT FOR ‘HOUSE SPEAKER DONALD TRUMP’ “But, we have to take care of our own house first,” he added. In terms of such domestic issues, Johnson said intentional policy choices in the time since former President Donald Trump left office have led to the current economic malaise, and a potential housing bubble cited by host Sean Hannity. “[During] the Trump administration, we had the greatest economy in the history of the world,” he said, adding it was “not by happenstance” – but through tax cuts, reining in regulation and expansion of energy production. “We can achieve that again, but you have to do almost exactly the opposite of what the Biden administration is doing… we are trying to urge our Democratic colleagues to take a look the basic facts …” Regarding the GOP’s slim majority, Johnson made clear that each faction within the caucus must understand they will not get everything legislatively they want, going on to reference another Reagan idiom regarding the preference of 80 percent of what someone wants versus “going over the cliff with the flag waving.” In that way, he also said the U.S. will still have better days ahead, saying that “God is not done with America yet.” “I think right now we’re in very desperate times – I think the hour is late and the crisis is great,” the Shreveport lawmaker said. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP He called for a “Ben Franklin moment” – in which Americans inside and outside of government humble themselves to steel through the challenges ahead. At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Pennsylvania’s Franklin notably said, “the longer I live, the more convincing proof I see that God governs in the affairs of men [and] without his concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.” When the Founders had issues, they sought “divine guidance,” Johnson recounted, adding the same was true during the Civil War, Great Depression and the two World Wars. “We have ‘In God We Trust’ right above the rostrum [in the Capitol],” he went on, adding that the slogan is “not a quaint saying” but one that differentiates America from Communist, Marxist and monarchical regimes. For more Culture, Media, Education, Opinion and channel coverage, visit foxnews.com/media.  



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Publish date : 2023-10-27 11:00:56

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As artificial intelligence continues to gain popularity with individuals and companies, more stars are speaking out about its use. In an interview with The Associated Press, Cher expressed her fears about the technology after she heard someone use her voice to cover a song by Madonna. “Someone did me doing a Madonna song, and it was kind of shocking,” she said.  “They didn’t have it down perfectly. But also, I’ve spent my entire life trying to be myself, and now these a–holes are going to go take it? And they’ll do my acting, and they’ll do my singing? It’s just, it’s out of control.” WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)? She continued, “I’m telling you, if you work forever to become somebody — and I’m not talking about somebody in the famous, money part — but an artist, and then someone just takes it from you, it seems like it should be illegal.” Marva Bailer, an AI expert, told Fox News Digital that stars do have legal recourse when it comes to unauthorized use of their likeness or voice. “The laws that exist in place are already – you need permission to use someone’s likeness, and a likeness could be their song, their voice, their image or performance. Those laws exist,” she said.  WATCH: AI expert explains how artificial intelligence is outpacing the current laws protecting celebrity likenesses “But what we’re seeing now is with the use of AI, the amount of access of tools to the general public to create these real images or performances is now really available. And before it wasn’t, you had to have knowledge and use of these more complicated editing tools. Now we can take our phone, and we can wipe somebody out of a picture with one swipe. So what’s happening now is it’s just really the access. So the laws do exist, but you need to find what is being done wrong to that image and likeness.”  CHER INSISTS NO ‘BEEF’ WITH MADONNA DESPITE VIDEO FEATURED ON MATERIAL GIRL’S NEW TOUR Bailer added the onus is on the performer to prove they were not involved in the creation of the project in the first place, but it can be hard to find and identify the situation. Some may find Cher’s concerns about the technology ironic, as her Grammy-winning song “Believe,” released in 1998, is credited with the first use of autotune.  Cher, in her interview with the AP, pointed out that it was called a “pitch machine” at the time, and she had argued with producer Mark Taylor about using the technology. “It started and it was like, ‘Oh my God, this is the best thing ever.’ And I thought, ‘You don’t even know it’s me. This is the best thing ever.’ And then we high-fived,” she recalled. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER Bailer notes Cher’s computer-altered voice on the song was clearly planned. “That is the choice of the artist for someone to now take their voice or take their performance and make it into something that they did not authorize is absolutely not the same thing.” WATCH: AI expert explains why the general public needs to be on the look out for deepfakes to stay safe Selena Gomez also recently declared the use of her voice in an AI-generated cover version of a song “scary.” A social media account created a version of the 2016 song “Starboy” by her ex-boyfriend, singer The Weeknd, using her voice. SELENA GOMEZ VOWS SHE’LL ‘NEVER BE A MEME AGAIN’ AFTER BEING CAPTURED GRIMACING AT CHRIS BROWN VMA NOMINATION The clip featured the fake Gomez voice singing the song’s pre-chorus, “House so empty, need a centerpiece / Twenty racks a table, cut from ebony / Cut that ivory into skinny pieces / Then she clean it with her face, man, I love my baby, ah / You talkin’ money, need a hearin’ aid / You talkin’ ’bout me, I don’t see the shade / Switch up my style, I take any lane / I switch up my cup, I kill any pain.”  The caption on the video translated from Turkish read, “How did you find Selena’s viral cover of starboy voiced with artificial intelligence?” In the comments on the post, Gomez responded, simply writing, “Scary.” Bailer explains part of the concern for an artist when it comes to random AI-generated songs popping up is distraction from their actual work. LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS In Gomez’s case, she released her latest song, “Single Soon,” in August, two months after the AI fake of “Starboy.” “What’s really concerning right now in the current Selena Gomez situation is she as an artist, is trying to launch a new song. And we want the attention on the new song and the performance. We don’t want it on all this noise in the background. And that’s where it gets really challenging, where a publicist has a whole plan scenario, and then these bad actors are coming in, and they’re really interrupting that flow and misguiding the attention of the fans,” Bailer explained. However, those same fans can play a role in protecting their favorite artists. Gomez has 420 million Instagram followers and is in the top 20 of those followed on X, giving her a vast number of eyes on anything related to her, authorized or not. AFTER ‘FAKE DRAKE’ OPENS COPYRIGHT QUESTIONS, LAWYER ANSWERS IF ARTISTS CAN PROTECT THEIR STYLE AGAINST AI “Fans now have the opportunity to find people that are causing harm to their stars,” Bailer said. “Because at the end of the day, when someone is using AI or computer graphics to use a performance that is not authorized, the fans are going to know, and they’re going to be the first ones to call foul on this. And so it really has a balance of there’s lots of people trying to now harm the artists in a large scale. But then on the other side, you have the fans that are really protecting these artists because these artists are family to them.” Coincidentally, The Weeknd had his voice and style, along with rapper Drake, mimicked by AI earlier this year. In April, a song titled “Heart on my Sleeve” went viral on TikTok, and the lyrics were focused on Gomez.  The creator of the song goes by @GhostWriter on TikTok and has shared multiple videos on the account using the new song. ICE CUBE SAYS AI IS ‘DEMONIC,’ WILL GET ‘BACKLASH FROM REAL PEOPLE’ The original video announcing the song currently has 10 million views. Three other videos shared by @GhostWriter each have just over a million views. In Bailer’s view, Gomez keeps popping up in these scenarios due to her popularity. “What people are doing is they’re creating these stories using music, and they’re putting innuendos in these stories to get a reaction,” she said. “And then they have a reaction back in this kind of back-and-forth. And they’re doing it to get attention. And it’s bad attention.” That attention can also apply to anyone not in the world of celebrity. Bailer explains that people are used to memes, photoshopped images and other creations, but there is a downside.  “Where it gets challenging is when it’s then used as something where monetary involvement is involved, or it’s being used to actually make decisions and present itself as a person of authority,” she said. “And that’s not okay. So we really, as the general public, need to be on the lookout for misguided actors and keep ourselves safe.”



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Publish date : 2023-10-27 06:00:55

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An unidentified 31-year-old American man has been charged with murder and other offenses for attacking two female U.S. tourists near a castle in Germany in June. Prosecutors announced Thursday that the American suspect is facing charges of murder, rape with fatal consequences, attempted murder, and possession of child pornography after pushing the women into a ravine, and fatally injuring one of them. NEW HAMPSHIRE ‘MOUNTAIN DEW MAN’ CONVICTED IN DOUBLE MURDER OF RETIRES COUPLE ON HIKING TRAIL Officials say the attack took place on June 14 near the Marienbruecke, a bridge over a gorge close to Neuschwanstein Castle, and is said to be one of Germany’s most famous tourist attractions. Prosecutors say the suspect met the two female tourists, ages 21 and 22, by chance on a hiking path and lured them off the trail.  In a statement, German prosecutors say that the man forced the older woman to the ground and tried to undress her. PEPPERDINE CRASH: FORMER MALIBU BASEBALL PROSPECT CHARGED WITH MURDER FOR MOWING DOWN 4 SORORITY SISTERS A scuffle then started and prosecutors say the suspect allegedly pushed her down a steep slope. She fell about 165 feet and sustained minor injuries. According to officials, the suspect then allegedly strangled the younger woman until she was unconscious and raped her before pushing her down the slope. She succumbed to her injuries and died.  Prosecutors said they also secured a laptop and cellphones from the suspect containing child sexual abuse material. Authorities say the women did not know the man before they met, and the suspect was arrested shortly after the attack. Due to Germany privacy laws, the suspect’s name has not been released. Prosecutors say the case was filed at the state court in Kempten, which will have to decide whether and when to send the case to trial. The Associated Press contributed to this story.



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Publish date : 2023-10-27 02:28:44

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