US Vows Response After Iran-Linked Groups Kill 3 US Soldiers
US border deal fight & Taylor Swift explicit deepfake fallout
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Via: NY Times
Good morning,
It’s national puzzle day 🧩 and it’s not just for the jigsaw aficionados.
Like Wordle! Millions of people play the puzzle everyday and the NY Times broke down seven insights from 515 million Wordles.
ADIEU might be the most popular first guess, but it’s not the most efficient.
The best start: SLATE… if used instead of ADIEU, it will lead to 132 fewer tries over a year.
Is it time to say adieu to ADIEU?
Have a good one!
Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren
📌 AMERICANS KILLED IN IRAN-LINKED DRONE STRIKE
Tower 22 base is located near Syria/Iraq border. via NY Times
An Iranian-backed terrorist group killed three US service members and injured at least 34 in an unmanned aerial drone attack early morning Sunday in Jordan.
THE LATEST
Sunday’s attack hit a U.S. base, known as Tower 22, which houses 350 troops. It is one of the regional outposts focused on fighting ISIS.
In addition to the three troops killed, others suffered severe brain and spinal injuries, as well as shrapnel wounds.
President Biden says: "We know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq."
There have been about 160 attacks against American forces in the region since mid-October. Until now, none have killed US troops. In response, the US has carried out strikes against Iranian-backed extremists in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, but these have failed to deter further attacks.
REPUBLICAN RESPONSE
President Biden is vowing to respond. But many Iran hawks, including a number of Republicans in Congress, say his (lack of) a response following previous attacks has emboldened Iran.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Biden should impose “serious crippling costs” on Iran.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC): “Hit Iran now. Hit them hard.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said Biden is a “coward” if he doesn’t initiate “devastating military retaliation.”
MEANWHILE, OVER IN ISRAEL & GAZA….
As the US tries to deescalate the situation in the Middle East, American-led negotiators are edging closer to an agreement in which Israel would suspend its war in Gaza for about two months in exchange for the release of the more than 100 hostages still held by Hamas. Israel and US officials met in Paris yesterday with Qatari and Egyptian leaders, who are negotiating on behalf of Hamas.
This draft deal would include two 30-day pauses in fighting — the first bringing home women, children and wounded hostages, and the second including male civilians and Israeli soldiers in exchange for more aid for Gaza and an untold number of Palestinians held on charges in Israeli prisons.
📝 BORDER DEAL IN THE WORKS… THOUGH TRUMP VOWS TO TANK IT
Senators are finalizing a bipartisan border deal with the Biden Administration that would enact sweeping new border controls. It could come to the Senate floor this week, but could be DOA in the House— especially if Donald Trump has his way.
The bill is designed to reduce the unprecedented levels of illegal crossings recorded along the southern border in the past three years.
WHAT’S IN THE DEAL
Republican Sen. James Lankford (OK), Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy (CT) and Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) are close to finalizing the compromise with the White House. It would expands presidential powers to “shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed.”
Some initial draft details:
If daily average migrant encounters reach 4,000 (which has been happening recently), the DHS could shut down the border, although some migrants could still apply legally at ports of entry for a set number of slots.
The deal would also move asylum cases through the system faster.
BUT WAIT
House Speaker Mike Johnson has said the deal doesn’t go far enough and will be “dead on arrival” in the House. Then there’s GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump who has been pushing his party not to compromise with Biden on immigration and take away a key campaign issue.
At a rally this weekend Trump said: “As the leader of our party, there is zero chance I will support this horrible open borders betrayal of America… I’ll fight it all the way. A lot of the senators…are blaming it on me. I say, that’s okay. Please blame it on me. Please.”
WARNING AT THE BORDER
Former FBI officials are warning the US is in danger as thousands of "military-aged" men are crossing the border.
A dozen former FBI officials wrote a letter to the House and Senate outlining what they warn is an “invasion of the homeland.” They say fighting-aged men, “many from countries or regions not friendly to the United States, are landing in waves on our soil by the thousands.”
MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT
The Republican-led House also came out with two articles of impeachment yesterday against DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
1: “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law”
2: “breach of the public trust” by allegedly “making false statements”
What that means: Republican lawmakers are saying he hasn’t followed US laws to protect the border and that Mayorkas lied to Congress when he said the border was “secure.” DHS responds that the case is “evidence-free.”
Bottom line: Even if the full House impeaches Mayorkas, which could happen as early as February, a two-thirds Senate majority would be required to convict and expel him from office. The Senate has a Democratic majority, so don’t count on that.
🤖 SWIFT DEEPFAKE BRINGS FURTHER SCRUTINY TO AI
X temporarily halted users’ ability to search for Taylor Swift after AI-generated nude images of her circulated across the social media site.
Before the move, Swifties were already fighting back, utilizing the hashtags used for the x-rated pics and instead posting photos from Swift’s recent tour. They got #ProtectTaylorSwift” trending.
X IN TROUBLE… AGAIN
The deepfake — or AI-generated — images of Swift first started popping up across X on Wednesday, generating millions of views by Thursday.
Reportedly having first been circulated on a Telegram group chat, the images are said to have been created by Microsoft's generative-AI tool, Designer.
After the images jumped over to X, they spread without being flagged by the site’s content moderators. The site says it has a “zero-tolerance policy” for posting deepfake nudes, and is working to remove the content.
NOT JUST CELEBS
High schoolers are also being impacted. Girls across the country have reported having fake, AI-generated naked photos of them circulated by their peers.
Generative AI can put someone’s face on nude pictures or seemingly remove their clothes from an image — the photos look realistic and the technology is easy to use.
"90-95% of deepfake videos are now nonconsensual pornographic videos and, of those videos, 90% target women—mostly underage,” a Princeton Legal Journal article reported.
The US does not have a federal law preventing these images from being created or distributed — though some states do. House and Senate lawmakers have proposed bills to protect the public from exploitative deepfakes.
⏳ SPEED READ
🚨NATION
📌 Trump to pay $83.3 million to the writer E. Jean Carroll for defaming her (MO NEWS)
📌 Snowboarder spends 15 hours trapped in California ski resort gondola — stays warm rubbing hands and feet together (FOX NEWS)
📌 15 million Americans under flood watch as rain drenches Northeast (ABC NEWS)
📌 Nikki Haley says the RNC is ‘clearly not’ an honest broker after calls to unify around Trump in primary (NBC NEWS)
🌎 AROUND THE WORLD
📌 Details on fired Palestinian UN workers who were fired for participating in Oct 7 terror attack (NY TIMES); Several countries freeze funding (REUTERS)
📌 Climate activists hurl soup at 'Mona Lisa' (BBC NEWS)
📌 Ukraine says it uncovered $40 million corruption scheme in weapons procurement (CNN)
📌 U.S. warns travelers about visiting the Bahamas and Jamaica after murders and safety concerns (NBC NEWS)
📌 Panama Canal drought slows international cargo traffic (NY TIMES)
📌 U.S. signals it is open to withdrawing some troops from Iraq (TIMES OF ISRAEL)
📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH
📌 American Airlines flight with hard landing leaves six injured (CNN)
📌 NASA’s little helicopter on Mars has logged its last flight (AP)
📌 Alaska Airlines returns the 737 Max 9 to service (CBS NEWS)
📌 Big tech is thriving despite the layoffs (AXIOS)
🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
📌 2024 Super Bowl set: Kansas City Chiefs to face the San Francisco 49ers (CBS NEWS)
📌 Thousands of miles of travel: How Taylor Swift’s Japan tour dates line up with the Super Bowl (CBS SPORTS)
📌 Justin Timberlake's return to SNL for the first time in over a decade (PEOPLE)
📌 Vince McMahon, WWE founder, resigns amid sex trafficking allegations (CNN)
📌 Jannik Sinner, Aryna Sabalenka crowned Australian Open singles champions (CBS SPORTS)
🗓 ON THIS DAY: JANUARY 29
1845: “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe was first published.
1936: The US Baseball Hall of Fame elected its first members, which included Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner.
1981: Dolly Parton’s "9 to 5" song tops the charts.
Some background on the film “9 to 5”: Jane Fonda recruited Dolly Parton for the 1980 film. Parton said she would only “do it if I can write the theme song.”
2002: President George W. Bush called Iraq, Iran, and North Korea the “axis of evil” for the first time.