Month: August 2024

CBS News Attorneys for the man charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students in 2022 say the pressure to convict is so severe that some Latah County residents are predicting lynch mobs or riots if he is acquitted. Bryan Kohberger’s defense lawyer Elisa Massoth made that argument in a filing this month, saying the only way he can get a fair trial is to move it to a new location. Second District John Judge is scheduled to preside over a hearing on the motion for a change of venue Thursday morning. If he agrees, the trial, set for June of 2025, could be moved from Moscow to Boise or another larger Idaho city. READ THE FULL STORY                 

Breitbart An illegal alien is accused of killing 48-year-old Mark Deane of Gretna, Louisiana, a longtime local journalist and producer, in a crash on the Crescent City Connection bridge on August 23. Jorge Alberto Martinez-Sanchez, a 29-year-old illegal alien who was previously denied a visa to enter the United States, has been arrested and charged with negligent homicide, reckless operation, and driving without a license in connection with Deane’s death. According to Louisiana State Police, Deane was driving his motorcycle across the Crescent City Connection bridge on the morning of August 23 when Martinez-Sanchez ran into the back of him. READ THE FULL STORY                   

Axios OpenAI said on Thursday that ChatGPT now has more than 200 million weekly active users — twice as many as it had a year ago. ChatGPT remains the leader among generative AI chatbots, but it’s an intensely competitive space with the other big names in tech offering frequent updates in hopes of grabbing share. OpenAI also said that 92% of Fortune 500 companies are using its products and that usage of its automated API has doubled since the release of GPT-4o mini in July. READ THE FULL STORY                 

Sky News Pavel Durov, the chief executive of Telegram, has been charged with allegedly allowing criminal activity on the messaging app. French judges have barred Mr Durov from leaving France pending further investigation, but he has avoided jail with a 5m euro bail. The billionaire founder of the encrypted messaging and social media app was arrested in France on Saturday after his private jet landed at Le Bourget airport outside Paris. READ THE FULL STORY                   

CBS News Nancy Pelosi referred to former President Donald Trump as a “domestic enemy” in a newly released video of the former speaker of the House the day after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The footage was turned over to Congress by HBO and obtained by CBS News. The footage shows the former House leader preparing for a press conference with her staffers on Jan. 7. In the footage, Pelosi plans to publicly call for the resignation of U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund in the aftermath of the attack, but also addressed Trump’s role in the attack.  “There is a domestic enemy in the White House,” Pelosi says. “Let’s not mince words about this.” She did not use that line when addressing the press later that day. READ THE FULL STORY                            

Axios Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was released from police custody Wednesday but is due in court ahead of a possible indictment, multiple outlets reported. Durov’s arrest in connection to illicit activity on the messaging app sparked an outcry among anti-censorship advocates. It also raised questions about how other other social media companies and executives could be held accountable for the content on their platforms. The Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement Wednesday that Durov was released from custody but would be transferred to court for his first appearance before a judge ahead of a possible indictment, AP reported. READ THE FULL STORY                            

The National Desk The Vermont Department of Health on Wednesday asked the public to avoid referring to children as “son” or “daughter” and instead use gender-neutral language. The suggestion is included in a social media post about “inclusive language for families.” That post also encouraged use of the term “family members” rather than “household members” to include incarcerated individuals, step siblings and the like. “The language we use matters!” the department wrote. “When talking about family, it’s important to use terms that cover the many versions of what family can look like.” READ THE FULL STORY