World

India’s A.I. Summit Disaster Features Snubs, Billionaire Bails, and Chinese Robot Cheating

India sought to make a splash in the world’s fastest-growing tech industry this week by hosting an A.I. Impact Summit in New Delhi, with a who’s-who of industry leaders and artificial intelligence visionaries on the guest list. The summit was a public-relations disaster, because the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi evidently underestimated how much rivalry and personal animosity exists in the A.I. world.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) takes a group photo with AI company leaders

Gabon Shuts Down Social Media as Threat to National Security

The Central African nation of Gabon on Wednesday announced it was suspending some social media platforms for spreading “inappropriate, defamatory, hateful, and abusive” content that was allegedly threatening “social cohesion, the stability of the republic’s institutions, and national security.”

Residents watch as the motorcade of France's President Emmanuel Macron passes by in Gabon

Taliban OKs Slavery, Domestic Violence in Updated Criminal Code

Taliban “supreme leader” Hibatullah Akhundzada recently approved a novel criminal code, multiple outlets reported this week, that dramatically expands the legal ability for men to physically abuse women and children and provides for the creation of a formal “slave” class in the country.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - MAY 07: Women wear burqas in Kabul, Afghanistan on May 07, 2022. Rein

Robert Pattinson Posing in Lingerie, Red Lipstick, Wig for Photoshoot with Zendaya Backfires: A ‘Humiliation Ritual’

Images of “Twilight” star Robert Pattinson clad in women’s attire and wearing a wig and red lipstick for a bizarre photoshoot for the March cover story of Interview magazine were published on Tuesday, resulting in mockery and dismay among viewers. “Either kiss the ring or you don’t work in Hollywood,” one social media user reacted.

David M. Benett/Dave Benett; Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis/Getty Images

U.S. Surges Largest Mideast Airpower Since ’03 as Iran Strike Could Come ‘Within Days’ — Israel on Highest Alert

The United States has assembled the largest concentration of airpower in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq invasion — deploying two aircraft carriers, advanced stealth fighters, refueling tankers, and layered missile defenses into theater — as multiple U.S. and Israeli reports warn President Donald Trump could authorize strikes on Iran “as soon as Saturday,” with talks described by American officials as “very far apart” and even a “near nothing-burger.”

The U.S. Navy’s Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, including the flagship USS Gerald R