Titled “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,” the campaign sparked a debate about race, Western beauty standards, and the backlash to “woke” American politics and culture. Most of the negative reception focused on videos that used the word “genes” instead of “jeans” when discussing the blonde-haired, blue-eyed actor known for the HBO series “Euphoria” and “White Lotus.” (D’Innocenzio, AP News)
Read MoreThe looming danger is an emerging wave of highly potent synthetic opioids called nitazenes, which often pack a far stronger punch than fentanyl. Nitazenes have already killed hundreds of people in Europe and left law enforcement and scientists scrambling to detect them in the drug supply and curb their spread. (Rasmussen & Li, The Wall Street Journal)
Read MoreThe attacks in Komanda town in the conflict-battered region were carried out by the Allied Democratic Force, a rebel group backed by the Islamic State that has mostly targeted villagers in eastern Congo and across the border in Uganda, the Congolese army said. (Adetayo, AP News)
Read MoreWhile the AI landscape lacks the bloody tent-peg violence of the Book of Judges, it is marked by similar confusion, conflict, and lack of consensus (4:21; 21:25). AI companies and users are doing what is right in their own eyes. Engineers, lawmakers, lobbyists, critics, and consumers operate as if they were living in one house but in separate rooms with the doors shut. (Carradini, Christianity Today)
Read MoreThe Australian government announced YouTube will be among the social media platforms that must ensure account holders are at least 16-years-old from December, reversing a position taken months ago on the popular video-sharing service. (McGuirk, AP News)
Read MoreIn the once Catholic-dominated province of Quebec… many churches that have been deconsecrated and transformed into everything from gyms, restaurants and museums to luxury apartments, auction houses and a university reading room. (Henao, AP News)
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