Under the radar, Google has added features that allow Gmail to access all private messages and attachments for training its AI models.

If you use Gmail, you need to be aware of an important change that’s quietly rolling out. Reportedly, Google has recently started automatically opting users in to allow Gmail to access all private messages and attachments for training its AI models. This means your emails could be analyzed to improve Google’s AI assistants, like Smart Compose or AI-generated replies. Unless you decide to take action.

The reason behind this is Google’s push to power new Gmail features with its Gemini AI, helping you write emails faster and manage your inbox more efficiently. To do that, Google is using real email content, including attachments, to train and refine its AI models. Some users are now reporting that these settings are switched on by default instead of asking for explicit opt-in.

Which means that if you don’t manually turn these setting off, your private messages may be used for AI training behind the scenes. Even though Google promises strong privacy measures like anonymization and data security during AI training, for anyone handling sensitive or confidential information, that may not feel reassuring..

The lack of explicit consent feels like a step backward for people who want control over how their personal data is used.

Opting out requires you to change settings in two places. To fully opt out, you must turn off Gmail’s “Smart features” in two separate locations in your settings. Don’t miss one, or AI training may continue.

https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2025/11/gmail-is-reading-your-emails-and-attachments-to-train-its-ai-unless-you-turn-it-off

https://www.npr.org/2025/11/26/g-s1-99442/national-parks-fees-international-tourists

WASHINGTON — The National Park Service said Tuesday it is going to start charging the millions of international tourists who visit U.S. parks each year an extra $100 to enter some of the most popular sites, while leaving them out of fee-free days that will be reserved for American residents.

The announcement declaring "America-first entry fee policies" comes as national parks deal with the strain of a major staff reduction and severe budget cuts, along with recovering from damage during the recent government shutdown and significant lost revenue due to fees not being collected during that time.

The fee change will impact 11 national parks, including the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Yosemite, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior.

As part of the changes, which are set to take effect Jan. 1, foreign tourists will also see their annual parks pass price jump to $250, while U.S. residents will continue to be charged $80, according to the department's statement.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a post on the social platform X that the changes make sure U.S. taxpayers who support the park service "continue to enjoy affordable access, while international visitors contribute their fair share to maintaining and improving our parks for future generations!"

Another day, another MAGA false flag.

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5614824-gop-staffer-anti-maga-attack-hoax/

A former congressional staffer is accused of staging a fake and self-targeted political attack involving mutilation and derogatory writing on her body.

Natalie Greene, 26, who once worked for Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.), faces federal charges of conspiracy and making false statements to law enforcement. Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

“We are deeply saddened by today’s news, and while Natalie is no longer associated with the Congressman’s government office, our thoughts and prayers are with her,” said Paxton Antonucci, a spokesperson for Van Drew’s office. “We hope she’s getting the care she needs.”

Prosecutors say Greene schemed with an unnamed co-conspirator to make it seem as if three men assaulted and bound her with zip ties in an attack supposedly based on her political beliefs.

According to the criminal complaint, the co-conspirator called 911 the night of July 23 and said “three guys” had just attacked them at a nature preserve in Egg Harbor Township, N.J.

“They were attacking her,” they told the 911 operator. “They were like talking about politics and stuff. They were like calling her names.”

“They were like calling her like racist, calling her a whore,” the co-conspirator added.

Local police found Greene on the ground, crying and yelling with her hands and feed tied together and her shirt pulled over her head. She had dozens of cuts on her body, including on her face and chest. Written across her body in black marker were two messages: “Trump Whore” on her stomach and Van Drew “is Racist” on her back.

Greene told police that her alleged attackers addressed her by name, one saying he would kill her if she made any noise and one saying he had a gun. One of the men also cut into her body with a sharp object, she told them, and one or more of the men wrote on her.

https://apnews.com/article/national-guard-shooting-dc-c5785dd8920d2d1ac7d71fab769faf5f

WASHINGTON (AP) — A suspect is in custody in the shooting of National Guard members in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, police said.

Two guard soldiers were shot near the White House and their conditions aren’t immediately known, according to two law enforcement officials not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

Emergency vehicles were seen responding to the area and at least one helicopter landed on the National Mall.

The Joint DC Task Force confirmed they were responding to an incident in the vicinity of the White House in the movements after reports of the shooting. However, the spokesperson wouldn’t immediately confirm or deny if any National Guard members had been shot.

The Metropolitan Police Department said they were responding to a shooting but didn’t immediately provide more information.

> https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/28/trump-us-to-permanently-pause-migration-from-all-third-world-countries.html

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday announced sweeping plans to tighten immigration rules, including a suspension on migration from “Third World Countries” and cancellation of all federal benefits and subsidies to “noncitizens” in the country.

In a pair of Truth Social posts late Thursday night, Trump said he would “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover,” without specifying what would be considered a “third world” country. The term loosely referred to countries with higher poverty rates and economic instability.

The president said he would also terminate “millions” of admissions under his predecessor Joe Biden and remove “anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country.”

Trump added he plans to end all federal benefits and subsidies for noncitizens, “denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility,” and deport any foreign national he described as a “public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.”

His comments came after two National Guard members were shot near the White House on Wednesday, one of whom died from her injuries a day later. Investigators said the attack was carried out by an Afghan national.

Hours after the shooting, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services director Joseph Edlow said in a post on X that the agency would review every immigrant holding a Green Card from a “country of concern.”

The agency also announced the immediate and indefinite suspension of all immigration requests involving Afghan nationals.

Trump has pursued an aggressive immigration agenda since returning to the White House earlier this year. In June, he announced a broad travel ban covering immigrants from 19 countries, including Afghanistan.

>Finished~

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/ukrainian-man-suspected-nord-stream-pipeline-explosions-custody-127940605

BERLIN -- A Ukrainian man suspected of setting off explosions that damaged Nord Stream pipelines between Russia and Germany more than three years ago has been placed in custody in Germany.

A judge at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe issued an arrest warrant on Friday for 49-year-old Ukrainian Serhii Kuznietsov and ordered he be held in custody, federal prosecutors said.

Undersea explosions on Sept. 26, 2022, damaged pipelines that were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. The damage added to tensions over the war in Ukraine as European countries moved to wean themselves off Russian energy sources, following the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

German prosecutors said Kuznietsov was one of a group of people who placed explosives on the pipelines and is believed to have been the coordinator. They said he is suspected of causing explosions, anti-constitutional sabotage and the destruction of structures.

The suspect and others used a yacht that set off from the German port of Rostock, which had been hired from a German company using forged IDs and with the help of intermediaries, prosecutors said.

https://nypost.com/2025/11/25/sports/worlds-strongest-woman-winner-jammie-booker-stripped-of-title-after-organizers-discovered-she-was-born-a-man/

The controversial winner of the World’s Strongest Woman competition was stripped of her title Tuesday after organizers claimed the hulking American never told them she was born a man.

Jammie Booker was disqualified just days after she destroyed the competition at the Official Strongman Games World Championship in Arlington, Texas, over the weekend.

Organizers said Booker, from Philadelphia, violated the contest’s rules, which clearly stipulate that athletes must compete in the category that aligns with their biological sex at birth.

https://www.npr.org/2025/11/25/nx-s1-5615164/pentagon-scouting-hegseth-cut-ties
The century-old partnership between the U.S. military and Scouting could be coming to an end.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is planning for the military to sever all ties with Scouting America, saying the group once known as the Boy Scouts is no longer a meritocracy and has become an organization designed to "attack boy-friendly spaces," according to documents reviewed by NPR.

In a draft memo to Congress, which sources shared with NPR but which has not yet been sent, Hegseth criticizes Scouting for being "genderless" and for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.

The military has provided support to the Scouts for more than 100 years, assistance that was formalized in 1937. But in one memo, Hegseth says, "The organization once endorsed by President Theodore Roosevelt no longer supports the future of American boys."

The proposal calls for the Pentagon to no longer provide medical and logistical aid to the National Jamboree, which brings in as many as 20,000 scouts to a remote site in West Virginia. It also states that the military will no longer allow Scout troops to meet at military installations in the U.S. and abroad, where many bases have active Scout programs.

A source told NPR the documents were being prepared at the Pentagon to communicate Hegseth's decision to Congress, but that they had not been sent yet. The source requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the documents.

In response to an inquiry from NPR, the Pentagon sent a statement attributed to "a War Department official" saying they wouldn't comment on "leaked documents that we cannot authenticate and that may be pre-decisional."

Scouting America released a statement saying the organization is proud of its long affiliation with the military and will work to continue it.

Akira Ogawa, mayor of Maebashi, the capital of Gunma Prefecture, plans to step down following a scandal involving her "love hotel" visits with a married male city employee.
Kimitaka Tomita, speaker of the city's assembly, told reporters Tuesday that Ogawa submitted a resignation letter to him. The assembly was all but certain to adopt a motion of no confidence in the mayor in a plenary meeting on Thursday, the first day of a regular session.

"I appreciate to a certain extent that (Ogawa) made the decision" to step down, Tomita said.

In September, Ogawa admitted to visiting a love hotel more than 10 times while knowing that the male city employee was married (no admission of sex). She said there was no romantic relationship between them, claiming that they were at the hotel to talk about problems in her public duties and private life.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/26/japan/politics/maebashi-mayor-to-quit/

The most up-to-date report came from the Conference Board, with the consumer confidence index for November dropping sharply on concerns over high prices, tariffs and a weakening job market.

The overall index fell 6.8 points in November to 88.7 The present situation index declined 4.3 points, but the forward-looking expectations index dropped 8.6 points to 63.2. That made it 10 consecutive months where that index has been below 80, considered a threshold that signals a recession ahead.

“Consumer confidence tumbled in November to its second lowest level since April after moving sideways for several months,” said Dana M. Peterson, chief economist at the business organization. “All five components of the overall index flagged or remained weak.”

“Consumers were notably more pessimistic about business conditions six months from now. Mid-2026 expectations for labor market conditions remained decidedly negative, and expectations for increased household incomes shrunk dramatically, after six months of strongly positive readings.”

“September retail sales show muted growth, with notable monthly declines in categories hard hit by tariffs: auto parts, electronics, appliances, sporting goods and instruments,” said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union.

On Tuesday, private payroll firm ADP released its new weekly survey of the labor market showing companies shed an average of 13,500 jobs a week in a four-week period ending Nov. 8.

https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/a-mixed-bag-of-economic-reports-shows-americans-struggling-with-high-prices-weak-labor-market