https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/learning-with-chatgpt-disturbing

ChatGPT and other AI chatbots are replacing the search engine. Instead of letting you suffer the laborious task of looking up sources of information, these powerful large language models will simply concoct an answer for you, with the minor risk that it might be totally made up.

It turns out there’s another hazard: while getting your answers this way may be quick, it isn’t great for actually learning, according to a new study published in the journal PNAS Nexus.

“When people rely on large language models to summarize information on a topic for them, they tend to develop shallower knowledge about it compared to learning through a standard Google search,” study co-lead author Shiri Melumad, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, wrote in an essay for The Conversation about her work.

The findings are based on an analysis of seven studies with more than 10,000 participants. The gist of their experiments went like this: the participants were told to learn about a topic, and were randomly assigned to either only use an AI chatbot like ChatGPT to do their research, or a standard search engine like Google. At the end, the participants were asked to write advice to a friend about what they learned.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-ukraine-european-officials-hold-talks-geneva-trumps-plan-end-war-2025-11-23/

GENEVA, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Ukrainian, U.S. and European officials met in Geneva on Sunday to discuss a draft U.S. plan to end the war in Ukraine, after Kyiv and its allies voiced alarm over what they saw as major concessions to Russia and pressed for changes.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who has championed the 28-point plan, said on Sunday that Ukraine had not been grateful for American efforts over the war, prompting Ukrainian officials to stress their gratitude to the U.S. president for his support.

European officials joined the U.S. and Ukrainian delegations for talks late on Sunday after crafting a modified version of the U.S. plan for Ukraine that pushes back on proposed limits to Kyiv's armed forces and mooted territorial concessions.

The European plan proposes that Ukraine be granted a larger military than under the U.S. plan and that talks on land swaps should start from the front line rather than a pre-determined view of which areas should be considered Russian.

On Friday, Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had until Thursday to approve the plan, which calls on Ukraine to cede territory, accept limits on its military and renounce ambitions to join NATO.

For many Ukrainians, including soldiers fighting on the front lines, such terms would amount to capitulation after nearly four years of fighting in Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two. On Saturday, Trump said the current proposal for ending the war is not his final offer.

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/meta-buried-causal-evidence-social-media-harm-us-court-filings-allege-2025-11-23/

Meta shut down internal research into the mental health effects of Facebook after finding causal evidence that its products harmed users’ mental health, according to unredacted filings in a lawsuit by U.S. school districts against Meta and other social media platforms.

In a 2020 research project code-named “Project Mercury,” Meta (META.O)
, opens new tab scientists worked with survey firm Nielsen to gauge the effect of “deactivating” Facebook, according to Meta documents obtained via discovery. To the company’s disappointment, “people who stopped using Facebook for a week reported lower feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness and social comparison,” internal documents said.
Rather than publishing those findings or pursuing additional research, the filing states, Meta called off further work and internally declared that the negative study findings were tainted by the “existing media narrative” around the company.
Privately, however, a staffer insisted that the conclusions of the research were valid, according to the filing.
“The Nielsen study does show causal impact on social comparison,” (unhappy face emoji), an unnamed staff researcher allegedly wrote. Another staffer worried that keeping quiet about negative findings would be akin to the tobacco industry “doing research and knowing cigs were bad and then keeping that info to themselves.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/us/politics/kash-patel-girlfriend-fbi-protection.html

When Alexis Wilkins, an aspiring country singer dating the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the National Rifle Association’s annual convention in Atlanta in the spring, she arrived with a formidable protective posse — a SWAT team from the bureau’s local field office.

The two agents, members of a specialized unit trained to storm barricaded buildings and rescue hostages, had been sent there on Mr. Patel’s orders. But seeing that the event at the Georgia World Congress Center had been secured, and that Ms. Wilkins was in no apparent danger, they left before the event was over, according to six people with knowledge of the incident.

She noticed. So did her boyfriend.

Soon after, Mr. Patel ripped into the team’s commander, saying that his girlfriend had been left without taxpayer-funded defenders, and slamming what he saw as failure to communicate their movements up the chain of command during her time on the convention floor — where she sang and chatted with attendees, the people said.

He was concerned that Ms. Wilkins, a high-profile conservative, might be attacked by people who had threatened her online.

Mr. Patel’s heavy use of taxpayer-funded resources during his first nine months on the job has contributed to growing questions inside the administration about whether it exceeds the bounds of standard practice. This includes an intense use of security to protect himself and his girlfriend.

https://time.com/7336327/doge-disbanded-elon-musk/
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/doge-doesnt-exist-with-eight-months-left-its-charter-2025-11-23/
WASHINGTON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency has disbanded with eight months left to its mandate, ending an initiative launched with fanfare as a symbol of Trump's pledge to slash the government's size but which critics say delivered few measurable savings.
"That doesn't exist," Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor told Reuters earlier this month when asked about DOGE's status.

It is no longer a "centralized entity," Kupor added, in the first public comments from the Trump administration on the end of DOGE.
The agency, set up in January, made dramatic forays across Washington in the early months of Trump's second term to rapidly shrink federal agencies, cut their budgets or redirect their work to Trump priorities. The OPM, the federal government's human resources office, has since taken over many of DOGE's functions, according to Kupor and documents reviewed by Reuters.
At least two prominent DOGE employees are now involved with the National Design Studio, a new body created through an executive order signed by Trump in August. That body is headed by Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb, and Trump's order directed him to beautify government websites.
Gebbia was part of billionaire Elon Musk's DOGE team while DOGE employee Edward Coristine, nicknamed “Big Balls,” encouraged followers on his X account to apply to join.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5617595-trump-lashes-out-media-presidency/

President Trump in recent days has lashed out at a familiar foe during a low point in his presidency: the press.

Trump has escalated his swipes at the media as he faces mounting pressure from a weakening economy, setbacks from November’s elections when Democrats won big across the country, and his reversal on the Jeffrey Epstein files, which have all contributed to mounting infighting within the GOP.

Much of his ire has focused on ABC.

On Thursday, in a Truth Social post, he demanded late-night host Jimmy Kimmel be pulled off air. A day earlier, he also said the television network’s license should be taken away and “we have a great commissioner, the chairman, who should look at that,” referring to Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr.

Trump offered those remarks in response to a question by ABC News White House reporter Mary Bruce, who had asked the president questions about his decision to host Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in light of the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Bruce also asked the president about the Epstein files, which led Trump to call her a “terrible person and a terrible reporter.”

It wasn’t the only time in recent days that Trump directed his anger toward women in the White House press corps. Earlier in the month, when a Bloomberg reporter attempted to ask the president an Epstein-related question, Trump, his finger in the air, fired back: “Quiet. Quiet Piggy.”

https://www.axios.com/2025/11/21/zelensky-respond-trump-ukraine-peace-plan
President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the Ukrainian people on Friday and said President Trump's 28-point peace plan will force Ukraine to choose between "losing our dignity" or risking the loss of U.S. support.

The plan would force Ukraine to accept harsh concessions, including the loss of even more territory than Russia currently controls. Zelensky has told the Trump administration he's prepared to negotiate, but the White House is pushing him to sign within one week.

"This is one of the most difficult moments in our history," Zelensky said in his video address. "The pressure on Ukraine is now among the heaviest. Ukraine may now face a very difficult choice: the loss of dignity, or the risk of losing a key partner." Zelensky warned that Ukraine faces an "extremely harsh winter" if he spurns Trump's offer. He said U.S. officials "expect an answer from us."

Given his claim that accepting the current deal would force Ukraine to accept "life without freedom, without dignity, without justice," it doesn't sound as though his answer can possibly be yes. However, he said he would work with the U.S. to find solutions: "I will provide arguments, I will persuade, propose alternatives." Zelensky made clear he will be leaning heavily on European support as he comes under intense pressure from the US.

Zelensky spoke by phone on Friday with the leaders of France, Germany and the U.K., all of whom are helping Ukraine shape its response to the U.S. plan and come up with alternative proposals. "We remember Europe was with us. We believe Europe will be with us," Zelensky said in his speech.

Zelensky also spoke with Vice President Vance on Friday. The White House has made clear it wants him to sign by Thanksgiving, two sources told Axios' Barak Ravid.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj4qx1lenvjo
Marjorie Taylor Greene has announced she will resign from office, an unexpected turn for the high-profile Republican.

One of Donald Trump's MAGA superstars and staunchest defenders, the Georgia congresswoman's relentless calls for releasing files related to late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and recent criticism of some of his policies led to a bitter public feud.

After the US president labelled her a "traitor", she said in a video announcing her departure: "I refuse to be a 'battered wife' hoping it all goes away and gets better."

Trump, who had threatened to support a Republican challenger to unseat Greene, called her resignation "great news for the country" in an interview with ABC News.

"For some reason, primarily that I refused to return her never ending barrage of phone calls, Marjorie went BAD," he later wrote on Truth Social.

"Nevertheless, I will always appreciate Marjorie, and thank her for her service to our Country!"

Greene said in her video statement, posted on social media, that she would leave the US Congress on 5 January 2026.

She said that she did "not want my sweet district to have to endure a hurtful and hateful primary against me by the president we all fought for, only to fight and win my election while Republicans will likely lose the midterms".

She had been one of the loudest demanding the release of documents related to Epstein, an issue that once united Trump and his base but has since become divisive.

Trump had spent months arguing that the issue was a distraction concocted by his political detractors.

"Standing up for American women who were raped at 14, trafficked and used by rich powerful men, should not result in me being called a traitor and threatened by the President of the United States, whom I fought for," Greene said in her resignation letter.

Over the last few months, she has gone on a number of high-profile news shows and was critical of Trump and fellow Republicans.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-grizzly-bear-attack-schoolchildren-teachers-bella-coola/

Educators used bear spray, bear bangers and anything they could to fend off a grizzly bear that attacked their Grade 4 and 5 students on a field trip into the woods on B.C.’s central coast.

Four people – one adult and three children – were badly mauled Thursday in the coastal community of Bella Coola and were airlifted to hospital in Vancouver, with two in critical condition, BC Emergency Health Services said. Seven others were treated for mild injuries and nine students from the Acwsalcta School unscathed, authorities said.

As the tightknit Nuxalk First Nation grappled with the brutal attack on students of their private school, the provincial Conservation Officer Service was warning everyone to stay indoors Friday. Eight officers were dispatched to investigate and to set traps. The officers collected physical evidence so they can try to match it to any animals they catch.