Daily Archives: June 9, 2020


The Doctor Will (Not) See You Now: Deepfakes at the Therapist’s Office 

Deepfakes, which use artificial intelligence and machine learning to generate highly realistic but phony videos, have been exploited for both entertainment and unethical purposes. Now one startup is showing how the face-swapping technology can be a practical tool for improving mental health and therapy practices.  VOA’s Tina Trinh explains.Camera: Tina Trinh …


Bon Appetit’s top Editor Resigns After Offensive Photo

The editor-in-chief of Bon Appetit, Adam Rapoport, resigned after a photo of him dressed in a stereotypical Puerto Rican costume surfaced on social media.Staffers at the magazine had criticized him after the photo, of him and his wife, circulated on Twitter. That tweet featured a screenshot of a 2013 Instagram photo by Rapoport’s wife that depicted the two dressed up in costume. In the screenshot, his wife tagged the photo “boricua,” a reference to Puerto Ricans, and called Rapoport “papi.” He was wearing a large, heavy chain, a do-rag and …


World Athletics’ Ex-Chief Lamine Diack Goes on Trial in Paris

Former World Athletics’ Chief Lamine Diack was in a Paris courtroom Monday as a corruption trial opened against him. The case involves a Russian doping scandal. Eighty-seven-year-old Lamine Diack seemed relaxed as he made his court appearance Monday, sporting a dark grey suit. Arguments in the case were originally due to start in January, but postponed when new documents containing testimony from his son and co-defendant were submitted to the court. Lamine Diack is the former head of World Athletics – which was once known as the IAAF. As head of the IAAF from 1999 to 2015, Diack was once one of the most powerful figures in world athletics. Today, he lives under house arrest in Paris, charged with corruption and money laundering.  Prosecutors allege Diack solicited millions of dollars …


Heir to South Korea’s Samsung Empire Avoids Jail

A South Korean Court has rejected an arrest warrant for the heir to the legendary Samsung Group conglomerate in connection with a controversial merger.   Prosecutors have accused Lee Jae-yong, the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, of stock manipulation and illegal trading involving the 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates, Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, of which Lee is the largest shareholder.  He allegedly sought to inflate the value of Cheil Industries and lower the value of Samsung C&T to give him a bigger stake in the merged company, a move that …


Cristobal to Merge With New Storm System After Lashing South

Tropical Storm Cristobal could soon renew its strength by uniting with another storm system coming from the west to form one giant cyclone, forecasters say. After drenching much of the South, forecasters now expect the remnants of Cristobal to bring fierce winds, heavy rain and thunderstorms to much of the Midwest by Tuesday. A very strong storm system sweeping out from the Rocky Mountains is expected to meld with Cristobal, said Greg Carbin, who oversees forecasts at the Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. “The two will eventually merge into a large …


Viewers Refute Myth That Black US Films, TV are Poor Exports

To entice a European TV executive shopping for programs a few years ago, ABC offered up glossy fare including “Scandal” starring Kerry Washington and “How to Get Away with Murder” with Oscar-winner Viola Davis.   “‘This is great, but when are you going to start bringing us shows that don’t have black leads?’” the buyer asked in the 2015 meeting, as then-ABC executive Channing Dungey recounts. “I was sitting in a room in the 21st century, and I thought I was being slapped across the face.”   The remark was …