engadget Monday April 8, 2024
The New York Times reports that Israel’s military intelligence has been using an experimental facial recognition program in Gaza that’s misidentified Palestinian civilians as having ties to Hamas. Google Photos allegedly plays a part in the program’s implementation, although it appears not to be through any direct collaboration with the company, notes Engadet. The surveillance program reportedly started as a way to search for Israeli hostages in Gaza. However, the initiative was quickly expanded to “root out anyone with ties to Hamas or other militant groups,” according to The Times.
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The Washington Post Monday April 8, 2024
A longtime resident of Japam, photographer James Whitlow Delano traveled to Japan’s Mount Zao to document what the Japanese call “juhyo,” which translates to “ice trees.” From mid-January to early March, weather conditions, including icy gales and snows of 6 to 9 feet, transform the landscape, notes The Washington Post. It’s also a fragile landscape, notes Delano, who often focuses on environmental stories. With temperatures rising to climate change, the ice trees on the summit of Mount Zao face beetle infestations.
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The Washington Post Monday April 8, 2024
Trump administration treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin is telling rich investors he has a plan to take over TikTok: rebuild the popular video app from scratch. If the US were to force TikTok’s Chinese owner to sell the platform, its estimated price tag would be a prohibitive $100 billion. Mnuchin would also have get around the Chinese government’s ban on the export of recommendation algorithms, TikTok’s secret sauce. He has indicated that he could overcome those hurdles by offering to buy the app without the export-blocked code, essentially forcing his consortium to remake the service, notes The Washington Post.
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World Photography Organization Monday April 8, 2024
World Press Photo has announced the regional winners of its 2024 photo competition, which recognizes and celebrates the best photojournalism and documentary photography produced over the last year. The 24 winners were selected from 61,062 entries by 3,851 photographers from 130 countries. Four global winners—the World Press Photo of the Year, the World Press Photo Story of the Year, the World Press Photo Long-Term Project Award, and the World Press Photo Open Format Award—will be announced on April 18.
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