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Indonesia follows Malaysia and the Philippines in lifting the ban on xAI’s chatbot Grok. Southeast Asian countries banned Grok for being used to mass create non-consensual sexual images on X (now a subsidiary of xAI), including images of real women and minors. From late December to January, Grok was used to create at least 1.8 million sexually explicit images of women, according to separate analyzes by The New York Times and the Center to Combat Digital Hate. Indonesia’s Ministry of Communications and Digital said in a statement that the ban was lifted after X sent a letter “outlining concrete steps…

According to local media reports, the Israeli military admitted in a press conference to Israeli journalists that some 70,000 Palestinians had died during the war in Gaza, and that Health Ministry figures in the enclave were largely accurate. “We estimate that around 70,000 Gazans have been killed in the war, including those missing,” Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronos quoted military officials as saying on Thursday. The country’s public broadcaster Kan 11 said the information came from the Coordinator of Territorial Government Affairs (COGAT) and that efforts were currently underway to analyze how many of those killed were civilians or militants. On…

Files released by the U.S. Department of Justice included flirtatious emails between Casey Wasserman and Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.Published February 1, 2026February 1, 2026Click here to share on social mediaShare 2shareLos Angeles 2028 Olympics chief Casey Wasserman has apologized for his correspondence with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell after a series of private emails between the two were made public more than 20 years ago.New files released by the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday about Ms. Maxwell’s ex-boyfriend, the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, include flirtatious email exchanges between Ms. Wasserman, who was married at the time,…

A movie poster for the documentary “Melania” featuring First Lady Melania Trump is displayed at a subway station in New York City, USA, on January 14, 2026. Gina Moon | ReutersAmazon’s “Melania” grossed $7 million at the domestic box office upon opening this weekend, the highest opening for a non-music documentary in more than a decade.Documentaries typically aren’t big drivers of ticket sales, with most releases in the past decade opening with less than $5 million and grossing between $10 million and $20 million worldwide, according to ComScore data. Documentaries and concert films by popular music artists often exceed these…

Latest information on Spanish San Jose, Costa Rica — After an election season overshadowed by crime and political apathy, Costa Rica heads to the polls this Sunday to choose its new president. Costa Ricans are most concerned about security this year, a poll has found, as gang violence continues in a country long considered a peaceful tourist hub. Voters are also troubled by a declining quality of life and the country’s chaotic political climate, as evidenced by the 20 presidential candidates alone. Among the many candidates, the one leading the national search is Laura Fernández, a 39-year-old former national planning…

2026 Grammy Awards: How Addison Rae, Alex Warren and more earned Best New Artist nominationsA baby’s first Grammy Awards is always worth looking back on. The music industry’s biggest stars look like professionals on the Grammy Awards red carpet, but they have a common experience: attending music’s biggest night for the first time. Take Taylor Swift, for example. In 2008, before the “Cruel Summer” singer won 14 Grammy Awards, she attended her first Grammy Awards red carpet wearing a purple mermaid-style dress. She was nominated for Best New Artist at the time, but won for the first time in 2010,…

Manchester United produced a stunning 3-2 win over Fulham in a thrilling Premier League match at Old Trafford.Published February 1, 2026February 1, 2026Click here to share on social mediaShare 2shareManchester United caretaker manager Michael Carrick got the side off to a perfect start on Sunday with Benjamin Sesco’s stoppage-time goal clinching a 3-2 win against Fulham.United took the lead in the first half through Casemiro’s header and looked to have taken control when Matheus Cunha scored after the interval at Old Trafford.Recommended stories list of 4 itemsend of listIn an incredible finale, Raul Jimenez’s penalty with five minutes remaining gave…

India’s government plans to improve its fiscal position slightly in the next fiscal year, reducing the budget deficit and debt while boosting manufacturing in sectors ranging from textiles to chips.Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday, in her ninth consecutive budget speech, said the government expects the fiscal deficit to be 4.3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2026-27, down from 4.4 per cent in 2025-26.Sitharaman said the government expects India’s debt-to-GDP ratio to decline from 56.1% in 2025-26 to 55.6% in the next financial year.The Finance Minister pointed to the wide-ranging uncertainties facing India.”Today, we face an external…

As the global race to build AI infrastructure accelerates, India has offered foreign cloud providers zero tax on services sold abroad until 2047 if they run workloads from Indian data centers. The move is aimed at attracting the next wave of AI computing investment as power shortages and water stress threaten business expansion in the South Asian country. On Sunday, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a proposal (PDF) in India’s annual budget that would give tax breaks (effectively zero taxes) on revenue from cloud services sold outside India if they are operated from data centers in the country. Sales…

It’s bubblegum foreign policy. The goal is to enjoy the taste right away, rather than chewing something sticky for hours. US President Donald Trump’s approach to global adventurism seems to worship quick results and loathe protracted crises. Very little is predictable in this White House, and perhaps that’s the point. But some lessons learned from January’s whirlwind, and indeed President Trump’s previous interactions with Iran, suggest that future military options in the Gulf are limited and far from great. The buildup of naval assets in and around Iran’s coast has been slow and slow. President Trump posted that “help is…