New push on US-run free electronic tax-filing system for all
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s that time of year when throngs of taxpayers are buckling down to file their income tax returns before Tuesday’s filing deadline, and many often pay to use software from private companies such as Intuit and H&R Block. Almost one-quarter of Americans wait until the last minute to file their taxes. There could be a new, free option in future years. The IRS has been tasked with looking into how to create a government-operated electronic free-file tax return system for all. But that doesn’t sit well with the big tax-prep companies. The idea has been batted around and hotly debated for a long time. Congress now has directed the IRS to report in on how such a system might work.
Deepfake porn could be a growing problem amid AI race
NEW YORK (AP) — Artificial intelligence imaging can be used to create art, try on clothes in virtual fitting rooms or help design advertising campaigns. But experts fear the darker side of the easily-accessible tools could worsen something that primarily harms women: nonconsensual deepfake pornography. The problem, experts say, grew as it became easier to make sophisticated and visually compelling deepfakes. And they say it could get worse with the development of generative AI tools that are trained on billions of images from the internet and spit out novel content using existing data. Some AI models say they’re curbing access to explicit images. And some social media companies have been tightening up their rules to better protect their platforms against harmful materials.
Name-that-tune game Heardle dropped by Spotify after a year
NEW YORK (AP) — Heardle, the name-that-tune game inspired by the Wordle craze, is being dropped by Spotify less than a year after the music-streaming giant acquired it. Spotify confirmed the move in a statement Saturday. Similar to what the New York Times-owned Wordle does with letters, Heardle plays fleeting moments of a song from the Spotify catalog and challenges users to see how quickly they can guess it. Users can then play the song on Spotify. The company acquired the game in July as a means of music discovery. But it said Saturday that it is going to focus on other ways of doing that.
Fox News and 2020 election lies set to face jury come Monday
NEW YORK (AP) — A trial beginning Monday in Delaware will force Fox News executives and some of the network’s stars to answer for their role in spreading doubt about the 2020 presidential election. Jurors hearing the $1.6 billion lawsuit filed against Fox by Dominion Voting Systems must answer a specific question: Did Fox defame the voting machine company by airing bogus stories alleging the election was rigged against Donald Trump, even as many at the network privately doubted the false claims? The trial will also test press freedom and put a spotlight on the flow of misinformation that helped spark the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Germany backs EU-Indonesia trade pact to curb China reliance
BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday that he will press for a trade agreement between the European Union and Indonesia as part of his country’s efforts to reduce its reliance on China for crucial raw materials. Speaking at the opening of the annual Hannover trade fair, Scholz told Indonesian President Joko Widodo that a trade deal between Southeast Asia’s most populous nation and the 27-nation bloc would create an economic area with 700 million people. Scholz said of the negotiations, which have been ongoing since 2016, that he is “working to finally get this agreement across the finish line.” The German leader said he was similar hopeful about talks between the EU and the Latin American Mercosur bloc, Mexico, Australia, Kenya and India.
Putin meets with China’s defense minister in Moscow
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with China’s defense minister in Moscow. Sunday’s meeting underscored China’s strengthening engagement with Russia. China has largely aligned its foreign policy with Russia in an attempt to diminish the influence of the United States and other Western democracies. Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu met with Gen. Li Shangfu less than a month after Chinese leader Xi Jinping held a three-day state visit to Moscow. China has refused to criticize Russia’s military actions in Ukraine and blames the United States and NATO for provoking Moscow. But China’s foreign minister said last week that China wouldn’t be helping Russia with weapons, as the U.S. and other Western allies have feared.
Freight train engines, cars derail and catch fire in Maine
Officials say several cars on a freight train have derailed and caught fire in rural Maine. Three railroad workers were hurt, but their injuries were said not to be life-threatening. The Maine Forest Service says in a statement that three locomotive engines and six cars carrying lumber and electrical wiring went off the track at about 8:30 a.m. in Sandwich Academy Grant Township in Somerset County. They derailed into a wooded area and started a small forest fire. Emergency responders contained the blaze and were monitoring it. The agency says a preliminary assessment points to a buildup of “melting ice and debris that washed out part of the railroad track” as the possible cause of the accident.