Trump Will Shorten 50-Day Truce Deadline He Gave Russia's Putin
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Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
'Diaper Diplomacy': YouTube channel features AI baby versions of politicians
Move over E*TRADE Baby — a new generation of talking tykes is going viral, but instead of stock quotes, they're politicians discussing foreign policy, the economy and bickering in congressional committee hearings. Making its debut on YouTube, Diaper Diplomacy videos use artificial intelligence software to transform some of the nation's most well-known political figures, such as President Donald Trump and U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), into irritable infants while using the actual audio from the interviews or press conferences. With more than 67,000 subscribers and over 40 videos, the channel has garnered millions of views and a loyal following through its recreations of viral political moments, starring "babyfied" politicians of both parties. Diaper Diplomacy has recreated videos of a variety of notable figures in American politics, ranging from Trump visiting a construction site with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez testifying before Congress, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., explaining how he discovered and placed a dead bear cub in his car - among others. "Trigger Warning (for everyone): I roast both sides," according to the channel description, "Because let's be honest —our politicians act like toddlers, and it's time someone put them back in time-out." While some videos are for "members only," the channel's creator has widely shared numerous videos as fundraisers for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, allowing "babies to help other babies."USA TODAY has contacted the White House and Booker for comment. But who runs Diaper Diplomacy? According to a bio on "Buy Me a Coffee," Diaper Diplomacy is run by a "regular guy" who is chasing his dreams as a video creator. "[I am] trying to keep my head above water while raising three kids — including a 10-week-old who seems to think diapers grow on trees. If one of my videos gave you a laugh, I'd be super grateful for your support," the bio says. "Every little bit helps me keep making more content (and helps keep my little dude stocked up on diapers)." When recently asked by a viewer in the comments section whether the channel had become a full-time gig, the response was that it's been a "wild ride," and, hopefully, "getting close." "It's not paying all the bills yet, I've got a lot of mouths to feed and actual diapers to buy, but I think within a few months it can," was the response. "We'll see." The channel also touts video-specific merchandise, membership-only perks and access to "Diaper Doppelgänger GTP," the AI tool used to "babify" politicians on both sides of the aisle for $9.95. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is 'Diaper Diplomacy?' AI videos of baby politicians go viral
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Candace Owens claims Trump warned her off specious Brigitte Macron trans claim: ‘I've seen her up close'
Right-wing podcaster Candace Owens claims President Donald Trump personally called her to ask her to stop questioning the gender of Brigitte Macron, the first lady of France. Speaking with Tucker Carlson on his podcast, Owens, who is being sued by the Macrons for pursuing the story — which is based on a debunked conspiracy theory — said she was called by Trump in February, shortly after French President Emmanuel Macron visited the White House. Owens said the initial request to stop talking about the French first lady came from someone 'pretty high up' in the White House. She said she found the demand insulting and refused to comply. Trump later phoned Owens directly about the issue, she told Carlson, saying that the president told her Macron had pulled him aside to ask if he knew Owens. Owens said she was shocked by the request and stated that Trump had been confused as to why he was being asked to intervene. 'Emmanuel Macron personally flew to D.C. and asked Trump to ask me to shut up, to just stop speaking about his wife,' she told Carlson. 'He sounded very confused,' she claimed of Trump. 'He said he was very confused when the leader of France took him aside during negotiations for Ukraine and Russia to inquire about whether or not he knew Candace Owens.' Owens first spoke about the call from the president on her podcast, Becoming Brigitte, an eight-part documentary-style production about France's first lady. She said that Trump was very flattering toward her. 'You must be a very powerful person, Candace,' Owens said Trump had told her, before adding that her claims were distressing to Macron's wife. 'She's old and this is really, really impacting her,' she said the president had said. Trump then added: 'I saw her up close and she looks like a woman to me, I had dinner with her at the top of the Eiffel Tower.' Owens said she replied: 'Respectfully, Mr. President, it's not my fault that he married somebody with a penis,' repeating the type of false claim that has drawn the ire of the Macrons. Trump allegedly countered that they were working to end the war in Ukraine, and it would be helpful if she stopped questioning the gender of Macron's wife. Owens said she agreed to dial back on pushing the story for a while but would not agree to anything more than that. Last month, the Macrons filed a defamation lawsuit against Owens over the far-right influencer's 'relentless and unjustified smear campaign' falsely accusing Brigitte of being born a man. The 219-page defamation complaint, filed in Delaware state court, accuses Owens of proliferating 'demonstrably false' claims across her platforms, including in an eight-part podcast and on social media, designed to feed a 'frenzied fan base' in 'pursuit of fame'. 'These lies have caused tremendous damage to the Macrons,' according to the lawsuit, which names Owens as well as her business entities, which are incorporated in Delaware. The false claims have subjected the Macrons to a 'campaign of global humiliation, turning their lives into fodder for profit-driven lies,' the complaint says. 'Owens has dissected their appearance, their marriage, their friends, their family, and their personal history — twisting it all into a grotesque narrative designed to inflame and degrade,' the complaint alleges. 'The result is relentless bullying on a worldwide scale. Every time the Macrons leave their home, they do so knowing that countless people have heard, and many believe, these vile fabrications. It is invasive, dehumanizing, and deeply unjust.' The podcaster doubled down after the lawsuit was filed, outrageously claiming that Brigitte Macron's death would be faked before the case reached the discovery phase, claiming that the hypothetical staged killing of Macron would shut down all discussion 'about her being a man anymore.' Brigitte Macron was previously awarded $9,149 in damages last year after two other far-right influencers falsely accused her of being a transgender woman. In that case, Amandine Roy and Natacha Rey were ordered to pay damages to France's first lady as well as her brother, Jean-Michel Trogneux, after the women amplified bogus claims that Brigitte Macron had never existed and that her brother had changed gender and assumed that identity. For years, baseless conspiracy theories have proliferated across social media accusing prominent women — from Former First Lady Michelle Obama to Taylor Swift — of secretly being transgender, so-called 'transvestigations' that thread anti-trans rhetoric into a web of far-right conspiracy theories. The Macrons' lengthy complaint in Delaware connects the case to Owens's long history of far-right conspiracy theories — including debunked antisemitic tropes and attempts to minimize the Holocaust — to her attacks against the French first lady, which Owens has monetized on her YouTube channel, garnering millions of views. With additional reporting from Alex Woodward Solve the daily Crossword
Bloomberg
25 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Russia's Secret War and the Plot to Kill a German CEO
On a clear night at the end of April 2024, arsonists slipped into a tidy residential neighborhood in Hermannsburg, a German village of about 8,000 people surrounded by flat farm fields, heathland nature reserves and military bases. Under the cover of darkness, they arrived at a large redbrick home, where they set fire to a clapboard garden house and a towering beech tree out front. They escaped undetected before the fire brigade arrived. Neighbors awoke the next morning to the smell of still-smoldering wood. The home belonged to Armin Papperger, the chief executive officer of Rheinmetall AG, Germany's largest defense company. Papperger, a stocky, white-haired 62-year-old engineer, wasn't home at the time. In fact, he hadn't been there since 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, local residents say. The war had made Papperger a busy man: He was turning a sleeping industrial giant into an international defense juggernaut on track to bring in almost €10 billion ($11.6 billion) in revenue that year. Rheinmetall had already provided Ukraine with armored vehicles, military trucks and ammunition, and Papperger had recently announced plans to set up four weapons production sites inside the country.
