Former president Barack Obama will campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris in the month leading up to Election Day, kicking off his efforts with a trip to Pittsburgh on Thursday, according to a senior campaign official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss unannounced campaign activity. Obama senior adviser Eric Schultz said in a news release that the ...

OpenAI has closed its long-awaited funding round at a valuation of $157 billion, including the $6.6 billion the company raised from an extensive roster of investment firms and big tech companies. While OpenAI didn’t name the investors in Wednesday’s press release, a person with knowledge of the matter said the round was led by Thrive Capital and included participation from ...

Liberty Media-owned Formula One and luxury giant LVMH are entering into a 10-year partnership, according to a joint press release from the companies Wednesday afternoon.  The partnership will officially launch at the start of next F1 season and will include “hospitality, bespoke activations, limited editions and outstanding content.” The official arrangement will not be the first time that LVMH and F1 have ...

Starlink, the satellite internet service from SpaceX, is poised to become a crucial lifeline in parts of southern Appalachia that were devastated by Hurricane Helene. The Biden administration has announced it is planning to deploy dozens of ground-based Starlink devices that connect with satellites to provide internet services to remote areas. And the company has said approximately 500 Starlink kits ...

Russia has captured the key eastern Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, ending months of resistance and underscoring the scale of Kyiv’s challenge as it heads into its third wartime winter. Ukraine’s military confirmed its withdrawal from Vuhledar Wednesday, noting Russia had managed to send reserves on the flanks, leading to the “threat of encirclement.” The decision to withdraw, it said, was taken “to save personnel and military equipment.” ...

In the days after Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, fears ran high of a regional war. The conflict would not be contained in Gaza, the thinking went –  Hezbollah would attack Israel from the north, the Houthis from Yemen, and Iranian proxies from Iraq. Israel would be forced to respond, it would come into direct conflict with Iran, and ...

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (AP) — The Dominican Republic announced Wednesday that it would start massive deportations of Haitians living illegally in the country, expelling up to 10,000 of them a week. Government spokesman Homero Figueroa told reporters that the government took the decision after noticing an “excess” of Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of ...

An Israeli military reservist who survived the Nova festival massacre has been hailed as a “hero” by the country’s security minister, for confronting two gunmen behind Tuesday’s shooting and stabbing attack in Tel Aviv. Seven people were killed and 16 wounded in the attack on Jerusalem Boulevard in Jaffa, a port neighborhood in southern Tel Aviv, according to Israeli Police. ...

The 47-year-old German national, who has been identified by local media as Christian Brueckner, is on trial at the Braunschweig state court in northern Germany over offenses he is alleged to have committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017. Closing arguments in the trial that opened in February started on Wednesday. Prosecutor Ute Lindemann argued that he should be convicted of two ...

A North Korean defector who escaped to the South more than a decade ago was detained after attempting to cross back into North Korea on a stolen bus, police said. The area is heavily guarded by military forces due to its proximity to the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, one of the most heavily fortified borders in the world. ...