Photo: Science Photo Library RF
1 Iran Releases Five American Prisoners
The five U.S. citizens that have spent up to eight years detained in Iran were released yesterday after a deal was struck by the Biden administration. The deal, which has been criticized by Republicans, included the release of five Iranian prisoners and the transfer of $6 billion in unfrozen Iranian assets back to the country. The Biden administration has said that the money will be monitored to ensure it will only be spent on humanitarian efforts, but Iranian officials have said they’ll use the money however they see fit. The American prisoners released include Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi, Morad Tahbaz, and two Americans who wished to remain anonymous. The longest-held of the detainees was Namazi, who was arrested in 2015 and left there even after past prisoner swaps by the Obama and Trump administrations.
2 Debris Field Found In Search For Missing F-35 Jet
The search for an F-35 stealth fighter jet that went missing Sunday afternoon after the pilot ejected mid-flight came to an end at a debris field in South Carolina yesterday. The debris field was found about two hours northeast of Joint Base Charleston, and residents were asked to avoid the area while a recovery team worked at the site. The pilot, who ejected around 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon, was taken to a hospital and was in stable condition according to Marine officials. In a news release last night, the Marine Corps said “The mishap is currently under investigation, and we are unable to provide additional details to preserve the integrity of the investigative process.” Earlier in the day yesterday, the acting commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Eric Smith, ordered the stand-down of all aviation operations for two days after the crash. It’s the third “Class-A mishap” over the past six weeks, which is when damages reach $2.5 million or more. The F-35B Lightning II stealth plane cost around $100 million. Commanders will reportedly spend the stand-down going over safe flying policies, practices, and procedures.
3 Elon Musk Floats Plan For "Small" Fee For Anyone To Use X
During a panel discussion yesterday with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the perils of artificial intelligence, Elon Musk mentioned that the days of using X, formerly known as Twitter, with no cost may be coming to an end. Musk made the statement while talking about the threat of AI online, saying that a fee to use his social media platform “is the only defense against vast armies of bots.” He went on to say that “as AI gets very, very good, it’s actually able to pass these sort of CAPTCHA tests better than humans.” Musk said “We’re wanting it to be just a small amount of money,” suggesting it’ll be less than the $8 per month fee for Twitter Blue, the site’s premium subscription service. Talking about recent allegations of hate speech on the platform, Musk said that “free speech at times means that somebody you don’t like is saying something you don’t like.” Netanyahu asked Musk if it was possible to stop bots “so at least if you get a crazy guy and a hateful guy, let him be speaking for one voice rather than an army of fake millions.”