All posts tagged: influence

Britney Spears enters treatment facility after driving under the influence arrest

Britney Spears enters treatment facility after driving under the influence arrest

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the inside track from Roisin O’Connor with our free weekly music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Britney Spears has reportedly entered a substance abuse treatment facility, just over a month after her arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. A representative for the 44-year-old pop superstar confirmed to the Associated Press on Sunday that she had voluntarily checked herself in. The incident occurred on March 5 when California Highway Patrol officers responded to reports of a BMW driving erratically on U.S. 101 in Ventura County. Ms Spears, who resides locally, underwent field sobriety tests and was subsequently arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of a combination of alcohol and drugs. She was released several hours after being taken to a county jail. Investigators referred the case to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office on March 23, with a decision on charges expected before a court date scheduled for May 4. At the …

Britney Spears enters treatment facility after driving under the influence arrest

Britney Spears enters treatment facility after driving under influence arrest

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the inside track from Roisin O’Connor with our free weekly music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Britney Spears has reportedly entered a substance abuse treatment facility, just over a month after her arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. A representative for the 44-year-old pop superstar confirmed to The Associated Press on Sunday that she had voluntarily checked herself in. The incident occurred on 5 March when California Highway Patrol officers responded to reports of a BMW driving erratically on U.S 101 in Ventura County. Ms Spears, who resides locally, underwent field sobriety tests and was subsequently arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of a combination of alcohol and drugs. She was released several hours after being taken to a county jail. Investigators referred the case to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office on 23 March, with a decision on charges expected before a court date scheduled for 4 May. At the …

Relying on AI chatbots for historical facts can influence your political beliefs, new study shows

Relying on AI chatbots for historical facts can influence your political beliefs, new study shows

Published by José Betancourt

A recent study published in PNAS Nexus suggests that reading history summaries generated by artificial intelligence can subtly shift people’s social and political opinions. The research indicates that popular chatbots carry hidden biases that can influence users, even when the software provides factually accurate information in response to neutral questions. These findings provide evidence that relying on AI to learn about the world might quietly shape public attitudes. Generative AI refers to computer programs that can create new text, images, or audio based on patterns they learned from vast amounts of data. Chatbots like ChatGPT are a common type of this technology. They are designed to mimic human conversation and answer questions. People increasingly use these tools as everyday search engines to learn about historical events and gather facts. The scientists wanted to know if the way these chatbots write about history could sway how people think about modern issues. Previous studies focused on how artificial intelligence persuades people when it is specifically instructed to make an argument or spread misinformation. This new research focuses …

Opus Dei: Spain under influence of ultra-conservative Catholic movement – Reporters

Opus Dei: Spain under influence of ultra-conservative Catholic movement – Reporters

Published by Sam Flores

To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. Accept Manage my choices One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Try again REPORTERS © FRANCE 24 Issued on: 27/03/2026 – 13:27 12:31 min From the show Reading time 1 min The ultra-conservative Catholic organisation Opus Dei was founded a century ago in Spain. Today, it’s an international movement with around 90,000 members. In its home country, it has managed to infiltrate all spheres of modern society, from schools to hospitals. Despite serious allegations against it, Opus Dei remains a powerful force in Spain. FRANCE 24’s Maude Petit-Jové, Mathilde Lopinski, Emile Roger and Sarah Morris report. Source link

In Monaco, Pope Leo to address inequality amid wealthy influence

In Monaco, Pope Leo to address inequality amid wealthy influence

Published by Sam Flores

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Leo XIV will travel on Saturday (March 28) from Vatican City, the world’s smallest country, to Monaco, the second smallest — linking two Catholic states whose global influence far exceeds their size. In a one-day trip totaling nine hours, Leo will become the first pope in the modern era to visit Monaco. While the country is often associated with wealth and luxury, the papal visit is expected to highlight themes of peace, multilateralism and ecology. “This trip will offer the pope an opportunity to reflect on the role of Europe,” said Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni while meeting with Vatican journalists on Wednesday. Leo will address “the responsible use of wealth and influence” at a time when Europe and the rest of the world are faced by war, polarization and conflict, Bruni said. “It’s a small country, and small countries can have a great role and open a big horizon in light of the problems of the world,” he added. Extending just over 0.81 square miles and with a population of …

How Social, Cultural, and Political Structures Influence Our Feelings

How Social, Cultural, and Political Structures Influence Our Feelings

Published by Jenni Sidey

Review of Explosive Emotions: How Modern Society Shapes What We Feel, by Eva Illouz (Princeton University Press), 261 pp., $29.95. Emotions are often regarded as the products of unique experiences and our biological and psychological makeup. Nonetheless, Eva Illouz points out, as they externalize our inner world, emotions also reflect an internalization of the outer world. In Explosive Emotions, Illouz (a professor at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris, and author of 18 books) argues that with their therapeutic techniques and lucrative industry of self-improvement, psychologists have “obfuscated the ways in which modern life makes us implode within the echo chamber of our interiority.” Drawing on psychology, philosophy, sociology, and literary classics, including The Odyssey, Othello, Madame Bovary, The Scarlet Letter, and Remembrance of Things Past, Illouz provides an in-depth examination of 12 emotions. Explosive motions, she argues, respond to key features of modernity, individualism, equality, meritocracy, democracy, capitalism, consumer culture, nationalism, and immigration, which often conflict with each other, and to an assumption that we “are entitled to an …

Newly Unearthed Letter Reveals Edvard Munch’s Influence on Paula Rego

Newly Unearthed Letter Reveals Edvard Munch’s Influence on Paula Rego

Published by Jenni Sidey

In 1951, a 16-year-old Paula Rego wrote to her mother after visiting an Edvard Munch exhibition, the Guardian reported Sunday, in a newly uncovered letter. “It’s so impressive that you can’t imagine,” Rego wrote, years before she would emerge as the Iberian Peninsula’s preeminent figurative painter, known for her searing visions of womanhood. Rego died in 2022 at 87, apparently never recounting to anyone besides her mother, Maria, the formative visit to the Tate Gallery in London she made while attending a finishing school in Kent. “What impressed me most was an exhibition there by a modern Norwegian painter, Edvard Munch,” she wrote, singling out The Scream and Inheritance among the works that struck her most. Related Articles The letter goes on: “I don’t know if you are familiar with that quite famous painting The Scream—that’s his—and he paints almost everything in that genre; he also has many engravings and drawings. But it’s so impressive, so impressive that you can’t imagine. Above all, a painting called Inheritance, which shows a seated woman crying with a …

Apple wasn’t at the world’s biggest Android show – but its influence was all I could see

Apple wasn’t at the world’s biggest Android show – but its influence was all I could see

Published by skeptic

The Oukitel phone (left) next to the iPhone 17 Pro (right). It’s uncanny. Kerry Wan/ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. Mobile World Congress (MWC) is one of the largest trade shows in the world dedicated to mobile technology. From new handsets to infrastructure to 6G (and I’m not even kidding), there were announcements, keynotes, and hardware aplenty to take in. One notable brand that typically sits out of the show, though, is Apple.  Also: This robotic camera phone is going viral at MWC, and I can see why The Cupertino company didn’t come to Barcelona, Spain, even though it had hardware to show off. But just because Apple didn’t attend the trade show doesn’t mean it wasn’t there in any capacity. In fact, Apple’s presence was felt in every corner of the show floor, and I found four notable examples of Apple showing up, even when it didn’t. 1. The cameras recording us all One of the first things I noticed at MWC was a camera crew running around, grabbing footage of the …

‘In the face of Trump’s militaristic drift and looming disaster, Europe must equip itself to have global influence’

‘In the face of Trump’s militaristic drift and looming disaster, Europe must equip itself to have global influence’

Published by Sam Flores

Let’s spell it out directly: The militaristic drift of the United States that we are witnessing with the war in Iran resonates above all as a terrible admission of weakness. US elites have become increasingly aware of the financial, commercial and political fragility of their country. The most nationalist among them have concluded that the only solution is to put weapons on the table. The stated goal of this warlike strategy is perfectly clear: It is not about promoting any kind of collective ideal, but rather about profiting financially from possessing the world’s largest military force. Trump’s words must be taken seriously: He is ready to strike deals with any mullah or Chavista on the planet, so long as US companies can lay their hands on the riches of Iran or Venezuela. The same logic applies to the minerals of Greenland, Ukraine or Russia. Business is business and Trump intends to use force to make lucrative deals wherever they may be found. His approach is reminiscent of the European colonial powers of the past. It …

David Lammy Refuses US Influence In Iran’s Leadership

David Lammy Refuses US Influence In Iran’s Leadership

Published by Sam Flores

David Lammy has refused to say he supports Donald Trump’s claim that the US should have a say in who leads Iran next. Days after US-Israeli strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, the US president insisted that he should be involved in choosing the Ayatollah’s successor. He told POLITICO the US is going to “work with them to help them make the proper choice” because he wants to avoid appointing a new head of Iran “that’s going to lead to having to do this again in another 10 years.” But the deputy prime minister did not endorse this thinking when speaking to BBC Radio 4′s Today programme. Asked if he thought Trump should have a say in Iran’s future, Lammy – who is now the justice secretary – said: “The concerns that I expressed as foreign secretary was what might come after Ali Khamenei was no longer there.” He continued. “This might ultimately be a matter for the Iranian people. “As we have discussed, it is now for the US and Israel to set …