Author: Press Room

The Disney Grooming Syndicate’s return to Star Wars feature films has resulted in the lowest opening ever for a Disney Star Wars movie. If you figure inflation in, it’s the lowest opening since 1999. The Mandalorian and Grogu thudded over the Friday-Saturday-Sunday with just $81 million. With the extra day due to the four-day Memorial Day weekend, it is expected to bellyflop at right around $97 million. The previous record-holder was the flop Solo: A Star Wars Story, which opened to $84 million over three days and $103 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend. If you account for the…

Robust regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) and its human developers is essential for the common good to be served rather than naked, undisguised profit. Pope Leo XIV made this clarion call Monday, issuing a sweeping manifesto on safeguarding humankind as AI technology spreads into almost every facet of existence. “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), Leo’s first major encyclical, has been eagerly awaited ever since history’s first U.S.-born pope announced days after his election that he considered AI to be the biggest challenge facing humanity today, AP reports. The outlet noted: In the text, Leo denounced the “culture of power” driving the…

Former United Synagogue Jewish charity chief Jeremy Jacobs is leaving the UK after losing faith in British society due to rising antisemitism in the country. Jacobs, in a letter published by The Daily Telegraph, explained his reasons to leave the UK and relocate to Israel alongside his wife. He cited growing anti-Israel sentiment in the aftermath of Hamas’ October 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel and recounted episodes of harassment he experienced since then — warning “Britain is no longer the country it was.” “I lost my faith in British society,” Jacobs said per The Telegraph. “I no longer believe that…

French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin has called for a three-year pause on immigration, arguing that the country has reached its “limit” due to the mass influx of foreigners over the past few decades. Darmanin, a member of President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party who has served in multiple cabinet roles, including as Interior Minister, the post responsible for policing France’s borders, has cast doubt on the ability of the country to accept any more migrants while remaining a cohesive society, or at least his political faction’s ability to survive public outcry if no action is taken. Speaking to Le Journal du Dimanche,…

Crews worked overnight into Monday morning to keep the chemical tank in Garden Grove (a suburb of Southern California’s Orange County) from exploding in the hopes of preventing a chemical disaster. The “crisis situation,” which forced California Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a “state of emergency,” has now forced 50,000 people from their homes as the authorities work to “stop a pressurized tank filled with a toxic chemical at the GKN Aerospace facility from exploding in Garden Grove,” per ABC News. In a Sunday afternoon update, Orange County Fire Authority Interim Chief TJ McGovern said firefighters did “a recon mission…

The UK, France, Spain, Italy and Canada “aren’t very enthusiastic about the idea,” a source within the bloc has told the paper London, Paris, Madrid, Rome and Ottawa have rejected a proposal for NATO member states to spend 0.25% of their GDP on the provision of military assistance to Ukraine, the Telegraph has reported.NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was hoping that mandatory funding for Kiev would be approved at the bloc’s summit in Ankara, Türkiye on July 7-8, the Telegraph said in an article on Sunday.A NATO insider told the paper that Britain, France, Spain, Italy and Canada “aren’t very enthusiastic…

During this week’s broadcast of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said there were enough votes in the House of Representatives to pass a resolution invoking the War Powers Act, which would limit the Trump administration’s ability to continue its efforts against Iran. “Well, let me ask you about the War Powers Act because House Republican leaders abruptly canceled a vote to limit President Trump’s war powers in Iran,” “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker said. “It came just days after the Senate voted for the first time to advance a similar measure. Do you believe there are…

Economists and energy experts have lambasted Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) call to boycott Chevron, noting the state’s high gas prices are due to Newsom’s anti-energy agenda. This week, Newsom urged California drivers to avoid Chevron stations over Memorial Day weekend, citing high gas prices. He wrote: Californians, if you’re hitting the road this holiday weekend, be sure to AVOID Chevron. Pro tip: unbranded gas comes from the same refineries, storage tanks, and pipelines, and it meets the same state standards to keep your engine running clean, even if it doesn’t have a fancy name like ‘Techron.’ Big Oil is already…

Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said Congress would defund President Donald Trump’s so-called anti-weaponization fund. Host Jake Tapper said, “Does Congress have the authority to stop this $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund?” Tillis said, “I think that it wouldn’t surprise me if we get back to reconciliation, and I believe that we should because the underlying bill funding Homeland Security, because the Democrats have refused to even shut down our government, we’ve got to get back to it. But I wouldn’t at all doubt that there will be amendments to rescind the agreement and, to…

Beijing says it is “not competing” with Washington, despite racing to land astronauts on the Moon before 2030 Three Chinese astronauts have successfully reached the Tiangong space station, with one of them set to spend more than a year in orbit in another step in Beijing’s preparations for a future lunar landing.The Shenzhou-23 spacecraft launched aboard a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert late Sunday.Less than four hours later, following a rapid rendezvous and docking process, the crew, led by Commander Zhu Yangzhu, successfully reached the Tiangong space station, whose name translates as…