The Petersburg Post
Top News Stories for Saturday, January 17th 2026
Friday, Jan 16th, 2026 -
Home » » Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado presented her Nobel Peace Prize to President Donald Trump this week during a visit to the White House. Machado told reporters that she offered to share her medallion with President Trump following what she described as his "historic" role in deposing former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro from his role. According to a post by Machado's ...
Source: floridianpress.com
Friday, Jan 16th, 2026 -
Kevin Hassett says big banks may voluntarily expand credit access for consumers in 'sweet spot' The Trump administration is floating a new proposal aimed at expanding access to credit cards after the president's calls for a 10% cap on credit card interest rates were met with pushback from the financial services industry. President Donald Trump called for a 10% cap on credit card interest rates in a post ...
Source: foxbusiness.com
Friday, Jan 16th, 2026 -
OpenAI is bringing a new subscription tier and ads to the United States. The company has begun bringing the low-cost subscription tier ChatGPT Go to the United States and everywhere ChatGPT is available, it said in a Friday (Jan. 16) press release . OpenAI has already launched this subscription tier in 171 countries since August, according to the release. The tier offers ChatGPT users expanded access to messaging, ...
Source: pymnts.com
Friday, Jan 16th, 2026 -
The mother of one of Musk's children alleges that Grok continued to produce sexually explicit deepfakes of her despite direct assurances from the company. Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of Elon Musk's children, filed a lawsuit against xAI on Thursday. The suit accuses the company of negligence and inflicting emotional distress through its AI tool Grok. St. Clair claims Grok allowed users to generate deepfake ...
Source: techbriefly.com
Friday, Jan 16th, 2026 -
The Trump administration has paused its efforts to seize student debt from borrowers' paychecks, the Education Department said Friday, as the White House makes a concerted push around an affordability agenda ahead of this year's midterm elections. The department said the "temporary delay" would persist until the department implements new student debt repayment and rehabilitation options outlined in recent ...
Source: bostonglobe.com
Friday, Jan 16th, 2026 -
Canada, traditionally a staunch US ally, has been hit especially hard by Trump's steep tariffs on steel, aluminium, vehicles and lumber. Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a "new strategic partnership" with Beijing as he held talks President Xi Jinping on Friday, the first visit by a Canadian leader to China in eight years. The two countries had been locked in years of diplomatic spats after the retaliatory ...
Source: digitaljournal.com
Friday, Jan 16th, 2026 -
AI toothbrush. AI sleep mask. AI baby monitor. AI coffee maker. AI cat feeder . AI pen. AI pin . AI massage chair. An AI mirror that "reads your face." An AI refrigerator that needs to know me better than I know myself. AI smart ring , AI smart necklace , AI headphones , AI OH MY GOD WHATEVER. On day one of my first CES, I started keeping a list in my notes app. Not a list of companies to follow up ...
Source: cnet.com
Friday, Jan 16th, 2026 -
A heavy police presence and deadly crackdowns on protesters appeared to have largely suppressed demonstrations in many cities and towns across Iran, according to several witnesses and a human rights group. For weeks, Iran has been convulsed by protests sparked by a collapsing economy and a currency in free fall, with the demonstrations snowballing into a broader antigovernment movement. Authorities have sought to ...
Source: bostonglobe.com
Friday, Jan 16th, 2026 -
A federal court has thrown out a lawsuit brought by the Trump administration attempting to force the state of California to turn over sensitive voter data. The decision , issued by the U.S. Central District Court of Southern California, is a major setback to the federal government's massive data collection effort on American voters, and its argument that existing civil rights laws permit it to demand that ...
Source: cyberscoop.com
Friday, Jan 16th, 2026 -
Federal prosecutors have unveiled a betting ring involving NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association game fixing, charging 26 people, including current and former college basketball players. The case involves gamblers placing bets and bribing players with large cash payouts for underperforming during a game, even texting players pictures of stacks of money if they complied. U.S. Attorney David Metcalf said the ...
Source: abajournal.com
Friday, Jan 16th, 2026 -
Yoon Suk Yeol's conviction for obstructing own arrest separate from main trial that could lead to death penalty A South Korean court has sentenced former president Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison for mobilising presidential security forces to block his own arrest and abusing his powers. It is the first judicial ruling linked to the events surrounding his failed martial law declaration in December 2024. The ...
Source: theguardian.com
Friday, Jan 16th, 2026 -
A federal judge said Dominion Energy Inc. can restart construction of a wind project off the coast of Virginia while it continues a legal fight over the Trump administration's order to stop the $11 billion development. The ruling marks the third time this week that an offshore wind project was allowed to resume despite a government stop-work order. US District Judge Jamar Walker in Norfolk, Virginia, issued a ...
Source: news.bloomberglaw.com
Friday, Jan 16th, 2026 -
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday said he would like to keep his top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, at the White House rather than potentially nominate him to replace Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve. "I actually want to keep you where you are, if you want to know the truth," Trump said at a White House event, when he saw Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, in ...
Source: apnews.com
Friday, Jan 16th, 2026 -
Researchers working at KU Leuven University in Belgium are warning people who use Bluetooth audio products that their devices may be at risk due to vulnerabilities in Google's Fast Pair technology, a feature that makes it quicker and easier to connect Bluetooth devices. Google says it has addressed issues that could allow hackers to hijack audio devices and track their location. But the ...
Source: cnet.com
Friday, Jan 16th, 2026 -
Flu cases are ticking down, but experts warn the U.S. isn't out of the woods yet. Fifteen more children died from the flu in the week ending Jan. 10, bringing the total of pediatric deaths to 32. On Friday, the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported an over 18% drop in confirmed flu cases , compared to the previous week. Doctor visits for respiratory illnesses also decreased by ...
Source: nbcnews.com
Friday, Jan 16th, 2026 -
Cancer mortality drops 34% as treatments and early detection improve New national estimates reveal historic gains in cancer survival and millions of deaths averted, while exposing stark inequities and warning that policy decisions today could determine whether progress continues or stalls. Study: Cancer statistics, 2026 The American Cancer Society ( ACS ) has published the 2026 cancer statistics in CA: A Cancer ...
Source: news-medical.net
Friday, Jan 16th, 2026 -
Follow Earth on Google Tyrannosaurus rex has long been portrayed as a monster that rocketed to adulthood, hitting peak size in its twenties. A new analysis paints a different picture. It suggests these predators kept growing for roughly four decades, taking far longer to reach their full bulk than scientists once thought. The study reexamines growth evidence from 17 tyrannosaur leg-bone fossils, from small ...
Source: earth.com
Friday, Jan 16th, 2026 -
President Yoweri Museveni was reported to hold a commanding lead as officials conducted a vote count in Uganda's elections. Based on tallies from nearly half of polling stations, Uganda's Electoral Commission reported on Friday that the longstanding ruler of the Central African nation had taken 76.25 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, Museveni's main challenger, pop star-turned-politician Bobi Wine , had gained ...
Source: aljazeera.com
Friday, Jan 16th, 2026 -
The startup aims to bypass invasive skull surgery by using ultrasound and molecular engineering to connect neurons directly to digital models. OpenAI has invested in Merge Labs, a brain-computer interface startup founded by Sam Altman, its CEO. The company emerged from stealth on Thursday, announcing an undisclosed seed round. A source familiar with the matter confirmed OpenAI provided the largest single check in ...
Source: techbriefly.com
Friday, Jan 16th, 2026 -
Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. Swipe for next article Coalition of lawmakers is asking the FTC to reply to a series of questions about Trump Mobile by mid-February A group of Democratic lawmakers is asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Trump Mobile, the cellphone network provider branded by the Trump Organization , for ...
Source: independent.co.uk
Thursday, Jan 15th, 2026 -
Reading time 3 minutes After a medical issue prompted their evacuation , NASA's Crew-11 astronauts safely splashed down off the coast of California in the predawn hours of Thursday morning. Their departure brought an early end to their mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), leaving the orbital laboratory temporarily understaffed. On Monday, Crew-11 pilot Mike Fincke handed command of the space ...
Source: gizmodo.com
Thursday, Jan 15th, 2026 -
A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that a judge had no jurisdiction to order Columbia University pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil released from immigration detention last summer, a decision that could lead to his re-arrest. Khalil, a green card holder who is married to an American citizen, was released from ICE custody last June following his arrest by ICE agents in New York City in ...
Source: aol.com
Thursday, Jan 15th, 2026 -
Company says credit covers multiple days of service after widespread voice and data outages Cellular provider Verizon is giving a billing credit to customers affected by the network disruption on Wednesday that left some around the country without the ability to use the cellular provider's voice and data services. "Yesterday, we did not meet the standard of excellence you expect and that we expect of ourselves," ...
Source: foxbusiness.com
Thursday, Jan 15th, 2026 -
Governor Maura Healey released new guidance on childhood vaccinations Wednesday, countering Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s recent overhaul of the schedule. On Jan. 5 , the Trump administration reduced the number of vaccinations it recommends for all children, framing the decision as a way to increase public trust by backing only the most important shots. Unlike the federal government, Massachusetts ...
Source: bostonglobe.com
Thursday, Jan 15th, 2026 -
Jan. 15 (UPI) -- U.S. Southern Command forces seized a sixth sanctioned oil tanker during the predawn hours Thursday morning as part of Operation Southern Spear. The seized vessel is named the Veronica and is the largest tanker among those sanctioned by the Trump administration and involved in transporting sanctioned Venezuelan oil, according to Southern Command. "Marines and sailors from Joint Task Force Southern ...
Source: upi.com
Thursday, Jan 15th, 2026 -
Spotify claims the higher fees will help "benefit artists." After a dozen years of keeping subscription prices stable, Spotify has issued three price hikes in 2.5 years. Spotify informed subscribers via email today that Premium monthly subscriptions would go from $12 to $13 per month as of users' February billing date. Spotify is already advertising the higher prices to new subscribers. Although not explicitly ...
Source: arstechnica.com
Thursday, Jan 15th, 2026 -
Home » » Thousands of federal grants funding mental health and addiction services were suddenly terminated late Tuesday as the Trump administration sent hundreds of notices announcing the discontinuations. The sudden terminations at the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) affected over 2700 of the agency's discretionary grants worth nearly $1.9 billion. According ...
Source: floridianpress.com