OGN Wednesday

Editor OGN Daily
Jul 2
4 min read

Mid-week collection of upbeat news nuggets to brighten the day.

Deepfake of Pope Francis wearing a chunky white coat — Deepfake of Pope Francis fuelled the debate over AI generated images | Reddit

Tackling Deepfakes

Remember this deepfake of the Pope? Well, the Danish government is taking the lead and is to clamp down on the creation and dissemination of AI-generated deepfakes by changing copyright law to ensure that everybody has the right to their own body, facial features and voice. The Danish government said it would strengthen protection against digital imitations of people’s identities with what it believes to be the first law of its kind in Europe. It defines a deepfake as a very realistic digital representation of a person, including their appearance and voice. The changes to Danish copyright law will, once approved, theoretically give people in Denmark the right to demand that online platforms remove such content if it is shared without consent.

Kemp’s ridley turtle on a beach — Credit: National Park Service

Record Numbers

Biologists in Texas have documented 383 Kemp’s ridley turtle nests - breaking the previous record of 353 set in 2017. Nesting season is still underway, so that number could end up being even higher. Most of the world’s Kemp’s ridley turtles nest on a beach in Mexico, but Texas has become an important nesting ground thanks to joint conservation efforts. Decades of collaboration, patience, and the involvement of “thousands of people” volunteering to help have helped raise the number of nests - clearly demonstrating the importance of dedicated conservation efforts.

Philanthropy

Famed investor Warren Buffett is donating $6 billion worth of his company’s stock to five foundations, bringing the total he has given to them since 2006 to roughly $60 billion, based on their value when received. The largest tranche is going to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust.

Olivia Rodrigo at Glastonbury | r/Fauxmoi

Olivia's Great Glasto

Olivia Rodrigo’s first Glastonbury appearance in 2022 was the stuff of minor legend. Aged 19, already the author of an 18m selling debut album, but something of an unknown quantity in festival terms, she turned out to be rather more off-message than you might have expected a former Disney Channel star turned teen-popper to be. At one juncture, she named each individual judge responsible for overturning Roe v Wade that weekend, shouting “We hate you! We hate you!” then performing Lily Allen’s Fuck You in duet with its author. Three years on, with another huge-selling album in the bag, and lifted to the status of headliner, nothing quite so likely to stir up controversy on Fox News happens. But many commentators reckon she was more than worthy of her headline slot on Sunday night. As The Guardian put it: "You get the distinct feeling that, at 22, a teen pop star might have unexpectedly, but deservedly, stolen the show."

Devil Wears Prada 2

Kenneth Branagh is joining the original cast of The Devil Wears Prada for the much-anticipated sequel which begins filming this week. The actor-writer-director will play the husband of Meryl Streep’s vicious fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly. Streep returns along with Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci. News of the production was announced on Instagram with a teaser featuring lines from the original.

Dalai Lama wearing his gold and red robes — The current Dalai Lama

Next Dalai Lama

Celebrations for the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday have kicked off, launching days of festivities honouring Tibetan Buddhism's spiritual leader. The ceremonies are expected to culminate in an announcement of a pathway for identifying the Dalai Lama’s successor - his strongest indication yet that the centuries-old tradition will not die with him - despite China's best endeavours. The 14th Dalai Lama was born Tenzin Gyatso in 1935. He was selected as the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama at 2 years old, when a senior monk visited his home, and Gyatso correctly identified objects belonging to his predecessor.

Climate Budget Boost

Nearly 200 countries have agreed to raise the U.N.’s climate budget by 10 percent for the next two years. The deal includes an increase in China's contribution, reflecting the country's economic growth. China, the world's second-biggest economy, would cover 20 percent of the new budget, up from 15 percent previously. Only the United States, the world's biggest economy, was allocated a bigger share, of 22 percent. However, guess what? President Donald Trump has quit the U.N. Paris climate agreement and halted international climate funding. Happily, however, Bloomberg Philanthropies has pledged to cover the U.S. contribution.

“The people we love are a constellation. In loving them, it is our privilege to see and bring out all the different worlds and colours and depths within them, just as they have the potential to do the same for us.” Natasha Lunn

On This Day

2 July 1979: The United States first issued the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin, making Anthony the first woman to be depicted on U.S. currency. She was an American activist who was a pioneer crusader for the women’s suffrage movement in the United States and was president (1892–1900) of the National Woman Suffrage Association. Her work helped pave the way for the Nineteenth Amendment (1920) to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote.