Obama praises Texas Democrats amid redistricting furor

Former President Barack Obama met Thursday with Texas House Democrats to praise them for leaving the state to stop a GOP-backed redistricting effort. Obama also pointed to the response by California — which launched its own redistricting retaliation on Thursday — as a result of the Texas Democrats’ own protest, which he views as a…

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NYT Strands hints, answers for August 23, 2026

Today’s NYT Strands hints are easy for avid readers. Strands, the New York Times‘ elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns….

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Teens regularly chat with AI companions, survey finds

Artificial intelligence companions have gone mainstream amongst teens, according to a new report. The findings may surprise parents familiar with AI chatbot products like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, but haven’t heard about platforms that specifically allow users to form friendships and romantic relationships with so-called AI companions. The latter category includes products like Replika,…

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