An Ignoble Experiment: The 7: Why Americans own AR-15s; a devastating start to tornado season; an unusual men’s Final Four; and more

2023/03/27

Good morning. It's Monday, March 27. Here's how to help in the aftermath of this weekend's deadly tornadoes. Let's start there.

What to know: At least 26 people were killed in Mississippi and Alabama on Friday night. Dozens more were injured. More severe storms rolled across the South yesterday.
The hardest-hit places: Rolling Fork and Silver City, rural towns in predominantly Black areas of Mississippi. Rolling Fork was essentially flattened.

What's happening? Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to remake the nation's courts. The plans sparked protests in major cities in recent weeks.
The latest: Netanyahu fired his defense minister yesterday after he opposed the overhaul, which critics consider to be a power grab. There were demonstrations and strikes announced overnight, and the international airport froze outgoing flights.

What to know: It's being purchased by First Citizens Bank, which is based in Raleigh, N.C. All 17 of SVB's branches will open today under the new ownership.
How we got here: SVB's collapse earlier this month was the second-largest in U.S. history. It sparked a crisis that has calmed down, but not completely resolved.

What to know: Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the move Saturday. Belarus is a close ally of Moscow that borders Russia and Ukraine.
Why it matters: It's a big escalation of Putin's nuclear rhetoric. However, U.S. officials said there's no evidence that Russia has moved any of the weapons.

The numbers: About 1 in 20 U.S. adults — roughly 16 million people — own at least one AR-15, according to new polling data from The Post and Ipsos.
How it happened: The industry embraced the gun's political and cultural significance as a marketing tool after a federal assault weapons ban expired in 2004, a Post investigation found.
One fatal consequence: Ten of the 17 deadliest U.S. mass killings since 2012 have involved AR-15s.

Who's in? No. 5 seeds Miami and San Diego State, No. 9 seed Florida Atlantic and No. 4 seed Connecticut. Both games are Saturday in Houston. (See the full bracket.)
On the women's side: Iowa and LSU advanced yesterday. Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark scored 41 points and had a triple-double. Tonight, South Carolina meets Maryland and Virginia Tech plays Ohio State. (See the full bracket.)

It's actually a big deal: Hands have been one of the major things tripping up powerful text-to-image generators, making it easier to tell a real image from a fake.
Why hands? They're often hidden, gesturing or folded in photos — which is what AI software uses to learn. This has made them hard to understand and replicate.
What now? One generator just released a big improvement. It was used to make incredibly realistic fake images last week depicting former president Donald Trump being arrested.