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A Gate Is Installed On A Mount Fuji Trail To Control Crowds, But Governor Says More Measures Needed
TOKYO – Before the climbing season opens on July 1, Japan’s Mount Fuji will have a crowd-control gate installed halfway up the mountain. However, the governor of Yamanashi, one of the two prefectures that house the mountain, said more steps are required to manage crowding on its lower slopes.
Completed as part of a new set of regulations, Yamanashi is implementing this year to address mounting issues with overcrowding, the ecology, and safety on the mountain, which is the gate.
The newly installed gate will lock out those who have not reserved an overnight stay at a hut along the Yoshida trail, which most climbers use, between 4 p.m. and 3 a.m., primarily to prevent “bullet climbing” or hurrying to the summit without enough rest, which is seen as a serious safety risk. There will be a daily maximum of 4,000 climbers permitted to use the trail.
Mount Fuji | AP news Image
A Gate Is Installed On A Mount Fuji Trail To Control Crowds, But Governor Says More Measures Needed
“The limitations that will go into effect this year are steps to address the issues that are endangering the lives of climbers,” Yamanashi Governor Kotaro Nagasaki stated at a Tokyo news conference. This year, he said, climbers are predicted to outnumber those on the trail last year—137,236.
“A big catastrophe like people falling in a domino effect could result from overcrowding close to the summit,” he said.
Climbers now have to make bookings and decide between a day walk and an overnight stay at one of the various huts along the route. Hiking is charged at 2,000 yen (about $12.70), with an optional conservation payment of 1,000 yen (about $6.35).
At the gate, halfway up the mountain in an area known as the fifth station, where the Yoshida route starts, climbers receive a QR code to scan with their cellphones. Ten stations are spread around the mountain.
Though issues still exist lower down, Nagasaki expressed confidence that the new measures will reduce congestion on the highest reaches of Mount Fuji.
Mount Fuji | AP News Image
A Gate Is Installed On A Mount Fuji Trail To Control Crowds, But Governor Says More Measures Needed
He promised to promote conventional climbing routes from the foot of the mountain and to reduce overtourism on the lower levels and their surrounds, perhaps by building a mountain railway to the fifth station, which is already accessible by automobiles and buses.
Part of the mountain is located in Shizuoka prefecture, which has yet to adopt hiking regulations. On June 10, it started an online registration system, where climbers enter their climbing schedules and are urged not to climb after 4 p.m.
Long a representation of Japan, Mount Fuji used to be a destination for pilgrims. Tens of thousands of people climb to the top these days to see the sunrise. But a big worry now is the mountains of garbage left behind, including food and plastic bottles.
Mount Fuji | AP news Image
A Gate Is Installed On A Mount Fuji Trail To Control Crowds, But Governor Says More Measures Needed
After tourists started converging the area to take pictures of the mountain appearing to sit on the roof of a convenience store, a social media trend known as “Mount Fuji Lawson” that disrupted businesses, traffic, and local life, the town of Fujikawaguchiko in Yamanashi recently installed a huge black screen along a sidewalk to block the view of Mount Fuji.
Thanks in part to the depreciating value of the yen, overtourism has also become a major issue for other well-liked tourist spots like Kyoto.
SOURCE – (AP)
NBC is bringing a version of legendary sportscaster Al Michaels back to the Olympics this summer, but with an unexpected twist: his voice will be powered by artificial intelligence.
On Wednesday, NBC said that it will utilize AI software to reproduce Michaels’ voice to offer daily Summer Games summaries to users of its Peacock streaming platform. This marks a significant milestone in the application of AI by a major media firm.
NBC | CTV Image
NBC To Use AI Version Of Announcer Al Michaels’ Voice For Olympics Recaps
The employment of an artificial intelligence voice for the Olympics comes at a time when technology has advanced dramatically, particularly in its ability to generate images, sounds, and text. This has sparked concerns in creative industries, such as journalism, regarding how artificial intelligence may—or should—be utilized.
A new tool, “Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock,” will allow subscribers to create 10-minute highlights packages incorporating event updates, athlete back stories, and other related content based on their preferences.
The company stated that the highlights could be packaged in approximately 7 million distinct ways, based on 5,000 hours of live coverage in Paris, thereby making AI (artificial intelligence, not the guy) a far more efficient way to give individualized summaries.
“When I was approached about this, I was skeptical but obviously curious,” Michaels stated in a press statement. “Then I saw a demonstration of what they had in mind. I replied, ‘I’m in.'”
An NBC representative told CNN that Michaels is being rewarded for his participation.
A veteran broadcaster, Michaels is now the play-by-play sportscaster for Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime. He is well noted for his work on earlier Olympic Games broadcasts for NBC and ABC and for announcing the Miracle on Ice Game at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.
NBC | Fox Image
NBC To Use AI Version Of Announcer Al Michaels’ Voice For Olympics Recaps
NBC stated that the AI system was trained using previous NBC broadcast audio from Michaels.
The business stated that a team of NBC Sports editors will evaluate all of the content, including audio and footage, to ensure that it is factually correct and that names are pronounced correctly.
Beginning July 27, the highlights tool will be available on Peacock in web browsers and iOS and iPad apps.
SOURCE – CNN
Jamie Foxx has yet to publicly divulge the reason for his hospitalization last year, although he did share further facts during a videotaped encounter.
The Oscar-winning actor was hospitalized in April 2023 due to a health problem while filming the Netflix film “Back in Action” in Atlanta.
In a TikTok video posted this week, Foxx informs an unidentified group of people that he has a “bad headache” on April 11, 2023. He remembers asking his friend for an Advil, and then “I was gone for 20 days.”
Jamie Foxx Shares New Details About Health Crisis That Left Him ‘Gone For 20 Days’
“I don’t remember anything,” he claimed in a video shot on June 29 in Phoenix.
Foxx went on to say in the video that he was told his sister and daughter took him to the doctor, who him a cortisone shot. Another doctor told him something was “going on up there,” as Foxx pointed to his head.
“I won’t say it on camera,” he remarked throughout the video.
The singer is known to be discreet about his personal life, and he disappeared from the spotlight at the time due to what his daughter Corinne Foxx described as a “medical complication” on social media.
In July 2023, the “Ray” star revealed that he chose not to reveal more information because he did not want the public “to see me like that.”
“I want you to see me laughing, having fun, partying, cracking jokes, or performing in a movie or television show. I didn’t want you to see me with tubes coming out of me and wondering if I was going to make it,” he said in a video posted on Instagram at the time, adding that he felt like he had gone “to hell and back.”
Foxx provided another health update on his verified social media accounts in August 2023.
Jamie Foxx | Fox Image
Jamie Foxx Shares New Details About Health Crisis That Left Him ‘Gone For 20 Days’
“You are looking at a thankful man…” “I’m finally starting to feel like myself,” he wrote at the time. “The journey has been unexpectedly dark…” “But I can see the light.”
He added that he was “thankful to everyone who reached out and sent well wishes and prayers.”
According to IMDB, “Back in Action” is now in post-production.
SOURCE – CNN
NEW YORK — Hunter Biden filed a complaint accusing Fox News of illegally distributing sexual photographs of him as part of a streaming series.
The president’s son filed the complaint on Sunday in state court in Manhattan over photos from “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” which will premiere on Fox Nation in 2022. According to the lawsuit, the series included a “mock trial” of Hunter Biden on crimes he has not faced, as well as photos of Biden naked and engaging in sex acts.
Hunter Biden | AP News Image
Hunter Biden Sues Fox News Over Explicit Images Featured In A Streaming Series
The lawsuit argues that the distribution of intimate photographs without his consent violated New York’s so-called revenge porn legislation.
“Fox published and disseminated these Intimate Images to its vast audience of millions as part of an entertainment program in order to humiliate, harass, annoy and alarm Mr. Biden and to tarnish his reputation,” the lawsuit states.
In an emailed statement, a Fox News representative termed it an “entirely politically motivated lawsuit” that was “devoid of merit.” According to the statement, Biden’s attorneys filed a letter demanding its removal from streaming sites in April 2024.
“The program was removed within days of the letter, out of prudence, because Hunter Biden is a public figure who has been investigated several times and is now a convicted felon. According to the emailed statement, Fox News has faithfully covered Mr. Biden’s newsworthy events by the First Amendment, and we look forward to defending our rights in court.
Hunter Biden was convicted last month of three felony charges stemming from the purchase of a revolver in 2018. Prosecutors claimed the president’s son lied on a mandated gun-buy form by claiming he was not unlawfully using or addicted to narcotics.
Hunter Biden | AP News Image
Hunter Biden Sues Fox News Over Explicit Images Featured In A Streaming Series
According to the lawsuit, the series’ simulated trial included bribery claims and inappropriate financial relationships with foreign governments, which Hunter Biden has not faced.
The lawsuit says Fox did not completely remove promotional materials and that the program is still available on some third-party streaming sites.
SOURCE – (AP)
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