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With the Belly Laughs Festival, an ambitious Asian American and Pacific Islander-centered comedy festival, the food is as important as the talent line-up. Every detail is intended to send a message of unabashed cultural pride.“It’s like we grew up kind of shying away and hiding our Asian-ness,” said Viv Wang, a volunteer festival producer with Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment, or CAPE, who helped conceive the idea for the event. “It just made a lot of sense to have comedy and food — these two ways that people can connect and just celebrate being Asian and having a place…

We’re excited to welcome Mati Staniszewski, co-founder and CEO of ElevenLabs, to the AI Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, taking place October 27–29 in San Francisco. In a featured fireside chat, Staniszewski will dive into how AI-powered voice technology is transforming digital communication and interaction. Takeaways that blend technical depth with business impact ElevenLabs is leading innovation in audio AI, building tools that make synthetic voices more natural, expressive, and accessible. As generative AI becomes central to product development, Staniszewski’s insights will offer a valuable look into the future of voice, personalization, and human-AI interaction. Before founding ElevenLabs, Staniszewski served…

Geneva, Switzerland AP  —  Rescuers are hailing as a “four-legged hero” a furry Chihuahua whose pacing atop an Alpine rock helped a helicopter crew find its owner, who had fallen into a crevasse on a Swiss glacier nearby. The man, who was not identified, was exploring the Fee Glacier in southern Switzerland on Friday when he broke through a snow bridge and fell nearly 8 meters (about 26 feet), according to Air Zermatt, a rescue, training and transport company. Equipped with a walkie-talkie, the man connected with a person nearby who relayed the accident to emergency services. But the exact…

TOKYO (AP) — Their morning starts at 5 a.m.The father and son don’t speak to each other. They don’t need to. They barely look at each other as they go briskly, almost mechanically, from task to task. Beads of sweat glisten on their foreheads.It’s the same work they’ve been doing at their shop for years: Cooking in big metal pots the ancient Japanese food tsukudani.It’s preserved food invented long before the advent of modern refrigeration, dating back to the samurai Edo Era more than 200 years ago.Pieces of tuna, tiny shrimp, seaweed and other ingredients get simmered in a sweet…

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Results from a union member vote on a tentative contract between video game performers and their employers are expected Wednesday evening.If ratified, the contract would formally end a nearly three-year-long effort from Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists negotiators to obtain a new contract for video game performers. The process, which included an 11-month strike against several major game makers, hinged on how artificial intelligence would affect performers in the industry.If approved, the agreement will deliver pay raises, control over performers’ likenesses and artificial intelligence protections. The contract was first reached in early…

by Sarah Kuta Last updated: 11:20 AM ET, Tue July 8, 2025 The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s newest ship, Luminara, has set sail on its maiden voyage.On July 3, the vessel departed from Monte Carlo on a 7-night voyage to Rome, with stops in Cannes, Livorno and Portofino. Luminara joins Evrima and Ilma in The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s fleet. “Welcoming Luminara to our fleet reflects our continued focus on thoughtful expansion and innovation,” says Ernesto Fara, president of The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection. “This launch brings together years of collaboration and intentional design to deliver a yacht that sets a new benchmark…

Mastodon, the open source, decentralized social network offering an alternative to Elon Musk’s X and Meta’s Threads, is rolling out a number of updates with Tuesday’s release of Mastodon 4.4. Most notably, the app is taking the first steps toward implementing a change that will bring it on par with other networks, but may also impact user behavior: It’s preparing to integrate Quote Posts, or what Twitter used to call Quote Tweets. This type of repost allows users to quote another person’s post and then add their own two cents and commentary above it. On Twitter, now called X, the…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The impact of the massive spending bill that President Donald Trump signed into law on Independence Day is expected to filter down to infants and toddlers — a segment of the population that is particularly vulnerable to cuts to the federal social safety net.Many middle-class and wealthy families will see benefits from the new legislation, but programs that help low-income families keep babies healthy have been cut back. While state money funds public schools and preschool in some cases, programs supporting the youngest children are largely backed by the federal government. The law extends tax cuts that…

Berlin Reuters  —  Germany summoned the Chinese ambassador to the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday after saying China’s military had laser targeted a German aircraft taking part in an European Union operation in the Red Sea. The flare up in tensions comes as concerns mount in the EU about Chinese influence on critical technologies and security infrastructure in Europe. “Putting German personnel at risk and disrupting the operation is completely unacceptable,” said Germany’s Foreign Ministry on social media platform X. There was no immediate response from China’s Foreign Ministry, and the Chinese Embassy in Berlin did not immediately respond to an…

Boston, are you ready?! TechCrunch All Stage 2025 is about to explode with energy — and the real magic kicks off with an epic lineup of Side Events lighting up the city from July 14–17! We’re just ONE WEEK AWAY, and we couldn’t be more pumped to unveil the full Side Events schedule — your ultimate passport to game-changing connections and unforgettable moments. From high-voltage networking mixers to mind-blowing innovation showcases, this is where Boston’s boldest tech minds come to connect, create, and crush it. Whether you’re a trailblazing founder, a curious startup enthusiast, or a seasoned pro, there’s something…