Wednesday's Forecast: Rainy Great Lakes, Mid-atlantic

Russian state-affiliated accounts have boosted their use of TikTok and are getting more engagement on the short-form video platform ahead of the U. S. presidential election, according to a study published Thursday by the nonprofit Brookings Institution. The report states that Russia is increasingly leveraging TikTok to disseminate Kremlin messages in both English and Spanish, with state-linked accounts posting far more frequently on the platform than they did two years ago. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Such accounts are also active on other social media platforms and have a larger presence on Telegram and X than on TikTok.

Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Contestant. Before shows like Survivor, Big Brother, and Naked and Afraid became American pop culture mainstays, there was Japanese reality TV series Susunu! Denpa Shōnen. Known for placing participants in extreme situations, Denpa Shōnen‘s most infamous challenge, 1998’s “A Life in Prizes,” made a star out of Tomoaki Hamatsu, an aspiring comedian nicknamed Nasubi who, for more than a year, lived alone and unclothed in a tiny apartment while surviving off magazine sweepstakes winnings. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The twist?

PHOENIX — Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has relegated a Civil War-era ban on most abortions to the past by signing a repeal bill Thursday. Hobbs says the move is just the beginning of a fight to protect reproductive health care in Arizona. But the repeal may not take effect until 90 days after the end of the legislative session, in June or July.

WASHINGTON — The IRS said Thursday that it has taken steps to address a wide disparity in audit rates between Black taxpayers and others filers, and is more closely examining the returns of larger numbers of wealthy people and major companies. “We are overhauling compliance efforts to advance our commitment to fair, equitable, and effective tax administration and hold ourselves accountable to taxpayers we serve,” according to an annual update from the agency. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] A study from January 2023 involving university researchers and the Treasury Department found that IRS data-driven algorithms selected Black taxpayers for auditing at up to 4.7 times the rate of non-Black taxpayers.

(BRUNSWICK, Ga.) — A Pennsylvania man who credits an alligator named Wally for helping relieve his depression for nearly a decade says he is searching for the reptile after it went missing during a vacation to the coast of Georgia. Joie Henney has thousands of social media users following his pages devoted to Wally, the cold-blooded companion that he calls his emotional support alligator.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual Costume Institute benefit, better known as the Met Gala, is widely known as fashion’s biggest night—and one of the most coveted social invites to score. Held every year on the first Monday in May, the glitzy affair commemorates the opening of the Costume Institute’s annual exhibit, with the party’s theme often taking inspiration from the show. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Though the black-tie event is ostensibly a fundraiser, earning money for the museum’s extensive fashion collection (which consists of over 33,000 dress and accessory objects from the past seven centuries), it’s also become a cultural touchpoint, largely due to the influence of Vogue’s editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, who has helmed the event as its chairwoman for nearly three decades, transforming the charity event into a pop culture phenomenon. Read more: Everything You Need to Know About the 2024 Met Gala Under Wintour’s exacting leadership, the Met Gala has become a night for celebrities, fashion insiders, art enthusiasts, and society’s most powerful and influential figures to vie for the chance to strut their sartorial stuff on the steps of the Met.