By Sam Peters, CNN

(CNN) — Ancient European hunter-gatherers were far more advanced in their cooking methods than previously thought, a new study has found, combining ingredients in “remarkably selective” ways, with cuisines even varying by region.

Researchers analyzed the burnt remains of food stuck to the side of pots, called “foodcrusts,” and found that Stone Age cooks used a range of plant and animal products to create meals.

The team’s findings, published Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE, provide new insights into the diets of Europeans who lived between 5,000 and 8,000 years ago.

Researchers analyzed 85 pottery sherds, of which 58 had identifiable fragments of plants.

The pottery came from 13 sites, spanning from modern-day Denmark to what is now Ivanovo oblast in eastern Russia.

The team first found plant remnants in the foodcrust and then, using microscopes, looked for samples that were well preserved enough that they were able to identify the plants through their cell structure.

The initial research revealed some plants that had been used, so the team cooked some of the “recipes,” Oliver Craig, a co-author of the study and a professor of archaeological science at the University of Leeds, England, told CNN.

They combined carp and viburnum berries, and oak-leaved goosefoot and beet, and cooked them in replica clay pots over a fire. This gave them new samples with which to compare the ancient foodcrusts.

The standard narrative around hunter-gatherers was that they were “just putting stuff in the fire,” said Craig.

Most analyzes of hunter-gatherer diets focused on the fatty residue left on cookware and the bones of slaughtered animals, Craig said, meaning researchers knew a lot about the hunters, but little about the gatherers.

“(Lead study author) Lara (González Carretero) simply looked where no one else had,” Craig said.

The new study shows that Stone Age people had “sophisticated ways of cooking foods,” he said, and that they were “remarkably selective” in which foods they cooked.

These hunter-gatherers “had deep knowledge of all the roots, tubers, fruits and berries that… (were) available to them,” Craig said.

But when the team analyzed what was in the pot, they only found a limited variety.

“We’re only finding a few things that are being picked out, perhaps because they taste nice, or they go well with other foods,” Craig said.

Regional cuisines

Not every region had the same tastes. Despite ingredients being available across Europe, the study found that there were “distinct preparations” in certain regions.

A combination of freshwater fish and wild grass was particularly popular near the border of Ukraine and Russia, whilst further east, in central modern-day Russia, they seemed to prefer amaranth plants with their fish.

Danish hunter-gatherers also liked amaranth, though they favored the plant’s flowers.

“It is a conscious choice,” Craig said.

Some of these trends have carried over to the modern day, researchers said.

Viburnum berries, also known as guelder rose berries, which were found in multiple samples, are still eaten across Poland, Ukraine and Russia.

The idea that Stone Age people relied on hunting is “fundamentally wrong” said Mark Robinson, an associate professor of archaeology at the University of Exeter, England, who was not involved in the study.

Instead, research now suggests that they had a “sophisticated approach” to using plants, Robinson told CNN.

Despite some of the ingredients identified in the pots still being used today, Robinson pointed out that “we still know remarkably little about how foods

Por Karina Tsui, CNN

Un hombre lanzó el sábado un dispositivo explosivo improvisado en medio de protestas enfrentadas afuera de la residencia del alcalde de Nueva York, Zohran Mamdani, lo que provocó una investigación por parte de las autoridades federales contra el terrorismo y el descubrimiento de un dispositivo adicional en un automóvil cercano al día siguiente.

Aunque el artefacto lanzado el sábado no explotó, la Policía afirmó que podía causar “lesiones graves o la muerte”. Fuentes policiales informaron a CNN que los dos hombres arrestados en relación con el artefacto admitieron estar inspirados por ISIS.

La violencia estalló durante una protesta contra el Islam organizada por un provocador de derecha que fue eclipsada por una multitud de más de 100 contramanifestantes, dijeron las autoridades.

El enfrentamiento del sábado tuvo lugar durante el Ramadán, el mes sagrado islámico. Mamdani, el primer alcalde musulmán de la ciudad, y su esposa, Rama Duwaji, no se encontraban en la Mansión Gracie en ese momento, según informó a CNN una fuente familiarizada con la situación.

Esto es lo que sabemos:

Una protesta contra el Islam organizada por el influencer de derecha Jake Lang atrajo a unos 20 participantes, mientras que una contraprotesta llamada “Expulsen a los nazis de Nueva York” alcanzó un máximo de unas 125 personas, dijo la comisionada del Departamento de Policía de Nueva York, Jessica Tisch.

La tensión entre ambos grupos, que se encontraban separados en zonas de protesta designadas, se intensificó poco antes del mediodía. Alrededor de las 12:15 p.m., un manifestante asociado con el grupo de Lang roció con gas pimienta a los contramanifestantes, según Tisch.

Veinte minutos después, un contramanifestante “lanzó un dispositivo encendido hacia el área de protesta”, que aterrizó en un cruce de peatones, dijo Tisch.

El video muestra el momento en que el dispositivo fue arrojado, mientras los manifestantes y la Policía luchaban por alejarse del lugar donde cayó.

“Los testigos informaron haber visto llamas y humo mientras viajaba por el aire antes de chocar contra una barrera y extinguirse a unos metros de los agentes de policía”, dijo el comisionado.

El hombre entonces le quitó un segundo dispositivo a otro hombre antes de encenderlo y echar a correr, dijo Tisch. Dejó caer el segundo dispositivo en la calle, donde pareció emitir humo, pero tampoco explotó.

Los agentes aseguraron la zona y detuvieron a ambos hombres, uno de 18 y otro de 19 años. Las autoridades aún no han presentado cargos.

La Policía informó al New York Times que los dos adolescentes son de Pensilvania. CNN se ha puesto en contacto con el Departamento de Policía de Nueva York para obtener más información.

El manifestante anti-Islam acusado de usar gas pimienta también fue arrestado, junto con otros tres por presunta conducta desordenada y obstrucción del tráfico, dijo Tisch.

Un análisis preliminar del escuadrón antibombas del Departamento de Policía de Nueva York determinó que ambos dispositivos recuperados el sábado eran levemente más pequeños que un balón de fútbol y parecían ser frascos envueltos en cinta negra que contenían pernos, tornillos y una mecha de aficionado, dijo Tisch.

El dispositivo arrojado al cruce de peatones parece haber sido fabricado con TATP, un explosivo extraordinariamente poderoso e inestable que es fácil de obtener, dijeron a CNN varios funcionarios policiales, citando resultados de inspecciones preliminares.

“No es un dispositivo falso ni una bomba de humo”, dijo Tisch en una Read more

By Oscar Holland, CNN

To the untrained eye, there is very little difference between the three known versions of “The Lute Player.” Almost identical in composition, the paintings all depict a young, doe-eyed subject in white robes, instrument in hand and turned slightly away from the viewer. Each appears to carry Italian painter Caravaggio’s signature mastery of light and shadow.

To art historians, however, there has long been broad agreement: The versions held by Russia’s Hermitage Museum and France’s Wildenstein Collection were created by the Baroque artist, while the one at Britain’s Badminton House is merely a copy.

Artificial intelligence begged to differ. In September, Swiss AI firm Art Recognition claimed there is an almost 86% chance that Badminton House’s version is, in fact, authentic. The company’s model, which was trained to recognize markers of Caravaggio’s style, including shapes, color palettes and compositional structures, also declared (albeit with less statistical certainty) that Wildenstein’s version is likely a copy. Its analysis found a “significant divergence” between the latter painting’s “visual characteristics” and those of Caravaggio’s other works.

This is one of several bold claims made by Art Recognition since it launched seven years ago. In 2021, the company calculated a 91% chance that a painting at London’s National Gallery attributed to Peter Paul Rubens, “Samson and Delilah,” was not produced by the Baroque painter. A long-disputed painting of Vincent van Gogh at the The National Museum in Oslo, meanwhile, had a 97% chance of being genuine. The firm’s other analyses have presented more complex results: Rembrandt’s “The Polish Rider,” for instance, was partly produced by someone else, though some sections carry evidence of the Dutch painter’s hand, ranging in certainty from 69% to 83%, according to the AI model.

Art Recognition’s declarations have not always contradicted the established scholarship. The Van Gogh attribution, for instance, was subsequently matched by more conventional research, including technical analyses and studies of the artist’s letters (museum experts concluded that the portrait’s unusually dampened colors simply reflected Van Gogh’s troubled mental state at the time). Yet, many art experts remain highly skeptical about AI’s ability to supersede, or even complement, the tools traditionally used to authenticate works of art.

“I think it’s quite problematic,” said Angelamaria Aceto, a senior researcher at the University of Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum of Art & Archeology. “I’m very open to new technologies; I use technologies all the time that can help you to see what the naked eye can’t — to go beneath the surface. And I’m sure AI is fantastic at analyzing data and providing data, but connoisseurship is about contextualizing things. It’s about thinking critically.

“I may go to a conservation scientist and ask them to analyze a pigment; I may ask a photographer for an infrared image,” she added. “But thinking AI can substitute the educated, critical eye? That’s a no-no for me.”

Seeing what humans can’t

Combining machine learning, deep neural networks and computer vision algorithms, Art Recognition’s approach can, in theory, be adapted to any painter with a big enough back catalog. To date, the company has produced models for more than 200 artists.

In each, the AI is trained on two photographic datasets: A “positive” one, containing images of undisputed (or widely accepted) paintings by the artist in question, and a “negative” one comprising similar, but inauthentic, works. The latter

By Sarah Ferris, CNN

(CNN) — As Speaker Mike Johnson and his team have navigated the House’s slimmest margin since before World War II, they’ve seen it all.

Once, Republicans were headed for a second, embarrassing failed attempt to impeach then-President Joe Biden’s Homeland Security chief because of internal disputes — unless they could round up one more GOP vote. They phoned up a Republican who was resting at home with a heart condition, whose doctor had warned against flying to Washington. The member flew anyway.

Another time, a Republican member was in Washington when he learned of his mother’s death. GOP leaders had to ask him to stick around for a few more hours or they’d fail a vote. He stayed.

And just last month, dozens of House Republicans attended a White House coal industry event but couldn’t get back to the US Capitol for a vote because protests — including throngs of Buddhist monks — had closed the streets. The GOP leadership team frantically phoned members telling them to ditch their rides and hoof it to the Metro.

House Republicans are living in a constant struggle to maintain control of their chamber as evidenced by such instances, which were described by multiple members and aides in GOP leadership.

With the slimmest margins since the 1930s, Johnson can afford to lose only a single vote on the House floor. It’s an extraordinarily difficult task in this fractious GOP conference, with a handful of hardliners willing to defy the party — and even President Donald Trump — on key issues. GOP leaders must also navigate demands from battleground members anxious to survive the midterms, plus dozens more Republicans with their own priorities running statewide campaigns.

And while the House is unlikely to pass major legislation in the coming months, Trump and GOP leaders are still eager to use Congress to show their priorities ahead of November’s elections — requiring the party to be in lockstep.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer recalled a conversation in recent days with a Republican threatening to support a Democrat-backed resolution because, as they told him, “no one’s listening to me and my district is going to be a problem.”

Emmer offered a terse reply: “If you do this, it ain’t your district that’s going to be a problem.”

It could soon get more difficult for Johnson.

If he loses even one more seat, Republicans acknowledge it could become virtually impossible to govern the chamber.

One of their members, Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales, is facing calls to resign his seat after admitting to an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide.

GOP leaders are also closely monitoring the health of Rep. Neal Dunn of Florida, who some fear may need to leave his seat early for health reasons, multiple Republicans told CNN.

And there’s private concern among leadership that their members who lose statewide bids, such as Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas, could threaten to stop showing up altogether, multiple sources told CNN.

The margins leave zero room for error — and that is assuming every member is present, which is never guaranteed with 218 Republicans from all corners of America. It’s an undertaking that often requires minute-by-minute monitoring, with an intricate knowledge of members’ moods and calendars.

“We have to watch every single flight to make sure every single member gets on that flight,” one person in GOP leadership told CNN.

Sometimes, it requires particularly painful conversations, such as asking members to return to Washington while still grieving losses of their spouses or children. Many members cite Rep. Steve Womack, a respected senior Republican, who lost his wife of 41 years in Ja

By Karina Tsui, CNN

(CNN) — A man hurled an improvised explosive device amid dueling protests outside New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Manhattan residence on Saturday, prompting an investigation by federal terrorism authorities and the discovery of an additional device in a nearby car the next day.

While the device thrown Saturday did not explode, police said it was capable of causing “serious injury or death.” Law enforcement sources told CNN the two men arrested in connection with the device admitted to being inspired by ISIS.

The violence erupted during an anti-Islam protest organized by a right-wing provocateur that was dwarfed by a crowd of more than 100 counterprotesters, officials said.

Saturday’s clash unfolded during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Mamdani, who is the city’s first Muslim mayor, and his wife Rama Duwaji, were not at Gracie Mansion at the time, a source familiar with the situation told CNN.

Here’s what we know:

How opposing protests boiled over

An anti-Islam protest organized by right-wing influencer Jake Lang drew roughly 20 participants, while a counterprotest called “Drive the Nazis Out of New York” peaked at about 125 people, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

Tensions between the two groups, who were separated into designated protest areas, escalated shortly before noon. At around 12:15 p.m., a protester associated with Lang’s group pepper-sprayed counterprotesters, Tisch said.

Twenty minutes later, a counterprotester “threw an ignited device toward the protest area,” which landed on a crosswalk, Tisch said.

Video shows the moment the device was thrown, with protesters and police officers scrambling to get away from where it landed.

“Witnesses reported seeing flames and smoke as it traveled through the air before it struck a barrier and extinguished itself a few feet from police officers,” the commissioner said.

The man then retrieved a second device from another man before lighting it and starting to run, Tisch said. He dropped the second device on the street, where it appeared to emit smoke but also did not explode.

Officers secured the area, taking both men, an 18-year-old and a 19-year-old, into custody. Authorities have not yet announced any charges.

Police told The New York Times the two teenagers are from Pennsylvania. CNN has reached out to the NYPD for further information.

The anti-Islam protester accused of using pepper spray was also arrested, along with three others for alleged disorderly conduct and obstructing traffic, Tisch said.

Device designed to cause harm

A preliminary analysis from the NYPD bomb squad determined both devices recovered Saturday were slightly smaller than a football and appeared to be jars wrapped in black tape containing bolts, screws and a hobby fuse, Tisch said.

The device thrown into the crosswalk appears to have been made with TATP, an extraordinarily powerful and unstable explosive that’s easy to obtain, multiple law enforcement officials told CNN, citing preliminary inspection results.

“It is not a hoax device or a smoke bomb,” Tisch said in a post on X. Analysis of the second device recovered at the scene is ongoing.

On Sunday, the NYPD said it was investigating a suspicious device in a vehicle a few blocks south of Gracie Mansion “in connection with” Saturday’s incident.

The area was blocked off, and “limited evacuations” of buildings were conducted while the bomb squad c