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

Análisis por Stephen Collinson, Kylie Atwood y Tal Shalev, CNN

La actitud de Estados Unidos hacia sus aliados antes de la guerra con Irán fue el equivalente geopolítico de un eslogan en una chaqueta que lució notoriamente la primera dama Melania Trump: “Realmente no me importa. ¿A ti sí?”.

La administración Trump no solo rechazó las coaliciones y no buscó la legitimidad diplomática que marcó la guerra del Golfo de 1990-91 o incluso la invasión de Iraq en 2003; lanzó su ataque, junto con Israel, sin siquiera contárselo a muchos de sus amigos.

Tomemos, por ejemplo, la intimidación durante un viaje a Dubai de un alto cargo del Gobierno italiano, cuya ideología se acerca más a la de Trump que la de la mayoría en Europa. “Piensen en la falta fundamental de coordinación que esto representa: el ministro de Defensa de uno de los aliados más cercanos de EE.UU. estaba presente cuando empezó todo y no tenía ni idea”, dijo un funcionario estadounidense.

Nueve días después, la guerra ha arrastrado al mundo más profundamente que nunca al vórtice desorientador que ya ha definido la vida estadounidense en la era de la política destructora de Donald Trump.

Los ataques iniciales de Estados Unidos e Israel —que mataron al líder supremo de Irán, el ayatola Alí Jamenei— desataron un caos regional. Los gobiernos europeos y de Medio Oriente se enfrentaron a una guerra repentina que no les correspondía y que la mayoría no deseaba. Las autoridades se apresuraron a rescatar a los ciudadanos atrapados en una zona de combate cada vez más amplia. El alza de los precios de la energía azotó las frágiles economías y la agitación política interna se apoderó de la política. En el Golfo, los aliados de Estados Unidos se enfrentaron a un bombardeo de drones y misiles que destrozó la opulenta calma de las relucientes ciudades de cristal que surgían del desierto y paralizó una encrucijada de la aviación mundial.

Ahora, algunos aliados se sienten cada vez más frustrados ante el aumento de los costos económicos, el temor a una crisis migratoria si Irán implosiona y la vulnerabilidad de sus ciudadanos. Y les preocupa lo que pueda suceder después.

Pero a pesar del triunfalismo de la administración y la determinación de sus críticos de comparar la nueva guerra de Estados Unidos con el atolladero de Iraq, es demasiado pronto para juzgar con justicia cómo podría terminar la guerra.

Los incesantes ataques aéreos estadounidenses e israelíes —en una estrategia militar que parece mucho más planificada que política— tienen una gran posibilidad de neutralizar el poder de Teherán para amenazar a sus vecinos. Esto beneficiaría a todo el Medio Oriente, presentaría a Trump como un hombre fuerte en la región, liberaría a Israel de una amenaza existencial y mejoraría la seguridad nacional de Estados Unidos tras una disputa de casi 50 años con la República Islámica.

Pero sin un cambio de régimen completo, los iraníes aún podrían pagar un alto precio si se opta por la represión en lugar de la contrarrevolución. Y si la guerra de Trump destroza el Estado iraní y desencadena una guerra civil, una crisis de refugiados o graves consecuencias económicas podrían desestabilizar el mundo.

La guerra ha acuñado nuevas verdades geopolíticas para las naciones occidentales y de

By Hilary Whiteman, CNN

Brisbane, Australia (CNN) — After their final defeat in the Asian Women’s Cup on Sunday, supporters of the Iranian women’s football team crowded around their bus shouting at police to “save our girls” as it pulled away.

Hadi Karimi, a human rights advocate and member of the local Iranian community, said supporters outside the bus could clearly see at least three players inside making the international hand signal for help.

“We’re asking federal police, the government, Australian people, everyone. These girls are asking for help. They showing their hand, (the) SOS sign. This is very, very important. Their life is in danger,” he said.

The players, who’ve been in Australia for a week, are at the center of growing calls for their exit from the country to be blocked for fear of persecution in Iran, their home country that’s at war with the US and Israel under a hardline new supreme leader.

Before their first match last Monday, the players stood silent during the Iranian national anthem, a gesture they didn’t explain but one that was interpreted by some hardliners inside Iran as a sign of treason.

Sources told CNN they were forced to sing the national anthem ahead of their next match on Thursday, and on Sunday, ahead of their final 0-2 defeat to the Philippines, they again sang the anthem and gave a military salute.

The women’s plight has reached Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s ousted shah, who also joined calls for the Australia government to ensure their safety, warning in a post on X that they’ll face “dire consequences” if they return to Iran.

“As a result of their brave act of civil disobedience in refusing to sing the current regime’s national anthem, they face dire consequences should they return to Iran,” Pahlavi posted on X. “I call on the Australian government to ensure their safety and give them any and all needed support.”

Defiance then silence

The Iranian women’s team has been contesting the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia during a week of turmoil for their country as the conflict with the US and Israel escalates to take in neighboring countries.

The war has disrupted international travel, and while flying to the Middle East right now is difficult due to airspace closures and the risk of airstrikes, supporters fear the women will be taken to a third country – perhaps China, Russia or Malaysia – before an onward journey to the Middle East.

Craig Foster, a former Australian international and human rights advocate, said “a vast range of organizations” had tried to speak with the women during their time in Australia but had been denied the opportunity.

“No athlete group should ever be effectively held hostage by their own member federation and denied access to external support networks,” he said. He said as the players had been knocked out the competition, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had responsibility for their welfare.

“The first thing that the Australian football community is calling on them is to grant access to the players to safe, culturally appropriate support networks, so that they can privately and confidentially express if they are feeling unsafe and what they would like to see happen,” he said.

CNN has reached out to the AFC and the Iranian Football Federation for comment.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong declined to comment on Sunday, when asked if there’d been any contact between Australian officials and the Iranian players. She said she didn’t want to “get into commentary about the Iranian women’s team.”

“We stand in solidarity with the men and women of Iran and particularly Iranian women and girls,” she told national broadcaster, the ABC. “Obviously, this is a regime that we know has brutally cracke