By Lex Harvey, Esha Mitra, CNN

(CNN) — Bill Gates has pulled out of delivering his keynote address at an AI summit in India Thursday, his foundation said, as the billionaire faces scrutiny over his ties to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“After careful consideration, and to ensure the focus remains on the AI Summit’s key priorities, Mr. Gates will not be delivering his keynote address,” the Gates Foundation said in a statement just hours before he was due to speak.

No reason was provided for the abrupt withdrawal.

CNN has reached out to the Gates Foundation, the Gates Foundation India and the summit organizers for comment.

The Microsoft founder has come under fire in recent weeks over two recently released draft emails Epstein appears to have written to himself, in which he claims he facilitated sexual encounters for Gates and helped him obtain medication to hide a sexually transmitted infection from his wife.

It’s not clear who wrote the draft messages from 2013 saved in Epstein’s email account, but they are addressed from Epstein to himself.

Gates has strongly denied these claims as “false.”

The tech billionaire was due to speak at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, billed as one of the biggest AI conferences in the Global South. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the summit Thursday morning.

Gates has been in India this week ahead of his planned address.

On Tuesday, Gates met with N. Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, according to a post on Gates’ X account, which thanked the Indian politician for the “warm welcome.”

Gates Foundation India had confirmed Gates’ attendance at the AI Impact Summit just two days ago.

“Bill Gates is attending the AI Impact Summit. He will be delivering his keynote as scheduled,” the organization posted on X Tuesday.

The foundation said it will now be represented at the summit by Ankur Vora, President of Africa and India Offices, according to the Thursday statement.

Emails and correspondence

The newly-released tranche of files related to Epstein have cast a fresh shadow over Gates’ ties to the convicted sex offender, revealing a series of graphic, unverified allegations as well as a degree of philanthropic coordination between the two that is more detailed than previously known.

The emails were made public as part of the Justice Department’s latest release of files involving the notorious sex predator, which have implicated dozens of rich and powerful people around the world.

The files contain numerous other emails between Epstein and Gates, showing them coordinating meetings and discussing Gates’ philanthropic work. All of the documented interactions with Gates occurred after Epstein’s 2008 conviction on prostitution-related charges.

Gates has strongly denied the claims and a representative of Gates, previously telling CNN: “These claims are absolutely absurd and completely false. The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein’s frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame. While Mr. Gates acknowledges that meeting with Epstein was a serious error in judgment, he unequivocally denies any improper conduct related to Epstein and the horrible activities in which Epstein was involved. Mr. Gates never visited Epstein’s island, never attended parties with him, and had

CARPINTERIA, Calif. (KEYT) The Surfliner Inn project in Carpinteria is still under review.

A public hearing took place on Wednesday evening to discuss the Environmental Impact Report know as the EIR.

The hearing included a summary of the project and the environmental impacts found.

It will be used by state and local agencies before final decisions are made.

Developers hope to build The Surfliner Inn at 499 Linden Avenue by the train station. 

"This project will bring the city a million, a million and half dollars to the general revenue fund each year and it is 36 rooms it will help all the merchants on Linden and we think it is ideally positioned," said developer Whitt Hollis.

Hollis said he project was proposed a long time ago to revitalize Linden Ave.

But some neighbors worry it will be the first of many projects.

"I am opposed because i am really concerned about the view impacts the resource impacts it is kind of magnificent when you come to the platform when you come to Carpinteria we are going to lose that," said Gigi White.

White said she doesn't trust the EIR results.

"This environmental impact report is disingenuous and conclusary and it is the predictable result of when the responsible agency solicits a project so it is really hard to exercise oversight when you ask for something," said White.

The public comment period runs through March 9.

The EIR is also available online.

For more information visit https://carpinteria.gov

The post Hearing held to discuss Surfliner Inn Project EIR appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

CARPINTERIA, Calif. (KEYT) The Surfliner Inn project in Carpinteria is still under review.

A public hearing took place on Wednesday evening to discuss the Environmental Impact Report known as the EIR.

The hearing included a summary of the project and the environmental impacts found.

It will be used by state and local agencies before final decisions are made.

Developers hope to build The Surfliner Inn at 499 Linden Avenue by the train station. 

"This project will bring the city $1 million -$ 1. 5 million to the general revenue fund each year and it is 36 rooms, it will help all the merchants on Linden and we think it is ideally positioned," said developer Whitt Hollis.

Hollis said the project was proposed a long time ago to revitalize Linden Ave.

But some neighbors worry it will be the first of many projects.

"I am opposed because I am really concerned about the view impacts, the resource impacts, it is kind of magnificent when you come to the platform when you come to Carpinteria we are going to lose that," said Gigi White.

White said she doesn't trust the EIR results.

"This environmental impact report is disingenuous and conclusory and it is the predictable result of when the responsible agency solicits a project, so it is really hard to exercise oversight when you ask for something," said White.

The public comment period runs through March 9.

The EIR is also available online.

For more information visit https://carpinteria.gov

The post Hearing held to discuss Surfliner Inn Project EIR appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

By Sophie Tanno, CNN

(CNN) — A man accused of leaving his girlfriend to freeze to death on Austria’s tallest mountain is set to go on trial on Thursday, in a case that could have major implications for mountain climbers and how liable they are for the safety of companions.

The 36-year-old man, named in local media as Thomas P., is accused of having left his 33-year-old girlfriend, Kerstin G., alone as he went to seek help on Austria’s Grossglockner mountain in the early hours of January 19, 2025 after the pair ran into difficulties while trying to reach the summit.

He is facing a charge of grossly negligent homicide, with state prosecutors in Innsbruck accusing him of making multiple errors, including seeking help too late and not carrying suitable equipment. Prosecutors say he was the “responsible guide for the tour” as, unlike his girlfriend, he was “already very experienced in high-altitude Alpine tours and had planned the tour.”

Thomas P. denies wrongdoing and believes his girlfriend’s death was a “tragic accident,” his lawyer, Kurt Jelinek, said.

Jelinek said his client is “deeply saddened by the death of his partner” and described the situation on the mountain, which reaches to 3,798 metres (around 12,460 feet), as “hopeless.”

The couple were climbing the Studlgrat route, which is rated “fairly difficult” on the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) scale and requires “very good physical shape” and “some rock climbing experience,” according to one tour company.

They set out at 6:45 a.m. and reached the final point of the tour before the summit, called Frühstücksplatzl or “breakfast spot,” at 1:30 p.m. on January 18, 2025, according to the lawyer.

The defendant, in a statement written to prosecutors and shared by his lawyer, maintains that both were aware that this was the “point of no return” before reaching the summit and agreed to continue.

However, as weather conditions deteriorated and Kerstin G. reached a point where she could no longer continue the climb, Thomas P. left his girlfriend “unprotected, exhausted, hypothermic,” about 50 meters (164 feet) below the summit at around 2 a.m. on January 19, where she froze to death, prosecutors say.

There are conflicting accounts between the two parties regarding the defendant’s call for help.

Prosecutors say that, despite being “effectively stranded” on the mountain from around 8:50 p.m., Thomas P. failed to notify emergency services until 3:30 a.m on January 19. He also failed to send any distress signals to a police helicopter that flew overhead at around 10:50 p.m., they say.

Rescue services made several unsuccessful attempts to contact the defendant before receiving a first phone call from him at 12:35 a.m. on January 19, prosecutors say. Whether he raised the alarm during this phone call is unclear.

According to the defendant’s lawyer, he did not immediately notice the missed calls as his mobile only vibrated “slightly.” He noticed them when he took out his phone to arrange for a helicopter rescue after his girlfriend’s condition had worsened, Jelinek said, citing the defendant’s statement to the Innsbruck public prosecutor’s office.

According to the lawyer, his client said during the 12:35 a.m. phone call they were in need of help as soon as possible.

But prosecutors say the contents of the conversation remain “unclear,” and that the defendant did not take any further calls from Alpine police as he had put his phone on silent.

Prosecutors say that before leaving his girlfriend at around 2 a.m., the defendant failed to protect her from further heat loss by finding a sheltered spot. He also did not set up her bivouac – a lightweight camp used by climbers – or emergency blankets, they say.

Her body was found by alpine rescuers around 10 a.m. on Jan

By Clare Duffy, Samantha Delouya, Veronica Miracle, CNN

Los Angeles (CNN) — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday testified before a jury for the first time about accusations that social media, including Instagram, harm children’s mental health.

Kaley, a 20-year-old woman, alleges Instagram and Google’s YouTube were intentionally designed to be addictive — and that they hooked her from an elementary school age, causing anxiety, depression and body dysmorphia.

The outcome of her lawsuit could affect the hundreds of other cases by families who say their own children have been harmed or even died because of social media. Meta, for its part, denies the accusations and says it’s implemented numerous measures to safeguard young users.

At the core of the testimony were questions about what Meta knew about the potential risks to young people and whether it did enough to mitigate them. Zuckerberg argued he aims to build a product that has long-term appeal, not one that gets people hooked in the short-term and makes them feel bad about themselves.

Here’s what we learned.

Time spent on Instagram

The lawsuit alleges that Meta designed its platforms to keep users scrolling and juice profits, a key line of questioning Wednesday.

While Meta previously had time-specific goals for Instagram, Zuckerberg said, it’s now focused on “utility and value.”

Kaley’s lawyer Mark Lanier showed an internal document in which Instagram head Adam Mosseri said the short-form video Reels feature had “driven time to all-time highs” and that his personal “stretch goal was to get on track to pass TikTok in terms of time spent.”

“The way I read this, we try to increase the value of our services, but also trying to measure progress against competitors like TikTok,” Zuckerberg said, adding that time spent was a proxy for measuring Instagram’s success against competitors.

Lanier showed a 2022 document of “milestones” for Instagram that projected average time spent on the platform would grow from 40 minutes in 2023 to 46 minutes in 2026.

Zuckerberg disputed that milestones are goals. “If we do good work, this is something we expect to see,” he said.

‘Beauty’ filters

Users can alter photographs with Instagram’s beauty filters, mimicking plastic surgery or other alterations. Lanier argued the filters could harm teens’ perceptions of themselves, saying experts consulted by Meta reached that same conclusion.

The company decided to allow the filters, but not recommend them, in the name of free expression, Zuckerberg said. Denying users the tools would have been “paternalistic” he added.

Later, Lanier showed an email that he said was sent by a Meta employee to Zuckerberg. The employee, a mother of two teen girls, warned about the filters and said the pressure on teen girls is intense.

“I respect your call and I support it, but I want to say for the record, I don’t think it’s the right call,” read the employee email.

Targeting tweens?

Instagram says it requires users to be at least 13 years old to create an account — a policy Zuckerberg reiterated on the stand.

But an internal document from 2015 estimated over 4 million Instagram users were under 13, which it said represented “30% of all 10-12 year olds in the US.” Kaley began using Instagram at age 9, Lanier said previously.

Instagram didn’t begin asking new users to input a date of birth until December 2019; previously, it just asked users to confirm they were above the age of 13. Instagram in August 2021 started asking existing users to provide a birthdate if they hadn’t done so previously.

That means Kaley wasn’t asked