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<ul class="summary-list"><li>A US woman was found chained to a tree in Maharashtra, India.</li><li>Lalita Kayi, 50, said her husband had chained her to the tree and left her without food or water.</li></ul>The case of a US woman who was discovered chained to a tree in a rural part of the western <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/india">Indian</a> state of Maharashtra is puzzling investigators.Lalita Kayi, 50, was found last week in the state's Sindhudurg district after her screams were heard by a local, according to local media reports.A cow herder who found Kayi told <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4ngne7g5v3o">BBC Marathi</a> that he had heard screams "coming from the forest on the side of the mountain" as he took his cattle to graze."When I went there, I saw that one of her legs was tied to a tree. She was screaming like an animal. I called other villagers and the local police," he said.Police said the 50-year-old was found with a copy of her passport, an Indian ID card, a cellphone, a tablet, and 31,000 rupees (about $370), per the BBC.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/us-woman-chained-to-tree-india-decade-ago-to-learn-yoga-9485315/">The Indian Express</a> reported that she also had a medical prescription with her.She appeared emaciated and was reportedly taken to hospital and then on to a psychiatric facility to recover. Doctors said Kayi seemed to be experiencing a mental health condition.Unnamed sources told <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/attempted-murder-case-against-husband-of-us-woman-tied-to-tree-in-maharashtra-2574172-2024-07-31">India Today</a> that after her rescue, Kayi provided police with a written statement in which she alleged that her husband had chained her to the tree and left her without food or water."Injection for extreme psychosis which caused a severely locked jaw and inability to drink any water. Need intravenous food. 40 days without food and water. Husband tied me to a tree in the forest and said I would die there," she wrote on a pad.Police said it was unlikely she would have survived for so long, however.Sindhudurg police have since registered a case of attempted murder against Kayi's husband.Details about Kayi's life are scant, and it remains unclear exactly how she ended up in the forest.Police believe Kayi moved to India from the US around a decade ago to study yoga and meditation. She had previously lived in the state of Tamil Nadu in the south of the country, where authorities are now searching for her husband.The Indian Express said that Kayi had recently fallen out with her husband and had been staying in Goa, a small neighboring state on India's southwestern coast.Authorities are reportedly still searching for the husband.A spokesperson for the US embassy in Delhi told the BBC that it would not respond to questions "due to the US Privacy Act."

Indian police launch murder investigation after a US woman was found screaming and chained to a tree in the middle of a forest

Best Ranger Competition 2024: See photos of the murderous 3-day event winners endured

This article is part of "<a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/workforce-innovation">Workforce Innovation</a>," a series exploring the forces shaping enterprise transformation.For years, diversity, equity, and inclusion <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/signs-dei-serious-workspace-hr-professional-2023-12">has been a central strategy</a> at many companies, shaping workplace cultures, HR practices, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/diverse-talent-diversity-retaining-chief-people-officer-2024-3">recruitment and retention initiatives</a>.Recently, though, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/woke-capitalism-reversal-google-unilever-bud-light-esg-dei-2024-5">momentum has shifted</a>. High-profile figures <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-duking-it-out-mark-cuban-dei-and-racism-2024-1">like Elon Musk</a> have accused DEI of fueling the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-ackman-says-dei-is-racist-2024-1">culture wars</a> and labeling it "woke." Meanwhile, companies like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-cutting-dei-activist-backlash-harley-davidson-deere-tractor-supply-2024-8">Harley-Davidson, Molson Coors</a>, Lowe's, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/john-deere-ditches-dei-policies-conservative-activists-lgbtq-pride-pronoun-2024-7">John Deere</a> have scaled back or dropped their DEI programs.A survey by the executive-search firm Bridge Partners of 400 C-suite and HR leaders at companies with at least $25 million in revenue or 250 employees found that the number of employers who said they had increased their DEI investments in the past year dropped to 66% in 2024 from 77% in 2023. Roughly one in four executives suggested they believed DEI programs were a fad.But amid the backlash, some organizations are refining their DEI strategies, focusing on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/belonging-better-goal-diversity-inclusion-improve-economy-workplace-2022-5">belonging, inclusion</a>, and fair pay alongside other diversity metrics. Companies like Ancestry, Mitre, and HLW are using data to evaluate employee experiences while addressing equity through cultural programs, training, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gender-wage-pay-gap-charts-2017-3">compensation reviews</a>."Many organizations remain committed to DEI, but their strategies are shifting," said Maryam Kouchaki, an Academy of Management scholar who teaches at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. "We're seeing more reframing of DEI efforts and a stronger emphasis on systematically linking DEI to a business case."The goal, she said, is to create sustainable, long-term DEI programs that are not performative but grounded in strategies that benefit both employees and the organization. Research suggests that diversity leads to <a target="_blank" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30765101/">better performance and decision-making</a> as well as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4908090/">greater team satisfaction</a>."DEI isn't just hiring a diverse workforce — it's about ensuring employees feel respected, included, and that they belong," Kouchaki said. "This is a chance for companies to reassess and get it right."<h2 id="78b56ab1-b2aa-4922-8718-f59ffbe09043">Creating an equitable employee experience</h2>In the wake of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/george-floyd">George Floyd's murder</a> in 2020, corporate America rallied around DEI initiatives, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-racial-equity-economy-within-own-walls-2021-3">pledging billions of dollars</a> to address racial inequities. But amid economic pressures and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/supreme-court-ends-affirmative-action-colleges-decision-2023-6">increasing political opposition</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-layoffs-dei-leader-email-2024-7">enthusiasm has waned</a>.Kouchaki said part of the criticism of DEI stemmed from the perception that these initiatives were more lip service than action. "Some companies committed to unrealistic goals or didn't know how to implement them effectively," she said.Three years ago, Ancestry, the genealogy and DNA-testing company, launched its "Drive to 45 by 25" initiative, aiming to have 45% of its workforce come from underrepresented populations by 2025. While the company made progress in recruiting diverse talent, these new hires were leaving at higher rates than other employees."We realized we had to be more intentional about creating an equitable employee experience," said Shane Koller, the head of people at Ancestry and a participant in BI's Workforce Innovation board.In response, the company introduced "Amplify Voices," a speaker series featuring academics, authors, and activists offering insights into marginalized communities' experiences. It also developed programming to celebrate cultural-heritage months, bolstered its employee resource groups, and instituted a Global Day of Understanding, an annual event encouraging frank discussions about DEI.Recognizing that cultural events alone were insufficient, Ancestry adopted a systematic approach to pay equity. In 2022, the company overhauled its people-analytics tools to review compensation, promotions, and raises across race, gender, and ethnicity. This analysis aimed to identify and eliminate disparities in employee advancement and compensation.Ancestry conducts compensation analyses twice a year, taking into account factors that affect pay such as role, level, location, and performance. It says that if it finds unexplainable differences in proposed pay, it adjusts up appropriately."It's great to have events and build inclusion and belonging," Koller said, "but at the end of the day, if our systems and processes are not helping us achieve an equitable experience, we're fighting an uphill battle."<h2 id="eb3bf266-dd06-4920-b5e9-d1846df52b29">Data as a 'proof of concept'</h2>Some organizations struggle to identify their diversity gaps and how to address them.To tackle this, Mitre, a nonprofit R&amp;D company serving US government agencies, turned to Aleria, a tool designed to measure inclusion by collecting qualitative and quantitative data across the company.The software allows employees to anonymously share details such as their age, gender, race, and title and answer prompts about their job satisfaction and barriers to doing their best work. The tool analyzes responses, highlighting patterns and practices that need improvement."Our people are data-driven," said Heba Mahmoud, a senior manager of inclusion and diversity at Mitre. "At first they thought DEI was about feel-good emotions, but the data showed it's critical to our daily work. When employees don't feel included or like they belong, they aren't as productive or successful. This data became a proof of concept."Based on the feedback data, Mahmoud's team launched an internal campaign focused on improving respectful communication and collaboration. This involved training sessions, workshops, and team-building activities. The team also encouraged employees to share positive experiences of inclusivity, to capture a representative range of experiences."Having this data was crucial in understanding where the gaps were, honing in on the issues, and offering specific recommendations to leadership," Mahmoud said.<h2 id="1e3c05de-9234-4a63-9904-9f1063213a94">Empowering managers</h2>Anjali Mathai, the director of DEI at HLW, an architecture and design firm, also said her company was adopting a data-driven approach to ensure equitable opportunities for its employees.A key part of this initiative is strengthening management training in areas like communication and unconscious bias. The training is designed to help leaders identify patterns in individual performance data and support employees."A manager might not have all the answers, and that's OK — but they need to serve as a bridge for their teams, making sure all employees have the training and resources they need to grow and advance," she said.Pay equity is also central to HLW's DEI strategy. The firm says that through annual compensation reviews, it has narrowed its gender pay gap to a maximum of 10% higher for men versus women, in certain roles. Mathai said it continues to reduce the gaps through promotion cycles.Heather Bussing, an employment attorney who cowrote the book "Get Pay Right," argued that as the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-trump-america-pac-targets-young-men-vote-2024-9">presidential election looms</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/attacks-on-kamala-harris-got-deeply-sexist-and-extremely-ugly-2024-7">DEI remains a contentious issue</a> in many corners of business, companies using data to inform their DEI strategies are better positioned to navigate these challenges."Data can tell you things you don't want to see," Bussing said.But first, companies must commit to collecting the data. "They need to monitor it and look for places where there are problems and outcomes that are not what they want and be interested in addressing them," she said. "That requires a cultural shift."Bussing said companies that shy away from DEI initiatives may find themselves at a disadvantage. Demographic forces are powerful."We have an ongoing and permanent labor shortage for the foreseeable future," she said. "If you need humans to work at your company, you have to be OK with any qualified humans that show up, and they have to be able to work together."

As some companies scale back on DEI, others double down on their efforts

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The US has plans to send more soldiers to the Middle East, NBC News reported.</li><li>They will be ready to evacuate US civilians if fighting threatens them, defense officials said.</li></ul>The US is planning to send more troops to the Middle East in the coming days in case American citizens need to evacuate the region, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/us-send-troops-ready-help-evacuate-us-citizens-lebanon-rcna172367">NBC News</a> reported, citing three defense officials.A few dozen additional soldiers will be added to the roughly 40,000 US troops already present in the region, according to the publication.It comes after Lebanon had its <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-strikes-lebanon-hezbollah-posts-warns-civilians-move-away-2024-9">deadliest day</a> for decades on Monday after Israel ramped up strikes on the country.Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder commented on the development during a press <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3914549/pentagon-press-secretary-maj-gen-pat-ryder-holds-an-off-camera-on-the-record-pr/#:~:text=MAJOR%20GENERAL%20RYDER%3A%20No%20significant,are%20already%20in%20the%20region.">briefing</a> on Monday."In light of increased tension in the Middle East and out of an abundance of caution, we are sending a small number of additional US military personnel forward to augment our forces that are already in the region," he said.He declined to comment or give more specifics, citing operational security reasons.Tensions have been simmering in the region, where clashes between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-pushed-hezbollah-corner-may-trigger-an-all-out-war-2024-9">intensified</a> over the weekend.Israeli Defense Forces said they were intensifying <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-strikes-lebanon-hezbollah-posts-warns-civilians-move-away-2024-9">targeted strikes</a> on Hezbollah positions and warned civilians in Lebanon to stay away from potential Hezbollah targets for their "own safety."According to an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/mophleb/posts/pfbid0xvrzviXNDshhMAAJoNZekGXwpamr3BFTVKcn9jTXeFWHcwc7UoRweKiDTjMfRngNl">update</a> by Lebanon's health ministry, at least 492 people were killed, and another 1,645 were injured in the south of the country on Monday.On Sunday, Naim Qassem, a leader of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia, said the group had entered a "battle of reckoning" with Israel.<h2 id="1ca0810b-d9c7-4772-9716-acdbc61d7130">Preventing a war</h2>Since the Hamas' October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel, the US has stepped up its military and diplomatic efforts in the region to serve as deterrence and prevent an all-out war.US officials told <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2024/09/22/as-conflict-looms-where-are-us-forces-in-the-middle-east/">Military Times</a> that at least a dozen warships and four Air Force fighter jet squadrons were deployed across the region to protect allies and deter attacks.On Monday, the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, two Navy destroyers, and a guided-missile cruiser <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.usff.navy.mil/Press-Room/News-Stories/Article/3914118/">headed</a> to the Sixth Fleet area in Europe on a regularly scheduled deployment.State Secretary Antony Blinken, meanwhile, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://il.usembassy.gov/secretary-blinken-is-on-travel-to-israel-egypt-and-qatar/">has</a> <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-travel-to-israel/">traveled</a> to the region <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-travel-to-france-egypt-israel-jordan-qatar-and-italy/">several times</a> over the last few months to help partners strike a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ceasefire-talks-ongoing-as-israel-forces-occupy-rafah-gaza-crossing-2024-5">cease-fire deal</a> between Hamas and Israel.In <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3914549/pentagon-press-secretary-maj-gen-pat-ryder-holds-an-off-camera-on-the-record-pr/">two calls</a> with his Israeli counterpart over the weekend, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin "stressed the importance of finding a path to a diplomatic solution that will allow residents on both sides of the border to return to their homes as quickly and safely as possible, as well as reaching a Gaza cease-fire deal that will bring all the hostages home."President Joe Biden <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/09/22/remarks-by-president-biden-after-marine-one-arrival-26/">said</a> on Sunday that the US is doing "everything we can" to prevent a wider war in the Middle East."And we're still pushing hard," he added.<h2 id="ac5b0456-1b3a-482c-87a8-70175890ae46">It may be too late</h2>According to experts, the deaths of dozens of people caused by the explosions of handheld radios and pagers in Lebanon last week and Israel's intensifying airstrikes make <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-pushed-hezbollah-corner-may-trigger-an-all-out-war-2024-9">Hezbollah's retaliation</a> likely.Filippo Dionigi, a senior lecturer on international relations at the University of Bristol, told BI on Monday these attacks "make a greater reaction inevitable to the net of any self-restraining stance."Eugene Rogan, a professor of modern Middle Eastern history at the University of Oxford, said the barrage of airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, coupled with the dozens of people murdered and thousands injured by <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-hezbollah-pager-walkie-talkies-explosion-supply-chain-infilitration-2024-9">detonating bombs</a> last week, "make for too many blows for Hezbollah to accept without reprisal.""Under the circumstances, the region would appear to be on the brink of all-out war in Lebanon," Rogan added.

The US is sending more troops to the Middle East to help US citizens flee as Israel-Hezbollah clashes intensify

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Jennifer Ann Crecente, a high school girl murdered in 2006, recently reappeared as a chatbot on Character.ai.</li><li>Her father told BI that he discovered the bot on Wednesday — he never gave consent to use her likeness.</li></ul>Drew Crecente woke at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday to find a Google Alert on his phone about his daughter.It had been 18 years since Jennifer Ann, a high school senior and Crecente's only child, was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in Austin. Grieving, Crecente had started a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://jenniferann.org/">nonprofit</a> in her name, working since 2006 to raise awareness for teenage dating violence.But Crecente now learned she'd reappeared online, this time as an artificial intelligence chatbot on <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dealmaking-for-ai-startups-silicon-valley-2024-8">Character.ai</a>, run by a San Francisco-based startup that struck a $2.7 billion deal with Google in August.A wave of emotions struck Crecente — fury, confusion, and disgust all at once, he told Business Insider."Part of it was sorrow," Crecente said. "Because here I am, having to once again be confronted with this terrible trauma that I've had to deal with for a long time."Crecente had no idea who created the chatbot or when it was made. He only knew that Google had indexed the bot that morning and sent him the alert at 4:30 a.m., which he'd set up to keep track of any mention of his daughter or his nonprofit.Character.ai chatbots are typically created by users, who can upload names, photos, greetings, and other information about the persona.In Jennifer Ann's case, the bot used her name and yearbook photo, describing her as a "knowledgable and friendly AI character who can provide information on a wide range of topics."By the time Crecente discovered the bot, a counter on its profile showed it had already been used in at least 69 chats, per a screenshot he sent to BI.<div type="image" title="Jennifer Ann Crecente's now-deleted AI chatbot page on Character.AI." height="593" width="1216" msid="113947207" hostid="261" sizebytes="34616"></div>The website also listed Jennifer Ann as an "expert in journalism" with expertise in video game news. Her uncle, Brian Crecente, founded the gaming news site Kotaku and co-founded its competitor site, Polygon.Drew Crecente said he contacted Character.ai through its customer support form, asking the company to remove the chatbot mimicking Jennifer Ann and to retain all data on who uploaded the profile."I wanted to make sure that they put measures in place so that no other account using my daughter's name or my daughter's likeness could be created in the future," he said.He received an automated response containing his case number but no further information.His brother, Brian, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/crecenteb/status/1841482321909653505">tweeted an angry message</a> about the chatbot that morning, asking his almost 31,000 followers for help to "stop this sort of terrible practice." Character.ai <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/character_ai/status/1841508095316611373">responded</a> to Brian's post on X an hour and a half later, saying the Jennifer Ann chatbot was removed as it violated the firm's policies on impersonation.But Crecente says he's gotten nothing but silence from the company, despite reaching out to Character.AI on Wednesday."That is part of what is so infuriating about this, is that it's not just about me or about my daughter," Crecente said. "It's about all of those people who might not have a platform, might not have a voice, might not have a brother who has a background as a journalist.""And because of that, they're being harmed, but they have no recourse," he added.Character.ai spokesperson Cassie Lawrence confirmed to BI that the chatbot was deleted and said the company "will examine whether further action is warranted.""Character.ai takes safety on our platform seriously and moderates Characters both proactively and in response to user reports. We have a dedicated Trust and Safety team who review reports and take action in line with our policies," she said.She added that Character.ai uses "industry-standard blocklists and custom blocklists" to prevent impersonation.Still, Crecente said that the company should have reached out to apologize and show that it would further protect his daughter's identity. He is now seeking legal options."It's just indescribable that a company with so much money appears to be so, I guess, indifferent to re-traumatizing people," he said.<h2 id="427bfe31-c473-4926-bb5b-fe1c77f5461c">Using AI to revive the dead</h2><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-make-money-china-grieving-raise-dead-griefbot-2023-5">AI has been used to create personas of dead people before</a>, including many who hope it can help them grieve the loss of a loved one. But the practice has raised ethical questions about the deceased's consent, especially if the "resurrected" persona died before the advent of AI.Crecente's case is yet another example of new legal and ethical territory that AI has introduced to the world, Vincent Conitzer, head of technical AI engagement at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University, told BI.Conitzer said questions remain about the extent to which AI companies should be held responsible for content created by their users."This is not quite impersonation in the sense that it seems transparent that it is an AI model," Conitzer said of the chatbot mimicking Jennifer Ann. "But it also isn't, for example, a parody. What rights do we have to our own style, mannerisms, and view of the world?"As the world debates these AI dilemmas, the consequences are already deeply affecting people like Crecente.Sue Morris, director of Bereavement Services at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, told BI that unexpectedly seeing a deceased loved one's likeness still hits hard many years after they've passed, because our memories of them are hard-wired into our brains."That he wasn't aware that his daughter's likeness was being used, would no doubt have been a huge shock and added to the feelings of confusion and anger he was experiencing," Morris said of Crecente.<h2 id="289d2327-8811-4331-8208-47dbe33b9234">Character.ai: Wildly popular and tied to Google</h2>Character.ai was founded in November 2021 by former Google engineers <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-ai-characterai-ceo-noam-shazeer-chatbot-2023-4">Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas</a>. Shazeer was a lead author for the tech giant's milestone Transformer paper and had worked to build an AI-powered chatbot there, but left with De Freitas when Google declined to publish the product at the time.<div type="image" title="Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, the cofounders of Character.ai, standing next to a stairway." height="3459" width="5200" msid="113947208" hostid="261" sizebytes="493460"></div>The idea behind their new startup was to let the public make their own bots, which they call Characters. These now include a smorgasbord of user-created personas modeled after public figures, such as Elon Musk, rapper Nicki Minaj, and actor Ryan Gosling.Character.ai's October 2022 beta launch logged hundreds of thousands of users in its first three weeks of testing, per <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/10/07/characterai-google-lamda/">The Washington Post.</a> In March 2023, the company raised $150 million at a valuation of $1 billion, led by Andreessen Horowitz.Google Play Store statistics show that, as of press time, the app was downloaded more than 10 million times on Android devices alone.In August, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/noam-shazeer-google-ai-deal-d3605697">Google paid the startup $2.7 billion</a> to re-hire Shazeer and De Freitas, 20% of its staff, and acquire all of Character.ai's models that had been worked on so far.After the team shake-up, the company's new interim CEO, Dominic Perella, told <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.ft.com/content/f2a9b5d4-05fe-4134-b4fe-c24727b85bba">The Financial Times</a> on Wednesday that the firm would focus entirely on its chatbot services, abandoning its past effort to build a large language model.Google did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

A girl murdered in 2006 was just revived as an AI chatbot — and her family had no idea

<ul class="summary-list"><li>JK Rowling reacted angrily to reports calling a transgender murderer a woman.</li><li>The conviction of Scarlet Brown has sparked intense discussion in Rowling's native Britain.</li></ul>JK Rowling posted about a lurid murder story in the UK, reopening a fierce debate about how society should talk about and punish transgender convicts.Reacting to a <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1762187612352020860">Sky News clip on X</a>, formerly Twitter, about the case, the "Harry Potter" author wrote: "I'm so sick of this shit. This is not a woman. These are #NotOurCrimes."She was referring to Scarlet Blake, a transgender woman who was sentenced to life in prison in a UK court after she was found guilty of murdering Spanish national Jorge Martin Carreno in July 2021.Per Rowling's argument, Blake's post-transition identity as a woman makes it harder to understand and respond to patterns of criminality properly."Crime statistics are rendered useless if violent and sexual attacks committed by men are recorded as female crimes," she wrote in a following post.Rowling has become a central figure in Britain's gender-critical movement, which objects to society's increasing willingness to recognize a person's stated gender identity.Critics have said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64729304">the author's position is transphobic,</a> and her position on the issue has complicated her status as a previously beloved children's author.Rowling has said she felt strongly enough about the issue, even knowing it would harm her reputation.The lurid details of Blake's crime have made her fertile ground for Rowling and others to advance their arguments.Blake lured the 30-year-old to a secluded area, struck him in the head with a vodka bottle, and attempted to strangle him before finally pushing him into a river, where he drowned.She also pleaded guilty to criminal damage and animal cruelty in the killing of a cat, an act which she live-streamed months before the murder.Gender-critical figures say that Blake and others should be held in prisons that match their biological gender.They argue that they represent a danger to the women held around them in single-sex prisons.It's had an effect on policy. In 2023, the UK government changed its rules around housing transgender prisoners.Perpetrators of sexual or violent crimes, it said, would no longer be held in women's prisons if they had male genitalia.It said exceptions could be made if "explicitly approved at the highest level."Critics of that position highlight the harm they say transgender people suffer from being held in prisons that don't match their identity.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/01/tiffany-scott-transgender-prisoner-dead-hmp-grampian/">The recent death</a> of the transgender prisoner Tiffany Scott, who was told she could not move from a men's prison in Scotland to a women's one, has fueled that argument, though the circumstances of her death are yet to be determined.In 2020, an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/transgender-women-are-nearly-always-incarcerated-men-s-putting-many-n1142436">NBC News</a> report said that many transgender inmates were at serious risk of harm in the prison system, citing a 2015 DoJ report that said 35% of transgender people who had been in prison had reported being sexually assaulted in the prior year.The NBC News report, based on data from 45 states, found that there were 4,890 transgender inmates in state prisons in the US, but it could only confirm that 15 of those inmates were incarcerated in a prison that matched how they self-identify.It also noted that some have claimed such figures on sexual assaults are likely too low, as many cases aren't fully reported.

JK Rowling's tweets about a lurid murder story reopened a heated debate about transgender convicts

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Hvaldimir, a beluga whale accused of being a Russian spy, was found dead off the coast of Norway.</li><li>Animal rights groups have filed a police report saying they believe the whale was shot to death.</li></ul>A white beluga whale nicknamed <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/beluga-whale-spy-russia-found-dead-hvaldimir-norway-coast-2024-9">Hvaldimir,</a> beloved in Norway and believed to have been <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/beluga-whale-rumored-russian-spy-wears-harness-pops-up-sweden-2023-5">trained to spy for Russia</a>, was found dead in Norwegian waters over the weekend.A group of veterinarians now say the whale was shot to death.On Wednesday, two animal-rights organizations, OneWhale and NOAH, announced that they have filed a police report with local authorities and Norway's national authority on environmental crimes.In the report, they raised the possibility of "intentional human-inflicted injury," their statement said."When I saw his body and the multiple injuries, I immediately knew he had been killed by gunshots," Regina Haug, founder of OneWhale, which had been involved in the protection of Hvaldimir, said in the statement."I even saw a bullet lodged in his body," she continued. "There is no question that this kind, gentle animal was senselessly murdered."The animal-rights groups provided Business Insider with images of the whale's body, which appeared to show bullet holes.The lifeless body of <a target="_blank" rel="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/beluga-whale-rumored-russian-spy-wears-harness-pops-up-sweden-2023-5">Hvaldimir</a> was discovered by a teenage fisherman and his father near the town of Risavika on Saturday morning.Hvaldimir was believed to be about 15 years old, and beluga whales can live up to <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" class="" href="https://us.whales.org/whales-dolphins/species-guide/beluga-whale/#:~:text=There%20are%20thought%20to%20be,30%20and%20sometimes%20much%20earlier.">60 years in the wild.</a>His name was a pun on the Norwegian word for "whale" and Russian leader Vladimir Putin's name, in keeping with the "Equipment St. Petersburg" label on his harness and GoPro camera when he was spotted off Norway's northern coast in 2019.That sighting fueled a theory that <a target="_blank" rel="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-doubles-trained-dolphin-pens-near-ukraine-guard-navy-uk-2023-6">Hvaldimir was trained by Russia's military</a>, which has a <a target="_blank" rel="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-doubles-trained-dolphin-pens-near-ukraine-guard-navy-uk-2023-6">history of using marine animals</a> like dolphins and beluga whales.Hvaldimir <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQvVZGLvCdY">gained celebrity status</a> in Norway, with viral videos showing the whale <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.thedodo.com/in-the-wild/beluga-whale-returns-kayakers-gopro-camera">returning lost items</a> <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.sfgate.com/world/article/See-the-alleged-Russian-spy-whale-retrieve-13829172.php">to their owners</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/that-viral-video-of-a-beluga-whale-playing-fetch-is-probably-not-what-it-seems/">playing with a rugby ball.</a>The death of Hvaldimir comes amid <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-demands-norway-pay-millions-for-reindeer-border-crossing-2023-8">growing tensions between Russia and Norway,</a> an active NATO member that has been ramping up military drills and exercises in the region due to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nordic-navies-focus-on-submarine-warfare-amid-tensions-with-russia-2023-7">fears of Russian aggression.</a>"The injuries on the whale are alarming and of a nature that cannot rule out a criminal act — it is shocking," Siri Martinsen, a veterinarian and the leader of animal-rights group NOAH, said in the statement.She added: "Given the suspicion of a criminal act, it is crucial that the police are involved quickly. Hvaldimir was significant to many, and all facts must be brought to light regarding his death."In a conversation with Business Insider, Martinsen said it's not clear who may have shot Hvaldimir."No, we have no information about that, and that is why we are filing a report this early in the process," she said.Martinsen said that before the whale's death, her organization had assessed the risk level of Russia attempting to kill or capture the whale as "extremely low."Sebastian Strand, the founder of Marine Mind, an organization that cared for Hvladimir, told BI that he's holding off on jumping to any conclusions, describing the allegations as "speculation."He added that Norway's veterinary institute "has not released their findings yet."In a follow-up message, Strand confirmed that the photos show "presumed bullet wounds" and that the "same thought has, of course, crossed everybody's mind," but he warned against "jumping the gun."A spokesperson for the Norwegian Veterinary Institute said it cannot comment on any results as Hvladimir's autopsy is still ongoing.In an email to BI, they said: "We have, together with the Directorate of Fisheries of Norway, been in contact with the police ahead of the autopsy, and will, of course, involve them if we uncover anything indicating anything suspicious."

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