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Vaughn Cockayne

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Vaughn Cockayne

vcockayne@washingtontimes.com

Vaughn Cockayne is a Foreign Affairs Correspondent for The Washington Times. He is an Ohio native and holds a bachelor's degree in Multi-Platform Journalism from Bowling Green State University. Vaughn previously worked as a freelance writer, covering data security and privacy issues before joining The Washington Times. He can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Vaughn Cockayne

The Twitter splash page is seen on a digital device, on April 25, 2022, in San Diego. Elon Musk had promised to take away all of Twitter's blue check marks doled out to Hollywood stars, professional athletes, business leaders, authors and journalists unless they start buying a monthly subscription to the social media service. But the Saturday, April 1, 2023, deadline passed and the blue checks are still there, many with a new disclaimer explaining they might have been paid for or they might not have been paid for...nobody but Twitter really knows. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

Twitter now allows misgendering

Twitter quietly removed its policy prohibiting the targeting misgendering and deadnaming of transgender people this month. The policy, enacted in 2018, said that intentionally and repeatedly calling a transgender person by the wrong name or pronouns is against Twitter's terms of service and could result in a suspension.

April 19, 2023

A Netflix DVD envelope is shown on Nov. 17, 2022, in San Francisco. Netflix is poised to shut down the DVD-by-mail rental service that set the stage for its trailblazing video streaming service, ending an era that began a quarter century ago when the concept of mailing discs through the mail was considered a revolutionary concept. (AP Photo/Michael Liedtke) **FILE**

End of an era: Netflix is ending its signature DVD delivery service

Netflix is officially retiring its famous red envelopes after nearly 25 years and over 5 billion mailings.

April 19, 2023

Ambulance. File image credit Chris D swabb via Shutterstock.

Child dies after taking TikTok Benadryl challenge

An Ohio 13-year-old has died after taking a large dose of Benadryl as part of a dangerous trend on TikTok.

April 19, 2023

In this image released by FOX News, Elon Musk gestures as he is interviewed by FOX News host Tucker Carlson on Thursday, April 13, 2023. The billionaire Twitter owner told Carlson in a segment aired Monday night, April 17, that he plans to create an alternative to the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT that he is calling “TruthGPT,” which will be a "maximum truth-seeking AI that tries to understand the nature of the universe.” (FOX News via AP)

Elon Musk wants to make ‘TruthGPT’ to combat liberal bias in AI

Tech billionaire Elon Musk told Fox News host Tucker Carlson that he wants to make his own artificial intelligence chatbot to compete with ChatGPT, which he said he'd call "TruthGPT."

April 18, 2023

The YouTube TV streaming service on Thursday announced that its monthly subscription price will rise. File photo credit: Vantage_DS via Shutterstock.

YouTube launches new rules restricting eating disorder content

YouTube announced new policies Tuesday surrounding how the platform will deal with eating disorder content.

April 18, 2023

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during convocation at Liberty University, in Lynchburg, Va., Friday, April 14, 2023. (Paige Dingler/The News & Advance via AP)

DeSantis floats building rival theme park, state prison next to Disney World as fight continues

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ramped up his fight against Walt Disney World on Monday by proposing to build a competing theme park or a prison next to the complex.

April 18, 2023

Different types of vitamins and supplements on shelves in a pharmacy. File photo credit: Niloo via Shutterstock

Most Americans use dietary supplements, survey shows

Most U.S. adults and over a third of children take some form of dietary supplements, a new survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

April 18, 2023

This video still image provided by The Office of Arnold Schwarzenegger, shows former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, repairing a pot hole on a street in his Los Angeles neighborhood on Tuesday, April 11, 2023. Fed up by an enormous pothole in his neighborhood, Schwarzenegger picked up a shovel and filled it himself. (The Office of Arnold Schwarzenegger via AP)

Schwarzenegger blasts CBS News headline on pothole filling

Actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is calling out CBS News for what he sees as a "bogus" headline.

April 18, 2023

This video still image provided by The Office of Arnold Schwarzenegger, shows former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, repairing a pot hole on a street in his Los Angeles neighborhood on Tuesday, April 11, 2023. Fed up by an enormous pothole in his neighborhood, Schwarzenegger picked up a shovel and filled it himself. (The Office of Arnold Schwarzenegger via AP)

Pothole filled by Arnold Schwarzenegger not a pothole, city says

Movie star and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made headlines earlier this week by personally filling in a pothole near his Los Angeles home.

April 13, 2023

A sign at Twitter headquarters is shown in San Francisco, Dec. 8, 2022. Twitter says it has removed thousands of tweets showing a poster promoting a “trans day of vengeance” protest in support of transgender rights in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, March 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Twitter moves further into finance, partnering with trading company eToro

Twitter users can now access stocks, cryptocurrencies and other financial assets via the site as part of a partnership with social trading company eToro.

April 13, 2023

A sign for the Food and Drug Administration is displayed outside their offices in Silver Spring, Md., on Dec. 10, 2020. The maker of an unproven drug intended to prevent premature births says it will voluntarily remove the product from the U.S. market, after regulators signaled plans to follow through on a long-delayed effort to force it from the market. The announcement late Tuesday, March 7, 2023, from Covis Pharma comes nearly four years after the company’s drug, Makena, failed to show a benefit in helping mothers carry their pregnancies to term. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Man sues wellness drink company for hiding addictive ingredients

Wellness drink manufacturer Botanic Tonics is facing a class action lawsuit claiming the company added an addictive ingredient to one of its products without informing consumers.

April 13, 2023

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to a crowd at Adventure Outdoors gun store, Thursday, March 30, 2023, in Smyrna, Ga. DeSantis has advanced elements of his aggressive conservative agenda though the use of executive power, drawing on appointees, state boards and the state Constitution as he builds toward an expected presidential candidacy. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) **FILE**

Gay, immigrant groups issue travel advisories against Florida

Florida advocacy groups issued travel advisories for the state on Wednesday in the wake of legislation pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

April 13, 2023

JPMorgan Chase orders managers back to office

JPMorgan Chase is putting an end to most remote work for its managing directors, according to an internal memo sent Wednesday.

April 13, 2023

Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes arrives at federal court in San Jose, Calif., Friday, March 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Judge denies Elizabeth Holmes’ bid to stay out of prison during appeal

A judge this week denied disgraced CEO Elizabeth Holmes' request to stay free while she appeals her conviction on fraud charges.

April 12, 2023

Pinterest announces new safety measures, parental controls after bombshell investigation

Pinterest, the popular image-sharing social media site best known as a place to swap recipes and display decorating ideas, announced new safety measures this week in an effort to protect its underage users from online predators.

April 12, 2023

Elon Musk departs the Phillip Burton Federal Building and United States Court House in San Francisco on Jan. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Benjamin Fanjoy, File)

Musk sleeps at Twitter headquarters, believes it motivates his workers

Twitter CEO Elon Musk said he sometimes sleeps at the company's headquarters in San Francisco.

April 12, 2023

In this March 9, 2015, file photo, HBO CEO Richard Plepler talks about HBO Now for Apple TV during an Apple event in San Francisco. HBO Now has gained about 800,000 paying subscribers since it launched on Apple TV in April 2015, contributing significantly to the 2.7 million net new HBO customers in the latest quarter. The figure was revealed by Plepler in a conference call following the release of parent Time Warner Inc.’s quarterly earnings results, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

HBO Max on verge of redesign as part of Discovery merger

Warner Bros. Discovery is set to combine its HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming services this year.

April 12, 2023

Books are displayed at the Banned Book Library at American Stage in St. Petersburg, Fla., Feb. 18, 2023. In Florida, some schools have covered or removed books under a new law that requires an evaluation of reading materials and for districts to publish a searchable list of books where individuals can then challenge specific titles. (Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Texas county may close library after judge orders banned books returned

A county in Texas may close its public library system after a federal judge ruled a children's book ban unconstitutional.

April 12, 2023

Lori Vallow Daybell glances at the camera during her hearing in Rexburg, Idaho, on March 6, 2020. The investigation started roughly 29 months ago with two missing children. It soon grew to encompass five states, four suspected murders and claims of an unusual, doomsday-focused religious beliefs involving "dark spirits" and "zombies." On Monday, April 10, 2023, an Idaho jury will begin the difficult task of deciding the veracity of those claims and others in the triple murder trial of Lori Vallow Daybell. (John Roark/The Idaho Post-Register via AP, Pool) **FILE**

Opening arguments in Vallow Daybell murder trial paints picture of conspiracy

Opening arguments began in the Boise, Idaho, trial of Lori Vallow Daybell, who is charged with conspiracy, murder and grand theft in the deaths of her two children.

April 11, 2023

The Federal Trade Commission building in Washington is pictured on Jan. 28, 2015. The online counseling service BetterHelp has agreed to return $7.8 million to customers to settle with the FTC for sharing health data it had promised to keep private — including information about mental health challenges — with companies including Facebook and Snapchat. The proposed FTC order announced Thursday, March 2, 2023, also limits how the California-based company may share consumer data in the future. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FTC fines supplement maker $600K for misleading consumers with ‘review hijacking’

The Federal Trade Commission has ordered a supplement maker to pay $600,000 for deceiving Amazon customers by merging the reviews of different products to inflate the review scores of its unpopular products.

April 11, 2023