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Colleagues demand justice for environmentalist slain near Mexico City

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:45:20 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Academics and colleagues demanded an investigation Thursday into the slaying of Mexican researcher and environmentalist Álvaro Arvizu, who was killed with an axe or hatchet earlier this month. Colleagues said the slaying appeared to be in retaliation for Arvizu’s work defending forests and water resources in the mountains that ring Mexico City. Official reports initially suggested he was killed during a robbery June 13 at an environmental educational center where he worked near the Iztaccihuatl volcano, which is not far from the more famous Popocatépetl volcano.Pedro Moctezuma, the founder of the environmental research and education center where Arvizu worked, disputed that idea. “We are certain that this was a planned, pre-meditated attack,” said Moctezuma, who is now a reseacher at the Autonomous Metropolitan University, a public institution that finances tne center.Two of Arvizu’s colleagues were badly beaten in the incident. A state official ...

AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio to make applications of the technology that aren’t dangerous

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:45:20 GMT

TORONTO — Artificial intelligence pioneer Yoshua Bengio says he will be reorienting his research to ensure he is working on applications of the technology that are not dangerous. The 2018 winner of the A.M. Turing Award and director of the Mila Quebec AI institute says his research will look at areas such as health care or the environment and aim to prevent bad things that can happen with AI.Bengio’s remarks came at the conclusion of a Munk debate hosted in Toronto.He and MIT physics professor Max Tegmark sparred with other technology experts about whether AI poses an existential threat.As part of his arguments, Bengio said humanity needs to take care of all of the potential downsides of AI and should move toward regulation, because anyone using the technology with malicious intentions could create catastrophe.Fellow AI pioneer Yann LeCun and Davis Professor of Complexity Melanie Mitchell rebutted that AI can be used for good and does not have the agency to make the kind of decision...

GOP releases testimony of whistleblowers claiming interference in Hunter Biden case

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:45:20 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans released testimony Thursday from two IRS whistleblowers who allege that the Justice Department interfered with their yearslong investigation into President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter — a charge the department swiftly denied.The House Ways and Means Committee, led by Republican Rep. Jason Smith, voted to publicly disclose congressional testimony from two former IRS agents who worked on the federal investigation into the younger Biden’s taxes and foreign business dealings. “Whistleblowers describe how the Biden Justice Department intervened and overstepped in a campaign to protect the son of Joe Biden by delaying, divulging and denying an ongoing investigation into Hunter Biden’s alleged tax crimes,” Smith, R-Mo., told reporters. The testimony from the two individuals — Greg Shapley and an unidentified IRS agent — detailed what they called a pattern of “slow-walking investigative steps” and delaying enforcement actions months before elections. Bu...

Toronto Raptors take guard Gradey Dick 13th overall in NBA Draft.

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:45:20 GMT

The Toronto Raptors selected Gradey Dick of Kansas with the 13th overall pick in the NBA draft on Thursday.The six-foot-eight, 205-pound guard averaged 14.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game in his lone season with the Jayhawks.He also shot 40.3 per cent from three-point range, a sore spot for the Raptors in 2022-2023.The Toronto Raptors select Gradey Dick with the 13th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. ???? pic.twitter.com/cGGNNMgvnP— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 23, 2023RELATED: Victor Wembanyama is the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, with expectations of stardomIt is the third time Toronto has had a lottery selection in the past decade.It was also the Raptors’ lone pick of the draft. yes… the Raptors just drafted the suit and Gradey Dick. https://t.co/mPN71womsa— Lindsay Dunn (@LindsayDunnTV) June 23, 2023

Debate begins on bill that would expand access to abortions in Maine

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:45:20 GMT

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Lawmakers launched into an emotional debate over expanding access to abortions in Maine, delivering impassioned appeals Thursday as the vote margin appeared to tighten on a proposal that was once seen a foregone conclusion in the Democratic-controlled Legislature. Debate abruptly halted after little more than an hour amid questions of the vote count and a late amendment. At least one of the bill’s co-sponsors signaled a change of heart.Rep. Walter Wiseman, D-Harrison, said the current state law banning abortions after a fetus becomes viable outside the womb, at roughly 24 weeks, unless a mother’s life is at risk, is “doing its job.”“Let’s stop now before we get in too deep,” he said.The bill by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, and sponsored by House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross and Senate President Troy Jackson, would give the state one of the least restrictive abortion laws in the country.It would allow abortions any time before birth if deemed necessary...

TDSB to restore 99 positions previously eliminated in $3.4 billion budget

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:45:20 GMT

The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) has approved a $3.4 billion budget for the next school year. Trustees say the budget will see 99 positions restored that were eliminated after the province’s COVID-19 funding was discontinued. These included social workers, child and youth counsellors, school-based safety monitors, and elementary and secondary vice-principals.The board says the addition of these positions will cost $10.4 million. The board says it has identified a number of “cost-saving measures” within the budget, including reducing central staffing and department budgets. Even with that, the 2023-24 operating budget includes a projected deficit of $15.1 million.The TDSB says over the past three years, they were forced to take $69 million from its reserve fund in order to support the continuation of learning and the safety of students and staff during the pandemic. As a result, there are limited reserves left to offset any future operating shortfalls.“As Tr...

Theater Review: ‘Once Upon a One More Time’ with Britney Spears songs will drive you crazy

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:45:20 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — You’re handed an LED wristband as you enter “Once Upon a One More Time,” a musical on Broadway stuffed with Britney Spears songs. But the gift is strangely inert for the whole show, only coming to life and gleaming at the curtain call. It’s not a wristband — it’s a metaphor. It glows in the end because you are free. Free of this bombastic, patronizing, clumsy, lazy show.“Once Upon a One More Time,” which opened Thursday at the Marquis Theatre, is pure summer dumb — it’s got smoke machines working overtime, weird dance breaks, tons of glitter and every song ends with a manufactured IMAX-level sonic boom. One of the main characters actually swings on a chandelier.Everything about it seems recycled: A fractured fairy tale that is a tired concept by now — no less a giant than Andrew Lloyd Webber failed with it with “Bad Cinderella” this spring. It’s also a safe feminist story about women writing their own story led by a creative team led mos...

3M reaches $10.3 billion settlement over contamination of water systems with ‘forever chemicals’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:45:20 GMT

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Chemical manufacturer 3M Co. will pay at least $10.3 billion to settle lawsuits over contamination of many U.S. public drinking water systems with potentially harmful compounds used in firefighting foam and a host of consumer products, the company said Thursday.The deal would compensate water providers for pollution with per- and polyfluorinated substances, known collectively as PFAS — a broad class of chemicals used in nonstick, water- and grease-resistant products such as clothing and cookware.Described as “forever chemicals” because they don’t degrade naturally in the environment, PFAS have been linked to a variety of health problems, including liver and immune-system damage and some cancers.The compounds have been detected at varying levels in drinking water around the nation. The Environmental Protection Agency in March proposed strict limits on two common types, PFOA and PFOS, and said it wanted to regulate four others. Water providers would be resp...

Nursing home resident gets 45 years for murder and rape of 80-year-old invalid

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:45:20 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A 61-year-old Indianapolis nursing home resident was sentenced Thursday to 45 years in prison for the murder and rape of an 80-year-old invalid last year.Dwayne Freeman learned his sentence after pleading guilty June 8 for the crimes against Patricia Newnum at the nursing home where they both lived.A judge sentenced Freeman to 45 years on the murder charge and 30 years on the rape charge, with the terms to be served concurrently.Court documents say an employee at Homestead Healthcare Center entered Newnum’s room to give her medication on the morning of Feb. 2, 2022. She saw Freeman naked and lying on top of Newnum while holding a pillow over her face.Documents say Freeman admitted to having sex with Newnum, but said it was consensual. It wasn’t clear why Freeman was a resident of the nursing home.The Marion County Coroner’s Office ruled Newnum died of asphyxiation by smothering.Newnum’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Homestead, w...

One seriously injured after vehicle-pedestrian crash in west Austin, ATCEMS says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:45:20 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- One person was seriously injured after a vehicle-pedestrian crash in west Austin Thursday, Austin-Travis County EMS said on Twitter.Shortly before 7 p.m., medics responded to the crash at 1100 Tillery St., the tweet said.In the same Twitter thread, medics said the incident involved someone on a bicycle. One adult patient was taken to Dell Seton with serious injuries, medics said.No further information was released Thursday, and the incident remained under investigation.