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Today: January 23, 2025
Today: January 23, 2025
The Los Angeles Post

The Los Angeles Post

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World

St. Louis Fed president Jim Bullard, one of the central bank's most hawkish members, stepping down

St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard, one of the most hawkish members of the central bank since it started it aggressive rate-hiking campaign, is stepping down. Bullard is leaving his position as president and CEO of the St. Louis Fed to become the inaugural dean of the Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. School of Business at Purdue University next month, the bank announced Thursday. While he’ll be available in an “advisory capacity” to the Fed until Aug. 14, Bullard has recused himself from his role on the central bank’s committee that determines the direction of interest rates and other

St. Louis Fed president Jim Bullard, one of the central bank's most hawkish members, stepping down
Political

Justice Kavanaugh seeks to dispel the notion that the Supreme Court is partisan

Justice Brett Kavanaugh pointed to the mixed U.S. Supreme Court decisions this term as he sought Thursday to dispel notions that it is partisan, even after conservatives brought about the end of affirmative action in college admissions and struck down President Joe Biden’s student loan debt relief program. “The court is an institution of law. It’s an institution of law not of politics, not of partisanship,” Kavanaugh said at a judicial conference in Minnesota, in the first public remarks by a justice since the court recessed for the summer late last month. The Supreme Court has

Justice Kavanaugh seeks to dispel the notion that the Supreme Court is partisan
World

Guatemala's political turmoil deepens as 1 candidate is targeted and the other suspends her campaign

Guatemala sank deeper into political turmoil Thursday as prosecutors targeted a progressive presidential candidate who proved to be surprisingly popular, prompting his opponent to suspend her campaign, saying the playing field was no longer even. The government’s actions against candidate Bernardo Arévalo — first suspending his Seed Movement party, then raiding the country’s election tribunal offices after it certified election results — sparked other objections as well, from within and outside Guatemala. U.S. officials called them a threat to the country’s democracy. By Thursday afternoon, those actions appeared to have backfired. Candidates left and right warned

Guatemala's political turmoil deepens as 1 candidate is targeted and the other suspends her campaign
Arts

What to know about the harrowing Ukraine war doc '20 Days in Mariupol'

Theatergoers in select cities will soon be able to watch “20 Days in Mariupol,” the visceral documentary on Russia’s early assault on the Ukrainian city. The 94-minute film is a joint production by The Associated Press and PBS “Frontline” and has been met with critical acclaim and an audience award at the Sundance Film Festival. AP journalist Mstyslav Chernov directed the movie from 30 hours of footage he and other AP journalists shot in Mariupol in the opening days of the war. Chernov and AP colleagues Evgeniy Maloletka, a photographer, and producer Vasilisa Stepanenko were the

What to know about the harrowing Ukraine war doc '20 Days in Mariupol'
World

Wildlife officials search for a wayward sea otter harassing surfers, kayakers off California coast

Wildlife officials were trying to capture a wayward sea otter Thursday that has been wrestling surfboards away from surfers and aggressively approaching kayakers off the coast of Santa Cruz, California. The 5-year-old female otter has shown aggression toward people for several weeks and poses a public safety risk, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a statement. Video and photographs shared on social media show the marine mammal getting on top of different surfboards — on at least one occasion biting and tearing chunks off a board — and aggressively approaching surfers. A team of

Wildlife officials search for a wayward sea otter harassing surfers, kayakers off California coast
World

Houston to spend millions to relocate residents living near polluted Union Pacific rail yard

Houston plans to spend millions of dollars to relocate residents from neighborhoods located near a rail yard polluted by a cancer-linked wood preservative that has been blamed for an increase in cancer cases, the city’s mayor announced Thursday. Texas health officials in 2019 identified a cancer cluster in Houston’s historically Black Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens neighborhoods. A second cluster was identified in 2021. Health officials have found higher rates of respiratory cancers as well as childhood cancers, including acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Residents and local officials have long blamed the high number of cancer cases on contamination

Houston to spend millions to relocate residents living near polluted Union Pacific rail yard
World

PGA Tour and Saudi wealth fund drop poaching clause from agreement at Justice Department's request

The PGA Tour and the Saudi backers of LIV Golf responded to a Justice Department inquiry by dropping a provision in their agreement that would have prohibited the poaching of players, the PGA Tour said Thursday. The New York Times first reported the development, which stems from the Justice Department’s antitrust review that began last summer and expanded when the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s national wealth fund agreed to become business partners. The non-solicitation clause was part of the framework agreement announced June 6 and signed by the PGA Tour, European tour and Public Investment Fund. The agreement, still

PGA Tour and Saudi wealth fund drop poaching clause from agreement at Justice Department's request
World

Lightweight boxing champion Devin Haney arrested on felony weapons charge in Los Angeles

Undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney was arrested on a felony weapons charge Thursday in Los Angeles, according to police. Haney, 24, was charged with carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle and released on $35,000 bond. An Aug. 3 municipal court date was set, online court records showed. Haney was in the back seat when police conducted a traffic stop, Bill Haney, the boxer’s father, trainer and manager, told ESPN. The elder Haney said the charge is “a misunderstanding that will be solved when Devin goes to court. It’s unfortunate that he was arrested with his

Lightweight boxing champion Devin Haney arrested on felony weapons charge in Los Angeles
Political

Rioter who hurled bow like a spear at police during Jan. 6 attack gets more than 7 years in prison

A professional butcher whose bloody, wild-eyed face became one of the most memorable images of the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced Thursday to more than seven years in prison for hurling a bow like a spear at police and attacking several other officers. Kyle Fitzsimons, 39, of Maine, was wearing a white butcher’s coat embroidered with his first name when he separately assaulted at least five officers near a tunnel as police desperately tried to protect an entrance to the Capitol from the angry mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters, prosecutors said. The federal judge who sentenced

Rioter who hurled bow like a spear at police during Jan. 6 attack gets more than 7 years in prison
World

An anti-trans Kansas law doesn't prevent birth certificate changes, the governor argues

The Democratic governor in Kansas is defending changes in the sex listings on transgender people’s birth certificates in a federal court filing arguing that continuing the changes doesn’t violate a new state law rolling back transgender rights. An attorney for Gov. Laura Kelly’s office also argued in the filing this week that the new Kansas law is discriminatory and “represents a willful failure of the Kansas Legislature” to protect people’s rights. It took effect July 1 and defines male and female based on a person’s sex assigned at birth for any other state law or regulation,

An anti-trans Kansas law doesn't prevent birth certificate changes, the governor argues
Political

Justice Department urges judge to not postpone Trump's classified documents trial

The Justice Department urged a judge Thursday to reject Donald Trump’s efforts to postpone his classified documents trial, saying there was no basis for an “open-ended” delay sought by his lawyers. Federal prosecutors last month proposed a Dec. 11 trial for Trump, who is charged with 37 felony counts related to the mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, though the actual date will be up to the judge. Trump’s lawyers countered this week with a request for a delay. They did not propose a specific date but said the case concerned novel legal issues, and

Justice Department urges judge to not postpone Trump's classified documents trial
World

More than 100 homes damaged when tornado hits suburb of Canada's capital

At least one tornado hit a suburb of Canada’s capital Thursday, damaging more than 100 homes, authorities said. Kim Ayotte, general manager of emergency and protective services for the city of Ottawa, said 125 homes were damaged in Half Moon Bay, a neighborhood in the southern end of the Barrhaven suburb. He said most damage involved roofs being ripped, windows broken or damage inflicted by falling trees. “It’s a variety of damage from small damage to quite substantial damage,” he said. He said only one minor injury had been reported involving someone whose foot was cut.

More than 100 homes damaged when tornado hits suburb of Canada's capital
Health

Soda sweetener aspartame now listed as possible cancer cause. But it's still considered safe

The World Health Organization’s cancer agency has deemed the sweetener aspartame — found in diet soda and countless other foods — as a “possible” cause of cancer, while a separate expert group looking at the same evidence said it still considers the sugar substitute safe in limited quantities. The differing results of the coordinated reviews were released early Friday. One came from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a special branch of the WHO. The other report was from an expert panel selected by WHO and another U.N. group, the Food and Agriculture Organization. The Lyon, France-based cancer agency

Soda sweetener aspartame now listed as possible cancer cause. But it's still considered safe
Health

FDA approves first daily over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill – a pharmacist and public health expert explain this new era in contraception

The progestin-only pill Opill could be available in early 2024. Kwangmoozaa/iStock via Getty Images On July 13, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a drugmaker’s application for the first daily over-the-counter birth control pill for people seeking to prevent pregnancy. The pill, called Opill – the brand name for the tablet formulation of norgestrel – is an oral contraceptive containing only progestin hormone, which helps prevent pregnancy by thickening cervical mucus, preventing ovulation or both. Opill was initially approved by the FDA for prescription use in 1973. Its approval for nonprescription use may spark other manufacturers of prescription-only

FDA approves first daily over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill – a pharmacist and public health expert explain this new era in contraception
Arts

Lisa Marie Presley died from a the effects of a small bowel obstruction, coroner says

Lisa Marie Presley died from a small bowel obstruction, authorities said Thursday. The January 12 death at age 54 of the singer, songwriter and heir of Elvis Presley was ruled as being from natural causes, according to Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner records. An autopsy report that would include more details about what led to Presley’s death has not yet been released. Presley died at a Los Angeles hospital, where she had been rushed by paramedics responding to a 911 call of a woman in cardiac arrest at her home. No indication was made public at

Lisa Marie Presley died from a the effects of a small bowel obstruction, coroner says
World

A stray bullet hit a woman lying in bed. A federal judge dismissed her lawsuit against police

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Mississippi woman who says she was hit by a stray police bullet while lying in bed. Latasha Smith, 49, was in bed on Dec. 11 when an officer from the state-run Capitol Police fired several bullets at a suspect running through her Jackson apartment complex, according to her federal complaint. A stray bullet entered Smith’s apartment and struck her arm. Smith, who said her teenage daughter was home during the episode, was taken to a hospital. In April, Smith sued Mississippi Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell

A stray bullet hit a woman lying in bed. A federal judge dismissed her lawsuit against police
World

Boonchant holes out for eagle on her second shot of the round, shares the lead in the Dana Open

Jaravee Boonchant holed out from 128 yards for eagle on her second shot of the round and had a 7-under 64 on Thursday for a share of the first-round lead with Linn Grant in the LPGA Tour’s Dana Open. “I was just like on the first cut and I was like, `OK, this shot, just anywhere on the green,’” Boonchant said about the eagle on No. 10. “… and the ball just happened to hit one bounce and hop in the hole.” Boonchant also had seven birdies and two bogeys at Highland Meadows. The 24-year-old Thai player is winless on

Boonchant holes out for eagle on her second shot of the round, shares the lead in the Dana Open
World

The FTC reportedly opens an investigation of ChatGPT creator OpenAI over consumer protection issues

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has launched an investigation into ChatGPT creator OpenAI and whether the artificial intelligence company violated consumer protection laws by scraping public data and publishing false information through its chatbot, according to reports in the Washington Post and the New York Times. The agency sent OpenAI a 20-page letter requesting detailed information on its AI technology, products, customers, privacy safeguards and data security arrangements, according to the reports. The FTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The FTC’s move represents the most significant regulatory threat so far to the nascent but fast-growing AI

The FTC reportedly opens an investigation of ChatGPT creator OpenAI over consumer protection issues
World

Oil and gas withdrawal around US park stirs debate over economic costs for Native American tribe

Some Republican members of Congress on Thursday denounced the Biden administration’s recent move to withdraw hundreds of square miles of federal land in New Mexico from oil and gas development, offering their support instead to legislation that would unravel the ban. U.S. Rep. Eli Crane was among those to speak out during a congressional subcommittee hearing on the legislation that he and fellow Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar recently introduced to nullify what they consider overreach by the federal government. Crane’s district includes part of the vast Navajo Nation, which spans portions of Arizona, New Mexico

Oil and gas withdrawal around US park stirs debate over economic costs for Native American tribe
World

Founder of student aid startup Frank shakes head as prosecutor describes case against her

The founder of student aid startup Frank shook her head repeatedly Thursday as a prosecutor claimed that she tricked J.P. Morgan Chase into paying $175 million for her business by lying about its client base. Assistant U.S. Attorney Micah Fergenson described criminal charges against Frank founder Charlie Javice and codefendant Olivier Amar, the company’s chief growth officer, to a federal judge at a pretrial hearing during which each of them entered pleas of not guilty to an indictment unveiled Wednesday. Fergenson said the deal two years ago was consummated only after Javice and Amar “created a

Founder of student aid startup Frank shakes head as prosecutor describes case against her
World

Guatemala's struggle with corruption thrust into international spotlight by election meddling

(asterisk)(asterisk) TO MOVE AT 0400 GMT(asterisk)(asterisk) The Guatemalan government’s clumsy interference with its presidential election has tturned a global spotlight on a country whose struggles with deep corruption had received limited international attention. President Alejandro Giammattei was deeply unpopular at home, but other than occasional statements of reprobation from the United States and Europe, had managed to consolidate his control of the justice system with little consequence. It was a dramatic transformation for a country that until four years ago hosted an aggressive and productive anti-corruption effort supported by the United Nations. But since that mission

Guatemala's struggle with corruption thrust into international spotlight by election meddling
Political

GOP White House hopefuls face mounting pressure to stop Trump in Iowa

As the six-month sprint to the Iowa caucuses begins, the sprawling field of Republican presidential candidates is facing growing pressure to prove they can become serious challengers to former President Donald Trump. The urgency is particularly acute for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who entered the race in May with expectations that he would quickly become Trump’s top rival. For now, however, he has struggled to generate the level of enthusiasm that Trump commands from the GOP base, contributing to uncertainty that DeSantis will become the threat to the former president that he was once billed

GOP White House hopefuls face mounting pressure to stop Trump in Iowa
Political

Americans are widely pessimistic about democracy in the United States, an AP-NORC poll finds

Only about 1 in 10 U.S. adults give high ratings to the way democracy is working in the United States or how well it represents the interests of most Americans, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Majorities of adults say U.S. laws and policies do a poor job of representing what most Americans want on issues ranging from the economy and government spending to gun policy, immigration and abortion. The poll shows 53% say Congress is doing a bad job of upholding democratic values, compared with just 16% who

Americans are widely pessimistic about democracy in the United States, an AP-NORC poll finds
World

North Korea's ambassador blames US for regional tensions in a rare appearance at UN Security Council

North Korea’s U.N. ambassador defended his country’s recent long-range missile launch in a rare appearance at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday where he also accused the United States of driving the situation in northeast Asia “to the brink of nuclear war.” Kim Song told the council that Wednesday’s test-flight of the developmental Hwasong-18 missile was a legitimate exercise of the North’s right to self-defense. He said the United States was raising regional tensions with nuclear threats and deploying a nuclear-powered submarine to South Korea for the first time in 14 years. Kim said the missile

North Korea's ambassador blames US for regional tensions in a rare appearance at UN Security Council
Health

Online, 'unalive' means death or suicide. Experts say it might help kids discuss those things

When Emily Litman was in middle school, kids whose parents grounded them would blithely lament: “I just want to die.” Now she’s a middle school teacher in New Jersey, and when her students’ phones and TikTok access are taken away, their out-loud whining has a 21st-century digital twist: “I feel so unalive.” Litman, 46, teaches English as a second language to students in Jersey City. Her students don’t use — and perhaps have never even heard — English words like “suicide.” But they know “unalive.” “These are kids who’ve had to learn English and are now learning TikToklish,” Litman says.

Online, 'unalive' means death or suicide. Experts say it might help kids discuss those things

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