Today: September 25, 2024
Today: September 25, 2024

World

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,

July 13, 2023
An anti-trans Kansas law doesn't prevent birth certificate changes, the governor argues
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.

July 13, 2023
More than 100 homes damaged when tornado hits suburb of Canada's capital
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

July 13, 2023
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

July 13, 2023
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

July 13, 2023
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

July 14, 2023
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

July 14, 2023
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

July 14, 2023
Guatemala's struggle with corruption thrust into international spotlight by election meddling
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

July 14, 2023
North Korea's ambassador blames US for regional tensions in a rare appearance at UN Security Council
World

Ex-officers at federal women's prison in California plead guilty to multiple sex abuse counts

Two former officers of a federal women’s prison in California pleaded guilty Thursday to multiple counts of sexual abuse, the latest to be prosecuted following an Associated Press investigation last year resulting in prison sentences for the former warden and chaplain. Andrew Jones, a former cook supervisor at Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, pleaded guilty to six felony charges of sexual abuse of three women he supervised, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday. Nakie Nunley, a guard at the prison call center, pleaded guilty to four charges of sexual abuse and five lesser felonies of abusive

July 14, 2023
Ex-officers at federal women's prison in California plead guilty to multiple sex abuse counts
World

Death Valley visitors drawn to the hottest spot on Earth during ongoing US heat wave

As uninviting as it sounds, Death Valley National Park beckons. Even as the already extreme temperatures are forecast to climb even higher, potentially topping records amid a major U.S. heat wave, tourists are arriving at this infamous desert landscape on the California-Nevada border. Daniel Jusehus snapped a photo earlier this week of a famed thermometer outside the aptly named Furnace Creek Visitor Center after challenging himself to a run in the sweltering heat. “I was really noticing, you know, I didn’t feel so hot, but my body was working really hard to cool

July 14, 2023
Death Valley visitors drawn to the hottest spot on Earth during ongoing US heat wave
World

For a group of Ukrainian women, painting is a form of therapy to help them cope with loss

In a sunlit art studio in Kyiv filled with easels and canvases, Iryna Farion puts the finishing touches on an oil painting with a predominantly dark color palette in shades of blue and brown. The artwork depicts two intertwined trees held together by their roots, as though in embrace, and a radiant yellow sun shining against a moody blue background. “I feel like it’s me and my husband, who was killed in the war,” Farion says of the trees. “They are like two souls, like two hearts, like one body.” Farion is among thousands of Ukrainian

July 14, 2023
For a group of Ukrainian women, painting is a form of therapy to help them cope with loss
World

Stock market today: Asian shares buoyed by Wall Street's winning week as inflation eases

Asian shares mostly surged Friday after Wall Street’s winning streak barreled into a fourth day, buoyed by the latest signal that inflation may be easing. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost earlier gains, ending down 0.1% at 32,391.26. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.9% to 7,308.50. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.3% to 2,623.83. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.4% to 19,433.22, while the Shanghai Composite added 0.1% to 3,240.96. “Positive sentiment within Asian equity markets gathered pace as investors welcomed the easing inflation momentum,” Anderson Alves at ActivTrades said in a commentary. Market watchers are also looking ahead

July 14, 2023
Stock market today: Asian shares buoyed by Wall Street's winning week as inflation eases
World

Moves at a small border village hike Israel-Hezbollah tensions at a time of regional jitters

The little village of Ghajar has been a sore point between Israel and Lebanon for years, split in two by the border between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. But after a long period of calm, the dispute has begun to heat up again. Israel has been building a wall around the half of the village in Lebanese territory, triggering condemnation from the Lebanese militiant force Hezbollah, accusing Israel of moving to annex the site. A recent exchange of fire in the area raised alarm that the dispute could trigger violence. The growing tensions over

July 14, 2023
Moves at a small border village hike Israel-Hezbollah tensions at a time of regional jitters
World

Putin says Russian mercenary group has no legal basis so 'doesn't exist'

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Wagner private military company “simply doesn’t exist” as a legal entity, in comments adding to the series of often bizarre twists that have followed the group’s abortive revolt last month — the most serious threat to Putin’s 23-year rule amid the war in Ukraine. “There is no law on private military organizations. It simply doesn’t exist,” Putin told a Russian newspaper late Thursday, referring to the Wagner group. Putin recounted to Kommersant his own version of a Kremlin event attended by 35 Wagner commanders, including the group’s chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, on June 29.

July 14, 2023
Putin says Russian mercenary group has no legal basis so 'doesn't exist'
World

Southeast Asian nations renew alarm over Myanmar violence. But diplomats can't settle on a solution

Southeast Asian foreign ministers renewed their alarm over — and condemnation of — air strikes, artillery shelling, and other acts of deadly violence in Myanmar, but struggled Friday to overcome differences on how to address the prolonged civil strife. The Myanmar crisis was high on the agenda when top diplomats of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations met Tuesday and Wednesday in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. The 10-nation bloc includes Myanmar, but its foreign minister was again barred from attending this week’s meetings due to the military government’s failure to comply with a five-point emergency

July 14, 2023
Southeast Asian nations renew alarm over Myanmar violence. But diplomats can't settle on a solution
World

France celebrates Bastille Day with pomp, a tribute to India and extra police to prevent new unrest

France is celebrating its national holiday Friday with whizzing warplanes and a grand Bastille Day parade in Paris — and with more than 100,000 police deployed around the country to prevent a new outbreak of unrest in underprivileged neighborhoods. This year, the annual events celebrating the start of the French Revolution on July 14, 1789 come in the wake of the nation’s most serious rioting in nearly 20 years, following the fatal police shooting of a teen with North African roots that laid bare anger over entrenched inequality and racial discrimination. India is the guest of honor

July 14, 2023
France celebrates Bastille Day with pomp, a tribute to India and extra police to prevent new unrest
World

South Africa deploys army over burning of trucks, braces for unrest over ex-president's court case

South Africa deployed the army in four of its provinces Friday after at least 21 trucks carrying goods were set on fire in various parts of the country over the past week. The move came amid concerns of more unrest over a court decision that could send former president Jacob Zuma back to jail, although authorities have denied they are connected. The deployment of soldiers to support police in some parts of the country came a day after South Africa’s apex Constitutional Court ruled that Zuma’s release on medical parole in 2021 was invalid.

July 14, 2023
South Africa deploys army over burning of trucks, braces for unrest over ex-president's court case
World

Man drowns in home in Vermont's 1st recorded flooding death

A man who died as a result of a drowning accident in his home is Vermont’s first death related to recent storms and historic flooding, the state’s emergency management agency said. Stephen Davoll, 63, of Barre, died on Wednesday, said Mark Bosma, spokesperson for Vermont Emergency Management. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner investigated the death, in cooperation with local police, Bosma said in a news release late Thursday afternoon. He said Vermonters are urged to continue to take extra care as they return to their homes and repair damage. “The loss of a Vermonter is always painful, but

July 14, 2023
Man drowns in home in Vermont's 1st recorded flooding death
World

Blinken meets Wang Yi in Indonesia. But the region remains wary of the US-China rivalry

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met China’s top diplomat Friday to discuss thorny issues as part of efforts to nurture talks on the sidelines of regional diplomatic meetings in Indonesia, whose president called on rival powers to avoid turning the region into a “competition arena.” Blinken stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and raised concerns by Washington and its allies over China’s actions in his late-Thursday meeting with Wang Yi, who heads the ruling Communist Party’s Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, U.S. officials

July 14, 2023
Blinken meets Wang Yi in Indonesia. But the region remains wary of the US-China rivalry
World

Hundreds of thousands face disruption at London's Gatwick Airport this summer after strike vote

Hundreds of thousands of British vacationers face potential disruption to their travel plans at the start of the school summer holidays, after almost 1,000 workers at London’s Gatwick Airport voted to strike in a dispute over pay. The Unite union said Friday that members, including baggage handlers and check-in staff, who are employed by four private contractors will walk out for four days from July 28 and again for a subsequent four-day stretch from Aug. 4. The union said the action will “inevitably” cause disruption to flights at the height of the summer holiday season after the

July 14, 2023
Hundreds of thousands face disruption at London's Gatwick Airport this summer after strike vote
World

German leader confident that a surging far-right party will shrink again before the next election

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed optimism Friday that support for a far-right party which has been surging in the polls lately will shrink to previous levels again by the time of the next national election in 2025. The far-right Alternative for Germany party received 10.3% of the vote in the last national election in 2021 — a slight decline from 2017, when it got 12.6% in the wake of an influx of migrants to Europe. Recent polls have shown support for the party, known by its German acronym AfD, at around 20% and ahead of Scholz’s center-left

July 14, 2023
German leader confident that a surging far-right party will shrink again before the next election
World

China criticizes German call for reducing dependency on Chinese products as 'protectionism'

China on Friday criticized a German government call for reducing dependency on Chinese products and decreasing other potentially unstable factors in bilateral relations, calling it a form of protectionism. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that a long-awaited German government strategy for relations with China that pointed to a “systemic rivalry” went “against the trend of the times, and will only aggravate divisions in the world.” Wang said the two countries were “partners rather than rivals,” a typical ruling Chinese Communist Party formulation for dismissing criticism. “We believe that to engage in competition and protectionism in the

July 14, 2023
China criticizes German call for reducing dependency on Chinese products as 'protectionism'
World

JPMorgan Chase 2Q profits rose 67% with a boost from First Republic takeover

JPMorgan Chase & Co. said second-quarter profits rose by 67% as the nation’s largest bank made more loans to customers and took advantage of higher interest rates and its recent acquisition of First Republic. JPMorgan said Friday that it earned $14.5 billion in the three months ended June 30, compared to a profit of of $8.65 billion in the same period a year earlier. On a per share basis, the bank earned $4.75 a share. Revenue rose to $42.4 billion from $31.6 billion a year ago. The results beat Wall Street forecasts, with analysts surveyed by

July 14, 2023
JPMorgan Chase 2Q profits rose 67% with a boost from First Republic takeover
World

Novak Djokovic defeats Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon to reach the final and near an eighth title

Novak Djokovic closed in on a record-tying eighth title at Wimbledon and fifth in a row by repeatedly serving his way out of potential trouble to beat Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) in the semifinals on Friday. Djokovic saved all six break points he faced — including a pair that were set points for the eighth-seeded Sinner at 5-4 in the third — and reached his ninth final at the All England Club. It’s also his 35th final at all Grand Slam tournaments, more than any man or woman in tennis history. He is seeking

July 14, 2023
Novak Djokovic defeats Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon to reach the final and near an eighth title

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