Новости за 16.08.2023

The Associated Press has issued guidelines for its journalists on use of artificial intelligence, saying the tool cannot be used to create publishable content and images for the news service. But AP still encouraged its staff members to become familiar with the technology, and has prepared a chapter for its influential Stylebook offering advice to journalists on covering the fast-moving story. Other news organizations have issued or are developing guidance for use of generative AI, many of them mindful... Читать дальше...

Discount grocer Aldi said Wednesday it's acquiring 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys supermarkets in the Southern U.S. Under a proposed merger agreement, Aldi will acquire all outstanding shares of Jacksonville, Florida-based Southeastern Grocers Inc., the parent company of Winn-Dixie and Harveys. If the deal is approved by regulators, it's expected to close in the first half of 2024. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Both Southeastern Grocers and Aldi are private companies. Aldi is based in Germany with its U.S. headquarters in Batavia... Читать дальше...

The prosecutor in Atlanta who obtained an indictment this week against former President Donald Trump and 18 others wants to take the case to trial in March. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said in a proposed scheduling order filed with the court Wednesday that she wants the trial to start on March 4. She is also proposing that arraignments for the defendants happen the week of Sept. 5. Trump and 18 others were indicted Monday by a Fulton County grand jury. They are accused of committing... Читать дальше...

A lawyer for a prominent Memphis couple with a longstanding relationship to former NFL player Michael Oher says that they want to end a conservatorship that he’s challenging in court. Lawyer Randall Fishman says Wednesday that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy intend to enter into a consent order to end the conservatorship. Oher filed a petition Monday in Tennessee accusing the Tuohys of lying to him by having him sign papers making them his conservators. Oher, now 37, wants a full accounting of assets considering... Читать дальше...

Most Federal Reserve officials last month still regarded high inflation as an ongoing threat that could require further interest rate increases, according to the minutes of their July 25-26 meeting. At the same time, the officials saw “a number of tentative signs that inflation pressures could be abating.” It was a mixed view that echoed Chair Jerome Powell’s noncommittal stance about future rate hikes at a news conference after the meeting. According to the minutes, the Fed’s policymakers also said that despite signs of progress on inflation... Читать дальше...

Rural areas near California’s border with Oregon are under evacuation orders after gusty winds from a thunderstorm sent a lightning-sparked wildfire racing through national forest lands. The blaze in Siskiyou County was dubbed the Head Fire. It's one of at least 19 fires that erupted in the Klamath National Forest. Most of the fires are tiny but the U.S. Forest Service says Wednesday the Head Fire has grown to more than 4 square miles. There haven't been any reports of injuries or homes burned, but several areas are under evacuation orders... Читать дальше...

The British Museum said a member of staff has been dismissed after items were found to be missing, stolen or damaged. The museum said on Wednesday that it has also ordered an independent review of security and kickstarted a ‘’vigorous program to recover the missing items.″ The items include gold jewelry and gems of semi-precious stones and glass dating from the 15th Century BC to the 19th Century.

The federal government is looking to ban importation and exportation of a species of tropical fish that conservation groups have long said is exploited by the pet trade. The fish is the Banggai cardinalfish, a small striped saltwater fish native to Indonesia. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration listed the species as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2016 and said at the time that the main threats to the fish included harvest for ornamental aquariums. The agency proposed... Читать дальше...

The Teamsters flexed their muscles during contract negotiations with UPS last month, securing pay hikes for drivers and scoring other wins. But at Amazon, the picture looks much different. Since late June, dozens of Amazon drivers and dispatchers who work for a California-based delivery firm organized by the Teamsters have been picketing company warehouses as far out as Michigan and Massachusetts. They've been calling on the e-commerce behemoth to come to the table and bargain over pay and working conditions. Читать дальше...

New York surgeons transplanted a pig's kidney into a brain-dead man and for over a month it's worked normally. The experiment at NYU Langone Health announced Wednesday marks the longest a pig kidney has functioned in a person, albeit a deceased one. Researchers plan to track the organ's performance for a second month. It's another step in the long quest to one day use animal organs to save human lives. More than 100,000 patients are on the nation’s transplant list and thousands die each year waiting.

Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad has doubled public sector wages and pensions as the war-torn country’s national currency spiraled further downwards, reaching a new low for the year. The value of the Syrian pound against the US dollar has declined from 7,000 pounds in January to 15,000 pounds on Wednesday. At the start of the war, in 2011, a dollar was worth 47 Syrian pounds. For over a year, Damascus has been restructuring its program of subsidies for gasoline, diesel for heating, and bread. Syria hiked fuel prices Wednesday... Читать дальше...

Witnesses are scheduled to begin testifying Wednesday in the trial of two white men in Mississippi who are accused of chasing and shooting at a Black FedEx driver. Brandon Case and his father, Gregory Charles Case, are charged with attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy and shooting into the van driven by D’Monterrio Gibson in January 2022. Gibson was not injured. Gregory Case's attorney told jurors in his opening statement that his client was trying to check why an unfamiliar vehicle was outside an unoccupied family home after dark. Читать дальше...

Target has reported weaker-than-expected sales for its the fiscal second quarter. The retailer's results were hit by headwinds including inflation and the widely publicized negative reaction by some customers to its Pride merchandise. But the Minneapolis-based chain’s quarterly profits came in above expectations. Its bottom line was helped by efforts to bring inventories in line with shoppers’ cautionary spending. Target cut its annual financial outlook, citing expectations that higher interest rates... Читать дальше...

A new poll shows Americans are deeply divided along party lines in their views of President Donald Trump’s actions in the most recent criminal charges brought against him. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that about half of Americans say Trump's alleged attempt to interfere in Georgia’s 2020 vote count was illegal. The poll, which was conducted before Monday’s charges in the Georgia case, also shows that about half of Americans approve of the Justice... Читать дальше...

As some states ban or restrict certain books in schools and libraries, Vermont’s lieutenant governor is on a statewide banned book reading tour, highlighting what he calls the importance of representation, free speech, open dialogue and exchange of ideas. According to the American Library Association, attempted book bans and restrictions at school and public libraries set a record in 2022. Vermont Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman says these bans often target books that feature LGBTQ+ characters, talk about gender and sexuality... Читать дальше...

Global shares are trading mixed amid worries over discouraging data on China, as well as over the future of the U.S. economy. Shares are rising in early trading in France, Germany and Britain but benchmarks finished lower in Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Hong Kong and Shanghai. U.S. futures are rising. A report on the U.S. economy showed sales growth at retailers accelerated last month. That raises hopes the U.S. economy can avoid a recession, but the Federal Reserve may keep interest rates high for longer to snuff out inflation. Читать дальше...

A plan for how Indonesia will spend $20 billion to transition to cleaner energy was submitted Wednesday to the government and its financing partners. Indonesia’s Just Energy Transition Partnership deal was announced last year and aims to use the funds over the next three to five years to accelerate retirement of the nation’s coal plants and development of renewable energy. Details were not made public. The investment plan will be reviewed and revised further by Indonesia and its JETP partners before being released. Читать дальше...

Maui County released the names of two people killed in the wildfire that all but incinerated the historic town of Lahaina Tuesday evening, as the death toll rose to 106. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services deployed a team of coroners, pathologists and technicians along with exam tables, X-ray units and other equipment to identify victims and process remains, said Jonathan Greene, the agency’s deputy assistant secretary for response. The county said in a statement Lahaina residents Robert Dyckman... Читать дальше...

The U.N. special envoy for global education says the International Criminal Court should prosecute Taliban leaders for crimes against humanity for denying education and employment to Afghan girls and women. Gordon Brown told a virtual U.N. press conference on the second anniversary of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan on Tuesday that its rulers are responsible for “the most egregious, vicious and indefensible violation of women’s rights and girls’ rights in the world today.” The former British... Читать дальше...

Almost a week after the Apple faithful collectively gasped at the first evidence that the iPhone's “end call” button might soon be shifting upward and a column to the right, it looks like the whole thing might have been a false alarm. The latest test, or beta, version of iOS 17, the next major update of the iPhone's operating software, shows the red button right back in the center of the phone dialpad where it's always been. Of course, it's always dangerous to draw firm conclusions from beta software releases... Читать дальше...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Casi una semana después de que los fanáticos de Apple se quedaron boquiabiertos ante la primera evidencia de que el botón rojo para “finalizar llamada” del iPhone podría abandonar pronto su posición en el centro de la pantalla para mudarse una columna a la derecha, parece que tratarse de una falsa alarma... en su mayor parte.

DENVER (AP) — When officers responded to a domestic violence call Aug. 5, Brandon Cole reached into a vehicle and then soon after rushed toward one of them, police said. Thinking he was holding a knife, the officer fired twice, killing him.

Attorneys made brief opening arguments Tuesday in the trial of two white men in Mississippi who are accused of chasing and shooting at a Black FedEx driver who had dropped off a package at a home. Brandon Case and his father, Gregory Charles Case, were indicted in November on charges of attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy and shooting into the vehicle of 24-year-old D’Monterrio Gibson in January 2022. Gibson was not injured. But the chase and gunfire led to complaints on social media of racism in Brookhaven. Читать дальше...

Researchers in heavily drilled Pennsylvania are adding to a body of evidence suggesting links between the natural gas industry and certain health problems. In the reports released Tuesday evening, University of Pittsburgh researchers found what they called significant associations between gas industry activity and two ailments: asthma and a relatively rare type of cancer in children called lymphoma. The researchers were unable to say whether the drilling caused the health problems, because the studies weren’t designed to do that. Читать дальше...

The 60th anniversary of a golf tournament few will remember arrives this week.