Новости за 08.12.2023

An extremely rare white leucistic alligator has been born at a Florida reptile park. Gatorland Orlando said Thursday that the 19.2-inch female slithered out of its shell and into the history books as one of only a few known leucistic alligators, three of which are at the park. The park is asking for the public’s help in the naming the blue-eyed alligator, which is descended from a nest of leucistic alligators discovered in the swamps of Louisiana in 1987. Leucistic alligators are the rarest genetic variation in the American alligator. Читать дальше...

University of Nebraska officials have unveiled a plan for a $450 million renovation of its football stadium in Lincoln. That comes as the four-campus NU system faces a $58 million budget shortfall that threatens to cut academic programs. Critics say that sends the message that university and state leaders value the university's academic mission less than its football program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2016. The Nebraska chasm reflects a broader struggle at colleges across the country... Читать дальше...

China's state media say top leaders held an annual planning meeting where they agreed to step up spending to help rev up the economy. The official Xinhua News Agency said leader Xi Jinping chaired the meeting that was aimed at boosting growth, defusing risks and ensuring stability. The report gave few details on how the leadership plans to handle fast mounting debts and resolve a crisis in the vital property sector after defaults by dozens of developers. Recent estimates suggest the economy has expanded this year. Читать дальше...

NUEVA YORK (AP) — El director financiero de Spotify dimitirá el próximo año, informó el servicio de música por streaming, pocos días después de anunciar su tercera ronda de despidos para 2023.

Two television networks have said they will hold separate Republican presidential debates at the same location in New Hampshire just ahead of that state’s GOP primary next month, but officials at Saint Anselm College said they were only aware of one of the events. CNN announced Thursday that it would host a pair of debates in Iowa and New Hampshire in January. Later Thursday, ABC News and WMUR-TV said they would partner for a January debate at the same location as CNN's New Hampshire debate. An official... Читать дальше...

Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott gave $2.1 billion in donations since November 2022, she said in an online post, bringing her total reported giving to more than $16 billion since 2019. Scott wrote Wednesday on her website in a three-sentence post that she was, “excited to call attention to these 360 outstanding organizations, every one of whom could use more allies.” The gifts include three donations if $25 million to affordable housing nonprofit Mercy Housing, reproductive care organization Upstream USA and youth training group Year Up. Читать дальше...

Spotify’s chief financial officer, Paul Vogel, is leaving next year, the music streaming service said — just days after the company announced its third round of layoffs for 2023. Vogel is set to leave Spotify on March 31. Ben Kung, who currently serves as vice president of financial planning and analysis, will take on expanded interim responsibilities as Spotify searches for a successor externally. Spotify on Monday said it would be axing 17% of its global workforce — with the company citing needs... Читать дальше...

A man arrested for firing gunshots outside a Jewish temple in upstate New York been federally charged. An FBI spokesperson says Mufid Fawaz Alkhader has been charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Officials say Alkhader fired two shots outside a synagogue in Albany on Thursday. The episode in New York’s capital happened on the first night of Hanukkah amid rising fears of antisemitism worldwide and fallout from Israel’s intensifying war in Gaza. Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins... Читать дальше...

Atlanta police have arrested a woman who’s accused of trying to burn down the birth home of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta. A police statement says officers arrested the 26-year-old woman after responding to a report of vandalism in process at the two-story home in the historic Auburn Avenue Historic District early Thursday evening. Police say a preliminary investigation shows the woman had poured gasoline on the property before people at the site stopped her. The woman, whose name wasn't immediately released... Читать дальше...

A large British study finds that less frequent screening is just as good as annual mammograms for certain breast cancer survivors. The findings are being discussed at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Until now, there wasn’t solid evidence for when women could ease back on yearly mammograms after cancer surgery. This research suggests after three years, women age 50 and older can get by with a mammogram every other year or every third year. The study was funded by the research arm of the U.K.’s... Читать дальше...

The Asian Development Bank says it approved $200-million concessional loan to debt-stricken Sri Lanka to help stabilize the country’s finance sector. An unprecedented economic crisis engulfed the Indian Ocean island nation last year. Sri Lanka is awaiting International Monetary Fund approval for a second installment from a $2.9-billion bailout package to rescue the country from bankruptcy. The Asian Development bank said Friday that its loan would help strengthen the stability and governance of Sri Lanka's banking sector... Читать дальше...

The European Union’s powerful antitrust chief has withdrawn as a candidate for the presidency of the European Investment Bank. The Danish government says Margrethe Vestager plans to return to her role at the EU’s executive commission for a few months. It announced Vestager's withdrawal on Friday after EU finance ministers agreed to back Spanish Economy Minister Nadia Calviño in becoming the next bank’s next president on Jan. 1. The European Investment Bank is the development bank of the 27-nation EU. Читать дальше...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The CEO of technology giant Nvidia said Friday that he views Malaysia as a potential hub for artificial intelligence “manufacturing,” though he did not confirm the chipmaker is in talks with a local conglomerate to set up AI data centers in the Southeast Asian country.

President Joe Biden is heading to Las Vegas to showcase $8.2 billion in funding for 10 major passenger rail projects across the country. The money includes funding to spur work on high-speed, electric train routes that could one day link Nevada and California, as well as Los Angeles and San Francisco. Other train projects getting funding as part of Friday's announcement are upgrades to heavily traveled corridors in Virginia and North Carolina and improvements to a rail bridge over the Potomac River to bolster passenger service in Washington. Читать дальше...

One of the biggest and brightest stars in the night sky will momentarily vanish. That's because an asteroid will pass in front of it in a one-of-a-kind eclipse. The rare event will occur late Monday into early Tuesday. Weather permitting, it should be visible to millions of people along a narrow path stretching from central Asia and southern Europe to parts of Florida and Mexico. The star is Betelgeuse, a red supergiant in the constellation Orion. The asteroid is Leona, a space rock in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Читать дальше...

In recent days, Israeli tanks have rumbled into southern Gaza, starting with Khan Younis. It marks a grim new chapter in the war that the Gaza Health Ministry says has already killed over 17,000 Palestinians and the United Nations estimates has displaced 1.9 million people. Those who took refuge in southern Gaza from the military campaign that reduced the north to rubble over the past two months now find themselves stuck in a cramped, desperate patch of ever-shrinking land as Israel expands its invasion. Читать дальше...

The U.S. Census Bureau wants to change how it asks people about disabilities, and some advocates don't like where things are heading. They say the proposed changes will artificially reduce their numbers by almost half, even as more people are living with new conditions from the COVID-19 pandemic. Census Bureau officials say the revised approach on its most comprehensive survey of U.S. life will conform to international standards. They say disabilities occur across a continuum rather than as a stark choice. Читать дальше...

Voters in Houston will elect the oldest big-city mayor in the U.S. this weekend when they choose between U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and state Sen. John Whitmire, two Democrats in their 70s. That’s well above the median age of around 35 in the nation’s fourth-largest city. The choice between two septuagenarian candidates has frustrated some younger voters, who say it is difficult to connect with older candidates who might not share the same concerns. Jackson Lee and Whitmire have both touted their decades of experience in political office. Читать дальше...

Asian shares are mostly higher ahead of a U.S. jobs report after Wall Street rose Thursday to snap its first three-day losing streak since Halloween. U.S. futures were lower and oil prices gained more than a dollar. The S&P 500 rose 0.8% Thursday and continues to hang near its highest level since March 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite added 1.4%. Big Tech pushed strongly upward on the market, led by a big gain for Google’s parent company, Alphabet. Treasury... Читать дальше...

Country music star Brad Paisley and his wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, helped create a free grocery in Nashville to offer dignity to low-income people when shopping for food. Now they're doing the same for the holiday season with a free toy store helping parents looking for gifts for their kids in a two-day event starting Friday. The store is stocked with new toys, video games, stuffed animals, scooters and musical instruments. In partnership with Belmont University, The Store has been providing... Читать дальше...

A court hearing in suburban Detroit is likely to be tense and emotional as a judge hears from families and surviving victims of the Oxford school shooting, Ethan Crumbley could be sentenced to life in prison Friday. He also could receive a shorter term with an opportunity for parole. The 17-year-old pleaded guilty to all 24 charges in the 2021 shooting, including murder and terrorism. Four other students were killed and six more students were wounded along with a staff member. Crumbley, who was 15 at the time of the shooting... Читать дальше...

Hunter Biden has been indicted on nine tax charges in California as a special counsel investigation into the business dealings of President Joe Biden’s son intensifies against the backdrop of the looming 2024 election. The indictment Thursday includes three felonies and six misdemeanors. Special counsel David Weiss says Hunter Biden “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills.” Defense attorney Abbe Lowell argues prosecutors bowed to political pressure in the case... Читать дальше...

Four investment banks have announced during a meeting of leaders of trade bloc Mercosur they will put $10 billion for infrastructure works aiming to better connect South America. Potential projects that could receive funds include ports, airports, roads, electricity transmission lines, railways, and others. The “Routes for South American Integration” initiative was launched in Rio de Janeiro with host Brazil introducing a plan with more 120 projects that could better connect the region, including many in the country’s north bordering Venezuela... Читать дальше...

'Selfless' Saint Rose junior forward credits teammates for success.

An ex-Alaska Airlines pilot accused of trying to cut the engines of a passenger flight while off-duty and riding in an extra seat in the cockpit has been released from jail pending trial, after an Oregon judge approved it with conditions that include keeping away from aircraft. Joseph Emerson pleaded not guilty to reduced charges of reckless endangerment at his arraignment Thursday. He previously faced attempted murder charges. Emerson is accused of trying to cut the engines of a Horizon Air flight from Everett... Читать дальше...