Новости за 09.12.2023

Universities of Wisconsin regents have narrowly rejected a deal with Republicans that would have given employees a pay raise and paid for construction of a new engineering building in exchange for reductions in staff positions focused on diversity, equity and inclusion. The regents voted 9-8 during an emergency meeting Saturday to reject the deal reached Friday after being brokered by Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. The vote was immediately panned by leaders of the Assembly Republican caucus... Читать дальше...

Going around Congress, the Biden administration says it's approved the emergency sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth more than $106 million as Israel intensifies its military operations in the southern Gaza Strip. The State Department said in a statement Saturday that it notified Congress of the sale late Friday, after Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined “an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale” of the munitions in the U.S. national security interest. Читать дальше...

The Texas Supreme Court has put on hold a judge’s ruling that approved an abortion for a pregnant woman whose fetus has a fatal diagnosis. The order Friday throws into limbo an unprecedented challenge to one of the most restrictive bans in the U.S. The order by the all-Republican court came more than 30 hours after Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two from the Dallas area, received a temporary restraining order from a lower court judge. Her lawsuit is believed to be the first time since Roe v. Wade... Читать дальше...

Thousands of people dressed as jolly Old St. Nick have descended on New York City for the annual SantaCon charity pub crawl. The booze-fueled stroll through Manhattan kicked off Saturday morning in bars in midtown. Revelers were expected to make their way downtown where the festivities end in local watering holes in the Village. The organizers encouraged participants to donate $15 to enter participating venues, which they have said will go to charitable causes. Similar Christmas-themed bacchanals... Читать дальше...

The four members of Maine’s congressional delegation are calling for an Army investigation into the events leading up to a mass shooting in the state. Their call follows a meeting with families affected by the killings. Army reservist Robert Card killed 18 people in a bowling alley and a restaurant in Lewiston in October in the deadliest mass shooting in the state’s history. The delegation says Army officials say there will be an administrative investigation into the events that preceded Card’s death by self-inflicted gunshot. Читать дальше...

Just as technological shifts created the cashless society, further advances are now helping charitable groups and advocates for the unhoused reach those most in danger of being left behind. Charitable organizations and advocates for the unhoused have developed electronic payment methods that enable donations from smartphones. Others have developed specialized donation apps that enable users to donate to a specific unhoused person to help them reach a specific goal. But none of the solutions is perfect... Читать дальше...

The national security advisers of the United States, South Korea and Japan are calling for a stronger international push to suppress North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons and missiles. They also want to curtail the North's military cooperation with other countries amid concerns about its alleged arms transfers to Russia. After the three officials met Saturday in Seoul, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also said Washington will strengthen its coordination with Seoul and Tokyo to... Читать дальше...

The future of fossil fuels that are warming the planet are at the core of negotiations at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai. There’s a push to phase them out, but in the background of those discussions are technologies for carbon capture and carbon removal. Oil companies argue they can help achieve net-zero emissions in a world that will always burn some oil and gas. Climate change activists are concerned that they are an unproven distraction that may only extend the life of the fossil fuels. Читать дальше...

President Joe Biden is accelerating his fundraising to prepare for an astronomically expensive reelection campaign. So what's it like inside these intimate gatherings where money equals access to the world's most powerful man? These events generally follow a script in which Biden regales supporters with his accomplishments and warns about the possibility that Donald Trump could become president again. Biden also has a habit of being more candid than usual when surrounded by donors. He's collecting cash across the Los Angeles area this weekend... Читать дальше...

Republican presidential candidates will cross paths again in Iowa just days after a bitter debate and as the countdown to the caucuses nears the one-month mark. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, along with pastor Ryan Binkley, will make their case — this time without the others interrupting — in northwest Iowa, a more rural, conservative corner of the state. Each will get time onstage with Rep. Randy Feenstra and his wife to discuss faith... Читать дальше...

After purple urchins helped nearly wipe out 96% of California's iconic underwater bull kelp forests over a six-year span, biologists say they are seeing promising signs that efforts to save them may be helping. Kelp this summer returned in small sections off the Mendocino County coast where volunteers armed with hammers crushed the urchins in the water as part of a state pilot project. In another experiment, biologists discovered kelp they had planted on lines had not only grown but reproduced. Scientists... Читать дальше...

HOUSTON (AP) — Two of Houston’s most powerful and longest serving political titans are facing off in a mayoral runoff election Saturday to see who will lead the nation’s fourth largest city, a young and diverse metro area facing challenges including crime, crumbling infrastructure and potential budget shortfalls.

The Texas Supreme Court has put on hold a judge’s ruling that approved an abortion for a pregnant woman whose fetus has a fatal diagnosis. The order Friday throws into limbo an unprecedented challenge to one of the most restrictive bans in the U.S. The order by the all-Republican court came more than 30 hours after Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two from the Dallas area, received a temporary restraining order from a lower court judge. Cox is represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights, whose... Читать дальше...

The United Nations Security Council took no immediate action at a closed emergency meeting requested by Guyana following Venezuela’s recent referendum claiming the vast oil- and mineral-rich Essequibo region that makes up a large part of its neighbor. But diplomats said the widespread view of the 15 council members was that the international law needs to be respected. That includes the U.N. Charter’s requirement that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of every nation be respected — and for... Читать дальше...

Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes has announced that he will not seek reelection. The Republican is facing scrutiny for his decadelong friendship with the embattled founder of an anti-child-trafficking organization. He had announced in September that he would seek a fourth term. Reyes is now backtracking on that decision and has pledged to dedicate his final year in office to investigating the sex abuse claims against his friend leveled by multiple women. Reyes said he sat down with each person who... Читать дальше...

European Union negotiators have clinched a deal on the world’s first comprehensive artificial intelligence rules. The announcement paves the way for legal oversight of emerging technology used in popular services like ChatGPT that's promised to transform everyday life and spurred warnings of dangers to humanity. Negotiators from the European Parliament and the bloc’s 27 member countries overcame big differences on controversial points including generative AI and police use of face recognition surveillance. Читать дальше...

LONDRES (AP) — Los negociadores de la Unión Europea cerraron un acuerdo el viernes sobre las primeras normas de amplio alcance en materia de inteligencia artificial en el mundo, allanando el camino para la supervisión jurídica de la tecnología empleada en plataformas populares como ChatGPT que han prometido transformar la vida cotidiana y han suscitado alarmas por los graves peligros que supondrían para la humanidad.

The Indiana secretary of state is appealing a ruling that a law stipulating voting requirements for a candidate’s party affiliation is unconstitutional. The decision lifted the hopes of a U.S. Senate hopeful who wants to run as a Republican. The Indiana attorney general’s office filed the notice of appeal Friday on behalf of Secretary of State Diego Morales. The filing came a day after a Marion County judge granted an injunction sought by John Rust, who's running to replace Sen. Mike Braun. Rust has sued Morales... Читать дальше...

U.S. employers added a healthy 199,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell, fresh signs that the economy could achieve an elusive “soft landing,” in which inflation would return to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target without causing a steep recession. The unemployment rate dropped from 3.9% to 3.7%, not far above a five-decade low of 3.4% in April. The jobless rate has now remained below 4% for nearly two years, the longest such streak since the late 1960s. Last month’s job gain was inflated... Читать дальше...

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Chevron’s acquisition of Hess oil company, the second inquiry the independent agency has opened this week of a major oil industry merger. Chevron and Hess said in separate filings that the FTC is seeking additional information and documentary materials related to Chevron’s proposed $53 billion purchase of Hess, announced in October. The statements Friday follow an announcement earlier this week that the FTC is reviewing ExxonMobil’s proposed $60 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources. Читать дальше...