Новости за 27.12.2023

Two higher-end models of the Apple Watch can go on sale again after a federal court temporarily lifted a sales halt ordered by the International Trade Commission due to a patent dispute. The ITC, a federal agency, ordered the halt to block Apple from using specific technologies underpinning a blood-oxygen measurement system in its Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches. Apple stopped selling the two watch models in the U.S. on Thursday to comply with the ITC ruling. The court’s action will allow sales of the... Читать дальше...

A study from Harvard says social media companies collectively made over $11 billion in U.S. advertising revenue from minors last year. The researchers say the findings show a need for government regulation of social media since the companies that stand to make money from children who use their platforms have failed to meaningfully self-regulate. They also note such regulations, as well greater transparency from tech companies, could help alleviate harms to youth mental health. And curtail potentially... Читать дальше...

Police say the dead bodies that Texas investigators believe to have been a pregnant woman and her boyfriend were found with gunshot wounds days after they were reported missing. A medical examiner has yet to confirm that it was the bodies of 18-year-old Savanah Nicole Soto and 22-year-old Matthew Guerra that San Antonio police found in a parked car Tuesday. But the fact that they were shot offers the first indication of what may have happened at a crime scene that the city’s police chief described as “very... Читать дальше...

Cuban is expected to maintain control of basketball operations, and there's no indication the club will leave Dallas.

The U.S. ecommerce company Zulily says it is closing down, surprising customers, after efforts to salvage the business failed. The Seattle-based company said in a notice on its website that it had tried to fill all pending orders and expected to manage that within the coming two weeks. Zulily said it was trying to ensure orders that could not be filled were cancelled and refunded. It offered a contact for customers who did not get their orders or refunds. In closing down to maximize payments to its creditors... Читать дальше...

Police in Indiana say a man was rescued after being trapped for six days in his crashed pickup truck and drinking rainwater to survive. The man was found Tuesday pinned in the wreckage hidden beneath an Indiana highway bridge by two men scouting fishing spots. Authorities said the driver, 27-year-old Matthew Reum of Mishawaka, Indiana, was in critical condition Wednesday at a South Bend hospital. One of the fishermen who found the wreck said he was startled to find Reum awake and “very happy to see us,” despite spending days in the elements. Читать дальше...

The New York Times filed a federal lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft seeking to end the practice of using its stories to train chatbots.

Michigan’s Supreme Court is keeping former President Donald Trump on the state's primary election ballot.

Led by new solar power, the world added renewable energy at breakneck speed in 2023, a trend that if amplified will help Earth turn away from fossil fuels and prevent severe warming and its effects. China, Europe, and the U.S. each set records for a single year, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. China’s additions dwarfed those of all other countries. By the end of 2023, the world will also have added enough wind energy to power nearly 80 million homes, making it a record year. Читать дальше...

With the Republican primaries around the corner, a new poll finds that party members aren't sure votes in the presidential nominating contest will be counted accurately. Only about one-third of Republicans say they're confident that tallies in the primary will be accurate. That's according to a new AP-NORC poll. The skepticism comes after years of former President Donald Trump blaming prior losses on voter fraud, including in the 2020 election. It also comes as Americans express pessimism about both political parties. Читать дальше...

Ready to go the distance, or at least as far as a plug-in hybrid can take you on electricity before using a drop of gas? Edmunds has performed the research so you don’t need to. In this article, you’ll discover the plug-in hybrids with the most electric range in five different vehicle classes, ranging from an affordable car to a roomy family hauler, with a couple of SUVs and a big helping of luxury added for good measure. There is something for almost anyone on this list of the best plug-in hybrids for driving without filling up on gas.

Wolfgang Schaeuble, who helped negotiate German reunification in 1990 and as finance minister was a central figure in the austerity-heavy effort to drag Europe out of its debt crisis more than two decades later, has died. He was 81. His family told German news agency dpa that Schaeuble died at home on Tuesday evening. Schaeuble became Chancellor Angela Merkel’s finance minister in October 2009, just before revelations about Greece’s ballooning budget deficit set off the crisis that engulfed the continent... Читать дальше...

World shares have advanced, tracking gains on Wall Street after markets there reopened following Monday's holiday. U.S. futures were mixed and oil prices slipped. Chinese video gaming companies partially recovered in their first Hong Kong trading session following government efforts to ease market concerns over new draft regulations for the industry. But the gains were dwarfed by Friday's losses. Details of a policy meeting by the Bank of Japan showed officials divided about the timing and need to... Читать дальше...

China says it is banning a United States research company and two analysts who have reported extensively on claims of human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups native to the country’s northwest. China is accused of sending Muslims to prison camps for brainwashing and forced labor. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning was quoted as announcing late Tuesday night that research and data analytics firm Kharon, along with its director of investigations and a human rights analyst at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies... Читать дальше...

Japanese nuclear safety regulators are lifting an operational ban imposed on Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, the operator behind the Fukushima disaster. The move allows TEPCO to resume preparations for restarting the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, another plant it runs, after a more than 10-year stoppage. The plant on the Japan's northern coast of Niigata is TEPCO's only workable nuclear power plant since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami put its Fukushima Daiichi plant out of operation. Now the... Читать дальше...

A wildfire that tore through the heart of the Hawaii island of Maui this summer showed how older residents are at particular risk from disasters. Sixty of the 100 people killed in the Maui fire this summer were 65 or older. Many relatives are now facing grief and anger or feeling robbed of final years with their elders. As climate change has intensified natural disasters including wildfires and hurricanes, the number of people exposed to such hazards has increased. Studies around the world have suggested... Читать дальше...

Sports betting has spread rapidly across U.S. states in the past five years. But the odds for further expansion may be fading as state legislatures prepare to return to work in 2024. A 2018 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court opened the way for states to legalize sports betting. Since then, a total of 38 have done so. But proposals in some other states have become bogged down by political resistance and competing financial interests from casinos, tribal gaming groups, horse tracks and other gambling operations. Читать дальше...

A Tokyo court has held only the operator of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant responsible for paying damages to dozens of evacuees. And the court slashed the amount to half of what the lower court had ordered and relieved the government of responsibility. It was a decision that plaintiffs and their lawyers criticized as belittling their suffering and the severity of the disaster. The decision on Tuesday comes at a time Japan’s government accelerates reactor restarts to maximize nuclear... Читать дальше...

The New Orleans Pelicans and Smoothie King have agreed to renew their arena naming rights contract. The Pelicans say the arena will retain its “identity as the Smoothie King Center for the foreseeable future.” Neither the club nor Smoothie King released details on the specific length or value of the agreement. The initial agreement was reached in 2014 and ran for 10 years through the current NBA season. The Pelicans' lease at the 24-year-old arena is due to expire next summer. But the club already... Читать дальше...

Police say they are investigating incidents directed at Colorado Supreme Court justices and providing extra patrols around their homes in Denver following the court’s decision to remove President Donald Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot. Officers responded to the home of one justice on Thursday evening, but police said it appeared to be a “hoax report.” That case is also still being investigated, police said Tuesday. The FBI said it is working with local law enforcement on the matter. Читать дальше...

New Year’s Eve could take the cake for the busiest wedding day in Las Vegas thanks to the date’s repeating pattern of 1-2-3, 1-2-3. Dec. 31, 2023 is known as a specialty date in the massive Las Vegas wedding industry. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the number of weddings to beat on New Year's Eve is 4,492. That record was set on July 7, 2007. One chapel in downtown Las Vegas says it’s fully booked at midnight on the holiday and is expecting to wed more than 120 couples that day.

Repeated recalls of eyedrops are drawing new attention to the limited powers U.S. regulators have to oversee medical products made overseas.

A winter storm is pummeling much of the central United States a day after Christmas.

Federal prosecutors say a judge should reject U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez's request to delay his bribery trial by two months. Prosecutors argued against the postponement a week after defense lawyers offered multiple reasons why they say a trial of the New Jersey Democrat and codefendants, including his wife, should be delayed. Four defendants, including Menendez, have pleaded not guilty to bribery conspiracy. The senator, his wife and a third defendant have also pleaded not guilty to a charge that they... Читать дальше...

An appellate court has reversed a federal conviction against former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska, ruling that he should not have been tried in Los Angeles. Fortenberry was convicted in March 2022 on charges that he lied to federal authorities about an illegal $30,000 contribution to his campaign from a foreign billionaire at a 2016 Los Angeles fundraiser. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its ruling Tuesday. Fortenberry says he and his wife are gratified by the decision. Читать дальше...