Новости за 29.12.2023

Former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen says he unwittingly passed along to his attorney bogus artificial intelligence-generated legal case citations he got online before they were submitted to a judge in New York. Cohen made the admission in a court filing unsealed Friday in Manhattan federal court as a judge decides whether to punish one of Cohen's lawyers, who cited the fake cases in a submission to the judge. The cases were cited as part of written arguments the lawyer made to try to end... Читать дальше...

A civil rights leader was escorted by police out of a North Carolina movie theater after he insisted on using his own chair for medical reasons. The incident in Greenville involved the Rev. William Barber II and has prompted an apology from AMC Theatres. The dispute happened Tuesday during a showing of “The Color Purple.” Barber said he needed the chair because he suffers from a disabling bone disease. Barber co-chairs the national Poor People’s Campaign and previously served as president of the North Carolina NAACP. Читать дальше...

The deadliest mass shooting in Maine history propelled homicides to a new high in the state in 2023. The Maine Department of Public Safety says there have been at least 51 homicides as the countdown begins to year’s end, with several active death investigations still underway. The previous record high for homicides in Maine was 40 in 1989. All told, 18 people were killed and 13 hurt in the Oct. 25 shootings in Lewiston. The body of the Army reservist who opened fire was found two days later. An autopsy concluded he died by suicide.

What to do about smoking in the casinos, and how to keep gamblers coming to the resort are among the challenges that Atlantic City faces in the new year. State lawmakers, backed by many casino workers, will renew a push to ban smoking in the nine casinos next year, even as the industry proposes enclosed smoking areas. Whether the resort can continue to attract large numbers of in-person gamblers to the resort — or whether they will migrate to internet gambling and sports betting — is also a key question. Читать дальше...

The 2024 elections will be dominated by the presidential contest and the battle for control of Congress. But another series of races is shaping up to be just as consequential. Crucial battles over abortion, gerrymandering, voting rights and other pivotal issues will take center stage in next year’s elections for state supreme court seats. There will be 80 of them in 33 states. With the abortion debate shifted to states since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to abortion... Читать дальше...

This week’s new streaming entertainment releases include the return of “Night Court” and the release of an early K-pop sensation, the boy band TVXQ. While there's plenty of new movies in theaters this Christmas, many of the year's best films — including Barbenheimer — can be watched in your living room. 2024 also kicks off in a big way with “America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League” hosted by Terry Crews, which sees Mel B returns to judge alongside Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel and Heidi Klum, and each selects from a talent pool of past winners... Читать дальше...

A Texas police chief says surveillance video may lead to answers in the killings of an 18-year-old pregnant woman who disappeared before Christmas and her boyfriend. Authorities say 18-year-old Savanah Nicole Soto and 22-year-old Matthew Guerra were found earlier this week with gunshot wounds in a car and may have been dead for days. Police on Friday had still not named a possible motive or suspects. Authorities are asking the public for help identifying two people seen in surveillance video that... Читать дальше...

Stocks are edging lower on the final trading day of a year of surprisingly robust gains for Wall Street. The benchmark S&P 500 index is sitting just below the all-time high Friday and is up 24% for the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit another record Thursday and is up more than 12% in 2023. The Nasdaq is up 43% for the year, driven by gains in big technology companies, including Nvidia, Amazon and Microsoft. Treasury yields were mixed and crude oil prices rose.

Federal regulators have lessened the severity of their warning about cracks discovered in a backup emergency fuel line at a South Carolina nuclear plant northwest of the state capital. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday downgraded its preliminary “yellow” warning issued this October to a final “white” one. The commission says owner and operator Dominion Energy showed its generator could still run for six hours in an emergency. That demonstration has eased concerns that Dominion Energy’s... Читать дальше...

It’s just about time to celebrate New Year’s Eve and say goodbye to 2023. Preparing for a midnight toast and more year-end festivities may require a run or two to the store — but you’ll want to prepare for some limited business hours. While a handful of major chains operate normally on the final day of the year, many others close up shop early — including Target, Costco and Kroger. Much of this depends on location and each company’s policy. When in doubt, call ahead or check online for more specific schedules near you.

European shares have opened higher after a mixed session in Asia on the last trading day of the year. U.S. futures and oil prices edged higher. On Thursday, the S&P 500 gaininged less than 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq fell less than 0.1%. Treasury yields rose. Markets have held onto slight gains for the week so far, and the S&P 500 is hovering just below its all-time high set in January of 2022. The benchmark index is headed for a ninth-straight... Читать дальше...

Alfred King was lying in the parking lot of a small apartment building, mortally wounded when police in Alexandria, Louisiana, got to the intersection of 12th and Magnolia streets shortly before 1:30 a.m., Jan. 20. He came into the world on the bottom economic rung and, when he was 13, a critical decision was made that likely kept him there. We say people can be whatever they want to be, but moving through the socioeconomic levels of America’s economics-based caste system is more than a notion. According... Читать дальше...

Hawaii’s governor and mayor are welcoming tourists back to the west side of Maui months after August wildfires killed at least 100 people and destroyed more than 2,000 buildings. They want the economic boost tourists will bring, particularly heading into the year-end holidays. But some residents are struggling with the return of an industry requiring workers to be attentive and hospitable even though they are trying to care for themselves after losing their loved ones, friends, homes and community. Читать дальше...

In the underground capsules and silos where Air Force nuclear missile crews have worked since the 1960s, documents show the risks that toxins posed in the past. Now many of those service members have cancer. The toxins were recorded in documents that were obtained by The Associated Press through Freedom of Information Act requests. And they tell a far different story from what Air Force leadership told the nuclear missile community two decades ago, when the first reports of cancer began to surface: that there was no cause for concern. Читать дальше...

Organizers of the Paris Olympics urgently need thousands of security guards to help keep athletes and spectators safe and reduce the likelihood of another deadly extremist attack in the French capital. Demand is high for people at checkpoints, to scan tickets and help manage crowds. So much so that France’s state employment agency is offering free and expedited security guard training courses with no specialist qualifications required. The “We need you!” approach and promises of plentiful paid work... Читать дальше...

Just months after filing for bankruptcy, SmileDirectClub announced it was shutting down its global operations and halting its teeth-aligner treatments. That leaves existing SmileDirectClub customers with a lot of questions. There is no more customer care support from the company and few details about possible refunds available yet. Multiple dental organizations and orthodontists are also cautioning patients about safety concerns around such “direct-to-consumer” dentistry. Some experts say these kinds... Читать дальше...

A North Carolina hospital network is referring transgender psychiatric patients to treatment facilities that do not align with their gender identities. Though UNC Hospitals' policy discourages the practice, administrators say a massive bed shortage is forcing them to make tough decisions. Psychiatrists say long wait times in the emergency room give them no choice but to place patients in the next available bed. When North Carolina lawmakers allocated $835 million to shore up mental health infrastructure in 2023... Читать дальше...

A new year brings new laws in California. Most of the new laws Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in 2023 take effect on Jan. 1, 2024. But some don't because lawmakers delayed their effective dates for various reasons. That's why fast food workers won't see a minimum wage increase until April and health care workers won't see an increase until June. Laws taking effect Jan. 1 include protections for workers who smoke marijuana at home and doctors who mail abortion pills to patients in states where the procedure is banned. Читать дальше...

The U.S. military has launched its secret space plane on another mission that's expected to last at least a couple of years. Known as the X-37B, the mini space shuttle blasted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Thursday aboard a SpaceX rocket. The Space Force's reusable, robotic craft is carrying classified experiments. There's no one on board. It's the seventh flight since its debut in 2010. Altogether, the program has logged more than 10 years in orbit. The last mission lasted 2 1/2 years.

El avión espacial X-37B de las fuerzas armadas de Estados Unidos despegó el jueves en otra misión secreta que se prevé dure al menos un par de años.

The decision by Maine's secretary of state to bar former President Donald Trump from the ballot will inevitably increase pressure on the U.S. Supreme Court to settle the issue of Trump's eligibility once and for all. Shenna Bellows' decision Thursday cited the same Civil War-era constitutional provision that Colorado's Supreme Court used to toss Trump from the ballot in that state earlier this month. The nation's highest court has never before ruled on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. That prohibits... Читать дальше...

Authorities say a man fatally shot his mother near his childhood home two days after Christmas and then led officers on a chase through the suburbs of Las Vegas. Police say that along the way the suspect stole a police vehicle and carjacked bystanders at gunpoint. A father of seven was killed in the final carjacking after pulling over for emergency vehicles pursuing the suspect. Police say the suspect shot the victim, removed the body from his van and fled as officers opened fire. The van came to a stop a short time later... Читать дальше...