Новости за 21.03.2024

Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers are continuing to press an appellate court to excuse him from covering a $454 million civil fraud judgment while he appeals. Trump lawyer Clifford Robert says in a letter to the court Thursday that the requirement is “patently unjust, unreasonable and unconstitutional." It’s the latest in a flurry of down-to-the-wire arguments and counterarguments that New York state lawyers and attorneys for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee are making as a deadline looms Monday. Читать дальше...

This is the most intense time of the year for college basketball fans as the NCAA March Madness championship tournament begins. Mark Bawers of Dover, Delaware drove to Atlantic City to watch games at the Golden Nugget casino. He says every shot means something, particularly to people with bets on the games. The American Gaming Association estimates Americans will legally bet $2.72 billion on the tournament this year. Defending champion Connecticut is the most bet-on team this year. North Carolina... Читать дальше...

Reddit and its eclectic bazaar of online communities is ready to plumb high-stakes territory — the stock market. 

Prince Harry alleges that the publisher of The Sun tabloid unlawfully intercepted phone calls of his late mother, Princess Diana, and father, now King Charles III. The new allegations were raised Thursday by the Duke of Sussex's lawyer in a High Court hearing that seeks to expand his privacy invasion lawsuit against News Group Newspapers. Attorney David Sherborne says that eavesdropping on Diana, and her then-estranged husband, Charles, Prince of Wales at the time inevitably revealed private information about Harry as a young boy. Читать дальше...

Kansas lawmakers have joined fellow Republicans in other states in trying to restrict diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on university campuses. But the propoals they've advanced are written to avoid having to agree on how to define DEI. The Kansas House on Thursday approved by an 81-39 vote a bill that would bar universities, community colleges or technical colleges from basing student admission or employee hiring or promotion decisions on any statement or pledge about DEI. Last week, the... Читать дальше...

The United States can expect a nice spring break from past too rainy or too dry extremes, federal meteorologists predicted Thursday.

The Justice Department has announced a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Apple, accusing the tech giant of engineering an illegal monopoly in smartphones that boxes out competitors and stifles innovation. The lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court in New Jersey. The suit alleges Apple uses its control over the iPhone to engage in an "illegal course of conduct.” The lawsuit is the latest example of the Justice Department’s approach to aggressive enforcement of federal antitrust law that officials... Читать дальше...

Officials say crews are battling scores of wildfires around Virginia, including a fire affecting hundreds of acres at Shenandoah National Park. Virginia Department of Forestry spokesperson Cory Swift said Thursday that more than 100 new fires popped up Wednesday and they're affecting more than 1,600 acres across the state. Swift says at least 16 fires were contained and hundreds of firefighters worked overnight to contain the others. Shenandoah National Park spokesperson Claire Comer says a fire... Читать дальше...

Attorneys for the Walt Disney World governing district taken over last year by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ supporters don’t want the governor’s appointees answering questions under oath as part of a lawsuit against Disney. The attorneys on Monday filed a motion for protective order that would stop the DeSantis-appointed board members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District from having to give depositions to Disney attorneys. Disney and the appointees are fighting over who controls the Disney World district. Читать дальше...

The government wants to know how airlines handle personal information about their passengers. And whether the airlines share that personal information — and make money in the process. The U.S. Department of Transportation said Thursday that it will review privacy policies at the 10 biggest airlines. The department isn't making allegations about any particular airline. The government wants to know how airlines collect, handle and use personal information about customers. That includes whether airlines share the information with third parties. Читать дальше...

Doctors in Boston say they have transplanted a genetically modified pig kidney into a 62-year-old patient. Massachusetts General Hospital said Thursday it’s the first time a pig kidney has been transplanted into a living person. Previously pig kidneys have been temporarily transplanted into brain-dead donors. Also, two men received heart transplants from pigs, although both died within months. The hospital announced the transplant Thursday and said the patient is recovering well.

Global benchmarks are mostly higher after U.S. stocks rallied to records following indications from the Federal Reserve that it expects to deliver interest rate cuts later this year. In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 2.0% to finish at a record high after the government reported exports grew nearly 8% in February from a year earlier. The Chinese government announced fresh measures to support the economy. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 jumped 0.9% to 5,224.62, an all-time high for a second straight day. Читать дальше...

For decades, their mission in World War II was top secret. With inflatable tanks, trucks and planes, combined with costume uniforms and acting, American military units that became known as the Ghost Army helped outwit the enemy. Now, they are being awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. Three of the seven known surviving members of the Ghost Army are set to attend Thursday's ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. The Ghost Army used hundreds of soldiers to conduct about 20 battlefield deceptions in Europe. Читать дальше...

The winning numbers for a nearly $1 billion Mega Millions lottery prize will be drawn Friday night, offering sudden riches for any lucky player who matches them and almost certain disappoint for everyone else. The Mega Millions jackpot has grown to an estimated $977 million thanks to more than three months without a winner of the top prize. That reflects the incredibly long odds of winning the jackpot. The jackpot ranks as the 10th largest U.S. lottery jackpot — about half the size of a record $2.04... Читать дальше...

AI fakery is quickly becoming one of the biggest problems confronting us online. Deceptive pictures, videos and audio are proliferating thanks to the rise and misuse of generative artificial intelligence tools. With AI deepfakes cropping up almost every day, depicting everyone from Taylor Swift to Donald Trump, it’s getting harder to tell what’s real from what’s not. Video and image generators like DALL-E, Midjourney and OpenAI’s Sora make it easy — just type a request and the system spits it out. Читать дальше...

Thousands of South Africans are lining up for water as the country’s largest city, Johannesburg, confronts an unprecedented collapse of its water system affecting millions of people. Residents rich and poor have never seen a shortage of this severity. While hot weather has shrunk reservoirs, crumbling infrastructure after decades of neglect is largely to blame. The public’s frustration is a danger sign for the ruling African National Congress, whose comfortable hold on power since the end of apartheid... Читать дальше...

The Bank of England is expected to indicate that interest rates could be cut in the coming months following news that inflation across the U.K. is falling faster than expected. The central bank is expected to keep its main interest rate unchanged Thursday at the 16-year high of 5.25%. It's been kept that high since August. But like the U.S. Federal Reserve, which also kept rates on hold Wednesday, the Bank of England is expected to show that it's inching toward cutting borrowing costs as price rises ease.

Police say authorities are still searching for a white supremacist Idaho prison inmate and an accomplice who fled after the accomplice fired at corrections officers who were transporting the inmate from a Boise hospital. Three corrections officers were shot and wounded during the incident early Wednesday in the ambulance bay at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center. Authorities says the accomplice shot two officers and responding police mistakenly shot a third officer. Police throughout the region... Читать дальше...

The General Assembly is set to vote on what would be the first United Nations resolution on artificial intelligence. The goal is ensuring the powerful new technology benefits all nations, respects human rights and is “safe, secure and trustworthy.” The United States, which sponsored the resolution, has said it hopes the world body will adopt it by consensus Thursday. U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said last week that the resolution's adoption would be a “historic step forward’ in fostering the safe use of AI. Читать дальше...

An infant whose parents and brother were killed when an SUV plowed into a San Francisco bus stop over the weekend has died. Supervisor Myrna Melgar confirmed the child’s death on Wednesday. She represents the area where the crash occurred. The baby’s father and 1-year-old brother were killed when the SUV crashed into the bus stop in the West Portal neighborhood on Saturday. The baby’s mother died the following day. Police said Monday that the suspected driver of the SUV was arrested and charged with felony vehicular manslaughter. Читать дальше...

South Korea’s government says it will start suspending the licenses of striking junior doctors next week. Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo made the comments during a briefing Thursday as he repeated demands for the doctors to return to work immediately. About more than 90% of the country’s 13,000 medical interns and residents have been on strike for about a month to protest the government’s plan to sharply increase medical school admissions. Their strikes have caused hundreds of cancelled surgeries and other treatments at hospitals.

One of the few remaining survivors of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor has died. Richard C. “Dick” Higgins died at home in Bend, Oregon, at the age of 102. His granddaughter said Wednesday he died of natural causes. Higgins was a radioman assigned to a patrol squadron of seaplanes based at the Oahu naval base when Japanese planes began dropping bombs on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. In a 2008 oral history interview, he told how he saw the red circular emblem on the side of a plane as it flew close to his barracks.

Congressional leaders are working to put a positive light on a $1.2 trillion spending package that lawmakers look to approve before funding expires at midnight Friday for several key government agencies. Text of the legislation had not been released as of Wednesday afternoon, but lawmakers were expecting an official unveiling early Thursday. Democrats said they fended off most of the spending cuts and policy changes House Republicans had sought. Still, Speaker Mike Johnson is citing wins. That includes... Читать дальше...

Prince Harry's lawyer says the cover-up of unlawful information gathering at British tabloids owned by Rupert Murdoch went all the way to the top. Attorney David Sherborne said Wednesday in the High Court that Murdoch was among the executives aware of skullduggery carried out by journalists and private investigators working for the now-defunct News of the World and The Sun. A lawyer for at News Group Newspapers says the Duke of Sussex and others shouldn't be allowed to include Murdoch in their claims. Читать дальше...

The search continues for the escaped inmate, Skylar Meade, and the accomplice.