All posts tagged: Collections: Top News

Analysis-Tesla’s EV Charging Team Layoffs Threaten to Slow Biden’s Program to Electrify Highways

Analysis-Tesla’s EV Charging Team Layoffs Threaten to Slow Biden’s Program to Electrify Highways

Published by skeptic

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s decision to gut Tesla’s electric-vehicle charging team is scrambling plans for rolling out new fast-charging stations and may delay President Joe Biden’s efforts to electrify U.S. highways. Last year, the Biden administration announced rules for an ambitious plan to expand the country’s charging infrastructure and jump-start EV adoption. Under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, the government is doling out $5 billion to states over five years to build 500,000 EV chargers. EV market leader Tesla, which also operates the largest network of fast chargers – called Superchargers – in the U.S. and is the biggest winner so far of those federal funds, was seen as a crucial part of that plan. Since news of Tesla’s abrupt EV charging layoffs surfaced, however, executives at charging companies say they have been receiving phone calls from landlords looking for a new partner for their private charging projects after Tesla pulled out. Now, the charging companies are preparing for Tesla to pull out of the federal program. That, they say, could …

British Economy Rebounds Strongly in First Quarter of the Year, Ending ‘Technical Recession’

British Economy Rebounds Strongly in First Quarter of the Year, Ending ‘Technical Recession’

Published by skeptic

LONDON (AP) — The British economy bounced back strongly in the first three months of the year, bringing to an end to what economists termed a “technical recession”, official figures showed Friday. The Office for National Statistics said the economy grew by 0.6% in the first quarter from the previous three-month period, with broad-based strength across the crucial services sector in particular. The increase was higher than the 0.4% predicted by economists and the strongest since the fourth quarter of 2021 when the economy was rebounding following the sharp contraction during the coronavirus pandemic. It comes after two quarters of modest declines, which in the U.K. is defined as a recession. Despite the quarterly increase, the British economy has barely grown over the past year. It has been hobbled by interest rates at 16-year highs of 5.25%. There was hope Thursday that they may be on the way down soon. Bank of England Gov. Andrew Bailey indicated that a rate cut may be on the cards in June if inflation continues to trend downwards. The …

US to Post Influenza A Wastewater Data Online to Assist Bird Flu Probe, Official Says

US to Post Influenza A Wastewater Data Online to Assist Bird Flu Probe, Official Says

Published by skeptic

CHICAGO (Reuters) -The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is planning to post data on influenza A found in wastewater in a public dashboard possibly as soon as Friday that could offer new clues into the outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in cattle herds. CDC wastewater team lead Amy Kirby told Reuters on Thursday that the agency has identified spikes of influenza A, of which H5N1 is a subtype, in a handful of sites and is investigating the source. She said there is no indication of human infection with H5N1. Testing wastewater from sewers proved to be a powerful tool for detecting mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kirby said the CDC has been collecting influenza data in wastewater in about 600 sites since at least last fall to better track respiratory infections. That data can now be helpful in tracking the outbreak of H5N1 bird flu that has infected 42 dairy herds in nine U.S. states, and one dairy farm worker. Scientists are closely watching for changes in the …

New Rule Aims to Speed up Removal of Limited Group of Migrants Who Don’t Qualify for Asylum

New Rule Aims to Speed up Removal of Limited Group of Migrants Who Don’t Qualify for Asylum

Published by skeptic

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new Biden administration rule announced Thursday aims to speed up asylum processing at the southern border for a a limited group of people believed to have committed serious crimes or who have terrorist links and ultimately more quickly eject them from the country. The change comes as the administration has been struggling to demonstrate to voters during an election where immigration is a key issue that it has a handle on the southern border. Republicans have consistently slammed the Biden administration over policies that they say have worsened problems at the southern border. In a statement announcing the changes, the Department of Homeland Security said migrants who are deemed to pose a public threat are taken into custody but a determination on whether they’re eligible for asylum isn’t made until later in the asylum process. Under the proposed rule, asylum officers hearing cases at an initial screening stage called credible fear screening — that’s intended to happen just days after a person arrives in the country will now be able to …

Fight Over Foreign Money in Politics Stymies Deal to Assure President Joe Biden Is on Ohio’s Ballot

Fight Over Foreign Money in Politics Stymies Deal to Assure President Joe Biden Is on Ohio’s Ballot

Published by skeptic

On Wednesday, against the backdrop of a festering Republican leadership fight that’s roiled lawmaking since last year, Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s proposal to ban foreign money from initiative campaigns became the poison pill that prevented a final solution for adjusting an Aug. 7 ballot deadline that precedes the Democratic National Convention. Thursday marked the last day legislators could pass the fix with a simple majority, and no sessions were held. All four Republican and Democratic leaders at the Statehouse still say they’re confident the president will appear on Ohio’s ballot. It’s the how and when that remain a mystery. Senate Republicans wanted to use Biden’s predicament as leverage to pass a ban on foreign nationals contributing to ballot campaigns. The legislation stemmed from the involvement in a pair of heated ballot campaigns last year of Hansjörg Wyss, a Swiss billionaire who has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years into 501(c) nonprofit organizations backing liberal U.S. political causes. A January report issued by LaRose found that over $207 million flowing from …

A Teen Said a Deputy Threatened Him as He Filmed His Mom’s Arrest. A Jury Awarded Him 5,000.

A Teen Said a Deputy Threatened Him as He Filmed His Mom’s Arrest. A Jury Awarded Him $185,000.

Published by skeptic

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A teenager who video-recorded his mother’s forceful arrest by Louisiana sheriff’s deputies in 2020 has been awarded $185,000 by a federal jury in a lawsuit filed over one deputy’s attempt to interfere with the recording. De’Shaun Johnson was 14 when deputies arrived at his family’s home in St. Tammany Parish to question his mother, Teliah Perkins, about allegations she had ridden a motorcycle without a helmet — a charge her attorneys said was baseless and that was never prosecuted. The confrontation turned physical, and video showed the woman being forced to the ground. A lawsuit against the deputies was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the law firm of Reid Collins & Tsai as part of the ACLU’s Justice Lab project, aimed at addressing allegations of police abuses. A federal appeals court largely sided with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office on many of the allegations, squelching much of the lawsuit over the deputies’ use of force. But it allowed the litigation to continue over allegations that one deputy …

House Speaker Mike Johnson Survived a Motion to Vacate. Here’s Why His Job Is Far From Safe

House Speaker Mike Johnson Survived a Motion to Vacate. Here’s Why His Job Is Far From Safe

Published by skeptic

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mike Johnson’s job isn’t safe yet. In a stunning show of unity in the often divided House, Democrats joined a majority of Republicans on Wednesday to save the GOP speaker from an attempt by fellow Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to remove him from his post. But while Democrats in the minority threw the Louisiana congressman a life raft by voting on his side, they made clear they might not do so again. That means the threat for Johnson still lingers as Greene and other lawmakers can at any time call up another motion to oust him. The episode highlights the increasingly precarious situation for Johnson, who faces the same conservative forces that took down his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, but with an even smaller majority that has forced him to continuously rely on Democratic support to carry out the most basic functions of legislating. Republicans control the House by the barest of margins, 217-213. Here’s what to know about how the House can remove a speaker and what’s ahead for Johnson: WHAT …

Homeless Woman Was Living Inside Michigan Rooftop Store Sign With Computer and Coffee Maker

Homeless Woman Was Living Inside Michigan Rooftop Store Sign With Computer and Coffee Maker

Published by skeptic

Contractors curious about an extension cord on the roof of a Michigan grocery store made a startling discovery: A 34-year-old woman was living inside the business sign, with enough space for a computer, printer and coffee maker, police said. “She was homeless,” Officer Brennon Warren of the Midland Police Department said Thursday. “It’s a story that makes you scratch your head, just somebody living up in a sign.” The woman, whose name was not released, told police she had a job elsewhere but had been living inside the Family Fare sign for roughly a year, Warren said. She was found April 23. Midland, best known as the global home of Dow Inc., is 130 miles (209 kilometers) north of Detroit. The Family Fare store is in a retail strip with a triangle-shaped sign at the top of the building. The sign structure, probably 5 feet (1.5 meter) wide and 8 feet (2.4 meters) high, has a door and is accessible from the roof, Warren said. “There was some flooring that was laid down. A mini …

Asteroids, Myst, Resident Evil, SimCity and Ultima Inducted Into World Video Game Hall of Fame

Asteroids, Myst, Resident Evil, SimCity and Ultima Inducted Into World Video Game Hall of Fame

Published by skeptic

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — The World Video Game Hall of Fame inducted its 10th class of honorees Thursday, recognizing Asteroids, Myst, Resident Evil, SimCity and Ultima for their impacts on the video game industry and popular culture. The inductees debuted across decades, advancing technologies along the way and expanding not only the number of players, but the ages and interests of those at the controls, Hall of Fame authorities said in revealing the winners. The Hall of Fame recognizes electronic games of all types — arcade, console, computer, handheld, and mobile. The Class of 2024 was selected by experts from among a field of 12 finalists that also included Elite, Guitar Hero, Metroid, Neopets, Tokimeki Memorial, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and You Don’t Know Jack. The honor for Atari’s Asteroids comes 45 years after its 1979 debut in arcades, where it was Atari’s bestselling coin-operated game. The game’s glowing space-themed graphics and sound effects made their way from more than 70,000 arcade units into millions of living rooms when a home version of Asteroids was …

Explainer-How Dependent Is China on US Artificial Intelligence Technology?

Explainer-How Dependent Is China on US Artificial Intelligence Technology?

Published by skeptic

HONG KONG (Reuters) – The Biden administration plans to put guardrails on U.S.-developed artificial intelligence (AI) models that power popular chatbots like ChatGPT to safeguard the technology from countries such as China and Russia, Reuters has reported. But China in the past year has built its own domestic generative AI industry and has been urging its companies to avoid foreign technology. Here is how reliant China currently is on U.S. AI models and the impact Washington’s plans may have: HOW ACCESSIBLE ARE OPENAI’S AI MODELS IN CHINA? OpenAI’s key AI services such as ChatGPT and the DALL-E image generator have not been officially rolled out in mainland China. An OpenAI spokesperson told Reuters last year that it was unable to do so in certain countries due to local “conditions”. However, a large number of companies and engineers have accessed OpenAI’s services using proxy tools like virtual private networks (VPN) to mask their network addresses. As such, many Chinese companies have been able to build software and applications on top of OpenAI’s models. Chinese companies also …