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We don’t want to set up global AI regulator, says UK tech secretary

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:32 GMT

LONDON — Britain’s Tech Secretary Michelle Donelan has batted away suggestions that the U.K. government wants to set up a global regulator for artificial intelligence.Speaking on the POLITICO Tech podcast out Tuesday, Donelan said she envisaged the U.K.’s AI safety summit in early November would help set up international networks and frameworks to identify and manage risks from the emerging technology, but ruled out setting up a new international body.“This summit is not designed to produce a global piece of legislation that we’re all going to sign up to. It’s not designed to produce a global regulator on AI,” she said, in comments designed to quell speculation that Britain aims to pitch itself as the home of a new global AI regulator in the mold of bodies like the International Atomic Energy Agency.Instead, Rishi Sunak’s government will use the two-day summit taking place at Bletchley Park on November 1 and 2 to showcase its “Frontier AI Taskforce,” an advisory panel reportin...

WATCH: Video shows moment dock collapses in New Bedford with workers on it

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:32 GMT

Shocking new video shows the moment a dock collapsed in New Bedford with workers on it last week.Fire officials say a bulkhead gave way, causing large construction machinery and debris to fall into New Bedford Harbor. Four workers were hurt in the collapse.New Bedford’s fire chief said the roughly 8,000 square-foot pier had been under construction when it collapsed, though its unclear if that was a factor.

2 people charged as accessories to murder in Holyoke shooting that left infant dead

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:32 GMT

Two people are facing accessory after the fact, murder charges in connection with the fatal shooting of an infant in Holyoke earlier this month, the Hampden District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.Jose Galarza, 31, and Jay Marie Rosado-Rosario, 29, both of Holyoke, have been charged in connection with the ongoing search for a third suspect in the shooting, Kermith Alvarez, and allegedly assisted him after the shooting, according to the DA’s office.Rosado-Rosario was arraigned Monday in Holyoke District Court and ordered held on $5,000 cash bail. Galarza is expected to be arraigned Tuesday.Their arrests come as the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Hampden District Attorney’s Office, Holyoke Police Department, and Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section continue to search for Alvarez, 28, of Holyoke.Law enforcement is asking that If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of Kermith Alvarez you are asked to ...

Nazis protest outside Healey’s home

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:32 GMT

Neo-nazis are not welcome in Massachusetts, the governor said after a group of them gathered in protest outside of her private residence.About a dozen masked members of the group NSC-131 stood across the street from the governor’s Arlington home on Saturday night, holding a protest that resulted in no arrests and no physical violence, but spreading a message of hate that Gov. Maura Healey said does not fly in the Bay State.“These Neo-Nazis and white supremacists are trying to scare people from exercising their rights and standing up to their hate. We won’t tolerate it in Massachusetts,” she said in a written statement. The governor did not mention the protest during a Monday press availability.Local CBS affiliate WBZ was the first to notice the gathering outside the governor’s home over the weekend, reporting a gathering of men chanting anti-immigrant slogans and holding a sign that read “New England is ours, the rest must go.”Healey’s staff confirmed the protestors were membe...

French prosecutor says alleged attacker in school stabbing declared allegiance to Islamic State

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:32 GMT

PARIS (AP) — France’s anti-terror prosecutor said Tuesday that a suspected Islamic extremist declared allegiance to the Islamic State group before fatally stabbing a teacher in a school attack last week. The prosecutor, Jean-François Ricard, said an audio recording in the suspect’s phone. In it, the alleged attacker declared allegiance to the Islamic State and expressed “his hatred for France, for the French, for democracy and the education he benefitted from in our country.”The alleged attacker was a former pupil of the school in the northern town of Arras. A teacher was fatally stabbed in the neck and three other people injured in the assault that prompted France to raise its terror alert level and deploy extra security.The prosecutor spoke at a press conference and took no questions.Ricard said that shortly before the stabbing, the alleged attacker also recorded a 30-second video of himself in front of a war memorial.In that video, the attacker “repeatedly attacked, in his own wo...

India’s Supreme Court refuses to legalize same-sex marriage, saying it’s up to Parliament

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:32 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s top court on Tuesday refused to legalize same-sex marriages, passing the responsibility back to Parliament in a ruling that disappointed campaigners for LGBTQ+ rights in the world’s most populous country. Chief Justice DY Chandrachud also urged the government to uphold the rights of the queer community and end discrimination against them. Earlier this year, the five-judge bench heard 21 petitions that sought to legalize same-sex marriage. Chandrachud said there were degrees of agreement and disagreement among the justices “on how far we have to go” on same-sex marriages, but the judges unanimously agreed that the court can’t grant LGBTQ+ people the right to marry because that is a legislative function. “This court can’t make law. It can only interpret it and give effect to it,” the chief justice said, reiterating that it was up to Parliament to decide whether it could expand marriage laws to include queer unions.One of the petitioners, Mario da P...

The Commerce Department updates its policies to stop China from getting advanced computer chips

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:32 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Commerce Department on Tuesday updated and broadened its export controls to stop China from acquiring advanced computer chips and the equipment to manufacture them.The revisions come roughly a year after the export controls were first launched to counter the use of the chips for military applications that include the development of hypersonic missiles and artificial intelligence.“These export controls are intended to protect technologies that have clear national security or human rights implications,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on a call with reporters. “The vast majority of semiconductors will remain unrestricted. But when we identify national security or human rights threats, we will act decisively and in concert with our allies.”The updates stemmed from consulting with industry and conducting technological analyses. There will now be a gray zone that will be monitored for chips that could still be used for military aims even if they might not meet...

Retail sales up a solid 0.7% in September as American consumers defy rising prices, interest rates

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:32 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans kept spending in September at a solid pace even as they grappled with higher prices and interest rates.Retail sales rose 0.7% in September, more than twice what economists had expected, and close to a a revised 0.8% bump in August, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Retail sales in August were inflated after gasoline prices spiked, however. That was not the case in September. since begun to decline. Excluding sales from gas and autos, retail sales rose 0.6%.September’s uptick in retail sales, the sixth consecutive monthly gain, reflects how the U.S. economy has remained resilient despite attempts by the Federal Reserve to cool spending and hiring. Yet spending has been volatile after surging nearly 3% in January. Sales tumbled in February and March before recovering in the spring and summer.Spending at restaurants were up 0.9%, while spending online rose 1.1% last month, according to the report. Sales at general merchandise stores rose 0.4%. An...

Pedestrian struck and killed on DuSable Lake Shore Drive; southbound lanes closed at North Avenue

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:32 GMT

CHICAGO — A man was struck and killed by a vehicle after attempting to cross all lanes of DuSable Lake Shore Drive Tuesday morning.Police said it happened around 5:25 a.m. in the 800 block of North Lake Shore Drive when two men attempted to cross Lake Shore Drive, not in a crosswalk.One of the men was struck by a BMW X-3 that was traveling southbound. He was transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.According to police, the second male pedestrian was not injured.The 63-year-old male driver of the BMW remained on the scene. Police said the driver was not injured, but was transported to Northwestern Hospital for panic symptoms.The southbound lanes of DuSable Lake Shore Drive are closed and vehicles are being diverted off at North Avenue. Heavy traffic delays remain in the area.The crash is under investigation.

Bears make an addition to their coaching staff

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:32 GMT

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Bears will indeed have an addition to their coaching staff for the rest of the season.Matt Eberflus is adding someone with both National Football League and college football experience in hopes of improving the team's defense. During his news conference on Monday, the head coach announced that Phil Snow has joined the staff as a senior defensive analyst for the remainder of the 2023 season. This comes a few weeks after Eberflus announced that he would make an addition to his staff, which is down a person after the resignation of Alan Williams in September.Snow was last the defensive coordinator with the Panthers under head coach Matt Rhule, serving in that position from 2020 through 2022. While never working together on staff at the college or pro level, Eberflus got to know him through Rod Marinelli, whom he worked with in Dallas for a number of years.Snow will be doing advance scouting for the defensive staff and will be at Halas Hall with the team during t...