Новости за 09.05.2024

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania will join the majority of states that ban motorists from handling a cell phone for almost any purpose while driving, as backers of the legislation hope to reduce distracted driving accidents and deaths after nearly two decades of pressing the measure.

The Supreme Court has sided with a music producer in a copyright case, allowing him to seek more than a decade's worth of damages over a sample used in a Flo Rida song. The 6-3 decision Thursday comes in a case filed by Sherman Nealy, who sued over music used in the 2008 hit “In the Ayer,” by the rapper Flo Rida. It was also featured on TV shows like “So You Think You Can Dance.” The high court found that copyright holders aren't limited to three years' worth of damages on older copyright violation claims.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has a survived an attempt by far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to remove him from office. Democrats came to the Republican speaker's rescue, providing the votes needed late Wednesday to keep Johnson on the job. But Donald Trump's role cannot be overstated — or relied on — to help Johnson in the future. Trump urged Republicans not to remove the speaker, for now. The outcome puts on display the fragility of alliance that Trump and Johnson have formed at a critical moment... Читать дальше...

Utilities looking to finish building a high-voltage power line linking Iowa and Wisconsin have completed a contentious land deal allowing them to cross a Mississippi River federal wildlife refuge. The last mile of the line would cross the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge near Cassville, Wisconsin. Conservation groups sued in March to stop the crossing, saying ITC Midwest and Dairyland Power Cooperative improperly reached a deal with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The... Читать дальше...

Argentina’s biggest trade unions have mounted one of their fiercest challenges to the libertarian government of President Javier Milei. The powerful unions called a mass general strike on Thursday that disrupted key subway and bus lines and led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights. The 24-hour strike against Milei’s contentious austerity measures threatens to bring the nation of 46 million to a standstill as banks and state agencies closed in protest. Trash collectors and street sweepers walked off the job ... Читать дальше...

Police in Michigan say a startling discovery was made on the roof of a Michigan grocery store: A woman was living inside the store sign for roughly a year. Contractors who were on the roof of a Family Fare store in Midland found the 34-year-old in late April. The sign has attic-like space with a door. Inside, the woman had a computer, desk, printer and coffee maker. She was able to get power with an extension cord. Police aren't certain how she regularly got up on the roof. An officer says the woman was cooperative and quickly agreed to leave. Читать дальше...

U.S. stocks are drifting higher. The S&P 500 was 0.3% higher Thursday following two straight days where it barely budged. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 185 points, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%. Helping to keep the market steady was a report showing a rise in the number of U.S. workers applying for unemployment benefits, though it remains low compared with history. Treasury yields erased earlier gains after the report raised hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year. Читать дальше...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California could soon deploy generative artificial intelligence tools to help reduce traffic jams, make roads safer and provide tax guidance, among other things, under new agreements announced Thursday as part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s efforts to harness the power of new technologies for public services.

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits jumped to its highest level in more than eight months last week in another sign that the labor market may be softening. The Labor Department reported Thursday that unemployment claims for the week ending May 4 rose by 22,000 to 231,000. Last week’s claims were the most since the final week of August 2023. In total, 1.79 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits during the week that ended April 27. That’s up 17,000 from the previous week. Читать дальше...

TikTok says it’s going to start automatically labeling content that’s made by artificial intelligence when it’s uploaded from certain platforms. TikTok says its efforts are an attempt to combat misinformation from being spread on its social media platform. TikTok’s policy in the past has been to encourage users to label content that has been generated or significantly edited by AI. It also requires users to label all AI-generated content where it contains realistic images, audio, and video.

The family of a Black U.S. Air Force airman fatally shot by Florida sheriff's deputies at his off-base apartment will join civil rights attorney Ben Crump for a news conference calling for transparency in the investigation. Crump will speak at a news conference in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, on Thursday morning. Crump says deputies responding to a disturbance call at a Florida apartment complex burst into the wrong unit and fatally shot 23-year-old Roger Fortson. He says Fortson was home alone May... Читать дальше...

The rate of guns stolen from cars in the U.S. has tripled over the last decade, making them the largest source of stolen guns in the country. That's according to an analysis of FBI data by the gun safety group Everytown. The rate of stolen guns from cars climbed nearly every year and spiked during the coronavirus pandemic along with a major surge in weapons purchases. The findings are in a report provided to The Associated Press that analyzed FBI data from 337 cities in 44 states. The director of the Bureau of Alcohol... Читать дальше...

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for two missile attacks in the Gulf of Aden on two Panama-flagged container ships that caused no damage. Meanwhile, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader threatened that Tehran could build a nuclear weapon if it chose to pursue atomic armaments. The comments Thursday by Yemeni military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree and former Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi come as the allies of Hamas continue to pressure Israel over its continuing war on the militant group in the Gaza Strip. Читать дальше...

Norfolk Southern shareholders will decide Thursday morning whether to back an activist investor’s bid to take over the railroad’s board and replace management. Ancora Holdings picked up significant support during the campaign from major investors like EdgePoint Investment Group, two major rail unions and some customers. But the rest of rail labor, several key regulators and a number of other customers backed management. If all seven of Ancora’s nominees are elected, that would give them the votes... Читать дальше...

Severe storms are tearing through the southeast U.S., spawning damaging tornadoes, producing massive hail, and killing two people in Tennessee and another in North Carolina. Forecasters warn that the wave of storms could march toward parts of the South early Thursday. The storms continue an outbreak of torrential rain and tornadoes that have cut across the country this week, from the Plains to the Midwest and now the southeastern U.S. Officials say at least four people have died in storms since Monday.

U.S. and Philippine forces, backed by an Australian air force surveillance aircraft, have unleashed a barrage of high-precision rockets, artillery fire and airstrikes and sank a mock enemy ship as part of largescale war drills in and near the disputed South China Sea that have antagonized Beijing. Military officials and diplomats watched the display of firepower from a hilltop on Wednesday. Washington and Beijing have been on a collision course over China’s increasingly assertive actions to defend... Читать дальше...

China's military is criticizing the U.S. as hyping its warship's passage through the Taiwan Strait. The guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey passed through the waterway between mainland China and Taiwan on Wednesday, less than two weeks before the island's new president takes office. China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and sees other nations' transits of the strait as challenges to its claim. A Chinese naval captain said Chinese naval and air forces were organized to monitor the U.S. ship's passage... Читать дальше...

A battle is underway in California between a unit of the Wonderful Co. and United Farm Workers over how a group of workers organized under a recently-enacted labor law. Since the law took effect, four groups of farm workers have filed to unionize including the workers at Wonderful Nurseries in Wasco, Calif. Experts say more are expected to do so. Farmers are concerned the filings will affect how they run their businesses. California has a lengthy history of protecting farm workers' right to organize but few are in unions.

An appeals court has granted the Hong Kong government’s request to ban a protest song, overturning an earlier ruling and deepening concerns over the erosion of freedoms in the city. “Glory to Hong Kong” was often sung by demonstrators during the huge anti-government protests in 2019. The song was later mistakenly played as the city’s anthem at international sporting events, instead of China’s anthem “March of the Volunteers." Critics have prohibiting broadcast or distribution of the song further... Читать дальше...

Hardline Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has tried and failed to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson. 

New York City’s watchdog agency says it has launched a probe into allegations that the New York City Police Department has improperly used its official social media accounts to target public officials and private citizens. The city's Department of Investigation confirmed the probe in a statement Wednesday. It was prompted by recent requests from City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and the Legal Aid Society asking to look into the NYPD's social media policies and practices. The Legal Aid Society accused... Читать дальше...

President Joe Biden says he will not supply offensive weapons that Israel can use to launch an all-out assault on Rafah — the last major Hamas stronghold in Gaza — over concern for the well-being of the more than 1 million civilians sheltering there. Biden, in an interview Wednesday with CNN, says the U.S. is still committed to Israel’s defense and will supply Iron Dome rocket interceptors and other defensive arms. But he says that if Israel goes into Rafah, “we’re not going to supply the weapons... Читать дальше...

The pharma giant AstraZeneca has requested that the European authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine be pulled. In an update on the European Medicines Agency’s website Wednesday, the regulator said that the approval for AstraZeneca’s Vaxzevria had been withdrawn at the company's request. AstraZeneca’s vaccine was first approved by the EMA in January 2021. But within weeks, concerns grew about the vaccine’s safety, when dozens of countries suspended the vaccine’s use after rare blood clots were detected. Читать дальше...

Prices in Argentina have surged so dramatically in recent months that the government has multiplied the size of its biggest bank note by five — to 10,000 pesos, worth about $10. The central bank announcement Tuesday promised to lighten the load for many Argentines who must carry around giant bags of cash for even the simplest transactions as prices rise and pesos lose value. Argentina’s annual inflation rate reached a staggering 287% in March, among the highest in the world. Across Argentina, hard currency ... Читать дальше...

Alabama has scheduled a second execution to be carried out with nitrogen gas. Gov. Kay Ivey set a Sept. 26 execution date for Alan Eugene Miller. Miller was convicted of killing three men during a 1999 workplace shooting. The attorney general's office says the execution will be carried out by nitrogen gas. Alabama in January used nitrogen gas to execute Kenneth Smith. Smith shook and convulsed in seizure-like movements for several minutes as he was put to death. Miller has an ongoing federal lawsuit challenging the execution method. Читать дальше...