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Biden to meet with Zelensky during NATO summit

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:43:59 GMT

Vilnius, Lithuania (CNN) — President Joe Biden will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the NATO summit on Wednesday, an official familiar with the meeting has confirmed.The meeting will mark a sign of unity as Zelensky’s attendance at the summit had been in question. Russia’s war in Ukraine is among the top agenda items for NATO leaders along with discussing a future pathway for the war-torn country to join the alliance, which has prompted some division among leaders.Politico was first to report the meeting.Ukraine is set to dominate the summit’s agenda as the US president looks to keep the group united behind Zelensky in the face of Russia’s invasion. The alliance is facing questions about a potential path to NATO membership for Ukraine, as well as additional military assistance as its counteroffensive continues.Biden poured cold water on the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO as the war is ongoing and cited reforms the country would still need to make to j...

Man accused of shooting 4 people from a scooter in NYC appears before judge

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:43:59 GMT

(CNN) — A Brooklyn man accused in a string of random shootings across New York City appeared before a judge by video Monday to formally face charges in the rampage that left one person dead and three others wounded, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office.The case against Thomas Abreu, 25, who police said was riding a scooter during the attacks, was outlined in a criminal complaint. He was charged with murder in the second degree, four counts of attempted murder in the second degree, two counts of assault in the first degree and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, the district attorney’s office said in a news release.A spokesperson for the DA’s office said Abreu appeared remotely before Judge Scott Dunn from a hospital.CNN reached out to Abreu’s attorney, Jonathan Latimer, for comment and asked whether he entered a plea but did not hear back.Abreu is accused of riding an illegal scooter without a license plate and opening fir...

Sarah Silverman sues OpenAI and Meta alleging copyright infringement

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:43:59 GMT

(CNN) — Comedian Sarah Silverman and two authors are suing Meta and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, alleging the companies’ AI language models were trained on copyrighted materials from their books without their knowledge or consent.The pair of lawsuits against OpenAI and Facebook-parent Meta were filed in a San Francisco federal court on Friday, and are both seeking class action status. Silverman, the author of “The Bedwetter,” is joined in filing the lawsuits by fellow authors Christopher Golden and Richard Kadrey.A new crop of AI tools has gained tremendous attention in recent months for their ability to generate written work and images in response to user prompts. The large language models underpinning these tools are trained on vast troves of online data. But this practice has raised some concerns that these models may be sweeping up copyrighted works without permission – and that these works could ultimately be served to train tools that upend the livelihoods of creatives...

Rain, fog back up Mass Golf

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:43:59 GMT

MANCHESTER BY THE SEA — For all the talk entering the 115th Massachusetts Amateur about could former Westfield Academy star Molly Smith beat the boys and become the first female champion in history or if Connor Willett could keep hold of the Massachusetts Cup for another year, it was neither of those which dominated the day on Monday.The winner on day one at the Essex County Club? Mother Nature.A nearly four-hour fog delay in the morning was followed by an almost two-hour rain delay later on, resulting in half of the field unable to finish their opening round of stroke play qualification.Those golfers who were still on the course when play was suspended for the day at 7:49 p.m. will return to complete the opening round Tuesday before round two commences later in the day as the field will be pared down to 32 for match play.When play was called, Joshua Shepard and Nolan Skaggs were atop the leaderboard at 2-under early in their opening rounds.Despite the two long stoppages, there was ...

Deadly flooding is hitting several countries at once. Scientists say this will only be more common

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:43:59 GMT

ISABELLA O’MALLEY, BRITTANY PETERSON and DREW COSTLEY (Associated Press)Schools in New Delhi were forced to close Monday after heavy monsoon rains battered the Indian capital, with landslides and flash floods killing at least 15 people over the last three days. Farther north, the overflowing Beas River swept vehicles downstream as it flooded neighborhoods.In Japan, torrential rain pounded the southwest, causing floods and mudslides that left two people dead and at least six others missing Monday. Local TV showed damaged houses in Fukuoka prefecture and muddy water from the swollen Yamakuni River appearing to threaten a bridge in the town of Yabakei. In Ulster County, in New York’s Hudson Valley and in Vermont, some said the flooding is the worst they’ve seen since Hurricane Irene’s devastation in 2011.Although destructive flooding in India, Japan, China, Turkey and the United States might seem like distant events, atmospheric scientists say they have this in ...

Revolution acquire Argentinian forward Tomas Chancalay

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:43:59 GMT

The New England Revolution added another piece to their talent-heavy front end.The Revolution on Monday acquired Argentine forward Tomas Chancalay, 24, on loan from Racing Club for the remainder of the 2023 season. The Revolution have the option to purchase or extend the loan through June of 2024.Revolution head coach and sporting director has successfully rotated forwards Bobby Wood, Gustavo Bou, and Giacomo Vrioni, who account for 15 of the Revolution’s 36 MLS goals. Bou (Argentina) and Vrioni (Italy) are international designated players that command top salaries.“Tomas is a quality addition to our roster,” said Arena. “He is an effective attacking player with good pace and strong technical skills. We look forward to integrating him into out team and welcome his contributions as we close out the second half of the season.”Chancalay is a 5-10, 165-pound attacking forward who has tallied 35 goals and 20 assists in 185 senior appearances that included 91 matches in the Argentine Prim...

Northwestern fires coach Pat Fitzgerald after hazing allegations surface with football team

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:43:59 GMT

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Northwestern fired coach Pat Fitzgerald on Monday amid a hazing scandal that called into question his leadership of the program and damaged the university’s reputation after it mishandled its response to the allegations.Fitzgerald’s dismissal completed a rapid fall from grace for the former Northwestern linebacker. The 48-year-old Fitzgerald had been firmly entrenched at his alma mater, an annual fixture on any list of college coaches with the most job security.“The head coach is ultimately responsible for the culture of his team,” Northwestern President Michael Schill wrote in an open letter to the university community. “The hazing we investigated was widespread and clearly not a secret within the program, providing Coach Fitzgerald with the opportunity to learn what was happening. Either way, the culture in Northwestern Football, while incredible in some ways, was broken in others.”Fitzgerald went 110-101 in 17 seasons as Northwestern’s head...

Los Angeles Times owners sell San Diego Union-Tribune to publishing powerhouse

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:43:59 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The owner of the Los Angeles Times has sold sister paper The San Diego Union-Tribune to MediaNews Group, which owns hundreds of papers around the country, the paper announced Monday.The decision comes after the LA Times announced last month that it was cutting 74 jobs — 13% of its newsroom positions — to deal with financial difficulties. The Union-Tribune, which covers the second-largest city in California, will now be owned by the same chain that owns a slew of Southern California newspapers. The parent company is Alden Global Capital, a New York hedge fund that has been buying up newspapers across the country and faced criticism for slashing budgets and cutting jobs.The new owner is offering employee buyouts through next Monday and may lay people off, the Union-Tribune reported. Sharon Ryan, executive vice president of California for MediaNews Group, said in an email to employees that cutbacks will be needed to “offset the slowdown in revenues as economic headwi...

Masked men burn a market in a Mexican city plagued by gang violence, killing 9 people

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:43:59 GMT

TOLUCA, Mexico (AP) — Masked gunmen set fire to a public market in the central Mexican city of Toluca on Monday, killing nine people, authorities said.Prosecutors said the attackers arrived, opened fire, and then doused part of the market with a flammable substance before setting it on fire and fleeing. They said three of the dead appeared to be under 18, but identifications were still pending.A statement said prosecutors were investigating private security guards for abandoning their posts at the time of the attack.No one claimed responsibility for the attack in Toluca, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) west of Mexico City. Toluca, capital of the State of Mexico, is a city of almost a million inhabitants and is considered part of the capital’s metropolitan area, with some residents commuting to the capital to work.Fires at public markets in Mexico are often set by gangs demanding protection payments from vendors, but some have also been set by vendors disputing the possession of...

Employers say B.C. port strike spills over, U.S. workers refuse to touch Canada cargo

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:43:59 GMT

VANCOUVER — Maritime employers says the impact of the B.C. port strike is spilling over internationally, as U.S. port workers refuse to handle containers rerouted from Vancouver to Seattle.The BC Maritime Employers Association says the move further damages the “reliability and competitiveness of West Coast ports up and down” as the work stoppage drags on for a 10th day.International Longshore and Warehouse Union International president Willie Adams told CNBC last week that members of the U.S. West Coast chapter of the union won’t be unloading Canadian-bound cargo in solidarity with the striking workers in B.C.Adams told a rally in Vancouver on Sunday that anyone who thought they could offload Canada-bound cargo at Tacoma, Seattle, Oakland or Los Angeles should know that it “ain’t happening.”The workers and their employer held a round of bargaining over the weekend, the first talks since negotiations collapsed one week ago, but neither side is sayi...