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More people go missing and thousands are evacuated as northeast China is hit by more floods

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:43:02 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Rain continued to pelt northeastern China in the wake of Typhoon Doksuri Saturday, as authorities reported more fatalities and missing people while evacuating thousands more.One person died and five went missing in the city of Shulan in Jilin province, which has seen five straight days of rainfall, according to state media.Over 14,300 people were evacuated from the city of more than 700,000, according to the local disaster relief agency. State news agency China News Service showed images of waterlogged streets around homes and factories. The average precipitation in the city had reached 111.7 mm (4.4 inches) by Friday afternoon.China is struggling with record-breaking rainfall in some areas while others suffer scorching summer heat and drought that threatens crops. The heavy rains – remnants of Typhoon Doksuri – have battered northern China since late July, disrupting the lives of millions. Flooding near Beijing and in neighboring Hebei province thi...

Ukrainian drones hit a Russian tanker near Crimea in the second sea attack in a day

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:43:02 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian drones hit a Russian tanker in the Black Sea near Crimea late Friday night, according to Russian officials and video circulating on social media.The strike was the second sea attack involving drones in one day, after Ukraine struck a major Russian port earlier on Friday. As Kyiv’s naval capabilities grow, the Black Sea is becoming an increasingly important battleground in the war.Three weeks ago, Moscow withdrew from a key export agreement that allowed Ukraine to ship millions of tons of grain across the Black Sea for sale on world markets. In the wake of that withdrawal, Russia carried out repeated strikes on Ukrainian ports, including Odesa.An official with Ukraine’s Security Service confirmed to The Associated Press that the service was behind the attack on the tanker, which was transporting fuel for Russian forces. A sea drone, filled with 450 kilograms (992 pounds) of TNT, was used for the attack, added the official, who spoke on condition of anon...

Israel arrests 2 settlers after deadly rampage on a village left one Palestinian dead

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:43:02 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police said Saturday that they arrested two Israeli settlers after they stormed a Palestinian village in the West Bank in a rampage that left one Palestinian dead. Armed settlers entered Burqa, a herding village east of the city of Ramallah, late Friday, shooting and killing 19-year-old Qusai Matan, Palestinian health officials said. Israeli media reported that one of the arrested settlers, who remained unnamed, used to work as an aide for a lawmaker of the far-right Israeli “Jewish Power” party which is in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition of ultranationalist and ultraorthodox parties in the Israeli parliament. It includes Itamar Ben-Gvir, a pro-settlement firebrand known for hardline positions against Palestinians. The party couldn’t be reached for comment.Police said they arrested two settlers after detaining five for questioning. The other settler who was arrested was hospitalized after sustaining injuries Friday night. Authoritie...

Skipper of boat in crash that killed US tourist off Italy faces manslaughter investigation

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:43:02 GMT

ROME (AP) — The skipper of a rented motorboat involved in a crash off the Amalfi Coast that killed a U.S. tourist is being investigated for suspected manslaughter, a prosecutor in southern Italy said Saturday.Salerno Chief Prosecutor Giuseppe Borrelli told a news conference in that port city that the skipper, an Italian who hasn’t publicly identified, is also being investigated on suspicion of causing a shipwreck. No charges have so far been filed against him, and the investigation is still ongoing.Adrienne Vaughan, 45, was killed and her husband and the skipper of the rented motorboat were injured in the accident Thursday afternoon off a stretch of coastline popular with tourists. The motorboat slammed into a chartered sailboat, where some 70 guests aboard were enjoying a wedding reception.Blood samples were taken from the skipper to determine alcohol and drug levels. But Borrelli indicated that for now the results were inconclusive.“The results are being evaluated by a consu...

Saturday forecast: Heavy rain, Flood Watch for South Chicagoland area

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:43:02 GMT

Saturday: Cloudy skies. Heavy rain at times (south), scattered showers/thunderstorms (north). Flood Watch for southern portions of Chicagoland for the duration of the day. ENE 5-10 mph. High 79, mid 70s by the lake. NWS Chicago says the highest flood threat area is along and south of the Kankakee River Valley. Saturday Night: Scattered showers/thunderstorms. ESE 10-20 mph. Low 70Sunday: Peeks of AM sun. scattered PM showers/thunderstorms become more numerous and widespread later in the day--some could be strong to severe. ENE 10-20 mph. High 84, coolerDamaging winds, hail and locally heavy rainfall are possible with severe weather coming Sunday evening. Chicago Area Radar | WGN TV Extended outlook calls for a chance of showers/t'storms on Monday with highs in the mid 80s. Drier weather on Tuesday with partly sunny skies and still a bit muggy. Highs in the mid 80s. Wednesday sees some filtered sunshine with building clouds. Highs in the mid 80s. Showers/thunderstorms return to t...

A hot weekend leads to more records

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:43:02 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The overall weather pattern will remain in place for at least the next seen days with a potential of four days between today and Friday where new high temperature records will be set. Two of those will be today and tomorrow.Today's record high is 106° set in 2011An Excessive Heat Warning will be in effect today from 12 to 9 p.m. for high temperatures as hot as 107° and heat index values up to 111°. Blanco and Gillespie Counties are under a Heat Advisory for high temperatures up to 108° and heat index values up to 112°.Saturday's heat alerts start at noonIn addition to the heat alerts there is also a Red Flag Warning for much of Central Texas for south winds gusting 20 to 25 mph and relative humidity readings below 30%. (Fayette, Lee, and Milam Counties are not under this warning.)Wildfire danger this weekendThe forecast for the next seven days has high temperatures in the 104° to 108° range, making this week one of the hottest weeks of this heat wave. There have bee...

“Wolverines really need Colorado”: Federal decision looms over another reintroduction plan

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:43:02 GMT

The mountain devil can cross hundreds of miles of rough alpine terrain, tear into an elk carcass frozen for weeks and fend off predators several times larger than its 40-pound frame.And the elusive species might be coming back to Colorado.Wolverines — also called “mountain devils” and “skunk bears” — could be the next large mammal reintroduced in Colorado after wildlife officials implement the voter-mandated reintroduction of wolves by the end of the year.How and when wolverines could be introduced here hinges on an upcoming decision from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on whether the species should be protected under the Endangered Species Act. A decision is expected in the next few months and, depending on the way that goes, efforts to begin bringing in wolverines could begin again. Plans to reintroduce the species in Colorado have existed for more than a decade, but uncertainty around the federal listing decision kept wildlife officials from...

Scouting out the next wave of robot workers

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:43:02 GMT

Digit drew a crowd, even here, in a convention center full of robot aficionados.A humanoid warehouse worker, Digit walked upright on goatlike legs and grabbed bins off a shelf with muscular arms made from aerospace-grade aluminum. It then placed the boxes on an assembly line and walked back to the shelf to search for more. The crowd, which had assembled at ProMat, the premier trade show for the manufacturing and supply chain industry, held up phones and watched, a little quiet, wondering if at some point the robot would teeter and fall. It did not.Digit, made by Oregon-based Agility Robotics, is the kind of technology that people have worried about for generations: a machine with the strength and adroitness to rival our own, and the ability to take our jobs, or much worse. Then ChatGPT came online, and suddenly the fear was of something smarter rather than stronger — malevolent bots rather than metallic brutes.The automaton is still coming. It might not be ready to take over t...

Researchers poke holes in safety controls of ChatGPT and other chatbots

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:43:02 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — When artificial intelligence companies build online chatbots, like ChatGPT, Claude and Google Bard, they spend months adding guardrails that are supposed to prevent their systems from generating hate speech, disinformation and other toxic material.Now there is a way to easily poke holes in those safety systems.In a report released in July, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and the Center for AI Safety in San Francisco showed how anyone could circumvent AI safety measures and use any of the leading chatbots to generate nearly unlimited amounts of harmful information.Their research underscored increasing concern that the new chatbots could flood the internet with false and dangerous information despite attempts by their creators to ensure that would not happen. It also showed how disagreements among leading AI companies were creating an increasingly unpredictable environment for the technology.The researchers found that they could use a meth...

Newest Hall of Fame class covers all bases of Oakland A’s history, from Giambi to Tenace and beyond

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:43:02 GMT

If this is the penultimate class of the Oakland A’s Hall of Fame, the five inductees will be remembered for touching all of the bases in the franchise’s colorful history.Gene Tenace and Carney Lansford helped bring home World Series titles in the 1970s and 80s, respectively. Jason Giambi brought swagger and winning back to the Coliseum in the late 90s and early 2000s, only to see his rise to superstardom become the catalyst for the Moneyball era. And Roy Steele was behind the mic for all of it. Even Bob Johnson, a star of the Philadelphia era, fits right in with the current state of the Bay Area franchise: He made his debut with the A’s in 1933 as ownership was shedding its highest-paid stars to cut costs.The A’s Hall of Fame’s fifth class will be inducted before Sunday’s game against the Giants in the finale of this season’s Bay Bridge Series. The cloud of potential relocation to Las Vegas has enveloped the A’s all season, but team...