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AI-powered humanoid works the crowd at tech show

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:18:17 GMT

LONDON — Ameca can speak French, Chinese or dozens of other languages, instantly compose a poem or sketch a cat on request. Ask for a smile, and you’ll get a clenched grin on her rubbery blue face.Ameca is a humanoid robot powered by generative artificial intelligence that gives it the ability to respond to questions and commands and interact with people. It’s one of hundreds of robots on display this week at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation, or ICRA, in London, where visitors got a glimpse at the future.The event is sort of the Olympics of the robot world, where student teams compete in a host of challenges including robot cooking and autonomous driving contests, academics present their research and startups show off their latest technology.It comes as scientists and tech industry leaders, including executives at Microsoft and Google, warned Tuesday about the perils of artificial intelligence to mankind, saying “mitigating the risk of extinc...

Feds reject ‘insufficient’ MBTA track safety plan, cites ‘immediate risk’ to workers

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:18:17 GMT

Federal officials rejected a corrective action plan submitted by the MBTA, saying that the “immediate risk” to worker safety on subway tracks demands more urgency.In a letter to MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng, the Federal Transit Administration described the agency’s work plan, intended to address right-of-way violations that led to five near-misses and left one employee seriously injured over a one-month period, as “insufficient.”“MBTA’s submitted work plan includes efforts to develop a long-term plan to strengthen protections for workers and contractors on the rail transit system, including items with completion dates into late 2023 and into 2024,” FTA Associate Administrator Joe DeLorenzo wrote earlier this month.“Given the immediate risk to worker safety on the ROW, FTA requires direct and focused actions.”The FTA ordered the MBTA to resubmit the work plan by June 5, with revisions that would address and implement right-of-way safety processes and procedures within 60 days, th...

Iowa apartment collapse leaves residents missing, rubble too dangerous to search

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:18:17 GMT

By SCOTT McFETRIDGE and HANNAH FINGERHUT (Associated Press)DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Five residents of a six-story apartment building that partially collapsed in eastern Iowa remained unaccounted for Tuesday, and authorities feared at least two of them might be stuck inside rubble that was too dangerous to search.The three other missing residents are not believed to have been in the building when it started collapsing Sunday afternoon, said state Rep. Monica Kurth. Mayor Mike Matson confirmed at a news conference that not all the residents were accounted for. A group of protesters held signs and chanted near the building Tuesday morning, arguing the city was moving too quickly toward demolishing the 116-year-old brick and steel structure. Built as a hotel, it had more recently been used as apartments, and tenants had been allowed to remain even as bricks began falling from the building.After the partial collapse, the city had announced plans to begin demolishing the unstable rem...

South Carolina gas station owner makes 1st court appearance on murder charge in teen’s death

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:18:17 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina gas station owner accused of chasing a 14-year-old boy from his store and fatally shooting him in the back made his first court appearance Tuesday on a murder charge in the death.Rick Chow thought the boy had shoplifted four bottles of water Sunday night from his Xpress Mart Shell station in Columbia, authorities said. But Cyrus Carmack-Belton put the bottles back in the cooler and was off the store’s property and running away when he was killed, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said.A gun was found near the teen’s body and Chow’s son, who also was involved in the chase, told his father that Carmack-Belton was armed after the youth fell as he ran, according to the sheriff. But Lott said there was no evidence the boy ever pointed the weapon at Chow or his son.Chow, who had a concealed weapons permit, was charged after an autopsy showed the middle school student was shot in the back and deputies spoke to witnesses and reviewed ...

‘It’s just chaos.’ Halifax man learns home gone as officials warn of wildfire danger

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:18:17 GMT

HALIFAX — For the second time in the past seven years, Danny Osborne has fled his home because of a wildfire.In May 2016, he escaped the devastating fires in Fort McMurray, Alta., which forced the evacuation of 90,000 people and destroyed 2,400 homes and businesses. And his Alberta home survived the disaster.But on Tuesday, Osborne learned the Halifax-area wildfire that has been burning out of control since Sunday had gutted his new residence in Nova Scotia.He was among a group from the Yankeetown subdivision northwest of Halifax who were led by RCMP to their properties to retrieve pets after the wildfire swept through.“It’s gone,” the 45-year-old construction worker said after he returned from seeing what was left of his home. “It is completely flattened.”Osborne recalled how when he left his house after an evacuation was ordered, he saw black, churning smoke in his rear-view mirror and felt the same “gut-wrenching” emotions he endured during the...

North Korea launches rocket likely connected to military spy satellite, South Korea says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:18:17 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military says North Korea has launched a purported space-launch vehicle after announcing a plan to put its first military spy satellite into orbit.The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff on Wednesday did not immediately provide further flight details. Following the launch, officials in South Korea’s capital of Seoul sent alerts over public speakers and smartphones for residents to prepare for evacuation, but there were no immediate reports of damages or disruption. Japan’s coast guard said Monday that North Korea informed it of a plan to launch a satellite between May 31 and June 11.A satellite launch by North Korea is a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban the country from using ballistic technology because it’s regarded as a cover for missile tests.The Associated Press

New US aid package for Ukraine will total about $300 million and include munitions for drones

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:18:17 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. military aid package for Ukraine that is expected to be announced this week will total up to $300 million and will include additional munitions for drones, U.S. officials said Tuesday. The drone ammunition comes after new attacks by unmanned aircraft targeted Moscow. There has been no suggestion that U.S.-made drones or munitions were used in the recent attacks on Moscow, and U.S. officials have repeatedly said that Ukraine has agreed not to use any American-provided weapons for attacks on Russian soil. The Kremlin blamed Kyiv for Tuesday’s attack, but Ukrainian officials had no direct comment.But the new aid package comes at a tense moment in the war. The latest drone attack on Moscow follows Russia’s seizure of the eastern Ukrainian city Bakhmut after a nine-month battle that killed tens of thousands of people. Ukraine is also showing signs that its long-awaited spring counteroffensive may already be underway.The Russian Defense Ministry said f...

WATCH: Flames tear through balconies at Toronto apartment complex

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:18:17 GMT

A fierce fire that tore through apartments at a highrise complex at Spadina Avenue and King Street West was captured on video obtained by CityNews on Tuesday.Crews were called to the scene at around 2 p.m., and police quickly closed off roads in the area.Video shows rapidly spreading flames enveloping apartment balconies on the 11th and 12th floors.FIRE:Spadina Ave & King St. W.1:56pm– reports of fire on the 11th floor– police o/s– @Toronto_Fire o/s– road closures in the area– expect delays#GO1222524^av— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) May 30, 2023Curious residents could be seen peering out from their balconies to watch as thick black smoke filled the air.All roads in the area have since reopened.Toronto Fire crews were able to extinguish the fire, and no injuries have been reported.Toronto firefighters on scene at a fire on King St W. Crews have extinguished a 12th floor balcony fire. Crews are ventilating the unit and continuing operati...

White man who pulled gun gets probation for MLK Day confrontation with Black teens

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:18:17 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — A white man was sentenced to probation in South Florida Tuesday for pulling a gun and yelling racial slurs in a traffic confrontation with a group of Black teenagers protesting housing inequality on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2019.As part of a deal with with prosecutors, Mark Bartlett, 55, pleaded guilty to a hate crime and aggravated assault and also agreed not to possess a firearm for a decade, the Miami Herald reported. Bartlett must also perform 300 hours of community service and take anger management classes and racial sensitivity training. Bartlett could have faced decades in prison, but Miami-Dade County Judge Alberto Milian granted Bartlett a withhold of adjudication, which means Bartlett will avoid a formal conviction.Bartlett had previously claimed he was acting in self-defense during the confrontation, but following a 2021 hearing Milian ruled that Bartlett did not act reasonably in getting out of his SUV and pulling a pistol on the teenage protesters who ...

Hawaii reopens popular stretch of Waikiki beach after endangered monk seal pup weans

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:18:17 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — A young Hawaiian monk seal has weaned and relocated, allowing a stretch of a popular Hawaii beach to reopen Tuesday after it was made off-limits to protect the endangered pup while it nursed.Hawaii officials last month cordoned off a large stretch of a popular Waikiki neighborhood beach to protect the seal mother, named Kaiwi, and her days-old pup, named Pualani. State conservation and and resources enforcement officers kept around-the-clock watch.The birth of an endangered seal at one of Hawaii’s most popular tourism hubs highlighted the tension between protecting the islands’ fragile ecosystems and maintaining access to the pristine white-sand beaches that attract millions of visitors each year. Kaimana Beach is next to a mid-sized hotel and is a favorite swimming and sunbathing spot for locals and visitors. Starting six years ago, monk seals have occasionally given birth there, setting the stage for conflict between seal mothers and beachgoers.Authorities took ext...