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As writers reach tentative deal and actors look ahead, here are the Hollywood Strikes’ key players

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:59:29 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The double-barreled strike that brought Hollywood to a halt may be half over after a tentative deal has been struck to return screenwriters to work after nearly five months.The two sides had been divided on issues of pay, the size of writing staffs on shows and the use of artificial intelligence in how scripts are created. The agreement, still subject to the approval of union members, was reached Sunday night after five days of lengthy negotiations.Actors, who joined the writers on strike in July, have their own issues but there have been no discussions about resuming negotiations with their union yet. That is likely to change now.Here’s a look at the key figures who helped reached the agreement, and those who could make the next one. CAROL LOMBARDINIHer name is little known outside the industry, and she nearly never speaks to the media, but as head of the opposition in both the writers and actors strikes, Carol Lombardini is arguably the most important sing...

Death toll in Taiwan factory fire lowered to nine, with one missing. Four victims were firefighters

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:59:29 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Authorities said late Sunday that one person remained missing following a fire at a golf ball factory in Taiwan, after forensic analysis revealed that some bones found earlier in the day were not human.The blaze Friday night killed nine other people, including four firefighters. Launch Technologies Co., the operator of the plant, is a major global supplier of golf balls.Authorities had reported earlier that the remains of two people were found Sunday morning and of a third person in the afternoon, putting the death toll at 10. But one set of bones from the morning turned out to be non-human, officials said. Taiwan’s Central News Agency, quoting a Pingtung County fire official, said an explosion caused part of the building to collapse about 6:10 p.m. Friday, trapping firefighters and workers under rubble. A second explosion followed 20 minutes later.More than 100 people were injured in the blaze at Pingtung Technology Industrial Park. The fire was not extinguish...

Ukraine is building an advanced army of drones. For now, pilots improvise with duct tape and bombs

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:59:29 GMT

LUHANSK REGION, Ukraine (AP) — Flying above enemy lines, a Ukrainian reconnaissance drone sends a clear image back to soldiers hiding in a basement a few kilometers away: A Russian armored vehicle is idling along a key logistics route, looking like easy prey in the artillery-scarred green landscape.Then, in a flash, the image disappears, and the drone operator’s screen is replaced by a jumble of black and white pixels.“Snow,” says a calm commander known by the battlefield name Giocondo, who allowed The Associated Press to follow him and his unit of drone pilots on condition of anonymity to protect their identities. High-tech warfare cuts two ways, and the Russians use electronic beams to disable the drone’s signals.Seconds later, the drone pilot switches to a frequency the Russians cannot easily exploit. The bird’s-eye image of the armored vehicle reappears, and a second drone – this one laden with explosives – is quickly launched. It zips toward the target.Nineteen months int...

Jury selection set to open in terrorism trial of extended family stemming from 2018 New Mexico raid

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:59:29 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Jury selection is set to open Monday in federal court as members of an extended family face kidnapping and terrorism charges stemming from a raid of their squalid New Mexico encampment in 2018 by agents seeking a sickly, missing 3-year-old boy.The boy’s badly decomposed remains were eventually found in an underground tunnel at the compound on the outskirts of Amalia near the Colorado line. Authorities allege the family engaged in firearms and tactical training in preparation for attacks against government, tied to an apparent belief that the boy would be resurrected as Jesus Christ and provide instructions.An exact cause of death was never determined amid accusations that the boy was deprived of crucial medication linked to disabilities. Federal prosecutors opted for kidnapping charges.Two men and three women have pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to support planned attacks on U.S. law enforcement officers, military members and government emp...

Facial recognition technology jailed a man for days. His lawsuit joins others from Black plaintiffs

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:59:29 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Randal Quran Reid was driving to his mother’s home the day after Thanksgiving last year when police pulled him over and arrested him on the side of a busy Georgia interstate.He was wanted for crimes in Louisiana, they told him, before taking him to jail. Reid, who prefers to be identified as Quran, would spend the next several days locked up, trying to figure out how he could be a suspect in a state he says he had never visited.A lawsuit filed this month blames the misuse of facial recognition technology by a sheriff’s detective in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, for his ordeal.“I was confused and I was angry because I didn’t know what was going on,” Quran told The Associated Press. “They couldn’t give me any information outside of, ‘You’ve got to wait for Louisiana to come take you,’ and there was no timeline on that.”Quran, 29, is among at least five Black plaintiffs who have filed lawsuits against law enforcement in recent years, saying they we...

Past high-profile trials suggest stress and potential pitfalls for Georgia judge handling Trump case

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:59:29 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Judge Peter Cahill hardly slept during the six weeks he presided over the murder trial of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd.Cameras in the courtroom broadcast the veteran Minnesota judge’s every word to a global audience. Outside, the nation waited nervously for the outcome of a slaying that galvanized the movement for racial justice. “When you’re in a high-profile trial, you feel the stress, you feel the pressure even if you’re not reading the papers,” he told an audience of judges last year at The National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada.Cahill’s experience provides a glimpse of the additional scrutiny and strain that await the four judges overseeing the criminal cases against former President Donald Trump.But the challenge facing Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee in Georgia is unlike any of the others. For one, he is the only judge so far to allow television cameras in the courtroom to broadcast hearings and any trials. He is presidi...

AI is on the world’s mind. Is the UN the place to figure out what to do about it?

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:59:29 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Just a few years ago, artificial intelligence got barely a mention at the U.N. General Assembly’s convocation of world leaders.But after the release of ChatGPT last fall turbocharged both excitement and anxieties about AI, it’s been a sizzling topic this year at diplomacy’s biggest yearly gathering.Presidents, premiers, monarchs and cabinet ministers convened as governments at various levels are mulling or have already passed AI regulation. Industry heavy-hitters acknowledge guardrails are needed but want to protect the technology’s envisioned benefits. Outsiders and even some insiders warn that there also are potentially catastrophic risks, and everyone says there’s no time to lose.And many eyes are on the United Nations as perhaps the only place to tackle the issue at scale. The world body has some unique attributes to offer, including unmatched breadth and a track record of brokering pacts on global issues, and it’s set to...

RNC’s livestreaming partner for the GOP debate is a haven for disinformation and extremism

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:59:29 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The second Republican presidential debate will be broadcast Wednesday on Fox Business Network and Univision, but the exclusive online livestream will take place on Rumble, an alternative video-sharing platform that has been criticized for allowing— and at times promoting — far-right extremism, bigotry, election disinformation and conspiracy theories.By bringing viewers to Rumble to watch the GOP debate, as it did with the first one last month, the Republican National Committee is driving potential voters to a site crawling with content that flouts the rules of more mainstream ones such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.Earlier this year, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said using Rumble instead of YouTube as its livestreaming partner was a decision aimed toward ” getting away from Big Tech.” Asked about the criticism against the platform, the RNC said in an emailed statement that “hate, bigotry and violence is unfortunately prevalent on every social media platfo...

The UN’s top tech official discusses AI, bringing the world together and what keeps him up at night

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:59:29 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Artificial intelligence, and how and whether to regulate it, has gotten a lot of discussion in and around this year’s U.N. General Assembly meeting of world leaders. With a U.N. advisory group on AI set to convene this fall, the world organization’s top tech-policy official, Amandeep Gill, sat down with The Associated Press to talk about the hopes, concerns and questions surrounding AI. Here are excerpts from the interview, edited for length and clarity.___AP: A number of national governments and multinational groups are talking about or beginning to take action on setting guardrails for artificial intelligence. What can the U.N. bring to the table that others can’t? GILL: I’d say three words. Inclusiveness — so bringing a lot many more countries together, compared with some of the very important existing initiatives. The second one is legitimacy, because there is a record of the U.N. helping countries and other actors manage the impact ...

Scattered storms overnight; fewer storms Monday

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:59:29 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Temperatures hit 103º in Austin at Camp Mabry and at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Sunday. This easily smashed the previous record high for this day at Camp Mabry of 99º set in 1926, 2005 and 2011. The record at AUS was also broken today beating the previous record of 101º in 2005.Scattered severe storms continue overnightSevere storms brought tennis and baseball sized hail to the I-35 corridor Sunday evening. We've had reports of massive hail and damage from Georgetown to Austin. PHOTOS: Large, damaging hail pummels parts of Central Texas Storms have recently lost some of their intensity, but 60% rain chances continue for the next few hours.A Severe Thunderstorm Watch has been extended until 1 a.m. to account for some of the strong storms that continue through the area. Severe thunderstorm watch extended until 1 a.m.Most of the area is in a Level 2 out of 5 severe weather risk tonight with large hail and damaging winds the primary concern. Severe weat...