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Rishi Sunak wants to lead the world on AI. The world ain’t listening

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:01:59 GMT

LONDON — He’s the prime minister who cultivated a ‘tech bro’ image — even if the tech world is unconvinced by his credentials.Now Rishi Sunak hopes to pitch the U.K. as a leader in global AI governance, leveraging the setting of standards as a soft power tool while boosting Britain’s emerging AI sector.He may have a battle on his hands. For as Sunak flies to Washington this week for his first White House summit as U.K. prime minister — with the future of AI high on his agenda — he finds Britain already playing catch-up on the world stage.Having left the European Union in January 2020, the U.K. is locked out of key forums between the EU and U.S. such as the Tech and Trade Council (TTC), where AI governance plans are negotiated on a bilateral basis. Britain’s requests for a similar dialogue with Washington have been repeatedly rebuffed, leaving Sunak forced to pursue direct channels like his White House summit with U.S. President Joe Biden this Thursday.A...

EU’s green renovation wave faces backlash

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:01:59 GMT

BRUSSELS — EU plans to renovate millions of buildings as part of the battle against climate change are running into strong political resistance as the legislation heads into the final stretch of negotiations.The proposal — among the last outstanding pieces of legislation in the bloc’s Fit for 55 climate package — sets out mandatory renovation targets aimed at fully decarbonizing the EU’s building stock by 2050. Those targets have caused an uproar in several EU countries; Europe has a lot of older building stock that doesn’t meet modern standards and there are fears people will be forced to pay for expensive renovations during a cost of living crisis. Defenders of the proposal counter it will lead to long-term cost savings for homeowners.The pushback comes as EU countries and the European Parliament head into final negotiations on the legislation starting Tuesday. It’s part of a wider backlash against the EU’s Green Deal objectives. Italy is one the staunches...

Tax relief still alive despite state potentially owing billions to feds

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:01:59 GMT

Despite the obvious similarities, there will not be a repeat of last year’s failed effort to provide tax relief, the state Senate president said Monday when asked if reports Massachusetts owes billions to the feds might somehow mirror last year’s unexpected $3 billion tax rebate requirement.Related ArticlesPolitics | State’s unemployment bill still unclear, lawmakers say fact finding continues State Senate President Karen Spilka, speaking to reporters after meeting with both Gov. Maura Healey and House Speaker Ron Mariano for one of the trio’s somewhat regular “leadership meetings,” said last summer’s sudden shelving of a unanimously accepted economic development bill, brought about after lawmakers learned they had taken too much from taxpayers and would need to send billions back under a rarely invoked 1986 law, will not serve as a precedent for a second slow-walk on tax relief.“We are proceeding with a tax relief package — as I’ve said for many months — we wi...

Golden Knights crush Panthers 7-2, lead Stanley Cup final 2-0

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:01:59 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jonathan Marchessault scored twice and started an early blitz that chased the NHL’s hottest post-season goalie, and the Vegas Golden Knights seized control of the Stanley Cup final with a 7-2 victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 2 on Monday night.Adin Hill continued his stellar play in net with 29 saves for the Golden Knights, who grabbed a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.“We finished some plays,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It’s a good performance for us. Our guys were ready to play.”Marchessault also had an assist to finish with three points. His 12 post-season goals set a Golden Knights record, with all coming after the first round. Brett Howden scored twice for the Knights, who also got goals from Alec Martinez, Nicolas Roy and Michael Amadio. Six players had at least two points for Vegas, all 18 Knights skaters were on the ice for even-strength goals and their nine goal scorers through the first two games are a Stanley Cup final record. The Knigh...

Trump’s lawyers say defamation claim by NY writer must fail because jury agreed he never raped her

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:01:59 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York writer who won a $5 million jury verdict against ex-President Donald Trump can’t win a pending defamation lawsuit against him because the jury agreed with Trump that he never raped her, his lawyers told a judge Monday.The lawyers urged Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to reject columnist E. Jean Carroll’s bid to win $10 million or more in a second judgment by rewriting the 4-year-old lawsuit against Trump to conform with the findings of the jury that last month concluded Trump sexually abused Carroll but did not rape her.The lawsuit was filed after Carroll said in a 2019 memoir for the first time publicly that Trump attacked her in the dressing room of a midtown Manhattan Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.The lawsuit has been stalled because the U.S. Justice Department wants to substitute the United States for Trump as the defendant on the grounds that he was acting in his capacity as a president when he spoke on the issue in response t...

Good Samaritans speak out about intervening in highway murder

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:01:59 GMT

MADISON COUNTY, Ill. – A Madison County, Illinois couple’s intervention in a violent murder along a busy highway in Pontoon Beach ultimately led to a conviction last week.On the afternoon of Feb. 21, 2023, drivers on Illinois 111 saw a woman running terror along the highway and trying to hide. Most passersby did nothing, except Stacy and Steven O’Dell.“No one stopped. I couldn’t believe no one would stop, because I mean, obviously, there was something horrible going on,” Stacy said.Stacy had just started her day driving a truck on the highway near Bel Air Drive. She saw a woman running from a pickup.“…just zig-zagging back and forth, and I just couldn’t believe it. I mean, it was obvious he was trying to run her over,” she said.Stacy said the woman, “…had this look of terror in her eyes.” Person dragged onto front lawn, killed during home invasion on Sunday morning She radioed her husband, Steven, who had also just started his truck driving shift.“I didn’t think he would do what h...

Woman faces same issues at north St. Louis apartment following repairs

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:01:59 GMT

ST. LOUIS - A tenant in a horrible north St. Louis rent-subsidized apartment is facing a terrible problem again of insect infestation.The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) pays around $1,400 a month for rent on the unit.Torreese Valentine said she finds insects crawling all over the house, in the kitchen sink and counters, up the walls, and even in her children’s bed."Yes, they're also crawling in my bed with me and my kids as we sleep," she said. "I'm to the point where sometimes I don't even go to sleep, I watch them sleep just so that bugs won't crawl in their ears or anything like that.” Person dragged onto front lawn, killed during home invasion on Sunday morning This problem was supposed to be solved after the first time she contacted FOX 2 weeks ago. It showed collapsed ceilings caused by busted water pipes that caused flooding in the entire house. There was also moldy kitchen cabinet, and there were lots of insects.The building division and the health ...

New efforts to make parking lots in downtown St. Louis safer

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:01:59 GMT

ST. LOUIS - There’s a new plan to crack down on downtown parking lots in St. Louis.Alderman Rasheen Aldridge, 14th Ward, has just introduced Board Bill 44, which calls for sweeping changes in security and upkeep for surface parking lots downtown.“The Board of Aldermen finds that unsecured "surface parking lots" are locations where occurrences of crime are more likely, including crimes against parking patrons, vandalism of vehicles, theft of vehicles or property inside vehicles, and other threats to the security of persons and property. Furthermore, thefts from vehicles constitute a significant source of illegal firearms, a serious problem that contributes to violent crime,” the bill states.The bill would require downtown lots to have perimeter fencing at least 4’ high (no chain link fences allowed unless previously constructed), plus either an automated gate or on-site attendant, security lighting, and new signage that includes an address and local contact phone number for the opera...

St. Louis board members address concerns with city jail

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:01:59 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Concerns over safety and the woman in charge of the St. Louis Justice Center were the focus of the meeting for the citizens tasked with overseeing complaints with the jail.It was the first meeting for the board since announcing plans to call for the jail commissioner to step down."I talked about our call to ask the mayor and director of public safety to request the board and Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah's resignation," said Janis Mensah, Chair of the Detention Facilities Oversight Board. Person dragged onto front lawn, killed during home invasion on Sunday morning The board's main concern in Monday's meeting was about what they claim is a lack of access to jail records."Our mandate is to investigate accusations like these," said Pam Walker, board secretary.Advocate groups and community members held a rally in September 2022 after six deaths were reported at the city's jail within six months. During Monday's board meeting, members expressed frustrations claiming the commis...

Construction closes Zumbehl bridge through August

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:01:59 GMT

ST. CHARLES, Mo. - In St. Charles, work has begun on a three-month project to replace portions of Zumbehl Road.Crumbling storm drains and cracked roadways have pushed the City of St. Charles to revamp the Zumbehl bridge to fix a long-overdue problem.In March 2018, MoDOT gave the bridge a score of 49.6%, but bigger, concrete culverts will help fix years of erosion. The $5.6 million project will upgrade the bridge and the storm drains, which have been falling apart since the 1980s."This bridge is now considered structurally deficient, so it's not structurally suitable for Zumbehl Road going over it," said Dan Mann, head of engineering for the City of St. Charles. "It's one of St. Charles's largest roads."Bommarito Automotive Group SkyFOX shows the beginning of construction along Zumbehl in St. Charles."The concrete surface is actually smoother, and it helps convey water than the pipes now have ridges in it,” Mann said.The first phase of the construction is already done, with the metal...