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Pentagon steps on AI accelerator as age of lethal autonomy looms

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:23 GMT

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (AP) — Artificial intelligence employed by the U.S. military has piloted pint-sized surveillance drones in special operations forces’ missions and helped Ukraine in its war against Russia. It tracks soldiers’ fitness, predicts when Air Force planes need maintenance and helps keep tabs on rivals in space.Now, the Pentagon is intent on fielding multiple thousands of relatively inexpensive, expendable AI-enabled autonomous vehicles by 2026 to keep pace with China. The ambitious initiative — dubbed Replicator — seeks to “galvanize progress in the too-slow shift of U.S. military innovation to leverage platforms that are small, smart, cheap, and many,” Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said in August.While its funding is uncertain and details vague, Replicator is expected to accelerate hard decisions on what AI tech is mature and trustworthy enough to deploy – including on weaponized systems.There is little dispute among scientists, industry experts and...

Tens of thousands march in London calling for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:23 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A protester was arrested Saturday in London on suspicion of inciting racial hatred, as tens of thousands of people turned out on central London’s streets for a pro-Palestinian march calling for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.The National March for Palestine, which aimed to finish in Whitehall, central London, was the latest in several huge protests that have dominated the British capital’s streets every weekend since the Israel-Hamas war began last month.The Metropolitan Police said it arrested a man on suspicion of inciting racial hatred “near the start of the protest.”“Officers spotted him carrying a placard with Nazi symbols on it,” police said. Officers handed out leaflets at the march that sought to clarify what would be deemed an offence, after the force faced pressure from senior government officials to be tougher on alleged displays of antisemitism at the protests. “Anyone who is racist or incites hatred against any group should expect to be a...

In the US, Hmong ‘new year’ recalls ancestral spirits while teaching traditions to new generations

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:23 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — For the annual fall renewal of her shaman spirit, Mee Vang Yang will soon ritually redecorate the tall altar in her living room where she keeps her father’s ring-shaped shaman bells. She carried them across the Mekong River as the family fled the Communist takeover of her native Laos four decades ago. Today, they facilitate the connection to the spiritual world she needs to help fellow refugees and their American-raised children who seek restoration of lost spirits.“Like going to church, you’re giving beyond yourself to a greater power,” said the mother of six through a translator in Hmong. It’s the language spoken for the most important spiritual celebration in the Hmong calendar, the “Noj Peb Caug” — translated as “new year,” but literally meaning “eat 30,” since the ceremonies traditionally were tied to the fall’s post-harvest abundance shared with the clan and offered to spirits.During new year, which is celebrated mostly in November and December amo...

Palestinian militants kill 2 alleged informers for Israel and mob drags bodies through camp alleys

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:23 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian militants in a West Bank refugee camp shot and killed two alleged collaborators with Israel early Saturday, Palestinian officials said. Mobs then kicked the bloodied corpses and dragged them through alleys before trying to tie them to an electrical tower.The scenes, widely shared on social media, were reminiscent of the chaos in the occupied West Bank during two Palestinian uprisings against Israeli rule that erupted in 1987 and in 2000, respectively, each lasting several years. During these periods of heightened conflict, there were frequent killings of alleged informers, at times with bodies displayed in public.Saturday’s killing in the Tulkarem refugee camp laid bare the pressures tearing at Palestinian society as the Israel-Hamas war worsens what has already been a bloody year for the territory. Deadly Israeli military raids, settler attacks and Palestinian militancy in the West Bank have surged since Israel mounted its devastating offensive in...

‘Part of our history’: New book looks at Peter Lougheed and his Métis grandmother

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:23 GMT

CALGARY — The Indigenous roots of one of Alberta’s longest serving and best-known premiers is explored in a new book focusing on the ancestry of Peter Lougheed and his Métis grandmother.“The Premier and His Grandmother” is written by Doris Jeanne MacKinnon, an academic from Red Deer, Alta., who studies the important role Indigenous women have played in Prairies history. The reaction to her earlier book, “Métis Pioneers: Marie Rose Delorme Smith and Isabella Clark Hardisty Lougheed,” prompted MacKinnon to write about the Lougheed family.“As I delved into her history, I don’t recall knowing myself that Peter Lougheed had an Indigenous grandmother,” MacKinnon said in an interview.“As I would share the story of my earlier book, I would ask, ‘Do you know this?’ And most people didn’t.”Peter Lougheed served as premier from 1971 to 1985, making him Alberta’s second-longest serving premier after Ernest Manni...

Car crashes into lake Michigan in Streeterville : CPD

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:23 GMT

CHICAGO -- A car veered off of DuSable Lake Shore Drive into Lake Michigan early Saturday morning.The incident occurred near the 800 block of North DuSable Lake Shore Drive just after 3 a.m. and found a blue sedan in the water. There were no occupants in the vehicle. Employee shot at liquor store is latest victim of armed robbery sprees across Chicago Police say a witness told them they saw three men take off from the scene. There were no injuries reported. Police are still investigating the incident.

Saturday Forecast: Mostly cloudy, cold, high 30s

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:23 GMT

Saturday: Mostly cloudy & cold. SW 5-10 mph. Air quality is in the Good category today for Chicagoland. High: 37Saturday Night: Cloudy skies with light snow developing overnight which could make for some slippery road conditions. SSW 5-10 mph. Low: 29Sunday: Snow at times with 1-2" possible. SW 5-10 mph. High 35Chicago Weather | Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center's Forecast (wgntv.com)Extended outlook calls for a sunny but cold Monday with the day starting out with lows in the teens and highs around 30. A bit more clouds on Tuesday with highs climbing back into the mid 30s. We'll stairstep slowly to the low 40s by the end of the week. =-=-=

Weekend Gardening with Tim Joyce: How to keep your Christmas tree alive

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:23 GMT

Join WGN's Plant Daddy, Tim Joyce on how to keep your Christmas tree alive this season.Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.

Ex-Binance CEO asks judge to allow him to leave US ahead of sentencing

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:23 GMT

Changpeng Zhao, the founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has asked the judge to allow him to leave the United States.Zhao’s lawyers are urging U.S. District Judge Richard Jones in Seattle to reject the Justice Department’s (DOJ) request to bar him from returning home to the United Arab Emirates until he is sentenced. The crypto founder stepped down from his position after being charged for failing to prevent money laundering on his company’s platform.In a filing Thursday, lawyers said Zhao voluntarily flew to the U.S. to appear before a court on Nov. 21 and has “accepted responsibility, and pleaded guilty.”Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange platform. The company pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Security Act, anti-money laundering act and other charges.The crypto platform agreed to pay more than $4 billion, one of the largest corporate penalties in U.S. history.His lawyers are asking for Zhao to be able to return home to his partner and t...

101-year-old bowling ball inventor inducted into NY Veterans Hall of Fame

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:23 GMT

CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. (WTEN) — Joseph Gentiluomo, the 101-year-old New York man who invented the modern bowling ball, was inducted into the New York State Senate Veterans Hall of Fame on Monday.They say "a mind is a terrible thing to waste," and Gentiluomo, of Schenectady, takes that to heart. In addition to his service during World War II, the centenarian is an inventor who holds nearly 30 patents, one of them for the modern bowling ball.His modification to earlier designs put more weight inside of the bowling ball, giving bowlers more control and more power.“I noticed that if I put all the weight from the outside into the middle of the ball, it would create more power at the pins," the inventor told a room full of reporters. NY State Senator Jim Tedisco, who previously recognized Gentiluomo's contributions to the sport of bowling, also awarded him the Liberty Medal at Monday's ceremony."These are the state Senate’s highest honors for New York State citizens,” Tedisco said. Younger ...