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House Chair: Carve Commuter Rail Out Of MBTA

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:21:59 GMT

The eastern Massachusetts commuter rail network and its hundreds of thousands of riders would no longer be the responsibility of the MBTA under safety and management reforms targeted by the House’s transportation chief.Rep. William Straus of Mattapoisett, who co-chairs the Transportation Committee that last year held oversight hearings examining the widespread problems at the T, filed legislation that would scale back the agency’s scope with a goal of tightening its focus on core subway and bus service.His proposal has already drawn muted reviews from public transit advocates, who argue that Beacon Hill’s focus should be on resources made available to the T instead of the transportation governance flowchart. The transit agency is in the midst of a major hiring effort, but has had trouble filling positions.In Straus’s view, the deteriorating conditions at the MBTA in recent years — which range from persistent service cuts prompted by staffing shortages t...

Pope to be hospitalized for days with respiratory infection

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:21:59 GMT

By NICOLE WINFIELD (Associated Press)VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis was hospitalized with a respiratory infection Wednesday after experiencing difficulty breathing in recent days and will remain in the Rome hospital for several days of treatment, the Vatican said.The 86-year-old pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, doesn’t have COVID-19, spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement late Wednesday.The hospitalization was the first since Francis spent 10 days at the Gemelli hospital in July 2021 to have 33 centimeters (13 inches) of his colon removed. It immediately raised questions about Francis’ overall health, and his ability to celebrate the busy Holy Week events that are due to begin this weekend with Palm Sunday.Bruni said Francis had had trouble breathing in recent days and went to the Gemelli hospital Wednesday for tests.“The tests showed a respiratory infection (COVID-19 infection excluded) that will require some days of medical treat...

Cruise lines’ new leaders have net-zero challenge on their mind

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:21:59 GMT

Richard Tribou | (TNS) Orlando SentinelThe powers that be for the big cruise lines have been handing off the reins since steering their companies through the pandemic with new CEOs in place, but while they are still chasing prepandemic profits, a future with net-zero emissions by 2050 remains a specter that doesn’t have an obvious solution, yet.“After three very long years, it’s so great to be making money,” said Jason Liberty, who took over as President & CEO for Royal Caribbean Group when Richard Fain stepped down last year. “It’s been an incredible journey, last year to stand up our entire fleet, getting our occupancy back to where we are making money again.”Liberty was among the leaders on stage for the State of the Global Cruise Industry presentation during the Seatrade Cruise Global conference held at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Tuesday.He was joined by conference newcomer Carnival Corp. President, CEO & Chief Climate Officer Jo...

Bruins notebook: Jakob Lauko survives close call

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:21:59 GMT

Jakub Lauko is thanking his lucky stars for knee braces.That’s all the feisty Bruin wing could think about when he reflected on the hard crash on the forecheck he survived in Sunday’s 4-3 shootout win over the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena.While he would miss a game because he tweaked something in his back that he appears to be already over, Lauko – like anyone watching – was a lot more concerned with how his right knee bent awkwardly as the weight of his body came down on the leg while his left leg got tangled up as well.“I was definitely shocked. It was a hard impact and it was like, ‘Oh, something’s not right,’ ” said Lauko.At first he appeared to be badly injured as laid face down on the ice, but he eventually got up and was able to skate off the ice with some assistance.After two days off the ice, he skated with the team on Wednesday at the Garden and has a chance to get back in the lineup on Thursday against Columbus.Lauko suffered a left knee ...

Elon Musk, tech leaders call for halt in ‘dangerous race’ to further AI research

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:21:59 GMT

Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak and other tech industry leaders called for a brief pause in artificial intelligence research in an open letter publicized Wednesday.“Should we let machines flood our information channels with propaganda and untruth?” the letter reads. “Should we develop nonhuman minds that might eventually outnumber, outsmart, obsolete and replace us? Should we risk loss of control of our civilization?”The letter was issued in response to OpenAI’s GPT-4, the artificial intelligence engine behind ChatGPT. The signees want a six-month pause on “the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4.”In a recent statement, OpenAI leaders said, “At some point, it may be important to get independent review before starting to train future systems.” The letter’s authors responded: “We agree. That point is now.”Even though many artificial intelligence pioneers signed the letter, no one from OpenAI joined them, according to TechCrunch.“In some sense, this is preaching to the choir,” Ope...

Sweep underway to remove homeless encampments downtown

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:21:59 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A major cleanup is happening in downtown San Diego as city crews clear homeless encampments over safety concerns. The cleanup began Monday and will continue for the next few days, according to a spokesperson from the City of San Diego. They say with high level of traffic expected from major events, they are hoping to avoid altercations. It’s part of a major cleanup effort according to the city of San Diego over safety concerns. They say with major events like Padres Opening Day, the city wants to minimize altercations among those attending the events and those living on the streets. Fletcher admits affair but denies allegations in lawsuit "Special events should not be dictating homelessness policy," homeless advocate Michael McConnell told FOX 5. "It’s certainly not good to have people living on the sidewalk but it’s insane to be spending tons of money -- all those city workers, all those police officers that should be doing other things. It makes no sense to be spend...

VIDEO: Flag-waving Padres fan gears up for Opening Day in East Village

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:21:59 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A Padres super fan is gearing up for Opening Day from his high-rise balcony in East Village.Known as "the flag guy," Brett Stang can be seen rooting on the Padres during most home games while waving a giant Padres flag from his condo, which is located next to Petco Park. Read more: Padres 2023 Opening Day According to Stang, the flag waving fun started back in 2020 when spectators weren't allowed to watch games within the stadium due to pandemic restrictions. The local said in an attempt to get the attention of the Padres players, he and his wife came up with the idea.The super fan's team spirit caught the attention of local sports broadcasters like Mark Grant and Don Orsillo, who chat with the Stang often during home games in San Diego. They've even given him requests on flag movements and directions to hype up onlookers What is the forecast for Padres Opening Day? FOX 5's Heather Lake joined Stang on his balcony Wednesday to get a first-hand look at his flag wavi...

First Nations leaders demand meeting with premier over mining, removed from chamber

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:21:59 GMT

Two First Nation leaders were removed from Ontario’s legislative chamber on Wednesday for shouting at Premier Doug Ford to meet with them over mining concerns in the province’s north.Dozens of members of five First Nations descended upon Queen’s Park to voice their concerns over the Progressive Conservative government’s plans to expand mining operations on and around their lands in the so-called Ring of Fire region.Those plans include the province’s intention to build a road to the Ring of Fire and mine the large swath of land in northern Ontario that is said to rich in critical minerals, which the government wants to use in its push to build electric vehicles.“There will be no Ring of Fire!” incoming Neskantaga First Nation Chief Chris Moonias bellowed from one of the galleries in the legislative chamber.Outgoing Neskantaga Chief Wayne Moonias said there will be no development on First Nation land without consent.NDP Indigenous affairs crit...

UAE leader designates his eldest son as crown prince

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:21:59 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the United Arab Emirates, appointed his eldest son Khaled as crown prince of Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, placing him as next in line to take over as the leader of the federation.The state-run WAM news agency announced the appointment of Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as crown prince late Wednesday, without providing further details.After Sheikh Mohammed, 62, who is commonly known as MBZ, ascended to the presidency last year, rumors swirled about whether he would make one of his brothers his heir. In that case, the front-runners would have been Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed, the powerful national security chief, Sheikh Mansour, the owner of the Manchester City football club, or the foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah.Instead, he appears to concentrating power within his immediate family, as Saudi Arabia’s King Salman did by delegating wide-ranging powers to his son and heir, Crown Princ...

‘A crisis’: Calgary charity seeks one-month homes for Ukrainian refugees after influx

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:21:59 GMT

CALGARY — After six months under Russian occupation, Dmytro Syrman and his family decided to flee Ukraine for a safer life abroad and are now in Calgary. The family lived in Dniprorudne, a mining city of 17,000 in southern Ukraine. Syrman worked as a human resources manager at an iron factory.In August, Syrman, his wife, Anastasiia, and four-year-old daughter Varvara embarked on a six-day, 3,000-kilometre drive to Poland.“On the 24 of February, when the Russian army attacked Ukraine and occupied our city in March 2022, we lost everything,” Syrman said Wednesday. He said they began planning their escape when they realized Russian soldiers weren’t leaving their city.  “We started all of this because we were scared for Varvara,” he said. “When Russian bombs were falling near our city it was really scary.”Their home is still under Russian occupation.For the past year the family stayed in Poland, sent in their paperwork to come to Canada, and two...