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FTC: Facebook misled parents, failed to guard kids’ privacy

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:19:37 GMT

U.S. regulators say Facebook misled parents and failed to protect the privacy of children using its Messenger Kids app, including misrepresenting the access it provided to app developers to private user data. As a result, The Federal Trade Commision on Wednesday proposed sweeping changes to a 2020 privacy order with Facebook — now called Meta — that would prohibit it from profiting from data it collects on users under 18. This would include data collected through its virtual-reality products. The FTC said the company has failed to fully comply with the 2020 order. Meta would also be subject to other limitations, including with its use of face-recognition technology and be required to provide additional privacy protections for its users.“Facebook has repeatedly violated its privacy promises,” said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The company’s recklessness has put young users at risk, and Facebook needs to answer for its failures.”Meta called the a...

Scientists warn of AI dangers but don’t agree on solutions

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:19:37 GMT

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Computer scientists who helped build the foundations of today’s artificial intelligence technology are warning of its dangers, but that doesn’t mean they agree on what those dangers are or how to prevent them. After retiring from Google so he could speak more freely, so-called Godfather of AI Geoffrey Hinton plans to outline his concerns Wednesday at a conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He’s already voiced regrets about his work and doubt about humanity’s survival if machines get smarter than people.Fellow AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio, co-winner with Hinton of the top computer science prize, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he’s “pretty much aligned” with Hinton’s concerns brought on by chatbots such as ChatGPT and related technology, but worries that to simply say “We’re doomed” is not going to help.“The main difference, I would say, is he’s kind of a pessimistic person, and I’m more on the optimisti...

Pompeii chariot stars in Rome exhibit probing ancient roots

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:19:37 GMT

ROME (AP) — A meticulously reconstructed Pompeii bridal chariot that eluded the ancient city’s modern-day looters is a star of an ambitious new exhibition in Rome, which invites viewers to reflect on today’s connections with classical Roman and Greek civilizations.Shown for the first time to the public since it was discovered in 2021 under four meters (13 feet) of volcanic ash, the four-wheeled chariot features silver and bronze decorations, including of erotic scenes. The chariot was found under the ruins of a villa just outside Pompeii, an excavation prompted by the discovery that artifact thieves were tunneling through the area in hopes of finding saleable ancient loot. Wooden parts of the chariot, like the sideboards, didn’t survive the A.D. 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius that ended Pompeii’s run as a thriving, enterprising Roman city. But to reconstruct what didn’t survive of the chariot, experts used same the pioneering technique that have been employed ...

Ottawa announces new framework for 5G spectrum licensing to improve connectivity

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:19:37 GMT

Ottawa says a new licensing policy will make it easier for small internet service providers and rural, remote and Indigenous communities to access 5G spectrum.Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne says the non-competitive local licensing framework will provide a broad range of users, including businesses and industries, with the opportunity to acquire spectrum licences in localized areas across the country.This will mean users benefit from improved connectivity in areas as small as a single farm, factory, university campus or shopping centre.Ottawa says a farm could use this spectrum for a private network to bolster automated operations such as crop tracking or product traceability.Last June, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada launched a licensing framework consultation with the goal of promoting competition and innovation in the lead-up to a spectrum auction planned for 2024.ISED says it is working to implement the new framework for users by next year.This ...

Patrick Mahomes’ brother Jackson charged with sexual battery

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:19:37 GMT

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Jackson Mahomes, the brother of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, was booked into jail Wednesday on aggravated sexual battery charges over an alleged altercation at a Kansas restaurant in late February.Jackson Mahomes, 22, was charged Tuesday with three counts of aggravated sexual battery and one count of battery, online court records show. He was being held on $100,000 bond and was due to make an initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon. Under his bond conditions, he won’t be allowed to discuss his case publicly once he’s released.The probable cause affidavit in the case was not immediately available. But The Kansas City Star reported that police previously confirmed they were investigating a Feb. 25 incident involving Jackson Mahomes at a restaurant in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, Kansas.Jackson Mahomes’ attorney, Brandan Joseph Davies, said in a statement that the court prohibited him and his client from comment...

Ukraine denies Russian claim Kyiv sent drones to hit Kremlin

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:19:37 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia claimed it foiled an attack by Ukrainian drones on the Kremlin early Wednesday, calling it an unsuccessful assassination attempt against President Vladimir Putin and promising retaliation for what it termed a “terrorist” act. The Ukrainian president denied it, saying: “We don’t attack Putin or Moscow.”Putin wasn’t in the Kremlin at the time and was at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti.There was no independent verification of the purported attack, which Russia authorities said occurred overnight but presented no evidence to support it. Questions also arose as to why it took the Kremlin hours to report the incident and why videos of it also surfaced later in the day.A video posted overnight on a local Moscow news Telegram channel, shot from across the river from the Kremlin, appeared to show smoke rising over the buildings. It wasn’t possible to ascertain its veracity. A...

Teamsters oust suburban board after more than $1M in questionable expenses

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:19:37 GMT

BURR RIDGE, Ill. — The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has removed leaders of Local 731 based in suburban Burr Ridge after an audit turned up questionable and excessive spending on everything from steak to booze and bonuses. It totaled well over $1 million.A letter sent by Teamsters general president Sean O’Brien to local members said an audit found Local 731’s board gave itself nearly $304,000 in bonuses over five years without the required approval of membership.  More Coverage: WGN Investigates Auditors also questioned nearly $66,000 in spending they said was excessive or unrelated to union business. It includes two visits to Gibsons Bar and Steakhouse that racked up a total tab of $37,000, including nearly $16,000 in alcohol. The audit also questioned $924,000 in donations and contributions the union made in recent years without membership approval.“The violations and wrongdoing identified above are not a complete list,” O’Brien wrote in the letter to members. “It is cl...

US approves 1st vaccine for RSV after decades of attempts

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:19:37 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. approved the first vaccine for RSV on Wednesday, shots to protect older adults against a respiratory virus that’s most notorious for attacking babies but endangers their grandparents, too.The Food and Drug Administration decision makes GSK’s shot, called Arexvy, the first of several potential vaccines in the pipeline for RSV to be licensed anywhere.The move sets the stage for adults 60 and older to get vaccinated this fall — but first, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must decide if every senior really needs RSV protection or only those considered at high risk from the respiratory syncytial virus. CDC’s advisers will debate that question in June.After decades of failure in the quest for an RSV vaccine, doctors are anxious to finally have something to offer — especially after a virus surge that strained hospitals last fall.“This is a great first step ... to protect older persons from serious RSV disease,” said Dr. William Schaffner, medical di...

Convicted sex offender accused of loitering near Elmhurst school

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:19:37 GMT

WHEATON, Ill. — A Villa Park man currently on probation for possession of child porn is accused of loitering near an Elmhurst high school on at least three occasions, prosecutors in DuPage County said. The arrest comes after Elmhurst police said the department received several reports of young girls being watched and followed by a man while leaving school. Police identified the suspect as 36-year-old Yuusef Husain.SEE ALSO | Sheriff: Wisconsin man pretended to be in Marines while in prison, takes thousands from girlfriend and her familyAccording to police, from April 12 through April 28, between 3:45 p.m. and 3:55 p.m., Husain was within five hundred feet of the school on multiple occasions for several minutes.Husain was taken into custody Tuesday morning while allegedly driving around York Community High School neighborhoods while students were waiting at their bus stops, prosecutors added. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlinesHusain is charged with one felony count of unlawful ...

10-year-olds found working at McDonald's in Kentucky: Labor Department

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:19:37 GMT

(The Hill) – The Labor Department found two 10-year-olds among more than 300 minors working at numerous McDonald’s locations in four states. The department said in a Tuesday release that its Wage and Hour Division found the two 10-year-olds working at a location in Louisville, Ky. The division found that three franchisees — Bauer Food LLC, Archways Richwood LLC and Bell Restaurant Group I LLC — employed 305 children to work more hours than legally permitted and perform tasks that federal law prohibits. The children were found to be working in 62 locations operated by the three franchisees in Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland and Ohio. The franchisees were fined more than $212,000 in total. “Too often, employers fail to follow the child labor laws that protect young workers,” said Karen Garnett-Civils, the Labor division's district director in Louisville. “Under no circumstances should there ever be a 10-year-old child working in a fast-food kitchen around hot grills, ovens ...