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Thousands of Armenians flee Nagorno-Karabakh as Turkish president visits Azerbaijan

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:39 GMT

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Thousands of Armenians streamed out of Nagorno-Karabakh after the Azerbaijani military reclaimed full control of the breakaway region while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Azerbaijan Monday in a show of support to its ally. The Azerbaijani military routed Armenian forces in a 24-hour blitz last week, forcing the separatist authorities to agree to lay down weapons and start talks on Nagorno-Karabakh’s “reintegration” into Azerbaijan after three decades of separatist rule. A second round of talks between Azerbaijani officials and separatist representatives began in Khojaly Tuesday following the opening meeting last week. While Azerbaijan pledged to respect the rights of ethnic Armenians in the region and restore supplies after a 10-month blockade, many local residents feared reprisals and said they were planning to leave for Armenia.The Armenian government said that 4,850 Nagorno-Karabakh residents had fled to Armenia as of midday Monday.“I...

Amazon is investing up to $4 billion in AI startup Anthropic in growing tech battle

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:39 GMT

Amazon is investing up to $4 billion in Anthropic and taking a minority stake in the artificial intelligence startup, the two companies said Monday. The investment underscores how Big Tech companies are pouring money into AI as they race to capitalize on the opportunities that the latest generation of the technology is set to fuel. Amazon and Anthropic said the deal is part of a broader collaboration to develop so-called foundation models, which underpin the generative AI systems that have captured global attention. Foundation models, also known as large language models, are trained on vast pools of online information, like blog posts, digital books, scientific articles and pop songs to generate text, images and video that resemble human work. Under the agreement, Anthropic is making Amazon its primary cloud computing service and using the online retail giant’s custom chips as part of work to train and deploy its generative AI systems. San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded...

Motorcyclist killed in crash involving transport truck in Brampton

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:39 GMT

A man is dead after an early morning crash involving a motorcycle and a transport truck in Brampton.Emergency crews were called to the intersection of Airport Road and Clark Boulevard around 4 a.m. on Monday for reports of a crash.The motorcyclist, a man in his 60s, was pronounced dead at the scene. No other injuries were reported.Airport Road is closed in both directions at Clark for the investigation. Police say road closures will be in effect for several hours.It’s not clear what led to the crash. The investigation is ongoing.

Russia strikes Odesa, damaging port, grain infrastructure and abandoned hotel

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:39 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian drone and missile strike near Odesa damaged port infrastructure, a grain silo and an abandoned hotel and injured one person, as attacks on Ukraine killed four civilians and wounded 13 in the past day, Ukrainian officials said Monday.Ukraine’s air force reported downing all Russian drones overnight, but one of 12 Kalibr missiles and two P-800 Oniks cruise missiles apparently made it past air defenses the day after the war in Ukraine entered its 20th month.Russia has continuously targeted port and grain storage facilities in Odesa since pulling out of a deal that allowed Ukrainian grain exports to countries facing the threat of hunger. The attacks have destroyed silos, warehouses, oil terminals and other infrastructure critical for storage and shipping.In the south, Russian forces dropped bombs and launched six heavy artillery strikes on Kherson, destroying a school and factory and damaging residential buildings. Two people were killed and two othe...

South Korea breezes through first day of League of Legends competition in Asian Games esports

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:39 GMT

HANGZHOU, China (AP) — South Korea’s League of Legends team breezed through its first day of esports competition Monday at the Asian Games, bolstered by a strong performance by top player Lee Sang-hyeok.Lee, better known in the online gaming world as “Faker,” and his four teammates beat Hong Kong to open the day and then dispatched Kazakhstan in a one-sided match that lasted only about 17 minutes in an esport where tournament games are often double that.“Today’s games went really well, just as we had anticipated,” the 27-year-old Lee said.As the global games market continues to boom in numbers of players and revenue, esports takes its place this year at the Asian Games as a competition sport for the first time and so far it has been an audience favorite.League of Legends is one of the most popular games, where two teams of five powerful champions face each other in a bid to destroy the other’s base.Lee locked in the champion Yone for the game against Kazakhstan.For...

Shooting at Scarborough townhouse leaves man with life-threatening injuries

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:39 GMT

A man is fighting for his life in hospital after a shooting in Scarborough on Sunday night.Emergency crews were called to a townhouse complex the intersection of Morningside Avenue and Danzig Street, south of Lawrence Avenue East, around 11:15 p.m.A man in his 20s was found at the scene with gunshot wounds. Paramedics tell CityNews the victim was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries.No suspect information has been made available.The investigation is ongoing.

More schools are adopting 4-day weeks. Day 5 is a challenge for parents

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:39 GMT

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) — It's a Monday in September, but with schools closed, the three children in the Pruente household have nowhere to be. Callahan, 13, contorts herself into a backbend as 7-year-old Hudson fiddles with a balloon and 10-year-old Keegan plays the piano.Like a growing number of students around the U.S, the Pruente children are on a four-day school schedule, a change instituted this fall by their district in Independence, Missouri.To the kids, it's terrific. “I have a three-day break of school!” exclaimed Hudson.Hudson, 7, left, Callahan, 13, middle, and Keegan Pruente, 10, right, stand outside their school on their first Monday home during the new four-day school week on Monday, Sept. 11, 2023, in Independence, Mo. Hundreds of school systems around the country have adopted four-day weeks in recent years, mostly in rural and western parts of the U.S. Districts cite cost savings and advantages for teacher recruitment. Still, some experts question the effects on ...

Here's how many times the federal government has shut down

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:39 GMT

(The Hill) - There have been 21 federal government shutdowns in the last five decades, as Congress has until September 30th to pass a set of spending bills or come up with a short-term plan to avert a soon-to-be 22nd government shutdown. A government shutdown would lead to non-essential federal functions such as social security and SNAP benefits to be suspended and result in millions of federal employees to not receive pay during the shutdown. The soon-to-be approaching deadline has lead to division between the House Republicans. Multiple GOP factions in the chamber have different demands, with some GOP House members even threatening to call for a vote to remove House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from his leadership position. Here are the 21 times the federal government has experienced a shutdown. Year: 2019 President: Donald Trump The most recent federal government shutdown lasted for 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019, the longest shutdown per...

Oak Park Heights picks new city administrator from Illinois

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:39 GMT

Jacob Rife, former village administrator in the Village of Cary, Ill., has been tapped to be the next city administrator in Oak Park Heights.The Oak Park Heights City Council voted 5-0 to extend the offer to Rife, who worked for the Village of Cary for 15 years. He is expected to start Oct. 2, said Mayor Mary McComber.Jacob Rife (Courtesy of City of Oak Park Heights)“I’m really looking forward to working with him,” McComber said. “He was delightful, personable, extremely knowledgeable and empathic. Everyone in Cary has positive things to say about him.”Rife fills the position previously held by longtime administrator Eric Johnson whose last day on the job was Aug. 31.Rife said Friday he was looking forward to the opportunity.“Oak Park Heights is a beautiful community,” he said. “It has a great mayor and council. There’s a great staff, and I’m excited to get started and work with the team.”Rife was one of six finalists for the position. The others were: John H...

98.3 TRY Social Dilemma: Is it appropriate to kiss your friends on the lips?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:39 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Today's 98.3 TRY Social Dilemma came from Jason and it's about kissing. Here's the email: Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! Hi Jaime. I'm a divorced dad in the process of dating. I'm currently dating a woman who I really like. We've been together almost a year now. But she kisses her guy friends on the mouth hello and goodbye. I'm 46 and have never experienced this before. It isn't her culture, she's from Iowa. I let her know that's a hard boundary for me. It's hard because I don't want to be a controlling guy, but I don't like it. She does do it with girls too, and I think it's odd, but that doesn't bother me as much. I realize that may seem unfair, but I'm just being honest. Am I insecure? Maybe? She told me she would try, but she's done it forever. Well, it's been 2-months, and she hasn't slowed down at all. It seems like she doesn't care about my feelings. I'd like to think if she told me something wa...