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After devastating 2022 hurricane season, AAA not renewing some insurance policies in Florida

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:52 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — AAA won’t renew “a very small percentage” of homeowners and auto insurance policies in hurricane-wracked Florida, joining other insurers in limiting their exposure in the Sunshine State despite efforts by lawmakers to calm the volatile insurance market, the company said Tuesday.AAA said in a statement that it wasn’t leaving Florida, but that last year’s devastating hurricane season had led to an “unprecedented” rise in reinsurance rates, making it more costly to operate.Officials with the company refused to say how many policies in Florida wouldn’t be renewed but said that they were “higher exposure” package policies which bundle homeowners and auto policies and were underwritten by Auto Club Insurance Company of Florida. An AAA spokesman wouldn’t explain how the company defined “higher exposure,” when asked.“This is a decision we do not take lightly,” the AAA statement said. “We acknowledge that this is a difficult time for those a...

Facebook parent Meta makes public its ChatGPT rival LLaMA

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:52 GMT

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) — Facebook parent company Meta Platforms has built an artificial intelligence system that rivals the likes of ChatGPT and Google’s Bard but it’s taking a different approach: releasing it for free.Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday that the company is partnering with Microsoft to introduce the next generation of its AI large language model and making the technology, known as LLaMA 2, free for research and commercial use.Much like tech peers Google and Microsoft, the social media company has long had a big research team of computer scientists devoted to advancing AI technology. But it’s been overshadowed as the release of ChatGPT sparked a rush to profit off of “generative AI” tools that can create new prose, images and other media.Meta has also tried to distinguish itself by being more open than some of its Big Tech rivals about offering a peek at the data and code it uses to build AI systems. It has argued that such openness makes it easi...

EU plans €20B fund to stock Ukraine’s military for years

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:52 GMT

The EU will propose a dedicated fund to keep Ukraine’s military stocked for the next four years at a cost of up to €20 billion, according to five diplomats familiar with the plan. The proposal would not involve the EU directly paying for Ukraine’s weapons. Instead, Brussels would help countries cover their own costs of purchasing and donating items such as ammunition, missiles and tanks. It also would help pay to train Ukrainian soldiers. It’s an approach the EU adopted shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine. But the new proposal, drafted by the EU’s diplomatic service, would effectively turbocharge the strategy.To start, the price tag would be a major commitment for the EU, potentially increasing by nearly five times the €4 billion the bloc has allocated thus far for similar efforts over the last year-plus. It also would cement an ideological sea change for the EU, a self-described peace project. Before Russia invaded Ukraine, the concept...

Russian command structure ‘confusing at best’ after Wagner mutiny, says top US general

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:52 GMT

The Russian military’s command structure is “confusing at best” after last month’s failed rebellion led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of the Wagner mercenary group, a top U.S. general said on Tuesday.Thousands of Prigozhin’s soldiers have been deeply involved in the Ukraine conflict. But those troops are now handing over their weapons to the Russian military, in an apparent end to their operations in Ukraine.The failed mutiny that ended with Prigozhin’s exile has thrown Russia’s military command structure into disarray, Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley told reporters at the Pentagon.“The command-and-control apparatus at the strategic level is certainly confusing at best and probably challenging,” Milley said.The fallout from the rebellion, in addition to logistics problems, “significant” officer casualties and poor training, have contributed to eroding morale among Russian forces, Milley said.Russian troops have had several months to boost their defenses in Ukraine, including layin...

State House evacuated due to electrical fire in capitol building’s basement

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:52 GMT

Staff and lawmakers were evacuated from the Massachusetts State House after a fire was discovered in a transformer room, according to officials.Massachusetts State Police say the building was evacuated and nearly all surrounding streets on Beacon Hill were closed as crews responded to what appeared to be an electrical fire that broke out around 2:15 p.m. in a sub-basement at the capitol building.An MSP spokesperson said there were smoky conditions in parts of the building and that as of 3 p.m., firefighters were waiting for utility workers to cut power “before they make entry to extinguish the fire.”Multiple Boston fire engines could be seen parked around the structure as authorities responded. According to a staffer who spoke with 7NEWS, the afternoon evacuation was the second of the day after fire alarms went off earlier in the morning.Personnel later returned to the building after learning the first incident was an apparent false alarm, leading to some initially ign...

‘Something out of a horror movie’: Mother and boyfriend accused of imprisoning children in Milwaukee home for years

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:52 GMT

MILWAUKEE (WDJT) — A Milwaukee mother and her boyfriend are facing multiple felony charges for allegedly imprisoning two children in their home for years.Katie Koch, 34, is the mother of the children. She’s facing four felony counts and two misdemeanors connected to child neglect and false imprisonment. Joel Manke, 38, is facing four felony counts.According to the criminal complaint, another neighbor first saw the children looking through a shattered window last Thursday, July 13, then climb onto the air conditioning unit. They then jumped into the yard and walked down the street naked.A child witness said the children — two boys ages 7 and 9 — “were acting like cavemen, like they had never seen the sun before.”On Monday, July 17, neighbors described what they saw when the children escaped the home.Christine Eder lives across the street. She said it looked like “they had never been outside before. If they have been, it’s been a very lo...

Phoenix hits at least 110 for 19th straight day, breaking U.S. city records in worldwide heat wave

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:52 GMT

By SETH BORENSTEIN and ANITA SNOW (Associated Press)PHOENIX (AP) — The extreme heat scorching Phoenix set a new record Tuesday, the 19th consecutive day temperatures hit at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 Celsius) in a summer of suffering echoing around much of the globe.As human-caused climate change and a newly formed El Nino are combining to shatter heat records worldwide, the Phoenix region stands apart among major metropolitan areas in the U.S.No other major city – defined as the 25 most populous in the United States – has had any streak of 110-degree days or 90-degree nights longer than Phoenix, said weather historian Christopher Burt of the Weather Company.National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climate data scientists Russ Vose and Ken Kunkel found no large cities with that streak of warming, but smaller places such as Death Valley and Needles, California; and Casa Grande, Arizona, have had longer streaks. Death Valley has had an 84-day streak of 1...

Waiting for ‘Oppenheimer?’ Here are 10 films about the bomb to watch now

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:52 GMT

The atomic bomb has such a rich role in film history, we’re kind of surprised it doesn’t have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame yet.This week’s opening of Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” adds one more compelling chapter to the tradition. And what a compelling and extensive tradition it is. By our count, nearly 150 feature films, documentaries and series have been made that address nuclear weapons or atomic power either directly or metaphorically, and many more that use the weapon as a plot device.And there’s no mystery as to why. Few devices or developments in science offer such a fertile mix of intrigue, wonderment and abject terror. The idea that splitting an atom – the tiny, basic compound of all matter – can trigger the end of all life as we know it can, and should, keep us all up at night.And unlike vicious space aliens or homicidal supercomputers, this is no hypothetical boogeyman we’re talking about, but a run-of-the-mill, everyday science that we use to run our laptops ...

Mayo Clinic Minute: Plant-based diet is encouraged for patients with cancer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:52 GMT

Deb Balzer | (TNS) Mayo Clinic News NetworkFor patients diagnosed with cancer, is there one diet that is better than another? Dr. Dawn Mussallem, an integrative health specialist at Mayo Clinic, says it’s not about one food or diet, but rather a dietary pattern that emphasizes a predominant plant-based diet that is high in fiber. And, Dr. Mussallem says, 97% of Americans aren’t getting enough fiber.“It’s the dietary pattern that the organizations, such as the American Institute for Cancer Research and the American Cancer Society, recommend is a plant-predominant diet that has an emphasis on whole foods,” says Dr. Mussallem.That includes a variety of fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts, and seeds,“It’s good to have whole grains, not processed grains, but whole grains,” she says.Skip ultraprocessed foods. Limit or avoid red and processed meats. The American Cancer Society says it’s unknown if there is a safe leve...

Which Chicago White Sox pitchers could be on the move by the trade deadline? Taking a look at the possibilities.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:52 GMT

Pitching is always a priority for contenders at the trade deadline.And the Chicago White Sox could have plenty to offer.While the Sox just completed one of their best series of the season, taking two of three from the Atlanta Braves, they have not been able to dig themselves out of the destructive 7-21 start to 2023.The Sox, who begin a three-game series Tuesday against the New York Mets at Citi Field, are 15 games under .500 at 40-55. They are in fourth place in the American League Central, 8 1/2 games behind the division-leading Minnesota Twins.That’s led to speculation they will be selling as the Aug. 1 trade deadline approaches. Here’s a look at some of the possible sought-after hurlers.StartersLucas Giolito had a disappointing 2022. He’s returned to form this season, ranking in the top 15 in the AL in categories such as ERA (11th, 3.45), strikeouts (10th, 117), innings (tied for 11th, 112 1/3) and WHIP (15th, 1.14).The right-hander, who received AL Cy Young Aw...