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Devastating storm Daniel sweeps eastern Libya. At least 27 people reported dead

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:34:08 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — At least 27 people were reported dead Monday in eastern Libya after the Mediterranean storm Daniel caused devastating floods over the weekend in different parts of the North African nation. Authorities declared at least one city a disaster zone.Othman Abduljaleel, the health minister of the east Libya government, announced the death toll Monday afternoon in a telephone interview on the Saudi-owned satellite news channel Al-Arabiya. He said at least 50 others were missing.Abduljaleel said the tally didn’t include the city of Derna — declared a disaster zone — where the situation remained unclear as of Monday afternoon. The dead included 12 people in the eastern town of Bayda, the town’s main medical center said. Another seven people were reported dead in the coastal town of Susa in northeastern Libya, according to the Ambulance and Emergency Authority. Seven others were reported dead in the towns of Shahatt and Omar al-Mokhtar, the minister said.One other person was conf...

Inflection.ai CEO Mustafa Suleyman explains how to catch a ride on the ‘coming wave’ of technology

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:34:08 GMT

If you have watched a telecast involving basketball superstar LeBron James during the past 20 years, you probably have heard an announcer declare: “You can’t stop him, you can only hope to contain him.” That sentiment sums up how Inflection.ai CEO Mustafa Suleyman feels about artificial intelligence — a technology that he helped advance as a co-founder of DeepMind, which Google acquired in 2014.After leaving Google last year, Suleyman started Inflection with LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman in an effort to create artificial intelligence, or AI, that won’t veer into racist, sexist or violent behavior. Inflection’s first proof point is an AI-powered assistant named “Pi” that’s touted as a safer alternative to better known chatbots such as Open AI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard.Now Suleyman has co-written a book, “The Coming Wave,” focused on AI’s promise and need to limit its potential perils. He expanded upon his ideas in a recent interview with...

Photos: 1st snowfall spotted on Colorado peaks

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:34:08 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — It's starting to look like winter on top of some Colorado peaks. Monday morning, snow coated the mountaintops in Rocky Mountain National Park.Longs Peak, which sits at 14,259 feet, recorded snow just before 7 a.m. Pinpoint Weather Meteorologist Chris Tomer said this was the peak's first snow of the season.The first snow of the season has fallen on Longs Peak on Sept. 11, 2023. (National Park Service)As of early Monday morning, temperatures on the peak reached 38 degrees with mostly cloudy skies and light winds. Be sure to check the weather forecast before you hike this fall, Longs Peak isn't the only snow-covered mountain. Will it snow in Denver in September? Snow covered another 14er on Monday morning. Pikes Peak summit appeared completely white as well with the temperature just above 40 degrees. Snow on Pikes Peak (Photo credits: Colorado Springs Pike Peaks summit web cam)Winter weather has also arrived at the Alpine Visitor Center in RMNP where Mount Chapin, Fal...

5 train tours near Denver to see the fall colors

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:34:08 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — The fall colors are starting to peak in the high country. The foliage out west can be at least an hour away from the metro, and long car rides are taxing. These five train tours allow you to sit back, relax and view the fall leaves as you leave the city behind.Rocky MountaineerLeaving from Union Station, the Rocky Mountaineer is a multi-day trip where you can travel from Denver to Moab with an overnight stay in Glenwood Springs. The train heads west, where fall colors should peak in mid-September to early October. Colorado fall colors forecast 2023: When and where to see peak colors California ZephyrHeading from Chicago to San Francisco, the California Zephyr stops at Union Station before heading toward Salt Lake City. If you have vacation days, check out the multi-day train ride which travels west near the fall foliage. Georgetown Loop RailroadLess than an hour away from Denver is a train loop day trip from Georgetown to Silver Plume. You can book a fall-themed t...

UCF student bitten by shark makes miraculous recovery, celebrates 22nd birthday with hopeful outlook

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:34:08 GMT

MELBOURNE, Fla. (WSVN) — Chris Pospisil, a determined University of Central Florida (UCF) student who faced a shark encounter off the coast of New Smyrna Beach in July, is now taking his first steps toward normalcy. After enduring a traumatic shark bite that severed multiple tendons and left a tooth embedded in his bone, Pospisil’s unwavering spirit and the skill of his medical team have allowed him to regain the use of his foot, just in time to celebrate his 22nd birthday.In July, Pospisil’s passion for surfing led him to the waves of New Smyrna Beach, a renowned surf spot on the Atlantic coast of Florida. However, his joyful ride turned into a life-altering event when a shark struck, causing severe injuries to his foot.For the past eight weeks, Pospisil has been on a challenging journey to recovery, facing both physical and emotional hurdles. He spoke about the difficulties he encountered. “There’s been ups and downs, some days where I’m kinda just de...

Morocco stalls on French earthquake aid amid strained relations

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:34:08 GMT

PARIS — Two days after a devastating earthquake killed roughly 2,500 people, Morocco is still considering France’s emergency aid offer, in a fresh sign of tense relations between the two countries.Rabat has accepted aid from several countries, including the U.K and Spain, but has so far not responded to an offer from Paris. Relations between France and Morocco have been strained for several months over issues of visas for Moroccan nationals, the recognition of Western Sahara and relations with Algeria.On Monday, French Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna said accepting aid was a sovereign decision and dismissed the questions over France’s offer as “an inappropriate controversy.”“Morocco hasn’t refused any aid, or any proposal. That’s not the way things should be presented,” she said on French channel BFMTV. Paris will also pledge €5 million for NGOs working in Morocco.Rescue workers are racing against the clock to find survivors still trapped under the rubble and get me...

We won’t cut China out of AI summit over spying scandal, UK says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:34:08 GMT

LONDON — Rishi Sunak’s government suggested it would not rescind a possible Chinese invite to the U.K.’s AI Safety Summit despite pressure to do so after police arrested a parliamentary aide on suspicion of spying for Beijing.Influential backbench MP Iain Duncan Smith had called on the government to ban China from its AI Safety Summit after the Sunday Times revealed that a parliamentary researcher with links to senior Conservatives had been arrested on suspicion of spying for China.The U.K. government has not confirmed China’s invite to the November summit, but talking to reporters on Monday, a No. 10 Downing Street spokesperson batted away calls to cut Beijing out. “AI knows no borders,” the spokesperson said.POLITICO previously reported that a Chinese presence is likely at the summit, despite pushback from key allies.The No. 10 spokesperson on Monday declined to say which countries would attend the summit, but emphasized the need for the U.K. to engage with China on issues includi...

Smucker is buying Twinkies maker Hostess for $5.6 billion

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:34:08 GMT

New York (CNN) — Hostess, the maker of Twinkies and Ho Hos, is being purchased by J.M. Smucker in a $5.6 billion deal.The two companies announced the transaction Monday, with the jelly maker saying that the purchase expands Smucker’s offerings of “beloved brands in growing categories and accelerates its focus on convenient consumer occasions.”Shares of Hostess (TWNK) soared 19% in early trading. The stock is already up 20% for the month after reports surfaced that the 94-year-old company was for sale. Hostess stockholders will get $30 in cash along with .03002 shares of Smucker’s stock for each Hostess share they own, with the deal expected to close in 2024.“We believe this is the right partnership to accelerate growth and create meaningful value for consumers, customers and shareholders,” Hostess CEO Andy Callahan said in a statement. “Our companies share highly complementary go-to market strategies, and we are very similar in our core business principles and operations.”In ad...

Escaped Pennsylvania killer stole a van over the weekend and tried to contact acquaintances, police say. Here’s where the search stands

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:34:08 GMT

(CNN) — Police working to track down a fugitive in Pennsylvania, now on the run for 12 days, are facing the reality of a much wider search, as the convicted killer moves farther from the prison, finds new ways to prolong his escape and evades capture.Despite the efforts of hundreds of law enforcement officers, Danelo Cavalcante, 34, slipped through a tightly-guarded perimeter over the weekend, stole a van, changed his appearance, and turned up on a doorbell camera more than 20 miles away, trying to make contact with acquaintances to aid his escape.Cavalcante on Saturday evening stole a 2020 Ford Transit van about three-quarters of a mile from the search perimeter in and around Longwood Gardens, about 35 miles west of Philadelphia, and traveled to the East Pikeland Township home of an acquaintance he’d known several years ago, Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said in a Sunday news conference.He spoke with the acquaintance on a Ring doorbell camera, ...

Hurricane Lee forecast to get larger and slow down ahead of decisive turn to the north

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:34:08 GMT

(CNN) — Major Hurricane Lee will continue to grow in size and slow down ahead of a crucial northward turn midweek, which will determine the extent and severity of its impact on the Northeast, New England, Bermuda and Canada.Lee was a 120-mph, Category 3 hurricane on Monday morning, located well north of the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico in the Atlantic Ocean. Its intensity could oscillate over the next couple of days as it stalls out before its turn to the north, but is expected to weaken as it does so.The final track of the storm after it passes by Bermuda on Thursday or Friday remains highly uncertain because the slowdown is also delaying key forecast details. Exactly when, where and how fast Lee makes its northward turn will determine how close it tracks to the East Coast on its nearest approach over the weekend – details that could come more into focus as soon as Wednesday.If Lee tracks farther to the west before its northward turn, areas north of the Carolinas ...