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New tower at surfing venue in Tahiti blowing up again as problem issue for Paris Olympic organizers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Organizers of the Paris Olympics said Wednesday that building work will continue on a new tower for judges and TV cameras at the surfing venue in Tahiti despite the sport’s governing body saying it no longer supports the controversial project.The International Surfing Association announced Tuesday that it doesn’t want the tower to be built in the lagoon at Teahupo’o, chosen for the Olympic surfing competitions next July because of its world-famous giant waves.The federation posted on social media that alternatives should be found. It cited “the likelihood that any new construction on the reef will have an impact on the natural environment” and what it said is a lack of support among Tahitians for the tower. The ISA suggested that judges could instead follow the competitions from a tower built on land, rather than in the lagoon with pristine waters and shallow reefs.Campaigners in Tahiti fear that transporting the aluminum tower into...

Poland’s new government moves to free state media from previous team’s political control

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s new pro-European Union government said Wednesday that it had changed the directors of state television, radio and the government-run news agency as it embarked on the path of freeing publicly-owned media from the political control of the previous nationalist conservative administration. The Cabinet of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, which took office last week, has made it a priority to restore objectivity and free expression in state media, which the previous government, under the Law and Justice party, used as aggressive propaganda tools, attacking Tusk and the opposition and spreading its euroskeptic views. The new government’s first steps toward a return to media freedom were met with protest by Law and Justice. Party leader Jarosław Kaczyński and many lawmakers occupied buildings housing the offices of state-run television TVP in the hopes that their supporters would come out to demonstrate in big numbers. While that didn’t happen, some of...

Three of the biggest porn sites must verify ages to protect kids under Europe’s new digital law

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Three of the world’s biggest porn websites face new requirements in the European Union that include verifying the ages of users, the 27-nation bloc said Wednesday, expanding the reach of its digital law designed to keep people safe on the internet. Pornhub, XVideos and Stripchat have now been classed as very large online platforms under the Digital Services Act because they have more than 45 million users each, according to the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch. The three companies did not respond immediately to requests for comment. They are the first porn sites to be targeted by the sweeping Digital Services Act, which imposes tough obligations to keep users safe from illegal content and dodgy products.Violations are punishable by fines of up to 6% of global revenue or even a ban on operating in the EU. Some 19 online platforms and search engines have already been identified for stricter scrutiny under the DSA, including TikTok, Amazon, Faceb...

Abuse in the machine: Study shows AI image-generators being trained on explicit photos of children

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

Hidden inside the foundation of popular artificial intelligence image-generators are thousands of images of child sexual abuse, according to a new report that urges companies to take action to address a harmful flaw in the technology they built.Those same images have made it easier for AI systems to produce realistic and explicit imagery of fake children as well as transform social media photos of fully clothed real teens into nudes, much to the alarm of schools and law enforcement around the world.Until recently, anti-abuse researchers thought the only way that some unchecked AI tools produced abusive imagery of children was by essentially combining what they’ve learned from two separate buckets of online images — adult pornography and benign photos of kids. But the Stanford Internet Observatory found more than 3,200 images of suspected child sexual abuse in the giant AI database LAION, an index of online images and captions that’s been used to train leading AI image-ma...

You can use your home or car as collateral to get a credit card. Should you?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

Secured credit cards are a credit-building solution for people with bad or limited credit. Approval for a secured credit card is largely based on one’s ability to put up the cash deposit, usually $200-$300, which becomes the card’s credit limit.But a deposit requirement can present financial hardship. Cardholders get the full deposit back when they close the account or upgrade to another card from the same issuer, but not everyone can afford to tie up cash indefinitely.Some financial technology companies are offering solutions for limited liquidity: asset-secured cards. Credit limits on these cards are backed by collateral like fine jewelry, a car or home equity. As such, credit lines on asset-secured cards can be higher, and interest rates may be lower, compared with a traditional secured card.As asset-secured cards have solved one problem, they’ve created a few more. Some of these cards require cardholders to send away their collateral items or car title. A bigger credit line mean...

Man, 55, hit by 2 different vehicles while crossing street on Northwest Side

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — A 55-year-old man is critically injured after being struck by two different vehicles while crossing the street on the city's Northwest Side.It happened just before 1 a.m. Wednesday in the 4100 block of West Irving Park.According to police, the man was crossing the street and was struck by a gray pickup truck that was traveling eastbound. The driver then fled the scene.The man was then struck by a black Jeep that was traveling eastbound. Police said the male driver stopped and called authorities. 3 injured in high-rise fire in Uptown The man sustained trauma to the body and was transported to Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital in critical condition.Area Four Detectives are investigating.

These 10 cities saw the biggest changes in home buying power in 2023

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – With mortgage rates stubbornly climbing for much of 2023, prospective buyers in many U.S. cities watched as their dream home faded further out of reach – but in some cities house shoppers actually saw their buying power increase.A new study from online real estate marketplace Point2 looked at census data for the 100 largest U.S. cities to see how the average affordable home price changed from Nov. 2022 to Nov. 2023.When it comes to defining an "affordable" home, the study assumed a 20% down payment, a 30-year fixed mortgage and monthly payments less than 30% of income. These are the safest small towns and cities in every state: report After factoring in the different mortgage rates (7% in 2022 vs. 7.5% in November, 2023), Point2 found that buying power actually increased in a number of high-priced real estate markets, thanks in part to income growth. In top-ranked Irvine, California, buyers can afford a $498,161 home in 2023, on average, up $53,051 from last year's fi...

Rain chances increase late week through Christmas Eve

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Today marks day 1 of a 5-day stretch of rainfall opportunities courtesy of a major Pacific storm spinning off the West Coast.Mist, drizzle and patchy fog could slow this morning's commute but little in the way of meaningful accumulation is expected. Isolated rain showers are possible through the day but most are expected to stay dry today.Wednesday afternoon rain chanceOur first of two distinct rounds of rain builds in Thursday into Friday. Spotty to scattered rain is expected to develop, growing in coverage and intensity overnight into Friday morning.No flooding or severe weather is anticipated at this time.Thursday afternoon rain chanceFriday morning rain chanceA strong Pacific storm will finally approach us from the west late week, opening up to our north this weekend. This will give us our second round of rain Saturday into Sunday.Warmer than normal through the weekendA cold front sweeps through the area late Sunday, clearing out the rain and dropping temperatur...

Trump widens Texas lead in Republican primary poll, but loses ground in matchup vs. Biden

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Donald Trump has widened his lead among Republican presidential primary candidates in a new Texas poll, but has lost some ground in a hypothetical rematch against President Joe Biden.The former president enjoys a wide lead over party rivals, as the first-choice candidate for 65% of Republican voters in Texas, according to the poll by the University of Texas/Texas Politics Project. His share is up by three percentage points since October. Who’s running for president? Here’s a look at the candidates still in the race Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is in a very distant second place with 12%, down one point from October. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is up two points, to 9% in the latest poll.Vivek Ramaswamy and Chris Christie each gained one point since October.The poll of 552 registered voters who say they will vote in the Republican primary was conducted between Dec. 1 and Dec. 10.How do the Republican candidates fare against Biden?The poll also asked 1,200 regi...

Signing day tracker: Members of Gophers football’s 2024 recruiting class officially join

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

The Gophers football program started officially adding high school players to its 2024 recruiting class on Wednesday morning.Here’s who signed their national letters of intent and a little blurb about each player.RELATED: Breakdown of Gophers recruiting class: strength, weakness, sleeper and more6:05 a.m.: SAF — Zahir Rainer, Richmond, Va., 5-10 185The son of former NFL linebacker Wali Rainer had more than 30 scholarship offers, but picked the U over his father’s alma mater (Virginia) and other suitors.6:10 a.m.: CB — Samuel Madu, Bronx, N.Y., 6-1, 170Gophers cornerbacks coach Nick Monroe uses his East Coast connections to bring in a corner with good size.6:21 a.m.: DL — Jaylin Hicks, New Rochelle, N.Y. 6-3, 250Another New Yorker comes to Dinkytown after turning down in-state scholarship offer from Syracuse, as well as Penn State and other eastern programs.6:23 a.m.: RB — Ohifame Ijeboi, Philadelphia, 6-0, 190The speedy tailback joins over offers from Nebraska, Northwestern, Rutgers...