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Walters: Tech, labor trade-offs create dilemma for California’s economy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:53:28 GMT

When Hollywood writers initially went on strike against film and television studios, it was for traditional reasons such as pay and working conditions.Ultimately, however, the stickiest issue was how much, if anything, the studios could employ artificial intelligence to produce scripts, thereby reducing input from human beings and the need for their talents.It was an important skirmish in a larger conflict over whether technology and corporate consolidation make the economy more productive and globally competitive, or create multitudes of unemployable workers.Resisting technology and other labor-saving corporate moves to preserve jobs has become, as the writers’ strike demonstrated, a major goal for labor unions, both in contract bargaining and the political arena. And California, not surprisingly, is on the front lines.Last year, for instance, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature agreed to spend more money on improving efficiency at the state’s ports, hoping to improve their compe...

Live updates | Cantlay responds to more fan ribbing by going 1 up over Rose at Ryder Cup

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:53:28 GMT

GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy (AP) — Patrick Cantlay is still being targeted by fans at the Ryder Cup following a report that he wants to be paid to play in golf’s biggest team event.“Money, money, money” and “Cheat” were some of the shouts heard from the massive grandstand surrounding the 1st tee at Marco Simone before Cantlay’s singles match against Justin Rose on Sunday.Cantlay responded by making a 25-foot putt for a birdie on the par-4 2nd to go 1 up over Rose.The report alleged that Cantlay is not wearing a U.S. team cap as a form of protest. Cantlay said on Saturday that there’s no truth to the report and simply the hat isn’t a good fit for him.There was also some controversy over the way Cantlay’s caddie, Joe LaCava, celebrated a win in Saturday’s fourballs.“Stay out of his line, Joe,” was also heard from the gallery.Europe leads 10½ to 5½ and needs to win only four points from the 12 singles matches to regain the cup.___Jon Rahm got Europe off to a strong start in ...

Fan fervor assured at rare Champions League home games for Newcastle, Lens and Union Berlin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:53:28 GMT

For their first home games in the Champions League in more than 20 years, Newcastle and Lens will walk out to rousing ovations in their famously noisy stadiums this week.Union Berlin makes its Champions League debut in the borrowed 75,000-capacity Olympic Stadium that will be a raucous home in the competition for a team that played in the German third tier as recently as 2010.Don’t tell fans at these three clubs the Champions League group-stage format that is being dumped next year became stale and predictable.Newcastle, Lens and Union were nowhere near the debate when the European Super League was plotted, launched and failed in 2021 by club owners who took the Champions League for granted and craved extra riches and control running their own show.Exactly two years ago, Newcastle was still in a grim winless run in the Premier League relegation zone.The Champions League survived the closed-shop Super League threat and now includes long-time absentees and a debutant that qualified on...

Alcaraz cruises into China Open quarterfinals. Sabalenka wins on debut as top-ranked woman

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:53:28 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz cruised into the quarterfinals of the China Open with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Lorenzo Musetti in the second round on Sunday.The top-seeded Spaniard hit 18 winners and broke the Italian’s serve four times in the 81-minute rout as he became the first player to win 60 tour matches this season.Next up for Alcaraz is seventh-seeded Casper Ruud, who was taken the distance by Tomas Martin Etcheverry 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7) in a three-hour thriller. Later Sunday, third-seeded Holger Rune plays Grigor Dimitrov and sixth-seeded Jannik Sinner faces Yoshihito Nishioka.In her debut match as the world’s top-ranked player, Aryna Sabalenka delivered a dominant 6-1, 6-2 win against Sofia Kenin in the first round of the woman’s draw in Beijing.The Belarussian fired 22 winners to just nine unforced errors against the 31st-ranked Kenin and wrapped up a routine victory in 67 minutes in her first match since the U.S. Open.“Honestly, I didn’t expect to play that...

1 teen killed in shooting in Southlands Mall parking lot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:53:28 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- One person was killed in a shooting outside of a mall in Aurora Saturday.The Aurora Police Department said it happened around 8:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Southlands Mall near Town Square Ave. and Commons Ave. APD confirmed that the victim was a teen. The victim was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries but did not survive. At this time, APD’s Major Crimes Homicide Unit is looking for several suspects who drove off. Anyone with information is asked to call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.

Deerfield Beach plaza blocked off as BSO investigates scene

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:53:28 GMT

Crime scene tape blocked off a parking lot at a Deerfield Beach shopping plaza. The plaza is located along Northwest 9th Avenue and West Sample Road.Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies are working to asses the scene.7News is working to gather more information. Please check back on WSVN.com and 7News for more details on this developing story.

Local Armenian community rallies to raise awareness of Artsakh, hate speech found at Watertown church

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:53:28 GMT

A rally from the Armenian community in downtown Boston Saturday brought awareness to a decades-long war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over land known as Artsakh. Supporters said they want to shed light on a conflict that isn’t getting enough attention. “They are unheard now, and they are not being supported by all the voices politically that are out there,” said Artvine Torossian, Armenian Relief Society of Easter USA, Ralliers also stood in solidarity against hate speech after a note was found outside Saint Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church in Watertown earlier this week that read “Artsakh is dead.” “I think that’s despicable. We stand up to hate for every community and now the Armenians are getting hit with hate.” said Anthony Barsamian, co-chair of the Armenian Assembly of America.“We’re especially concerned that their community is being targeted at this time,” Rev. Laura Everett said. “We want to make sure that the Armenian community, especially at this moment,...

Pennsylvania governor’s voter registration change draws Trump’s ire in echo of 2020 election clashes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:53:28 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Donald Trump has a familiar target in his sights: Pennsylvania’s voting rules.He never stopped attacking court decisions on mail-in ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic, falsely claiming it as a reason for his 2020 loss in the crucial battleground state. Now, the former Republican president is seizing on a decision by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro to bypass the Legislature and start automatic voter registration.The blowback has echoes of the 2020 election, when Trump and his allies relentlessly criticized decisions by the state’s Democratic-majority Supreme Court. That included extending the deadline to receive mail-in ballots over warnings that the pandemic had slowed postal service deliveries.Republicans have joined Trump in railing against Shapiro’s action, saying there are not enough safeguards to prevent minors or undocumented immigrants from registering. The Shapiro administration disputes that.“THE DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO STEAL PENNSYLVANIA AGAIN B...

Azerbaijan issues arrest warrant for former separatist Nagorno-Karabakh leader

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:53:28 GMT

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Azerbaijan issued an arrest warrant for former Nagorno-Karabakh separatist leader Arayik Harutyunyan, the country’s prosecutor general said Sunday.Harutyunyan led the breakaway region, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but largely populated by ethnic Armenians, between May 2020 and last month, when the separatist government said it would dissolve itself by the end of the year after a three-decade bid for independence.Azerbaijani police arrested one of Harutyunyan’s former prime ministers, Ruben Vardanyan, on Wednesday as he tried to cross into Armenia along with tens of thousands of others who have fled following Baku’s 24-hour blitz last week to reclaim control of Nagorno-Karabakh.Harutyunyan and the enclave’s former military commander, Jalal Harutyunyan, are accused of firing missiles on Azerbaijan’s third-largest city, Ganja, during a 44-day war in late 2020, local media reported. The clash between the Azerbaijani milita...

The death toll in a collapsed gold mine in Zimbabwe expected to rise to 13, vice president says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:53:28 GMT

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — The death toll from a shaft collapse at a disused gold mine in Zimbabwe was expected to rise to 13, the vice president said, according to state media.State-run newspaper The Sunday Mail quoted Vice President Constantino Chiwenga as saying “we believe we have lost about 13” in the mine disaster, which happened on Friday in the gold-rich town of Chegutu, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of the capital, Harare.He said 21 out of 34 miners believed to be underground at the time of the collapse had been rescued. Eight have been confirmed dead, with three bodies removed from the mine and five located but not yet removed, Chiwenga said. The remaining five people were presumed dead.Chiwenga was speaking Saturday at a meeting of the ruling ZANU-PF party, The Sunday Mail reported. Chiwenga said the collapse happened at a disused German-owned mine that had not been properly sealed off, allowing unofficial artisanal miners to find their way in to search for any deposi...