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Rite Aid banned from facial recognition tech use for 5 years after faulty theft targeting in stores

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:00:10 GMT

Rite Aid has been banned from using facial recognition technology for five years over allegations that its surveillance system was used incorrectly to identify potential shoplifters, especially Black, Latino, Asian or female shoppers.The settlement with the Federal Trade Commission addresses charges that the struggling drugstore chain didn’t do enough to prevent harm to its customers and implement “reasonable procedures,” the government agency said.Rite Aid said late Tuesday that it disagrees with the allegations, but that it’s glad it reached an agreement to resolve the issue.The FTC said in a federal court complaint that Rite Aid used facial recognition technology in hundreds of stores from October 2012 to July 2020 to identify shoppers “it had previously deemed likely to engage in shoplifting or other criminal behavior.”The technology sent alerts to Rite Aid employees either by email or phone when it identified people entering the store on its watchlist.The FTC said in its ...

Nature groups go to court in Greece over a strategic gas terminal backed by the European Union

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:00:10 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Five Greek and international environmental campaign agencies have launched legal action against a major natural gas project supported by the European Union as a regional alternative to Russian energy.Greenpeace and the World Wide Fund for Nature led the request at Greece’s highest administrative court, the Council of State, against a planned offshore natural gas storage and conversion plant, outside the northeastern port of Alexandroupolis.The action was filed on Tuesday, the groups said in a joint statement. The terminal, due to go online early next year, will operate on a modified tanker — also named the “Alexandroupolis” — to store liquefied natural gas and convert it into gas form, supplying the national distribution network.The 288-meter (945-foot) long vessel arrived at its destination on Sunday, following a 10-month-long conversion at the Keppel shipyards in Singapore.In their court challenge, the nature groups described the plant as “accident-prone” and...

Two teens arrested after assaulting off-duty cop in Durham Region

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:00:10 GMT

Two teenage boys are facing charges after they allegedly assaulted an off-duty police officer in Durham Region last week.Durham Regional Police officers were called to the area of Mill Street and Millson Hill Drive in Clarington around 2:40 a.m. on Friday for reports of an assault.It is alleged an off-duty officer from another police service saw two males causing damage to a vehicle. The off-duty officer confronted the pair and identified himself as an officer before telling the suspects they were under arrest.Police say the two suspects resisted arrest and then assaulted the officer. The pair ran away before Durham officers arrived.Officers were able to located both with the help of the police K9 unit. They were arrested at a nearby home where they were found hiding inside a trailer.Two 15-year-old boys from Clarington are each charged with assaulting an officer and mischief under $5000.The suspects cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Israel’s top diplomat wants to fast-track humanitarian aid to Gaza via maritime corridor from Cyprus

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:00:10 GMT

LARNACA, Cyprus (AP) — Israel wants to fast-track the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza through a maritime corridor from Cyprus, bolstering stability in the region, the country’s foreign minister said Wednesday.Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said Israeli and Cypriot technical teams would spend Wednesday and Thursday hammering out the details of the initiative so that aid shipments from Cyprus’ port of Larnaca, some 240 miles (385 kilometers) from Gaza, can begin as soon as possible.“Cyprus and Israel, together with other partners in the region are promoting the initiative for a secure maritime corridor to facilitate the transfer of humanitarian assistance to Gaza in an organized and well inspected manner,” Cohen said after talks with his Cypriot counterpart Constantinos Kombos.Cohen was briefed on the initiative’s details during a visit to the Zenon Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Larnaca, which will act as the operational center for the aid shipments. H...

Browning West seeks Chamandy’s return to Gildan, prepared to call shareholder meeting

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:00:10 GMT

MONTREAL — A U.S. investment firm says it’s prepared to seek changes on the board at Gildan Activewear Inc. if the company does not reinstate Glenn Chamandy as chief executive.In a letter to the board, Browning West also urged it to remove Donald Berg as chair and appoint Browning West co-founder Peter Lee as a shareholder representative. Browning West says it will seek a special meeting of shareholders to replace the board if the company does not heed the feedback from it and other shareholders and will not hesitate to hold the board accountable for further delay in rectifying the situation. For its part, Gildan’s board said the decision to remove Chamandy and replace him with Vince Tyra came after Chamandy agreed to a succession timeline only to later ask to stay on beyond the original plan.In a letter to shareholders, Berg, along with the board’s committee chairs, wrote that the board’s trust and confidence in Chamandy had eroded as it worked to hold him a...

The poinsettia by any other name? Try ‘cuetlaxochitl’ or ‘Nochebuena’

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:00:10 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Like Christmas trees, Santa and reindeer, the poinsettia has long been a ubiquitous symbol of the holiday season in the U.S. and Europe.But now, nearly 200 years after the plant with the bright crimson leaves was introduced north of the Rio Grande, attention is once again turning to the poinsettia’s origins and the checkered history of its namesake. Some things to know:WHERE DID THE NAME POINSETTIA COME FROM?The name “poinsettia” comes from the amateur botanist and statesman Joel Roberts Poinsett, who happened upon the plant in 1828 on a side trip during his tenure as the first U.S. minister to a newly independent Mexico.Poinsett, who was interested in science as well as potential cash crops, sent clippings of the plant to his home in South Carolina, and to a botanist in Philadelphia, who affixed the eponymous name to the plant in gratitude. A life-size bronze statue of Poinsett still stands in his honor today in downtown Greenville.A CHRISTMAS FLOWER OF ...

New Year's Eve fireworks spectacular returning to Chicago River to ring in 2024

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:00:10 GMT

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson and the City of Chicago’s Department of CulturalAffairs and Special Events announced Wednesday the return of the New Year’s Evefireworks spectacular on the Chicago River to ring in 2024. In partnership with ART on THE MART, the New Year’s Eve celebrations will include a custom projection highlighting ART on THE MART’s five years of programming, beginning Sunday, Dec. 31, at 7:30 p.m. The evening will culminate with a fireworks display from six bridges alongthe river, beginning at midnight to coincide with the grand Navy Pier fireworks displayon the lakefront."Chicagoans have the unique ability to find hope and resilience in each day, and NewYear’s Eve is the foundation of beginning a new year with the same unbridledoptimism," Mayor Johnson said in a news release. "As an icon of our city’s landscape, theChicago River is what unites our town, and we are excited to bring everyone together ina big way, continuing traditions and beginning new ones."Accordi...

How much daylight you'll have on the shortest day of 2023

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:00:10 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — The darkest day of the year is nearly upon us.This year, the "darkest" day of the year — when Americans get as little as six hours of daylight — lands on Dec. 21 (it’s usually around Dec. 21 or 22).During the darkest or "shortest" day of the year — better known as the winter solstice — the northern hemisphere is tilted as far away from the sun as possible. This causes us in the U.S. to experience the least amount of sun during the day. As you can guess, we have the opposite during the summer solstice, which occurs in June. That's when we have the most sunlight during the day and the "shortest" night. 2023 could be one of the wettest years on record, even with a dry fall But first, we have to get through the shortest day of the year. On Thursday, most parts of the country will have only about eight or nine hours of daylight. In Denver, for example, residents will have nine hours and 22 minutes of sunlight, which is over five hours less than Denver's longest day in ...

Philadelphia news helicopter crashes, killing two aboard

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:00:10 GMT

(WPHL) - A Philadelphia news helicopter has crashed in New Jersey, tragically ending the lives of both the photographer and pilot on board. WPVI confirmed two crew members on board were killed in a crash in Burlington County, new Jersey. at 8 p.m., Tuesday night. New Jersey State Park Police Chief George Fedorczyk held a press conference on Wednesday morning, confirming the crash: The helicopter had been returning from an assignment at the Jersey Shore and went down in Wharton State Forest. At this time, names are not being released, but WPVI says the crew members both worked at the station for many years.New Jersey State Police troopers were able to locate the crash site on the ground. It is very hard to access due to its location in the woods.The helicopter was a 2013 American Eurocopter AS-350A-STAR, leased from U.S. Helicopters Inc. based in North Carolina.The FAA arrived at 3 a.m. but the official cause of the crash, which is being investigated b...

Almost a quarter of Trump supporters oppose having him on ticket if convicted: Survey

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:00:10 GMT

(The Hill) - Nearly a quarter of former President Trump's supporters say he should not be the Republican nominee for president in 2024 if he is convicted of a crime, according to a new survey.The poll, published Tuesday from The New York Times/Siena College, found 24 percent of respondents who said they would vote for Trump in the upcoming election also say he should not be the nominee if found guilty in one of his legal trials, “even if he has won the most votes."The former president has used his online platform, Truth Social, to attack legal officials overseeing his cases and encouraged his fan base to do the same. Though he is leading the GOP primary field by far, he has held that the prosecution comes from the left and is an attempt to ruin his campaign and chances for reelection.While some supporters say the outcome in court will affect their decision to support him, a majority of his supporters say it won’t matter.Seventy percent of Trump supporters believe the former presiden...