ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York state government agencies will have to conduct reviews and publish reports that detail how they're using artificial intelligence software, under a new law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul. Hochul, a Democrat, signed the bill last week after it was passed by state lawmakers earlier this year. The law requires state agencies to perform assessments of any software that uses algorithms, computational models or AI techniques, and then submit those reviews to the governor and top legislative leaders along with posting them online. It also bars the use of AI in certain situations, such as an automated decision on whether someone receives unemployment benefits or child care assistance, unless the system is being consistently monitored by a human. State workers would also be shielded from having their hours or job duties limited because of AI under the law. State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, called the law an important step in setting up some guardrails in how the emerging technology is used in state government.Observations: Buffalo Bills' defense feasts on disinterested New York Jets team in blowout winNone
HUAWEI said that from next year its new smartphones and tablets will run on an operating system stripped of Google’s open-source Android technology. The company’s new flagship phone, the Mate 70, will debut HarmonyOS Next, the iteration of its operating system that does away with remnants of Android in favour of entirely indigenous tech. Announced at a live-streamed event on Tuesday, the new devices and software add to Huawei’s campaign to reclaim China’s premium tier from Apple and build an ecosystem without the involvement of major US tech providers. Available on Dec 4, the Mate 70 and its Pro variants are the followup to Huawei’s most significant device in years, the Mate 60. Last year’s edition, powered by a made-in-China processor, brought Huawei back into the smartphone industry limelight and signalled its ability to work around US trade curbs designed to cut it off from the most advanced chipmaking. HarmonyOS Next will still need another two to three months to improve its user experience, but the plan is to henceforth use it on upcoming gadgets, said Richard Yu, chairman of Huawei’s consumer business group. The Mate 70 series, priced from 5,499 yuan (S$1,023) for the 6.7-inch edition, will offer 40 per cent better performance than its predecessor, in part because of HarmonyOS Next, the executive said. Yu fell short of disclosing details of the processors that power the phones. Shenzhen-based Huawei is expected to use its latest in-house Kirin chip for the new product line, though its performance increase may be less significant than Qualcomm and MediaTek’s top-end offerings, according to a note by Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Charles Shum and Sean Chen. “That suggests the new Huawei phone may struggle to capture the attention of non-Huawei Android users,” they wrote. The rollout is a key part of Huawei’s relentless attempt to break free from years of US sanctions. The company now finds itself unable to advance from the 7 nm chipmaking process for its smartphone and artificial intelligence chips until at least 2026. That’s at a time when competitors like Apple are about to move to 2 nm technology for mainstream products, Bloomberg News reported. Despite Washington’s blacklisting and technical challenges, Huawei managed to grow sales over the past seven quarters, with the help of an expanding smartphone business. Its shipments recorded four consecutive quarters of at least double-digit growth in China as of September, according to research firm IDC. Huawei on Tuesday also announced a number of other products in its ecosystem, including a new tablet and a 23,999-yuan gold-plated smartwatch. Earlier in the fall, the company introduced the world’s first trifold phone, also powered by chips that were designed in-house. BLOOMBERG
A fresh coat of paint and track lighting has turned a former gender-affirming clothing shop into an art gallery, library and gathering space with a similar community-minded mission. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * A fresh coat of paint and track lighting has turned a former gender-affirming clothing shop into an art gallery, library and gathering space with a similar community-minded mission. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? A fresh coat of paint and track lighting has turned a former gender-affirming clothing shop into an art gallery, library and gathering space with a similar community-minded mission. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS From left: Revolution Wellness Centre’s Carla Taylor co-founded Matter Queer Space with spouses Bre Cristobal Calma and Nix Cristobal Calma in the basement below the centre. Matter Queer Space Manitoba — located in the previous basement home of Closet Space at 433 Graham Ave. — is a non-profit venture designed to offer LGBTTQ+ and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of colour) Winnipeggers a welcoming place to connect over art, books and shared interests. “A lot of (hanging out) happens in bars and not all queers are into that scene.” Matter was founded by spouses Bre and Nix Cristobal Calma and friend Carla Taylor, who runs Revolution Wellness Centre on the building’s main floor. “There aren’t a lot, if any, spaces in the community right now to just come and be together,” Bre says, adding the goal is to offer barrier-free programming to visitors of all ages. “Having a queer intergenerational space, that’s a really big thing because the queer community can be segmented in some ways,” Nix says. “A lot of (hanging out) happens in bars and not all queers are into that scene.” The basement is bright and cosy, with a gallery room at one end, library shelving in the middle and seating areas throughout. There are plans to add a gender-affirming retail shop in the future. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Matter Queer Space Manitoba is a new art gallery, library and programming space for the local LGBTTQ+ and BIPOC community. In addition to art shows and workshops, the programming schedule is going to be community-driven, meaning anyone is invited to pitch and host public or private events that fit with Matter’s mandate. Ideas discussed so far include yoga classes, movie nights, craft groups and a reading club. “Not a book club, where you have to sit and talk; instead, you sit and collectively read together. You’re not necessarily forced into socialization that may be uncomfortable for some people, but it still gives you an opportunity to be out and around people that you know will accept you as you are,” Taylor explains. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS While Matter Queer Space Manitoba launches Saturday with an open house and maker’s market, the gallery space will open in January. It’s the kind of gathering that speaks to the project’s overall ethos. “We picture this space as a bit of an introvert haven,” Taylor says. Matter launches Saturday with an open house and mini maker’s market from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. featuring goods from 15 queer vendors, with sensory-friendly and mask-required shopping during the first two hours. The first art exhibit is set to open in January, featuring the work of local visual artist and muralist Cat Hues, a.k.a. Pink Panda. Matter’s founders believe it will be one of the city’s first permanent gallery spaces designated specifically for showing work by marginalized LGBTTQ+ artists. “It’s surprising it hasn’t been done yet because there are a lot of wonderful, racialized, trans, queer, non-binary artists,” says Nix, who is also a multimedia artist. “We picture this space as a bit of an introvert haven.” With every exhibit, the featured artist will be invited to host talks and art-making workshops for the public, the results of which will be turned into a group show curated by the artist. “We really want to challenge the idea of meritocracy. This idea that you have to have a degree in art curation to curate an exhibit,” Bre says. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Matter’s library — which is the continuation of a project started by Taylor and friend Renu Shonek in 2019 — is stocked with borrowable books by bell hooks, Joshua Whitehead, James Baldwin and others. A book drive by Winnipeg’s Willow Press has brought dozens of new titles into the fold and Matter is accepting donations of used books of any genre by queer BIPOC authors. “We know these books are out there, but not everyone does. It’s nice to bring them together in a collection to learn about more authors and more talent in the community, and even to encourage some of our community members in their own writing and creativity,” Taylor says. To reduce financial barriers for visitors, the programming at Matter will be offered on a pay-what-you-can basis. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Other than donations collected through a GoFundMe campaign, the organizers have been footing the bill for the project out-of-pocket. They hope to find sustainable, long-term funding in the future. “This has definitely been a passion project and a labour of love. The three of us are just community members, none of us have experience doing any of this — running galleries or libraries — but it’s a space that we wanted to see and we knew there was a need for,” says Bre. “Nobody else was doing it, so someone had to.” Visit for more information. eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com Eva Wasney has been a reporter with the Arts & Life department since 2019. . Every piece of reporting Eva produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the ‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about , and . Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider . Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. 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Want to go to the MVC without an appointment? This bill could make it happen.A man who was involved in the violent disorder in Southport and featured in viral social media footage has been jailed for two years and six months. Brian Spencer, 40, of Lytham Road, in Southport, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court today, (Monday 23 December) after he pleaded guilty to violent disorder. He was also jailed after admitting racially/religiously aggravated harassment, which relates to a separate incident the following day at Southport Hospital when he verbally abused another patient when receiving treatment for the injuries he sustained during the disorder. The injuries he sustained were captured on mobile phone footage and subsequently shared widely on social media after some wayward missiles hit him on the head and groin during the appalling scenes in Southport on Tuesday, July 30. Officers say they received hundreds of hours worth of CCTV and mobile phone footage, which they are still working through, and Spencer was clearly identified. Police say Spencer could be seen acting in an aggressive manner and part of a large group of people who were standing only a few yards in front of officers and throwing bricks. He could also be seen on footage punching a police vehicle several times and picking up and throwing wheelie bins at officers and carriers. (Image: Merseyside Police) Later that evening, officers were called to a separate incident where Spencer was in attendance, and took him to hospital for treatment to the head injury he had sustained during the disorder. Police say they recognised him from the viral social media footage and he was arrested. It was while receiving treatment for his injury that Spencer racially abused another patient. READ MORE: Bolton rioter threw rocks at officers and stomped on police car One in six arrested over Southport riots were children, data shows Detective Inspector Paula Jones said: “The actions of the people who took part in the disorder was extremely serious and many officers were injured during the despicable scenes as bricks, bins and other missiles were thrown at them. "Spencer was involved in the violence and will now spend a significant amount of time in prison.” “We continue to review footage and information as it comes in, and we will not stop until we’ve put everyone we possibly can before the courts.”Northern Democrats: FG’s Response to Niger’s Allegation Isincere
NoneRevolut , the London-based fintech unicorn, shared a few items on the company’s 2025 roadmap at a corporate event in London on Friday. One of its main focuses for next year will be the introduction of an AI-enabled assistant to help its 50 million customers navigate the financial app, manage their money, and customize the software. Given that artificial intelligence is on everyone’s mind, the move isn’t surprising. But the AI assistant could definitely help differentiate Revolut from traditional banking services which are slower to adopt new technologies. When Revolut launched its app nearly 10 years ago, many people discovered the concept of debit cards with real-time payment notifications. Users could also freeze the card from the app. Many banks now let you control your card from your phone. But they are unlikely to offer AI features that are actually helpful yet. In addition to the AI assistant, Revolut said they will roll out branded ATMs. These will dispense cash (of course), but also cards — a move that could foster new signups. In the future, Revolut said it plans to add facial recognition features to its ATMs, which could help you authenticate without the usual card and PIN code protocol. It will be interesting to see how it implements the tech in a way that stays on the right side of European Union data protection rules which require explicit consent for use of biometrics for ID. Revolut ATMs will start appearing in Spain in early 2025, per the company. Revolut has had a banking license in Europe for a while , meaning that it can offer credit products to its retail customers. In some countries, it already offers credit cards and personal loans. Now the company plans to expand to mortgages — one of the most popular credit products in Europe — with a focus on speed. If it’s a simple application, customers should expect instant approval in principle and a final offer in one business day. However mortgages are rarely straightforward, so it’s also going to be interesting to see whether Revolut is overpromising here. Mortgages sounds like it will be a slow rollout. Revolut said it is starting in Lithuania, with Ireland and France slated to follow suit. Though all these launches are planned for 2025. Finally, Revolut is going to ramp up its business offering in Europe with its first credit products and savings accounts. On the payment front, it will let business customers offer ‘buy now, pay later’ payment options. For restaurants and stores specifically, Revolut will introduce Revolut Kiosks with biometric payments. If all these features sound overwhelming it’s because Revolut has consistently fired on all cylinders on the product dev front, rapidly introducing new features. And 2025 looks no different.
No. 14 Kentucky women roll past Arizona State with scoring and rebounding balance 77-61
President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Friday to delay a law that would effectively ban TikTok from taking effect until after he assumes office. Trump lawyer John Sauer, who is the solicitor general designee for the incoming administration, petitioned the high court to postpone its hearing on the TikTok ban, arguing that the matter could be redressed “through political means” instead. “President Trump alone possesses the consummate dealmaking expertise, the electoral mandate, and the political will to negotiate a resolution to save the platform while addressing the national security concerns,” Sauer wrote. “In light of these interests — including, most importantly, his overarching responsibility for the United States’ national security and foreign policy — President Trump opposes banning TikTok in the United States at this juncture, and seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office.” The Chinese firm ByteDance had been ordered to divest TikTok or face an outright ban in the US pursuant to a law signed by President Biden earlier this year.Rosanna Scotto of FOX 5's 'Good Day New York' takes Fox Nation viewers inside NYC's Roosevelt Hotel, which has become a processing hub for migrants in the Big Apple. The New York Police Department Special Victims Unit is searching for a man suspected of groping a 5-year-old girl near a government-funded migrant shelter in Midtown Manhattan. New York local news source 1010 WINS reported the girl and her mother, who have not been identified by authorities, are residents of a migrant shelter funded by the City of New York at the old Roosevelt Hotel. A representative from the New York Police Department’s Deputy Commissioner of Public Information office confirmed the investigation to Fox News Digital. The representative told Fox News Digital the incident occurred about a block away from the Roosevelt Hotel at 5th Avenue and 46th Street at about 7 p.m. Dec. 24. BLUE STATE FACES SPIKE IN MIGRANT SEX CRIMES AS TOP CITY PLEDGES RESISTANCE TO TRUMP DEPORTATIONS Police officers take security measures while migrants line up outside the Roosevelt Hotel waiting for placement inside a shelter in New York Aug. 2, 2023. (Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) The representative declined to give any information about the identity of the suspect and did not say whether he was also a resident of the Roosevelt Hotel migrant shelter. However, according to 1010 WINS, the suspect knows the girl and her mother. The radio station reported that after the alleged groping, the girl was taken to Bellevue, a hospital in Manhattan. Referred to by some as a "modern Ellis Island," the Roosevelt Hotel was converted into a migrant shelter and processing hub by the City of New York in May 2023 amid a surge in migrants flocking to the city. The hotel has become the epicenter of much of the migrant gang activity in New York City, resulting in violence and crime reportedly spiking in the area. JUVENILE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT GANG MEMBERS BEHIND ROBBERY SPREE STAY OUT OF JAIL DUE TO AGE A still image from social media video shows suspected juvenile Tren de Aragua members based at the Roosevelt Hotel who allegedly committed a series of robberies in nearby Times Square. (Obtained by the New York Post) CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The New York Police Department has not said whether the suspect they are searching for is a member of the notorious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua or any other gang. Tren de Aragua has had a heavy presence in the hotel’s vicinity. On Dec. 5, a 17-year-old, Yeremi Colino, allegedly a member of the Tren de Aragua-affiliated gang "Diablos de la 42" (Devils of 42nd Street), was stabbed to death during what is believed to have been a confrontation with a rival gang. Another migrant, 18-year-old Alan Magalles Bello, was also stabbed alongside Colino but survived. Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.HomeStreet EVP Godfrey B. Evans sells $53,547 in stock
A family moving from Ontario to Alberta in November had a scare when their family dog got loose during a stop in Dafoe, Sask. and ran away. Jax, a 15-year-old senior dog was limping along Highway #16 when Cassey Reiniger and her sister came across it. "He [Jax] looked cold he was kind of stumbling was not walking right so we were like 'Well he’s obviously hurt, needs help, [and] we might as well help him,'" she explained. Reiniger’s mom suggested she take him to a nearby shelter – the Mozart Sympawthy Animal Sanctuary. After a few days of asking around, and with little help, they figured the owners were maybe a little further away. The sanctuary shared several posts over social media about the lost canine with no luck. That is until a conversation between locals gave them a tip. "One of the local residents overheard a family had lost their dog and were looking for it but did not have any of their information," Veronica Hermiston explained. "There is someone who is missing their dog who lives further away so we just started posting everywhere and all over and luckily the family saw it." Days passed and a few social media posts of Jax later, the family reached out to claim the precious pooch. "So relieved, you just feel for the animal and now in the family, it was beautiful because it was a senior dog, and its stressful for them," Hermiston said. For Reiniger, it’s a happy ending for everyone. "If we had left him, he could have been stranded for days so we were like ‘Well that’s pretty good he got back to his family’ and it was kind of crazy how far they were moving and right in the center [of the country] too," Reiniger said. CTV News was unable to reach Jax's owners for comment. However, Mozart Sympawthy Animal Sanctuary posted videos of Jax reuniting with his family – as well as Jax’s owners thanking all those involved.PM looks to ‘brighter future’ at Christmas and ‘wishes for peace in Middle East’
High school boys basketball: Falcons edge East in Moir consolation bracketNoneBenchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE) to Issue $0.17 Quarterly Dividend