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Inflation in European countries using the euro currency drops again to 6.9% in March but still causes pain for consumers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:53 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — Inflation in European countries using the euro currency drops again to 6.9% in March but still causes pain for consumers.Source

Italian privacy regulator bans ChatGPT

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:53 GMT

The Italian privacy regulator Friday ordered a ban on ChatGPT over alleged privacy violations. The national data protection authority said it will immediately block and investigate OpenAI, the U.S. company behind the popular artificial intelligence tool, from processing the data of Italian users. The order is temporary until the company respects the EU’s landmark privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).Calls to suspend new ChatGPT releases and investigate its maker OpenAI over a range of risks for privacy, cybersecurity and disinformation are growing on both sides of the Atlantic. Elon Musk and dozens of AI experts this week called for a pause to updates of ChatGPT. Consumer advocacy group BEUC also called on March 30 for EU and national authorities including data protection watchdogs to investigate ChatGPT. The authority said the company lacks a legal basis justifying “the mass collection and storage of personal data … to ‘train&...

Suspect accused of kicking teen into T station pit, stabbing man in Whitman ordered held without bail

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:53 GMT

A 23-year-old Whitman man was ordered held without bail Thursday in connection with accusations from officials that he kicked a 16-year-old boy into the pit of the State Street T station on Tuesday. Kedrian Perry Marshall has been charged with attempted murder for the incident on the T platform. On Thursday, investigators said he also allegedly stabbed a man in Whitman hours after the T platform incident. Speaking with 7NEWS, the mother of the teen who was kicked said she can’t believe what happened. â€œWhat that person did to my son is horrible,” the mother said. https://twitter.com/MBTATransitPD/status/1641438251281170432The teen didn’t land on the live third rail and is OK. Officials said Marshall left the scene.In court proceedings, officials revealed Marshall was separately wanted in connection with the stabbing in Whitman, where police said a man was stabbed in the face and head in a Myrtle Avenue apar...

Plymouth home considered ‘a total loss’ following overnight fire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:53 GMT

A home on Halfway Pond Road in Plymouth is considered “a total loss” following a fire early Friday morning. Intense flames were seen tearing through the roof of the home with smoke pouring out of the windows. Firefighters say they had difficulty putting out the fire because there are no hydrants in the area. Officials say there were 10 people in the home at the time and they all got out safely, however, two pet rabbits died and one cat is missing.Crews remain on scene as of 6 a.m. to monitor hot spots.The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Prescriptions for ADHD treatments surged during the Covid-19 pandemic, CDC report shows

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:53 GMT

(CNN) — Prescriptions for stimulants often used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder surged during the pandemic, especially among adults, a new study found.The finding comes as one common ADHD treatment, Adderall, has been in shortage for months, in part because of high demand.Diagnoses for ADHD have become more common in recent decades, and prescriptions for stimulant drugs that are most often used to treat the neurodevelopmental disorder have also been on the rise. But the new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlights a recent surge in demand for the drug and others like it.Between 2016 and 2020, the share of the population that had filled a prescription for a stimulant drug held relatively steady. But there was a large increase in 2021, with prescription fills jumping more than 10% across most age groups.Overall, the CDC analysis of private insurance records shows that more than 4% of people ages 5 to 64 had filled a pre...

Federal judge says insurers no longer have to provide some preventive care services at no cost

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:53 GMT

(CNN) — A federal judge in Texas said Thursday that some Affordable Care Act mandates cannot be enforced nationwide, including those that require insurers to cover a wide array of preventive care services at no cost to the patient, including some cancer, heart and STD screenings, and tobacco programs.In the new ruling, US District Judge Reed O’Connor struck down the recommendations that have been issued by the US Preventive Services Task Force, which is tasked with determining some of the preventive care treatments that Obamacare requires to be covered.The decision applies to task force recommendations issued on or after March 23, 2010 — the day the Affordable Care Act was signed into law. While the group had recommended various preventive services prior to that date, nearly all have since been updated or expanded.O’Connor’s ruling comes after the judge had already said that the task force’s recommendations violated the Constitution...

Milder Air & Wet Weather Ahead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:53 GMT

That late winter chill that filled the air yesterday, lingers this morning as temperatures start the day in the 20s for most. Despite the early chill, the warm-up does begin today as highs head for the low 50s. With the milder comes the clouds and eventually the chance for showers as late afternoon drops start to break out. Expect scattered showers this evening too as temps fade back into the lower 40s. Overnight, the temps warm up to near 50 by daybreak tomorrow with a few scattered showers moving through. The highest risk of widespread rain tomorrow favors the morning-lunch time. Early to mid afternoon, showers become fewer and farther between, with some breaks of sun and gusty winds possible. It’ll be milder, with highs in the low to mid 60s. Mid to late afternoon, it’s even possible that a few thunderstorms pop-up across the interior, with the risk of gusty winds and small hail. With the Sox start time around 4pm, it is possible that we get in the game. Sunday, we&#...

ASK IRA: Have Heat run out of statements at the wrong time?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:53 GMT

Q: I think the reality is they just aren’t as good as the top five teams and now looking like they aren’t as good as six because they couldn’t beat Brooklyn. I love watching the Heat every year compete but this year has been a tough one. With them until they go fishing. – Douglas.A: Which certainly could come sooner than later. If the playoffs are about momentum, this is not trending in the right direction. And time for making statements is running out. I’m not sure that anything beyond a victory next week in Philadelphia would qualify as a statement on the Heat’s remaining regular-season schedule. There could have been a statement against the Nets last Saturday, but not. There could have been a statement in Toronto, but not. There could have been one in New York, but not. Suddenly, those statement victories earlier this month against the Hawks, Cavaliers and Knicks feel like distant memories?Q: How can the Heat expect Victor Oladipo to develop wh...

Howie Carr: John Kerry a high-flying global warmer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:53 GMT

John Forbes Kerry should just swear off ever speaking again about private jets, at any time, in any context, anywhere.America’s Gigolo can make a pluperfect ass out of himself on just about any subject, but private jets really bring out the worst in Liveshot, who turns 80 this year.Now Kerry’s done it again, defending his use of a “private” jet – actually, it belongs to the State Department – while endlessly lecturing the rest of us on the necessity of traveling by bicycle or ox cart or donkey.This time it was in an interview with a Yahoo News reporter.The scribe mentioned the obvious incongruity of the smug, virtue-signaling billionaire class jetting off to, say, Davos, to denounce the utter selfishness of the plebeians. You know, those greedy deplorables who like to keep their ranch houses and double-wides heated at 68 degrees all winter, and who don’t want to rely on the T to do their grocery shopping every weekend.The reporter began, “People are starting to pay more attention bu...

Parents of woman killed by Oscar Pistorius oppose his parole

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:53 GMT

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — The parents of Reeva Steenkamp, the woman Oscar Pistorius shot dead 10 years ago, still believe he is lying about their daughter’s killing and opposed the former Olympic runner’s application for parole, their lawyer said Friday.“Unless he comes clean, they don’t feel that he is rehabilitated,” lawyer Tania Koen told reporters outside the Atteridgeville Correctional Centre prison in Pretoria, where Pistorius has been incarcerated since 2016 and where his parole hearing took place Friday.“He’s the killer of their daughter. For them, it’s a life sentence,” Koen said before the hearing.Pistorius, a double-amputee runner and multiple Paralympic champion who made history by competing against able-bodied athletes at the 2012 Olympics, was convicted of murder for the Valentine’s Day 2013 shooting of Reeva Steenkamp at his home. Pistorius has always claimed he shot his girlfriend in error after mistaking her for a dangerous intruder...