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A new millipede species is crawling under LA. It’s blind, glassy and has 486 legs

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:41 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The City of Angels, a metropolis of freeways and traffic, has a newly discovered species named in its honor: The Los Angeles Thread Millipede.The tiny arthropod was found just underground by naturalists at a Southern California hiking area — near a freeway, a Starbucks and an Oakley sunglasses store. About the length of a paperclip but skinny as pencil lead, it’s translucent and sinuous like a jellyfish tentacle. The creature burrows four inches below ground, secretes unusual chemicals and is blind, relying on hornlike antennas protruding from its head to find its way. Under a microscope, the millipede with its 486 legs and helmet-like head resembles a creature in a Hollywood monster film. “It’s amazing to think these millipedes are crawling in the inner cracks and crevices between little pieces of rock below our feet in Los Angeles,” said entomologist Paul Marek of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He was part of the research team that included scientists...

WNBA’s Riquna Williams barred from Aces after felony domestic violence arrest in Las Vegas

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:41 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Riquna Williams, a veteran WNBA player and member of last year’s championship-winning Las Vegas Aces, has been barred from the team after her arrest on felony domestic violence charges involving a person authorities say is her spouse.A judge on Wednesday allowed Williams, 33, to be freed from jail without bail less than a day after her arrest, but said she can have no contact with her alleged victim and must comply with alcohol monitoring pending another court appearance Aug. 2.The Aces issued a statement acknowledging Williams’ arrest and saying that she is “precluded from participating in team activities.” The Aces are scheduled to play in Dallas on Sunday and were traveling Wednesday. “We condemn domestic violence of any kind,” the team said. “Our thoughts are with the parties involved in this situation.”Williams faces five felony charges including multiple counts of domestic battery by strangulation, coercion with the threat or use of physical ...

Michigan bans use of conversion therapy on LGBTQ youth under measure signed by governor

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:41 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The scientifically discredited practice of so-called conversion therapy, which aims to “convert” LGBTQ+ people to heterosexuality or traditional gender expectations, is now banned for minors in Michigan under legislation signed Wednesday by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Michigan becomes the 22nd state to outlaw conversion therapy, which state lawmakers defined as any practice or treatment by a mental health professional that seeks to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. That does not include counseling that provides assistance to people undergoing a gender transition.Whitmer, who is the mother of a member of the LGBTQ community, said in a statement that banning the “horrific practice,” of conversion therapy was necessary to making Michigan a place “where you can be who you are.” She signed an executive directive in 2021 prohibiting the use of state and federal funds for conversion therapy on minors.An estimated 15% of LGBTQ minors in Michigan ...

New Mexico lifts debt-based suspensions of driver’s licenses for 100,000 residents

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:41 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s motor vehicle division has lifted the suspension of driver’s licenses for more than 100,000 residents under new anti-poverty legislation, officials announced Wednesday.Bipartisan legislation signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in March called for an end to the widespread practice of suspending driver’s licenses for failure to pay a fine or failure to appear in court. At least 23 other states have taken similar steps to end debt-based suspensions of driver’s licenses that can make it harder for individuals to pay off debts and care for their families.The New Mexico law does not apply to commercial driver’s licenses nor suspensions for other reasons related to dangerous driving or accumulated traffic violations.License suspensions also have been cleared for more than 160,000 out-of-state drivers with New Mexico citations, the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department said in a news release. New Mexico will notify other stat...

New SEC rule requires public companies to disclose cybersecurity breaches in 4 days

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:41 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted rules Wednesday to require public companies to disclose within four days all cybersecurity breaches that could affect their bottom lines. Delays will be permitted if immediate disclosure poses serious national security or public safety risks.The new rules, passed by a 3-2 vote, also require publicly traded companies to annually disclose information on their cybersecurity risk management and executive expertise in the field. The idea is to protect investors.Breach disclosures can be delayed if the U.S. Attorney General determines they would “pose a substantial risk to national security or public safety” and notifies the SEC in writing. Only under extraordinary circumstances could that delay be extended beyond 60 days.“Whether a company loses a factory in a fire — or millions of files in a cybersecurity incident — it may be material to investors,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement, noting the current inconsisten...

Sam Bankman-Fried should be jailed until trial, prosecutor says, citing bail violations

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:41 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Sam Bankman-Fried should be immediately jailed, a prosecutor told a federal judge on Wednesday, saying the FTX founder violated his bail conditions by sharing information with a reporter designed to harass a key witness against him.Judge Lewis A. Kaplan didn’t immediately decide whether to put the cryptocurrency entrepreneur behind bars, instead giving his lawyers and prosecutors several days to submit written arguments and more information. “I am certainly very mindful of his First Amendment rights, and I am very mindful of the government’s interest here, which I take very seriously,” Kaplan said. “And I say to the defendant, Mr. Bankman-Fried: You better take it seriously, too.”Prosecutors have concluded there’s no set of bail conditions that would ensure Bankman-Fried wouldn’t try to tamper with or influence witnesses, Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon said.She said Bankman-Fried should be jailed because he shared personal writings a...

Are you a Facebook user? You have one month left to apply for a share of this $725M settlement

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:41 GMT

U.S. Facebook users have one more month to apply for their share of a $725 million privacy settlement that parent company Meta agreed to pay late last year.Meta is paying to settle a lawsuit alleging the world’s largest social media platform allowed millions of its users’ personal information to be fed to Cambridge Analytica, a firm that supported Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.Anyone in the U.S. who has had a Facebook account at any time between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022, is eligible to receive a payment. To apply for the settlement, users can fill out a form and submit it online, or print it out and mail it. The deadline is August 25.It’s not clear how much money individual users will receive. The larger the number of people submitting valid claims, the smaller each payment will be since the money has to be divided among them. The case sprang from 2018 revelations that Cambridge Analytica, a firm with ties to Trump political strategist Steve Bannon, had paid a...

Toronto police launch illegal gun awareness campaign amid recent spate of gun violence

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:41 GMT

It’s been hours since a police dog was killed in the line of duty, days since the mother of a 29-year-old shooting victim emotionally pleaded for change and just weeks since two young girls lost their mother when she was struck and killed by a stray bullet.Those are just some of the ways gun violence has recently manifested itself in Toronto, robbing families and communities.And now Toronto police have launched a new campaign to take illegal guns off the street while urging others to come forward and share what they know.The campaign will raise awareness about the deadly impact of illegal firearms and share with residents how to anonymously report information to Toronto Crime Stoppers.“The impacts of gun violence are horrific for the victims and traumatize the respective families in the communities in which they live, often leading to intergenerational trauma. The impacts are devastating for years after the shootings,” said Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw.“...

Shoal Lake 40 files lawsuit against federal government, Winnipeg over water diversion

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:41 GMT

WINNIPEG — An Anishinaabe community in northwestern Ontario is suing the federal government and the City of Winnipeg, claiming it hasn’t been compensated for a diversion to supply Manitoba’s capitalwith clean water a century ago that resulted in it being cut off from road access.Shoal Lake 40 First Nation, which sits on the Ontario-Manitoba boundary, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the two levels of government in Ontario’s Kenora Superior Court of Justice. The suit alleges the federal government and the City of Winnipeg have not properly compensated the First Nation for “injurious affection or interference with its reserve lands” since a diversion system was created in 1915 for the city to use water from Shoal Lake.“They forced us into this location, removed us from our traditional lands just to access clean drinking water,” Shoal Lake 40 First Nation Chief Kevin Redsky said in a phone interview. “Canada allowed that to happen. They al...

‘Stranger Things’ star Millie Bobby Brown added to the Fan Expo Canada lineup

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:41 GMT

TORONTO — “Stranger Things” star Millie Bobby Brown has been added to the Fan Expo Canada lineup.The four-day pop culture convention says the actress will be on hand for autographs, photos and a panel.Brown joins recently announced guests including “Cobra Kai” stars Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, Ming-Na Wen of “The Book of Boba Fett” and “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” and Stephen Amell of “Arrow” and “The Flash.”The guest list grows amid dual Hollywood strikes by unionized actors and writers that have shuttered sets and some red carpets.Screen Actors Guild strike rules demand members refrainfrompromoting work completed under TV and theatrical contracts, including at conventions and fan expos.Fan Expo Canada’s tribute to genre fare and fandoms runs Aug. 24 to 27 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.The all-ages event is billed as the largest comics, sci-fi, horror, anime, and gaming event in Canada and the third-largest pop culture event in North America.This report by Th...