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At Home: Artificial Intelligence — AI — can do home decor?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:40:52 GMT

Think Geek Squad meets The Property Brothers. At a National Association of Realtors summit last month in Miami, innovators, investors and real estate professionals got together to chat like chatbots about PropTech. That’s the hip insider term for “property technology.”Just as technology has changed the way we shop, get to places and communicate, it is also upending how we buy and sell houses. NAR’s director of emerging technology, Dan Weisman, agreed to tell me about the meeting’s biggest takeaways minus the geek speak:Q: Will technology make the process of buying or selling a house less painful? A: The role of technology in real estate is to streamline the process and reduce stress points. Most of us are familiar with DocuSign or similar technologies that offer the ability to e-sign legal documents. That has simplified what used to be a cumbersome process. Remember when submitting an offer or signing loans docs required wet-signing paper forms and sending them overnight? Now we can...

Second-string France struggles to beat feisty Uruguay at Rugby World Cup

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:40:52 GMT

LILLE, France (AP) — After a clinical display against New Zealand, France was way less convincing against Uruguay.The French won 27-12 on Thursday against a spirited Los Teros who were not intimidated at all by the host’s pedigree.The 49,000 spectators at Stade Pierre Mauroy, more accustomed to soccer than rugby in this northern part of France, did not like France’s performance, and there were whistles and boos at the final whistle.Coach Fabien Galthie made 12 changes to the starting XV that dispatched New Zealand a week ago, and the replacements did not rise to the occasion.France managed three tries, the last by wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey, who became the youngest Frenchman to play at a World Cup. Antoine Hastoy and Peato Mauvaka also touched down for the hosts, and Melvyn Jaminet kicked 12 points.Uruguay had two tries from Nicolas Freitas and Baltazar Amaya. Los Teros had another try disallowed while France had two tries rubbed out.After conceding a sixth-minute try, th...

Off-duty Pentagon police officer pleads guilty to 2nd-degree murder in 2021 double shooting

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:40:52 GMT

(new Image()).src = "https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=9be9c680-c459-4acb-af21-654a2ccca384&cid=c2ffed0c-3624-46c0-b10f-97c976d290a3";cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "9be9c680-c459-4acb-af21-654a2ccca384",mediaId: "f11042fb-2ad5-4df9-b426-c0d01976e1fb"}).render("ec9743efc93345038b5fca1461888235"); });An off-duty Pentagon police officer who fatally shot two men in the parking lot of his Takoma Park condo building in 2021 has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder charges.David Hall Dixon, 42, opened fire on a car in the parking lot of the Takoma Park Overlook Condominiums in the predawn hours of April 7, 2021, firing five shots and fatally striking 38-year-old James Johnson and 32-year-old Dominique Williams.Dixon told police he believed the men were trying to break into a parked van. A third man, who was behind the wheel of the car Dixon shot at, was not hurt.In addition to the second-degree murder charges, Dixon pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree ass...

Business Highlights: UAW strike looms as deadline nears; Arm shares jump in biggest IPO since 2021

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:40:52 GMT

___Detroit automakers and auto workers remain far from a deal as end-of-day strike deadline approachesDETROIT (AP) — With a deadline looming just before midnight, the United Auto Workers union and Detroit’s three automakers are far apart in contract talks and the union is preparing to strike. UAW President Shawn Fain says General Motors, Ford and Stellantis have raised their initial wage offers but have rejected some of the union’s other demands. The union is threatening to strike any company that hasn’t reached an agreement by 11:59 p.m. Thursday. Talks are ongoing, and GM increased its wage offer Thursday. Ford’s CEO and Stellantis accused the union of failing to respond to their offers. It would be the first time the union has walked out at all three companies at the same time.___Europe’s central bank hikes key interest rate to record high even as recession threat growsFRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank has hiked its key interest rate to a record high. It’s press...

On 60th anniversary of church bombing, victim’s sister, suspect’s daughter urge people to stop hate

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:40:52 GMT

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Sixty years ago, a bomb planted by Ku Klux Klan members ripped through a Birmingham church, killing four little girls as they prepared for Sunday services. Lisa McNair’s sister Denise was one of the girls who lost their lives. Tammie Fields’ father was questioned as a possible suspect in the church bombing but never charged. Decades after the bombing, the two women met at a Black History Month event and forged a seemingly unlikely connection and friendship.The two are linked by tragedy— born on opposite sides of one of the most horrific events of the civil rights movement — but share a united message to speak out against hate. As the nation marks the 60th anniversary of the Sept. 15, 1963, bombing on Friday, McNair said she wants people to remember what happened and think about how they can prevent it from happening again.“People killed my sister just because of the color of her skin,” McNair said. “Don’t look at this anniversary as just ano...

Biden’s clean-car rules face a crucial test as appeals court hears Republican-led challenges

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:40:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Efforts by the Biden administration to limit pollution from automobile tailpipes — a major source of planet-warming emissions — face a crucial test as a federal appeals court considers legal challenges brought by Republican-led states.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard arguments Thursday on two cases challenging Biden administration rules targeting cars and trucks. A third case will be argued on Friday before a separate three-judge panel of the same court.Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming, and the legal cases could go all the way to the Supreme Court. Republican attorneys general say the legal challenges are needed to curtail government overreach, while environmental groups and the Democratic administration say an adverse ruling could jeopardize protections against deadly pollution that contributes to climate change.The cases before the appeals court will test a 2021 ...

Artworks believed stolen during Holocaust seized from museums in 3 states

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:40:52 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Three artworks believed stolen during the Holocaust from a Jewish art collector and entertainer have been seized from museums in three different states by New York law enforcement authorities.The artworks by Austrian Expressionist Egon Schiele were all previously owned by Fritz Grünbaum, a cabaret performer and songwriter who died at the Dachau concentration camp in 1941. The art was seized Wednesday from the Art Institute of Chicago, the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh and the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College in Ohio. Warrants issued by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office say there’s reasonable cause to believe the three artworks are stolen property.The three works and several others from the collection, which Grünbaum began assembling in the 1920s, are already the subject of civil litigation on behalf of his heirs. They believe the entertainer was forced to cede ownership of his artworks under duress.Manhattan prosecutors believe they ...

Suspect arrested in deadly stabbings on RTD bus, near Regis University

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:40:52 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Police say the suspect in a deadly stabbing on an RTD bus Thursday is also connected to a second stabbing death later in the morning at a bus stop near Regis University.Vinchenzo Moscoso, 29, was arrested in the 5500 block of North Lowell Boulevard, the Denver Police Department said Thursday just after 3:45 p.m. Driver nearly hits 20 children while leaving Aurora park He faces two counts of first-degree murder in the killings of a 51-year-old man on an RTD bus and an older woman near the Regis University campus. Police say both victims were stabbed in the neck."Based on evidence recovered and surveillance video a detective reviewed late this morning from the homicide that occurred on the bus, investigators believe Moscoso to be responsible for both of these homicides," the department said in a release.Vinchenzo Moscoso is pictured in a booking photo from Feb. 17, 2022, which the Denver Police Department released after he was arrested in two deadly stabbings on Sept...

Elderly woman who accused condo manager of antisemitic attack upset after Broward State Attorney opts not to pursue case

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:40:52 GMT

An elderly Fort Lauderdale woman is upset following a decision by the Broward County State Attorney’s Office not to press charges against the condominium manager who, she claims, attacked her and mouthed an antisemitic slur.Speaking with 7News alongside her husband Martin on Thursday, Martha Arnold said she is afraid to return to her apartment at the Ocean Summit condo on Galt Ocean Mile in Fort Lauderdale.Martha said she hasn’t been gone since the March 16 incident.The 71-year-old was using the residential elevator instead of the freight elevator when the condo office manager approached her.“She lunged herself towards my neck, and she pushed me forcefully, very hard, towards the elevator, smashed my head in the back, smashed my back,” said Martha, “and at the same time, she has her band on my [collar] here.”The condo manager was trying to tell Martha she couldn’t use the residential elevator when things got out of hand.The manager was not i...

Zelenskyy is expected to visit Capitol Hill as Congress is debating $21 billion in aid for Ukraine

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:40:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected on Capitol Hill next week as he visits the U.S. during the United Nations General Assembly.Zelenskyy’s trip comes as Congress is debating providing as much as $21 billion in military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine as it fights the Russian invasion.The trip was confirmed by two congressional aides granted anonymity to discuss the plans.