Author: Newyorki

Kentucky’s 82-year-old senator, the longest-serving Senate leader in history, plans to step down as minority leader by the year’s end. Mitch McConnell, hailing from Kentucky, will resign as the Republican leader in the US Senate, adding further upheaval to an already tumultuous election cycle. McConnell, at 82 years old, holds the record as the longest-serving Senate leader. Despite his tenure, he remains a deeply polarizing figure in America’s sharply divided political landscape. Recent health scares in public have fueled intense speculation about his well-being. McConnell’s aides clarified that his decision to step aside, announced on the Senate floor on Wednesday,…

A company in the UAE has made a remarkable move: the appointment of an AI employee as an AI Observer. IHC, an Abu Dhabi-based company, said the initiative positions it as a pioneer in taking advantage of AI for corporate governance and decision-making. IHC’s new officer is named Aiden Insight. He represents a virtual entity equipped with advanced AI capabilities, poised to revolutionize how IHC navigates the intricacies of the global investment landscape. The appointment is the first of its kind in the Middle East. And Europe had its share of pioneering in AI employment when an AI HR officer…

A nuclear weapons facility in Texas announced its resumption of operations on Wednesday after temporarily halting due to wildfires in the vicinity. In a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter), plant operators confirmed, “The Pantex Plant is open for normal day shift operations for Wednesday, February 28; all personnel are to report for duty according to their assigned schedule.” While the Texas A&M Forest Service reported that 25 out of 31 fires across the state were contained early Wednesday, the largest inferno, dubbed the Smokehouse Creek Fire, had engulfed 300,000 acres and continued to pose a containment challenge. Satellite imagery…

The US president appears optimistic amid reports that Hamas is contemplating a proposed 40-day ceasefire, potentially involving the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages. Joe Biden has expressed optimism, stating his belief in the possibility of a new temporary ceasefire in Gaza by next Monday. This comes as Hamas reportedly considers a draft agreement for a 40-day pause in fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, according to a source cited by Reuters. Biden conveyed during a visit to New York, following a taping for NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers, “My national security adviser tells…

Authorities reported that a man, identified as a US Air Force member, was critically injured after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington DC. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, the incident occurred around 1 pm on Sunday on International Drive, prompting a response from both local police and the Secret Service. Fire and emergency services attended to the man, who sustained serious burns. “An adult male was transported by DC Fire and EMS [Emergency Medical Services] to a local hospital where they remain in critical condition,” the police department reported on Twitter/X. A video shared online…

A medical school in Alabama has halted its in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures following a groundbreaking ruling by the state’s Supreme Court last Friday. The court declared that frozen embryos are legally recognized as “children”. This decision is expected to carry significant implications for individuals seeking IVF or other assisted reproductive technology treatments. In a statement issued Wednesday, Savannah Koplon, speaking on behalf of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, expressed regret over the impact of the recent court ruling on patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). The institution, which serves as a leading research university and academic medical center…

Elton John’s personal items, including his monogrammed silver boots and a triptych by street artist Banksy, fetched nearly $8 million at auction in New York on Wednesday. Christie’s auction house is conducting a series of eight sales, both in person and online, until February 28, featuring items from the 76-year-old music icon’s collection. Among the highlights were the silver boots, which sold for nearly $100,000, and the Banksy triptych, which fetched around $2 million. One of the standout pieces was an ivory and gold glam rock jumpsuit from the early 1970s designed by Annie Reavey, which sold for $12,600. During…

Capital One’s proposed merger with the US credit card specialist Discover has reshuffled the deck in a fast-growing sector in the United States, where cash is gradually disappearing from the landscape. The all-stock deal is worth around $35.3 billion, and is expected to close in late 2024 or early 2025. The deal, which will be subject to antitrust scrutiny, values Discover’s shares at a 27 percent premium, and would create a US banking behemoth. Under the terms of the agreement, around 60 percent of the new company will be owned by Capital One’s shareholders, with the remainder going to those…

On President’s Day, a newspaper report resurfaced a captivating chapter from Joe Biden’s ancestry: his great-great-grandfather faced charges of attempted murder following a brawl during the Civil War era. However, a stroke of presidential clemency altered the course of history when Abraham Lincoln pardoned Moses J Robinette, absolving him of any guilt. Historian David J Gerleman, drawing from documents in the US national archives, detailed in The Washington Post how Robinette, Biden’s paternal forebear, found himself pardoned after a violent encounter with a fellow Union army civilian employee, John J Alexander, in Virginia. The altercation escalated, leading Robinette to draw…

The progressive US congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has urged fellow Michigan Democrats to vote “uncommitted” in the state’s presidential primary election, even at the expense of the party’s incumbent, Joe Biden, scheduled for late February. In a video shared by Listen to Michigan, a political campaign aimed at encouraging the state’s voters to opt for “uncommitted” in the February 27 primary, Tlaib explained her decision, citing Israel’s military strikes on Gaza. Local authorities report nearly 29,000 Palestinians killed since last October. As Congress’s sole Palestinian American lawmaker, Tlaib criticized the Biden administration’s support for Israel, which initiated its military offensive in…