Nation & world news – at a glance – for Saturday, December 30, 2023

After rise in murders during the pandemic, a sharp decline in 2023

Detroit is on track to record the fewest murders since the 1960s. In Philadelphia, the number of homicides this year has fallen more than 20% from last year. And in Los Angeles, the number of shooting victims this year is down more than 200 from two years ago. But even as the number of homicides and shootings have fallen nationwide, they remain higher than on the eve of the pandemic. As 2023 comes to a close, the country is likely to see one of the largest — if not the largest — yearly declines in homicides, according to recent FBI data and statistics collected by independent criminologists and researchers.

Michael Cohen used artificial intelligence in feeding lawyer bogus cases

Michael Cohen, the onetime fixer for former President Donald Trump, mistakenly gave his lawyer bogus legal citations concocted by the artificial intelligence program Google Bard, he said in court papers unsealed Friday. The fictitious citations were used by the lawyer in a motion submitted to a federal judge, Jesse Furman. Cohen, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to campaign finance violations and served time in prison, had asked the judge for an early end to the court’s supervision of his case. The ensuing chain of misunderstandings and mistakes ended with Cohen asking the judge to exercise “discretion and mercy.”

Ohio governor blocks bill banning transition care for minors

Mike DeWine, the Republican governor of Ohio, vetoed a bill Friday that would have barred transgender minors from receiving puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries, a rare rejection in what has been a concerted effort by the Republican Party to mobilize cultural conservatives around transgender issues for the 2024 primaries. DeWine said that if the bill were to become law, “Ohio would be saying that the state, that the government, knows better what is medically best for a child than the two people who love that child the most, the parents.”

25-foot waves and widespread rain: West Coast braces for more storms

Rain, coastal flooding and waves as tall as 25 feet were expected along parts of the West Coast on Friday, a day after giant waves pummeled the California shoreline and prompted some evacuation warnings. In Southern California, forecasters predicted waves of up to 25 feet, and said that the threat of significant coastal flooding would last into Saturday night. For beaches in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, northwest of Los Angeles, high surf and coastal flood warnings were in effect through 10 p.m. Saturday. The National Weather Service in Los Angeles told surfers and beachgoers that the risk of drowning was high.

Trump’s team prepares to file challenges on ballot decisions soon

Former President Donald Trump’s advisers are preparing as soon as Tuesday to file challenges to decisions in Colorado and Maine to disqualify Trump from the Republican primary ballot because of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, according to a person familiar with the matter. In Maine, the challenge to the secretary of state’s decision to block Trump from the ballot will be filed in a state court. But the Colorado decision, which was made by that state’s highest court, will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is likely to face fresh pressure to weigh in on the issue.

Judge blocks Iowa’s ban on school library books that depict sex acts

A federal judge in Iowa temporarily blocked on Friday the enforcement of a law backed by Republicans that banned books describing sex acts from public school libraries. In granting the preliminary injunction, Judge Stephen Locher said that the law “makes no attempt to target such books in any reasonable way.” The fight over the Iowa law is part of a broader national debate over how sexuality should be discussed in schools. Like conservatives elsewhere, Iowa Republicans brushed off concerns about free expression and said the restrictions safeguarded students from harmful materials.

The news industry’s uneasy negotiations with OpenAI

For months, some of the biggest players in the U.S. media industry have been in confidential talks with OpenAI on a tricky issue: the price and terms of licensing their content to the artificial intelligence company. The curtain on those negotiations was pulled back this week when The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement, alleging that the companies used its content without permission to build AI products. News publishers have had precarious relations with tech companies since losing much of their traditional advertising businesses to newcomers like Google and Facebook, and publishing executives are wary of selling their content too cheaply.

This body butter at Sephora doesn’t really attract spiders, right?

Beauty chain Sephora’s Reddit page was set ablaze this week by a one-star review of a new body butter sold on the site, claiming: “SCENT ATTRACTS WOLF SPIDERS.” The product, Delícia Drench body butter made by the company Sol de Janeiro, debuted this month at Sephora and sells for $48 per 8.1-ounce container. But not long after the new scent was released, multiple spider-related reviews popped up for it on Sephora’s website. Sleuths on Reddit and other social media began to try to suss out whether there could be merit to the claims.

What if farmers had to pay for water?

While American farmers elsewhere have watered their crops by freely pumping the groundwater beneath their land, growers in California’s Pajaro Valley must pay hefty fees for irrigation water — making it one of the most expensive places to grow food in the country, if not the world. The fees bring in $12 million a year, which is used to recycle, restore and conserve the region’s groundwater. As the nation faces a spreading crisis of dwindling groundwater, stemming from a combination of climate change, agricultural overpumping and other issues, some experts say the Pajaro Valley is a case study in how to save the vital resource.

Streaming services may cost you more in 2024

If you were planning on watching the final season of “Jack Ryan” or eight seasons of “House” without commercials on Amazon Prime next year, get ready to dig a little deeper into your pockets. In September, Amazon announced it would soon add advertisements to Prime Video, its streaming service, and this week announced when that change would go into effect: Jan 29. Customers wanting to avoid the ads would have to pay an extra $2.99 a month. There are other measures: This fall, Netflix announced a price hike and said it would start clamping down on users who share their passwords with people outside their households for free.

Pentagon’s new plans to reduce civilian deaths leave questions over Israel

The Pentagon has established new procedures for preventing and responding to civilian harm during U.S. combat operations, following up on a pledge by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to overhaul the system. The 52-page document, issued last week, delineates responsibilities across the Defense Department and its military commands around the world and requires that possible risks to civilians are considered in combat planning and operations. The document includes measures to prevent civilian harm in joint operations with allies and partner forces, but does not address operations the U.S. supports through military aid alone, such as Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip.

U.N. says Israeli forces fired on aid convoy in central Gaza

Israeli forces shot at a United Nations convoy of armored vehicles in the central Gaza Strip on Thursday evening as it was returning from delivering aid in the northern part of the territory, U.N. officials said. No one in the convoy was injured, officials said, but the episode highlighted the severe challenges facing humanitarian efforts to help Palestinians struggling to survive amid Israel’s nearly 12-week bombardment of the enclave. “Aid workers should never be a target,” Thomas White, Gaza director for UNRWA, the U.N. relief agency for Palestinian refugees, wrote on social media. The Israeli military did not immediately comment when asked about the episode.

China appoints naval commander as defense minister

China on Friday appointed a naval commander with experience in the South China Sea as its minister of defense, filling a monthslong vacancy created by the unexplained disappearance of the previous minister, who may have fallen into an investigation of possible corruption. The appointment of Adm. Dong Jun as defense minister was finalized by China’s Communist Party leader, Xi Jinping, after approval by lawmakers, the Xinhua News Agency reported. The promotion may calm the uncertainty around the high ranks of the Chinese military after the removal of the previous defense minister, Gen. Li Shangfu, as well as the top two commanders of the Rocket Force, which controls China’s nuclear missiles.

Pilot pulled the wrong levers in deadly Nepal crash, investigators find

A plane crash that killed dozens of people in Nepal in January was caused by a pilot who pulled the incorrect levers while trying to land, investigators said Thursday. The pilot changed the propeller angle instead of that of the wing flaps, causing a Yeti Airlines plane to lose momentum and fall, killing all 72 people on board, a report by a committee formed by the Nepali government said. The ATR-72 plane, a twin-engine propeller aircraft, was on a half-hour flight from the capital, Kathmandu, carrying 68 passengers and four crew members when it crashed Jan. 15.

By wire sources