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Initial jobless claims fell last week as fraudulent activity in Massachusetts clouds data

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:19 GMT

Minneapolis (CNN) — The number of first-time claims for weekly jobless benefits fell last week to 242,000, down 22,000 from 264,000 the week before, according to data published Thursday by the Department of Labor.Continuing claims, which are filed by people who have received jobless benefits for more than one week, dipped to 1.799 million for the week ended May 6 from a revised 1.807 million the week prior.Economists were forecasting the latest initial and continuing claims to land at a seasonally adjusted 254,000 and 1.818 million, respectively, according to consensus estimates on Refinitiv.However, reports of incidents of fraud in Massachusetts have muddied this key piece of economic data in recent weeks.A week ago, the Department of Labor’s report on unemployment insurance filings showed that the number of weekly initial claims jumped by 22,000 to land at their highest level since October 2021. However, a large share of those new claims came from Massachusetts, where the sta...

Drivers Not Ruling Out Another Ballot Question Bid

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:19 GMT

Mark Austin, an Uber and Lyft driver who earned $150 by early Wednesday morning through the ride-hailing apps, pleaded with state lawmakers outside the State House to not strip away workers’ independence by classifying them as employees.A retired chef, Austin said driving for the ride-hailing services is the “best job” he’s ever had. The Weymouth resident said he makes money based on “ingenuity, time and effort” while manipulating his own schedule six days each week.“My message is: Why fix what’s not broken?” Austin said. “My opinion, if you change this, you’ll break it and destroy all the good things that come from it.”Austin and other app-based drivers joined the latest push from the Massachusetts Coalition for Independent Work — funded by Uber, Lyft and Instacart — to maintain their independent contractor status and reject labor unions’ efforts to install employee protections.It’s uncl...

AI Institute Launching At UMass Boston

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:19 GMT

A new institute at UMass Boston will focus on the social, ethical and diversity challenges and opportunities associated with artificial intelligence.The university on Wednesday introduced the Paul English Applied Artificial Intelligence Institute, saying it was conceived and funded by tech entrepreneur and UMass Boston alumnus Paul English and would be “embedded in academic study across campus.”UMass Boston Provost Joseph Berger predicted the institute “will promote the democratization of artificial intelligence by empowering every UMass Boston student to graduate with fluency — and a competitive edge — in ethically leveraging evolving AI-powered tools to improve processes and outcomes in their chosen professional field.”The opportunities for artificial intelligence to deliver promising advances, and potentially dangerous outcomes, have been coming into sharper focus this year, and the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday held a public ...

A growing number of sports bras, shirts and leggings brands found with high levels of toxic chemical, watchdog warns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:19 GMT

New York (CNN) — An increasing number of sports bra and athletic wear brands have been found with high levels of BPA in them, a chemical compound that’s used to make certain types of plastic and can lead to harmful health effects such as asthma, cardiovascular disease and obesity, a watchdog group said on Wednesday.After warning customers in October about BPA in athletic clothes, the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) said it sent legal notices to eight more brands whose leggings, shorts, sports bras, and athletic shirts after testing showed the clothing could expose wearers to up to 40 times the safe limit of BPA, based on standards set in California.Under California law — specifically Proposition 65, enacted in 1986 — the maximum allowable dose level for BPA via skin exposure is 3 micrograms per day.California-based CEH, which conducted the testing, was founded in 1996 as a nonprofit consumer advocacy group. It has raised alarm bells over chemicals in furnit...

Jets and DE Carl Lawson agree to a reworked contract to create salary cap room: report

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:19 GMT

This offseason, some thought Jets defensive end Carl Lawson could be a salary cap casualty.Instead, Lawson will remain on the Jets roster for the 2023 season.According to ESPN, the Jets and Lawson agreed to a reworked contract. Lawson was initially owed $15 million guaranteed this upcoming year. Instead, Lawson will be paid a base salary of $9 million, $8 million of that guaranteed, with a chance to earn $3 million in incentives.The Jets will add $12.7 million in salary cap space with Lawson’s new reworked contract. Before this deal, Gang Green had just $6.3 million available in cap space.Last season, Lawson returned after tearing his Achilles in the training camp of the 2021 season. He ended the 2022 season with 33 tackles and seven sacks, which was the second-highest (8.5) during his career.This is significant because Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams has been looking to receive a contract extension as he is entering the final year of his rookie contract, which is sched...

Jets rookie Jarrick Bernard-Converse: ‘Playing safety helped me gain more knowledge of the game’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:19 GMT

It’s rare a sixth-round pick receives significant snaps during his first season.But that could be the case with Jets defensive back Jarrick Bernard-Converse, as he isn’t an ordinary rookie.The Jets safety spot was a weakness for a defense that finished fourth in points and yards allowed. Bernard-Converse could be a late-round jewel if he progresses as a player during training camp this summer.Between his time at Oklahoma State and LSU, Bernard-Converse played in 64 games, starting 56 of them as he has played at cornerback, safety, and as a slot corner. He feels like that experience will be a benefit to the Jets roster.“I think it helped me understand defense better and understanding how to play the game,” Bernard-Converse said about playing multiple positions. “It just expanded my mind and challenged me to learn more than one position and that was corner. I feel like playing safety helped me gain more knowledge of the game.”After being a three-sta...

Rafael Nadal to miss French Open with hip injury, expects 2024 to be last year of tennis career

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:19 GMT

Rafael Nadal announced Thursday that he is pulling out of the French Open because of a lingering hip injury, and he expects 2024 to be the final season of his career. The owner of a record 14 championships at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament will miss it for the first time since making his debut there in 2005.Nadal, who turns 37 next month, delivered the news of his withdrawal — and future plans — during a news conference at his tennis academy in Manacor, Spain. He said he does not want to set a date for his return to the tennis tour, but expects it to take months.And then, the 22-time Grand Slam champion added: “You never know how things will turn out, but my intention is that next year will be my last year.”Play begins at Roland Garros in Paris on May 28. Nadal has a career record of 112-3 across 18 appearances at the French Open, a level of dominance unmatched by any man or woman at any Grand Slam event in the long annals of a sport that dates to the 1800s. When Nadal w...

Prince Harry and Meghan’s run from paparazzi is another episode in battle royale with the media

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:19 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The latest chapter in the drama surrounding Prince Harry and Meghan’s treatment by the tabloid media was much ado about something.But exactly what happened Tuesday night in New York when the royals left a gala event and were followed by a group of photographers was not completely clear. No fender was bent. No traffic citations issued. Nobody was hurt.What was evident is that the royal couple was shaken and the pursuit would likely only fuel Harry’s fury at the media as well as his greatest fear that his wife could meet the same fate as his mother, Princess Diana, who died in a car crash while being chased by paparazzi.The couple’s representatives claimed they had been pursued by photographers in a “near catastrophic car chase” through the streets of Manhattan. Police said the pursuit was relatively short, led to no injuries, collisions or arrests and warranted no further investigation. And a photo agency later contended it was Harry and Meghan’s security guards who act...

Biden, Japan’s Kishida meet ahead of G-7 summit, vowing to ‘stand strong’ against global threats

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:19 GMT

HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met Thursday aiming to showcase the strength of their alliance ahead of a Group of Seven summit where leading democracies will tackle the challenges of Russia’s war in Ukraine, North Korea’s ballistic nuclear threats and an increasingly forceful China. Biden recalled that Kishida said during a January Washington visit that the world faced one of the “most complex” security environments in recent history. “I couldn’t agree with you more,” Biden told the Japanese prime minister as they sat with their aides at a conference table. “When our countries stand together, we stand stronger and I believe the whole world is safer when we do.”Kishida noted that the global tensions had brought the U.S. and Japan closer together, that “the cooperation has evolved in leaps and bounds.”The Kishida family’s home city of Hiroshima will host the gathering of major industrialized nations known at the G-7. The set...

Austrian actor Helmut Berger, movie star in the 1960s and 1970s, dies at 78

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:19 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Austrian-born actor Helmut Berger, a European movie star in the 1960s and 1970s who rose to prominence with roles in films by Italian director Luchino Visconti, died Thursday, his agent said. He was 78.Berger died “peacefully but nevertheless unexpectedly” early Thursday in his home city of Salzburg, agent Helmut Berger wrote on his management company’s website.Berger was born in Bad Ischl, Austria on May 29, 1944. In 1964, he worked as a film extra in Rome before being discovered by Visconti, who would later become his partner and in 1966 gave him his first role. He played prominent roles in Visconti’s “The Damned,” “Ludwig” and “Conversation Piece.”Berger’s credits also included appearances in Vittorio De Sica’s “The Garden of the Finzi-Continis,” Massimo Dallamano’s “Dorian Gray,” and, later, in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather Part III.”After a string of health problems, Berger announced the end of his acting career in Novem...