Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA
TOKYO (AP) — The number of newborns in Japan is decreasing faster than projected, with the number of annual births falling to a record low last year, according to government data released Wednesday.The Health Ministry said 686,061 babies were born in Japan in 2024, a drop of 5.7% on the previous year and the first time the number of newborns had fallen below 700,000 since records began in 1899.The decline comes about 15 years faster than the government prediction. Last year’s figure is about one-quarter of the peak of 2.7 million births in 1949 during the postwar baby boom.The data…
NEW YORK (AP) — Tom Thibodeau’s firing brought back some of the confusion and chaos the New York Knicks had seemingly left behind.After an era of stability and more success than they had enjoyed in a quarter of a century, the Knicks opened a coaching search few could have predicted when they fired Thibodeau on Tuesday.“When I first saw it, I thought it was one of those fake AI things. No way. There’s no way possible,” Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.Coaching searches weren’t unusual in New York for much of the 2000s, but the Knicks weren’t winning then. This…
Worldwide shipments of artificial intelligence personal computers, known as AI PCs, are expected to total 114 million units this year, and are projected to represent 43% of all PC shipments in 2025.By next year, they’re anticipated to be the only available PC that is sold to large companies, according to the research firm Gartner.The growing popularity of these devices — which have built-in AI hardware and software that help to speed up data processing — presents a new challenge for companies and their IT departments: Guarding their sensitive data troves against cyber threats.AI PCs integrate a specialized processor called a…
CNN — As the federal criminal trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs continues, many parts of his past are being revisited. That includes his father’s friendship with the late gangster, Frank Lucas. Melvin Combs was a drug dealer who was fatally shot in 1972, when his son Sean Combs was three years old. “That’s not something I glorify, but he was in Harlem and he was doing his thing, selling narcotics,” Combs told journalist Toure in an interview 13 years ago. “And we all know what that gets you. That’s only going to have you end up in jail or dead.…
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Democratic-sponsored proposal to limit per-student payments to Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools and make other changes to how they operate narrowly passed the state House on Wednesday over Republican objections that it would imperil the online learning programs. The 104-98 vote, with only two Republicans in favor, sets down a marker on the perennially contentious issue of school funding as state lawmakers work to complete the coming year’s state budget for the fiscal year that starts in July.The bill’s $8,000 limit on how much public school districts would have to reimburse the cyber charters was the…
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Smoke from Canadian wildfires started making air quality worse in the eastern U.S. on Wednesday as several Midwestern states battled conditions deemed unhealthy by the federal government.The fires have forced thousands of Canadians to flee their homes and sent smoke as far as Europe.In the U.S., smoke lingered on the skylines of cities from Kansas City to Minneapolis, and a swath of the region had unhealthy air quality Wednesday, according to an Environmental Protection Agency map.Iowa issued a statewide air quality alert through early Thursday, urging residents to limit certain outdoor activities and warning of possible…
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — In these NBA Finals, a team is four wins away from getting the last laugh.Ask anyone on the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers if they’re still fueled by doubters, and the answer is probably going to be an immediate “yes.” Thunder star and NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went 11th in his draft. Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton went 12th in his. Both sides have undrafted players in their rotation.Here they are: The NBA Finals, which start Thursday night in Oklahoma City. The Thunder have, by far, the NBA’s best record this season. The Pacers have the…
Childhood vaccination rates against measles fell in the years after the COVID-19 pandemic in nearly 80% of the more than 2,000 U.S. counties with available data — including in states that are battling outbreaks this year.A Johns Hopkins University study, published in JAMA this week, illustrates where more vulnerable communities are located. The results mirror trends established at state and national levels: Routine childhood vaccination rates are dropping.“When you look at the state level or national level … you really don’t see those drastic drops. Those are there. They’re real and they’re really problematic,” said Lauren Gardner, an expert in…
NEW YORK (AP) — My first tip-off were the little things, the high-pitched little things: the doorbell and ringtones my kids could hear but I could not.Then it was the garbled-sounding conversations, and the accompanying annoyance of having to ask people to repeat themselves. Or worse, giving up and just playing along without being able to follow everything that was being said.Even then, I stalled for years before finally going through the process of getting a hearing aid. How do you even begin? Will it look clunky and make me feel like a dinosaur? And the cost!Getting a hearing test,…
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.Generate Key Takeaways”The Wire” actor Tray Chaney is sharing a health update on his teen son, who was hospitalized after being injured in a recent tornado outbreak in Georgia.Chaney, who is best known for his role as Malik “Poot” Carr in the drama series, says his son Malachi Chaney has been transferred out of a hospital intensive care unit after he was critically injured in a tornado that damaged the family’s home…