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Airlines are frustrating travelers by changing frequent flyer program rules – here’s why they keep doing it

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:22:37 GMT

(CNN) — As the US holiday travel season picks up, many people are noticing that their frequent flyer benefits aren’t going as far as they used to.In September 2023, Delta Air Lines revamped its frequent flyer program to make it tougher to earn status — a tiered system offering travel privileges based on the reward points earned — only to partially reverse course a month later and make it easier. American Airlines also made big changes to its loyalty scheme in 2022 and minor changes in spring 2023. And British Airways recently announced that it is adjusting the way it awards points for travel.We are business school professors who study rewards programs. Many people think flying is a miserable experience, and having status sometimes makes flights better. So it’s only fair that frequent flyers are asking why it’s seemingly harder to obtain such status.Why miles are a multibillion-dollar businessOne big idea to understand is that airlines don’t earn very much money, if any at all, from ...

The New York Times sues OpenAI and Microsoft for using its stories to train chatbots

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:22:37 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Times is striking back against the threat that artificial intelligence poses to the news industry, filing a federal lawsuit Wednesday against OpenAI and Microsoft seeking to end the practice of using its stories to train chatbots.The Times says the companies are threatening its livelihood by effectively stealing billions of dollars worth of work by its journalists, in some cases spitting out Times’ material verbatim to people who seek answers from generative artificial intelligence like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The newspaper’s lawsuit was filed in federal court in Manhattan and follows what appears to be a breakdown in talks between the newspaper and the two companies, which began in April.The media has already been pummeled by a migration of readers to online platforms. While many publications — most notably the Times — have successfully carved out a digital space, the rapid development of AI threatens to significantly upend the publishing in...

Adding a pet may offset a type of cognitive decline if you’re over 50 and live alone, study says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:22:37 GMT

People over 50 living alone may be able to counter decline in their verbal cognition by adding a pet to their home, according to a new study. Losing the ability to easily find words and understand others are early signs of dementia, research has found.“Pet ownership may completely offset the effect of living alone on cognitive decline,” said study coauthor Dr. Ciyong Lu, professor of epidemiology and medical science and associate dean of the School of Public Health at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China.However, the study could only show an association, not direct cause and effect, said neurologist Dr. Richard Isaacson, director of research at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Florida. He was not involved in the study.“It’s more accurate to say MAY slow down (cognitive decline) and that more prospective studies including a randomized controlled trial would be needed to make more definitive conclusions,” Isaacson said in an email.“One caution I would say is that ...

Two teens killed in late-night shooting in Lynn

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:22:37 GMT

Two teenagers were killed following a late-night shooting in Lynn on Wednesday, according to authorities.The Essex County District Attorney’s Office said the two victims were found by police when officers were called to Camden Street around 10:20 p.m. after receiving multiple 911 calls for shots fired.Arriving officers found two males suffering from gunshot wounds, according to the DA’s office, both of whom were taken to North Shore Medical Center.In an update Thursday morning, authorities said the first victim, a 16-year-old, was pronounced dead in the emergency room while a second victim, a 19-year-old male, succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.Wednesday night’s shooting was the second such incident in Lynn in just over 24, after another shooting in the area of State Street left three victims suffering from multiple gunshot wounds on Tuesday.In the same update, the DA’s office stated those victims had been taken to Massachusetts General Hospital and we...

Somerville apartment fire sends 3, including firefighter, to hospital

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:22:37 GMT

Somerville Fire responded to a fire in a three-story apartment building on Highland Avenue just after 10:30 Wednesday night. According to authorities, after forcing entry into the building firefighters encountered heavy smoke. A male occupant was found on a couch and pulled form the apartment.Using a thermal imaging camera, a female occupant was located in the bedroom of the unit and was also removed. Both were transported to the hospital. A responding Somerville firefighter was also injured and transported to the hospital for medical attention. He was treated and has been released. Somerville Fire Chief Charles Breen said a sprinkler system was able to keep the fire to the one first-floor apartment where it started, preventing “a much more serious fire”. Residents of the more than 50 other units in the building were able to return safely, but the two victims have been displaced. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

Lynn shooting Wednesday leaves 19-year-old, 16-year-old dead

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:22:37 GMT

A 16-year-old and 19-year-old were killed Wednesday night in Lynn in the city’s second shooting in as many days, authorities said in a Thursday morning statement.Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker and Lynn Police Chief Christopher Reddy said police responded to reports of shots fired near 10 Camden Street in Lynn just before 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.Police found two males with gunshot wounds who were transported to North Shore Medical Center. The 16-year-old was pronounced dead in the emergency room and the 19-year-old “succumbed to his injuries at the hospital,” authorities said.“Effects of gun violence are devastating especially when young people are involved and losing their lives. Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to my office, the Lynn Police, and Lynn officials are committed to exhausting every possible resource in an effort to interrupt this pattern of senseless violence,” Tucker said in a statement.Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson said the city offered its condole...

NDP’s Jagmeet Singh rules out coalition government with Liberals after next election

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:22:37 GMT

OTTAWA — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is ruling out the possibility of forming a coalition government with the Liberals if no party wins a clear majority after the next federal election.Singh says in a year-end interview with The Canadian Press that the idea is off the table for the New Democrats, even though the two parties have been working closely together. They signed a deal in March 2022 in which the NDP agreed to support the minority Liberals on key votes in Parliament in exchange for action on NDP policy priorities.The collaboration has so far led to the introduction of a national dental-care program, one-time rental supplements for low-income tenants, a temporary doubling of the GST rebate and legislation banning replacement workers. The parties agreed to keep their agreement in place until 2025, with a federal election slated to take place by October of that year. Singh says New Democrats are focused on getting through this session of Parliament then running to win the next ele...

Montreal man seeks to launch class action over cantaloupe salmonella outbreak

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:22:37 GMT

MONTREAL — A Montreal man who spent almost a week in hospital with a salmonella infection after consuming cantaloupes is seeking permission to launch a class-action lawsuit against two food companies.Law firm Slater Vecchio LLP filed the application Dec. 12 in Quebec Superior Court alleging that Olivier Archambault got sick after he consumed melons produced by Mexico-based Malichita and distributed in Canada by Arizona-based Trufresh.In November the Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued food recall warnings for melons produced by Malichita, and later in the month issued recalls for melons by Rudy brand, which are produced in the same area of Mexico.As of last week the Public Health Agency of Canada has reported 164 laboratory-confirmed cases and seven deaths from cantaloupe-linked salmonella across eight provinces; 111 of those cases are in Quebec.The lawsuit says the plaintiff received a cantaloupe in a subscription box in late October, and bought another at a grocery store in Mon...

Wisconsin university chancellor says he was fired for producing and appearing in porn videos

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:22:37 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Former University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow said Thursday that regents fired him because they were uncomfortable with him and his wife producing and appearing in pornographic videos.The regents voted unanimously during a hastily convened closed meeting Wednesday evening to fire Gow. After the vote, Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman and regents President Karen Walsh issued statements saying the regents had learned of specific conduct by Gow that subjected the university to “significant reputational harm.” Rothman called Gow’s actions “abhorrent” and Walsh said she was “disgusted.” But neither of them offered any details of the allegations.Gow told The Associated Press in a phone interview Thursday morning that regents had discovered that he and his wife, former UW-La Crosse professor Carmen Wilson, had been producing and appearing in pornographic videos. He maintained that he never mentioned UW-La Crosse or his role at the univ...

Hazel McCallion LRT tracks being installed, but line will likely miss 2024 contractual date

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:22:37 GMT

As the Hazel McCallion LRT construction project makes headway with the beginning of rail track installation, officials say it’s not likely the line will meet its September deadline for substantial completion.CityNews recently visited the 19-stop, $5.4-billion line that runs between Port Credit GO station in Mississauga and the Brampton Gateway Terminal at Steeles Avenue East to check out progress made throughout the past year and look ahead to what’s coming in 2024.“We’re well underway towards that, but we’re not quite there,” Metrolinx vice-president Duncan Law told CityNews during a tour, describing the line as currently being in the final third of the overall project.He said September is the contractual date for most of the civil and engineering work to be done. Law said crews on the 18-kilometre project, which began the tendering process in late 2016 and started construction in early 2020, encountered delays due to COVID-19 and aging infrastru...