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By MATT O’BRIEN Prince Harry and his wife Meghan have joined prominent computer scientists, economists, artists, evangelical Christian leaders and American conservative commentators Steve Bannon and Glenn Beck to call for a ban on AI “superintelligence” that threatens humanity. The letter, released Wednesday by a politically and geographically diverse group of public figures, is squarely aimed at tech giants like Google, OpenAI and Meta Platforms that are racing each other to build a form of artificial intelligence designed to surpass humans at many tasks. The letter calls for a ban unless some conditions are met The 30-word statement says: “We…

A 25-year-old La Mesa police officer killed when she stopped to assist a motorist in a crash on Interstate 8 late Monday night was remembered as “a light” by her police chief. Officer Lauren Craven was struck and killed by a passing car on eastbound I-8 near Grantville. The motorist she was helping also died. The investigation into the fatal crash led California Highway Patrol officers to shut down a stretch of the freeway for around 14 hours, reopening lanes early Tuesday afternoon. Craven, who was assigned to the patrol division, had been on the La Mesa force for 20…

By FATIMA HUSSEIN WASHINGTON (AP) — In the midst of a federal government shutdown, the U.S. government’s gross national debt surpassed $38 trillion Wednesday, a record number that highlights the accelerating accumulation of debt on America’s balance sheet. It’s also the fastest accumulation of a trillion dollars in debt outside of the COVID-19 pandemic — the U.S. hit $37 trillion in gross national debt in August this year. The $38 trillion update is found in the latest Treasury Department report, which logs the nation’s daily finances. Kent Smetters of the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Wharton Budget Model, who served in…

LOS ANGELES — The Lakers really ought to send the Dodgers some flowers. Congratulations are in order for a second consecutive World Series berth, of course. But also, gratitude. A thank you to the Boys in Blue for taking L.A.’s full focus off of the Lake Show for at least another week. The Dodgers have created a notable distraction while JJ Redick and crew figure out how to play basketball without LeBron James. Sciatica made James miss the first season opener in his illustrious 23-season career Tuesday. Instead of making his presence felt on the floor, he sat courtside on…

By BERNARD CONDON NEW YORK (AP) — Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings at Tesla fell to $1.4 billion, or 39 cents a share, from $2.2 billion, or 62 cents a share, a year earlier. That marked the fourth quarter in a row that profit dropped. Excluding certain charges, earning were 50 cents per share, down from 72 cents per share a year ago and below the 56 cents forecast by Wall…

A pilot who crash-landed a two-seater airplane on Tuesday, Oct. 21, in Long Beach’s Heartwell Park, injuring a woman on the ground, had radioed to the Long Beach Airport tower that he had lost power three miles east of the airfield and declared an emergency, according to air traffic control audio obtained by the Southern California News Group. A tower air traffic controller asked the pilot which runway he wanted to try to land on, but the pilot’s initial response was unclear. “I don’t think I’m going to make it,” the pilot said. “I’m going to pick a field here…

By KONSTANTIN TOROPIN, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military launched its eighth strike against an alleged drug-carrying vessel, killing two people in the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday, marking an expansion of the Trump administration’s campaign against drug trafficking in South America. The attack Tuesday night was a departure from the seven previous U.S. strikes that had targeted vessels in the Caribbean. Hegseth said on social media that the latest strike killed two people, bringing the death toll to at least 34 from attacks that began last month. The strike marks an expansion of the military’s targeting…

CHARGERS (4-3) vs. VIKINGS (3-3) When: 5:15 p.m. Thursday Where: SoFi Stadium TV/Radio: Ch. 11/Prime Video; 640 AM/94.3 FM (Spanish) Line: Chargers by 3 Notable injury designations Chargers: OUT: RB Hassan Haskins (hamstring). QUESTIONABLE: LT Joe Alt (ankle), DL Jamaree Caldwell (illness), LT Austin Deculus (ankle), LB Troy Dye (thumb), S Elijah Molden (thumb), RT Trey Pipkins (knee), OL Jamaree Salyer (knee). Vikings: OUT: RB C.J. Ham (hand), OLB Andrew Van Ginkel (neck). QUESTIONABLE: T Christian Darrisaw (knee), RB Aaron Jones Sr. (hamstring), QB J.J. McCarthy (ankle), T Brian O’Neill (knee), RB Zavier Scott (wrist). What’s at stake: Three days…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday announced an agreement with the University of Virginia to pause Trump administration civil rights investigations. The Charlottesville campus became a target of President Donald Trump’s administration in April when the Justice Department began reviewing the university’s admissions and financial aid processes. Officials accused its president of failing to end diversity, equity and inclusion practices Trump has called unlawful. The mounting pressure prompted James Ryan to announce his resignation as university president in June, saying the stakes were too high for others on campus if he opted to “fight the federal government…

RAND Corp., a Santa Monica-based think tank highly dependent on federal government funding, shed more than 11% of its global workforce on Tuesday, Oct. 21, a spokesman for the nonprofit said late Monday. A third of the layoffs are effective Nov. 2 at the nonprofit’s headquarters, according to a filing with the state’s Employment Development Department. The layoffs were first mentioned publicly by RAND on career networking website LinkedIn. RAND spokesman Jeremy Rawitch confirmed 192 layoffs but did not provide a reason for them, or specify how many jobs were cut at specific global locations. According to RAND’s 2023 tax…