U.S. and world news for March 29

Narcan: The Food and Drug Administration this morning announced that it has approved the over-the-counter sale of Narcan (naloxone hydrochloride), the drug that is used to reverse opioid overdoses. It will be available in a variety of retail stores and vending machines. Narcan is administered as a nasal spray.

Artificial intelligence: Elon Musk of Tesla and Twitter, Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, former presidential candidate Andrew Yang and more than 1,100 others including corporate leaders, educators and researchers have signed a letter calling for a pause in the introduction of artificial intelligence. They contend that not enough controls are in place to prevent it from being misused and that the uncontrolled spread of artificial intelligence, such as in creating fake images and false news stories can pose profound risks to society and humanity.

Pence must testify: Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court in Washington has ruled that former Vice President Mike Pence must testify in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the Jan. 6 attempted coup. The ruling reportedly allows Pence to avoid answering questions related to his role in presiding over the Senate during the counting of the electoral votes for president. Pence tried to avoid giving any testimony with a claim that he was acting as a legislator and not the vice president on that day.

Missile tests: Russia says it will stop telling the U.S. when it is going to stage missile tests. For decades, each country has alerted the other to impending test firings of missiles in order to prevent accidentally starting a war because one country mistakenly believed it was being attacked. The move is viewed as Russia trying to put more pressure on the U.S. to stop supporting Ukraine.

Nashville mass shooting: Nashville’s Police Chief John Drake says that the shooter in Monday’s attack at the Covenant elementary school in which three children and three adults were killed was being treated by a doctor for an emotional disorder. Police found that Audrey Hale had prepared maps of the school and carefully planned the attack.

Lucid to make cuts: Lucid, which manufactures luxury electric vehicles, says it is cutting 18% of its workforce. Lucid says 1,300 workers will be let go and the move will cost the company from $24 million to $30 million. The company says it will build from 10,000 to 17,000 electric vehicles this year.

Cover photo by PunchingJudy / Flickr Creative Commons