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Why California is having its best wildfire season in 25 years

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:02:16 GMT

It’s nearly August, but one familiar summer trend has been very scarce this year: wildfires.California is off to its slowest start to fire season in 25 years.A state traumatized by huge fires over the past decade that have burned millions of acres — killing more than 200 people, and generating choking smoke and apocalyptic orange skies — has seen almost no major fire activity so far in 2023.As of Thursday, just 24,229 acres had burned in California since Jan. 1, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. That’s 82% less than the state’s 10-year average and is the lowest of any year since 1998.Only four structures have burned statewide in wildfires so far this year and there have been no fatalities, reports Cal Fire, the state’s main firefighting agency. By comparison, one fire in July 2018, the Carr Fire near Redding, destroyed 1,614 structures and killed eight people, including three firefighters.The reason for the state’s good fortune now, exp...

Canadian McIntosh, 16, secures 2nd swimming worlds gold with win in women’s 400m individual medley

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:02:16 GMT

FUKUOKA, Japan (AP) — Summer McIntosh, the 16-year-old Canadian who promises to be a star at next year’s Paris Olympics, won her second gold medal of the World Aquatics Championships on Sunday, taking the women’s 400-meter individual medley in 4 minutes, 27.11 seconds.The victory for McIntosh, the world-record holder in the event, was the second of the worlds after winning the 200 butterfly on Friday. McIntosh seized the lead in the opening leg and won going away, recording the third fastest time in history. American Katie Grimes took the silver in 4:31.41, with Jenna Forrester of Australia picking up the bronze in 4:32.30.McIntosh got off to a slow start at the championships, finishing fourth in the 400 free and getting bronze in the 200 free, before striking gold in her last two individual races.Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden made history with her victory in the women’s 50-meter freestyle. The gold gave Sjostrom 21 medals in individual races in the world championships, surpassing Michae...

Juez bloquea ley de Arkansas que permite acusar a bibliotecarios por dar acceso a ciertos libros

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:02:16 GMT

Un juez federal bloqueó temporalmente el sábado la aplicación de una ley de Arkansas que habría permitido emitir cargos penales contra bibliotecarios y vendedores de libros por proporcionar materiales “dañinos” a menores. Según reportó The Associated Press, el juez federal Timothy L. Brooks emitió una orden judicial preliminar contra la ley. La medida, firmada por la gobernadora republicana Sarah Huckabee Sanders a principios de este año, tenía pautada entrar en vigencia el 1 de agosto. Johnson & Johnson fracasa por segunda vez para resolver demandas por cáncer en talco Juez federal bloquea nuevas restricciones a solicitantes de asilo del gobierno de Biden Esta ley también habría creado un nuevo proceso para cuestionar qué tipo de libros están disponibles en las bibliotecas y para solicitar que ciertos materiales — como libros relacionados a la comunidad LGBTQ+ — se reubiquen a sectores de las...

Powerful bomb at a political rally in northwest Pakistan kills at least 35 people, officials say

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:02:16 GMT

KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — Powerful bomb at a political rally in northwest Pakistan kills at least 35 people, officials say.Source

150 years later, batteaumen are once again bringing life to Scottsville

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:02:16 GMT

SCOTTSVILLE, Va. (AP) — Two hundred years ago, it was tobacco. The long, flat-bottomed batteau invented to transport the crop down the James River turned Scottsville into one of the biggest port cities in the early 19th-century Virginia.Now, with a 530-person population and a one-block downtown, Scottsville might not look like much to someone passing through. But on the town’s very own stretch of the James River still float the batteaux, although carrying very different cargo.The James River Batteau Company offers both midday and sunset cruises in its batteau, paired with charcuterie boards, local history lessons and live music. Since co-owners Will Smith and Will Cash founded the tour company at spring’s start last year, they’ve been booked just under capacity with tourists from Charlottesville, Richmond, Washington and beyond.“Where I really think the future of tourism in Albemarle County and Charlottesville is the merger of the raw beauty of this area with its unique history,” Sm...

US Republicans need to move beyond Trump, Nikki Haley warns

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:02:16 GMT

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on Sunday urged GOP voters to leave former President Donald Trump and his legal woes in the rearview.“While I think he was the right president at the right time, you know, earlier and while I think his policies were good, I don’t think he’s the right president at the right time going forward,” Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, said Sunday during an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”“I think we’ve got to move forward. Otherwise, we will have a general election that’s doing nothing but dealing with lawsuits.”The former president’s legal troubles have been the topic dominating the Republican primary race, leaving little oxygen left for the cluster of GOP candidates looking to dethrone the runaway front-runner. Four criminal cases are playing out against Trump, two of which have yielded indictments. An indictment in a third, involving the former president’s alleged efforts to stoke the Jan. 6 riot, ...

Macron warns against attack on French interests in Niger after coup

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:02:16 GMT

French President Emmanuel Macron said France will respond “immediately” to any violence against French interests in Niger following the coup in the African country. The French government “will not tolerate any attack on France and its interests” in Niger, Macron said on Sunday, according to media reports. Macron’s comments were in response to thousands of people demonstrating in front of the French embassy in Niamey, the capital of Niger. According to media reports, the crowds in front of the French embassy were shouting “Long live Putin” and “Down with France.”Tensions are running high in Niger after the country’s military last week took the country’s democratically elected president hostage and proclaimed it was in charge. West African leaders were holding an emergency meeting on Sunday in Nigeria to decide what to do about the coup, Reuters reported. The military leaders in Niger claimed the goal of the me...

Car crash in Cambridge sends one to hospital during strong thunderstorms

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:02:16 GMT

Cambridge police responded to a car crash that sent one person to the hospital during the strong storms Saturday night.Around 9 p.m., multiple crews including the Massachusetts State Police responded to the crash on Memorial Drive at the Brookline Street overpass. Images shared by officials shows one white car amid leaves and broken tree branches.One person was seriously hurt and transported for further care.https://twitter.com/CambridgeMAFire/status/1685474845998379008?s=20

New Hampshire mother and daughter reportedly kidnapped in Haiti, people warned to not travel there

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:02:16 GMT

A woman from New Hampshire who works for a nonprofit organization in Haiti and her young daughter have been reported as kidnapped as the U.S. State Department issued a “do not travel advisory” in the country and ordered nonemergency personnel to leave there amid growing security concerns.Alix Dorsainvil, a nurse for El Roi Haiti, and her daughter were kidnapped on Thursday, the organization said in a statement Saturday.El Roi, which runs a school and ministry in Port au Prince, said the two were taken from campus. Dorsainvil is the wife of the program’s director, Sandro Dorsainvil.“Alix is a deeply compassionate and loving person who considers Haiti her home and the Haitian people her friends and family,” El Roi president and co-founder Jason Brown said in the statement. “Alix has worked tirelessly as our school and community nurse to bring relief to those who are suffering as she loves and serves the people of Haiti in the name of Jesus.”A State Department spokesperson said i...

A bomb at a political rally in northwest Pakistan kills at least 40 people and wounds more than 150

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:02:16 GMT

KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — A powerful bomb ripped through a rally by supporters of a hard-line cleric and political leader in the country’s northwestern Bajur district that borders Afghanistan on Sunday, police and health officials said. At least 40 people were killed and more than 100 wounded.Senior police officer Nazir Khan said the workers convention of Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s Jamiat Ulema Islam party was taking place on the outskirts of Khar, the capital of Bajur district, when the explosion took place.AP video showed wounded people being carried from the scene in the chaotic aftermath of the explosion.Adam Khan, 45, was hit by splinters in his leg and both hands. He said it was around 4 p.m. when the the explosion knocked him to the ground.“There was all dust and smoke around and I was under the some injured people from where I hardly (could stand) up but only to see chaos and some scattered limbs,” he said.No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic St...