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Death toll in recent Beijing flooding rises to 33, with 18 still missing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:05 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — The death toll in recent flooding in China’s capital rose to 33, including five rescuers, and another 18 people remain missing, officials said Wednesday, as much of the country’s north remains threatened by unusually heavy rainfall.Days of heavy rain hit areas in the city’s mountainous western outskirts especially hard, causing the collapse of 59,000 homes, damage to almost 150,000 others and flooding of more than 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of cropland, according to the city government.Scores of roads were damaged, along with more than 100 bridges, Xia Linmao, a Beijing vice mayor, said at a news conference on Wednesday. The casualty and damage numbers were current as of Tuesday, Xia said, adding that rescue efforts remained underway. Given the level of damage, it could take up to three years to restore full functions, Xia said.Other parts of China have also seen heavy flooding, partly from the impact of Typhoon Doksuri over the weekend, leaving dozens...

Hawaii wildfires burn homes, prompt evacuations while strong winds hamper fire crews

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:05 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — Several Hawaii communities were forced to evacuate from wildfires that destroyed at least two homes as of Tuesday as a dry season mixed with strong wind gusts made for dangerous fire conditions. The National Weather Service said Hurricane Dora, which was passing to the south of the island chain at a safe distance of 500 miles (805 kilometers), was only partly to blame for gusts above 60 mph (97 kph) that toppled power lines, rattled homes and grounded firefighting helicopters. “It’s kind of because of Hurricane Dora, but it’s not a direct result,” said Jeff Powell, a meteorologist in Honolulu. “It’s just a peripheral result.” Hawaii was sandwiched between high pressure to the north and a low pressure system associated with Dora, he said, noting how it was sunny and very dry.The dryness and the gusts “make a dangerous fire situation so that fires that do exist can spread out of control very rapidly,” Powell said. Maui and the Big Island were contendi...

From upsets to record attendance, these are the trends that have emerged at the Women’s World Cup

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:05 GMT

SYDNEY (AP) — The traditional elite have been cut down to size at the Women’s World Cup. That has been the standout theme as a tournament that has already set records for attendance and goals scored enters the quarterfinals stage, and it has made for high drama. “It’s been absolutely incredible and a great testament to some of the work that is happening around the world,” FIFA’s head of women’s football, Sarai Bareman, told The Associated Press. “To see the results of this World Cup brings so much meaning to the work that we do. “It’s really special, not only for the players and the teams, but for those of us who are working on the game day in and day out.”Soccer’s world governing body FIFA is trying to grow the women’s game at pace, and it seems to be having an impact.Established nations have fallen one by one over the past two weeks, with the back-to-back defending champion U.S. team joining No. 2-ranked Germany, Brazil and Olympic gold medalist...

New York governor recalibrates on crime, with control of the House at stake

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:05 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is toughening her public safety platform to help Democrats retake control of the House, a strategic reset after Republicans won a series of upsets in the state’s congressional races by seizing on concerns over crime.The recalibration follows a disastrous midterm election cycle for Democrats in New York after Republicans flipped four U.S. House seats in the state last year, helping them win control of the chamber.The Democratic losses were blamed by many, including those in her own party, on Hochul’s apparent failure to mount a forceful, top of the ticket response to fears about crime, a key Republican point that resonated with voters in New York City’s suburbs.Ahead of next year’s election, the governor has begun amplifying centrist tweaks to the state’s bail laws as well as a slate of new policies on firearms.“You can’t say you’re serious about fighting crime if you’re not serious about getting illegal guns off our streets,...

The UN announces that a deal has been reached with Syria to reopen border crossing from Turkey

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:05 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations announced late Tuesday that an agreement had been reached with Syria to reopen the main border crossing from Turkey to its rebel-held northwest for six months. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the “understanding” reached following talks between U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths and Syrian officials, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said. The agreement will reopen the Bab al-Hawa crossing which has been used for 85% of deliveries to the northwest Idlib region.Haq’s statement followed his earlier announcement Tuesday that Syria has agreed to keep two other crossings to the northwest, Bab al-Salameh and al-Rai, open for three months until Nov. 13. The U.N. Security Council had failed to adopt either of two rival resolutions on July 11 to authorize further deliveries through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing to Idlib province.It is home to about 4.1 million people, many of whom have been forced from their homes during t...

Scientists look beyond climate change and El Nino for other factors that heat up Earth

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:05 GMT

Scientists are wondering if global warming and El Nino have an accomplice in fueling this summer’s record-shattering heat.The European climate agency Copernicus reported that July was one-third of a degree Celsius (six-tenths of a degree Fahrenheit) hotter than the old record. That’s a bump in heat that is so recent and so big, especially in the oceans and even more so in the North Atlantic, that scientists are split on whether something else could be at work.Scientists agree that by far the biggest cause of the recent extreme warming is climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas that has triggered a long upward trend in temperatures. A natural El Nino, a temporary warming of parts of the Pacific that changes weather worldwide, adds a smaller boost. But some researchers say another factor must be present.“What we are seeing is more than just El Nino on top of climate change,” Copernicus Director Carlo Buontempo said.One surprising source of added warmth could be cl...

Amazon nations seek common voice on climate change, urge action from industrialized world

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:05 GMT

BELEM, Brazil (AP) — Eight Amazon nations called on industrialized countries to do more to help preserve the world’s largest rainforest as they met at a major summit in Brazil to chart a common course on how to combat climate change.The leaders of South American nations that are home to the Amazon, meeting at a two-day summit in the city of Belem that ends Wednesday, said the task of stopping the destruction of the rainforest can’t fall to just a few when the crisis has been caused by so many.The members of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, or ACTO, are hoping a united front will give them a major voice in global talks.“The forest unites us. It is time to look at the heart of our continent and consolidate, once and for all, our Amazon identity,” said Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The calls from the presidents of nations including Brazil, Colombia and Bolivia came as leaders aim to fuel much-needed economic development in their regions while preventin...

Biden pitching his economic policies as a key to manufacturing jobs revival

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:05 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Bringing back factory jobs is one of the most popular of White House promises — regardless of who happens to be the president.Donald Trump said he’d do it with tariffs. Barack Obama said companies would start “insourcing.” George W. Bush said tax cuts would do the trick. But factory jobs seemed to struggle to fully return after each recession.On Wednesday, President Joe Biden will make the case in a New Mexico speech that his policies of financial and tax incentives have revived U.S. manufacturing. His claim is supported by a rise in construction spending on new factories. But factory hiring has begun to slow in recent months, a sign that the promised boom has yet to fully materialize.That hasn’t stopped the White House from telling voters ahead of the 2024 election that Biden’s agenda has triggered a “renaissance” in factory work.“Hundreds of actions coordinated through his entire government are sparking a manufacturing renaissance across the United S...

Cedar Park brush fire grows to 50 acres, apartment building destroyed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:05 GMT

CEDAR PARK, Texas (KXAN) — One building was declared a total loss, and some residents will be displaced after a brush fire in Cedar Park, Williamson County officials said during a news conference Tuesday evening. MAP: Acres burned in Central Texas wildfires this year The Texas A&M Forest Service began tracking the fire, now known as the Parmer Lane Fire, and it is estimated at 50 acres and 0% contained as of Tuesday at 11:30 p.m.The Forest Service originally estimated the fire spanned 120 acres but later decreased the acreage after more accurate measuring. Crews are building a containment line and engine crews are protecting structures. The Cedar Park Police said crews responded to the four-alarm fire near 12820 West Parmer Lane, which is close to East Whitestone Boulevard. Residents at the Bexley at Silverado apartment complex and nearby businesses were evacuated.City officials gave an update Tuesday evening, saying at least 20 agencies and 200 first responders assisted in th...

Lynx end their skid with win in Chicago

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:05 GMT

Foul trouble meant points came in bunches for Napheesa Collier Tuesday night.But when all was said and done, the Minnesota Lynx forward had more than enough to help her team down the Chicago Sky 88-79 on the road at Wintrust Arena.Collier finished with a game-best 29 points despite picking up her fourth foul midway through the third quarter. The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for the Lynx (14-15) and halted a three-game winning streak for the Sky (12-16).“Tonight did feel like one of those nights,” Collier said. “It feels good because I haven’t been as efficient as I’ve wanted to be. I really pride myself on being an efficient player. So when I go through droughts where I have to shoot more shots and they’re not going in, it’s really frustrating.“It felt good to have a night like tonight where I feel like if I have the ball, I’m going to make it. It’s always a confidence boost when that happens.”Collier picked up her third foul with 4:03 to go in the second quarter, forcin...