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Pariah no more? Arab League reinstates Bashar Assad’s Syria

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:40 GMT

By MOHAMED WAGDY and KAREEM CHEHAYEB (Associated Press)CAIRO (AP) — The Arab League agreed Sunday to reinstate Syria, ending a 12-year suspension and taking another step toward bringing Syrian President Bashar Assad, a long-time regional pariah, back into the fold.Some influential league members remain opposed to reinstating Syria, chief among them Qatar, which did not send its foreign minister to Sunday’s gathering. Thirteen out of the league’s 22 member states sent their foreign ministers to the meeting in Cairo.The decision represented a victory for Damascus, albeit a largely symbolic one. Given that Western sanctions against Assad’s government remain in place, the return to the Arab League is not expected to lead to a quick release of reconstruction funds in the war-battered country.Syria’s membership in the Arab League was suspended early on during the country’s 2011 uprising against Assad’s rule that was met by a violent crackdown and ...

Traffic detour in place after sinkhole opened in Rancho Bernardo

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:40 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A traffic detour is in place on Escala Drive in Rancho Bernardo, after a sinkhole opened up on the southbound side of the road.Both sides of the road were closed from Fernando Way to Chretien Court late on Friday, according to city officials in a release.The three-by-four-foot sinkhole that prompted the closure was caused by a broken 18-inch storm pipe under the road that carries runoff from the neighborhood above to an outfall in a lower canyon, officials said. Carpool lanes to be added to SR-56 Failure of the pipe led to erosion of the ground under Escala Drive, according to the city.It is unclear how much of an impact this year's winter storms had on the deterioration of the pipeline. After a preliminary assessment of the damage, city officials say the closure for work on the pipe and the roadway shall remain in place into next week at the earliest -- depending on the timeline for the emergency repairs.Detour signs are in place routing traffic around the closure.

East County center struggling to fill open beds for homeless

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:40 GMT

EL CAJON, Calif. -- Coming off the heels of the last homelessness town hall in El Cajon, a local transitional living center is trying to get the word out that it has beds ready and available.East County Transitional Living Center off East Main Street says it is struggling to fill them.Right now, ECTLC has 80 beds available across its campuses for single adults and families. They say if you are homeless, there’s a bed for you at ECTLC.East County Transitional Living Center wants to get the homeless off the streets and into these open beds.“First, we’re going to get you off the street,” Ivan Andujar said. “Get you sober. Put a roof over your head and give you everything that you need.”But it’s been a struggle finding takers. Some homeless refuse to come here because of its rules; you must stop drug or alcohol abuse and you can’t be a sex offender or people with felony warrants to be in this program. “The individuals have to make that change. We get to watch these miracles happen,...

Brazil’s Amazon megaprojects threaten Lula’s green ambitions

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:40 GMT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — After his swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 1, Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva walked up the ramp to the presidential palace arm in arm with Indigenous leader Raoni Metuktire, instantly recognizable by his yellow headdress and wooden lip plate.But a major railway that would accelerate deforestation in Metuktire’s ancestral land risks souring relations between the leftist leader and the chief of the Kayapó people. And it’s just one of several mega-projects that activists and experts say would devastate the natural world — and seriously dent Lula’s newfound image as a defender of the environment — if they proceed.Others include an oil drilling project near the mouth of the Amazon River; a highway that would slice through some of the Amazon rainforest’s most protected areas; and renewal of a giant hydroelectric dam’s license.“Lula is talking about the environment, showing preoccupation with illegal mining, demarcating Indigenous territories. ...

‘Big lunch’ follows big coronation celebrating King Charles

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:40 GMT

After the gilded spectacle of King Charles III’s crowning in an ancient religious ceremony, coronation festivities took a more down-to-earth turn Sunday with thousands of picnics and street parties held across the U.K. in his honor.The community get-togethers, part of a British tradition known as the Big Lunch, were intended to bring neighbors together to celebrate the newly crowned king even as support for the monarchy wanes. Critics complained about the coronation’s cost at a time of exorbitant living expenses amid double-digit inflation.Thousands of luncheons were organized as part of the celebrations Sunday, along with a nighttime concert at Windsor Castle featuring Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and 1990’s boy band Take That. Charles encouraged residents to engage in volunteer activities Monday, which was a holiday.The king and Queen Camilla were not expected at any of the luncheons but planned to attend the concert that will include a speech by his son, Prince Wil...

Delta flight diverted to Boston due to ‘unruly’ passenger

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:40 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — A Delta Airlines flight between Detroit and Amsterdam was diverted to Boston due to an unruly passenger on board, the airline says.Delta Flight 134 diverted to Boston Logan International Airport just before 9 p.m. Friday where the plane was met by law enforcement and the passenger taken off the flight.“We have zero tolerance for unruly behavior on our aircraft and express apologies to our valued customers and crew for experiencing this unfortunate delay in their travels,” the airline said in a statement. Delta did not describe the disruption caused by the passenger, but said such a diversion is standard procedure in similar circumstances. The Massachusetts Port Authority, which operates the airport, referred questions about the incident to the state police, which did not respond Sunday to a request for comment. The flight, an Airbus A330-300, with 282 passengers and crew, resumed its trip to Amsterdam, arriving more than three hours late. The Associated Press

Halifax ocean tech hub buoys firms tackling everything from climate change to defence

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:40 GMT

HALIFAX — It started as a Coast Guard facility, two aging brick buildings on the Dartmouth side of Halifax Harbour.Today, they’ve been updated with modern steel-grey siding, a nod to the nearby sea and the site’s new purpose as the Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship, or COVE.Along a wharf that once moored federal patrol ships, research vessels with ocean monitoring equipment now rent berths.The inside is also unrecognizable from its Coast Guard origins: machine shops whir with the sound of high-tech equipment, engineers tweak the latest prototypes, entrepreneurs work in a startup yard, and office and meeting spaces are filled with some of the greatest minds in the field of ocean technology. “People from the Coast Guard come here and say, ‘I worked here 15 years ago, and I never imagined this is what it could be,'” said COVE chief executive Melanie Nadeau during a wide-ranging interview.“It shows how we’ve repurposed this site to ...

95th annual St. Jude march takes off to remember fallen CPD officers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:40 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago police officers, retired officers and family members are gathering for the 95th annual St. Jude Memorial march to remember the fallen CPD officer. Hundreds of people gathered on the Museum Campus to participate in the march hosted by the St. Jude Police League. The march happens on the first Monday of every May to honor the 600 fallen officers whose names appear on the Gold Star Memorial. The organization, founded in 1932, supports and provides assistance to the families of officers the city has lost, including the 24-year-old Calumet district office who was shot and killed outside her Avalon Park home after finishing a shift. 7 people shot in overnight shootings on city’s South Side Another officer had found her near 81st Street and Blackstone Avenue, put her in a squad car and rushed her to the University of Chicago Medical Center where she succumbed to her injuries. The fallen officer joined the CPD three years ago. She was supposed to graduate from Loyola Uni...

State records show which Texas companies are planning mass layoffs, closures: Here's how to check

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:40 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – Between tons of tech layoffs and major retailers closing up shop, it's understandable if you're feeling a little uneasy in terms of job security. In many cases, in Texas you're able to easily check if your employer is planning serious cuts or branch closures. It's thanks to a federal law called the WARN Act, which stands for Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. Essentially, the law requires employers with 100 or more full-time employees to give 60 days of advanced notice for plant closings or mass layoffs. A "mass layoff" is defined as: (1) loss of 500 or more jobs at an employment site or (2) loss of 50 to 499 jobs, if that number makes up more than 33% of the company's workforce. Layoffs but low unemployment: What is going on in this strange economy? For-profit and non-profit companies are covered by the federal law, but government jobs are not. (There are other exceptions and situational factors, many of which are covered in a Department of Labor...

Wisconsin deputy shot and killed Saturday. Suspect later found dead.

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:40 GMT

A St. Croix County Sheriff’s deputy was shot and killed Saturday night, authorities said. A suspect in the case was later found dead.The shooting occurred at about 6:15 p.m. in the township of Glenwood, Wis., when the deputy responded to a report of a drunk driver in a ditch, according to a Wisconsin Department of Justice press release. The deputy reported shots fired at the scene.The deputy sustained a gunshot wound and was taken to a local hospital, and died there.“The involved individual fled and was later found deceased in a wooded area with a gunshot wound,” the press release said. There is no threat to the community.At about midnight Saturday, a law enforcement procession that included Minnesota and Wisconsin agencies transported the deputy’s body to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office, according to the Minneapolis Police Department’s Facebook page.The justice department’s Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating, as...