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Indian opposition lawmakers visit violence-wracked state in bid to pressure Modi’s government

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — A group of Indian opposition lawmakers on Saturday visited a remote northeastern state where deadly ethnic clashes have killed at least 130 people, in a bid to pressure the government to take action against the violence which began in May. The delegation of 20 lawmakers from 15 political parties, who are part of a new opposition alliance called INDIA, arrived in Manipur state for a two-day visit to assess the situation on the ground as the ongoing violence and bloodshed have displaced tens of thousands in recent months. The conflict in Manipur has become a global issue due to the scale of violence, said Adhir Ranjan Choudhury, a lawmaker belonging to the opposition Congress party. “Our delegation is here to express solidarity with the people of Manipur in this time of distress. The top priority now is to restore normalcy as soon as possible,” he added.Tucked in the mountains on the border with Myanmar, Manipur is on the brink of a civil war. Mobs have rampaged throu...

A rebounding Pope Francis adds an overnight visit to France to his busy travel schedule

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis will make a two-day trip to Marseille, France, in late September, adding to a flurry of trips the 86-year-old pontiff will soon be making only weeks after leaving hospital following abdominal surgery. Early this year, Francis had said that he would go to the port city to participate in a meeting of Mediterranean-area Catholic bishops, but until the Vatican released his schedule on Saturday for the Sept. 22-23 pilgrimage, it wasn’t clear how long he would stay. On his second day in Marseille, Francis will meet with the bishops and in late afternoon preside at Mass in the city’s soccer stadium. Francis heads on Aug. 2 to Lisbon, Portugal, on a five-day trip centered around a Catholic youth jamboree. While in Portugal, he’ll make a helicopter trip to Fatima, site of a popular shrine to the Virgin Mary. Then on Aug. 31, he is scheduled to fly to Mongolia for the first-ever visit by a pontiff to that Asian country, which has a tiny Catholic community. Three...

An explosion at a firecracker factory in southern India kills 8 people, police say

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — An explosion ripped through a firecracker factory in southern India on Saturday, killing eight people and wounding several others, police said. There was no immediate word as to what had caused the explosion in the district of Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu state. Houses and shops nearby were also damaged, authorities told the Press Trust of India news agency. Rescuers, police and firefighters rushed to the site. India has a huge demand for firecrackers, which are used in religious festivals and weddings. There are fatal accidents nearly every year as people work in makeshift factories in the absence of proper safety standards.In 2018, a massive fire at a firecracker factory in capital of New Delhi killed 17 workers. A year earlier, 23 workers were killed when a blast occurred while they were making firecrackers in a village in Madhya Pradesh state in central India.Factories start manufacturing firecrackers months before the nation’s biggest Hindu festivals, when people ...

US pledges to help Australia manufacture guided missiles by 2025

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The United States will expand its military industrial base by helping Australia manufacture guided missiles and rockets for both countries within two years, the allies announced on Saturday as they ramped up defense cooperation to counter China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific.The new cooperation on guided weapon production follows a trilateral partnership announcement in March that will see Britain provide Australia with a fleet of eight submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology.The greater integration of U.S. and Australian militaries was announced after annual talks between U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their Australian counterparts, Defense Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong.They agreed to cooperate on Australia producing Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems by 2025, a communique said.U.S. companies Raytheon and Lockheed Martin only established an Australian enterprise to ...

Montreal program letting residents plant sidewalk gardens provides numerous benefits

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

MONTREAL — On a quiet residential corner of Montreal’s St-Henri neighbourhood, plots of dirt carved out of the sidewalk, each hosting a solitary tree, have become verdant oases along the city block.Through a free borough-run program that allows residents to adopt sidewalk tree plantings, local tenants have turned several of the roughly two-square-metre parcels into their own small gardens, some of them now bursting with daisies and hosta. Just in its second year of operation, the program has been a catalyst for numerous social, environmental and commercial benefits, residents say.And its popularity is growing. In 2022, Montreal’s Southwest borough, which includes St-Henri, counted 253 participants and 407 adopted squares. So far in 2023, there are 411 participants caring for 613 squares, according to Marie-Joëlle Fluet, the borough official who co-ordinates the program.“It’s a nice way to participate in my neighbourhood,” Geneviève Laplante, who adopted...

Severe weather causes damage in Chicagoland area

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

Severe weather moved through the Chicago area Friday night, prompting watches and warnings including a Tornado Warning for a portion of the night just before midnight, also leaving a sizable amount of damage. The storm took down several large trees and branches and caused a number of ppwoer outages. There have been no reports of injuries yet. ComEd is currently reporting about 34,000 customers without power. Latest warnings and watches from the National Weather Service.It was a hot, steamy Friday with high temps which made it into the low and mid 90s—with dew points as high as 80-deg at a number of locations. Powerhouse t-storms erupt Friday night The Chicago area was at a Level 3 risk of severe weather on the storm prediction center's 5-tier risk scale and also the risk of excessive rainfall. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here There is potential for t-storms to train---i.e. fire repeatedly over some areas---thus producing potential flooding. It appears the pe...

How and why tar balls end up on Texas beaches

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (KXAN) -- A phenomena washes up on Texas' beaches: sticky, black balls of tar.According to the Texas General Land Office (GLO), the tar balls come ashore in the summer due to changes in ocean currents. The balls occur when petroleum, whether arising from naturally occurring oil seeps or from off-shore oil spills, combines with seawater and solids. Report: Texas beaches could be unsafe for swimming Tar balls also occur near California, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Response and Restoration.The first record of tar balls in Texas comes from Luis de Moscoso in 1543. Moscoso's expedition came ashore between Sabine Pass and High Island, according to the GLO. The expedition collected the tar balls to use as hull caulk.In terms of health risks, the GLO claims that brief contact is harmless, but should be cleaned off the body with soap and water, baby oil or other skin-safe cleaning compounds.Despite the low risks, the ba...

Sainted & Tainted: Jessica runs home to get her tools and, voila, the rear tire spins!

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

SaintedI’m on my scooter in line to pick up a prescription at a Walgreen’s drive-up window. I put on the parking brake to keep from rolling back. Then, when it’s my turn, I can’t release the parking brake!The rear wheel is immobilized, and I can’t push the scooter aside.I call AAA for a tow and tell folks coming for prescriptions they need to use the other line, scooter is immovable. One woman, Jessica, asks, what’s wrong with it? I tell her and she says, well the cable needs to be released from the caliper and the rear wheel should free up. She’s eying the brake mechanism while waiting in line for her prescription and figures out what needs to be done but we’ve got no tools.I’ll run home and get mine, she said. Wait right here, she said.Jessica returns, removes the emergency brake assembly, and voila! The rear tire is spinning again!Thank you Jessica. There really are angels in our midst, and Jessica is definitely among them.Michael G...

Hunters, plan your seasons with this 2023 calendar for Minnesota, Wisconsin

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

The nights have been sticky and the days hot for much of summer, but August will fly by quickly, and, in just a few weeks, as the weather cools and the leaves change color, the army of camo- and orange-clad hunters will be back in the woods and fields.If you haven’t already, it’s time to start planning your 2023 fall hunting seasons.Again this year, the News Tribune has compiled a calendar of important hunting dates to remember, and some permit application dates are coming up quickly.Minnesota bear hunters who entered the lottery for bear hunting licenses should check to see if they were selected for a license, with the deadline to buy that license Aug. 1. Lottery winners should have received a postcard notification, but you can also check dnr.state.mn.us/hunting/bear/index.html. Any leftover licenses go on sale Aug. 4. Permits for no-quota bear hunting zones are on sale now.Minnesota 2023 hunting seasonsBailey Petersen and her Llewellin setter, Hatchet, get ready to move in on a ru...

Former police captain accused of stalking fellow officer

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

LINCOLN COUNTY, Mo. - FOX 2 was the only news station in court Friday where a former police captain was accused of stalking a fellow officer. How it all ties back to a decade, an old murder case, and a woman named Pam Hupp.  No one is more interested in this case than Russ Faria. He watched as former Lincoln County Captain Mike Merkel walked into a preliminary hearing over charges he stalked a fellow officer."Little bit surreal – kind of a good feeling to be sitting in the audience," Faria said.Faria had been wrongfully imprisoned for more than three years for the murder of his wife Betsy in 2011. Hupp is now charged with Betsy's murder, but while Faria was in jail, Merkel was one of the officers who supported Hupp's changing stories to keep Faria imprisoned.  She says an Uber stranded her, then things really got weird Following Faria's acquittal, a new sheriff put Chief Deputy Randy Lambert in charge of investigating what happened. Lambert testified in court on Fri...