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Endangered red wolves need space to stay wild. But there’s another predator in the way — humans

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:45 GMT

ALLIGATOR RIVER NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, N.C. (AP) — Jeff Akin had to bite his tongue.He was chatting with a neighbor about efforts to protect and grow the area’s red wolf population. The endangered wolves are equipped with bright orange radio collars to help locals distinguish the federally protected species from invasive, prolific coyotes.“If I see one of those wolves with a collar on, I’m going to shoot it in the gut, so it runs off and dies,” Akin says the neighbor told him. “Because if it dies near you, and they come out and find the collar, they can arrest you.”Akin is a hunter and the walls of his country house are lined with photos of the animals he’s killed. But what he heard made him sick.“I wouldn’t shoot a squirrel in the stomach if I was hungry,” he says. “It’s just not humane.”In a way, the anecdote sums up the plight of this uniquely American species.Once declared extinct in the wild, Canis rufus — the only wolf species found solely in the United States — was r...

IndyCar Grand Prix of Portland Results

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:45 GMT

SundayAt Portland International RacewayPortland, Ore.Lap length: 1.964 miles(Start position in parentheses)1. (5) Alex Palou, Dallara-Honda, 110 laps, Running.2. (11) Felix Rosenqvist, Dallara-Chevrolet, 110, Running.3. (4) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running.4. (6) Pato O’Ward, Dallara-Chevrolet, 110, Running.5. (12) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Chevrolet, 110, Running.6. (13) Rinus VeeKay, Dallara-Chevrolet, 110, Running.7. (10) Marcus Ericsson, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running.8. (23) David Malukas, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running.9. (2) Scott McLaughlin, Dallara-Chevrolet, 110, Running.10. (16) Kyle Kirkwood, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running.11. (17) Christian Lundgaard, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running.12. (1) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running.13. (3) Colton Herta, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running.14. (21) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running.15. (8) Callum Ilott, Dallara-Chevrolet, 110, Running.16. (22) Santino Ferrucci, Dallara-Chevrolet, 110, Running.17. (20) Devlin DeFranc...

NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 Results

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:45 GMT

SundayAt Darlington RacewayDarlington, S.C.Lap length: 1.37 miles(Start position in parentheses)1. (18) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 367 laps, 57 points.2. (3) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 367, 51.3. (8) Chris Buescher, Ford, 367, 36.4. (23) William Byron, Chevrolet, 367, 39.5. (27) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 367, 32.6. (5) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 367, 38.7. (19) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 367, 30.8. (13) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 367, 33.9. (4) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 367, 38.10. (20) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 367, 35.11. (11) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 367, 31.12. (6) Joey Logano, Ford, 367, 25.13. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 367, 24.14. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, 367, 24.15. (12) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 367, 22.16. (25) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, 367, 22.17. (15) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 367, 0.18. (31) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 367, 19.19. (7) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 367, 25.20. (28) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 367, 20.21. (17) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 367, 16.22. (22) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 367, 15.23. (1) Chr...

1st Africa Climate Summit opens as hard-hit continent of 1.3 billion demands more say and financing

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:45 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The first African Climate Summit is opening as heads of state and others assert a stronger voice on a global issue that affects the continent of 1.3 billion people the most, even as they contribute to it the least.Kenyan President William Ruto’s government is launching the ministerial session on Monday while more than a dozen heads of state begin to arrive, determined to wield more global influence and bring in far more financing and support. The first speakers included youth, who demanded a bigger voice in the process.There is some frustration on the continent about being asked to develop in cleaner ways than the world’s richest countries, which have long produced most of the emissions that endanger climate, and to do it while much of the support that has been pledged hasn’t appeared.“This is our time,” Mithika Mwenda with the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance told the gathering, asserting that the annual flow of climate assistance to the contin...

Dozens of graft charges against Malaysian deputy premier are dismissed deep into his trial

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:45 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Malaysian court on Monday dismissed 47 corruption charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at an advanced stage of his trial.Zahid told a news conference afterward that the High Court discharged him but refused to grant him a full acquittal, which means he can still be recharged. But he said he was grateful that the “political-motivated accusations against me have ended.” Zahid heads the United Malays National Organization, and his support has been pivotal in helping Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim form a unity government. Zahid’s dismissal could further hurt the anti-corruption stance of Anwar’s government. Opposition leaders have alleged Zahid had supported Anwar so the charges against him could be dropped. Monday’s court ruling came just weeks after local elections in which the Islamist-Malay nationalist opposition bloc won strong support to make further inroads in government-ruled states.His lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik said prosecutors...

Upward of 20,000 Ukrainian amputees face trauma on a scale unseen since WWI

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:45 GMT

LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — The small band of soldiers gather outside to share cigarettes and war stories, sometimes casually and sometimes with a degree of testiness over recollections made unreliable by their last day fighting, the day the war took away their limbs.Some clearly remember the moment they were hit by anti-tank mines, aerial bombs, a missile, a shell. For others, the gaps in their memories loom large.Vitaliy Bilyak’s skinny body is a web of scars that end with an amputation above the knee. During six weeks in a coma, Bilyak underwent over 10 surgeries, including his jaw, hand, and heel, to recover from injuries he received April 22 driving over a pair of anti-tank mines. “When I woke up, I felt like I was born again and returned from the afterlife,” said Bilyak, who is just beginning his path to rehabilitation. He does not yet know when he’ll receive a prosthesis, which must be fitted individually to each patient.Ukraine is facing a future with upward...

Parents worried about new supervised drug-use site near Montreal elementary school

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:45 GMT

MONTREAL — Worried parents say they were blindsided by a decision to open Montreal’s first supervised drug-inhalation facility less than 100 metres from their children’s school.The building is nearing completion in the St-Henri neighbourhood, only steps from Victor-Rousselot elementary, which counts 300 students from preschool through Grade 6.That’s too close for comfort for Sylvain Boitiere, a father of two children, ages four and six, who attend Victor-Rousselot. He said news that the new building would include supervised drug consumption came as a shock.“It took an unexpected, unwanted turn,” he said. “We pay close attention to the children’s safety,” he added. “With this centre, we don’t know everything that’s going to happen.”The project is an initiative of Maison Benoît Labre, a local non-profit that runs a day centre for people experiencing homelessness. The new, four-storey building on Atwater Avenue wil...

A Georgia trial arguing redistricting harmed Black voters could decide control of a US House seat

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:45 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Democrats could gain a seat in the U.S. House and multiple seats in Georgia’s Legislature if a judge rules Republicans drew maps illegally weakening Black voters’ power.The trial beginning Tuesday is part of a wave of litigation progressing after the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year stood behind its interpretation of the Voting Rights Act, rejecting Alabama’s challenge to the law. The Voting Rights Act says voting district lines can’t result in discriminatory effects against minority voters, who must be allowed a chance to elect candidates of their choosing.Court cases challenging district lines drawn after the 2020 Census could shape 2024 congressional elections in states beyond Alabama and Georgia, including Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina and Texas. Taken as a whole, those cases could affect the narrow hold Republicans have on the U.S. House.In Georgia, U.S. District Judge Steve Jones is hearing what is expected to be a two-week case ...

COVID-19: Commission authorizes adapted COVID-19 vaccine for member states' autumn vaccination campaigns

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:45 GMT

The Commission has authorized the Comirnaty XBB.1.5-adapted COVID-19 vaccine, developed by BioNTech-Pfizer. This vaccine marks another important milestone in the fight against the disease. It is the third adaptation of this vaccine to respond to new COVID-19 variants.The vaccine is authorized for adults, children and infants above six months. In line with previous recommendations by EMA and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), adults and children from 5 years of age who require vaccination should have a single dose, irrespective of their COVID-19 vaccination history.The authorisation comes after a stringent evaluation by the European Medicines Agency, under the accelerated assessment mechanism. The Commission authorised this adapted vaccine under an expedited procedure to allow Member States to prepare in time for their autumn-winter vaccination campaigns.BackgroundWith our EU Vaccines Strategy, the Commission continues to ensure that Member States have acc...

China’s Xi will skip G20 summit in India over soured relations and Premier Li Qiang will go instead

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:45 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping will skip this week’s Group of 20 summit in India as bilateral relations remain icy and Premier Li Qiang will attend in his place, China’s Foreign Ministry said Monday. A one sentence notice on the ministry’s website says: “At the invitation of the government of the Republic of India, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi, India on September 9 and 10.”Relations between China and India have grown frosty over their disputed border that three years ago resulted in a violent clash between their troops, resulting in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese. They have also clashed over trade and India’s growing strategic ties with China’s main regional rival the United States. India recently overtook China as the world’s most populous nation and the two are rivals in technology, space exploration and global trade. The Associated Press