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Thanksgiving travel predicted to be busy on the roads, record-setting in the skies

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:49:32 GMT

(CNN) — AAA is predicting the busiest Thanksgiving in several years.And the estimates don’t even count the many Americans who are expected to travel days ahead of the five-day peak period.In all, AAA forecasts there will be 55.4 million people traveling, including more than 49 million Americans driving, between the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (November 23) and the Sunday after the holiday.“The trend is that people are still traveling in very large volumes,” Aixa Diaz of AAA told CNN. “Post-pandemic, the demand for travel just continues to go up year after year, and this Thanksgiving is no exception.”Those numbers make this the third-busiest Thanksgiving travel period in the more than two decades AAA has tracked it. This year ranks behind only 2019 and 2005 and is about 2% higher than last year.But that only tells part of the story.The total number of turkey day travelers is even larger thanks to new post-Covid work trends. Office workers freed from sitting in a cubicle daily might...

EU promises ‘substantial’ climate damage funding pledge 

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:49:32 GMT

The European Union will make a “substantial” financial pledge toward a new fund for climate damages, the bloc’s climate commissioner said today. A group of negotiators earlier this month agreed on the structure of a new fund to support developing countries hit by climate disasters — known as loss and damage in international talks — with the hope of finalizing details at the COP28 climate summit starting on November 30. Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra is “ready to announce a substantial financial contribution by the EU and its member states to the loss and damage fund” during COP28, according to a joint statement he issued with COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber. That pledge will come “in the context of an ambitious outcome at COP28,” the statement continues. On Sunday, POLITICO reported that Hoekstra had been touring EU capitals to gather cash pledges for the new fund. Danish climate minister Dan Jørgensen told POLITICO last week that Copenhagen was already work...

TikTok modère, les think tanks galèrent

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:49:32 GMT

Notre newsletter quotidienne sur les enjeux de lobbying et de transparence en France.Par ALEXANDRE LÉCHENETAvec OCÉANE HERRERO et PAUL DE VILLEPINInfos, tuyaux et mini-drames à partager ? Ecrivez à Océane Herrero, Aurore Gorius, Alexandre Léchenet et Paul de Villepin | Voir dans votre navigateurLE MENU DU JOUR— L’Elysée donne un bon point à la modération de TikTok.— Les think tanks vantent leur utilité pour soutirer plus de sous de l’Etat.— Le Medef embarque en nombre dans l’Eurostar vers Bruxelles.Bonjour à toutes et à tous, à quelques jours du début de la COP28, qui se déroule à Dubaï du 30 novembre au 12 décembre, les journalistes ont été prévenus : pas question “d’offenser” les Emirats arabes unis. Interrogé sur le sujet par nos collègues, un porte-parole émirati a rétropédalé et indiqué que cette COP serait finalement “la plus inclusive de tous les temps” ! N’hésitez pas à vous inscrire à Global Playbook pour ne rien rater.En attendant la COP, un autre événement a lieu ce ...

Inside the secret French camp where Ukrainians prepare for war

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:49:32 GMT

Chain-smoking Ukrainians tote French-made assault rifles as they hunker down in a newly conquered village to prepare for a counterattack.But this isn’t a firefight in eastern Ukraine. Rather, it’s a mock village in rural France where the Ukrainian troops are being trained by the French military, who are acting the role of the enemy.On a cold and sunny November day, the Ukrainians — both volunteers and draftees — are in the fourth and final week of training in a French military camp, part of a 48-hour exercise to put into practice what they’ve learned over the past month. From 5.30 a.m. to 8 p.m., six days a week, the French have been teaching their Ukrainian counterparts the skills of storming trenches and infantry fighting, including combat in urban and forest areas. The brief, as described by French officers: “To make them more lethal and harder to kill.” Back home, Ukrainians will return to a battlefield that has become, in the words of Ukraine’s top g...

2 people rescued from house fire in Worcester

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:49:32 GMT

Two people were pulled from the third floor of a burning home in Worcester on Sunday night, officials said.The people were rescued from the third floor of a home on Cohasset Street, according to the Worcester Fire Department.The fire displaced eight people.The cause of the fire remains under investigation.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Winter’s Chill to a Touch of Spring

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:49:32 GMT

Brrr… How about those chilly temps over the last couple of mornings? This morning is even colder than yesterday morning, yielding to coldest start to the season for many, and for Boston, the coldest start since March 20th, at 28 degrees. At least the winds are light and the sunshine is dominate this morning. Clouds do increase this afternoon as winds stay light and highs top off in the lower to middle 40s. While a few spotty rain/snow showers re possible across eastern New England this evening, much of the time will remain dry. Temps tonight fall back into the mid 20s to mid 30s. Temps tomorrow still run a bit below average (52 is average in Boston), but we’ll be a bit closer under a mix of clouds and some sun. Although a spot shower or two is possible, much of the day remains dry. There will be a bit of a midday/afternoon breeze, so despite it being a few degrees warmer than today, it may not feel that much different. While progress is slow the next few days, we trend u...

Pan-Mass Challenge donates record $72 million to cancer charity, closing in on $1 billion since 1980

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:49:32 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — The Pan-Mass Challenge handed over a record $72 million to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute on Sunday, moving the pioneering cross-state bicycle ride within sight of $1 billion raised.The summertime ride to the tip of Cape Cod is the largest single-event athletic fundraiser in the world, raising $972 million for cancer care since 1980. It is the largest single contributor to Dana-Farber and its Jimmy Fund.A total of 6,500 participants cycled up to 211 miles across the state for the 44th PMC in August.

Editorial: Evanston should approve Northwestern’s stadium

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:49:32 GMT

At its core, the battle over Northwestern University’s new football stadium in Evanston, and the zoning change allowing for the scheduling of six concerts therein, is a familiar one pitting substantial economic and educational benefits for an entire community against neighbors who understandably prefer their own peace and quiet.The battle royal, and that’s an apt phrase in this mother of all NIMBY wars, is scheduled to come to an end Monday as Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss casts the deciding vote at a scheduled City Council meeting.Biss should approve the university’s request.We’ve supported this stadium from the start. Our enthusiasm began with Northwestern making no requests for taxpayer support, in contrast to some NFL teams of our acquaintance. Thanks to the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan family, this $800 million project comes fully funded. Neither Evanston taxpayers nor Northwestern parents paying tuition are on the hook.As we wrote in September 2022, this...

Lucas: Biden getting soft as Israel-Hamas war wears on

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:49:32 GMT

It’s a good thing Joe Biden was not around for World War II.Otherwise, you would be reading this column in German with a Japanese translation for West Coast readers.That is because Biden would have thrown in the towel shortly after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and Hitler’s declaration of war against the U.S.Seeking peace in his time, like Neville Chamberlain, Biden would have agreed to turn over the U.S. West Coast to Japan and the East Coast to Germany to avoid a fight.But being the wise negotiator that he is, Biden would have insisted that the U.S. retain the middle part of the county where Americans would be allowed to hunt buffalo and live in between the two occupying powers.It would have been called the American Strip.But times change even though Biden doesn’t.And if he is allowed to linger in the White House much longer, he could oversee the country fall apart like it would have had he been at the helm during the Big One.This time, though, Biden could oversee the country...

Pakistan opens 3 new border crossings to deport Afghans in ongoing crackdown on migrants

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:49:32 GMT

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan on Monday opened three new border crossings to expedite the deportation of Afghans living in the country illegally, officials said. Nearly 300,000 Afghans have left Pakistan in recent weeks since authorities started arresting and deporting foreign nationals without papers after the Oct. 31 deadline for migrants without legal status to leave the country voluntarily.The expulsions mostly affect Afghans, who make up the majority of foreigners in Pakistan. It has drawn criticism from the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan as well as human rights organizations. The number of border crossings used to deport thousands of Afghans rose to five after the new facilities were opened in southwestern Baluchistan province, said Jan Achakzai, the caretaker provincial information minister. Currently, about 15,000 Afghans have been crossing the border every day from Pakistan. Before the crackdown, around 300 people were crossing each day.International aid agencies ...