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The US is concerned with blacklisted Chinese firm’s hand in island-building near its Manila embassy

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:40 GMT

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The United States has expressed concerns over major land reclamation projects in Manila Bay near its heavily secured embassy due to the involvement of a Washington-blacklisted Chinese company, the U.S. Embassy said Wednesday. American Embassy spokesperson Kanishka Gangopadhyay said the U.S. also expressed its concerns over the potential environmental impact of the ongoing reclamations in Manila Bay in discussions with Philippine government officials.Environmental groups have staged protests against the yearslong government-approved reclamations, mostly by real estate companies seeking to build islands on which to anchor upscale hotels, casinos, restaurants and entertainment centers in a bay long notorious for pollution. Others worry that high-rise buildings built on reclaimed land would block ordinary folks’ view of Manila Bay’s famous sunset. “We have expressed concerns about the potential negative long-term and irreversible impacts to the env...

Pope hopes to inspire at World Youth Day in Portugal as the church reckons with a sex abuse fallout

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:40 GMT

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Pope Francis arrived in Portugal on Wednesday to open the first edition of World Youth Day since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of large gatherings, as he hopes to inspire the next generation of Catholics while coping with the church’s ongoing clergy sexual abuse scandal.More than 1 million young people from around the world were expected to attend the gathering in Lisbon, which takes place over several days. Francis’ plane arrived on a dull, warm day in the Portuguese capital, though the skies were forecast to clear and temperatures were expected to hit 35 C (95 F) by the weekend’s final papal Mass. The pontiff, in a wheelchair, was met on the tarmac by Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa accompanied by two young children.Busloads of pilgrims started arriving before Tuesday and braced for the high summer temperatures at the open-air events. “Stay hydrated!” read a slogan promoted by Portuguese health authorities for the ev...

Man seriously injured after being shot in leg in North York

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:40 GMT

A man is in hospital with serious injuries after police say he was shot in the leg in North York on Tuesday night.Police were called to the area of Driftwood Avenue and Grandravine Drive around 10:10 p.m. for reports of gunshots.Officers located a man with a gunshot wound to the leg. He was rushed to hospital with serious injuries.The investigation is ongoing and no suspect information has been made available.SOUND OF GUNSHOTS:(UPDATE)Driftwood Ave & Grandravine Dr– man has been located with gunshot to the leg– @TorontoMedics transporting patient to hospital with serious injuriesROAD CLOSURES– closures on Grandravine Dr & on Driftwood Ave– ongoing investigation#GO1792301^sc— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) August 2, 2023

Climate change made July hotter for 4 of 5 humans on Earth, scientists find

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:40 GMT

Human-caused global warming made July hotter for four out of five people on Earth, with more than 2 billion people feeling climate change-boosted warmth daily, according to a flash study.More than 6.5 billion people, or 81% of the world’s population, sweated through at least one day where climate change had a significant effect on the average daily temperature, according to a new report issued Wednesday by Climate Central, a science nonprofit that has figured a way to calculate how much climate change has affected daily weather. “We really are experiencing climate change just about everywhere,” said Climate Central Vice President for Science Andrew Pershing.Researchers looked at 4,711 cities and found climate change fingerprints in 4,019 of them for July, which other scientists said is the hottest month on record. The new study calculated that the burning of coal, oil and natural gas had made it three times more likely to be hotter on at least one day in those cities. In the U.S., w...

Foreign nationals evacuate Niger as regional tensions rise after coup

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:40 GMT

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Foreign nationals lined up outside an airport in Niger’s capital Wednesday morning to wait for a French military evacuation flight, while a regional bloc continued talks about its response to the military coup that took place last week.France, Italy and Spain all announced evacuations for their citizens and other Europeans in the capital, Niamey, following concerns that they could become trapped after soldiers detained President Mohamed Bazoum and seized power. The United States has yet to announce plans for an evacuation, but some of its citizens have left with the help of the Europeans. France’s first two flights evacuated more than 350 French nationals, as well as people from Niger and at least 10 other countries, the French Foreign Ministry said. The Paris airport authority said two more evacuation flights are scheduled to land Wednesday afternoon.Some 1,200 French citizens are registered at the French embassy, said the Foreign Ministry, and about half...

Germany’s Wacken metal festival halts admissions after persistent rain turns site to mud

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:40 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The Wacken Open Air heavy metal festival in northern Germany is opening on Wednesday with a reduced audience after persistent rain turned the grounds to mud and forced organizers to order a halt to all new arrivals.Organizers of the famed music festival in the village of Wacken, in a rural area northwest of Hamburg, had already told fans on Tuesday that no more cars and trucks could be admitted to the site because camping areas, the grounds and access roads were in poor condition because of heavy rain in recent days, and more was expected.Early Wednesday, they announced a “total admission stop.” In a statement on the festival’s website, they said that “considering the weather conditions, the reasonable visitor capacity for Wacken Open Air 2023 has now been reached.” It was, they said, the first time since the event was first held in 1990 that they had had to stop admissions — adding that “we are very sad, but the continuing difficult weather situation unfortunate...

Former Ivory Coast President Bédié known for promoting ethnic tensions dies at 89, his party says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:40 GMT

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Former Ivory Coast president Henri Konan Bédié died Tuesday night at the age of 89, according to a communiqué from his party.State media reported that he was rushed from his hometown of Daoukro in central Ivory Coast yesterday evening after falling ill. He arrived by helicopter around 8 p.m. at a hospital in Abidjan, the nation’s largest city and economic hub, where he passed away.Till his death, Bédié was president of the Democratic Party of the Ivory Coast, which planned to take part in the nation’s 2025 elections.In a statement on Wednesday, his party called him a “Great Statesman” who worked to bring peace to the country and “the Grandeur of our nation.”A career diplomat and politician, Bédié was head of state in the West African nation from 1993 to 1999 before he was overthrown in a military coup. The late president was known for promoting the concept of “Ivoirité,” which stoked ethnic and religious tensions and corresponded to an uptick in violence ...

Powder Keg Pine Fire in Bastrop estimated at 100 acres, 50% contained

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:40 GMT

BASTROP, Texas (KXAN) — First responders Tuesday afternoon said they were working to evacuate homes as a "precautionary measure" because of a wildfire burning near Bastrop State Park. The fire, which is now called the Powder Keg Pine Fire, is estimated at 100 acres and is 50% contained as of 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.The Forest Service said in a social media post Wednesday morning dozers made improvements to the containment line overnight, and firefighters patrolled and mitigated hotspots near the fire perimeter.Additionally, the Austin Fire Department said it and other Travis County ESDs sent multiple units as mutual aid to to the fire.Just before 10 p.m. Tuesday first responders said people living in the areas affected by the evacuations could return home. That area was between Harmon Road and Pine Hill Loop in Bastrop. It's unclear how many homes are impacted at this time. Neighbors are advised to contact the county hotline at (512) 303-4...

Family waits for answers after 22-year-old died in custody at Anoka County jail

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:40 GMT

The family of a 22-year-old Anoka County inmate who died in jail late last month wants to know more about what happened in the moments leading up to his death.According to a statement from the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office, Cristian Rivera-Coba, of Minneapolis, became unresponsive while being attended to by a detention deputy and medical staff on July 21.“It’s shocking — it happened all too fast. We don’t have any answers,” said Rivera-Coba’s older sister, Yessenia. “The way he went just doesn’t make sense to us.”Rivera-Coba was booked into jail July 18 and charged with auto theft, fleeing police in a vehicle, and driving under the influence. Charges said he admitted to smoking Percocet pills with fentanyl shortly before he was pulled over.“The jail and medical staff immediately requested assistance from Allina EMS and began actively administering life saving measures on the inmate,” the statement said. “Emergency responders escorted him to a local hosp...

Five weeknight dishes: Herby orzo with a bright topping

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:40 GMT

If you only master two cooking fundamentals this summer, let it be these: cooking meat, fish, tofu and vegetables in utterly simple ways and making an easy sauce to go with them. Yewande Komolafe’s steak recipe brings both skills together in one dish, giving you instructions for grilling the meat and blending up a sauce of scallions, garlic, parsley and chiles. Likewise, Ali Slagle’s baked BBQ chicken comes down to properly roasting bone-in chicken leg quarters in a sticky-sweet blanket of barbecue sauce. Melissa Clark’s new orzo recipe leans on golden brown sautéed zucchini and pesto for instantaneous flavor.These recipes and more are below, and there are thousands and thousands more at New York Times Cooking. (Subscribe for full access.) For a few more weeks, text a fruit or vegetable emoji to 361-COOK-NYT (361-266-5698) and get free recipes.One-Pan Zucchini-Pesto OrzoOne-pan zucchini-pesto orzo on July 10, 2023. Food Stylist: Hadas Smirnoff. (Linda Xiao/The New York Times)Keeping...