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EU to send Turkey €1B for quake reconstruction

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:09:23 GMT

The European Commission will provide Turkey with €1 billion to help with “post-earthquake reconstruction” following the deadly quakes that killed tens of thousands in February, Ursula von der Leyen said Monday.“No one can fill the void left by those who lost their lives, yet together we can reconstruct and rebuild,” the Commission president said ahead of a donors’ conference in Brussels.She called for “homes, schools and hospitals” destroyed in the earthquakes to be rebuilt “with the highest standards of seismic safety.”More than 50,000 people died in Turkey and Syria after a series of powerful earthquakes hit southeastern Turkey in February. The earthquakes destroyed tens of thousands of buildings, raising questions over the construction standards in the seismic region.The aid package also includes €108 million for humanitarian assistance to Syria, von der Leyen said.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Monday the cost of...

The first North Atlantic right whale mother/calf pair of the year spotted in Cape Cod Bay

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:09:23 GMT

The first North Atlantic right whale mother and calf pair of the year has arrived in Cape Cod Bay, according to researchers who spotted the pair over the weekend.As the critically endangered species returns to the region, scientists are urging all boaters to follow state and federal speed restrictions to avoid striking right whales.On Saturday, the Center for Coastal Studies’ Right Whale Ecology Program team saw Porcia and her 2023 calf. Porcia, a 21-year-old right whale, was first seen with her new calf in late December off the coast of Georgia.The North Atlantic right whale is critically endangered with an estimated 340 animals remaining, and the species is protected under the federal Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.“That designation legally prohibits boats and aircraft from approaching within 500 yards of them,” the Center for Coastal Studies said in a statement. “It also restricts vessel speeds in designated areas, including Ca...

Spider wars: Black widows are being killed off by non-native brown widows

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:09:23 GMT

Bill Kearney | South Florida Sun-SentinelBlack widow spiders can stir primordial fear — they lurk in dark corners and their venom can cause excruciating pain, and in extremely rare occasions, death. But they seem to be no match for their aggressive non-native cousin, the brown widow.Scientists at the University of South Florida have recently discovered that brown widows ruthlessly target and attack black widows, and usually win those battles. But researchers can’t quite figure out why.As a result of this spider vendetta, the non-native brown widow has displaced the Southern black widow in many areas across the southern U.S., as far north as Kansas and as far west as California.The Southern black widow spider, seen here, has been driven out of urban and suburban areas by its aggressive non-native cousin, the brown widow. (courtesy Louis Coticchio)Not only do brown widows hone in on black widows, but they go relatively light on other spiders that share the same shadowy haunts.The stud...

TikTok-like risks are on all social media, group says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:09:23 GMT

The national-security and mental-health risks posed by TikTok are shared by other social media platforms, according to an advocacy group that’s urging Congress to also hold U.S. companies accountable ahead of high-profile testimony from TikTok’s chief executive officer.The Tech Oversight Project, a nonprofit, says Meta Platforms Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. employ the same harmful business practices as TikTok and are increasingly copying some of the video-sharing app’s design features.All of these platforms have “force fed children dangerous and harmful content with predatory algorithms, aided U.S. adversaries and worked against U.S. national interests at home and abroad, and failed to protect users’ personal data,” the group says in a memo shared with Bloomberg News.While the memo is sharply critical of TikTok, it echoes some of that company’s arguments that lawmakers should focus on general data practices, rather than the Chinese ownership of TikTok...

Play pickleball? Here are 10 tips to avoid injuries. (Don’t run backward!)

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:09:23 GMT

Lois K. Solomon | South Florida Sun-SentinelSouth Floridians trying to get in shape are calling their doctors with a new complaint: They got injured playing pickleball.Besides ankle, hamstring and lower back strains, many are suffering from arthritis flares, torn rotator cuffs and Achilles tendon ruptures. Another frequent affliction is the broken wrist — that’s what Shelly Turetzky of Delray Beach endured about three months ago.Turetzky, who plays at least three times a week, took a few steps back to reach for an overhead ball, then lost her balance and landed on her side.“I went to my orthopedist and he said pickleball is giving him his biggest boom ever,” said Turetzky, 66, a self-described “couch potato” before she started the game during the pandemic. “I’m now fully healed and back out there again because I get so much joy from the game.”Many middle-aged players who say tennis is too hard on their bodies have migrated to pickleball; others have never played tennis but heard pic...

Atmospheric river to bring heavy rainfall, strong winds

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:09:23 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Spring has sprung and the rain has begun (again).Southern California is expected to get the heaviest rain from this next atmospheric river event expecting to bring widespread heavy showers, potentially damaging winds and cold temperatures.Monday has mostly featured cloudy skies with periods of drizzle and light rain, but the widespread showers and gusty winds will pick up Tuesday morning through Wednesday evening from this atmospheric river event and subsequent cold front.A High Wind Warning has been issued for beaches as well as mountains and deserts as wind gusts could reach up to 60 mph Tuesday. A Wind Advisory covers our inland valleys where gusts of up to 50 miles per hour are forecasted.Flooding and excessive runoff are concerns over the next few days because of high rainfall rates and already saturated ground. Rain then becomes more showery Wednesday afternoon into evening.  NWS warns of potential for damaging wind gusts, heavy rain in San Diego this week ...

3 Kurds reportedly shot dead celebrating new year in Syria

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:09:23 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Turkey-backed opposition fighters in Syria fatally shot at least three ethnic Kurds who were celebrating a holiday late Monday by lighting fires, Syrian opposition activists and pro-government media said. The shooting near the northwestern town of Jinderis, which suffered substantial damage during last month’s earthquake, underlined the high tensions between Turkey-backed opposition fighters and the Kurdish community in Syria.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the shooting was carried out by members of the Ahrar Sharqiya group, an armed opposition group backed by Turkey.The observatory said members of the group got into an argument with some Kurds after mocking them for lighting a fire in honor of the Kurdish new year celebration. Members of the Ahrar Sharqiya group shot and killed three Kurds and wounded four others, the observatory said. It said all those killed were from the same family.The pro-government Sham FM radio station s...

US says China and Russia blocking UN action on North Korea

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:09:23 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States accused China and Russia on Monday of shielding North Korea from any action by the U.N. Security Council for its unprecedented spate of intercontinental ballistic missile launches, which violate multiple U.N. resolutions and jeopardize international aviation and maritime safety.U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told a council meeting that Chinese and Russian “obstructionism” was encouraging North Korea “to launch ballistic missiles with impunity” and advance its development of more sophisticated and dangerous weapons.After the meeting, she read a statement on behalf of council members Albania, Ecuador, France, Japan, Malta, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom, joined by South Korea, that condemned the launches. It said the growing crisis threatens not only the region but global peace and stability, and called for the Security Council to speak again with one voice. Unlike Thomas-Greenfield in her remarks, the statemen...

Minnesota moving to fortify state status as abortion refuge

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:09:23 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota is moving to fortify its status as a refuge for patients from restrictive states who travel to the state to seek abortions — and to protect providers who serve them.The state House on Monday passed a bill by a 68-62 vote to prohibit enforcement in Minnesota of laws, subpoenas, judgements or extradition requests from other states against people who get, perform or assist with abortions in Minnesota. The Senate version passed its first committee test last week. The House lead author, Democratic Rep. Esther Agbaje, of Minneapolis, said at a news conference before the debate that a prime example of what supporters are worried about is a Texas law that deputizes individuals to enforce their state’s strict restrictions by allowing them to sue to anyone who helps a patient obtain an abortion elsewhere. Democratic House Majority Leader Jamie Long, of Minneapolis, said the bill is needed because Texas-style legislation has been introduced in several sta...

Missouri to restrict gender-affirming care for minors

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:09:23 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s Republican attorney general on Monday said he will limit access to gender-affirming care for minors, sidestepping the GOP-led Senate as it struggles to pass a law banning the practice completely. As hundreds of activists rallied at the Capitol to pressure lawmakers to act on the bill, Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced plans to file an emergency rule. The rule will require an 18-month waiting period, 15 hour-long therapy sessions and treatment of any mental illnesses before Missouri doctors can provide that kind of care to transgender children, according to Bailey’s office. The emergency rule also requires disclosure of information about puberty blocker drugs, including that they are experimental, not approved by the FDA and that the FDA has warned they can lead to brain swelling and blindness, Bailey said.While puberty blockers and hormones often prescribed in transgender treatment are not FDA approved for transgender care, they are...