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Less of the ‘green crap’: UK politicians want to take edge off net-zero pain

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:55 GMT

LONDON — British politicians think they know what the people want this weekend — less of the “green crap.”Senior Conservative and Labour politicians have been assuring voters they want to take the edge off a suite of bold policies designed to tackle climate change and pollution after the ailing Conservatives clinched a surprise victory in an outer-London by-election opposing an ultra-low emissions zone (ULEZ), a green tax levied on higher-polluting cars.Allies of Labour’s London Mayor Sadiq Khan, the architect of that expanded ULEZ scheme, made it clear he is in listening mode after last week’s election result. City Hall is expected to look at new ways to mitigate the financial impact of the policy. It comes after Labour Party leader Keir Starmer on Friday urged Khan to “reflect” on the impact of the extension of ULEZ into Uxbridge, the former seat of Boris Johnson where the election was held.Meanwhile, veteran Conservative Cabinet minister Mic...

Netanyahu stuck in hospital as contentious vote nears in Israel parliament

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:55 GMT

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was recovering from an emergency heart procedure on Sunday after being taken to the hospital Saturday night, according to media reports. As Netanyahu recovers from a procedure to implant a heart pacemaker, the Israeli parliament is preparing to vote on a controversial overhaul of the country’s judicial system. Protests over the reforms have roiled the country recently, with demonstrations now entering their 29th week. According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, some are calling the crisis the most severe in the country’s history. Netanyahu’s doctors said on Sunday the pacemaker implantation went smoothly and that the prime minister felt fine, according to an Associated Press report.The vote taking place on Monday in the parliament will curb the Israeli Supreme Court’s ability to stop government policy it finds to be unreasonable. The crisis reached a boiling point over the weekend ahead of the vote. Both business and labor lead...

From scorching heat to deadly storms, Europe has no rest from ‘summer of hell’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:55 GMT

Europe is grappling with extreme weather from soaring temperatures in southern Italy to powerful storms in Croatia and Italy, piling pressure on emergency services and residents, and challenging tourists seeking some summer recuperation.Temperatures have consistently topped 40 degrees Celsius this week across southern and eastern European countries, and for some areas like Sicily there remains no respite. The Italian island was baking in 46 degrees Celsius on Saturday, according to the Met Office, with night temperatures of 29 degrees offering little in the way of comfort.The heat in parts of Greece was also pushing the mercury into the 40s on Saturday; the island of Kefalonia and the western coast of the mainland are continuing to see 40 degrees Celsius.On the island of Rhodes, firefighters continued their battle to bring difficult wildfires under control, according to local media reports. Thousands of people have been evacuated from homes and hotels after fires engulfed large part...

Shintaro Fujinami has ‘electric stuff,’ Rays hitters say. But will he throw enough strikes to bolster the Orioles’ bullpen?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:55 GMT

Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe didn’t want to complicate something simple.The six-year veteran faced Shintaro Fujinami three times when the Rays hosted the Oakland Athletics in early April. Like all of his starts to begin his MLB career, Fujinami showed flashes of the plus stuff that made him an intriguing pitcher out of Japan, but he was inconsistent and struggled mightily with his command.Fujinami allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings in that game, but that didn’t diminish Lowe’s impression of the 6-foot-6 right-hander.“I mean, he throws a 95 mph splitter and a 100 mph fastball,” Lowe said. “I don’t really think there’s a whole lot more I need to add onto that.”That pairing is what intrigued the Orioles enough to make Fujinami the first in-season major leaguer for whom they’ve given up a prospect to acquire in executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias’ five seasons. With nine days until the Au...

Column: Pat Hughes thanks Chicago Cubs fans for making him ‘part of your family’ during an emotional Frick Award ceremony

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:55 GMT

Sitting in the Chicago Cubs radio booth last week with Pat Hughes as he munched on popcorn during his one-inning break, our conversation turned to the baseball grind.Announcers, like players and coaches, are working almost every game during the 162-game season, taking long flights on getaway day, arriving in new towns in the middle of the night and reporting to the ballpark the next day several hours before the game.Lack of sleep is a given for six months of the year, and some days are harder to get through than others.Yet in the 27 years I’ve known Hughes since his arrival at WGN-AM 720 in 1996, I couldn’t recall seeing him in a bad mood at the ballpark.Was I mistaken, or was Hughes just able to disguise a bad day better than the rest of us?“I try to check reality at the door,” he said. “Because this is like a fantasy world. It’s a great form of escapism. I know it is for me, and it was for Harry (Caray) and I know it was for (Ron) Santo and for ...

One dead after shooting in Carlaw and Danforth area

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:55 GMT

One person is dead after a shooting in the Carlaw and Danforth Avenues area on Saturday morning.Police responded to a call at approximately 3:36a.m. of gunshots heard in the area.SHOOTING:Carlaw Ave & Danforth Ave3:36am– gunshots heard in the area– male was located with gunshot wounds– male transported to hospital with life-threatening injuries– male was later pronounced deceased – no suspect info – roads have been reopened#GO1710891^se— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) July 23, 2023A man was located with gunshot wounds and was transported to hospital with life-threatening injuries.The was later pronounced deceased in hospital.There is no suspect information available at this time. Roads have been reopened in the area.

Some will get a few showers today

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:55 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Afternoon and evening showers and isolated thunderstorms are part of the forecast today. Much of this rain will fall in our southern viewing area close to a stationary front. The rain chance for this afternoon will be 20%.A few locations will get rain today but there won't be much measuredThe first measured rain in more than two weeks left, on average, .01" to .10". There were a few gauges with more than .10", topped by .40" at Jollyville. Camp Mabry's gauge had .01". CENTRAL TEXAS RAINFALL TOTALS Saturday's highs reached the triple digits for much of the region. Camp Mabry's high was 105°, the 30th day with highs at or above 100°. It's the 30th day of triple-digit heat.Today's "normal" high is 98°Maximum heat indices yesterday topped out at 108° at Cameron, La Grange and San Marcos. Expect pretty similar numbers today.Most heat index readings this afternoon will range from 104° to 108°The National Weather Service is continuing a Heat Advisory but for only five co...

15 counties with the highest unemployment in Texas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:55 GMT

STACKER — While significantly lower than the alarming pandemic peak of 14.7% experienced in April 2020, unemployment rates remain a subject of concern, though experts' views on a potential recession are mixed. The last economic recession—the Great Recession of 2007-2009—sent rates up to 10% as of October 2009. It was not until the spring of 2019 that unemployment finally went down to the same level it sits at now.As of May 2023, national unemployment is at 3.4%, with little change from April. Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates by state demonstrate a rather sizable spectrum, ranging from just 1.9% in South Dakota to 5.4% in Nevada.Stacker compiled a list of counties with the highest unemployment rates in Texas using Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Counties are ranked by their preliminary unemployment rate in May 2023, with initial ties broken by the number of unemployed people within that county, though some ties may remain. County-level unemployment rates are not seasonally adj...

Rockford Beach reopens after drowning and increase in violence

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:55 GMT

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. - Rockford Beach Park on the big river is reopening after being shut down for the past two weekends. The closures came after authorities had to address an increase in violence and even a drowningThe park is opening right now, but officials came up with a plan to deal with issues that started to ramp up at the start of the summer. From this weekend forward, there will now be a sheriff's deputy on site during peak hours.Jefferson County authorities shared that overcrowding was the common thread in the rising fights, stealing, assault, underage drinking, and a drowning. A 41-year-old St. Louis man drowned there July 3, after jumping from the bluff into the river. 3-year-old boy from southern Illinois advances in 2023 USA Mullet Competition Then just three weeks after that, officials had to rescue a man who got stuck on a rock shelf just above an area of Rocky rapids. Overcrowding was making it much harder for authorities to get to visitors quickly in case of em...

Sunny to partly cloudy skies with highs around 90 Sunday, highs in upper 90s during work week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:55 GMT

ST. LOUIS - We have just a few isolated weak storms out there that will continue to diminish over the next couple of hours. Then we're set to have mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies and seasonable temperatures around 90. Another slight chance of isolated showers and storms is expected by mid to late afternoon and early evening. Anything that bubbles up will diminish by around sunset. St. Louis radar: See a map of current weather here We then turn our attention to heat and increasing humidity for the work week. Monday will be hotter and sunny. Monday night, we are watching the chance of a complex of storms impacting some of the region into early Tuesday. Still some uncertainty on whether this will materialize.The rest of the work week will be in the mid to upper 90s with heat index values in the triple digits.