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Saudi Arabia wins vote to host 2030 World Expo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:00 GMT

ISSY-LES-MOULINEAUX, France — Saudi Arabia will host the 2030 World Exhibition after winning a vote in Paris on Tuesday.Riyadh’s candidacy was endorsed by delegates from 119 countries during a ballot organized by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the Paris-based organization which oversees World Expos. Riyadh was competing with South Korea’s Busan and Italy’s Rome, which got 29 and 17 votes respectively out of 165 total delegates who showed up for the vote.When the outcome was announced at the venue, supporters of the Saudi candidacy cheered and started singing. Saudi Arabia secured more than two-thirds of the total votes, meaning that under BIE rules there was no need to organize a second round of balloting. Riyadh’s victory comes after a long campaign to convince BIE delegates via a diplomatic offensive and opulent events. Saudi Arabia was particularly proactive in approaching other countries to propose investment opportunities, according to B...

Harvard, Penn and MIT presidents to testify before Congress on antisemitism

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:00 GMT

New York (CNN) — The presidents of Harvard University, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania are scheduled to testify before Congress next week at a hearing on antisemitism on campus, lawmakers announced Tuesday.The hearing, set for December 5, will be held by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. It comes as tensions have surged on some college campuses following the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas against Israel.Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx, who chairs the committee, is vowing to hold university leaders accountable for antisemitism in the wake of Hamas attack and amid the Israel-Hamas war.“College administrators have largely stood by, allowing horrific rhetoric to fester and grow,” Foxx said in a statement. “College and university presidents have a responsibility to foster and uphold a safe learning environment for their students and staff. Now is not a time for indecision or milquetoast statements.”According to the House committee, ...

Mystery homicide victim identified after 4 decades

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:00 GMT

The Bristol County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday that they had determined the identity of an individual whose remains had been unidentified since they were found in Fairhaven in 1985.Using a genetic profile developed from DNA recovered from the remains, investigators were able to use forensic genetic genealogy to identify the victim as Keith Olsen, of Cranston, RI. Olsen was reported missing shortly after he was last seen on April 15, 1981. He was 27 at the time of his disappearance.Four years after his disappearance, on April 8, 1985, skeletal remains of a male were found by a driver stopped in the westbound breakdown lane of I-195 in Fairhaven, just past the Mattapoisett town line.Investigators at the time located nothing that could help them identify the skeleton, which showed evidence of inflicted trauma; the cause of death was determined to be a homicide.Authorities made multiple attempts to identify the individual through scientific efforts and appeals to ...

Justin Fields delivers late for Chicago Bears. Brad Biggs’ 10 thoughts on the win — the team’s 1st vs. NFC North foe in more than 2 years.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:00 GMT

10 thoughts on the Chicago Bears after their first win against an NFC North foe for Matt Eberflus and the club’s first since Nov. 25, 2021 — more than two years.You cannot make any sweeping conclusions from the final result Monday night at U.S. Bank Stadium after Cairo Santos knocked a 30-yard field goal through with 10 seconds remaining to lift the Bears to a 12-10 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. You can’t do it if you’re resisting the element of weekly referendums on coach, quarterback and others. But, boy, everyone involved needed this outcome.1. Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell was asked about the conservative approach and second-guessing the play caller is one of the first orders of business after a loss, right?Minnesota just had its second takeaway in just more than six minutes of the fourth quarter when safety Josh Metellus stripped quarterback Justin Fields and recovered the ball on the Bears’ 43-yard line.The Vikings just gone up 10-9 on...

Thanksgiving rescue: Baby sea lion saved from highway

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:00 GMT

CORONADO, Calif. -- Police officers in the City of Coronado made a unique and very cute rescue on Thanksgiving.A baby sea lion was attempting to cross State Route 75 near Leyte Road, a portion of highway that connects Coronado to Imperial Beach, when some good Samaritans stopped to help the baby animal cross the road. Full Moon: When to see November’s full beaver moon City of Coronado police officers arrived to rescue the little guy on Thanksgiving and were able to get it in a crate, but the animal had other ideas. When officers let the sea lion out of the crate at the ocean shoreline, it decided it didn't want to go and crawled back into the crate and refused to move, a post on the City of Coronado Police Department's Facebook page read. Hoodmaps San Diego: This crowdsourced map stereotypes cities SeaWorld San Diego arrived to take the little guy in and named it "Gobble" as the rescue happened on Thanksgiving. To report a sick, injured, entangled, or stranded live animal in S...

New York drivers could face license suspensions over vision tests

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:00 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York drivers who renewed their licenses during part of the coronavirus pandemic face license suspensions on Friday if they don’t submit vision tests, the state Department of Motor Vehicles warned. Nearly 51,000 drivers statewide could have their licenses suspended, according to Newsday. The DMV urged drivers to submit the tests by Dec. 1 to avoid ramifications. Suspensions would affect drivers whose licenses expired between March 1, 2020, and Aug. 31, 2021, according to the DMV.A pandemic-era rule allowed drivers to renew their licenses online by temporarily self-certifying their vision test requirement as most DMV offices attempted to limit crowds. Drivers were still required to eventually submit the tests. People can take a vision test from a state-approved location or submit a vision test report form. The state-approved sites and the form are available on the DMV’s website. Driving with a suspended license in New York can result in a ticket or ...

Michigan police arrest 12-year-old boy after youth drives away on forklift, officers follow

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:00 GMT

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Police in Michigan have arrested a 12-year-old boy who they said led them on a chase in a stolen forklift.Police were called to Forsythe Middle School at about 6:45 p.m. Saturday on a report of a stolen forklift, MLive.com reported. Officers found the forklift heading south through the city and gave chase at speeds between 15 and 20 mph (24 and 32 kph).The driver, later identified as a 12-year-old Ann Arbor boy, finally stopped the forklift and was taken into custody at about 8 p.m.Police later discovered the forklift had been left unlocked with a key hidden in the cab.No one was hurt in the incident.The Associated Press

CIB provides $52M loan for Thompson Regional Airport redevelopment in Manitoba

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:00 GMT

THOMPSON, Man. — The Canada Infrastructure Bank has signed a deal to lend $52 million to help pay for the redevelopment of Manitoba’s Thompson Regional Airport including the replacement of the terminal building which is sinking into the permafrost.CIB says that without the financing and other government support, the existing airport terminal building would eventually be inoperable.The airport provides passenger and cargo services to those in northern Manitoba and western Nunavut.It covers 37 northern communities, including 15 remote Indigenous communities only accessible by air and ice roads.The redevelopment plan includes the extension of sewer lines from the new terminal, parking lots and service roads.It will also see the construction of new apron and taxiways and the expansion of existing apron and related infrastructure.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 28, 2023.The Canadian Press

Burkina Faso’s state media says hundreds of rebels have been killed trying to seize vulnerable town

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:00 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Hundreds of rebels were killed as they tried to seize a town in northern Burkina Faso on Sunday, the state broadcaster reported, in one of the largest clashes in recent years in the West African nation under threat from fighters linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State.More than 3,000 fighters tried to take control of Djibo town near Mali’s border, the broadcaster said Tuesday. It was not immediately clear how many civilians or security forces were killed. The area has frequent internet cuts, and the military government is known to crack down on civil society.French medical group Doctors Without Borders said it treated locals injured in the attack.Approximately half of Burkina Faso is outside government control. The landlocked country has been ravaged by jihadi attacks. Fighters have killed thousands and displaced more than 2 million people, further threatening the stability of the country that had two coups last year.Located 210 kilometres (130 miles) from the...

Ottawa was always flexible on clean-energy rules, despite Alberta concerns: Wilkinson

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:00 GMT

Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says the federal government is open to extending the deadline for existing natural gas plants to operate without emissions-trapping technology.He says that negotiation was underway before Alberta Premier Danielle Smith moved yesterday to invoke her new Sovereignty Act, which she says allows the province to opt out of the proposed clean-electricity regulations.Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says the act is a symbolic political gesture with no basis in law or Canada’s Constitution.And Wilkinson says he is baffled by the whole thing, because Ottawa has made clear that it understands province’s concerns about how some newer gas plants might end up as stranded assets if the regulations aren’t adjusted.The draft regulations were tabled in the summer and require any power plant that creates greenhouse-gas emissions to either close or install emissions abatement by 2035.But gas plants that are built and begin operating before 2025...