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Better weather conditions help slow down La Palma wildfire in Spain’s Canary Islands

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:26 GMT

MADRID (AP) — More favorable weather conditions have helped firefighters slow down the advance of a wildfire on La Palma in Spain’s Canary Islands that has forced the evacuation of more than 4,000 residents, authorities said Sunday. The blaze, which started Saturday, has affected an area of about 4,600 hectares (11,300 acres) and burned some 20 houses and buildings.Authorities urged people not to go near the area on the northwest side of the island.Tourism Minister Héctor Gómez told reporters that thanks to the efforts to combat the blaze overnight, the outlook for bringing it under control had improved.More than 300 firefighters have been deployed and nine water-carrying helicopters and two planes are being used to try to extinguish the fire. A further 86 members of the army’s Military Emergency Unit were flown to the island on Sunday.The fire coincides with a heat wave that is hitting southern Europe.Temperatures in the Canary Islands, located off the northwest coast of Afri...

Iraqi premier in Syria for first visit in over a decade to discuss boosting cooperation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:26 GMT

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Iraq’s prime minister held talks Sunday with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus during the first trip of its kind to the war-torn country since the 12-year conflict began.The two leaders told reporters that they discussed fighting drugs, the return of Syrian refugees and the imperative of lifting Western sanctions imposed in Syria. They also talked about Israel’s strikes on the war-torn country and water shortages in the Euphrates River that cuts through both countries because of projects in Turkey. Iraq and Syria have had close relations for years even after many Arab countries withdrew their ambassadors from Damascus and Syria’s membership in the 22-member Arab League was suspended because of the crackdown on protesters in 2011.Assad received Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who was heading a high-ranking delegation, at the presidential palace in Damascus. They discussed mutual relations and cooperation between the two neighboring countries among other ...

Actress, singer and style icon Jane Birkin dies in Paris at age 76

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:26 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Actress and singer Jane Birkin, who charmed France with her English grace, style and accented French and made the country her home, has died at age 76, according to France’s Culture Ministry and French media. The London-born star was widely admired for her fashion style and known for her musical and romantic relationship with French singer Serge Gainsbourg. Their songs notably included the steamy “Je t’aime moi non plus,” with Birkin’s ethereal, British-accented singing voice interlacing with his gruff baritone. She was also celebrated in France for her political activism. In 2022, she joined other screen and music stars in France in chopping off locks of their hair in support of protesters in Iran. Charlotte Gainsbourg, Birkin’s daughter with Gainsbourg, cut off a lock of her mother’s hair for that filmed campaign.The French Culture Ministry tweeted that Birkin died Sunday. It hailed her as a “timeless Francophone icon.”French news outlets...

Downtown ad campaign launched to find suspects in Leslieville shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:26 GMT

An ad campaign has been launched across the city, with billboards asking for the public’s assistance in tracking down the outstanding suspects in the death of a woman killed by a stray bullet in Leslieville earlier this month.Karolina Huebner-Makurat, the 44-year-old wife and mother of two young daughters, was walking in the area of Queen Street East and Carlaw Avenue to pick up lunch when gunshots rang out just before 12:30 p.m. on July 7. She was struck by a stray bullet and killed. The campaign was arranged by the Canadian Out of Home Marketing and Measurement Bureau (COMMB) – a non-profit organization that the victim’s husband, Adrian Makurat, works for. They’ve worked with Toronto Police and digital advertisers to display the posters across the city including on Yonge-Dundas Square and by the Gardiner Expressway.“The purpose of this campaign was truly to raise awareness, bring tips, and to ensure that we could support one of our own, whose been in our industry...

Sunday Forecast: Hazy sunshine, bad air quality

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:26 GMT

Sunday: Air Quality Alert with unhealthy air for all. Hazy sunshine early-- but some of us seeing Canadian wildfire smoke almost down to ground level. Clouds & sun in the afternoon. WNW 5-15 mph. High mid to low 80s. Sunday Night: Chance of evening showers/thunderstorms. Some could be strong to severe-- the main threat looks to be strong gusty winds up to 6 mph in localized areas. WSW 5-15 mph. Low mid 60sMonday: Slight chance of early showers then clearing with improved air quality. WNW 5-15 mph. Highs near 80, cooler lakeside. Chicago Weather | Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center's Forecast (wgntv.com)Extended outlook calls for another mostly sunny day on Tuesday with temps in the mid to low 80s. We'll see increasing clouds on Wednesday with a chance of afternoon showers/t'storms back in the forecast. 

Washington's legal pot farms get back to work after pesticide concerns halted operations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:26 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — A big mound of fresh dirt sits at Terry Taylor's marijuana farm in the high desert of north-central Washington state. Each hole for a new plant gets filled with the clean soil.Large swaths of recently installed landscape fabric cover the ground, and soon the dirt roads on his property will be covered in crushed rock to keep contaminated dust from covering the crops.Taylor's pot farm is one of several getting back to business after state regulators halted their operations in April, citing product testing that turned up unacceptable levels of chemicals related to DDT, a synthetic pesticide banned half a century ago. The affected growers haven't used the pesticide themselves, but they are located on a 5-mile (8-kilometer) stretch of former fruit orchards along the Okanogan River where it was applied heavily and remains in the soil.The Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board announced last week it had lifted the holds on the businesses, which are now taking steps with state ...

FDA approves pricy new treatment for Alzheimer's: What you need to know

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:26 GMT

(WGN Radio) – A new drug that shows promising results of slowing memory decline recently received the Food and Drug Administration's stamp of approval – but will anyone be able to afford it?The FDA endorsed the IV drug, Leqembi, for patients with mild dementia and other symptoms caused by early Alzheimer's disease. It works by clearing a sticky brain plaque linked to the disease, and it’s the first medicine that’s been convincingly shown to modestly slow the cognitive decline caused by Alzheimer's.But Leqembi doesn't come cheap. It is priced at about $26,500 for a year’s supply of IVs every two weeks."If we had to pay out of pocket, you'd certainly have to have substantial funds to do this," said Dr. Kevin Most, chief medical officer at Northwestern Central DuPage Hospital, in an interview with WGN Radio. It was a popular national monument, until it was robbed to extinction But the recent FDA approval paves the way for Medicare and other insurers to cover the drug. Medicare ...

What to know about aspartame following the WHO's assessment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:26 GMT

(The Hill) - The World Health Organization's (WHO) new assessment of the safety of the common artificial sweetener aspartame has ignited a debate over just what consumers should do.Two groups tied to the WHO — the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) — issued somewhat diverging conclusions on Thursday in regard to aspartame, an extremely popular additive most often associated with diet foods.IARC determined that the sweetener was “possibly carcinogenic,” while JECFA said it found “no convincing evidence from experimental animal or human data that aspartame has adverse effects after ingestion.”The studies did not produce a change in the recommended daily intake of aspartame for humans. California couple charged nearly $30K for one Uber ride A food safety official for the WHO said that the consumption of aspartame is “not a major concern at the doses which are commonly used.”The amount of aspartame that was indic...

Are Airbnbs allowed to have hidden cameras? How to know if someone is watching

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:26 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – Someone might be keeping an eye on you as you check into your next vacation rental. The vacation rental property allows for security cameras in many parts of a home or apartment that's rented out to guests. But if you're going to be watched, you should know about it. Airbnb doesn't allow for hidden cameras or any other types of concealed recording devices. It does allow hosts to install security cameras in or around the property – as long as they're not in private areas like bedrooms or bathrooms, and as long as they are properly disclosed. Vrbo, another vacation rental platform, has even stricter rules: no cameras or other surveillance devices anywhere inside a property. They are permitted in outdoor areas, if disclosed. Are your old CDs worth anything to collectors? Even though both companies prohibit hosts from installing hidden cameras, claims of discovered recording devices still occasionally go viral on social media. Last year, a lawsuit was filed in Texas,...

Powerball jackpot rolls to $900M: When's the next drawing?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:26 GMT

(NEXSTAR) - The Powerball jackpot has rolled yet again after no ticket matched the six winning numbers drawn Saturday, pushing the grand prize to an estimated $900 million. The current jackpot, with an estimated cash value of $465.1 million, has been growing since mid-April, meaning it has gone 37 consecutive drawings without a winner. Saturday’s Powerball numbers were 2, 9, 43, 55, 57, and red Powerball 18, with a multiplier of 2X. Two tickets in Texas and another in Colorado matched all five white balls, winning $1 million prizes, according to Powerball.  Is it possible to increase your Powerball jackpot odds? As it stands, the estimated $900 million jackpot ranks as the third-largest in game history, and as the seventh-largest lottery prize on record in the U.S. In order to climb any higher on either record list, the jackpot would need to at least surpass $1 billion, which it could do ahead of the next drawing (here’s how).Here are the 10 largest Powerball and Me...