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House aims to bar trans athletes on girls and women’s teams

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:24 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-led House was expected to pass a bill Thursday that would bar schools and colleges that receive federal money from allowing transgender athletes whose biological sex assigned at birth was male to compete on girls or women’s sports teams or athletic events.The legislation is unlikely to advance further because the Democratic-led Senate will not support it and the White House said President Joe Biden would veto it.Supporters said the legislation, which would put violators at risk of losing taxpayer dollars, is necessary to ensure competitive fairness. They framed the vote as supporting female athletes disadvantaged by having to compete against those whose gender identify does not match their sex assigned at birth. Opponents criticized the bill as ostracizing an already vulnerable group for political gain. The expected House action comes as at least 20 other states have imposed similar limits on trans athletes at the K-12 or collegiate level.The b...

Tsitsipas beats Shapovalov, reaches Barcelona quarterfinals

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:24 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open by defeating Danis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday.The second-seeded Greek saved both break points he faced against the Canadian to move to 18-5 for the season.“I tried to stay as aggressive as I could from the baseline,” Tsitsipas said. “Against Denis you have to keep up with the pace and be ready to attack when you can. It wasn’t easy out here but I did a very good job. I was responsible with my decision making. It was a good day.”Tsitsipas will next face Alex de Minaur, who advanced with a walkover from Grigor Dimitrov.The fifth-ranked Tsitsipas is making his fifth appearance in Barcelona, having lost in the final to Rafael Nadal in 2018 and 2021. He lost in this year’s Australian Open final to Novak Djokovic.Fourth-seeded Jannik Sinner overcame a second-set letdown to defeat Yoshihito Nishioka 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 and reach his seventh quarterfinal of the season.The Italian broke Nishioka&#...

¿Son hispanos los brasileños? El error que cometió el Censo de EEUU

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:24 GMT

Un error de codificación en una encuesta anual de la Oficina del Censo de Estados Unidos ha permitido ver como grandes cantidades de brasileños en Estados Unidos se identifican como hispanos.Un análisis del Centro de Investigaciones Pew muestra que el error de codificación hizo que al menos 416,000 brasileños, más de dos tercios de esa nacionalidad en Estados Unidos, se identificaran como hispanos en la Encuesta de Comunidades de 2020. En cambio, solo 14,000 brasileños se identificaron así en 2019 y 16,000 en 2021, los años en los que no se cometió el error.Desde 2000, la Oficina del Censo no clasifica a los brasileños y otras personas de países no hispanoparlantes de Latinoamérica y el Caribe como hispanos debido a las definiciones del gobierno federal revisadas por última vez en 1997 y que posiblemente serán actualizadas el año entrante. Debido a ello, si alguien se registra como hispano pero brasileño, se lo recodifica como “no hispano” al analizar las cifras. CNBC:...

Alerta de prueba despierta a Florida: ¿por qué pasó y volvería a ocurrir?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:24 GMT

Residentes de todo el estado de Florida despertaron este jueves a las 4:45 a.m. luego de recibir una alerta de emergencia que resultó ser un error por parte de la División de Manejo de Emergencias de Florida.Los teléfonos de los floridanos sonaron fuertemente en la madrugada, despertando a millones de personas que al verificar sus teléfonos notaron que se trataba de una alerta de prueba que decía: “PRUEBA: esta es una PRUEBA del Sistema de Alerta de Emergencia. No se requiere ninguna acción”.Pero, muchos se preguntan por qué la alerta llegó a esa hora de la madrugada. La Florida Association of Broadcasters dijo que la alerta de prueba está programa para ocurrir cada dos meses a las 4:50 a.m. o 1:50 p.m. Sin embargo, las autoridades aclararon que se suponía que los residentes del estado no debían recibir una alerta en sus teléfonos celulares durante la madrugada del 20 de abril.La División de Manejo de Emergencias de Florida también dijo que la alerta fue un error ya que esta estaba ...

WTOP Space Reporter gets rare glimpse of hybrid solar eclipse from cruise ship off Australian coast

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:24 GMT

A rare hybrid solar eclipse, when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, was on view this week  — but only in Australia and parts of Indonesia and East Timor. WTOP Space Reporter Greg Redfern got a coveted view of the celestial spectacular aboard a cruise ship off the coast of Australia. Here’s Redfern’s first-person commentary. The Southern Cross and the Southern Hemisphere Milky Way were resplendent for the hundreds of ship passengers gathered on Deck 11 Wednesday night for our second star party at sea in the Indian Ocean.The Southern Cross and the Southern Hemisphere Milky Way were resplendent for the hundreds of ship passengers gathered on Deck 11 Wednesday night for the second star party at sea in the Indian Ocean. (Courtesy Greg Redfern)As I pointed out the stars with my green laser, the only problem was that the sky was partly cloudy and blocking our view of the whole sky. The night before had been crystal clear. Kelly Beatty, the Sky and Telescope Eclipse...

Today in Sports – Bulls win most regular season NBA games-72

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:24 GMT

April 211904 — Ty Cobb makes his pro debut for Augusta (South Atlantic League)1948 — Basketball Association of America Finals: Baltimore Bullets beat Philadelphia Warriors, 88-73 to take series, 4 games to 2.1951 — Bob Davies’ two foul shots and Jack Coleman’s layup give the Rochester Royals a 79-75 triumph over the New York Knicks in the seventh game of the NBA championship series.1951 — The Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup for the fourth time in five years as they beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in the fifth game.1955 — Brooklyn Dodgers win, then record 10th straight game to begin a season.1980 — Bill Rodgers wins his third straight Boston Marathon. Rosie Ruiz is disqualified eight days later as women’s champion when it’s discovered she did not run the entire distance.1989 — George W. Bush and Edward W. Rose become joint CEOs of the Texas Rangers.1991 — NFL Draft: University of Miami defensive tackle Russell Maryland first pick by Dallas Cowboys.1991 — PGA Seniors’ Champion...

Remembering those lost 24 years ago at Columbine High School

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:24 GMT

LITTLETON, Colo. (KDVR) — Thursday marks 24 years since 12 students and one teacher were killed at Columbine High School in Littleton. Over 20 other people were injured during the mass shooting on April 20, 1999.On this day, we remember the 12 students who were killed:Cassie Bernall, 17Steven Curnow, 14Corey DePooter, 17Kelly Fleming, 16Matthew Kechter, 16Daniel Mauser, 15Daniel Rohrbough, 15Rachel Scott, 17Isaiah Shoels, 18John Tomlin, 16Lauren Townsend, 18Kyle Velasquez, 16We also remember Columbine teacher and coach Dave Sanders who was also killed. He was 47 years old. Semi-automatic rifle ban passes Washington legislature The Columbine Memorial, located at Clement Park, is a safe space for all who wish to honor and remember those who were killed, injured, survived and were affected by that day. Every year on April 20, classes at Columbine High School are closed so that students and the community can participate in a day of service. This year makes the seventh annual Columbin...

2 carjackers in custody after multi-county chase that included desperate swim

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:24 GMT

A multi-county police chase has ended after two desperate and armed suspects terrorized drivers, and one tried to flee by swimming in a canal and breaking into a home. Police responded to a report of an armed carjacking of a white Lexus at the 12800 block of North Bayshore Drive in North Miami, early Wednesday afternoon.Soon after, a dramatic chase ensued that went all the way into Palm Beach County and came to a stop in Tamarac, at around 3 p.m., after the chase wound its way back down to Broward County.Most of the chase was caught on camera by 7 Skyforce, where the subjects were seen weaving through traffic, even at one point going against traffic.Toward the end of the chase, at Commercial Boulevard and the Florida Turnpike overpass, the passenger in the stolen car, holding a rifle, tried to carjack another driver in a silver car. When the driver refused to open the door, the subject gave up and returned to the Lexus.The car thieves took off and, in the area of Commercial Boulevar...

BuzzFeed News will shut down

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:24 GMT

(CNN) — BuzzFeed News, the Pulitzer Prize-winning digital news website that once inspired jealousy from legacy media organizations, will shutter, BuzzFeed chief executive Jonah Peretti announced Thursday.The move was part of broader layoffs across BuzzFeed, Peretti said, with the company moving to slash 15% of its workforce.“While layoffs are occurring across nearly every division, we’ve determined that the company can no longer continue to fund BuzzFeed News as a standalone organization,” Peretti told staffers in a memo.BuzzFeed has “begun discussions with the News Guild,” the union which represents staffers at the company, about the actions.Peretti indicated that some staffers might be able to find roles at HuffPost, the digital news website that BuzzFeed acquired in a 2020 deal.“HuffPost and BuzzFeed Dot Com have signaled that they will open a number of select roles for members of BuzzFeed News,” Peretti told employees. “These...

EU calls for global renewable energy target

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:24 GMT

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has joined calls for countries to set a worldwide target for renewable energy. Von der Leyen, who also proposed setting a separate global target for energy efficiency, suggested this could be achieved by the COP28 United Nations climate talks taking place in Dubai at the end of this year. “Today, I would like to launch a new initiative to work together towards global targets for energy efficiency, and renewable energy,” she said Thursday in remarks to the Major Economies Forum (MEF) on Energy and Climate hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden. “We could develop these targets by COP28.” As previously reported by POLITICO, ministers from 43 countries discussed the idea of a global renewables target at a meeting in Copenhagen last month. Francesco La Camera, head of the International Renewable Energy Agency, also told POLITICO in an interview earlier this month that his organization backed the initiative. In a vide...