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Earth is outside its ‘safe operating space for humanity’ on most key measurements, study says

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:50:00 GMT

By SETH BORENSTEIN (AP Science Writer)Earth is exceeding its “safe operating space for humanity” in six of nine key measurements of its health, and two of the remaining three are headed in the wrong direction, a new study said.Earth’s climate, biodiversity, land, freshwater, nutrient pollution and “novel” chemicals (human-made compounds like microplastics and nuclear waste) are all out of whack, a group of international scientists said in Wednesday’s journal Science Advances. Only the acidity of the oceans, the health of the air and the ozone layer are within the boundaries considered safe, and both ocean and air pollution are heading in the wrong direction, the study said.“We are in very bad shape,” said study co-author Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. “We show in this analysis that the planet is losing resilience and the patient is sick.”In 2009, Rockstrom and othe...

Federal judge blocks suspension of right to carry firearms in public ordered by New Mexico governor

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:50:00 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A federal judge has blocked part of a public health order that suspended the right to carry guns in public across New Mexico’s largest metro area.The ruling Wednesday by U.S. District Judge David Urias marks a setback for Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham as she responds to several recent shootings that took the lives of children, including an 11-year-old boy as he left a minor league baseball game in Albuquerque.Lujan Grisham imposed an emergency public health order Friday that suspended the right to open or concealed carry of guns in public places based on a statistical threshold for violent crime that is only encountered in Albuquerque and its outskirts. The governor cited recent shootings around the state that left children dead, saying something needed to be done. Still, she acknowledged that criminals would ignore the order.Violators would have faced civil penalties and a fine of up to $5,000 by State Police. The local sheriff and Albuq...

S&P/TSX composite posts small gain Wednesday, U.S. stock markets mixed

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:50:00 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index posted a small gain Wednesday while U.S. stock markets were mixed after the latest report on inflation south of the border showed an acceleration in August. U.S. inflation last month was 3.7 per cent year-over-year, up from 3.2 per cent in July. All eyes were on the report as it’s the last major economic data point before next week’s U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate decision, said Greg Taylor, chief investment officer at Purpose Investments.“There was some fear that we’d see a fairly material pickup in inflation,” he said. The headline number was slightly higher than anticipated, pulled up by rising gas prices, but there was nothing in the report to change investors’ expectations for the Fed’s decision, said Taylor — the central bank is widely expected to hold its key rate. Expectations are still split on whether it will hold again or hike in November, he added.“While (inflation) did pick up from where it was earlier in the summer, i...

Man accused of killing Purdue University dormitory roommate found fit for trial after hospital stay

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:50:00 GMT

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — A man charged with murder in the stabbing death of his Purdue University dormitory roommate has been found competent to stand trial, court records show.Doctors at Logansport State Hospital found Ji Min Sha competent for trial after months of treatment, a Tuesday court filing shows.Sha “has attained the ability to understand the proceedings and assist in the preparation of his defense,” hospital Superintendent Bethany Schoenradt wrote in a letter to Tippecanoe Circuit Judge Sean Persin.The judge in April found Sha unfit for trial in the death of 20-year-old Varun Manish Chheda of Indianapolis in October 2022. Persin at that time found that Sha had reported hallucinations and experienced chronic psychosis and delusional thoughts while in jail.Persin directed the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office to take Sha to the county jail.A status conference in the case has been scheduled for Sept. 29.A telephone message seeking comment was left for Sha’s lead attorne...

30 years after Oslo, Israeli foreign minister rejects international dictates on Palestinian issue

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:50:00 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s foreign minister on Wednesday said that Israel would not cave in to foreign dictates on its treatment of the Palestinians — in comments that came in a meeting with his Norwegian counterpart coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the Oslo peace accords. The remarks by Foreign Minister Eli Cohen underscored the deterioration of Mideast peace efforts since the historic interim peace deal. Substantive negotiations have not taken place in years, and Israel is led by a far-right government opposed to Palestinian statehood.“Israel will not submit to external dictates on the issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Cohen said in the meeting with Norwegian Foreign Minister, Anniken Huitfeldt, according to a statement from his office. Cohen told Huitfeldt that Israel will continue to work toward normalizing relations with other countries in the Middle East. Israel reached diplomatic accords with four Arab countries under the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords in...

UFOs, little green men: Mexican lawmakers hear testimony on possible existence of extraterrestrials

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:50:00 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Supposed aliens landed in Mexico’s Congress but there were no saucer-shaped UFOs hovering over the historic building or bright green invaders like those seen in Hollywood films.The specter of little green men visited Mexico City as lawmakers heard testimony Tuesday from individuals suggesting the possibility that extraterrestrials might exist. The researchers hailed from Mexico, the United States, Japan and Brazil.The session, unprecedented in the Mexican Congress, took place two months after a similar one before the U.S. Congress in which a former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer claimed his country has probably been aware of “non-human” activity since the 1930sJournalist José Jaime Maussan presented two boxes with supposed mummies found in Peru, which he and others consider “non-human beings that are not part of our terrestrial evolution.”The shriveled bodies with shrunken, warped heads left those in the chamber aghast and quickly kicked up a social med...

Fire at paper mill property in northern Michigan closes roads, prompts warning to avoid area

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:50:00 GMT

CHEBOYGAN, Mich. (AP) — A fire at a northern Michigan paper mill Wednesday has closed several roads and prompted city officials to tell residents to shelter in place, while state police warned people to stay away from the area.Plumes of thick and heavy black and gray smoke billowed from the Tissue Depot property along M-27 in downtown Cheboygan, about 290 miles (466 kilometers) northwest of Detroit.The nearby Cheboygan Lock and Dam, which allows boats to navigate the different levels of the Cheboygan River, also was temporarily closed.“Please shelter in place until further notice and shut all windows due to fire” was posted on the City of Cheboygan Facebook page.Staff with Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy were sent to Cheboygan Wednesday afternoon “to help assess the situation,” spokesman Jeff Johnston told The Associated Press in an email.Authorities said they believe the fire was in a warehouse on the property.“The smoke billowed for hours,” said...

There’s no sign of widespread COVID-19 mandates in the US. Republicans are warning of them anyway

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:50:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — As Americans fend off a late summer COVID-19 spike and prepare for a fresh vaccine rollout, Republicans are raising familiar fears that government-issued lockdowns and mask mandates are next.It’s been a favorite topic among some of the GOP’s top presidential contenders. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters that people are “lurching toward” COVID-19 restrictions and “there needs to be pushback.” South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott posted online that the “radical Left” seeks to bring back school closures and mandates. And former President Donald Trump urged congressional Republicans to stop the Biden administration from bringing back COVID-19 “mandates, lockdowns or restrictions of any kind.”“The radical Democrats are trying hard to restart COVID hysteria,” Trump told supporters in Rapid City, South Dakota, during a recent campaign stop. “I wonder why. Is there an election coming up by any chance?”While some individual schools and colleges have implemented te...

Tamara Lich identified in video as president of ‘Freedom Convoy,’ court hears

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:50:00 GMT

OTTAWA — “Freedom Convoy” organizer Tamara Lich was identified as the president of the corporation formed to manage donations for the protest in a video played for the court Wednesday.A courtroom scattered with supporters watched recordings of several lengthy press conferences hosted by spokespeople during the protest on Wednesday, though neither of the organizers on trial featured very heavily. In one, Lich identified herself as an organizer of the convoy. A fellow organizer, Ben Dichter, said she was really the “president.” “She’s so modest,” he said. A federal inquiry into the government’s use of the Emergencies Act to end the protests heard last year that a core group of organizers formed “Freedom Corp.” to manage donations under the direction of their lawyer at the time, Keith Wilson. Lich was listed as president of the corporation. She and Chris Barber were among those who organized a convoy of trucks that travelled t...

Anthony Freud to retire as head of Lyric Opera of Chicago at end of 2023-24 season

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:50:00 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Anthony Freud will retire as general director of the Lyric Opera of Chicago at the end of the season, ending a 13-year tenure.Freud, who made the announcement Wednesday, turns 66 in October and intends to return to Britain after the season. See Lyric Opera’s shows for the 2023-2024 season Freud's tenure included the world premieres of Jimmy López's “Bel Canto” in 2015 based on the 2001 Ann Patchett novel and this year's “Proximity," a triptych composed by Caroline Shaw, Daniel Bernard Roumain and John Luther Adams.Freud was director of the Welsh National Opera from 1994-2005 and the Houston Grand Opera from 2006-11. He is the Lyric Opera's fourth head following Carol Fox (1954-80), Ardis Krainik (1981-97) and William Mason (1997-2011).