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Lidia dissipates after killing 1 person, injuring 2 near Mexico’s Puerto Vallarta resort

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:00 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Lidia dissipated Wednesday after hitting land as a Category 4 hurricane near the resort of Puerta Vallarta, where one person was killed by a falling tree and two others injured The hurricane knocked over trees and blew roofs off houses with winds as high as 140 mph (220 kph) before moving inland. Laura Velázquez, the head of Mexico’s civil defense system, said one person died on the northern outskirts of Puerto Vallarta after being hit by a falling tree, and two others were injured elsewhere in the area.The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Tuesday that Lidia’s winds were down to 35 mph as it dissipated about 145 miles (235 kilometers) north-northeast of the city of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city and the capital of the western state of Jalisco.Lidia made landfall on a sparsely populated peninsula and then moved inland south of Puerto Vallarta, still with winds of 105 mph (165 kph). Victor Hugo Romo, the head of the Jalisco state civil defense of...

Climate activist Greta Thunberg fined again for a climate protest in Sweden

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:00 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A Swedish court on Wednesday fined climate activist Greta Thunberg once again for disobeying police during an environmental protest in July in southern Sweden.The Malmo District Court ordered her to pay a 2,250 kroner ($206) fine.Thunberg, who already had been fined for a similar offense, took part in a July 24 environmental protest at an oil terminal in Malmo, where activists temporarily blocked access to the facility by sitting down and were removed by police.On Sept. 15, she was charged with disobedience to law enforcement for refusing to obey police asking her to leave the scene. She then was dragged away by two uniformed officers. Thunberg, 20, has admitted to the facts but denied guilt, saying the fight against the fossil fuel industry was a form of self-defense due to the existential and global threat of the climate crisis.”We have the science on our side and we have morality on our side. Nothing in the world can change that and so it is. I am ready to act ba...

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have been separated since 2016, she says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:00 GMT

Jada Pinkett Smith and husband Will Smith have lived “completely separate lives” since 2016, she revealed in an interview with Hoda Kotb. The prominent Hollywood couple married in 1997 and have addressed separations and marital troubles, but never this specifically.Though it’s not a legal divorce, Pinkett Smith told Kotb in a clip released Wednesday on “Today” that it is essentially a divorce without papers. Smith and Pinkett Smith share two children, Willow and Jaden, as well as a son, Trey, from Smith’s first marriage.Representatives for Smith and Pinkett-Smith did not immediately respond to request for comment.The news came as a surprise to many, considering Pinkett Smith’s candor in her “Red Table Talk” series, in which she and Smith addressed her extramarital relationship in an episode in 2020, and the slap at the 2022 Academy Awards. At the ceremony, Smith infamously walked up on stage and struck presenter Chris Rock after Rock made a joke about Pinkett Smith’s hair.The full i...

Scientists pry a secret from the `Mona Lisa’ about how Leonardo painted the masterpiece

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:00 GMT

PARIS (AP) — The “Mona Lisa” has given up another secret.Using X-rays to peer into the chemical structure of a tiny speck of the celebrated work of art, scientists have gained new insight into the techniques that Leonardo da Vinci used to paint his groundbreaking portrait of the woman with the exquisitely enigmatic smile.The research, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, suggests that the famously curious, learned and inventive Italian Renaissance master may have been in a particularly experimental mood when he set to work on the “Mona Lisa” early in the 16th century. The oil-paint recipe that Leonardo used as his base layer to prepare the panel of poplar wood appears to have been different for the “Mona Lisa,” with its own distinctive chemical signature, the team of scientists and art historians in France and Britain discovered.“He was someone who loved to experiment, and each of his paintings is completely different technically,” said Victor G...

Exxon Mobil doubles down on fossil fuels with $59.5 billion deal for Pioneer Natural as prices surge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:00 GMT

Exxon Mobil is buying Pioneer Natural Resources in an all-stock deal valued at $59.5 billion, its largest buyout since acquiring Mobil two decades ago, creating a colossal fracking operator in West Texas. Including debt, Exxon is committing about $64.5 billion to the acquisition, leaving no doubt of the Texas energy company’s commitment to fossil fuels as energy prices surge. Pioneer shareholders will receive 2.32 shares of Exxon for each Pioneer share they own.“I think fossil fuels, as the world looks to transition and find lower sources of affordable energy with lower emissions, fossil fuels oil and gas are going to continue to play a role over time,” Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods said during an interview with CNBC. “ That may diminish with time. The rate of that is, I think, not very clear at this stage. But it will be around for a long time.” Woods explained that Exxon and Pioneer will be able to use their combined capabilities to drive down emissions and produce lower carb...

Dominican Republic has partially reopened its border with Haiti. But a diplomatic crisis persists

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:00 GMT

DAJABON, Dominican Republic (AP) — The Dominican Republic partially reopened its border with Haiti on Wednesday to limited commercial activity nearly a month after shuttering the frontier amid an ongoing spat over construction of a canal targeting water from a shared river.Vendors in Dominican border cities are allowed to sell basic goods like food and medicine, but exporting electronic products and construction materials, including cement and metal rods, is prohibited.Wednesday marked the first time since Sept. 15 that the border partially reopened, although Dominican President Luis Abinader maintained a ban on issuing visas to Haitian citizens that he implemented last month and will keep the border closed to all migrants, regardless of whether they’re seeking entry for work, tourism, health or education purposes.While the gates at the northern Dominican border city of Dajabon opened late Wednesday morning, the gates on the Haitian side remained closed, and it wasn’t immediat...

Iraqi man arrested in Germany over alleged involvement in war crimes as a member of IS

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:00 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — German authorities on Wednesday arrested an Iraqi man accused of involvement in the killing of prisoners and the amputation of a person’s hand in his homeland as a member of the Islamic State group.The suspect, identified only as Abdel J.S. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested in the western city of Wuppertal, federal prosecutors said. He is accused of membership in a foreign terrorist organization and participation in war crimes.Prosecutors said in a statement that he joined IS by June 2014 and in the following months participated twice in the extremist group’s “draconian public punishments.” In one case, they said, he was involved in the execution of at least six prisoners. In another, he is accused of providing security while the hand of an alleged thief was amputated.He and other IS fighters also allegedly took a person prisoner and beat and kicked the captive to extract information, the German authorities said. A judge on Wednesday ordered t...

New Hampshire’s presidential primary filing period opens with candidates critical of Biden and Trump

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:00 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — In a ritual unruffled by either a changing of the guard or changes to the nominating calendar elsewhere, the filing period for the New Hampshire presidential primary started Wednesday with a Democratic candidate who criticized President Joe Biden and paid a chunk of his filing fee in $2 bills. For the first time in more than four decades, candidates are filing paperwork with a new secretary of state thanks to the retirement last year of longtime elections chief Bill Gardner. But his successor, David Scanlan, is carrying on the tradition of ensuring New Hampshire remains first, waiting for the dust to settle in other states before scheduling the 2024 contest.“I’m really in no hurry,” he said in an interview Tuesday.In contrast, the candidates themselves — particularly the long shots — often are in a race to sign up first in hopes that a bit of media attention will boost their campaigns. In 1991, a writer from New York drove 11 hours in a snowstorm only to find an...

Statistics Canada reports value of building permits up 3.4% in August

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:00 GMT

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says the total monthly value of building permits in Canada rose 3.4 per cent in August to $11.9 billion, as gains in the non-residential sector offset modest declines in residential construction plans.The agency says the total monthly value of non-residential permits rose 14.8 per cent to $5.0 billion in August.The increase came as permits were issued for hospital renovations in Toronto and North Vancouver, B.C., a new university building in Kelowna, B.C., a new correctional facility in Thunder Bay, Ont., and a new arena in Whitby, Ont.On the residential side, the total monthly value of permits issued fell 3.7 per cent to $6.8 billion in August as the value for permits for multi-unit construction intentions fell 9.5 per cent to $3.9 billion. However, the value of single-family home permits rose 5.5 per cent to $2.9 billion in August, marking the fourth consecutive monthly increase.The indicator comes as politicians across the country look for ways to incre...

Man from Las Vegas charged after climbing Accenture Tower in Chicago

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:00 GMT

CHICAGO — A 24-year-old man from Las Vegas has been charged after climbing the Accenture Tower in the city’s West Loop on Tuesday.Maison Des Champs faces one misdemeanor count of reckless conduct and one misdemeanor count of criminal trespass to land.Des Champs climbed the building, located at 500 West Madison Street, around 9 a.m. Tuesday. The 42-story tower houses the Consul General of Israel.Des Champs reached the rooftop and was immediately taken into police custody.He has been identified as an alleged anti-abortion activist who goes by the name “Pro-life Spider-Man” on social media. A video of him climbing the Accenture Tower was livestreamed on his Instagram account. Man arrested after climbing Accenture Tower in Chicago Des Champs was reportedly calling attention to a non-profit called Let Them Live.This is the eighth time he has climbed a high-rise.