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Tropical Storm Bret barrels toward eastern Caribbean at near-hurricane strength

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:22:54 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A hurricane watch was issued for St. Lucia as Tropical Storm Bret barreled toward the eastern Caribbean Thursday at near-hurricane strength.The storm was located about 200 miles (320 kilometers) east of Barbados on Thursday morning and was moving west at 15 mph (24 kph). It had maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph), just below the 74 mph (119 kph) winds of a Category 1 hurricane.Airports, businesses, schools and offices were closing in St. Lucia and Dominica as forecasters warned of torrential downpours, landslides and flooding.“Protect your lives, property and livelihoods,” urged St. Lucia Prime Minister Philip Pierre.A tropical storm warning was in effect for Dominica, St. Lucia and Martinique, while a tropical storm watch was issued for Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The storm was expected to start affecting islands in the eastern Caribbean late Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.Andre Joyeux, director of...

Bank of England rate hike is bigger than expected. That means pain for borrowers

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:22:54 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England raised borrowing costs Thursday by more than anticipated as it seeks to combat stubbornly high inflation, a move that will hit borrowers hard.In a statement, the bank said its nine-member Monetary Policy Committee decided to lift its main interest rate by half a percentage point to a fresh 15-year high of 5%. The increase, which was the bank’s 13th in a row, was somewhat of a surprise, with most economists predicting a smaller quarter-point hike.The committee warned of further increases to come.“If there were to be evidence of more persistent pressures, then further tightening in monetary policy would be required,” it said.Clearly rate-setters have been spooked by the failure of inflation in the U.K. to come down as fast as predicted. Figures on Wednesday showed U.K. inflation unexpectedly holding steady at 8.7%, fueling concerns over the outlook for prices after predictions for a modest decline to 8.4%.“There has been significant upside news ...

Lean green flying machines take wing in Paris, heralding transport revolution

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:22:54 GMT

LE BOURGET, France (AP) — Just a dot on the horizon at first, the bug-like and surprisingly quiet electrically-powered craft buzzes over Paris and its traffic snarls, treating its doubtless awestruck passenger to privileged vistas of the Eiffel Tower and the city’s signature zinc-grey rooftops before landing him or her with a gentle downward hover. And thus, if all goes to plan, could a new page in aviation history be written.After years of dreamy and not always credible talk of skies filled with flying, non-polluting electric taxis, the aviation industry is preparing to deliver a future that it says is now just around the corner. Capitalizing on its moment in the global spotlight, the Paris region is planning for a small fleet of electric flying taxis to operate on multiple routes when it hosts the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games next summer. Unless aviation regulators in China beat Paris to the punch by green-lighting a pilotless taxi for two passengers under development t...

China’s president orders safety campaign after explosion at barbecue restaurant kills 31 people

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:22:54 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — China’s president ordered a national safety campaign on Thursday after a massive cooking gas explosion at a barbecue restaurant in the northwest killed 31 people and injured seven others on the eve of a long holiday weekend.The blast tore through the restaurant at around 8:40 p.m. Wednesday on a busy street in Yinchuan, the capital of the traditionally Muslim Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, as people gathered ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival, the official Xinhua News Agency said.The explosion left many people unconscious and they needed to be carried out of the shop, according to the online news site The Paper, which quoted a member of the search and rescue team. Victims included elderly people and high school students, it said.An hour before the explosion, employees noticed the smell of cooking gas and discovered that a gas tank valve was broken, according to Xinhua. The blast occurred while an employee was replacing the valve.Chinese President Xi Jinping dem...

Turkey’s central bank sharply raises interest rates. That could signal an economic turnaround

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:22:54 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s central bank delivered a large interest rate hike Thursday, signaling a shift toward more conventional economic policies to counter sky-high inflation following criticism that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s approach has made a cost-of-living crisis worse.The bank raised its key rate by 6.5 percentage points, boosting it to 15%.The increase — a significant jump from the current 8.5% — is the first since March 2021 and comes after Erdogan appointed two internationally respected officials to head the bank and the finance ministry.The rate hike is an indication that the country is moving away from Erdogan’s unorthodox belief that lowering interest rates fights inflation.Traditional economic theory says just the opposite, and central banks around the world have rapidly raised rates to combat spikes in consumer prices — including several decisions across Europe on Thursday, ranging from the Bank of England to Switzerland.Erdogan — a self-declared “en...

Search for 19-year-old swimmer to resume Thursday at Foster Beach

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:22:54 GMT

CHICAGO — A 19-year-old woman is missing after going for a swim at Foster Avenue Beach.Police said the teen was swimming at the beach around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. Witnesses told police she was last seen struggling to swim to the shore, before submerging under the water. The Chicago Fire Department’s dive team searched the area Wednesday night as detectives investigate. Son of victim speaks out after driver in hit-and-run crash near Guaranteed Rate Field charged A search for the teen is expected to resume Thursday morning. This is a developing story. Check back for details.

White, Asian population grew in US last year thanks to immigration

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:22:54 GMT

Without immigration, the white population in the U.S. would have declined last year.Immigration also propelled the expansion of the Asian population, which was the fastest-growing race or ethnic group last year in the U.S., while births outpacing deaths helped propel growth in Hispanic, Black, tribal and Hawaiian populations.Population estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau show what drove changes in different race, ethnic and age groups last year, as well as since the start of COVID-19's spread in the U.S. in April 2020. The country had grown to 333.2 million people by the middle of last year, a 0.4% increase over the previous year, according to the 2022 population estimates.For white residents in the U.S., immigration drove the expansion. Without it, the white population, including those who identify as more than one race, would have dropped last year by more than 85,000 people instead of growing meagerly by more than 388,000 residents, or 0.1%. Migrant encounter...

CDC panel recommends RSV vaccines for seniors

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:22:54 GMT

(The Hill) -- The vaccination advisory panel for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday voted in favor of recommending vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to be administered to seniors.The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted in favor of recommending RSV vaccines for adults over the age of 65. The committee also voted in favor of permitting individual adults between the ages of 60 and 64 to receive an RSV vaccine with "clinical decision making," meaning they would discuss their need for such an immunization with their healthcare provider.RSV vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) were both considered on Wednesday. These vaccines have already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in older adults to prevent RSV infections.Data presented during the meeting found the RSV vaccines provided strong protection of more than 80 percent. Both vaccines are administered in single doses a...

Mark Zuckerberg responds to Elon Musk cage match suggestion: 'Send Me Location'

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:22:54 GMT

(The Hill) - Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg responded to Twitter CEO Elon Musk’s suggestion of a cage match on Wednesday with a simple request.“Send Me Location,” Zuckerberg said in an Instagram story, featuring a screenshot of Musk’s original challenge.The Twitter CEO said on Tuesday that he was “up for a cage match if [Zuckerberg] is,” after hitting back at a post about Meta’s forthcoming Twitter competitor.“I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options,” Musk tweeted.Another user warned Musk to “be careful,” noting that the Meta CEO “does jiu jitsu now” and spurring the Twitter CEO’s cage match remark. Zuckerberg reportedly won two medals at a jiu jitsu tournament last month, according to CNN.Meta’s upcoming app, which could potentially be named Threads, is the company’s “response to Twitter,” Meta chief product officer Chris Cox told employees earlier this month, The Verge reported.“We’ve been hearing from creators and public figures who are inte...

Season of flies: Why the heat helps them replicate

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:22:54 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Along with the heat, flies are synonymous with summer in Texas. Meteorologist Nick Bannin spoke with Wizzie Brown, an entomologist with Texas Agrilife, about what's causing the high number of flies and some ways to keep them away.Meteorologist Nick Bannin: It seems like flies are everywhere now. Is there a fly season? And when are they most abundant?Wizzie Brown, Texas Agrilife Entomologist: I think in Texas we have them year round, but when we get hotter temperatures, then they really start to become active and we really start to notice them.Bannin: Is there a time of day that they're most likely?Brown: They're more active during the daytime, you don't see them so active at night. So when it really starts to warm up with temperatures that we've been having recently, that can actually speed up their lifecycle. So it takes a shorter period of time from them to go to the egg to adult stage. And so we can really start getting large numbers quickly.Bannin: What are they...