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Leading Hong Kong pollster plans to limit surveys on sensitive topics, including Tiananmen crackdown

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:23 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — One of Hong Kong’s most reputable sources of public opinion data is limiting the scope of its surveys, including on sensitive topics such as Beijing’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square. The change, following a contact from a government agency, is likely to restrict the availability of information about the opinions of Hong Kong residents.The Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute announced Tuesday it has tentatively decided to cancel about one-fourth of its regular survey questions and limit about one-third of the remaining ones to internal use, academic research and commissioned services, instead of releasing those results to the public. The announcement came two weeks after it canceled its planned release of a survey conducted on the anniversary of the crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy protests at the advice of the government agency. The institute’s CEO, Robert Chung, said in an email Tuesday night that the govern...

Fuerte explosión en edificio de París provoca incendio, deja 4 heridos

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:23 GMT

PARÍS — Una fuerte explosión en un edificio de París dejó cuatro personas heridas este miércoles y provocó un incendio que lanzó espesas columnas de humo sobre el famoso Panteón y llevó a la evacuación de edificios cercanos, informó la policía.De momento, se desconoce la causa del estallido.La fachada del edificio en el Quinto Arrondissement (distrito) colapsó y los cuerpos de emergencia tratan de averiguar si hay alguien adentro, informó un funcionario policial parisino. Atacante suicida detona sus explosivos y mata a 13 en un funeral en Afganistán Aviones de combate causan boom sónico por el DMV tras despegar para vigilar a un piloto incapacitado Florence Berthout, alcaldesa del distrito, indicó que cuatro personas están en condición de “emergencia total”.“La explosión fue sumamente violenta”, dijo Berthout al describir cómo trozos de vidrio salieron por los aires.Las autoridades acordonaron el vecindario y gran cantidad de per...

Denver ranked one of worst-run cities in the country

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:23 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Denver spends more city money than it's worth, according to a new report.Financial adviser site WalletHub analyzed 149 of the largest cities in the U.S. to see which are the best run. The study asks the question of return on investment - how well do city services operate compared to how much the city spends? The study drew from a wealth of public data on each city's financial stability, education, health, safety, economy, infrastructure and pollution. There were 36 relevant metrics overall, each of which was graded from one to 100. Each was given a weight and the final results ranked from one to 149. Denver ranks in top 10 places people looking to leave The results said Denver is one of the worst-run cities in the country, ranking 135 out of 149 cities, sandwiched between Philadelphia and Memphis. San Francisco is dead last, while Nampa, Idaho is first. It isn't the quality of Denver's city services that causes it to rank so low - they rank 63 - but rather the amo...

Fort Lauderdale sets ups 3 sandbag distribution sites as Tropical Storm Bret gains strength

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:23 GMT

As Tropical Storm Bret gains strength as it makes its way westward across the Atlantic Ocean, in an abundance of caution, the City of Fort Lauderdale will distribute sandbags to residents.The free sandbag distribution will take place on June 24 and 25 starting at 8 a.m. until 3 p.m.The locations where residents can pick up their sandbags include the following:Floyd Hull Stadium, located at 2800 SW 8th Ave.Mills Pond Park, located at 2201 NW 9th Ave.Shirley Small Park, lactated at 1230 SW 34th Ave.To receive free sandbags, residents must show proof of residency.

A 33-year-old man fell 4,000 feet to his death from the Grand Canyon Skywalk in Arizona, authorities say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:23 GMT

(CNN) — A man fell 4,000 feet to his death from a popular tourist attraction walkway in the Grand Canyon, according to authorities in Arizona.The man, only identified as a 33-year-old male, was on the Skywalk at Grand Canyon West before he went over the edge, plunging into the canyon below, the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue said in a Facebook post.On June 5, a technical rope rescue team responded to the Skywalk – a horseshoe-shaped glass bridge that extends 70 feet out over the canyon’s rim – after a report of someone going over the edge.Two rope specialists “responded with (a) Kingman (Department of Public Safety) Ranger helicopter to the scene and determined the man was deceased,” the post read. The sheriff’s office said it is investigating the incident.The man’s body was later transferred to the Hualapai Nation, a federally recognized Indian Tribe located in northwestern Arizona, the sheriff’s office reported.Located outside of Grand Ca...

Ballsy EU Commission moves to make Russia pay for Ukraine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:23 GMT

LONDON — The European Commission has a plan to help pay for the reconstruction of war-torn Ukraine using Russian state assets. It’s a daring move and a sign of a shift toward something that once looked impossible.It would be an unprecedented legal feat, one strongly advocated by Ukraine and its allies but which is already kicking up a storm among governments. The EU executive’s intention to throw its weight behind such a move — confirmed by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday —  will require some delicate politics over the next few months.The plan is fraught with political, legal and economic risks. It has consequences for the role of foreign reserves in stabilizing currencies, as well as for the international protection of state property — and potentially could be endlessly litigated in court. The idea of making the aggressor pay for war damages isn’t new, but to go after foreign reserves frozen under Western sanctions would be. “On one hand, it&#...

West eyes Romania as possible F-16 training site for Ukrainian pilots

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:23 GMT

A coalition of Western countries is eyeing Romania as a possible location to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets, according to a current and a former Defense Department official with knowledge of the effort.Specifically, the group is working to negotiate a contract to conduct the aircraft training at a site in Romania, said the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss the contours of an agreement that has not yet been finalized. It’s likely that Lockheed Martin, which builds the F-16, would conduct the training, the people said.Details about the training program have been slow to emerge since President Joe Biden lent his support to the effort last month. The Netherlands and Denmark are leading the multinational training effort, but the partners have not yet settled the question of which countries would provide the aircraft required for training.European officials would neither confirm nor deny that the proposal to train Ukrainian pilots in Romania is under disc...

The US Coast Guard is bringing in more ships, vessels to search for lost Titanic tourist submersible

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:23 GMT

A Canadian surveillance vessel has detected underwater noises in the area where rescuers are searching for a submersible that went missing in the North Atlantic while bringing five people down to the wreck of the Titanic, authorities said Wednesday.Coast Guard officials were bringing in more ships and other vessels to search the more narrowly defined area, though the exact location and source of the sounds has not yet been determined. The full scope of the search was twice the size of Connecticut in waters 2 1/2 miles deep, said Captain Jamie Frederick of the First Coast Guard District.“This is a search and rescue mission, 100%,” Frederick said. “When you’re in the middle of a search and rescue case, you always have hope.”But even those who expressed some optimism warned that many obstacles remain: from pinpointing the vessel’s location, to reaching it with rescue equipment, to bringing it to the surface — assuming it’s still intact — before the passe...

Lab-grown meat is cleared for sale in the United States

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:23 GMT

New York (CNN) — Cultivated meat, also known as lab-grown meat, has been cleared for sale in the United States.Upside Foods and Good Meat, two companies that make what they call “cultivated chicken,” said Wednesday that they have gotten approval from the US Department of Agriculture to start producing their cell-based proteins.Good Meat, which is owned by plant-based egg substitute maker Eat Just, said that production is starting immediately. Cultivated or lab-grown meat is grown in a giant vat, much like what you’d find at a beer brewery.Good Meat, which has been selling its products in Singapore, advertises its product as “meat without slaughter,” a more humane approach to eating meat. Supporters hope that cultured meat will help fight climate change by reducing the need for traditional animal agriculture, which emits greenhouse gases.The company had previously announced that it was partnering with chef and restaurateur José Andrés ...

Explosion hits a building in Paris, injuring 24. Police are trying to determine the cause

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:23 GMT

By SYLVIE CORBET and ANGELA CHARLTON (Associated Press)PARIS (AP) — A strong explosion hit a building in Paris’ Left Bank on Wednesday, leaving 24 injured and igniting a fire that sent smoke soaring over city monuments and prompted the evacuation of surrounding buildings, police said. The cause of the blast was not immediately known. The facade of a building in the 5th arrondissement, or district, collapsed, and emergency services were working to determine if anyone was still inside, a Paris police official said. The explosion happened near the historic Val de Grace military hospital.Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said the building where the explosion occurred was a private school, the Paris American Academy, which was founded in 1965 and offers teaching in fashion design, interior design, fine arts and creative writing.The fire was contained but not yet extinguished. Some 270 firefighters were involved in putting out the flames and 70 emergency vehicles were on the sc...