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Homeowners were having issues with hot water tank before deadly blast in Pennsylvania, officials say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:23:25 GMT

PLUM, Pa. (AP) — The owners of a home that exploded in western Pennsylvania last weekend were having issues with their hot water tank, authorities said, but the cause of the blast that killed five people — including two municipal officials — remains under investigation.The explosion in Plum destroyed three structures and damaged at least a dozen others. It occurred shortly before 10:30 a.m. Saturday at a home owned by Heather Oravitz, the town’s community development director, and her husband. The town is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Pittsburgh.Plum Mayor Harry Schlegel said Oravitz, 51, and Plum Borough Manager Michael Thomas, 57, were killed in the blast, along with three others who lived in the neighborhood: Kevin Sebunia, 55; Casey Clontz, 38; and Clontz’s 12-year-old son, Keegan.Oravitz’s husband, Paul, suffered severe burns over most of his body and remained hospitalized Tuesday in critical condition, Schlegel said. Two others injured in the blast were tr...

Ship sets sail from England to retrace Charles Darwin’s voyage nearly 200 years later

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:23:25 GMT

PLYMOUTH, England (AP) — A schooner set sail Tuesday from the south coast of England to train and inspire a new generation of naturalists by retracing the voyage taken by a young Charles Darwin nearly 200 years ago that led to his theory of evolution. The Dutch ship Oosterschelde was cheered as it left Plymouth on a two-year mission to work with future scientists who will study species discovered by Darwin and develop projects to save them. The boat will serve as a floating laboratory on the sea and in port, where some 200 young naturalists and conservationists from around the world will meet along the way to take part take part in the project called Darwin200.“This is about hope, it’s about future and it’s about changing the world,” said leader Stewart McPherson.McPherson said a group of mostly 18- to 25-year-olds “won’t let animals or plants fall off the cliff of extinction.”Darwin set sail aboard the HMS Beagle in 1831 on a five-year voyage that passed around South Am...

Shinhan Financial: Q2 Earnings Snapshot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:23:25 GMT

SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of (AP) — SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of (AP) — Shinhan Financial Group Co. (SHG) on Monday reported net income of $941.6 million in its second quarter.The Seoul, Korea, Republic Of-based bank said it had earnings of $1.75 per share.The financial services company posted revenue of $6.29 billion in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $3.15 billion, exceeding Street forecasts._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on SHG at https://www.zacks.com/ap/SHGSource

Neymar completes Saudi move to Al Hilal after 6 seasons with Paris Saint-Germain

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:23:25 GMT

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Neymar became the latest superstar soccer player to take the riches on offer from the Saudi Pro League, completing a move to Al Hilal on Tuesday after six seasons at Paris Saint-Germain.The clubs reached an agreement on the transfer of the Brazil forward for a reported 90 million euros ($98 million), a record for a league that is now financially backed by the oil-rich state.Al Hilal, a record 18-time national champion, is one of four Saudi clubs effectively nationalized by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund that claims assets of about $700 billion.The 31-year-old Neymar signed a two-year contract that is expected to earn him an annual salary of about $100 million. That would be around half of the reported salary being taken home by Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays for Al Nassr and whose move to Saudi in January sparked a slew of transfers to the kingdom by players like Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, Riyad Mahrez and Jordan Henders...

Astros’ Singleton ponders what career could have been if minor league marijuana testing ended sooner

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:23:25 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — In 2018, Jon Singleton requested his release from the Houston Astros after being suspended 100 games following a third failed marijuana test while in the minors, choosing to walk away from baseball rather than face the suspension and everything that came with it.“I just didn’t want to play baseball anymore,” he told The Associated Press earlier this month. “I knew I had to serve 100 games, and serving 100 games with this organization and the position I was in was not going to be a good thing for me. It was going to take me down a dark road. So, at that point, I just wanted to be done with baseball and kind of get away from everything.”A year later, marijuana was removed from MLB’s banned substances list. It would be a couple more years before the left-handed slugger returned to organized baseball in the Mexican League.He returned to the majors for the first time since 2015 this season, first with Milwaukee and now back with the Astros. The former top prospect, now 31,...

Terrell, Falcons defensive starters eager to make preseason debut against Bengals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:23:25 GMT

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — It wasn’t easy for A.J. Terrell to watch his Atlanta Falcons teammates enjoy their big plays on defense in last week’s 19-3 preseason win over the Miami Dolphins when he and the other regulars couldn’t join in the fun.Falcons starters were held out of the preseason opener but will have their first opportunity in Friday night’s second preseason game against Cincinnati. Coach Arthur Smith says starters including quarterback Desmond Ridder are expected to play. Smith hasn’t said how long the starters will be on the field.Led by linebacker Arnold Ebiketie, who had a sack, forced fumble and recovery, Atlanta’s backups on defense compiled a long list of big plays, including five sacks and three interceptions. Terrell said he enjoyed his teammates’ success — at least for the start of the game.“It ain’t fun sitting on the sideline,” Terrell said Tuesday, adding “cheering on is cool when guys are making plays but ever...

Chance for severe weather increases for DC-area ahead of potential heavy rains

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:23:25 GMT

Listen live to the latest weather and traffic forecast on the 8s. Less than a day after torrential downpours and flash flooding swept through the D.C.-area, forecasters expect another round of drenching storms to impact your afternoon, bringing potential flash floods and gusty winds. Here’s what you need to know.Advisories, warnings, watchesA Flood Watch has been issued from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m. across the D.C. area. This includes Anne Arundel, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George’s and southern Baltimore Counties in Maryland and Fairfax County, the city of Arlington, the city of Falls Church and the city of Alexandria in Virginia.A Severe Thunderstorm Watch has also been issued through 9 p.m. for the D.C. area and includes Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Charles, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George’s and St. Mary’s Counties in Maryland. It also includes Arlington, Fairfax, Prince William, Spotsylvania and Stafford Counties.The National Weather Service expanded its “...

Algeria bans ‘Barbie’ almost a month after movie’s local release

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:23:25 GMT

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — The “Barbie” movie was pulled from theaters in Algeria this week almost one month after its release in the North African country. Online news outlet 24H Algerie said Algeria’s Ministry of Culture and Arts notified cinemas in Algiers, Oran and Constantine to “immediately” pull the movie. Neither the ministry nor the Algerian Audiovisual Regulatory Authority commented on the reported directive or provided a rationale for it.“Barbie” opened in some some Algerian cinemas last month. The film’s distributors removed the Hollywood blockbuster from their screening schedules starting this week..The move comes after authorities in Kuwait and Lebanon banned the live action movie based on the American fashion dolls for allegedly threatening conservative values.Some people in Algeria protested the cancellation on social media, posting their complaints along with the hashtag “#IAmBarbie.” Others denounced it as “censorship” and “bigotry.”“The ‘Barbie’ film ‘is ...

Red Wings acquire defenseman Jeff Petry in a trade with the Canadiens

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:23:25 GMT

The Detroit Red Wings acquired defenseman Jeff Petry from the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, a trade that gives them another veteran player late in a busy offseason of additions.Detroit got Petry at less than half his salary, just over $2.3 million for each of the next two seasons, in exchange for a conditional 2025 fourth-round pick and 24-year-old defenseman Gustav Lindstrom. The Canadiens just acquired Petry from Pittsburgh earlier this month in the trade that sent three-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson from the Sharks to the Penguins. Petry had previously spent seven-plus seasons with the Canadiens before being dealt to Pittsburgh last year and did not figure to be in their plans.Montreal retained 50% of Petry’s remaining salary. Pittsburgh is taking care of just over $1.5 million.Petry, 35, joins a remade blue line for Detroit, which also added Justin Holl and Shayne Gostisbehere in free agency. Eager to get the Red Wings back in contention and end a seven-year pla...

North Korea denounces US plans for an open UN Security Council meeting on its human rights record

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:23:25 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — North Korea on Tuesday denounced U.S.-led plans for an open Security Council meeting on its human rights record as “despicable” and only aimed at achieving Washington’s geopolitical ambitions.Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son Gyong called the United States a “declining” power and said if the council dealt with any country’s human rights, the U.S. should be the first “as it is the anti-people empire of evils, totally depraved due to all sorts of social evils.”The United States, which holds the Security Council presidency this month, scheduled the meeting on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name, for Thursday.It will be the first open council meeting on the DPRK rights issue since 2017. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters last week that U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk and Elizabeth Salmon, the U.N.’s independent investigator on human rights in the reclusive northeast Asia country, wou...