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John Kerry bristles at questions about staff, private jets, China, lack of transparency

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:42:56 GMT

A testy John Kerry flatly refused to share the names of the 45 people on his staff or explain why his Climate office has no website the public can turn to learn more.He also admitted he has taken at least one trip on his family’s private jet and blamed “an algorithm” for delaying public records requests — including one from the Herald — until the fall of 2024.It was all part of a rare 2-hour grilling before the  House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability Thursday where reps attempted to nail down details of Kerry’s job as the first-ever Special Presidential Envoy for Climate.Subcommittee Chair Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) addressed Kerry’s “lack of transparency” and asked him to point taxpayers to his office website.“We use the State Department website,” Kerry said, after some delay.Mast then asked for the “names of individuals who actually answer” to Kerry.“I have two deputies, a...

Illinois surveys storm damage after multiple suspected tornadoes hit Chicago, suburbs

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:42:56 GMT

By CLAIRE SAVAGE and RICK CALLAHAN (Associated Press)CHICAGO (AP) — National Weather Service teams were surveying storm damage Thursday in the Chicago area and northeast Illinois, where fierce winds from suspected tornadoes ripped roofs from buildings, downed trees and sent residents scrambling for safety as sirens sounded.Four teams from the weather service headed out Thursday morning to survey storm damage reported Wednesday across numerous areas of the Chicago metropolitan area and points farther west to determine if tornadoes caused that damage, said Zachary Yack, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Chicago area office.As of Thursday morning, he said the only confirmed tornado was the one that touched down in the Cicero area, near O’Hare International Airport. The twister sent passengers dashing for shelter at the airport and disrupted hundreds of flights, but no injuries were reported.“We’ve got lots of reports of damage but we don’t k...

Broken gas line in Clairemont prompts shelter-in-place

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:42:56 GMT

SAN DIEGO — A broken gas line in Clairemont has prompted crews to ask nearby residents to shelter in place, the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department said.According to SDFD, a large diameter gas line broke at a construction site near Clairemont Drive and Hartford Court around 12:30 p.m.Nearby residents were asked to shelter in place and no pedestrians were allowed in the area, SDFD said. Rancho Bernardo Shell gas station reports 7,300 gallons of diesel fuel stolen Fire officials asked the public to avoid the area and said that repairs to the broken gas line could take several hours.San Diego police officers were going door-to-door to notify residents of the shelter-in-place order.San Diego Gas & Electric crews were on scene to work on the repairs to the gas line.It was not immediately known what caused the gas line to break.

San Diego Padres release schedule for 2024 season

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:42:56 GMT

SAN DIEGO — With the 2023 Major League Baseball season in full swing, the San Diego Padres are taking a look ahead to 2024.The Padres on Thursday released their schedule for the 2024 MLB regular season.San Diego will kick off their 2024 season with a two-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Seoul, South Korea, marking the first time MLB games will be played in Korea. Both teams will alternate serving as the home team for the March 20 and 21 games.“Korea is a great baseball country with a rich tradition, passionate fans, and talented players, including current Padre and San Diego fan favorite Ha-Seong Kim. The Padres are proud to serve alongside the Dodgers as global ambassadors for the game of baseball with our historic 2024 Korea Series," said Padres CEO Erik Greupner. Padres to play in first-ever MLB games in Korea Following their return from South Korea, the Padres will take on the San Francisco Giants at Petco Park for Opening Day on Thursday, March 28, kic...

Former Maple Leafs, Canadiens center Galchenyuk arrested in Arizona: report

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:42:56 GMT

Former Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens center Alex Galchenyuk is facing numerous charges after he was arrested in Arizona last week, according to The Athletic’s Katie Strang.NEWS: Scottsdale Police Department has confirmed to The Athletic that Alex Galchenyuk was arrested on July 9 on a number of charges including private property hit and run, disorderly conduct, failure to obey, resisting arrest, Threatening or Intimidating— Katie Strang (@KatieJStrang) July 13, 2023Strang said on Thursday that the Scottsdale Police Department confirmed Galchenyuk was arrested on July 9 on a number of charges, including private property hit and run, disorderly conduct, failure to obey, resisting arrest, threatening or intimidating.Sportsnet confirmed that the Arizona Coyotes placed Galchenyuk on unconditional waivers seeking to terminate his contract due to an off-ice issue.The 29-year-old signed a one-year, two-way deal with Arizona as a free agent on July 1 — just 12 ...

People rescued from cars and homes as rapid rainfall causes flash flooding in central Mississippi

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:42:56 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Torrential rain fell for several hours Thursday in central Mississippi, flooding roads and sending water into homes and businesses in Winston County and Louisville.Winston County Sheriff Jason Pugh said law enforcement officers rescued three people from vehicles and removed several others from homes as the water rose.Swift water washed one car into a ditch, and the driver escaped before the car submerged. The man stood knee-deep in the floodwater on top of his car as officers rescued him, Pugh told The Associated Press.About 17,500 people live in Winston County. The largest town, Louisville, is about 95 miles (153 kilometers) northeast of Jackson. No deaths or serious injuries were reported in the county within the first six hours of the heavy rainfall, which started about 6 a.m., the sheriff said. “We’re urging our residents not to travel unless absolutely necessary,” Pugh said. “We’re going to have a lot of roads washed out after this has reced...

B.C. wants 1,000 more international firefighters to join wildfire battle

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:42:56 GMT

British Columbia has requested 1,000 additional international firefighters to join the battle against the province’s wildfires.Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma says she has also spoken to her counterpart in Ottawa, Bill Blair, about bringing more federal resources to help fight the 350 or so fires burning across B.C.Ma says a team from Australia is arriving on Saturday, adding to the 160 international personnel from Mexico and the United States currently deployed in B.C.Firefighters from South Korea, France, South Africa and the Dominican Republic have also been fighting fires in Canada, during what is shaping up as a record-breaking fire season.Ma says the Australians on the way are an “incident management team.” Federal Minister of Emergency Preparedness Blair had earlier said he was expecting a “fairly substantive” request for help from B.C. as wildfires worsen.Blair told The Canadian Press the government operations centre has been in discussi...

Report says junior staff behind sexual slogan approval in Experience Regina rebrand

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:42:56 GMT

REGINA — An independent review into how Regina’s tourism agency handled a failed rebrand says a junior employee approved sexualized slogans before senior management could vet them.  The third-party party review released Thursday said while some of the slogans had been known among members of a committee made up of Tourism Regina staff, senior management did not rubber-stamp their use before they were made public in March.Instead, the George B. Cuff & Associate report says a junior staffer had published the slogans online before senior management or the board could look at them.“The (slogans) are still on the table, the staff member got them in front of them, gets called by the website designer who says, ‘Are we good to go with the slogans?’ And the junior staff member says, ‘Yeah, I guess so,’” George Cuff, the report’s author, told reporters Thursday. “So, that’s the first time (the agency) probably had an opportunity to make a significant decision, and he did so without g...

Alberta and B.C. in talks to expand Canadian LNG reach globally, Danielle Smith says

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:42:56 GMT

VANCOUVER — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her province has begun talks with British Columbia on expanding the reach of Canadian natural gas in the global market.Smith says she and B.C. counterpart David Eby began the discussion two weeks ago to explore leveraging Article 6 of the United Nations Paris Accord, which allows Canada to gain carbon credits for reducing emissions abroad.Speaking on the final day of the international LNG 2023 conference in Vancouver, Smith says she wants to see Alberta and B.C. “pioneer” a way to use Article 6 to spur more natural-gas export projects that would supply Asia and reduce carbon emissions there.The massive LNG Canada project in Kitimat, B.C., a $40-billion-dollar project that is about 85 per cent complete, is the only such export facility under construction in Canada and is scheduled to begin delivery mid-decade.Smith says delegates told her at the conference that many countries in Asia cannot meet emission reduction goals with...

Former Mozambique finance minister pleads ‘not guilty’ in US federal court over $2 billion scandal

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:42:56 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Mozambique’s former finance minister pleaded not guilty in a U.S. federal court in New York on Thursday in connection with a $2 billion corruption and money laundering scandal that prosecutors said defrauded American investors and threatened to further destabilize the economy of one of the world’s poorest countries. Manuel Chang served as finance minister from 2005 to 2015 for Mozambique, a country of 31 million on Africa’s southern coast on the Indian Ocean. He was ordered detained until at least October, when his attorneys argue for a dismissal of his case.Chang is accused of receiving bribes of up to $18 million during a scheme that secured loans for Mozambican state-owned companies from foreign banks and financiers for maritime projects. The money was looted through kickbacks and other corrupt dealings, according to U.S. prosecutors.Until his extradition to the United States Wednesday, Chang had been held in South Africa after being arrested in Johann...