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A rare, endangered seal named Yulia basks on Tel Aviv beach

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:36 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — An unexpected visitor spotted sunbathing on a beach in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv is turning heads and causing a media buzz. But it’s not American film director and Tel Aviv mainstay, Quentin Tarantino, or another Hollywood celebrity — it’s Yulia, an endangered Mediterranean monk seal.The seal cow first appeared south of Tel Aviv’s main beachfront last Friday. On Tuesday, Yulia drew clusters of curious onlookers to the rocky beach south of Jaffa’s historic center.These seals are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with as few as 350 mature specimens estimated to exist in the wild. Its populations have dwindled due to historic seal hunting, fishing, and habitat destruction. Rarely spotted on Israel’s shores, the dwindling Mediterranean monk seal populations are believed to survive only in a handful of places in the Mediterranean Sea. Israel’s Nature and Park Authority has fenced off the section of bea...

EU countries adopt law banning products which fuel deforestation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:36 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The 27 European Union countries have formally adopted new rules that should help the bloc reduce its contribution to global deforestation by regulating the trade in a series of goods.Under the legislation, companies trading palm oil, cattle, wood, coffee, cocoa, rubber and soy will need to verify that the goods they sell in the EU have not led to deforestation and forest degradation anywhere in the world since 2021.The regulation also covers derived products such as chocolate or printed paper.Forests are an important natural means of removing greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere, since plants absorb carbon dioxide when they grow.According to the World Resource Institute, a forest area the size of 10 soccer pitches disappears in the world every minute and the EU says that without the new regulation it could be responsible for the loss of 248,000 hectares of deforestation per year — a surface almost as large as member country Luxembourg. The law will force comp...

South Korea’s president vows to expand non-lethal aid to Kyiv in meeting with Ukraine’s first lady

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:36 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed to expand the country’s non-lethal aid to Kyiv when he met with Ukraine’s first lady Tuesday in Seoul.Olena Zelenska visited South Korea as a special envoy of President Volodymyr Zelensky. During her meeting with Yoon, Zelenska requested South Korea expand its support of non-lethal military supplies, including equipment for detecting and removing mines and ambulance vehicles, according to Yoon’s office.Yoon replied that his government would closely coordinate with NATO and other international partners to “actively support the Ukrainian people,” his spokesperson Lee Do Woon said during a briefing.Yoon also condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying the “horrific losses of innocent lives, especially women and children, are unacceptable under any circumstances,” according to remarks shared by his office. Lee said Zelenska made no request for South Korean weapons supplies during her conversation with Yoon.Sou...

Philadelphia Democratic primary voters choosing from crowded field of progressives, moderates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:36 GMT

Voters in Philadelphia are determining who will likely lead the nation’s sixth-largest city in a crowded field of Democratic candidates on Tuesday, as the city faces upticks in gun violence and quality-of-life issues that make people feel unsafe.Five front-runner candidates — including former city council members, former city officials and a grocery store franchiser — have sought to differentiate themselves in a tight contest. The Philadelphia race serves as the latest barometer of how residents of some of the nation’s largest cities hope to emerge from the pandemic, which heightened concerns about crime, poverty and inequality. The results have sometimes been tumultuous in other parts of the country, leading to the defeat of the incumbent mayor of Chicago in February and the ouster of San Francisco’s district attorney last year.Philadelphia voters will choose between front-runner candidates including former council members Allan Domb, Helen Gym and Cherelle Parker; former cit...

Ex-Audi chief pleads guilty in automaker’s diesel emissions scandal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:36 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The former head of Volkswagen’s luxury division Audi pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges tied to the automaker’s diesel emissions scandal, becoming the highest-ranking executive convicted over cars that cheated on emissions tests with the help of illegal software. Rupert Stadler answered “yes” to a statement read in court by his attorney that said Stadler admitted wrongdoing and regret for his failure to keep rigged cars off the market even after the scandal had become public knowledge, the dpa news agency reported.Stadler entered the plea under an agreement with the judge and prosecutors that provides probation instead of jail time and orders him to pay a 1.1 million euro ($1.2 million) fine in return for a thorough admission of guilt. Three lower-ranking managers also have taken plea deals in the 2 1/2-year-long trial in Munich. Stadler had been charged with fraud and false certification by prosecutors who said he let cars with rigged software b...

6 children seriously injured when school bus and truck collide in Australia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:36 GMT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Six children were seriously injured and some were trapped in wreckage on Tuesday when a truck hit a school bus on the outskirts of Melbourne in southeastern Australia, officials said.The bus, which was carrying as many as 45 children, tipped over after being hit in the rear by the truck at an intersection in Eynesbury, police said.An adult and 21 children were taken to a hospital, including six with “serious traumatic injuries,” an ambulance statement said. The conditions of the 16 others were described as stable.About six children were temporarily trapped in the wrecked bus, the Country Fire Authority said. Emergency crews entered the bus through a skylight in its roof. The windshield was the main emergency exit.Paramedics assessed dazed victims who didn’t appear to need hospitalization in the grassland surrounding the crash scene.The bus driver sustained minor injuries. Police crash investigators were questioning the driver of the truck, which was damag...

As NBA coaching changes mount, some lament the lack of job security

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:36 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Miami’s Erik Spoelstra and Denver’s Michael Malone are two of the four NBA coaches to have spent at least eight years with their current team.They know how rare that is.Spoelstra and Malone both spoke out Monday following the recent dismissals of three coaches who aren’t far removed from great success – 2019 NBA champion Nick Nurse, 2021 champion Mike Budenholzer and most recently 2021 Western Conference champion and 2022 coach of the year Monty Williams. Nurse was fired by Toronto, Budenholzer by Milwaukee and Williams by Phoenix.“I’ve been thinking more about the great, proven, experienced coaches that have lost their jobs already,” Spoelstra said as the Heat prepared for another trip to the Eastern Conference finals and a matchup against Boston that starts Wednesday. “It just doesn’t make sense to me.”Spoelstra has the NBA’s second-longest current tenure with one team. San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich has coached the Spurs since 1996, Spoelstra took over the Heat in 2008...

$20 million construction project beginning on William Cannon Drive

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:36 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Construction crews will begin working this month on much needed improvements to William Cannon Drive in southeast Austin. "This is in the best interest of our community. It's for the safety of our kids who want to walk and bike to school safely," council member Vanessa Fuentes, who represents the area where construction is happening, said. Scope of the project The project will bring major changes to the roadway between Running Water Drive and McKinney Falls Parkway. The area has grown considerably in recent years and the city identified the area needed upgrades. According to city data, in the past five years there have been more than 1,000 crashes along William Cannon drive between I-35 and McKinney Falls parkway. Of those crashes, one person died and more than 100 were injured. The project will widen the roadway from two lanes to four. There will be two new signalized intersections along the roadway at Running Water drive and James Ranch road, and a new upgraded tr...

Dell Jewish Community Center celebrates grand re-opening

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:36 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – A center of Jewish life in Central Texas reached a milestone Monday as Shalom Austin celebrated the official grand re-opening of a renovated and expanded Dell Jewish Community Center. Shalom Austin said the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation matched $6.25 million of the more than $25 million capital campaign to aid in the construction. Dell JCC is named after Dell founder and CEO Michael Dell and his wife Susan.The Dells joined Monday's ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebration, which according to Shalom Austin, also included remarks from Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, Council Member Alison Alter, and JCC Association of North America President and CEO Doron Krakow. The new two-story, 37,805-square-foot Dell JCC facility has expanded to include a state-of-the-art fitness center, living room, café, education center, meeting rooms, and all-gender restrooms, according to Shalom Austin. Shalom Austin said the grand opening happened exactly 30 years after the 40-acre campus had...

Jay Mathews: Rejected by a top-tier college? Don’t worry, it won’t hurt your chances for future success

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:36 GMT

There is nervousness in the homes of ambitious American high school students awaiting the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action at the University of North Carolina and Harvard University. Will the justices upend preferences for certain racial and ethnic groups? Will they ruin the chances of many teenagers getting into a top school, which would bring them lifelong success?The answer to the second question is no, regardless of how the court rules.Affirmative action admission policies can help colleges achieve greater diversity on their campuses. But in the course of that public debate, we do college applicants great harm if we give them the false impression they will do better in life if they attend highly selective schools.Long-standing research shows that except for some low-income students, being admitted to the most selective colleges has no significant effect on whether those young people achieve their dreams for life.We’re all naturally fascinated with ...