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California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon is stepping down. He’s not happy about how it happened

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:51 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Until Monday, only two politicians had lasted at least seven years as speaker of the California Assembly: A U.S. Navy veteran who was so powerful that people called him “Big daddy;” and a lawyer who was so confident he nicknamed himself the “Ayatollah.”Now, joining Jesse Unruh and Willie Brown is Anthony Rendon, a man with no nickname who online search engines often confuse with the third baseman for the Los Angeles Angels. This week, Rendon quietly surpassed Unruh’s record and became the second-longest serving speaker in state history — just in time for him to step down on Friday.He’s not happy about how it happened.For much of last year, with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom coasting to re-election, Rendon’s status was the source of much of the political drama in California. Over the summer, Robert Rivas — at the time a mostly unknown chair of the Assembly’s agriculture committee — told Rendon he had enough votes to replace him as spea...

How’s the weather up there? It’ll be harder for Alaska to tell as longtime program goes off air

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:51 GMT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Before Morris Nashoanak heads out for days in search of bearded seals, beluga whales or salmon, he catches the weather on TV.But it’s not the weather segment from a local TV station — there isn’t one. Instead, it’s a program designed for those living in rural and largely roadless Alaska, with separate forecasts for mariners, aviators and residents to help decide whether they can safely hunt, fish or fly.“Alaska Weather” has been must-see TV for 47 years in a state where extreme weather dictates everyday life. But the daily program, the only weather show produced by the National Weather Service, will have its last on-air broadcast Friday, with business considerations ending its distribution to public television stations in Juneau and Fairbanks.From then on, it will be available only on YouTube. That’s prompted fears that some of the state’s most vulnerable residents — those in far-flung Indigenous communities where internet servi...

Digital euro will complement cash, not replace it

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:51 GMT

“If we want the digital Euro to become a success, we need a clear and convincing narrative of why we need it in the first place. People need to see the benefits of a digital Euro in their day-to-day lives. The European Central Bank and the European Commission have yet to make a compelling case of why we need the digital Euro and what added value it will deliver,” explained Markus Ferber MEP, the EPP Group Spokesman in the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. His comment comes as the Commission was expected to present its Single Currency Package, including a legal framework for the digital euro on 28 June.“There are no obvious gaps in the EU’s payment landscapes. If we are just duplicating the existing payment infrastructure with the digital Euro, that is not a good enough business case,” said Ferber.Markus Ferber sees no danger that cash could be abolished: “While payments are going more and more digital, for many people cash remains king. The digital Euro ...

2 environmental scientists team up to find Kristin Smart's remains

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:51 GMT

A pair of scientists, along with a former analyst at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, have joined forces to find the missing remains of Kristin Smart, 27 years after her disappearance and murder.  While Smart’s body has never been located, the case has gained renewed interest from the true crime podcast, “Your Own Backyard.” Now, in a mission dubbed “Project Homecoming,” two scientists believe the soil in a backyard may be the key to finding the missing Cal Poly San Luis Obispo student’s remains.  Dr. Steve Hoyt is a Cal Poly graduate and an environmental scientist whose business tests soil samples. Timothy Neligan, an environmental engineer who also attended Cal Poly, had an actual run-in with 19-year-old Smart.  “She came knocking at our door a week before she went missing to use the telephone to call somebody,” Neligan explained. “We followed the case ever since and wanted to help the family.” Paul Flores, the last person to see Smart alive, is serving 25 years to life f...

Fireworks thrown at Hermosa Beach crowds celebrating Pride

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:51 GMT

Police are searching for a man who threw an exploding firework into a large crowd at an LGBTQ+ Pride event in Hermosa Beach.On June 17, the suspect was near a silent disco event at a bar/restaurant called Vista around 9:45 p.m. when he pulled out a firework, lit it and threw it into the crowd. The incident was captured on a video shared by police.Fragments of fireworks struck multiple people at the crowded restaurant, located at 11 Pier Ave., police said. Despite the "significant explosion," victims' injuries were not life-threatening.Video released by the Hermosa Beach Police Department shows a man throwing a lit firework into a crowd on June 17, 2023. (Hermosa Beach Police)Jeremy McDermott, the manager of Vista, said hundreds of people were attending the event celebrating LGBTQ+ culture and Pride month when the explosion went off."We had 400 people already here,” McDermott said. “It was pretty rough and a rude awakening for everyone enjoying a silent disco here. It was an unfortun...

Detienen a 150 personas en una noche de “violencia intolerable”, según el ministro de Interior de Francia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:51 GMT

(CNN) — Alrededor de 150 personas han sido detenidas en Francia durante una noche de “violencia intolerable”, según tuiteó este jueves el ministro del Interior de Francia, Gérald Darmanin.Tras esta segunda noche de protestas, el presidente de Francia, Emmanuel Macron, convocó para este jueves por la mañana a una reunión de la célula de crisis interministerial, según informó el Ministerio del Interior francés.Las protestas estallaron este martes tras la muerte de un joven de 17 años al que la policía disparó durante un control de tráfico en la ciudad de Nanterre, a las afueras de París.“Ayuntamientos, escuelas y comisarías fueron incendiados o atacados”, dijo Darmanin, expresando su apoyo a policías y bomberos.“Vergüenza debería darles a quienes no llamaron a la calma”, añadió.— Xiaofei Xu contribuyó con este reporte.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.Source

Ferreira’s hat trick leads US over St Kitts and Nevis 6-0 in CONCACAF Gold Cup

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:51 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jesús Ferreira scored his second international hat trick, Djordje Mihailovic had two goals and the 13th-ranked United States overwhelmed No. 139 St. Kitts and Nevis 6-0 on Wednesday night in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.Mihailovic, Bryan Reynolds and Ferreira scored in a 3:50 span to build a 3-0 lead by the 16th minute. The U.S. outshot St. Kitts 34-2.“We know that we had to come out here and gain points, gain goals, and I think the team went out there and took care of business,” Ferreira said.Ferreira has 11 goals in 20 appearances and became the fastest American to double-digit goals, accomplishing the feat in three games fewer than Clint Mathis. Seven of Ferreira’s goals have been against St. Kitts and then-No. 170 Grenada.Ferreira became the fifth American with multiple hat tricks behind Landon Donovan with three, and Peter Millar, Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey with two each. Ferreira was the only American starter who played at last year’s World Cup, appearing in the...

Pronostican fuertes lluvias en Chiapas, Oaxaca, Tabasco y sur de Veracruz

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:51 GMT

(CNN Español) — El Servicio Meteorológico Nacional de México informó este miércoles a través de un comunicado que se pronostican lluvias torrenciales en los estados de Chiapas y Oaxaca y lluvias intensas en Tabasco y el sur de Veracruz debido a la baja presión, con potencial ciclónico, en el sur de las costas del estado de Guerrero.Las autoridades añadieron que para la noche del miércoles y la madrugada de este jueves se pronostican lluvias puntuales torrenciales (de 150 a 250 milímetros [mm]) en las regiones de Chiapas y Oaxaca; lluvias intensas (de 75 a 150 mm) en zonas de Tabasco y sur de Veracruz; lluvias muy fuertes (de 50 a 75 mm) en Campeche y Guerrero, así como lluvias fuertes (de 25 a 50 mm) en Quintana Roo y Yucatán.La tormenta tropical Adrián se forma en el Pacífico y dejará fuertes lluvias en 4 estados de México, advierten autoridadesEl comunicado añadió que se pronostican para este jueves rachas de viento de 60 a 80 km/h y oleaje de 2 a 4 m de altura en costas de ...

France reels after fiery clashes over police killing of teen

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:51 GMT

French President Emmanuel Macron called an emergency Cabinet meeting Thursday morning in the wake of violent clashes that erupted across the country overnight after a teenager was killed by police in a Paris suburb, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.“[It was] a night of unbearable violence against symbols of the Republic: town halls, schools and police stations [were] attacked or burned down,” said Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin on Thursday, adding that 150 people had been arrested.Speaking to the press before entering the Cabinet meeting, Macron called the violence “unjustifiable.”“The next few hours must first of all be a time for reflection and respect,” the French president said, according to Le Monde. The death of a 17-year-old shot by police on Wednesday during a traffic stop in Nanterre, a western Paris suburb, sparked unrest across France.In the Paris area, clashes between police and protesters turned violent in some cities, wit...

The truth behind Europe’s most powerful farmers lobby

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:51 GMT

BRUSSELS — The European Union’s biggest farming lobby claims to represent all the bloc’s agricultural workers, but Stela Zămoiu doesn’t believe it speaks for farmers like her.Zămoiu, 61, remembers when the land around her was full of smallholders. Today, her three hectares in eastern Romania are surrounded by large, industrial farms. When she dies, she expects her property to be swallowed up by one of her neighbors.“The village has grown old,” she says. “After the elders die, the land goes to the children, and they sell it … I don’t know if there will be land that won’t be taken by big farmers.”She could use help, she says — from the Romanian government or the EU — but doesn’t see it coming. “Politicians take into account only what they hear from big farmers,” she says. “They represent themselves. Not us.”Some 2,000 kilometers away in Brussels, Pekka Pesonen, the head of the Copa-Cogeca farming lobby, doesn’t disagree. European agriculture needs to become profitable, the...