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Health secretary slams abortion pill ruling as ‘not America’

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:27:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s top health official said Sunday that a court ruling threatening the availability of a main drug used in medication abortion was “not America” and he did not rule out defying the judge’s order if necessary. “We want the courts to overturn this reckless decision,” Xavier Becerra, President Joe Biden’s health secretary, told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We want, yes, that women continue to have access to a drug that’s proven itself safe. Millions of women have used this drug around the world.”He stressed that for now, women do have access to the abortion medication mifepristone after a federal judge in Texas, Donald Trump-appointee Matthew Kacsmaryk, put his ruling from Friday on hold for a week so federal officials could file a challenge. The drug was approved in 2000 by the Food and Drug Administration, which is overseen by the Health and Human Services Department headed by Becerra.Biden said his administration would fight ...

Cubans seek solutions and solace in Santería amid crises

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:27:51 GMT

HAVANA (AP) — From a two-room concrete home on the fringes of Cuba’s capital, the rumble of wooden drums spills out onto the streets.Neighbors gather at the door and kids climb a fence to peer inside. They watch as dozens of Cubans wearing white and African beads make offerings at a bright blue altar consuming half a room, asking for luck, protection and good health.While nearly 70% of Latin America’s 670 million people consider themselves Catholic, in Cuba, Santería is the name of the game. A fusion of African religions and Catholicism, Santería was one of the few religious practices to quietly endure through decades of prohibitions and stigma by the communist government.Now, as that stigma gradually fades and the country enters a moment of compounding economic, political and migratory crises, the religion is growing in popularity and expanding to new demographics.“Every day the religion grows a little more,” Mandy Arrazcaeta, 30, said among the throngs of people in his home dancin...

France: Marseille building collapses, fire stymies rescue

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:27:51 GMT

MARSEILLE, France (AP) — More than 100 firefighters worked against a ticking clock to extinguish flames deep within debris to save up to 10 people possibly buried after a building exploded and collapsed early Sunday in the French port city of Marseille.Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said at least four people were known to live in the collapsed building and as many as 10 may have been there, though persistent flames and fears of further collapse prevented rescuers from being able to search for victims some 15 hours after the explosion.“We cannot intervene in a very classic way,” Darmanin said during a visit to the site, about 11 hours after the five-story building collapsed shortly before 1 a.m. He said the fire was burning a few meters under the mounds of debris and that both water and foam represent a danger to victims’ survival. It was not known if anyone was killed, or what triggered the blast, he said.Firefighters, with the help of urban rescue experts, worked through the nig...

Hydro-Québec says some ice storm power outages will not be fixed before Tuesday

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:27:51 GMT

MONTREAL — Hydro-Québec says it hopes to reconnect power today to more than 50,000 customers who have been without electricity since last week’s deadly ice storm, but the utility admits some outages will not be resolved before Tuesday.Régis Tellier, Hydro-Québec’s vice-president of operations and maintenance, says around 114,000 clients remain without power, including approximately 80,000 in Montreal.He told reporters the utility has restored power to over 90 per cent of the more than one million customers who lost power after Wednesday’s ice storm and plans to reach 95 per cent today.He says the vast majority will have power back on Monday, but some complex cases may not be resolved until Tuesday. He says 1,500 hydro workers are on the ground but most of the remaining outages are small, affecting only a handful of people. The province has announced some grocery stores can remain open on Easter Sunday — a statutory holiday — to help residents running low on food after th...

Rockford police find woman dead in her living room

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:27:51 GMT

ROCKFORD, Ill. — A homicide investigation is underway after a woman was found dead Saturday inside her home in Rockford, according to police.Officers were called to do a welfare check at the home in the 3100 block of Guilford Road. Police said the front door was open when they arrived. Girl, 15, fatally shot in head on South Side ID’d The 26-year-old woman was found dead in the living room, according to a news release from the Rockford Police Department. The woman's name hasn't been released by the Winnebago County Coroner's Office.Her death is being investigated as a homicide and police said they don't believe it was a random act. Man killed after being hit by CTA train in Near West Side Anyone with information is asked to contact police online or call detectives at 815-966-2900.Anonymous tips can be submitted by texting RPDTIP and the tip to 847411, on the Rockford PD app or by calling Rockford Area Crime Stoppers at 815-963-7867.

The 44th Anniversary of the Wichita Falls tornado

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:27:51 GMT

April 10, 2023 will mark the 44th anniversary of one of the worst natural disasters in Texas. On Tuesday, April 10, 1979 the city of Wichita Falls was struck by a tornado that leveled much of the southern part of the city.It's a day I won't ever forget. I was the chief meteorologist for the CBS affiliate, KAUZ-TV. I had the responsibility of reporting on a tornado that would ride into history for the deaths and destruction it left.The storms were easy to forecast given the atmospheric setup. A warm front lifted north bringing in warm, moist, and unstable air. A cold front with an associated area of low pressure was moving out of the Texas South Plains towards Wichita Falls. An area of low pressure was over Colorado . The upper-levels were such that thunderstorms were bound to happen in a part of what is commonly referred to as Tornado Alley. Warm and unstable air ahead of an approaching cold front helped fuel the tornado outbreakOur Monday, April 9 forecast alerted viewers that stro...

Masters Live Updates | Final round begins with Koepka up 2

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:27:51 GMT

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Live updates from Sunday’s third and fourth round of the Masters (all times local):12:45 p.m.The final round of the Masters is underway, with twosomes going off both the first and 10th tees to ensure the weather-plagued tournament finishes on schedule.Brooks Koepka is 11 under and maintaining a two-shot lead over Jon Rahm. Both players finished up the third round with matching 1-over 73s.Koepka, a four-time major champion who now plays on the upstart LIV Golf tour, will tee off with the Spaniard in the final group at 2:33 p.m.Norway’s Viktor Hovland is three shots back, while Patrick Cantlay will be looking to make up a four-stroke deficit.It looks like there will be a first-time Masters champion. The only former winner in the top eight is Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, who is six shots off the lead.There is no threat of rain, which forced suspensions the last two days. In fact, the sun has come out at Augusta National. But the wind is whipping...

Denver police: Man unintentionally shoots, kills woman

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:27:51 GMT

A man appears to have unintentionally shot and killed a woman at a home in northeast Denver Saturday, according to Denver police.The man, identified in court records as 25-year-old Eric Robles-Villa, was handling a gun at a home in the 5500 block of Abilene Street when the weapon fired and the woman was fatally wounded, police spokesman Kurt Barnes said Sunday.Other people in the home called 911 after the shooting, Barnes said. Robles-Villa stayed at the scene. Barnes could not give any other detail about how the shooting unfolded, but said the man and woman were acquaintances.The woman, who has not been publicly identified, was taken to a hospital where she died. Robles-Villa was arrested for investigation of reckless manslaughter.The Denver District Attorney’s office will make the final decision on what criminal charges to bring.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | East High shooting spotlights tenuous balance between school safety, “moral obligation” to educ...

Thousands of jelly-like creatures washing ashore in Southern California

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:27:51 GMT

Look, but don’t touch. That’s the message from marine biologists as Southern California sees an influx of jellyfish-like creatures known as Velella velella, or By-the-Wind Sailors.On Saturday, Dana Wharf Whale Watching posted a video of the strange blue and purple-ish blobs that travel with the ocean currents and winds. Beachgoers say they are washing ashore by the thousands along the Southern California coast, including at Huntington Beach, Zuma Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Salt Creek Beach. They have also been spotted further north.By-the-Wind sailors are seen at Zuma Beach in California in April 2023. The jelly-like creatures are known as colonial hydroid, meaning they’re comprised of a colony of tiny organisms. (Maria Abreu)By-the-Wind sailors are known as colonial hydroids, meaning they’re comprised of a colony of tiny creatures, similar to the Portuguese Man O'War. They feed on algae and zooplankton and are a favorite meal for sunfish, according to Nona the Naturalist with Dana...

The not-so-California story behind the California roll

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:27:51 GMT

The California roll is a staple at sushi restaurants around the U.S. No matter where you order it, you'll find pretty much the same three ingredients — cucumber, avocado and crab (sometimes imitation crab) — rolled up in seaweed and rice. The roll's provenance isn't as well known as its ingredients, but the most widely accepted origin story takes us pretty far from California — and more than 4,500 miles from Japan, for that matter. The California roll is widely reported to have originated in Vancouver, Canada. Hidekazu Tojo came to Vancouver in the early '70s and started working at one of the city's only sushi restaurants, reports Food52. At that time, the average diner liked tempura and teriyaki dishes, but wasn't really interested in raw fish, Tojo told the publication. Is the rain finally over for California? People were interested, however, in eating cooked crab. So he crafted the roll using cooked crab, avocado and cucumber.The other thing Tojo did to cater to dine...