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India’s prime minister uses the G20 summit to advertise his global reach and court voters at home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:54 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Major roads in New Delhi are teeming with giant posters and billboards announcing India’s presidency of this week’s summit of the Group of 20 nations. And one leader’s picture — smiling benignly from every traffic circle — stands out from the rest: Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Modi is also on the front page of major newspapers, and Indian TV channels are flashing his picture, accompanied by the Hindi word “Vishwaguru” — a leader of the world. In public speeches, his ministers are touting him as a steward of a surging India.It is an unabashed homage to the populist prime minister and staunch Hindu nationalist, who is celebrated by his supporters and by his party as someone who is leading a developing nation of more than 1.4 billion people to a bright new future.But this advertising blitz also displays the personal ambitions of Modi, who in the past has used the optics of New Delhi’s growing geopolitical clout and foreign policy triumphs to consolidate power. Experts ...

Lawyers claim cable TV and phone companies also responsible in Maui fires

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:54 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — After a visit to a warehouse where Hawaiian Electric Company is housing power poles and electrical equipment that may be key to the investigation of last month’s devastating fires on Maui, lawyers for Lahaina residents and business owners told a court Tuesday that cable TV and telephone companies share responsibility for the disaster because they allegedly overloaded and destabilized some of the poles. The lawyers said the cables were attached in a way that put too much tension on the poles, causing them to lean and break in the winds on Aug. 8 when flames burned down much of Lahaina, killing at least 115 people and destroying more than 2,000 structures. LippSmith LLP has filed a proposed class action against Hawaii’s electric utility and Maui County in state court in Hawaii. Attorney Graham LippSmith is now asking the court to add multiple telecommunications companies and public and private landowners to the original suit.“In a disaster of this magnitude, it t...

Sri Lanka government to investigate allegation of intelligence complicity in 2019 Easter bombings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:54 GMT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s government will appoint a parliamentary committee to investigate allegations made in a British television report that Sri Lankan intelligence had complicity in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 269 people. Labor Minister Manusha Nanayakkara told Parliament on Tuesday that details on the investigation will be announced soon. A man interviewed in the Channel 4 videos released Tuesday said he arranged a meeting between a local Islamic State-inspired group and a top state intelligence official to hatch a plot to create insecurity in Sri Lanka and enable Gotabaya Rajapaksa to win the presidential election later that year.Azad Maulana was a spokesman for a breakaway group of the Tamil Tiger rebels that later became a pro-state militia and helped the government defeat the rebels and win Sri Lanka’s long civil war in 2009. Rajapaksa was a top defense official during the war, and his older brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa, had been defeated in ...

Legal fights over voting districts could play role in control of Congress for 2024

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:54 GMT

Democrats got a potential boost for the 2024 congressional elections as courts in Alabama and Florida ruled recently that Republican-led legislatures had unfairly diluted the voting power of Black residents. But those cases are just two of about a dozen that could carry big consequences as Republicans campaign to hold onto their slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. Another trial alleging racial violations in voting districts got underway Tuesday in Georgia, where Democrats also hope to make gains, while voting rights advocates in Ohio decided to drop a legal challenge to that state’s congressional districts — providing a bit of good news for Republicans. Legal challenges to congressional districts also are ongoing in Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. And new districts seem likely in New York and North Carolina, based on previous court actions.Though much remains to be settled, there’s a good chance congre...

Schools are cutting advisers and tutors as COVID aid money dries up. Students are still struggling

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:54 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — Davion Williams wants to go to college. A counselor at his Detroit charter school last year helped him visualize that goal, but he knows he’ll need more help to navigate the application process.So he was discouraged to learn the high school where he just began his sophomore year had laid off its college transition adviser – a staff member who provided extra help coordinating financial aid applications, transcript requests, campus visits and more.The advisers had been hired at 19 schools with federal pandemic relief money. In June, when Detroit’s budget was finalized, their jobs were among nearly 300 that were eliminated.“Not being able to do it at this school is kind of disappointing,” Williams said in August at a back-to-school event at Mumford High School.An unprecedented infusion of aid money the U.S. government provided to schools during the pandemic has begun to dwindle. Like Williams’ school, some districts already are winding down programming like expande...

EPA delays new ozone pollution standards until after 2024 election

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is delaying plans to tighten air quality standards for ground-level ozone — better known as smog — despite a recommendation by a scientific advisory panel to lower air pollution limits to protect public health.The decision by EPA Administrator Michael Regan means that one of the agency’s most important air quality regulations will not be updated until well after the 2024 presidential election.“I have decided that the best path forward is to initiate a new statutory review of the ozone (standard) and the underlying air quality criteria,” Regan wrote in a letter to the EPA advisory panel last month. The letter cites “several issues” raised by the panel in a recent report that “warrant additional evaluation and review.”The review, which will last at least two years, will “ensure that air quality standards reflect the latest science in order to best protect people from pollution,” Regan said.Regan’...

Big Weather Changes Loom! Warm Wednesday Followed By Temp Crash; Major Hurricane Developing in Atlantic; Historic Flooding in Greece

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:54 GMT

A general feel of autumn in the air ahead! Gusty winds will blow in Chicago Wednesday. Humidities and dew point are to remain elevated going into Wednesday morning, but will begin to drop off Wednesday afternoon and evening. Still, daytime heating may generate enough instability to pop a few spotty showers later in the afternoon and early Wed evening—one or two of which which may produce lightning.  But areal coverage on those will be quite limited.It's Wednesday night and forward through the coming weekend and into next week which temps will cool. There's to be the general feel of autumn in the air. Daytime highs will hold to the upper 60s to low 70s Thursday through Saturday—and the coming weekend is likely to average 12.5° cooler than last.  THAT'S QUITE A CHANGE! Northeast winds are likely to travel down Lake Michigan into Chicago and this is likely to produce 60s on area beaches Friday into Sunday.WHILE THERE MAY WELL BE CLOUDS Thursday into Friday amid some gusty north/northe...

Nuggets G League affiliate Grand Rapids Gold announces open tryout in Denver

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:54 GMT

The Grand Rapids Gold will hold an open tryout Sunday in Denver available to locals aspiring to make training camp with the Nuggets’ G League affiliate.Up to four players will be invited to the Gold’s training camp in October, according to the team’s announcement. The Denver tryout will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Metro State University, with registration open at 9 a.m. There will also be a tryout held in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Sept. 16.“It’s a great opportunity for players to come that want a chance to get in front of the Nuggets and the Gold staff and decision-makers to showcase their talents,” new Gold general manager Ben Tenzer said. “There are opportunities for players that have played at a high level to get in front of evaluators, but this is an opportunity for anyone to come. So it’s a cool, unique thing in that sense.”Grand Rapids became the Nuggets’ G League affiliate in 2021, rebranding to the Gold after havi...

Riverside County declares emergency over toxic dumpsite leak

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:54 GMT

Riverside County officials declared a local emergency Tuesday in response to flooding and leakage of unknown materials from a toxic dumpsite.Officials said flash flooding on Sept. 1 had caused a breach of the retaining berm at the Lawson Dumpsite on Torres Martinez tribal land near Thermal.On Saturday, the leakage prompted evacuation warnings for three mobile home parks — the San Jose, Vargas, and Gamez communities.“The Lawson Dump is considered to be the largest toxic dump in California and continues to threaten our communities,” said Riverside County Fourth District Supervisor, V. Manuel Perez. “This is a public health emergency in addition to the flash flooding damage that was worse for the eastern Coachella Valley than Hurricane Hilary.From left: Aerial photo of Lawson Dumpsite in 2007 (Google Earth); Fires from Lawson regularly affected the residents of the nearby trailer park. (Environmental Protection Agency)The judge's order has put an end to illegal disposal at the Lawson D...

Kyle Freeland throws 6 solid innings in Rockies’ 3-2 victory over Diamondbacks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:54 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Kyle Freeland threw six solid innings, rookie Nolan Jones added an RBI double and the Colorado Rockies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 on Tuesday night.The last-place Rockies beat the playoff-contending D-backs for just the third time in 12 tries this season. The Diamondbacks — locked in a tight battle for one of three National League wild-card spots — fell behind the Miami Marlins and Cincinnati Reds for the final spot after both those teams won Tuesday. Arizona has lost six of its past eight games.The Rockies took a 1-0 lead in the first on Jones’ run-scoring double to deep right, but the D-backs tied it up in the bottom of the inning when Emmanuel Rivera’s single scored Ketel Marte, who led off with a triple.Jones has been one of the bright spots in a tough season for the Rockies. The left-handed batter is hitting .282 with 14 homers and 44 RBIs.Colorado scored a run in both the third and fourth, pushing its advantage to 3-1.Freeland (6-14) gave up tw...