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Endangered status sought for gopher tortoise in 4 states

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:12 GMT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Gopher tortoises imperiled by loss of habitat largely caused by human development should be placed on the endangered species list in four southern states, environmental groups said Wednesday as they prepared to sue the federal government over the issue.The Center for Biological Diversity and Nokuse Education filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over its decision last year not to list the gopher tortoise as endangered or threatened in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and eastern Alabama.The center noted there are some state-level protections for the burrowing tortoises but those generally require the animals to be moved from a development site and do not protect their habitat overall. The tortoises have lost 97% of the longleaf pine savannas where they lived for millions of years in the South.“Without lifesaving Endangered Species Act protection for our gopher tortoises, urban sprawl will keep driving them ever closer to extin...

More deaths, injuries linked to recalled eyedrops

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:12 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials are reporting two more deaths and additional cases of vision loss linked to eyedrops tainted with a drug-resistant bacteria.The eyedrops from EzriCare and Delsam Phama were recalled in February and health authorities are continuing to track infections as they investigate the outbreak.In the latest government tally, 68 people were diagnosed with infections from the bacteria, which has now caused a total of three deaths and eight cases of people losing their vision, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Tuesday. That’s up from one death and five cases of permanent vision loss reported last month.The CDC said four people have undergone surgery to remove an eyeball due to the infections. The outbreak is considered particularly worrisome because the bacteria driving it is resistant to standard antibiotics. The CDC has now identified cases in 16 states, including California, New York, Illinois, Texas and Pennsylvania. Most of the...

Prince William visits Poland to support ally helping Ukraine

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:12 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Prince William traveled to Poland on Wednesday for a surprise visit that underscored Britain’s support for a nation on the front line of efforts to help refugees displaced by Russia’s war in Ukraine and to assist Ukraine’s military in fighting off the invasion. The heir to the throne met with British and Polish troops in Rzeszow, a city of 200,000 people in southeastern Poland that has become a hub for shipments of military and humanitarian aid bound for Ukraine.Located just 65 kilometers (40 miles) from the Ukrainian border, Rzeszow is also a key transit point for refugees.William plans to tour a Warsaw center that houses about 300 recent arrivals from Ukraine. On Thursday, he is scheduled to meet with President Andrzej Duda and to talk with young Ukrainians who are working and studying in Poland.The U.K. has been one of the most outspoken supporters of bolstering NATO’s eastern flank in the face of Russia’s aggression. The country sent troop...

CNBC: cómo ganar unos $160,000 al mes trabajando solo cinco horas a la semana

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:12 GMT

En 2009, a Graham Cochrane lo despidieron de su trabajo de tiempo completo. Encontrar trabajo durante una recesión fue difícil, así que aceptó trabajos independientes y trabajó en su blog de música.Eso cambió todo. Hoy, trabaja solo cinco horas a la semana y gana alrededor de $160,000 al mes administrando su blog y su empresa de asesoramiento empresarial.Una de las partes más gratificantes de su trabajo es enseñar a las personas cómo usar herramientas en línea simples y convertir sus habilidades en actividades secundarias rentables.Aquí hay tres tipos de negocios que puede comenzar hoy por $0:Negocio de consultoría¿Hay algo en lo que tus amigos siempre te piden ayuda? Uno de los clientes de Cochrane le enseña a la gente cómo arreglar motocicletas en casa. Otro hace grabaciones de pronunciaciones de palabras en inglés para hablantes nativos de japonés.La clave es comunicarse con su red existente: “Ofrezco espacios de entrenamiento uno a uno para [X grupo de personas] que l...

Police: 2 faculty members shot at Denver high school

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:12 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Two faculty members were shot at a Denver high school Wednesday morning and the suspect remained at large, authorities said.Officers responded to the shooting at East High School at about 10 a.m., the Denver Police Department said in a social media post. Two adult victims were located and taken to hospitals, and police said the suspect was no longer believed to be on scene.East High School, not far from downtown near a busy street that cuts through the city, was placed on a lockdown as police investigated the shooting.It was unclear if the shooting happened inside or outside the school. Denver Public School said the victims were faculty members.Earlier this month students from the school skipped class and and marched to Colorado’s state Capitol to demand stricter gun laws, following the death of a fellow student who was shot while sitting in a car near school.Source

Hezbollah chief refuses comment on infiltration into Israel

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:12 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group refused to comment directly Wednesday on last week’s killing of a man suspected of entering Israel from Lebanon. He said the Iran-backed group’s silence is part of a psychological war.Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah refused to say whether his group had anything to do with the attacker, who was carrying explosives and was killed dozens of kilometers (miles) south of the border with Lebanon.Last week, the Israeli army said soldiers killed an armed man suspected of entering the country from Lebanon and blowing up a car, raising the risk of renewed tensions with Hezbollah.The incident unnerved Israelis, who questioned on social media and elsewhere how someone with explosives could travel dozens of kilometers inside Israel and set off a roadside bomb before being detected.“Our silence is part of the psychological, media and military battle with the enemy,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech adding that it is not Hezbollah’s r...

Police say 2 adult faculty members shot at a Denver high school; suspect at large

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:12 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Police say 2 adult faculty members shot at a Denver high school; suspect at large.Source

Getting safe water a struggle for many of Venezuela’s poor

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:12 GMT

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Everyone knows Franklin Cáceres in his neighborhood on the far east side of Venezuela’s capital. A roadside vendor directs a visitor downhill, past a curve and to the left. A middle school student points to Cáceres’ home and business. There, in a space flattened on the mountain by Cáceres, some meager cinderblock walls and a tin roof protect four 1,000-liter (264-gallon) blue plastic tanks in one corner. There is also a stove and a noisy flock of roosters.“Fran! Fran!” neighbors yell as he walks up and down a winding, dusty road untangling and tugging a seemingly endless hose. The hose, which is more like a network of hoses that measure about a mile in length, has transformed their lives by bringing clean water to their poor district.Water has long been a luxury in the sprawling low-income neighborhoods that surround Caracas. The problem preceded the socialist-led government of the late President Hugo Chavez. But like many other issues under the watch of hi...

War on gangs forges new El Salvador. But the price is steep

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:12 GMT

SOYAPANGO, El Salvador (AP) — For the family of 44-year-old Maritza Pacheco, opening a corner shop outside their home four months ago was a small miracle.Pacheco had lived like many in El Salvador’s capital: in constant panic. Warring gangs – MS-13 and Barrio 18 – would send gunfire ringing out over flimsy tin-sheet homes, terrorizing and extorting poor communities like hers.Her family isolated themselves, determined not to get sucked into the lawlessness around them until the gangs began closing in on her teenage son. Early last year, Pacheco paid to have him and a sister smuggled to the U.S.But over the past year, El Salvador has undergone a radical transformation since President Nayib Bukele – the self-described “world’s coolest dictator” – suspended constitutional rights and started an all-out offensive on the gangs. Bukele has imprisoned over 65,000 of the nation’s 6.3 million people, packing thousands inside a “ mega-prison. ” Gang presence has dwindled, and bloodshed ac...

A 5,000-mile seaweed belt is headed toward Florida

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:12 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A 5,000-mile seaweed belt lurking in the Atlantic Ocean is expected in the next few months to wash onto beaches in the Caribbean Sea, South Florida, and the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico.The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt — as the biomass stretching from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico is called — contains scattered patches of seaweed on the open sea, rather than one continuous blob of sargassum. It’s not a new occurrence, but satellite images captured in February showed an earlier start than usual for such a large accumulation in the open ocean.Once it washes ashore, sargassum is a nuisance — a thick, brown algae that carpets beaches, releasing a pungent smell as it decays and ensnares humans and animals who step into it. For hotels and resorts, clearing the stuff off beaches can amount to a round-the-clock operation.Here’s a look at this year’s sargassum seaweed bloom:WHAT IS SARGASSUM? A leafy brown seaweed festooned with what look like berries....