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Wildfire threat grows as Florida drought gets steadily worse

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:32 GMT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The threat of wildfires is growing in Florida over the coming weeks as more than half the state is experiencing severe to extreme drought conditions likely to persist until rainy season resumes around mid-May, state and federal officials said Thursday.The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center reported Thursday that 55% of Florida is in the severe to extreme drought category, with most of the rest of the state listed as “abnormally dry.” The driest conditions are in southwest Florida, the same region hammered by Hurricane Ian in September.“When you look at a drought map of the state of Florida, you have very dry conditions all across the state,” said Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, whose agency includes the Florida Forest Service. “We’ve had numerous fires already.”Indeed, since Jan. 1 more than 1,000 wildfires in Florida have burned over 33,000 acres (13,300 hectares), according to state statistics. ...

Rockets fired at Israel from Lebanon raise risk of conflict

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:32 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Militants in Lebanon fired a heavy barrage of rockets at Israel on Thursday, the Israeli military said, forcing people across Israel’s northern frontier into bomb shelters, wounding at least two people and ratcheting up regional tensions a day after Israeli police raided Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site.Israel’s military said 34 rockets had been fired across the border, and that 25 were shot down by its Iron Dome aerial defense system. Another five rockets struck Israeli territory and the rest of the strikes were being investigated, security forces added. The army’s response would come after “a situational assessment” and meeting by Israel’s Security Cabinet later Thursday, it said.The unusually large salvo of rockets raised fears of a wider conflagration, as Israel’s bitter enemy, the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, holds sway over much of southern Lebanon. Over the past two days, tensions have skyrocketed at the sacred compo...

Finland joins NATO — Ukraine foreign minister in Brussels — EU’s China visit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:32 GMT

Listen on Spotify Apple Music Google Play EN_Google_Podcasts_Badge Created with Sketch. Stitcher .st0{fill:#EB8A23;} .st1{fill:#FAC617;} .st2{fill:#612368;} .st3{fill:#3792C4;} .st4{fill:#C33727;} Acast This week, Finland joins NATO while Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, joins us here in the POLITICO studio to talk about his own country’s NATO ambitions. We also follow EU chief Ursula...

Ukraine is preparing to strike back against Russia. Timing will be key

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:32 GMT

(CNN) — Weather the storm, exhaust the enemy and then strike back.That has been the mantra of Ukraine’s military for months, one echoed by senior US and NATO officials since the winter.So much for the idea. But can it be executed and if so where, when and with what? Even the Ukrainians themselves may not yet know as they study the 1,000-kilometer front line for Russian vulnerabilities, just as they did when suddenly launching the surprise September offensive in the northeast region of Kharkiv.But they are aware it will be a crucial chapter in the conflict. Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, said in an interview last month that Russia and Ukraine will fight “a decisive battle this spring, and this battle will be the final one before this war ends.”That suggests the Ukrainians may take their time to maximize capabilities. Predictions are a fool’s errand; there will be plenty of bluff and disinformation about ...

For the ages: Heat’s Erik Spoelstra turns to a bench duo that is 71 years old

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:32 GMT

When it comes to depth, Erik Spoelstra has leaned on veterans throughout his Miami Heat coaching tenure, from older contributors such as Ray Allen, Shane Battier and Chris Andersen to even a pre-retirement Dwyane Wade.At the moment, Spoelstra is bringing a duo for the ages off his bench, having moved to 37-year-old Kyle Lowry and 34-year-old Kevin Love as his first two reserves.It has added, Spoelstra said, an element of trust.“I mean, they’re both so highly decorated in terms of experience level and their skill level, their ability to read defenses and know how to manipulate defenses,” Spoelstra said ahead of Thursday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. “When you get that kind of experience together you don’t have to overcoach it. They’re going to make it all work.“And that’s been a tremendous boost for our second unit. They’ve really helped stabilize that group and helped that group be much ...

Bungled exercise: Army special-ops team bursts into wrong Boston hotel room and detains guest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:32 GMT

An Army special-ops team stormed the wrong Boston hotel room during a nighttime training exercise, bursting in and detaining a hotel guest, the FBI said.“First and foremost, we’d like to extend our deepest apologies to the individual who was affected by the training exercise,” said a statement from Lt. Col. Mike Burns of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. No injuries were reported.The bungled raid occurred around 10 p.m. Tuesday at the Revere Hotel Boston Common, in the downtown business area. “Based on inaccurate information, they were mistakenly sent to the wrong room and detained an individual, not the intended role player,” said the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which was assisting in the exercise. Burns said the training “was meant to enhance soldiers’ skills to operate in realistic and unfamiliar environments.”A Boston police incident report said officers were called to the hotel around 12:20 a.m. Wednesday and were met by the federal agents.Local news r...

Justice Thomas reportedly took undisclosed luxury trips

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:32 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has for more than two decades accepted luxury trips nearly every year from Republican megadonor Harlan Crow without reporting them on financial disclosure forms, ProPublica reports.In a lengthy story published Thursday the nonprofit investigative journalism organization catalogs various trips Thomas has taken aboard Crow’s yacht and private jet as well as to Crow’s private resort in the Adirondacks. A 2019 trip to Indonesia the story detailed could have cost more than $500,000 had Thomas chartered the plane and yacht himself, ProPublica reported.Supreme Court justices, like other federal judges, are required to file an annual financial disclosure report which asks them to list gifts they have received. It was not clear why Thomas omitted the trips, but under a judiciary policy guide consulted by The Associated Press, food, lodging or entertainment received as “personal hospitality of any individual”...

This San Diego beach is considered 'the most beautiful' in the U.S.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:32 GMT

SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Picture perfect beaches can be found along San Diego's coastline, but one particular beach is considered to be "the most beautiful" in the entire country.A new study by Florida Rentals, a vacation rental marketplace, analyzed the number of Instagram hashtags for the most visited beaches in the U.S. and then compared this with each beach’s length to see which beaches had the highest number of hashtags per meter, the company explained. This San Diego beach town made Forbes’ ‘Best Places to Travel in 2023’ list Taking the crown as the "most beautiful beach in the U.S" is La Jolla Cove, which garnered a whopping 4,257 hashtags per meter, according to the study. Florida Rentals said this San Diego beach had over 366,000 hashtagged Instagram posts about the area as of April 6, 2023.This may come as no surprise for San Diegans as the secluded cove is great for swimming and sunbathing. It's also located near La Jolla Village, which has a variety of restaurants an...

Quebec hydro crews race to restore power to more than one million after ice storm

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:32 GMT

MONTREAL — Hydro crews in Quebec and Ontario were racing on Thursday to restore power ahead of the Easter long weekend after a fierce storm system that brought thunder, snow and freezing rain left more than one million customers in the dark.Freezing rain sent ice-laden tree branches crashing down onto power lines, streets and cars, knocking out power to more than a million homes and businesses in Quebec, the province’s electric utility said. More than 1,100 hydro workers were on the ground across the province to restore power. Hydro-Québec said in a morning news conference it expected to restore power to between 300,000 and 350,000 clients by the end of the day, and to 70 or 80 per cent of affected customers by midnight Friday.“I can already confirm to you that there will be some, unfortunately, where it will go into the Easter long weekend, possibly Saturday, depending on some areas that are more complex,” said Régis Tellier, a vice-president of operations and mai...

AFN seeks more time to develop plan implementing UN declaration on Indigenous rights

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:32 GMT

OTTAWA — The Assembly of First Nations passed a resolution today that calls on the federal Liberals to extend the deadline to finalize a plan on the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.First Nations chiefs gathered for a special meeting this week to discuss the draft plan the Department of Justice published last month, and spent more than an hour debating a resolution setting out their response. The document seeks to lay out the first steps in Ottawa’s blueprint for aligning Canadian laws with the UN declaration, which affirms the rights of Indigenous Peoples to self-determination and to their language, culture and traditional lands.A law passed by the Liberal government in 2021 required the federal government to return to Parliament with an implementation plan by this June, but chiefs decided that timeline should be extended so as to allow for better consultation. Justice Minister David Lametti said in an address to the chiefs ...