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Verdict in Oregon wildfires case highlights risks utilities face amid climate change

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:43 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A jury verdict that found an Oregon power company liable for devastating wildfires — and potentially billions of dollars in damages — is highlighting the legal and financial risks utilities take if they fail to take proper precautions in a hotter, drier climate.Utilities, especially in the U.S. West, are increasingly finding themselves in a financial bind that’s partly of their own making, experts say. While updating, replacing and even burying thousands of miles of powerlines is a time-consuming and costly undertaking, the failure to start that work in earnest years ago has put them on the back foot as wildfires have grown more destructive — and lawsuits over electrical equipment sparking blazes have ballooned.“How do they pay for that and at the same time try to do grid hardening at a pace that could prevent the need for constant shutting down of the power?” Josh Hacker, chief science officer at Jupiter Intelligence, a company that provides advice on managing...

4 people fatally shot at residence in Idaho, suspect in custody, news report says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:43 GMT

KELLOGG, Idaho (AP) — Police in Idaho arrested a suspect in a shooting that killed four people on Sunday, according to a news report.The Kellogg Police Department and the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home in Kellogg around 7:30 p.m. and found four people who died of gunshot wounds, the Shoshone News-Press reported on the newspaper’s Facebook page.The shooting occurred at multi-dwelling units behind the Mountain View Congregational Church in the city about 36 miles (58 kilometers) east of Coeur d’Alene, the News-Press reported.There was no ongoing threat to the public and an investigation was underway by the Kellogg Police Department and the Idaho State Police, the newspaper reported.The Kellogg Police Department did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking additional information.The Associated Press

Biden to make announcement in Palo Alto for $600M climate funding plan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:43 GMT

(KRON) -- President Joe Biden will arrive in the Bay Area on Monday. He is scheduled to spend three days in the area and is expected to make a big announcement. 2 people injured in shooting near Pier 39: SFPD Biden will be at the Baylands Nature Preserve in Palo Alto Monday afternoon. He is expected to announce a $600 million plan for climate funding, a White House official said. The President will discuss his administration's actions to "combat the climate crisis, create good-paying clean energy jobs, and protect our environment for future generations." Biden will be joined by state, community, environmental justice and youth leaders. Other plans for Biden's three-day Bay Area visit have not been released.KRON On is streaming news live now.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: ...

Muere en México primer paciente por infección de hongo Fusarium solani

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:43 GMT

(CNN Español) — La Secretaría de Salud del estado mexicano de Tamaulipas informó del primer fallecimiento de una paciente a causa de la infección al sistema nervioso central, provocado por el hongo Fusarium solani. La mujer se encontraba internada en una clínica particular de la ciudad de Matamoros.El secretario de Salud de Tamaulipas, Vicente Joel Hernández Navarro, dijo que “a pesar de los esfuerzos médicos y la aplicación de los medicamentos, la salud de la paciente empeoró con el paso de los días”.Explicó que, hasta el momento en la entidad, suman 24 casos de esta infección “teníamos seis personas hospitalizadas, dos están en el Hospital de Alta Especialidad de Victoria, a quienes se les trasladó para darles seguimiento; no están graves, una más era la paciente del hospital privado, y el resto está en distintas instituciones médicas bajo estricta vigilancia y atención médica”, aseguró Hernández Navarro.Destacó que la investigación sobre las causas que provocaro...

Caddie John Ellis basks in joy of seeing Wyndham Clark win the U.S. Open

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:43 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — John Ellis understands the pressure of playing in the U.S. Open. Now the caddie for Wyndham Clark, Ellis competed in the championship twice.Ellis said he felt just as much pressure carrying Clark’s bag as he played the back nine Sunday during the final round at Los Angeles Country Club.“I care about my guy so much that you know, I find myself getting nervous for him because I want him to do well,” Ellis said after Clark beat Rory McIlroy by one shot to win his first major. “The kid was a rock today.”As Clark was taking questions from reporters, Ellis was smiling and enjoying a beer near the clubhouse.The player-caddie relationship began in 2016, when Clark transferred to the University of Oregon, where Ellis was an assistant coach. Clark said Sunday night that Ellis has had other opportunities but has stuck by him.“I owe a lot to him. I feel like John is meant to be my caddie, but it’s so much more than just a business relationship,” Clark said. “This just m...

POLITICO Pro Morning Energy and Climate UK: Labour’s green game plan — Grid headache — Supply chain snarls

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:43 GMT

Presented by SSE By CHARLIE COOPER and ABBY WALLACE PRESENTED BY View in your browser or listen to audioSNEAK PEEK— Keir Starmer is in Edinburgh today where he will reveal more details of Labour’s green energy plan.— Parliament’s environmental audit committee (EAC) meets this afternoon. What’s on the agenda? Grid queues of course. — Stuart Broadley, chief executive of the Energy Industries Council (EIC), tells MECUK that delays in getting renewable projects off the ground put the U.K.’s net zero targets at risk.Good Monday morning and welcome to POLITICO Pro Morning Energy and Climate UK. Good news all round: you made it through the weekend and we made it to a second week! Here’s your latest update.As always, please send all your tips, musings, encouragement and (gentle) criticism our way at [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected]. Or reach us on Twitter: @hargraver; @charliecoope...

How US-made sniper ammunition ends up in Russian rifles

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:43 GMT

As gear reviews go, it was a glowing one: In a 60-second video clip posted on Telegram, a masked sniper sporting the death’s-head insignia of the Wagner mercenary army sings the praises of the Russian-made Orsis T-5000 rifle.“The equipment comes very well recommended,” the soldier, pictured in the charred interior of a building, tells a war reporter from the Zvezda TV channel run by the Russian Ministry of Defense.Pulling out the clip of the weapon at his side, he continues: “It uses Western .338 caliber ammunition. It works very well. It can penetrate light cover if the enemy is behind it. And, in the open, it can strike the enemy at a range of up to 1,500 meters.”The Orsis T-5000 is made by a company based in Moscow called Promtekhnologiya that has been sanctioned by the United States.And the “Western” ammunition?Filings obtained by POLITICO indicate that Promtekhnologiya and another Russian firm called Tetis have acquired hundreds of thousands of rounds made by Hornady, a U...

Gunbattle in Jenin: 3 Palestinians killed, 29 others wounded in Israeli raid in West Bank

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:43 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli troops killed 3 Palestinians, including a minor, and wounded at least 29 others during a massive gunbattle with militants in the streets of the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Monday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. The fighting was the latest in more than a year of near-daily violence that has wracked the West Bank.The Palestinian Health Ministry identified Khaled Asasa, 21, Qassam Abu Sariya, 29, and 15-year-old Ahmed Saqr among the killed and said at least six others were seriously wounded in the shootout.The Israeli military said troops came under fire during an arrest raid in Jenin and shot back at Palestinian gunmen. “As the security forces exited the city, a military vehicle was hit by an explosive device, damaging the vehicle,” the army said, adding that helicopters “opened fire toward the gunmen in order to assist in extraction of the forces.” Unconfirmed amateur video footage from Jenin appeared to show an Israeli military helicopter laun...

A high-profile French nun is inspiring hope for Catholic women. But can she really bring change?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:43 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — In her years running Catholic youth programs in France, Sister Nathalie Becquart often invoked her own experience as a seasoned sailor in urging young people to weather the storms of their lives. “There’s nothing stronger than seeing the sunrise after a storm, the flat calm of the sea,” she says. That lesson is especially applicable to Becquart herself as she charts the global church through an unprecedented — and at times, tempestuous — period of reform as one of the highest-ranking women at the Vatican.Pope Francis named the 54-year-old nun as the first female undersecretary in the Vatican’s Synod of Bishops office in 2021. Since then, she has been crisscrossing the globe as the public face of his hallmark call to listen to rank-and-file Catholics and empower them to have a greater say in the life of the church.That process, which comes to a head in October with a big assembly, reaches a crucial point Tuesday with the publication of the working document for the...

AIF: President Tokayev proposes to hold regional climate summit in Kazakhstan in 2026

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:43 GMT

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev outlined key global initiatives to address humanity’s shared challenges, focusing on the significance of the Astana International Forum (AIF) at an 8 June opening ceremony and plenary session.Climate awareness and Afghanistan crisisTokayev proposed to the global community to hold a Regional Climate Summit in Kazakhstan in 2026 under the auspices of the United Nations (UN) and other international organizations to facilitate dialogue and find adequate solutions to climate change.Referring to the critically low water level in the two great rivers of the Central Asian region – the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya – which could decrease by nearly 15% by 2050, Tokayev called for “more resources to support the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea to prevent an ecological catastrophe in the region.”“Kazakhstan could offer huge green economy opportunities and become a center for renewable energy. However, time is not on our side. We need resources and ...