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Iranian authorities arrest Mahsa Amini’s father on anniversary of her death

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:44 GMT

First two cargo ships arrive in Ukrainian port after Russia’s exit from grain deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:44 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Two cargo ships arrived in one of Ukraine’s ports over the weekend, using a temporary Black Sea corridor established by Kyiv following Russia’s withdrawal from a wartime agreement designed to ensure safe grain exports from the invaded country’s ports.Two Palau-flagged bulk carriers, Aroyat and Resilient Africa, docked Saturday at the seaport of Chornomorsk in the southern Odesa region, according to an online statement by the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority. The vessels are the first civilian cargo ships to reach one of the Odesa ports since Russia exited the grain deal. Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, said in an online statement Saturday that the two ships will be delivering some 20,000 tons of wheat to countries in Africa and Asia. For months, Ukraine, whose economy is heavily dependent on farming, was able to safely export its grain from Black Sea ports under a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to ensure safe shipmen...

Lots of indoor farms are shutting down as their businesses struggle. So why are more being built?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:44 GMT

CLEBURNE, Texas (AP) — Inside a bright greenhouse about an hour outside Dallas, workers in hairnets and gloves place plugs of lettuce and other greens into small plastic containers — hundreds of thousands of them — that stack up to the ceiling. A few weeks later, once the vegetables grow to full size, they’ll be picked, packaged and shipped out to local shelves within 48 hours.This is Eden Green Technology, one of the latest crop of indoor farming companies seeking their fortunes with green factories meant to pump out harvests of fresh produce all year long. The company operates two greenhouses and has broken ground on two more at its Cleburne campus, where the indoor facilities are meant to shelter their portion of the food supply from climate change while using less water and land.But that’s if the concept works. And players in the industry are betting big even as rivals wobble and fail. California-based Plenty Unlimited this summer broke ground on a $300 million facility, w...

Italy investigates if acrobatic plane struck birds before it crashed, killing a child on the ground

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:44 GMT

MILAN (AP) — The Italian Air Force said it was investigating whether an aircraft of its acrobatic team struck birds before it crashed near an airport, killing a child on the ground.A 5-year-old girl and her family were traveling in a car near the perimeter of the airport near the northern city of Turin when the aircraft crashed Saturday afternoon, bursting into flames and smashing through the airport fence.The girl’s mother and older brother remained hospitalized for treatment of burns while the father was released Sunday, hospital officials said. Video of the crash shows nine aircraft in two tight V-formations, before one of the aircraft drops below the others and crashes, sending a fireball into the air. In the video, the pilot —identified as Maj. Oscar Del Do — can be seen ejecting with a parachute shortly before impact inside a fence airfield. He suffered burns. The Air Force said the reason for the crash was under investigation, but said one hypothesis was that the aircraft suf...

UAW justifies wage demands by pointing to CEO pay raises. So how high were they?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:44 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s been a central argument for the United Auto Workers union: If Detroit’s three automakers raised CEO pay by 40% over the past four years, workers should get similar raises.UAW President Shawn Fain has repeatedly cited the figure, contrasting it with the 6% pay raises autoworkers have received since their last contract in 2019. He opened negotiations with a demand for a similar 40% wage increase over four years, along with the return of pensions and cost of living increases. The UAW has since lowered its demand to a 36% wage increase but the two sides remain far apart in contract talks, triggering a strike.Fain’s focus on CEO pay is part of a growing trend of emboldened labor unions citing the wealth gap between workers and the top bosses to bolster demand for better pay and working conditions. In June, Netflix shareholders rejected executive pay packages in a nonbinding vote, just days after the Writers Guild of America wrote letters urging investors ...

Are gas stove bans going into place?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:44 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – Over the past couple years, a wave of progressive cities and states have moved toward banning gas stoves and other appliances in new buildings. San Francisco, Seattle, New York and others have changed the rules in the name of the environment and residents' respiratory health. But the wave has been met with substantial backlash, opposing federal legislation and lawsuits seeking to overturn the bans. Research has shown burning gas in the home doesn’t just pollute city skies, it also pollutes the air in your kitchen. NPR used an air monitor to measure the harmful gas nitrogen dioxide in a kitchen with a gas stove and oven on at the same time, as if they were cooking dinner. After 12 minutes, the journalist found the nitrogen dioxide levels were 60% higher than levels recommended by the World Health Organization.Studies have found the harmful particles emitted by gas stoves can cause asthma and other respiratory issues, especially in children.Berkeley, Ca...

Powerball: No Saturday jackpot winner, prize grows to 10th-largest

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:44 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — Without a winner in Saturday’s drawing, the Powerball jackpot has propelled to an estimated $638 million ahead of the next draw. No ticket was able to match all numbers drawn on Saturday, September 16: 8, 11, 19, 24, 46, and red Powerball 5. The Power Play was 2X. While there were no jackpot-winning tickets, there were 1.2 million tickets that won a prize in the drawing, according to Powerball. Two tickets sold in Arizona and Washington matched all five white balls, producing $1 million winnings each.  These are the best, worst states to win the lottery in This marks the 25th consecutive Powerball drawing without a jackpot winner, pushing the estimated jackpot for Monday’s drawing to $638 million. This makes the jackpot the third-largest this year, and the 10th largest jackpot in Powerball history. At its current estimated size, it has edged out a $632.6 million jackpot split by tickets in California and Wisconsin in 2022.Here are the 10 largest Pow...

Nexstar and DIRECTV agree to temporarily return TV stations, NewsNation to DIRECTV

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:44 GMT

Nexstar Media Group and DIRECTV have agreed to temporarily return Nexstar-owned television stations, as well as cable news network NewsNation, to DIRECTV. Nexstar Media Group and DIRECTV issued a joint statement Sunday morning, reading, "In recognition and appreciation of the continued patience of DIRECTV customers and Nexstar viewers, the companies have agreed to temporarily return the signals of the Nexstar-owned television stations and national cable news network NewsNation to DIRECTV, DIRECTV STREAM, and U-verse while we both work to complete the terms of an agreement.”

Goodman, Latimer: Reimagine policing? It can be done. St. Paul’s history offers evidence

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:44 GMT

George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer underscored what people of color have known and experienced in their communities for years. For others, the blatant cruelty toward another human being, witnessed by us all, clarified this experience. A clarion call for change resulted in political leaders promising reform through state and federal consent decrees. But to many, the promises and the reality of reform have not been enough. Distrust and wariness toward law enforcement, in part, have led to officers being openly disparaged in a politically charged environment, which has led to an exodus of good police officers and a dearth of new recruits.Our communities and law enforcement are at a crossroads. Transforming policing is an evolving process that ebbs and flows based on the current environment. The public justifiably wants to feel safe in their homes, cars and neighborhoods. They also expect officers to respond to calls for service as trained professionals who protect th...

Letters: We can’t undo historic wrongs. We still need reparations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:44 GMT

We can’t undo historic wrongs. We still need reparationsThank you, Isabel Saavedra-Weis, for writing this important account of what you encountered when reporting on reparations in Minnesota (“4 lessons I learned reporting on racial reparations in St. Paul,” Sept. 3). What is also important to note is that we cannot go back and undo the historic wrongs done to Black and Native people.  Given that, what CAN be done? Solutions need to be both practical and meaningful.Let us start with official, sincere apologies from the highest levels of Minnesota governmental entities.Moving on, the statements I have listened to and read acknowledging that we exist on stolen Native land ring shallow. What is the point of those statements if no action is to follow? How much land could we give back? City of St. Paul parks? State of Minnesota parks? Would Native Minnesotans be able to take back ownership and manage those lands as they see fit? Would they want to?Reparations for Black ...