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Amazon nations seek common voice on climate change, urge developed world to help protect rainforest

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:15:58 GMT

BELEM, Brazil (AP) — Leaders from South American nations that are home to the Amazon challenged the developed world on Tuesday to do more to help stop massive destruction of the world’s largest rainforest, a task they said can’t fall to just a handful of countries when the crisis has been spurred by so many.Assembling Tuesday and Wednesday in the Brazilian city of Belem, the members of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, or ACTO, also sought to chart a common course on how to combat climate change, hoping a united front could give them a major voice in global talks.The calls from the presidents of Brazil, Colombia and Bolivia came as the leaders aim to fuel much-needed economic development in their regions while preventing the Amazon’s ongoing demise from reaching a “point of no return:” Some scientists say that when 20% to 25% of the forest is destroyed, rainfall would dramatically decline, transforming more than half of the rainforest to tropical savannah, with immense bio...

Electric bus maker Proterra files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:15:58 GMT

BURLINGAME, Calif. (AP) — Electric bus and truck maker Proterra says it is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from a federal court in Delaware.The Burlingame, California, company is a big supplier of buses to transit systems across the nation. A statement on Proterra’s website Monday said that it intends to maintain normal operations and will file motions with the court to use existing capital to keep funding operations, including paying employees, vendors and suppliers.President Joe Biden visited the company’s factory in South Carolina in 2021 to highlight U.S. electric vehicle makers.The company said in the statement that it’s taking action to separate its business units “to maximize their independent potential.” It sells heavy truck, van, bus and off-highway equipment equipment in the U.S., European and Asia-Pacific markets.“While our best-in-class EV and battery technologies have set an industry standard, we have faced various market and macroeconomic hea...

German man whose wife accused him of holding her captive for years to be released

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:15:58 GMT

PARIS (AP) — A 55-year-old German man who was arrested after his wife accused him of holding her captive for over a decade will be released without charges, the lead prosecutor in the French city of Sarreguemines said Tuesday.The woman, aged 53, was found Monday bedridden, half-naked, and with a shaved head in the couple’s home in Forbach, near the French-German border in the Grand Est region of northeastern France. She has maintained her allegations of being held captive and abused by her husband since 2011.In a statement on Tuesday evening, prosecutor Olivier Glady said there was no evidence supporting the woman’ claims of kidnapping, torture or abuse. “The situation of kidnapping which she keeps complaining about is a nonexistent reality,” he said. Glady said the husband took care of his wife following the onset of severe symptoms related to an undisclosed illness. A thorough forensic examination of the woman found no signs of rape or injury, he said.Glady said there ...

Chicago man accused of killing girl headed straight for her in apartment building, prosecutors say

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:15:58 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — The man accused of killing a 9-year-old Chicago girl who had been riding her scooter outside crossed a street and headed straight toward her in the vestibule of her apartment building before shooting her, prosecutors said Tuesday.Serabi Medina’s father, who had told her to come into the vestibule, shouted at Michael Goodman, but the man ignored him, allegedly raising his arm and shooting Medina in the head Saturday night in the Portage Park neighborhood, prosecutors said during a court hearing.The father tackled Goodman, causing the gun to go off again and striking Goodman in the eye, according to prosecutors, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Goodman has been released from the hospital after being treated for the injury and appeared in court Tuesday.The girl was rushed to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.Goodman, 43, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. He was ordered held without bail Tuesday.Goodman had a valid license to own the gu...

US east cleans up after deadly storms as New England braces for flooding

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:15:58 GMT

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Crews across the eastern U.S. worked Tuesday to clear downed trees and power lines and restore electricity following severe storms that killed at least two people, cut power to more than a million customers at their peak, and forced thousands of flight delays and cancellations.The storms that pounded a swath of the country stretching from Alabama and Tennessee to the Carolinas and New York on Monday continued to lash northern New England with wind and rain a day later.The National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado touched down Tuesday in the Atlantic Coast town of Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, though a survey team was still determining its strength.The twister damaged homes and vehicles, downed trees and power lines, and may have damaged the water treatment plant, which remained operational, according to a statement from the town’s Select Board. There were no reports of injuries.Rain also pounded Vermont, which experienced historic flooding last...

Mega Millions: How late can you buy a ticket for the $1.58B jackpot?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:15:58 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — A record-setting Mega Millions jackpot of $1.58 billion is up for grabs Tuesday night. If you haven't purchased a ticket yet, you still have time — but maybe not much time, depending on where you live. The jackpot has been brewing since April when a $20 million prize was won by a ticket sold in Syracuse, New York, just four days after a $483 million Mega Millions jackpot was hit by a ticket sold in Queens.Ahead of Tuesday’s drawing, Mega Millions officials estimated the jackpot’s size at $1.58 billion with a cash value of $783.3 million. That puts it as the largest in the game’s history, and as the third-largest lottery prize in U.S. history, though that could shift slightly based on ticket sales. Your odds at the Mega Millions jackpot are slim – but can you increase them? While the Mega Millions drawings are held at 11 p.m. ET on Tuesdays and Fridays, depending on where you live, you may need to get your ticket hours beforehand.In roughly half of ...

Father & daughter train together to compete against each other

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:15:58 GMT

WGN’s Mike Lowe is participating in the Life Time Chicago Triathlon to raise money for the non-profit It Takes a Village Chicago a non-profit that builds weight rooms for youth in underserved communities and underfunded schools. You can donate here.Each Tuesday in August, we’re bringing you stories about the triathlon. Here’s Triathlon Tuesday Part 1.CHICAGO — On a recent day in Rogers Park, Jason and Madeline Bussell were engaged in a sort-of daddy-daughter dash through their tree-lined neighborhood.  It’s part of the duo’s daily triathlon training program. They’ll move from running to a bicycle workout in the morning and swim several times during the week, too.They’ve been preparing all summer for the Life Time Chicago Triathlon, a swimming-biking-running competition, that will attract more than 8,000 athletes to the Chicago shoreline on August 27.Bussell, 51, has competed in a dozen triathlons and even done an Iron Man race.Madeline is a veteran of three kid’s triathlons. “...

Community leaders hope Chicago's next top cop is within CPD ranks

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:15:58 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is inching closer to naming the city’s next top cop.  Sources tell WGN News that Johnson met with one of the superintendent candidates Monday at City Hall and has more meetings this week ahead of a final decision this weekend. The finalists are Larry Snelling and Angel Novalez, both high-ranking officials from within the Chicago Police Department, and Shon Barnes, police chief of Madison, Wisconsin.  Two of the city’s most prominent anti-gun activists are urging Johnson to go with one of the men already on the force.  Mayor Johnson talks Chicago’s top cop search, migrant relocation “I’m hoping and praying it’s somebody from Chicago,” said Father Michael Pfleger. “It’s very important that whoever the superintendent is they know Chicago inside and out, they speak Chicago, they feel Chicago,” said Donavan Price, a street pastor who shows up at multiple shooting scenes weekly. Pfleger, of St. Sabina Church, says former police...

Why the Cubs' first night game anniversary is a little different in 2023

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:15:58 GMT

CHICAGO — Whenever August 8 comes on the calendar, Cubs fans get a little nostalgic thanks to a major change that happened on that day at the Friendly Confines.But in 2023, there is something just a little bit different about an important day in Wrigley Field history. (Photo by Heinz Kluetmeier /Sports Illustrated/Getty Images) On August 8, 1988 (Or 8/8/88), the Cubs played for the first time at Wrigley Field under artificial light. From 1914 until the Sunday before, games at the Friendly Confines had only been played in the daytime. That moment against the Philadelphia Phillies on a hot and humid evening - featuring a game-time temperature of 91 degrees - came after years of battles between the Cubs, the Lakeview neighborhood, the City of Chicago, and the State of Illinois.Traditionalists hated to see it, but the economic realities of baseball made baseball under artificial light at Wrigley Field a reality. A detailed look back at the Cubs' first night game on 8/8/88 It was a ni...

Florida county to teach Shakespeare in excerpts-only under new state rules

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:15:58 GMT

(The Hill) – Hillsborough County in Florida has informed educators they are only allowed to teach specific excerpts of William Shakespeare's works due to new state laws restricting certain discussions in class.The school district said certain parts of Shakespeare can not be taught because of the Parental Rights in Education law, dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by opponents, which restricts classroom discussions that are sexual in nature, the Tampa Bay Times reported. “It was also in consideration of the law,” school district spokeswoman Tanya Arja told the outlet.Students will be taught parts of “Macbeth,” “Hamlet” and “Romeo and Juliet,” but will not have to read the full plays for class.  Hole-in-one pic led to arrest of suspect in Florida country club manslaughter: affidavit Another reason for the change is the new state curriculum and exam standards, according to the outlet. Before, students had to read two full novels or plays, but changes have been made due to the new Bench...