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Drought-stricken Mexico is turning to a controversial technology to make it rain

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 18:57:36 GMT

(CNN) — As an extreme drought grips Mexico, leading to crop losses, a lack of water and higher food prices, the government is trying to bring desperately-needed rain by turning to a controversial technology: cloud seeding.In July, the country kicked off the latest phase of a cloud seeding project that aims to artificially stimulate rainfall. It is targeting 62 municipalities clustered in its north and northeast, with the aim of “combating the effects of drought and contributing to the recharge of aquifers,” according to a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture.Cloud seeding is a technology first discovered in the 1940s. Since then, it has been used in around 50 countries, including in the United States and China. Mexico has been experimenting with weather modification for more than seven decades.However, some scientists remain very cautious about the effectiveness of cloud seeding and warn that it is not a solution to drought.“It has a con...

Raise Up Not Taking Minimum Wage Hike to 2024 Ballot

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 18:57:36 GMT

Supporters of a minimum wage increase have opted not to pursue a ballot question in 2024.Raise Up Massachusetts spokesman Andrew Farnitano, whose group had been weighing an initiative petition to secure another minimum wage hike, confirmed the coalition’s decision to the News Service on Tuesday afternoon.The influential alliance of organized labor, community groups and faith-based organizations for months had been publicly mulling an effort to get voters to boost the minimum wage, which ended a years-long climb to $15 in January and will not rise again without additional action.Instead, Raise Up will continue to support legislation filed by Reps. Tram Nguyen and Daniel Donahue and Sen. Jason Lewis (H 1925 / S 1200). Those bills would increase the minimum wage $1.25 per year until it reaches $20 in 2027, plus boost the minimum wage for tipped workers to $12 per hour in 2027, and link both to the consumer price index so they continue to automatically grow apace with in...

How Bill O’Brien’s offense is helping the Patriots offense and defense in training camp

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 18:57:36 GMT

FOXBORO — Last weekend, Patriots safety Jalen Mills intercepted Bailey Zappe during a red-zone drill late in one training camp practice.Mills later explained the play by saying he had recognized the receivers’ route combination from his tape study of an earlier practice and jumped it. According to fellow safety Adrian Phillips, Mills would be lucky to see that same look again.Because in describing what new offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien has brought to the Patriots, Phillips, a 10th-year veteran, pinpointed one thing.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patirots extra points: Potential cause for Hunter Henry’s training camp breakout New England Patriots | Patriots training camp Day 7: Mac Jones’ best practice yet, a rising linebacker and more WR woes New England Patriots | Patriots claim rookie wide receiver from Bears, place Jalen Hurd on retired list New England Patriots | Patriots must g...

Deaths from IS bombing at Islamist rally in Pakistan rise to 63 after more wounded people die

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 18:57:36 GMT

KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — The death toll from the weekend suicide bombing at a rally of a pro-Taliban Islamist party in Pakistan jumped to 63, doctors said Wednesday, in the wake of one of the country’s worst attacks in recent years.The tally from Sunday’s explosion rose after a bomber struck an election campaign rally of supporters of a pro-Taliban cleric Fazlur Rehman in Bajur, where the Pakistani military spent years fighting the Pakistani Taliban before declaring the district clear of militants in 2016. But Rehman’s Jamiat Ulema Islam party has remained a potent political force closely linked to the Afghan Taliban.Some 123 people who had been wounded in Sunday’s attack near the Afghanistan border are being treated, according to a hospital official. Nearly 200 people were wounded and 80 have been discharged. “I can confirm that so far 63 people have died in the suicide bombing,” Liaquat Ali, a spokesman for the state-run hospital in Bajur, said Wednesday. He said so...

Thousands without power after residential fire in Burlington

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 18:57:36 GMT

Thousands are without power in Burlington after a fire broke out in a residential area on Wednesday morning.Fire crews responded to some townhomes under construction near Appleby Line and Dundas Street around 4:30 a.m.. Crews were still working to put out hot spots as of 7:30 a.m.Police say the impacted homes were unoccupied and no injuries have been reported. The cause of the fire is not known.Burlington Hydro says approximately 2,850 customers are without power due to the fire. Hydro crews are also on scene to determine the extent of the damage.The estimated time of restoration is 9:30 a.m.We are aware of an outage in the Tansley/Orchard area affecting approx. 2,850 customers as the result of a fire. Crews are on-site determining the extent of the damage to the equipment (some pictured below). Follow our outage map for updates: https://t.co/djEgY1RdHH pic.twitter.com/7v9DaxeyZH— Burlington Hydro (@BurlingtonHydro) August 2, 2023

A powerful typhoon pounds Japan’s Okinawa and injures more than 30 people as it moves toward China

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 18:57:36 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — A powerful typhoon slammed Okinawa and other islands in southwestern Japan Wednesday with high winds injuring more than 30 people as it moved west making its way toward mainland China.The Japan Meteorological Agency said the typhoon is heading to the East China Sea, but may change course and head back to Japan later this week.Typhoon Khanun, which means jackfruit in Thai, was heading west at speeds of 15 kph (9 mph), packing surface winds of up to 162 kph (100 mph). It was at sea southwest of Okinawa’s main island, according to the agency.Thirty-four people were injured, with three seriously hurt, according to the Okinawa prefectural government. The typhoon damaged several homes and forced transportation to halt and stores to close as it slowly moved west. Many hospitals were only receiving emergency cases.The storm also left nearly 200,000 homes, or about 30%, of those in Okinawa, without power, according to the Okinawa Electric Power Company. In the Ogimi village in n...

Reformist Thai party is excluded from coalition to form the next government, runner-up party says

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 18:57:36 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — The progressive political party that won the most seats in Thailand’s general election has been excluded from a coalition to form the next government, its former ally said Wednesday. Conservative lawmakers strongly oppose the party over its proposed reform of a law banning criticism of the country’s monarchy.Thailand has struggled for nearly three months to form a government and select a new leader since its election in May. Move Forward Party, the surprise winner, pulled together an eight-party coalition with 312 seats in the 500-member House. However, under the military-enacted constitution, confirming a new prime minister requires a majority vote by both the elected House and the 250-member Senate, which was appointed by a previous military government.An initial bid last month by Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat fell short by more than 50 votes, largely because only 13 senators backed him. His second attempt the following week was blocked by a procedural...

Russian drone strikes on Ukraine’s Odesa region cause fires at a port near the Romanian border

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 18:57:36 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces hit port infrastructure in southern Ukraine with drones close to the border with NATO member Romania, the Ukrainian military and prosecutor-general’s office said Wednesday, damaging a grain elevator and causing a huge fire at facilities that transport the country’s crucial grain exports.Since leaving a deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain to world markets through the city of Odesa, Russia has hammered the country’s ports with strikes. In the past two weeks, dozens of drones and missile attacks have targeted the port of Odesa and the region’s river ports, which are being used as alternative routes.The prosecutor-general’s office said the overnight strikes hit in the area of the Danube River that forms part of the Ukraine-Romania border. It didn’t immediately give further details. Video obtained by The Associated Press showed explosions and a large fire in the distance on the Danube, captured by fishermen in ...

Editorial Roundup: Florida

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 18:57:36 GMT

Palm Beach Post. July 29, 2023. Editorial: Florida undermines public education with absurd slavery ‘standard’Bad enough that Florida already has a reputation for the bizarre, insane and unseemly. But what now passes for state leadership in K-12 and higher education seems determined to push the ludicrous envelope even further. The new standard for teaching slavery is just the latest in a long line of initiatives that have hurt public education.From making it easy for individuals to ban books, to diverting more public money to unregulated private schools, from thwarting teachers’ unions to restricting college faculty protections like tenure, from curtailing classroom discussion on race, gender and sexual identity to restricting bathroom use by transgender students — state leaders are de-valuing what’s left of a good Florida education. Chipping away at the state’s public school and university infrastructure in the name of cheap, short-term political gains — like elections — has consequ...

Labor unions across Nigeria protest against soaring cost of living under new president

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 18:57:36 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Labor unions marched across Nigeria on Wednesday to protest the soaring cost of living under the West African nation’s new president, with calls for the government to improve social welfare interventions to reduce hardship.The unions, made up of government workers, said the economic incentives announced this week by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu to ease hardship were not enough. They also accused him of failing to act quickly to cushion the effect of some of his policies, including the suspension of decadeslong, costly subsidies that have more than doubled the price of gas, causing a spike in prices for food and most other commodities.Tinubu on May 29 scrapped the subsidy that cost the government 4.39 trillion naira ($5.07 billion) while new leadership of the country’s central bank ended the yearslong regime of multiple exchange rates for the local naira currency, allowing the rate to be determined by market forces.Both moves aimed to boost government finances...