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UN chief’s call for ambition on climate gets muted response

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:37 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Senior government officials at a climate meeting in Copenhagen gave a muted response Tuesday to calls from the head of the United Nations for countries to show greater ambition when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres urged rich countries Monday to bring forward their target for achieving net zero emissions as close as possible to 2040, and for emerging economies to aim for a date as close as possible to 2050. This would be a significant shifting of the goal posts: the United States and the European Union are currently aiming for net zero by 2050, while China is targeting 2060 and India has set a deadline of 2070.Guterres’ call came in a video message responding to a new report by the U.N.’s top climate science panel which found that the world is still far off track if it wants to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) compared to pre-industrial times, as agreed in the 2015 Paris accord. ...

Yellen says bank situation stabilizing, different from 2008

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:37 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen projected calm on Tuesday after recent regional bank collapses but told a gathering of bankers that additional rescue arrangements “could be warranted” if any new failures at smaller institutions jeopardize financial stability.Yellen, who made her remarks at the American Bankers Association, said that overall “the situation is stabilizing.”“And the U.S. banking system remains sound,” Yellen said, drawing clear differences between recent events and the 2008 financial meltdown, which triggered trillions of dollars of financial losses globally.“This is different from 2008,” she said. “2008 was a solvency crisis, rather what we’re seeing now is contagious bank runs.”Yellen’s remarks come after a series of troubling bank developments this month.Silicon Valley Bank, based in Santa Clara, California, failed on March 10 after depositors rushed to withdraw money amid anxiety over the bank’s health. It was the sec...

Tennessee law prevents local bans on natural gas stoves

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:37 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Republican Gov. Bill Lee has signed legislation that says local governments can’t ban gas stoves, even though no current city in Tennessee is currently pursuing such actions. The legislation was introduced amid fears from earlier this year that the Biden administration was considering a nationwide ban on gas stoves due to growing health concerns over the appliances. While the White House has said President Joe Biden would not support a ban, a Consumer Product Safety Commission official sparked suspicion when he said “any option is on the table” when it came to regulating gas stoves.Under the legislation Lee approved last week, local governments cannot regulate the “type of source of energy” delivered to customers for utility service connection or appliances. The legislation went into effect immediately after receiving strong support inside the GOP-dominated Tennessee Statehouse. “There’s been some conversation at the federal level at looking at disconti...

Producer claims Fox coerced testimony in Dominion libel case

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:37 GMT

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — A Fox News producer has filed a lawsuit claiming the network pressured her to give misleading testimony in a separate lawsuit that alleges Fox slandered a voting machine company by amplifying baseless allegations of fraud following the 2020 presidential election. The lawsuit by Abby Grossberg, who said she is on a forced administrative leave, alleges that the network also discriminated against her based on her gender and Jewish faith. It came as a hearing began Tuesday in Delaware Superior Court in the larger legal battle between Fox and Dominion Voting Systems, which seeks $1.6 billion from the network in its defamation claim.The Dominion lawsuit provides the legal backdrop for Grossberg’s claim and already has embarrassed the network by revealing its personalities’ private disdain for former President Donald Trump and illustrating how political pressures can inform its coverage. The case also holds the potential for redefining libel law in the U...

Pakistani intelligence officer, driver killed, officials say

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:37 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Suspected militants ambushed a vehicle carrying a senior military intelligence officer in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, killing him and his driver, security officials and police said. Brig. Mustafa Burki, who had been deeply involved in operations against the Pakistani Taliban in recent years, was “martyred” along with his driver as he traveled in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, three security officials said. The province bordering Afghanistan is a former stronghold of militants. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to media on the record.There was no claim of responsibility for the attack on Burki.It was the second major assault on intelligence officers since January, when Pakistani Taliban killed another senior officer and his colleague in Punjab province. Burki and the officers killed in January were known for gathering information about militants and supervising raids on insurgents.Separately, the military said in a st...

Nuclear contamination testing planned at St. Louis-area park

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:37 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to test for radioactive contamination at a suburban St. Louis park that sits along a notoriously toxic creek, a Corps official said Tuesday.The Corps of Engineers is seeking permission from St. Louis County to test soil and water at Fort Belle Fontaine Park, a popular spot for hikers with high bluffs and panoramic views. The park sits about 3 miles (5 kilometers) from where the Missouri River flows into the Mississippi River.Coldwater Creek runs through the park. The notoriously contaminated creek has been a headache for decades, since radioactive waste got into the waterway in the 1950s. Residents who lived along the creek as children in the 1960s and later have blamed illnesses, including rare cancers, on playing in the creek.“We were never, as kids, supposed to go down there, but of course we did,” said Kim Visintine, a member of the Coldwater Creek Group, which advocates for testing and cleanup.A division of the Corps of En...

Lawyers: Dispute over Van Gogh art in Detroit is settled

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:37 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — A deal has been reached over control of an 1888 painting by Vincent van Gogh, lawyers said, weeks after the custody fight created public buzz and much tension near the end of a rare U.S. exhibition in Detroit.Brokerarte Capital Partners LLC, which claims to own “The Novel Reader,” told a federal appeals court that it reached a confidential settlement with the unnamed entity who loaned the painting to the Detroit Institute of Arts for an exhibition of Van Gogh’s works that ended Jan. 22.Because of the dispute, the museum has been under orders to hold the painting while the court determined who would next get the art.Brokerarte Capital, an art brokerage, said it acquired the painting in 2017 for $3.7 million and gave temporary possession of it to a third party who absconded with it. The company filed a lawsuit on Jan. 10 seeking to seize the painting, and the museum subsequently posted a security guard next to it.The museum was caught in the middle but wasn’...

Navratilova says she is cancer-free, returns to her TV work

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:37 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Martina Navratilova returned to TV work at Tennis Channel for its coverage of the Miami Open on Tuesday, less than three months after saying she had throat cancer and breast cancer.“It’s great to be back. … Thrilled to be here,” said the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion and member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. “So happy to be working. How many people can say that?”The 66-year-old Navratilova said her sense of taste disappeared during the treatment for cancer and she lost 15 pounds. She did not appear on television during the Australian Open in January or the BNP Paribas Open this month.“It puts you face-to-face with your mortality, No. 1, because at the beginning, I wasn’t sure if it was treatable, so that was hard,” she said. “But once I got into the program, it was a little easier emotionally, but more difficult physically. … But I’m still standing.”In an interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV scheduled to air Tuesday, Navratilova said she h...

What to know about Alvin Bragg, Manhattan district attorney

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:37 GMT

A New York grand jury investigating hush payments made on Donald Trump’s behalf during the 2016 presidential campaign has refocused attention on the Manhattan district attorney steering the case. Alvin Bragg’s decision to convene the grand jury early this year could lead to the first criminal charge against a former U.S. president.Here’s what you need to know about Bragg:WHO IS THE MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY? Alvin Bragg became Manhattan’s first Black district attorney in 2022, following his election in November 2021.AS DISTRICT ATTORNEY, WHAT IS BRAGG’S JOB? The office prosecutes nearly all criminal cases in Manhattan, staffed by about 500 lawyers. The district attorney also is a key political figure, overseeing cases that often involve defendants with immense wealth, fame and influence. Manhattan district attorney is one of the most high-profile prosecution jobs in the world, dramatized on TV shows like “Law & Order” and “Blue Bloods.” Robert M. Morgen...

Halifax high school student charged with attempted murder after school stabbings

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:37 GMT

HALIFAX — A 15-year-old student has been charged with two counts of attempted murder after two staff members at a Halifax high school were stabbed on Monday.  Halifax Regional Police issued a statement Tuesday saying the two victims are recovering in hospital and are listed in serious but stable condition.They confirmed that the accused — a student at the school — was treated in hospital for stab wounds, but there was no indication of how he received those wounds. The teenager appeared in youth court in Halifax Tuesday morning with a bandage on the front of his neck, as the reading of charges was waived and a bail hearing was set for Thursday.He didn’t speak but appeared calm, and as he departed the room his mother touched her heart and gestured her hand towards him. There is a publication ban under the Youth Criminal Justice Act on the identity of the accused.Terry Nickerson, the youth Crown prosecutor, indicated to the court during a brief hearing that he expected a psychiat...