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Iraqi PM promises action to tackle crippling climate change

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:20 GMT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s prime minister Sunday promised sweeping measures to tackle climate change — which has affected millions across the country — including plans to meet a third of the country’s electricity demands using renewable energy.Climate change for years has compounded the woes of the troubled country. Droughts and increased water salinity have destroyed crops, animals and farms and dried up entire bodies of water. Crowds of residents rushed to the hospital due to respiratory illnesses caused by rampant sandstorms. Climate change has also played a role in Iraq’s ongoing struggle to combat cholera.“More than seven million citizens have been affected in Iraq … and hundreds of thousands have been displaced because they lost their livelihoods that rely on agriculture and hunting,” Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a speech to open the two-day Iraq Climate Conference in Basra. Al-Sudani said the Iraqi government is working on a national plan ...

Saudi Arabia’s golf case threatens to spill kingdom secrets

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:20 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials who oversee Saudi Arabia’s tens of billions of dollars in U.S. investments haven’t been shy about flaunting their ties with top American business and political figures, down to wearing MAGA caps as they swing golf clubs alongside former President Donald Trump. But they’ve been silent about many of the details of these relationships.That’s changing as a result of a federal lawsuit in California pitting the Saudi-owned golf tour upstart LIV against the PGA Tour. A judge, citing what she described as the kingdom’s hands-on management of LIV, found that when it came to the new golf league, Saudi officials and the Saudi government aren’t shielded from U.S. courts the way sovereign nations usually are.While Saudi Arabia is fighting the decision, insisting U.S. courts have no jurisdiction over its high officials, the ruling means lawyers for the PGA Tour would be able to question top officials about business secrets that the Saudis have held cl...

How coconuts protect the Jersey Shore, other eroding coasts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:20 GMT

NEPTUNE, N.J. (AP) — Coastal communities around the world are adding a tropical twist to shoreline protection, courtesy of the humble coconut.From the sands of the Jersey Shore to the islands of Indonesia, strands of coconut husk, known as coir, are being incorporated into shoreline protection projects.Often used in conjunction with other measures, the coconut material is seen as a cost-effective, readily available and sustainable option. This is particularly true in developing countries. But the material is also popular in wealthy nations, where it’s seen as an important part of so-called “living shorelines” that use natural elements rather than hard barriers of wood, steel or concrete.One such project is being installed along a section of eroded river bank in Neptune, New Jersey, about a mile from the ocean on the Shark River. Using a mix of a federal grant and local funds, the American Littoral Society, a coastal conservation group, is carrying out the $1.3 million project ...

DC bill would create LGBTQ pride license plates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:20 GMT

A D.C. Council bill could be the first step toward a more colorful drive — the Price Plates Act of 2023 would instruct the District’s Department of Motor Vehicles to create new LGBTQ+ pride-themed plates.The bill was introduced by Council member Robert White last week to support the District’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs (OLGBTQA).More DC NewsMore Local NewsFunds from the plates will support the office’s programming, grants and other community resources.White said he’s excited to bring pride plates to the District ahead of the city hosting WorldPride in 2025.“The District’s LGBTQ community is incredibly vibrant and active across our city. Unfortunately, LGBTQ people around the country are being persecuted,” White said in a news release. “This bill reaffirms the District’s dedication to our LGBTQ residents and visitors, and also gives drivers an opportunity to make a difference with small but meaningful recurring contributions to OLGBTQA.”The pride license plates,...

Napoli returns to Champions League set for historic season

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:20 GMT

Napoli returns to Champions League action this week well on track to have the standout season in European soccer and in the club’s entire history. The quarterfinals of Europe’s marquee club competition finally beckon for Napoli, which has a 2-0 lead from the first leg before hosting Eintracht Frankfurt in the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Wednesday.Only three of the 12 teams left in the competition top their domestic leagues — Napoli, Bayern Munich and Benfica — and the 18-point lead in Serie A is by far the most dominant. Real Madrid hosting Liverpool with a 5-2 lead is the glamor game of the four second legs remaining in the round of 16, though only Madrid of that storied pair has so much as a chance of a domestic league title. Napoli is a lock to be Italian champion for just the third time in its history, the first since 1990, and the first time without having Maradona in the team.Still, even with the Argentina icon, Napoli twice failed to get past the second round of th...

‘There’s going to be more’: How Washington is bracing for bank fallout

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:20 GMT

The sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has sent shockwaves across Washington, sparking fears that its failure could threaten the financial system and rattle the economy.Lawmakers are scrambling to get information from banking regulators and industry leaders on whether the demise of SVB — which had counted some of the world’s top investment firms among its customers — could pose a risk to other banks. SVB is the largest lender to fail since Washington Mutual went down during the 2008 global financial crisis, and its collapse is sowing concern that thousands of businesses may be unable to make payroll on Monday.Battle lines are already being drawn over what caused SVB’s stunning demise. Progressives and some investors are blaming the Federal Reserve for its rapid interest rate hikes, which have burdened many lenders. Democrats say Republican-led deregulation of banks removed critical safeguards. Others say regulators failed to spot red flags in the bank’s investment portfolio and ...

Quiet Sunday, nor’easter coming

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:20 GMT

7Weather – 7Weather- Good morning! Today and most of tomorrow are quiet, before  a nor’easter disrupts travel late Monday through Wednesday morning. Before we get into the timing and impacts of that storm, here’s what the QUIET next 24 hours or so will be like. Today it’s all about location. We start off in the 30s. Inland spots rebound to the mid/upper 40s with partly sunny skies and light wind. Plymouth County, Cape and the Islands stays cooler with a lot of low clouds and more of a NE breeze. Later today, more mid and high level clouds build in, and we’re socked into the clouds for the next few days. Monday starts off chilly in the 30s. Temperatures rebound to the mid 40s. A southeast breeze picks up tomorrow afternoon. Your evening commute will mostly be ok, just wet.Your travel will be impacted all day Tuesday and for the Wednesday morning commute.  The big impacts with this storm: heavy wet snow, strong wind and minor coastal flooding. A Winter Storm Watch is in pl...

Police investigating rollover crash in Malden

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:20 GMT

Police were called to the scene of a rollover crash in Malden early Sunday morning. Officers could be seen redirecting traffic around a damaged SUV that was on its side on Main Street.No additional information was immediately available. This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

For Chicago-area natives Mike Tauchman and Ryan Borucki, Chicago Cubs camp represents opportunity — and Bears trade talk

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:20 GMT

Mike Tauchman’s big-league career has taken him coast to coast.Five major-league seasons with three teams has brought him to 24 major-league ballparks. One in particular, though, has eluded him. Tauchman is trying to rectify the Wrigley Field omission in the next month. For the Palatine native who grew up a Cubs fan, Tauchman’s opportunity to make the opening-day roster grew exponentially when the team lost right fielder Seiya Suzuki for the start of the season because of an oblique injury.Tauchman, 32, homered in Saturday’s 5-2 win against the Los Angeles Dodgers, improving to 7-for-21 (.333) this spring with three extra-base hits, two RBIs, six runs scored and three stolen bases in 10 games.Tauchman spent 2022 in the Korean Baseball Organization where he posted a .289/.366/.430 line and hit 37 doubles and 12 home runs in 144 games. At times Tauchman had to rely on himself because of the language barrier, though his team, the Hanwha Eagles, had a couple coaches wh...

More coverage disruptions at BBC as Lineker crisis deepens

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:20 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The BBC’s sports coverage faced a second day of severe disruptions Sunday as dozens of staff refused to work in solidarity with top soccer host Gary Lineker, who was suspended by the broadcaster after he tweeted criticism of the British government’s asylum policy.Pressure was mounting on the BBC to resolve the crisis, with growing calls for its bosses to step down over allegations of political bias and suppressing free speech. The BBC suspended Lineker, one of English soccer’s most lauded players and the corporation’s highest-paid presenter, on Friday after he tweeted a criticism of the U.K. government’s new migration policy and compared the its language about migrants to that used in Nazi Germany.That triggered a huge backlash, and many of the BBC’s sports presenters and reporters walked out of their jobs Saturday in support of Lineker.As a result, several daytime soccer shows were pulled at the last minute and “Match of the Day,” a popul...