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Thousands march through Amsterdam calling for climate action ahead of Dutch general election

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:57:50 GMT

AMSTERDAM (AP) — Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Amsterdam on Sunday calling for more action to tackle climate change, in a mass protest just 10 days before a national election.Organizers claimed that 70,000 people took part in the march and called it the biggest climate protest ever in the Netherlands.Activist Greta Thunberg was among those walking through the historic heart of the Dutch capital. She and former European Union climate chief Frans Timmermans, who now leads a center-left, two-party bloc in the election campaign, were among speakers due to address a crowd that gathered on a square behind the landmark Rijksmuseum.“We live in a time of crises, all of which are the result of the political choices that have been made. It has to be done and it can be done differently,” organizer the Climate Crisis Coalition said in a statement.While the coalition included the Fridays for Future youth movement, protesters were all ages and included a large co...

Virginia State University officer critically wounded in shooting near campus, officials say

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:57:50 GMT

PETERSBURG, Va. (AP) — A Virginia State University police officer was critically wounded early Sunday in a shooting that happened near the VSU campus, the university said.The officer was taken to VCU Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, according to a news release.The shooting happened at about 1:34 a.m. when an on-duty VSU police officer responded to a disturbance at the campus in Petersburg, Virginia, according to Chesterfield County police. The suspect ran off campus before shots were fired, injuring the VSU officer. The suspect remains at large.VSU Police Chief David Bragg said the campus remains on lockdown as a precaution, the university said, and police continue to investigate.The Associated Press

Floods kill at least 31 in Somalia. UN warns of a flood event likely to happen once in 100 years

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:57:50 GMT

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Floods caused by torrential rainfall have killed at least 31 people in various parts of Somalia, authorities said Sunday.Since October, floods have displaced nearly half a million people and disrupted the lives of over 1.2 million people, Minister of Information Daud Aweis told reporters in the capital Mogadishu. They have also caused extensive damage to civilian infrastructure notably in the Gedo region of southern Somalia, he said. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, which has given $25 million to help mitigate the impact of flooding, warned in a statement Thursday of “a flood event of a magnitude statistically likely only once in 100 years, with significant anticipated humanitarian impacts.”“While all possible preparatory measures are being pursued, a flood of this magnitude can only be mitigated and not prevented,” OCHA said, recommending “early warning and early action” to save lives as “large-scale displa...

Bestselling spiritual author Marianne Williamson presses on with against-the-odds presidential run

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:57:50 GMT

Marianne Williamson has kept barnstorming for months across America — to audiences large and small, from churches and colleges to spiritual centers and soup kitchens — in a demanding schedule of appearances in her second tenacious, against-the-odds run for the presidency.The bestselling spiritual author and one-time advisor to Oprah Winfrey didn’t make it to the 2020 primaries in a wide-open Democratic field. Now she is running against a sitting president from her own party, and the Democratic establishment has closed ranks behind Joe Biden. Even some of her most devoted followers doubt she can be elected. So why is Williamson even running? She says it’s the faith she has in herself and the American people. “The most important things you do in life, not because there’s guaranteed success on some external level, but because you feel in your heart it’s the right thing to do,” Williamson, 71, said during an interview in New York City.She admits it has been grueling at times — not just ...

GOP election losses in Virginia are likely to quiet the presidential speculation about Gov. Youngkin

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:57:50 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Gov. Glenn Youngkin cast Virginia’s legislative races in monumental terms when he campaigned with a Republican candidate in one of the most competitive districts a few days before the election.The first-term governor with growing national recognition told a cheering crowd at a historic waterside venue that voters could help build on the “movement” he started with his own victory in 2021 by handing the party full control of the statehouse and keeping the “spirit of Virginia” alive.After Tuesday’s voting didn’t go as he had hoped, the rhetoric was less soaring.“I’m here,” he said at a postmortem news conference. “I’m not going anywhere.”The retired sheriff with whom Youngkin campaigned did win election to the statehouse, but Democrats retained their Senate majority and flipped the House of Delegates, wins that they said were powered by their promises to protect abortion rights. Youngkin, who is barred by the state constitution from ru...

Once a darling of Ottawa, Shopify increasingly distancing itself from city

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:57:50 GMT

For its 19 yearsin existence, Shopify Inc. has been synonymous with Ottawa. Founder and chief executive Tobi Lütke, who emigrated from Germany, built and grew the e-commerce software brand in this country’s capital and politicians just down the street on Parliament Hill never hesitated to sing its praises, often thanking Shopify for putting Ottawa on the map for tech innovation again.But these days, Ottawa is seemingly no longer the centre of Shopify’s universe. Many of its top-ranking executives, Lütke included, recently departed the city and several others never bothered to move there in the first place. They instead sprinkled themselves across Canada and the U.S. — the product of a pandemic-inspired permanent remote work evolution Shopify felt so strongly about that it dumped Ottawa as the headquarters on its press releases and replaced it with “Internet, Everywhere.” Shopify watchers say the decentralization away from Ottawa signals the company is turning...

REPORT: Kelly Oubre Jr. in stable condition after being struck by vehicle

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:57:50 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (KSNT) - Former Kansas men's basketball player Kelly Oubre Jr. is reportedly in stable condition in the hospital after being struck by a motor vehicle, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.The former Jayhawk has averaged 16.3 points per game for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2023.Wojnarowski reports that Oubre Jr. was walking outside of his home in Philadelphia when he was hit by a vehicle. Members of the 76ers organization, including general manager Daryl Morey, are with Oubre Jr. at the hospital.Wojnarowski reports that Oubre Jr. will miss significant time, but the injuries aren't season-ending. Local authorities are still investigating.Oubre Jr. was a 2015 first-round draft pick out of Kansas.

Jill Stein adds to Biden's 2024 problems

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:57:50 GMT

President Biden, already facing dismal approval numbers and multiple liberals looking to replace him, got more unwelcome news this week with the entry of Jill Stein into the 2024 race. Stein, who announced on Thursday that she would seek the Green Party nomination for the second time, is considered a fringe and intrusive figure to many Democrats who think she played spoiler to Hillary Clinton’s White House campaign against Donald Trump. Her third-party candidacy is now one of a half dozen bids from the left, center and independent spectrum that could damage Biden in the race, bringing attention to the president’s limitations as the Republican field primary shrinks. And it came the same day Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced he is not seeking reelection, raising speculation that he could also seek the Oval Office next year.Stein’s case for her candidacy, as she tells it, is to “offer a choice for the people outside the failed two-party system,” an increasingly domina...

Hate roundabouts? Avoid these states — they have the most

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:57:50 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — There are some 13,000 roundabouts in the U.S. (depending on what you consider a roundabout) — that works out to one roundabout per 25,531 people, give or take. Can you imagine 25,531 people all waiting to traverse through a roundabout?Thankfully, you’re likely never going to encounter such a situation. But depending on where you live, you may drive through more roundabouts in a day than someone in another state does in a year. If you aren’t familiar with what a roundabout is, let’s start there. What is a roundabout?Roundabouts, sometimes called traffic circles or rotaries, are circular intersections meant to “safely and efficiently” move traffic, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration explains. Traffic enters through usually-curved approaches, yields to traffic from the left, then proceeds into the counterclockwise flow around an island. DOT data shows roundabouts can reduce crashes that cause injury or death by roughly 80% ...

Peak fall foliage in Central Texas coming soon

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:57:50 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — While Central Texas isn't exactly known for vivid leaf colors in the fall, we do sometimes get treated to some beautiful fall foliage this time of year.During the first week of December 2022, we were treated to some rather beautiful colors, even in downtown Austin as seen from this photo below.Fall foliage in Austin near Riverside Drive and Interstate 35 (Courtesy: Julio Sattler)According to ExploreFall.com, our leaf color is in the "low" category right now with parts of South Texas experiencing little to no color change at all.Latest fall foliage conditions. Courtesy: ExploreFall.comBy mid-November we'll be trending closer to moderate color, especially in parts of the Hill Country.Foliage forecast by mid-November. Courtesy: ExploreFall.comWhen do colors reach their "peak" in Central Texas?According to ExploreFall.com, within 2-3 weeks from now we will arrive in what is normally "peak" fall color here in Central Texas. This map shows you that late November is when we...