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Where does the California drought stand heading into spring?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:14 GMT

California's snowpack is as healthy as it has been in years, and reservoirs across the state have steadily crept back to typical seasonal levels all winter. So can we take a long shower without feeling guilty now? Even though the storms have brought much-needed moisture to the state and boosted mountain snowpack, it will not be enough to fully reverse the impact of many dry winters and broader climate patterns that have crippled California's water supply, experts told KTLA. Why California’s wet winter won’t be a drought-buster “While recent rain and snow have been promising, it will take more than a single wet year for California to fully recover from the last three years – the driest ever recorded in state history,” Karla Nemeth, the director of California’s Department of Water Resources, told KTLA.While some cities benefit from the snowpack runoff, others depend on groundwater or local reservoirs for the bulk of their local water supply. As a result, recovery from the drought m...

The War in Ukraine Is Just Getting Started

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:14 GMT

For nearly a decade in the 1980s, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and the newly founded Islamic Republic of Iran waged a merciless war against each other. The fighting saw the return of World War I-style human-wave offensives, trench warfare, and chemical weapons attacks.Though it dragged on for years, the Iran-Iraq war benefited neither side. In the end, the conflict claimed the lives of over a million people, since, despite the carnage and wishes of ordinary people on both sides to end it, no diplomatic solution proved possible over eight years of fighting.There is good reason to worry that this ugly history is repeating itself today in Eastern Europe.Like the Iran-Iraq war, the war in Ukraine was triggered by an expansionist dictator hoping to make quick work of a neighbor whom he had wrongly predicted would prove incapable of defending itself. Now, over a year into the fighting, the conflict, which has already claimed hundreds of thousands of casualties by some estimates, has ground to a ...

Australia to buy nuclear-powered submarines made in the US

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:14 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Australia will purchase U.S.-manufactured, nuclear-powered attack submarines to modernize its fleet, a European official and a person familiar with the matter said Thursday, amid growing concerns about China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region.The purchase agreement for Virginia-class submarines will be announced Monday when President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meet in San Diego for talks on the 18-month-old nuclear partnership known by the acronym AUKUS. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter ahead of the announcement.The AUKUS agreement, announced in 2021, paved the way for Australia to get access to nuclear-powered submarines, which are stealthier and more capable than conventionally powered boats.“We all recognize the imperative of ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific over the long term,” Biden said in September 2021 when the partnership was announc...

Kansas coach Self to miss Big 12 tourney game with illness

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:14 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas coach Bill Self will miss the seventh-ranked Jayhawks’ quarterfinal game against West Virginia in the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday with what the school called an undisclosed illness.Kansas officials announced the news about five hours before tipoff between the top-seeded Jayhawks and eighth-seeded Mountaineers. Assistant Norm Roberts will serve as the acting coach; he filled the same role earlier in the season when Self served a school-imposed four-game suspension.The Jayhawks are the defending Big 12 Tournament champions and are trying to secure a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament, where they will attempt to defend the national championship they won last April.“Self is doing well and receiving great care at the University of Kansas Health System,” the school said Thursday in a statement. It did not say whether Self would be back should the Jayhawks advance to the semifinals.The 60-year-old Hall of Fame coach led Kansas to the regular-season ch...

Italy to stiffen smuggling punishment after migrant tragedy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:14 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni on Thursday brought her planned crackdown on people smugglers to a southern town near the coast where a wooden boat packed with migrants broke apart, killing scores and leaving many missing.In a symbolic move to highlight what she has described as her conservative government’s genuine concern for migrant lives, Meloni and her ministers flew to Calabria, in the toe of the Italian peninsula, to hold a Cabinet session in Cutro’s town council hall.Meloni, anti-migrant leader Matteo Salvini, who heads the infrastructure ministry which includes the coast guard, and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, posed for photos outside the town hall after she was greeted by the local bishop and other dignitaries.The Cabinet was widely expected to approve far stiffer punishments for smugglers, who guide unseaworthy boats crowded with migrants to Italy’s shores.Also expected to be adopted are measures to facilitate refugees’ access to so-...

3 geologists die as tunnel collapses in Spanish potash mine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:14 GMT

SURIA, Spain (AP) — Three Spanish geologists died in a tunnel collapse deep inside a potash mine in northeastern Spain on Thursday, officials said.The accident occurred inside the Cabanasses de Súria mine just before 9 a.m., at a depth of 900 meters (nearly 3,000 feet), local authorities said. Efforts were ongoing to secure the mine — around 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Barcelona — and recover the bodies, they said.The mine is operated by ICL Iberia, the Spanish subsidiary of Tel Aviv-based ICL Group. An official from the Spanish company confirmed that the three men were Spanish nationals and experienced geologists, and that two of them were postgraduate students at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia’s Manresa engineering school.A minute’s silence was held at the university on Thursday afternoon.Mine employee Carlos Arnaldo said the collapsed section was only built “a few days ago.” Catalonia’s regional head of business, Roger Torrent, stated that the...

2023 National Cherry Blossom Festival FAQ

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:14 GMT

It may still be winter, but spring has been knocking on the D.C. area’s door with unseasonably warm weather – and the city has the perfect idea for how to bring the spring in.The annual National Cherry Blossom Festival will take place in D.C. on March 18 through April 16. This year’s theme is “Spring It On!”See a preview of this year’s events and performances:Here’s everything you need to know:2022 Cherry Blossom EventsMore Cherry Blossom Festival NewsMore Local NewsWhat is the Cherry Blossom Festival?The National Cherry Blossom Festival is held every year in D.C. to commemorate the gifting of over 3,000 cherry blossom trees from the Mayor of Tokyo to the District in 1912, and honors the relationship between the U.S. and Japan.Thousands come into the city to witness the beautiful flowers line the waterfront daily. Organizers expect more than one million visitors over the weeks of the festival.When is “peak bloom?”Peak bloom is when 70 ...

Former NBA star Shawn Kemp arrested on shooting charge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:14 GMT

TACOMA, Washington (AP) — Former NBA star Shawn Kemp was arrested and charged in connection with a drive-by shooting in Tacoma, Washington, and was set to be appear in court Thursday, a sheriff’s official said.Online jail records show Kemp was booked on a felony charge of drive-by shooting shortly before 6 p.m. Wednesday. Pierce County Sheriff spokesman Sgt. Darren Moss said Kemp, 53, was scheduled to appear in court Thursday afternoon.Kemp was a six-time NBA all-star and played for the Seattle SuperSonics from 1989 to 1997. He also played for Cleveland, Portland and Orlando. Kemp debuted in the NBA during the 1989-90 season as a 20-year-old who had never played college basketball. He became known for his high-flying, athletic dunks.Kemp owns two cannabis stores in Seattle. Source

Everything you need to know about the 2023 Academy Awards

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:14 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Hollywood is gearing up for the 95th Academy Awards, where “Everything Everywhere All at Once” comes in the lead nominee and the film industry will hope to move past “the slap” of last year’s ceremony. Here’s everything you need to know about the 2023 Oscars, including when they are, where to watch the live show and this year’s controversies.___WHEN ARE THE OSCARS?The Oscars will be held Sunday, March 12, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The ceremony is set to begin at 8 p.m. EST and be broadcast live on ABC.CAN YOU STREAM THE OSCARS?The broadcast can be streamed with a subscription to Hulu Live TV, YouTubeTV, AT&T TV and Fubo TV. Some of these services offer brief free trials. You can also stream the show on ABC.com and on the ABC app by authenticating your provider.WHO’S HOSTING?Jimmy Kimmel will host for the third time and his first time since 2018. That was also the last Oscars to feature a solo host. The show went hostless for several years after Kimmel&...

Open

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:14 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Early trading on the Chicago Board of Trade Thu.:OpenHighLowLastChg.WHEAT5,000 bu minimum; cents per bushelMay689691½671¾675¼—12¼Jul698¾701½682½686—11Sep708½712½694697½—10¼Dec724¼728½710714½—9Mar736739¾722726¼—8½May738742¼725½726¾—11¼Jul728¼728¼708¾708¾—14½Dec715½715½715½715½—15Est. sales 67,559. Wed.’s sales 99,449Wed.’s open int 365,134, up 4,343CORN5,000 bu minimum; cents per bushelMar633¾637¼628¼628¼—6¼May625½629¾615½620½—5Jul614618604¼608¾—5¼Sep568¼571½561½565½—3Dec558560¼551½555½—2½Mar565568½560564—2½May571¼572565568½—2¾Jul572¾572¾566½570—2¾Sep542544537¼537¼—5¼Dec530½532526¼529—2¼Dec487487484486—1½Dec471½471½471½471½+2¼Est. sales 174,212. Wed.’s sales 333,986Wed.’s open int 1,292,531, up 14,388OATS5,000 bu minimum; cents per bushelMay348¾353¼347¼350¾+1¾Jul348¼352347347—1¾Sep353¼353¾353¼353¾+1Dec364364364364+2Est. sales 248. Wed.’s sales 830Wed.’s open int 4,746SOYBEANS5,000 bu minimum; cents per bushelMar1529½1535½1522152...