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Hurricane Hilary downgraded to Category 2 as Mexico and California brace for catastrophic impact

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:19:28 GMT

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Hilary has been downgraded to a Category 2 storm as it heads for Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.Meteorologists expect the storm to bring “catastrophic and life-threatening flooding” to the peninsula and to the southwestern United States, where it was forecast to cross the border as a tropical storm on Sunday.The storm weakened from a Category 3 Major hurricane down to a Category 2 storm at midday Saturday and is expected to weaken further as it treks northward, officials said.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Hilary headed for Mexico’s Baja California on Saturday as the U.S. National Hurricane Center predicted “catastrophic and life-threatening flooding” for the peninsula and for the southwestern United States, where it was forecast to cross the border as a tropical storm on Sunday.Officials issued an evacuati...

Union amps up support for Cleveland-Cliffs takeover of Pittsburgh-based US Steel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:19:28 GMT

PITTSBURGH — The union representing more than 11,000 of U.S. Steel Corp.’s employees, including those at the Mon Valley Works, transferred its ability to bid for U.S. Steel to Cleveland-Cliffs on Thursday, marking a slight escalation of the union’s support for a takeover of the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker.The United Steelworkers union has exclusively supported Cleveland-Cliffs in what emerged earlier this week as a public bidding war, choosing to support the Ohio-based steelmaker because of its belief that the company would continue blast furnace operations in Western Pennsylvania and save union jobs.Cleveland-Cliffs’s CEO Lourenco Goncalves, whose company has offered $7.4 billion for its rival steelmaker, made that commitment clear in a statement Thursday night.“To the employees of U.S. Steel who are watching this all unfold: I have your back,” he said.U.S. Steel responded in a statement Friday morning that it does not need union support to sell itself.̶...

Howie Carr: How Trump is outfoxing Murdoch’s ‘news channel’ by snubbing Republican debate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:19:28 GMT

Fox News Channel is now the Bud Light of cable television.Donald Trump ruined their phony-baloney debate with his announcement Friday afternoon that instead of going to Milwaukee, he may be doing a one-on-one sit-down Wednesday night with Tucker Carlson.Think about how that’s going to play out.Fox’s bid to escape its post-Tucker ratings plunge is now wrecked. Instead, it becomes a vice presidential debate, a sour-grapes hiss-fest, Paul Ryan’s worst nightmare.And Fox & Friends can’t even discuss it, because then they would have to mention the other T word — Tucker. And that cardinal sin gets even members of Congress banned from any future guest appearances.How embarrassing is the Trump-Tucker online interview going to be for Fox?Well, in August 2015, at this same point in the election cycle, Fox ran a GOP debate featuring Donald Trump and got an audience of 24 million.In January 2016, just before the Iowa caucuses, Trump became irritated with Fox over what he called “a wise-guy p...

Mets Notebook: Buck Showalter managing Francisco Alvarez’s workload

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:19:28 GMT

Francisco Alvarez has been one of the very few bright spots for the Mets this season. The 21-year-old’s performance has given fans a reason to keep paying attention.However, despite his age, the Mets are keeping a close eye on Alvarez’s workload behind the dish as they navigate through the remainder of the 2023 season.“We talk to our guys a lot and understanding [Alvarez’s] output on everything and knowing where a good spot for a catcher is, especially at their age,” manager Buck Showalter said after the Mets’ 7-1 win over the Cardinals Friday night.“I think sometimes, because someone’s young, they think they can play in every inning and every pitch. You don’t necessarily see things [affect them] physically. You see concentration, you see the mental and emotional part of it. You get mentally and emotionally tired more than you get physically. … He’s in a good place right now and we’re just trying to keep him [th...

Urías historic slam, Crawford’s gem lead Red Sox over imploding Cole, Yankees

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:19:28 GMT

Whenever the Red Sox play the Yankees, all eyes turn to Rafael Devers.Especially when it’s Gerrit Cole’s turn to start.Before the contest, Alex Cora offered high praise for the New York starter. “He’s one of those guys, just like (Justin) Verlander. You’re impressed and in awe with the way they keep developing. He’s one of the best contracts in baseball,” the manager told reporters. “We respect him.”Maybe so, but if Pedro Martinez once thought the Yankees were his daddy, Devers and the Red Sox truly are Cole’s. Entering the series, the 26-year-old already had seven career regular-season home runs against the Yankees ace, and on Saturday afternoon, the Red Sox wiped the floor with the Yankees, 8-1.“The at-bats were tremendous today,” Cora told reporters after his squad’s 12-hit, three-walk game.Devers wasted no time. His one-out single in the first inning was Boston’s first hit of the game. In his reg...

Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft suffers technical glitch in pre-landing maneuver

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:19:28 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Russia reported an “abnormal situation” Saturday on its moon-bound Luna-25 spacecraft, which launched earlier this month.The country’s space agency, Roscosmos, said the spacecraft ran into unspecified trouble while trying to enter a pre-landing orbit, and that its specialists were analyzing the situation.“During the operation, an abnormal situation occurred on board the automatic station, which did not allow the maneuver to be performed with the specified parameters,” Roscosmos said in a Telegram post.Roscosmos did not specify whether the incident will prevent Luna-25 from making a landing.The spacecraft is scheduled to land on the south pole of the moon on Monday, racing to land on Earth’s satellite ahead of an Indian spacecraft. The lunar south pole is of particular interest to scientists, who believe the permanently shadowed polar craters may contain water. The frozen water in the rocks could be transformed by future explorers into air and rocket fuel.Also...

Guests at Montreal hostel may have been exposed to hepatitis A, public health says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:19:28 GMT

Montreal’s public health authority says some recent guests at a hostel north of downtown may have been exposed to hepatitis A.The authority says in a notice published Friday that anyone who stayed at the Auberge Chez Jean in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough between July 29 and Aug. 18 should seek the free hepatitis A vaccine if they haven’t got it already.The notice says the exposure event stems from a contagious person who visited the hostel during that time period.Health Canada says hepatitis A is a viral infection that can cause liver inflammation, leading to symptoms that may include fever, loss of appetite, stomach cramps, dark urine, fatigue and yellowing of the skin and eyes.Those who develop symptoms are asked to contact a health care professional immediately.Montreal public health says those who are vaccinated against the disease or who have had it in the past are at low risk of catching it and do not need to be vaccinated again.

Hot air balloon pilot with cocaine in his system made a mistake that caused fatal crash, NTSB finds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:19:28 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A mistake made by a hot air balloon pilot who had drugs including cocaine in his system caused a crash in 2021 in New Mexico that killed all five people on board, investigators have determined.The National Transportation Safety Board said in its final report released this week that pilot Nicholas Meleski did not maintain enough clearance from power lines while trying to land. He hit the power lines and crashed into a busy intersection. The report said investigators found no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures.The amounts of cocaine and marijuana found in his system suggested “recent use” that would have likely had “impairing effects” that contributed to the crash on June 26, 2021, the report said.Meleski’s family told Albuquerque station KOB-TV in a statement that their hearts go out to the families of the passengers: Mary Martinez, her husband Martin, and their friends Susan and John Montoya.“We cannot express the depth of our grief ...

Cyclist seriously injured in North York crash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:19:28 GMT

A man in his 20s has suffered serious injuries after being struck by a vehicle in North York. Police say a cyclist and an SUV collided at the intersection of Keele Stret and Wilson Avenue just before 5 p.m. Saturday. The driver of the vehicle remained on scene as paramedics transported the injured cyclist to a nearby trauma centre with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

Heritage Minister says Meta news block endangers lives as Canadians flee wildfires

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:19:28 GMT

Canada’s Heritage Minister redoubled her calls for Meta to end its ban on Canadian news content on Facebook and Instagram on Saturday as thousands of Canadians continued their rush to escape wildfires ravaging British Columbia and the Northwest Territories.In both a Friday social media post and a Saturday interview with The Canadian Press, Pascale St-Onge said the social media giant is recklessly putting people’s lives at risk by blocking Canadian news articles on its two massive platforms.“Facebook, Meta has decided to put their own interests above public safety,” she said Saturday. “As a company, they should be acting as good corporate citizens and reverse their ban so that we can make sure that people have access to the information that they need.”Meta blocked Canadian news on its social media sites earlier this month in response to federal legislation — Bill C-18 — which requires some tech giants to pay for news content shared or repurposed on...