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Invasive worm causes disease in Vermont beech trees

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:30 GMT

VERNON, Vt. (AP) — A disease that harms beech trees, caused by an invasive worm, has been confirmed for the first time in Vermont, officials said. Beech leaf disease — which has been reported in 14 states and in Ontario, Canada — was found in Vernon, in the southeastern part of Vermont. In early October, samples from Vernon were sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture lab confirmed the disease, the state Department of Forest Parks and Recreation announced. The invasive nematode is native to Japan and causes leaf deformation, dieback and mortality in infested native and ornamental beech species, officials said. It was also reported in Maryland this year and New Hampshire last year, as well as Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island in previous years. It’s unknown how the disease spreads and there is no cure, officials said. Beech leaves start to develop a thick striping pattern between veins in the early stages, and in severe infestations the striping is slightly raised or thi...

Warner and Marsh hit centuries to help give Australia 62-run win over Pakistan at Cricket World Cup

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:30 GMT

BENGALURU, India (AP) — David Warner and Mitchell Marsh powered Australia to a 62-run victory over Pakistan with their entertaining centuries Friday in the fourth game for both teams at the Cricket World Cup.Pakistan paid heavily for dropping Warner on 10 as the left-hander blazed his way to 163 off 124 balls and Marsh celebrated his 32nd birthday with a career-best 121 off 108 balls in Australia’s imposing total of 367-9.Pakistan, which won the toss and elected to field, came back strongly in the last 10 overs with Shaheen Afridi picking 5-54 and Haris Rauf, who was smacked for 24 in his first over by Warner and Marsh, taking 3-83. But the damage done by Warner and Marsh was more than enough to give Australia enough runs on board.Australia kept coming hard at Pakistan once claiming the wickets of both openers Imam-ul-Haq (70) and Abdullah Shafique (64) before it got Babar Azam’s team bowled out for 305 with more than four overs to spare.“Pretty tough playing here, but good to...

Tammy se convierte en huracán cerca de las Islas de Sotavento

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:30 GMT

(CNN) — Tammy se fortaleció a huracán, según la actualización de las 11 a. m. del Centro Nacional de Huracanes de Estados Unidos (NHC). El huracán Tammy tiene vientos de 120 km/h y se mueve hacia el oeste-noroeste a 11 km/h. El centro de la tormenta está a 265 km al este-sureste de Martinica.Se emitieron avisos de huracán para Guadalupe, Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat y San Cristóbal y Nieves.Se esperan condiciones de huracán en las Islas de Sotavento en las últimas horas de este viernes y las primeras del sábado.Trayectoria del huracán Tammy: a dónde se dirige y qué estados amenazaNorma avanza como huracán de categoría 3 hacia el noroeste de México“La marejada ciclónica podría elevar los niveles de agua hasta un metro por encima de los niveles normales de marea cerca de donde el centro de Tammy se mueve a través de las Islas de Sotavento”, advirtió el NHC. “Las marejadas generadas por Tammy continuarán afectando partes de las Antillas Menores durante los próxi...

A month after a pig heart transplant, man works to regain strength with no rejection so far

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:30 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s been a month since a Maryland man became the second person to receive a transplanted heart from a pig –- and hospital video released Friday shows he’s working hard to recover.Lawrence Faucette was dying from heart failure and ineligible for a traditional heart transplant because of other health problems when doctors at the University of Maryland School of Medicine offered the highly experimental surgery.In the first glimpse of Faucette provided since the Sept. 20 transplant, hospital video shows physical therapist Chris Wells urging him to smile while pushing through a pedaling exercise to regain his strength. “That’s going to be tough but I’ll work it out,” Faucette, 58, replied, breathing heavily but giving a smile.The Maryland team last year performed the world’s first transplant of a heart from a genetically altered pig into another dying man. David Bennett survived just two months before that heart failed, for reasons that aren’t completely clear although...

Christine Sinclair, the all-time international goal-scorer, is retiring from Canada’s national team

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:30 GMT

Christine Sinclair, the top goal scorer in international soccer, has announced she will retire from the Canadian national team at the end of this season. Sinclair, 40, announced her decision Thursday night on Instagram in a video that showed a pair of cleats swinging in the breeze on a goal.Sinclair has scored 190 international goals, most among both men and women, since she made her national team debut in 2000. She is among just five players to appear in six Women’s World Cups, and one of just three players to score in five. But a title in soccer’s biggest tournament eluded her. She has won a pair of Olympic bronze medals and won Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games.She scored the game winner over Brazil for the bronze medal at the 2016 Brazil Olympics. She was on the University of Portland’s two NCAA championship teams and has played since 2013 for the Portland Thorns of the National Women’s Soccer League.“Very few players can lace up their boots and transcend a sport both ...

Denver man's family released by Hamas for 'humanitarian' reasons

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:30 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- A Denver man's family members who were visiting Israel and taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7 have been released, according to Fox News.Ben Raanan's 17-year-old sister, Natali Raanan, and her mother, Judith Tai Raanan, from Evanston, Illinois, were reportedly released on "humanitarian grounds" following a mediation effort from Qatar. FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox The pair were originally taken hostage by Hamas from the Nahal Oz kibbutz in southern Israel near the Gaza Strip."In response to Qatari efforts, Al-Qassam Brigades released two American citizens (a mother and her daughter) for humanitarian reasons, and to prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless," Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obaida told Fox News. The Al-Qassam Brigades is the armed wing of Hamas.A source with knowledge of the release reported the hostages are now in the Red Cross'...

Soldier missing from Fort Carson

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:30 GMT

FORT CARSON, Colo. (KXRM) — The 4th Infantry Division and Fort Carson are asking for the public's help finding a missing soldier who was last seen in formation at Fort Carson on Oct. 17 at 5 p.m., and failed to report for duty the next morning.According to Fort Carson, unit leadership and the family of Pvt. 1st Class Aaron Frame have been unable to contact him since, and the exact cause of his departure is unknown. Denver man’s family released by Hamas for ‘humanitarian’ reasons Frame is described as:A white male20 years oldHas brown hair and blue eyesIs 5 feet, 10 inches tall Weighs approximately 186 poundsFrame drives a black Kia Forte with the Colorado license plate AYGU52.Frame is an infantryman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Carson. FBI warns about ‘phantom hacker’ bank scam "Fort Carson unit leaders and investigators are working closely with Aaron’s family, local law enforcement agencies, and [the] Department ...

Hearing in Trump classified documents case addresses a possible conflict for a co-defendant’s lawyer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:30 GMT

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — The federal judge overseeing the classified documents case against Donald Trump was holding a hearing on Friday about a potential conflict of interest involving a co-defendant’s lawyer.Prosecutors say lawyer Stanley Woodward, who represents Trump valet Walt Nauta, has a conflict because he previously represented an information technology specialist who’s expected to be a key government witness at trial and represents another person who may be called to testify.Nauta is charged along with the Republican former president with scheming to conceal classified government documents from federal investigators. The prosecutors want to ensure at Friday’s hearing that Nauta understands the situation with his lawyer and knowingly forfeits his right to conflict-free legal representation.Prosecutors have described the witness as an IT director at Trump’s Palm Beach complex, Mar-a-Lago, who was asked to delete surveillance video there in an apparent effor...

House Republicans drop Jim Jordan as their nominee for speaker, falling back to square one

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:30 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans dropped Rep. Jim Jordan on Friday as their nominee for House speaker, making the decision during a closed-door session after the hard-edged ally of Donald Trump failed badly on a third ballot for the gavel.The blocked-House impasse deepening, Republicans have no realistic or workable plan to unite the fractured GOP majority, elect a new speaker and return to the work of Congress that has been languishing since hard-liners ousted Kevin McCarthy at the start of the month.Majority Leader Steve Scalise said they’re going “come back and start over” on Monday.In all, Jordan lost 25 Republican colleagues in Friday’s vote, leaving him far from the majority needed, with next steps uncertain.Ahead of the vote, Jordan showed no signs of stepping aside, insisting at a Capitol press conference: “The American people are hungry for change.”Drawing on his Ohio roots, Jordan, who is popular with the GOP’s right-flank activist base of voters, posi...

Two American hostages are being released by Hamas, sources say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:30 GMT

(CNN) — Two American hostages, a mother and her daughter, are being released by Hamas, according to a person familiar with the negotiations and a diplomatic source.The two have been handed over to the Red Cross and are “on their way out,” the source familiar with negotiations said.   The two are being released on “humanitarian grounds” because the mother is in poor health, the same source said.It is unclear whether they will leave Gaza into Egypt or Israel. This is the result of the negotiations between Qatar and Hamas that started after Hamas abducted around 200 people from Israel on October 7. In a statement, Hamas spokesperson Abu Obaida said: “In response to Qatari efforts, Al-Qassam Brigades released two American citizens (a mother and her daughter) for humanitarian reasons, and to prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless.” The White House has not commented. ...