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Mission accomplished?: What does the end of the COVID emergency mean?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:45:03 GMT

Mary Hynes | Las Vegas Review-JournalThe U.S. government on Thursday will lift the COVID-19 public health emergency that has been in effect for more than three years.By ending the emergency phase of the public health response, “That kind of puts a period at the end of the pandemic sentence,” Vanderbilt University’s Dr. William Schaffner, an expert on infectious diseases, said.“We’re clearly past the pandemic phase of COVID-19 here in the United States,” he said. “We no longer have a stressed out health care system. We no longer have as many people becoming sick, seriously ill and dying of this vicious infection.”However, he cautioned against thinking it’s “mission accomplished.”“This virus is still with us,” and killing 200 to 300 people in the U.S. every day, he said.The phase of the disease has gone from pandemic to endemic, or consistently present.“And in order to keep ourselves protected against this virus on a long-term basis — because it’s not going to disappear — we’re going ...

Dutch suspect in Natalee Holloway disappearance faces extradition from Peru to US on fraud charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:45:03 GMT

By REGINA GARCIA CANO and FRANKLIN BRICENO (Associated Press)LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru’s government will allow the extradition to the United States of the prime suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of American student Natalee Holloway on the Dutch Caribbean Island of Aruba, bringing her family hope there will be justice in the case.Dutch citizen Joran van der Sloot will be sent to the U.S., Peru announced Wednesday, to face trial on extortion and wire fraud charges, stemming from an accusation that he tried to extort the Holloway family after their daughter’s disappearance.Holloway, who lived in suburban Birmingham, Alabama, was 18 when she was last seen during a trip with classmates to Aruba. She vanished after a night with friends at a nightclub, leaving a mystery that sparked years of news coverage and countless true-crime podcasts. She was last seen leaving a bar with van der Sloot, then 18 years old.Van der Sloot was identified as a suspect and detained, al...

Patriots back James Robinson looking forward to showing his mettle

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:45:03 GMT

On paper, running back James Robinson appears to be the classic case of the Patriots taking a wild stab on a player.Will he be the same productive back he was with Jacksonville in 2020, when he became just the fourth undrafted rookie ever to hit 1,000 yards rushing?Or, will he be the same player he was with the Jets last season after arriving in New York after the trade deadline? Basically, a spare part.Robinson, who met the media Thursday, talked about what drew him to New England as a free agent.He said after meeting with offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, and running backs coach Vinnie Sunseri, he was convinced the Patriots were the best team for him.“When I played for the Jets, it seemed like they liked to run the ball,” said Robinson, who signed a two-year deal for up to $8 million. “They got great backs with Rhamondre (Stevenson) and those other guys. I just like the way they do things around here . . . it seemed like a good fit.”The concern with Robinson goes back to the tor...

7 Buddhist monks accused of embezzling more than $5.3 million donated to temple in Thailand

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:45:03 GMT

By JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI (Associated Press)BANGKOK (AP) — Seven Buddhist monks are among nine suspects who are being held in pre-trial detention after being arrested for allegedly embezzling assets worth about 300 million baht ($8.9 million) from donations received by a temple in Thailand’s northeast, authorities said Thursday.The Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases said the actions of the ringleaders in the case “gravely undermined Buddhism.”Five monks and a driver were sent to pre-trial detention on Thursday, according to a statement from the court, located in Bangkok. They were arrested at the temple, Wat Pa Thammakhiri in Nakhon Ratchasima province, on Tuesday when police staged an early morning raid and uncovered property worth about 100 million baht ($2.9 million) allegedly hidden by the suspects.Cash, jewelry and amulets were found in many spots, including the monks’ private quarters, police said. Some items were buried underground....

WSP Global doubles down on green-tinted expansion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:45:03 GMT

MONTREAL — WSP Global continued its years-long expansion this year, acquiring companies and securing contracts with an eye to the growing market for green projects.Since late January, the engineering firm completed three more acquisitions in Australia, Switzerland and Quebec, adding 900-plus employees to the payroll — most of them at Swiss firm BG Consulting Engineers.A fourth pending purchase of Australian engineering outfit Calibre will boost its headcount by another 800 and entrench WSP’s prospects as a player in mine rehabilitation, said CEO Alexandre L’Heureux.“It’s built on the 2021 acquisition of Golder” — a 7,000-employee environmental consulting firm based in Toronto — “and aims to further position WSP as a leader in the mining industry’s green transition in Australia and across the globe,” L’Heureux told analysts on a conference call Thursday.A global shift toward renewable energy over the next two decades will foster g...

Toronto’s High Park is one step closer to being permanently car-free

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:45:03 GMT

Toronto’s city council has voted to keep High Park closed to vehicles on weekends and statutory holidays, all part of a long-term strategy for permanently making the park car-free.The motion passed 18-7 on Thursday. Two key highlights include the permanent closure of West Road and portions of Colborne Lodge Drive seven days a week, providing over 1.7 km of new car-free space for park users and car-free weekends throughout the park.Council has decided to leave High Park as is for now, meaning vehicles are allowed during the week but not on weekends. In a news release, the City of Toronto noted that the strategy will be implemented in phases starting this summer.“The city’s strategy for High Park balances the many uses the public has for this beloved park,” said Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie.RELATED: Cyclists protest in High Park as police deny enforcement blitz“Over the past two years, staff have engaged in extensive consultations to ensure those viewpo...

Top White House official meets key Beijing diplomat amid signs of easing US-China tensions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:45:03 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and senior Chinese foreign policy adviser Wang Yi held talks in Vienna this week, the latest in a series of small signs that tensions could be easing between the world’s two biggest economies.The meeting was not publicized by Washington or Beijing ahead of the high-level talks that took place on Wednesday and Thursday. The White House described the discussions as “candid” and “constructive.”As the political and military rivalry between China and the U.S. intensifies, American officials and analysts are worried that a lack of reliable crisis communications could cause a minor confrontation to spiral into greater hostilities. They cite the ability to communicate with the former Soviet Union as allowing the Cold War to end without a nuclear exchange.Sullivan and Wang discussed “key issues” in the U.S.-China relationship, Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, Taiwan, and more, according to the White House ...

Bill to outlaw discrimination based on caste clears California Senate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:45:03 GMT

The California Senate voted 34-1 Thursday in favor of legislation outlawing caste discrimination in the state. If it passes in the state Assembly and is enacted, California could become the first state in the nation to make caste bias illegal by adding it as a protected category in the state’s anti-discrimination laws.State Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Hayward, the first Muslim and Afghan American elected to the legislature, introduced the bill in March. Caste is a division of people related to birth or descent and those at the lowest strata of the caste system known as Dalits, have been pushing for legal protections in California and beyond. They say it is necessary to protect them from bias in housing, education and in the tech sector — where they hold key roles. Thursday’s vote was swift, with only Sen. Brian Jones voting against the legislation, which has been controversial. On April 25, hundreds on both sides of the issue came to voice their opinions during a Senate Judiciar...

Russian woman who left note on grave of Putin’s parents convicted amid dissent crackdown

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:45:03 GMT

A Russian court gave a two-year suspended sentence Thursday to a St. Petersburg woman who left a note on the grave of President Vladimir Putin’s parents that said they had “raised a freak and a killer.” The court found Irina Tsybaneva, 60, guilty of desecrating burial places motivated by political hatred. Her lawyer said she didn’t plead guilty because she hadn’t desecrated the grave physically or sought publicity for her action.The note that Tsybaneva placed on the guarded grave on the eve of Putin’s birthday in October read: “Parents of a maniac, take him to your place. He causes so much pain and trouble. The whole world prays for his death. Death to Putin. You raised a freak and a killer.”Since Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, the government has waged a crackdown on dissent unseen since the Soviet era. In another case, a Russian government agency added actor Artur Smolyaninov and a former consultant who advised the Ukrainian president’s office to...

Coast Guard suspends search for 3 people reported aboard downed plane off San Diego

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:45:03 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Rescues crews have suspended their search for three people who were aboard a Learjet that plunged into the Pacific Ocean about a mile from a Navy-owned island off the coast of San Diego, U.S. officials said Thursday.The U.S. Coast Guard said its crews along with U.S. Navy, Air Force, and Customs and Border Protection all searched a combined 334 square miles (865 square kilometers) in the vicinity Wednesday after the Phoenix Air Learjet went down that morning off San Clemente Island.The aircraft was used by a Navy contractor who departed from the Ventura County area, said Drew Verbis, spokesperson for Naval Base Ventura County on the coast northwest of Los Angeles.He had no other immediate details, and identities of those aboard have not been released.The Associated Press