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Responders dig for bodies in Moroccan mountain villages

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:52:06 GMT

By SAM METZ and MOSA’AB ELSHAMY (Associated Press)IMI N’TALA, Morocco (AP) — The stench of death wafted through the village of Imi N’Tala high up in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, where last week’s catastrophic earthquake razed the hamlet’s mud-brick buildings and killed dozens of residents.Bulldozers and responders have been digging through the wreckage around the clock in the hopes of finding the eight to 10 corpses still underneath, even as an aftershock Wednesday evening rattled already frayed nerves.“The mountain was split in half and started falling. Houses were fully destroyed,” a local man, Ait Ougadir Al Houcine, said Tuesday as crews worked to recover bodies, including his sister’s. “Some people lost all their cattle. We have nothing but the clothes we’re wearing. Everything is gone.”The scene in Imi N’Tala, which is mainly home to herders and farmers and lost 96 people to Friday’s earthq...

Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo taking on a new challenge

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:52:06 GMT

No, Sam Liccardo won’t be aiming to unseat Rep. Zoe Lofgren in 2024, but the former San Jose mayor has lined up a new job.Liccardo will join San Francisco-based Ground Floor Public Affairs as its senior advisor and counsel for California civic initiatives. In the role, Liccardo says he will continue to work on many of the issues he was passionate about while on the San Jose City Council as a councilmember and mayor for 16 years: homelessness and affordable housing, food insecurity, education and energy costs.“As mayor, you’re often dealing with the crisis of the moment — sometimes that’s 17 all at once,” Liccardo said in an interview. “This is an opportunity to work proactively on projects.”At Ground Floor, Liccardo said his job will involve working on policy strategy and public outreach as well as having conversations with a range of business, nonprofit and community leaders around the Bay Area about those issues and doing a lot of re...

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute app gets gamers to help explore the ocean

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:52:06 GMT

How well do you know your ocean creatures? Can you identify a sea anemone? How about a fanfin anglerfish, a sea gooseberry, a red spotted siphonophore, a flapjack octopus or a hagfish?Marine researchers have collected photos and video of ocean life for decades. But to get useful information from those thousands of terabytes of photos and videos, someone’s got to document what’s in every single one. In the past, expert scientists have carried that burden, spending long hours in dark rooms tagging turtles, tunas and tiger sharks one photo at a time.But now, the Moss Landing-based Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute is letting artificial intelligence — and gamers — take the reins. This summer, MBARI launched a beta version of its new game app, FathomVerse. The game drops users into an aquatic world with tasks and missions to complete. For example you might need to collect 16 squids. “As you’re navigating around in the ocean, you’re going to come up on different orbs, and as you fl...

Fentanyl overdose death toll rises to 105 in Santa Clara County 

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:52:06 GMT

(KRON) -- The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved to increase services and resources towards fighting the fentanyl crisis within the county.The county has seen 105 fentanyl-related deaths so far this year with most of the deaths being among teenagers and young adults. In 2022, there were 161 fentanyl-related deaths, according to the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner. Narcan will be distributed in concert venues, bars, restaurants and by mail order. A public awareness campaign targeted towards youth and young adults will be expanded as well as the training of more physicians in drug prevention and addiction, the county said.  ‘It’s a ticking time bomb’: Bay Area moms who lost children warn of fentanyl dangers “We want to saturate the County with life-saving services and authentic, peer-to-peer information highlighting the dangers of fentanyl. There must be easy access to Narcan,” said Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez.These extra resources are be...

Why coin and button batteries can be so dangerous in the hands of your kids

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:52:06 GMT

Doctors are warning parents about how dangerous certain batteries can be for your kids. It comes as new standards and regulations go into effect in the U.S.“It is round, it is shiny, it is nice and slick in their hands and can easily slip into the mouth,” Dr. Sarah Combs described the typical button or coin cell battery.If swallowed by young kids, they can be extremely dangerous if they get lodged in the esophagus.“What happens is they actually cause alkali burns. So there’s a chemical reaction and it’s a chemical burn,” said Dr. Combs, who works in the emergency department at Children’s National Hospital in D.C. “And if you can picture that it really is pretty painful and can cause severe illness in a very short period of time.”Dr. Combs said it only takes about two hours for the reaction to begin and cause the chemical burn inside the child’s digestive and vascular system. It often causes long recovery periods, sometimes not allowing children to eat by mouth for months...

Environmental groups sue US over sluggish pace in listing the rare ghost orchid as endangered

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:52:06 GMT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The rare ghost orchid found mainly in Florida and Cuba should be immediately protected by the U.S. as an endangered species, three environmental groups claimed Wednesday in a lawsuit arguing that federal officials are unduly delaying a decision.The lawsuit filed in Florida federal court contends the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service missed a January deadline on the orchid’s status and now doesn’t plan to make a decision until possibly late 2026.“We regret that we must file this lawsuit, but the world famous and critically imperiled ghost orchid is out of time,” said George Gann, executive director at The Institute for Regional Conservation. “Only the Endangered Species Act can provide both the deterrence against poaching and the resources needed to respond to growing threats from hurricanes, invasive species, and counterproductive management decisions such as increased oil exploration.”The other plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the Center for ...

Rep. Boebert escorted from Denver theater during ‘Beetlejuice’ show

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:52:06 GMT

DENVER (AP) — U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert was kicked out of a “Beetlejuice” show in Denver on Sunday, according to security footage.The theater didn’t name Boebert, but a spokesperson said Wednesday that the video — which showed Boebert and a guest being escorted out of the venue — was of guests who were kicked out after audience members accused them of vaping, singing, using phones and causing a disturbance.Her campaign manager confirmed Boebert was kicked out but denies she was vaping. Boebert and the other guest left.“I can confirm the stunning and salacious rumors: in her personal time, congresswoman Lauren Boebert is indeed a supporter of the performing arts (gasp!),” said Drew Sexton, Boebert’s campaign manager, in a text message, adding that Boebert “pleads guilty to singing along, laughing and enjoying herself.”Boebert is in her second term in Congress and is running for reelection in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, largely covering the state’s western half. ...

McCarthy’s impeachment inquiry into Biden appears to win over even the most reluctant Republicans

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:52:06 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s sudden decision to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden appears to have won over even the most reluctant Republicans, and some GOP lawmakers are pushing for it to move quickly rather than drag into the 2024 election year.McCarthy opened and closed a private meeting Wednesday of House Republicans justifying his reasoning for the inquiry sought by former President Donald Trump, the party’s frontrunner to challenge Biden next year.The White House mobilized to fight allegations against the president regarding his son Hunter.In a 14-page memo to news media leaders, the White House urged them to accurately report on “the Republicans’ unprecedented, unfounded claims underlying an impeachment inquiry.”The moment is a politically pivotal one for the embattled Republican speaker McCarthy whose job is targeted Trump’s right-flank allies mounting a daily effort to oust him. In the inquiry, House Rep...

Fernando Santos fired as Poland coach after bad start to Euro 2024 qualifying

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:52:06 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Fernando Santos was fired Wednesday as Poland coach less than nine months after he was hired.The coach who led his native Portugal to the European Championship title in 2016 did not make it to the end of his first qualifying group stage with Poland.Poland is fourth in its five-team European Championship qualifying group — behind Albania, the Czech Republic and Moldova — after losing three of its five games so far, despite three goals from Robert Lewandowski. Poland is likely to land in the Euro 2024 qualifying playoffs in March.“I would like to thank coach Santos for working with our national team and I wish him good luck in his next sports challenges,” Polish soccer federation president Cezary Kulesza said in a statement.The 68-year-old Santos led Portugal to the Euro 2016 title and then won the inaugural Nations League in 2019 during his eight years as coach.Santos left his role as Portugal coach after last year’s World Cup in Qatar which ended with a quarter...

A flotilla of migrant boats from Tunisia overwhelms an Italian island and tests Meloni’s policy

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:52:06 GMT

ROME (AP) — A flotilla of flimsy boats, crowded with migrants and launched from Tunisia, overwhelmed a tiny southern Italian island on Wednesday, taxing the coast guard’s capability to intercept the smugglers’ vessels and testing Premier Giorgia Meloni’s pledge to thwart irregular migration.Compounding the political pressure on Italy’s first post-war far-right leader were vows by France and Germany to rebuff migrants who arrive by sea on Italian shores, and, in defiance of European Union asylum system rules, head northward to try to find jobs or relatives.Starting early Tuesday, the unseaworthy, overcrowded iron boats, came one after the other in what appeared to be almost a procession to onlookers on Lampedusa, a fishing and tourist island south of Sicily. Around 6,800 migrants came in a span of just over 24 hours — that number is a few hundred higher than the isle’s full-time population.In all, by Wednesday evening some 120 boats had arrived, Transpor...