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Act now: Amendments to packaging rules will cause ‘flood of plastic’ pollution

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT

Imagine you’re in charge of regulating packaging in the European Union. You’re bringing in some new rules to reduce waste and pollution. So far, so good. But then it is revealed that an amendment mandating the reuse of packaging will cause a flood of plastic. That is exactly the opposite of what you’re trying to achieve. Do you vote for it anyway?The answer is obvious. Yet this is the exact dilemma now facing the EU, as it debates proposed amendments to the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).Everyone supports what the EU wants to achieve with this regulation. But recent amendments are counterproductive. They would impose mandatory re-use rules for transport packaging in too general a way. In practice, this decision would penalize recyclable materials, like cardboard, while promoting the plastics industry.Analysis from trade association FEFCO has found that, instead of being significantly cut, the amount of unnecessary plastic transport packaging being produced will doub...

Colonial past invades EU’s Latin American summit

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT

The ghosts of colonial history returned to haunt European and Latin American leaders at their summit in Brussels.For the guests, four hundred years of European colonial rule, economic exploitation and slavery was front of mind. For the hosts, it was Russia’s war on Ukraine in the here and now. The divergence in views was so profound that the two sides struggled to align their thinking at their first summit in eight years — especially to find words to condemn Russia’s war of aggression in their closing communiqué.That made the two-day gathering frustrating for all concerned — but especially for leaders of the EU’s newest member states from Eastern Europe, which have their own bitter memories of Soviet imperial rule and Russian aggression.“It is actually a war of colonization,” Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš said of the 16-month-old Ukraine conflict. “There is a former colonizer, Russia, and a former colony, Ukraine. And the former overlord is trying to ta...

Eloy Jiménez might return to the lineup for the Chicago White Sox in the New York Mets series

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT

Chicago White Sox manager Pedro Grifol sensed that Eloy Jiménez wasn’t feeling very optimistic after leaving Sunday’s game with left groin tightness.“I was like, ‘You never know, let’s see what happens (Monday),’” Grifol said.Turns out, the designated hitter/outfielder might be back in the lineup sooner than anticipated.“It’s doing better,” Jiménez said before Tuesday’s game against the New York Mets at Citi Field. “I feel really good. This is not going to be long-term. Maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day, I don’t know.”Grifol didn’t want to jump the gun after Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Braves, but initially thought “it doesn’t look good for the next four to five days.”The Sox received better news Monday.“At first we were a little bit concerned,” Grifol said. “He woke up (Monday) and he felt great. Feels great today. He’s day to da...

Major League Baseball takes over Diamondbacks’ game broadcasts from Diamond Sports

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT

Major League Baseball took over the Arizona Diamondbacks’ game broadcasts after a federal bankruptcy judge granted a motion Tuesday for Diamond Sports to reject its rights agreement.MLB took over production of the broadcasts beginning Tuesday night at Atlanta in a game the Diamondbacks won 16-13. There were some early glitches, which included closed captioning being locked on during the first hour.MLB took over the broadcasts of San Diego Padres games May 31 after Diamond Sports missed a rights fees payment and let the grace period expire. The league set up a local media department during the offseason to prepare for a bankruptcy filing by Diamond Sports, which took place in March.Diamond Sports, which owns 19 regional sports networks under the Bally Sports banner, determined its contract with the Diamondbacks was not profitable. It had a large rights payment due on July 1, but both sides tried to negotiate an amended agreement.Bally Sports Arizona paid the Diamondbacks on a p...

Phoenix scorches at 110 for 19th straight day, breaking big US city records in global heat wave

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — A dangerous 19th straight day of scorching heat in Phoenix set a record for U.S. cities Tuesday, confined many residents to air-conditioned safety and turned the usually vibrant metropolis into a ghost town.The city’s record streak of 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius) or more stood out even amid sweltering temperatures across the globe. It reached 117 degrees (47.2 Celsius) by 3 p.m. Human-caused climate change and a newly formed El Nino are combining to shatter heat records worldwide, scientists say.No other major city – defined as the 25 most populous in the United States – has had any stretch of 110-degree (43.3-degree) days or 90-degree (32.2-degree) nights longer than Phoenix, said weather historian Christopher Burt of the Weather Company.“When you have several million people subjected to that sort of thermal abuse, there are impacts,” said NOAA Climate Analysis Group Director Russell Vose, who chairs a committee on national records. For Phoenix, it’s n...

India sets sights on home-mined minerals to boost its clean energy plans

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT

KALIAPANI, India (AP) — In the dusty mountains of eastern India, workers at the country’s largest chromium deposit have mined for the essential ore, rain or shine, for around 60 years. The industry is fruitful in some ways — hundreds of trucks stacked with mineral-rich soil journey back and forth regularly between the mine and processing plants — but it is damaging in others. Farmers say their fields are stripped of fertile earth and livestock desperately comb through now-barren lands for feed.“We used to grow chilies and other vegetables earlier but now when it rains all the soil from the mines washes onto our fields,” bringing with it harmful effluent, said Gurucharan Mohant, a 60-year-old farmer from the nearby village of Kaliapani. “Nothing grows here anymore.”Chromium, used mostly as a coating to stop rust in steel and car parts, has been deemed necessary for India’s transition to cleaner energy. A layer of chromium makes solar panels more efficient, and the mineral...

Alaska volcano’s weeklong eruption eases after spewing another massive ash cloud

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An ongoing eruption of a remote volcano in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands produced an ash cloud so large Tuesday that warnings were sent to pilots about potentially dangerous conditions.An ash cloud with an initial height of around 5.5 miles (8.9 kilometers) was reported following the morning eruption of Shishaldin Volcano. But by early afternoon, ash emissions were below 1.9 miles (3 kilometers), and the aviation alert was downgraded, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory.The volcano is about 700 miles (1,127 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage and sits near the middle of Unimak Island. The island’s 65 or so residents live about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of the volcano, in the community of False Pass.Shishaldin Volcano began erupting July 11. A U.S. Coast Guard overflight confirmed lava erupted the same day within the summit crater.A significant explosion early Friday produced an ash cloud that reached up to 7.5 miles (12 kilometers) and drifted so...

California State University campuses mishandled sexual harassment allegations, audit finds

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A flawed policy at California State University, the largest higher education system in the country, contributed to the closure of nearly a dozen sexual harassment cases without thorough explanation, according to a state audit reviewing 40 cases over the span of seven years.The audit, released Tuesday, examined allegations of harassment between 2016 and 2022 against employees at the university system’s chancellor’s office and three of 23 campuses: California State University, Fresno, San José State University and Sonoma State University. It found that the colleges failed to discipline people found responsible for misconduct, including one case where officials took no action in the five years after a faculty member was found guilty of sexual harassment, sexual violence and stalking.“The problems and inconsistencies we found during this audit warrant systemwide changes at CSU,” California State Auditor Grant Parks said in a statement. “In particula...

After nearly 30 years, there’s movement in the case of Tupac Shakur’s killing. Here’s what we know

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An investigation into Tupac Shakur’s unsolved killing has been revived. It took nearly three decades, but a new twist came when authorities in Nevada served a search warrant this week in connection with the rap star’s shooting death, they confirmed Tuesday.Here’s what to know about one of the most infamous fatal shootings in hip-hop history: WHAT’S NEW IN THE INVESTIGATION?Las Vegas police served a search warrant in connection to the killing of Shakur, who was gunned down Sept. 7, 1996. The warrant was executed Monday in the nearby city of Henderson. It’s unclear what they were looking for or where they searched.Citing the ongoing investigation, a police spokesperson said he couldn’t provide further details on the latest development in the case, including whether a suspect has been identified.WHAT HAPPENED THE NIGHT SHAKUR DIED?The 25-year-old rapper was traveling in a black BMW driven by Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight in a convoy of about 10 cars,...

Mega Millions: Here are the winning numbers for the $640M jackpot

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT

(NEXSTAR) - Yet another record-setting lottery prize is up for grabs. This time, it's a $640 million Mega Millions jackpot that has been growing for three months. If your ticket matches the numbers below that were drawn Tuesday night, you could be the winner of the seventh-largest Mega Millions jackpot on record. The Mega Millions numbers drawn on July 18 were: 19, 22, 31, 37, and 54, and Mega Ball 18. The Megaplier was 4X. These are the best, worst states to win the lottery in This jackpot has been brewing since April when a $20 million prize was won by a ticket sold in Syracuse, New York, just four days after a $483 million Mega Millions jackpot was hit by a ticket sold in Queens.Ahead of Tuesday's drawing, Mega Millions officials estimated the jackpot's size at $640 million with a cash value of $328 million. That puts it among the largest in the game's history:$1.537 billion: Oct. 23, 2018 (South Carolina)$1.348 billion: Jan. 13, 2023 (Maine)$1.337 billion: July 29, 2022 (Illin...