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A suspected Russian diplomat is occupying a proposed embassy site vetoed by Australia

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:17:32 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A suspected Russian diplomat is apparently squatting on the site of Moscow’s proposed new embassy in Canberra after the Australian government vetoed the plan on security grounds and passed legislation that Russia will try to overturn in Australia’s highest court. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dismissed the Russian act of defiance in occupying the site, saying on Friday that a “bloke standing in the cold on a bit of grass in Canberra is not a threat to our national security.”Albanese also said he was confident that the eviction would stand up to any Russian legal challenge.Parliament passed emergency legislation last week blocking on security grounds Russia’s lease on the largely empty block because the new embassy would have been too close to Parliament House.A man has been living on the site in a portable building since Sunday, when passersby first saw Australian Federal Police outside the fenced block in Canberra’s Yarralumla diplomat...

Japanese fisheries head opposes a plan to pump treated radioactive water from Fukushima into the sea

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:17:32 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — The head of Japan’s national fisheries cooperatives has reiterated his group’s opposition to the planned discharge of treated radioactive water into the sea from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant, demanding the government take full responsibility for any negative impact on the industry.“We cannot support the government’s stance that an ocean release is the only solution,” said Masanobu Sakamoto, president of JF Zengyoren, or the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives.A release is expected to begin this summer, though the exact date has not been set. Sakamoto met Economy and Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura on Thursday and handed him a statement of objection to the treated wastewater release plan. “Whether to release the water into the sea or not is a government decision, and in that case we want the government to fully take responsibility,” he told reporters after meeting with Nishimura. Japan’s government announced plans in April 2021 to graduall...

El desastre del Titanic condujo a un replanteamiento de las regulaciones internacionales. El caso del Titán puede tener un legado similar

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:17:32 GMT

(CNN) — Después de que el RMS Titanic se hundiera en su viaje inaugural a través del Atlántico en 1912, los gobiernos de ambos lados del océano analizaron detenidamente si se podría haber hecho más para proteger a las aproximadamente 2.200 personas a bordo, incluidas las más de 1.500 que murieron ese trágico día.El resultado fue la Convención para la Seguridad de la Vida Humana en el Mar (SOLAS). Su marco, aprobado en 1914, se mantiene hasta el día de hoy, con muchas de sus reglas que evolucionan directamente de la tragedia del Titanic.Con la implosión del submarino Titán cuando avanzaba hacia los restos del Titanic esta semana, los expertos dicen que puede haber un impulso para las reglas que rigen el nuevo turismo de alto nivel y altos precios del tipo que hace OceanGate Expeditions, la compañía que manejaba el Titán.El Titanic zarpa de Southampton, Gran Bretaña, 1912. El RMS Titanic fue un transatlántico británico que se hundió en el Océano Atlántico Norte en la madrugada d...

‘It’s a pretty fast hamster wheel’: Stepping away from DC’s work-obsessed culture

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:17:32 GMT

A rising star in Washington, Luke Russert left a prominent career as a NBC correspondent and fill-in anchor back in 2016 and didn’t look back.The son of the late Tim Russert, a television news legend, gave up what many eager and hard-charging young worker seek in the nation’s capital: Prominence and power.“I don’t regret that decision at all,” Russert said. “I think it was one of the most consequential ones I’ve ever made in my life, and probably one of the best ones.”After leaving NBC, Russert went on to visit six continents and more than 67 countries, a journey that is the subject of his New York Times best-selling book “Look For Me There.” In an interview with the DMV Download podcast, Russert said his decision to step away from D.C. shocked many — even himself.“It was unexpected for a lot of people,” Russert said. “I was on an upward trajectory, and I think for a...

BMW International Open Scores

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:17:32 GMT

ThursdayAt Golfclub Munchen EichenriedMunichPurse: $2 millionYardage: 7,284; Par: 72First RoundRikuya Hoshino, Japan34-32—66Edoardo Molinari, Italy32-34—66Adrien Saddier, France35-31—66Marc Hammer, Germany32-35—67Maximilian Kieffer, Germany36-31—67Romain Langasque, France35-32—67Matthieu Pavon, France33-34—67Thomas Rosenmueller, Germany35-32—67Daan Huizing, Netherlands34-33—67Daniel Hillier, New Zealand32-36—68Adrian Meronk, Poland32-36—68Marcel Schneider, Germany33-35—68Aaron Cockerill, Canada32-36—68Gavin Green, Malaysia36-32—68Scott Jamieson, Scotland36-32—68Hurly Long, Germany35-33—68Tom McKibbin, Northern Ireland34-34—68Niklas Norgaard Moller, Denmark32-36—68Jayden Trey Schaper, South Africa33-35—68Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Denmark35-34—69Max Schmitt, Germany34-35—69Darius Van Driel, Netherlands34-35—69John Axelsen, Denmark37-32—69Renato Paratore, Italy34-35—69Felipe Aguilar, Chile34-35—69Christoffer Bring, Denmark35-34—69Robin Sciot-Siegrist, France34-35—69Sami Valimaki, Finl...

BMW International Open Par Scores

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:17:32 GMT

ThursdayAt Golfclub Munchen EichenriedMunichPurse: $2 millionYardage: 7,284; Par: 72First RoundRikuya Hoshino, Japan34-32—66-6Edoardo Molinari, Italy32-34—66-6Adrien Saddier, France35-31—66-6Marc Hammer, Germany32-35—67-5Maximilian Kieffer, Germany36-31—67-5Romain Langasque, France35-32—67-5Matthieu Pavon, France33-34—67-5Thomas Rosenmueller, Germany35-32—67-5Daan Huizing, Netherlands34-33—67-5Daniel Hillier, New Zealand32-36—68-4Adrian Meronk, Poland32-36—68-4Marcel Schneider, Germany33-35—68-4Aaron Cockerill, Canada32-36—68-4Gavin Green, Malaysia36-32—68-4Scott Jamieson, Scotland36-32—68-4Hurly Long, Germany35-33—68-4Tom McKibbin, Northern Ireland34-34—68-4Niklas Norgaard Moller, Denmark32-36—68-4Jayden Trey Schaper, South Africa33-35—68-4Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Denmark35-34—69-3Max Schmitt, Germany34-35—69-3Darius Van Driel, Netherlands34-35—69-3John Axelsen, Denmark37-32—69-3Renato Paratore, Italy34-35—69-3Felipe Aguilar, Chile34-35—69-3Christoffer Bring, Denmark35-34—69-3Rob...

Are Washingtonians too chicken to eat ‘lab-grown’ chicken?

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:17:32 GMT

(new Image()).src = "https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=9be9c680-c459-4acb-af21-654a2ccca384&cid=c2ffed0c-3624-46c0-b10f-97c976d290a3";cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "9be9c680-c459-4acb-af21-654a2ccca384",mediaId: "4b091ca7-6e81-45a0-89c1-4a568fead027"}).render("dd4ecd21635449f48ea81031a7d3d27d"); });This week U.S. regulators gave the green light to two companies creating “lab grown chicken” — meat made from animal cells without slaughtering a chicken.While it may be a while before you see it on grocery store shelves, two restaurants will be the first to serve it — and one of them will be in D.C.Chef Jose Andrés also promised one of his restaurants will add it to the menu, but he hasn’t said which one, yet.In Dupont Circle, WTOP asked people if they would be willing to try it out. The results of the not-so-scientific study were mixed, to say the least.Gloria Akol of Alexandria, Virginia, said while the intentions are good, she would be uncomfortabl...

Fatal crash on SR-826 near I-75 causes road closure

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:17:32 GMT

A fatal crash on State Road 826 (Palmetto Expressway) led to a serious traffic jam on Friday morning. Officials said the collision occurred around 5 a.m. just before the exit onto Interstate 75. Due to the investigation underway, authorities have blocked off a significant portion of the highway. Emergency crews blocked off the southbound Palmetto Expressway at Miami Lakes Drive where drivers are being forced off that exit. Live video footage showed the extensive damage to two vehicles but it is unclear how many cars were involved.The closure caused traffic all the way back toward Red Road on the highway. Morning commuters are urged to avoid the Palmetto Expressway westbound as the path leads to the closure that will ultimately force them off.

Russia is a ‘cancer’ that could destroy the world, Lithuania’s first post-Soviet leader says

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:17:32 GMT

The world needs to be cured of Russia, the first president of post-Soviet Lithuania said Friday.“Russia has become a cancer of Europe and the world,” said Vytautas Landsbergis, who was speaking at a ceremony in the Lithuanian parliament, according to public broadcaster LRT. “If it is cured, the world may survive, but if not, it may lead to the destruction of the world,” the former president added.Landsbergis was one of the founders of the pro-independence Reform Movement, which led the struggle for independence from the Soviet Union until Lithuania officially seceded in March 1990. He was president from 1990 to 1992, and later served as a member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2014.His grandson, Gabrielius, is Lithuania’s current foreign minister, and has been one of Russia’s fiercest critics since the start of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.The war in Ukraine has led to resurgent fears of further expansionism from...

Macron calls for an international taxation deal to finance climate efforts

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:17:32 GMT

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday hinted at a fresh push to revamp the international taxation system to finance climate efforts.Macron spoke on the sidelines of the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris, where delegates from across the world are discussing ways to reform the international financial system to help raise money for climate adaptation and mitigation efforts.Top economists in France have been pushing for a new wealth tax to finance the fight against climate change, spurring a debate inside Macron’s government.But Macron dodged the issue in an interview with French media, instead calling for other ideas like a tax on financial transactions or an extra fee on airline tickets.“I’m calling for mobilization, help us go and get all the countries who don’t have a [tax on financial transactions] and don’t have a tax on plane tickets,” he said.Macron dismissed the idea that France could introduce a climate t...