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Biggest solar flare in years temporarily disrupts radio signals on Earth

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:24 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A NASA telescope has captured the biggest solar flare in years, which temporarily knocked out radio communication on Earth. The sun spit out the huge flare on Thursday, resulting in two hours of radio interference in parts of the U.S. and other sunlit parts of the world. Scientists said it was the biggest flare since 2017. Multiple pilots reported communication disruptions, with the impact felt across the country, said the government’s Space Weather Prediction Center. Scientists are now monitoring this sunspot region and analyzing for a possible outburst of plasma from the sun, also known as a coronal mass ejection, directed at Earth. The eruption occurred in the far northwest section of the sun, according to the center.NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory caught the action in extreme ultraviolet light, recording the powerful surge of energy as a huge, bright flash. Launched in 2010, the spacecraft is in an extremely high orbit around Earth, where it c...

Lights flicker across NYC as brief power outage affects subways, elevators

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:24 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Lights flickered, a subway line was disrupted and some elevators and escalators briefly stopped running when a small explosion at an electrical facility caused a momentary power outage in New York City.The brief outage just before midnight Thursday affected most of the city, officials said.“Essentially people saw a flicker in their lights for about a second a little bit before midnight and then voltage recovered or kind of went back to normal,” Matthew Ketschke, the president of the power utility Con Edison.Ketschke told reporters early Friday that a piece of equipment at a Brooklyn substation short-circuited. He said a protective system akin to a circuit breaker isolated the failed equipment, leading to a brief voltage dip.Ketschke said about 10 people had to be rescued from stalled elevators across the city.The outage halted subway service between Grand Central Terminal and Wall Street, New York City Transit officials said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. The...

Moldova and Georgia celebrate as their aspirations for EU membership take crucial steps forward

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:24 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Moldova and Georgia celebrated after European Union leaders buoyed their aspirations to join the 27 member nation bloc by removing key hurdles on their long path toward membership.Lawmakers in both the Moldovan and Georgian parliaments waved EU flags and played the bloc’s anthem at Friday’s opening of their parliamentary sessions, following Thursday’s surprise announcement to open membership negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova and to grant candidacy status to Georgia. The announcement came despite strong opposition from Hungary and the fact that Ukraine and Georgia are partially occupied by Russia which also has troops deployed in Moldova’s Transnistria region.Thousands of Georgians gathered in the country’s capital Tbilisi to celebrate, while Moldova’s President Maia Sandu invited citizens to a pro-European gathering scheduled for Sunday in the capital Chisinau to herald what she described as a “historic step for the destiny of our country.”M...

Sunshine, double digits expected today as mild December rolls on

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:24 GMT

The official start of winter is less than a week away but it’s going to feel more like spring on Friday with sunshine and temperatures in the double digits.Toronto will see a guaranteed high of 11 C on Friday and the mild air will stick around through the weekend with daytime highs of 6 C and 8 C expected on Saturday and Sunday.“We do have a little bit of a drop in the temperature for Monday afternoon and for Tuesday,” says CityNews 680 meteorologist Jill Taylor. “But this stretch is quite mild, just that little blip before we’re right back into the plus side.”The average high of this time of the year is 2 C.Mild stretch continues! Tune in to find out just how mild it will be for your Friday. The above average temps will stick around until Monday morning then a brief cool down. Some rain and a chance of wet flurries in the forecast too. https://t.co/DgcH1BtWJs— Jill Taylor (@JillTaylorCity) December 15, 2023The prospect of a white Christmas...

West African court orders Niger’s president to be released and reinstated nearly 5 months after coup

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:24 GMT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A court of the West African regional bloc ordered the release and reinstatement of Niger’s democratically elected president Friday, nearly five months after he was overthrown by mutinous soldiers.The ECOWAS Court of Justice ruled that President Mohamed Bazoum and his family were arbitrarily detained and called for him to be restored to office, his legal team said in a statement. Bazoum has been under house arrest with his wife and son since the July coup. The family hasn’t been given access to a judge or informed of proceedings against them and have remained in their residence cut off from the world, with a doctor the only visitor, the president’s lawyers said. They said Friday’s ruling was the first binding order from an international court on restoring Niger to democratic rule,. The Court of Justice is the regional bloc’s main judicial body. The court’s decisions are not subject to appeal and are binding on all ECOWAS insti...

Online News Act funding capped for private broadcasters, CBC: regulations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:24 GMT

OTTAWA — Final regulations for the Online News Act shows the amount of funding private broadcasters will get through the government’s $100-million deal with Google will be limited, with an even lower cap for the CBC.The regulation released today show broadcasters will get $30 million at most from the fund, with CBC/Radio-Canada getting no more than $7 million.The rest of the money is earmarked for other qualifying news outlets such as newspapers and digital platforms. Google agreed last month to contribute $100 million a year, indexed to inflation, to Canadian news publishers, in a deal that had the Liberal government bending to the tech giant’s demands after it threatened to remove news links from its search engine. As a result, Google will be exempt from the legislation, which compels tech companies to enter into compensation agreements with news publishers for linking to their content, if it generates revenue for those digital giants.Google will instead enter into a s...

14-year-old boy injured after drive-by shooting in Garfield Park: CPD

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:24 GMT

CHICAGO -- A teen is injured after a shooting in Garfield Park Thursday night, police said.Police responded to call of a person shot in the 4000 block of West Madison Street around 6:00 p.m. and found a 14-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to the ankle. Tow truck driver shot multiple times on Eisenhower The boy was travelling in a vehicle when the incident happened. He was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital where he is listed in good condition. The boy or driver of the vehicle was unable to provide more details or the occupants.There is currently no one in custody.

Pedestrian struck, killed in chain reaction crash on Eisenhower

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:24 GMT

CHICAGO — A pedestrian was struck and killed Friday morning on the inbound Eisenhower.Illinois State Police responded to the Eisenhower near Kostner just before 5:30 a.m. on the report of a crash involving a pedestrian.Police believe a vehicle was traveling eastbound when a semi swerved into its lane. The driver of the vehicle swerved to the right and struck a pedestrian.The pedestrian was outside of their broken down vehicle at the time on the right shoulder. They were pronounced dead at an area hospital. Tow truck driver shot multiple times on Eisenhower The person who struck the pedestrian stayed at the scene, ISP said.The right lane is still shut down.

Dean's Reviews: 'Wonka'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:24 GMT

WGN's Dean Richards loves "Wonka," the new prequel film starring Timothee Chalamet as Willy Wonka. Related: Dean’s Reviews: ‘Boop:’ The Betty Boop Musical Get Dean’s reviews and A-List interviews delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for Dean’s Downloads weekly newsletter. You’ll also get his Dean Cooks recipes too!

Senate still working on immigration deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:24 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) - Holiday break is postponed for the Senate as they try to hammer out a major immigration deal.  The lawmakers are leaving for the weekend but will return Monday in hopes of passing something before the year ends.Many senators are still skeptical they can reach a compromise, and getting something passed is complicated by the fact that the republican-led House already left Washington.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is forcing senators to stay in Washington to continue working on a national security package."We're going to keep working. This is too important not to,” he said.Republicans, Democrats and the White House have all been meeting to negotiate a deal that includes both aid to Ukraine and the border reform that republicans are demanding."The Senate cannot claim to address major national security challenges without a solution to the one we're facing on the southern border," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky).Leaders say they're maki...