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Republican National Committee boosts polling and fundraising thresholds to qualify for 2nd debate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Some Republican presidential candidates haven’t yet met polling and fundraising thresholds for the first debate of the 2024 cycle, and now the qualifications for making it to the second one will be even higher.To get to the second debate, scheduled for Sept. 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, candidates will need at least 3% in two national polls or will need 3% in one national poll as well as two polls from four of the early-voting states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — a person familiar with the markers set by the Republican National Committee told The Associated Press on Wednesday.The White House hopefuls must also have at least 50,000 unique donors, with at least 200 of those coming from 20 states or territories, according to the person, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the qualifications and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The new thresholds were first reported by Politico....

Spain says 37.5 million foreign tourists visited in the first half of 2023, up 24% from 2022

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

BARCEL, Portugal — Spain received 37.5 million international tourists in the first half of 2023, a 24% increase from the same period last year, the government announced Wednesday. The figure is lower than for the same period in 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic, when 38 million tourists arrived. But officials say the numbers are a sign that international tourism has rebounded strongly since the health crisis. Visitors from Britain topped the tourist list, totaling some 8 million, followed by some 5 million tourists from both France and Germany. Spain is heavily dependent on tourism, which accounts for 12% of gross domestic product. The northeastern region of Catalonia, including Barcelona and the Costa Brava, was the most visited area.The Associated Press

Shock and sadness in Rio favela after Brazil’s early elimination from Women’s World Cup

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

A group of girls and young women gathered early Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro’s working-class Manguinhos neighborhood to watch the Brazilian team compete in the Women’s World Cup and pray for a win in the make-or-break match.Instead, the 0-0 draw against Jamaica knocked Brazil out of the tournament in the group stage for the first time since 1995. The 16 assembled viewers in Manguinhos, who had pinned their hopes on the squad, were wracked with disappointment. “It is sad to see Brazil lose. We didn’t even get to the round of 16,” said 14-year-old Maísa Solano, wearing green-and-yellow face paint and a jersey of veteran star Marta. “We could have gone a little further.”Solano and the others present are among the roughly 60 participants in a project called Stars of Mandela that empowers Manguinhos’ girls and young women through soccer and gives more visibility to the women’s game. The non-profit organized the broadcast of the game at the soccer field where they practic...

A Latino player says his Northwestern teammates hazed him by shaving ‘Cinco de Mayo’ onto his head

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Ramon Diaz says he was just 17 years old when Northwestern University upperclassmen shaved “Cinco de Mayo” onto the back of his head as the entire football team watched.“The holiday itself has a significant meaning to me and my family and then the Latino community at large,” Diaz told The Associated Press. “I was mocked and ridiculed.”Diaz said he was the only Latino offensive lineman on the team at a time when the athletic department’s culture allowed racist and sexual abuse to thrive and caused psychological and emotional damage to athletes of color. A lawsuit announced on Diaz’ behalf Wednesday is the 10th against the prestigious private university since student journalists at The Daily Northwestern published an article on July 8 that suggested head coach Patrick Fitzgerald may have been aware of hazing, leading to his firing after 17 seasons. Northwestern announced Tuesday that it has hired former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to lead an investig...

Progress made against massive California-Nevada wildfire but flames threaten iconic Joshua trees

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters aided by rain fought to contain a massive blaze that swept through the California desert into Nevada and are threaten ing the region’s famous spiky Joshua trees.The York Fire that erupted last Friday is California’s largest wildfire this year. As of early Wednesday it had burned through more than 128 square miles (333 square kilometers) of land and was 30% contained, fire officials said.Humid monsoonal weather conditions Tuesday afternoon brought brief but heavy rain, especially on the south end of the fire, and kept its spread to a minimum, fire officials said. Similar conditions were expected on Wednesday, with drier weather poised to return on Thursday.“Right now, the monsoonal influence is still over the fire,” said Marc Peebles, a spokesperson for California’s incident management team for the York Fire. “There’s always the possibility of showers that will help the effort.”The 400 or so firefighters bat...

Michigan State to cancel classes on anniversary of mass shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State University officials plan to cancel classes on the first anniversary of a mass shooting on campus.The university announced Tuesday that classes will be canceled on Feb. 13, WJBK-TV reported. Interim President Teresa Woodruff said the university will remain open that day and a remembrance event will be held. Classes will resume on Feb. 14. Anthony McRae opened fire at Berkey Hall and the MSU Union on Feb. 13, 2023. Three students — Brian Fraser, Arielle Anderson and Alexandria Verner — were killed. Five other students were wounded.McRae had no connection to the victims or to the university, investigators have said. He killed himself the night of the shootings after police confronted him. Investigators said in April they were unable to determine any conclusive motive for the campus shootings.The Associated Press

Nicolas Cage surrealist comedy to open TIFF’s competitive Platform program

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

TORONTO — Nicolas Cage’s surrealist comedy “Dream Scenario” will open the competitive Platform program at the Toronto International Film Festival, with acclaimed filmmaker Barry Jenkins set to lead the jury.Cage stars in the satirical feature from U.S.-based filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli as an academic “thrust into the limelight after he starts inexplicably appearing in people’s dreams.”Brampton, Ont.’s Michael Cera and U.S. actress Julianne Nicholson also star.It’s joined by the Canadian drama “The King Tide,” directed by Christian Sparkes, and eight other titles chosen for their “unique directorial perspectives,” TIFF said Wednesday in a release.“Moonlight” director Jenkins will head a three-member panel that will select the winner of a $20,000 award.The jury includes Canadian filmmaker Anthony Shim, whose film “Riceboy Sleeps” won last year’s prize, and Nadine Labaki whose Oscar-nominated film “Capernaum” won the 2018 jury...

‘It feels like a fine’: Bar, restaurant workers speak out over new Smart Serve requirements

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

People who work at your favourite bars and restaurants are facing a government-issued deadline for recertification to keep their jobs. While most of them applaud training updates, they question the fee that goes along with it.“We hire bartenders and wait staff for private events in the GTA,” said Kevin Bagnall, owner of Servers and Shakers, a service-related staffing business in Toronto.Everyone he hires must have a Smart Serve certificate, which is required by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). It’s for any workers who serve, handle or sell alcohol and has been an industry standard for decades. It requires workers to complete an online course, which comes with a fee.“The main focus is for safety,” Bagnall said. “It teaches workers not to overserve and to recognize signs that people maybe too intoxicated, among other things.”Up until now, those who completed the course were good to work for life.“There was no expiry date on those certificates, but now t...

S&P/TSX composite down more than 300 points in morning trading, U.S. stocks also fall

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index fell in late-morning trading on Wednesday on broad-based losses as U.S. markets were also in decline.The S&P/TSX composite index was down 384.02 points at 20,148.91.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 288.59 points at 35,342.09. The S&P 500 index was down 59.25 points at 4,517.48, while the Nasdaq composite was down 290.49 points at 13,993.42.The Canadian dollar traded for 74.95 cents US compared with 75.24 cents US on Tuesday.The September crude oil contract was down US$1.78 at US$79.59 per barrel and the September natural gas contract was down nine cents at US$2.47 per mmBTU.The December gold contract was down US$7.60 at US$1971.20 an ounce and the September copper contract was down six cents at US$3.85 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 2, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)The Canadian Press

COVID summer surge: Hospitalizations more than triple in 2 Texas counties

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – A summer surge in COVID-19 cases has spiked the number of people in the hospital with serious complications from the virus. Nationwide, COVID-related hospitalizations are up 12% in the last week of available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But in some U.S. counties, the situation is dramatically worse. The CDC considers COVID-19 hospitalizations to be "medium" in 17 counties around the country. That means between 10 and 19.9 people are hospitalized with the virus for every 100,000 residents. CDC predicts late summer COVID wave. What are levels like in Austin? In two places in Texas, Navarro and Freestone counties, hospitalizations were up 250% in a single week – meaning they more than tripled. Fourteen new people were admitted in the past week, but because of their relatively small populations, that's a "high" rate of people going to the hospital, according to the CDC classification. Other areas of concern are: Southeast Texas (Presidio, Brew...