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Texas sheriff says 3 hog hunters from South Florida died in an underground tank after their dog fell in

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:38 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas sheriff said Thursday that three hog hunters from Florida died in an underground tank filled with sewer gas after one of them apparently tried rescuing their dog after it fell into the hole, followed by the other two jumping in to save them.The bodies of two men and a woman, as well as the dog, were pulled from the tank in a cornfield on the rural outskirts of Austin. Bastrop County Sheriff Maurice Cook said the hole was a cistern with an opening roughly 4 feet (1.2 meters) wide and containing 8 feet (2.4 meters) of water, as well as hydrogen sulfide gas.He said the chain of events started early Wednesday in the middle of the night with one of the men apparently getting into the cistern to rescue the dog, which he described as a bloodhound. Clothing and boots belonging to the other two hunters were found near the hole, suggesting they removed them before also jumping in, Cook said.He said authorities believe the hunters were overcome by hydrogen sulfide ...

Sound Healing Meditation and Psychic Fair in North Miami aims to help you live your best life

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:38 GMT

Life can be messy, and when that happens, it’s time for a bath. But what do you do when your energy is the mess?That’s when you get a sound bath at the Sound Healing Meditation and Psychic Fair, so you can be in tune and ready to conquer the world.Prepare to be relaxed at the Sound Healing Meditation and Psychic Fair.Sheri Kaplan: “It’s a transformational opportunity for people to get centered and grounded, and just to get out of their mind and their head, and just take a little mental vacation for about an hour.”A sound bath uses special instruments like gongs and sound bowls to create noise vibrations that help relax your nervous system.Sheri Kaplan: “People describe the sound bath meditation as almost euphoric, blissful, peaceful.”But there’s more than just sound to explore.Sheri Kaplan: “When they’re here, they can talk to the astrologist, have tarot cards done, have a massage, have aura readings done, and so many servi...

Olive & Sea in Fort Lauderdale blends Mediterranean food with spectacular views of Intracoastal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:38 GMT

It is time to take your senses on a holiday. We know a spot where the tastes, textures and fragrances of Mediterranean food blend beautifully with a scenic waterway. In other words, this place will knock you out. Get ready to experience Olive & Sea.The Spirit of Lauderdale mixes with modern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern meals to create something new at Olive & Sea.Chef Miguel Toro: “We have to be bold, we have to innovate, we have to be different. We’re pioneers on this, not only on the view and the location where we are, but also in featuring this type of cuisine as well.”Being bold, innovative and different doesn’t get in the way of authenticity. What’s being placed on your plate has been prepared in a way that honors the cuisine’s history.Chef Miguel Toro: “It’s going back to being able to cook with rustic flavors, with fire, and implementing those bold flavors to our cuisine.”We’ll get back to the food in a m...

What happened to Qatargate’s forgotten country, Mauritania? 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:38 GMT

It’s not just Qatar-gate. While the super-rich Gulf kingdom has become a byword for the cash-for-influence scandal at the European Parliament, another rarely-mentioned country was also allegedly handing out thousands of illicit euros in the EU bubble — Mauritania. If it was, though, it didn’t get much for its money.Between 2019 and 2022, the country allegedly passed €200,000 to Pier Antonio Panzeri, an alleged bribery ringleader, and his right-hand man Francesco Giorgi, according to testimony Panzeri gave to authorities in February and seen by POLITICO.That’s more than Panzeri said he got from Morocco, another country swept up in the scandal. Yet while Morocco gets regular mentions in Qatargate coverage, Mauritania’s potential role has gone almost unnoticed.Mauritania’s goal, Panzeri said, was reputation rehab. The West African country, which receives millions from the EU to host fishing vessels each year, has long been criticized in Brussels for its human rights reco...

Disastrous police data blunder awakens ghosts of Northern Ireland’s past

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:38 GMT

DUBLIN — In normal societies, being publicly identified as a police officer is just part of the job. In Northern Ireland, despite a quarter century of relative peace, the disclosure could be a death sentence.For that reason thousands of police officers are today agonizing over their futures after a monumental data blunder saw the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) accidentally publish the names and professional details — including, most sensitively, the base, unit and duties — of every single officer and civilian employee in the force. The unprecedented breach — committed Tuesday, when the police force uploaded the wrong Excel spreadsheet to a Freedom of Information website — revealed details many officers had kept secret even from relatives and close friends. Under enormous pressure after the scale of the leak became clear, PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne resisted calls to resign during a face-to-face grilling Thursday with the Policing Board, a cross-community panel that o...

Europe lost to China on solar — now it’s about to do the same with wind

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:38 GMT

Ann Mettler is vice-president, Europe, at Breakthrough Energy and a former director-general of the European Commission. She writes here in a personal capacity.While the loss of Europe’s solar industry to China is routinely bemoaned in the power circles of the European Union, there appears to be blissful ignorance regarding the fact that the wind sector is now firmly on the same trajectory.Much like solar, the wind industry also originated in Europe and it was painstakingly built up over decades, with research and development funds, generous subsidies and conducive policies. Today, five of the top 15 wind turbine manufacturers are European.So, with the energy transition in full swing — and even turbocharged by the war in Ukraine — one would anticipate these companies to be making brisk business. And yet, they’re all facing their worst crisis ever, suffering record losses and issuing repeated profit warnings.These are problems that have accumulated over years, and they are unlikely to...

James Paxton and 4 relievers combine for 7-hit shutout as Red Sox beat Royals 2-0

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:38 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — James Paxton worked 5 1/3 scoreless innings and five Boston pitchers combined for the seven-hit shutout as the Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 2-0 on Thursday night.John Schreiber, Josh Winckowski and Chris Martin followed Paxton, and Kenley Jansen retired the side in order in the ninth inning for his 25th save as Boston moved five games over .500 at 60-55 and took three of four games from the Royals.Alex Verdugo hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning to give Boston a 1-0 lead and Adam Duvall added an RBI double in the fifth.Trevor Story doubled to straightaway center in the fourth for his first hit in nine at-bats since returning from the injured list.In the fifth inning as rain fell at Fenway Park, Duvall’s hit was originally ruled a foul ball by third base umpire Emil Jimenez. But Boston manager Alex Cora’ decided to challenge the call and it was overturned following a review.Paxton (7-3), who allowed three homers in his previous start against Toronto, s...

Canton Little League loses to Maine 2-1

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:38 GMT

A tough game, delayed over an hour due to rain, sent the undefeated Canton Little League team home after losing to Maine 2-1.Many young fans were supporting the team here at home on Thursday night.“No matter win or lose, they won. Let’s be honest, they won,” a parent said.The team went to Connecticut for this year’s New England Regional Championship. The game was especially special for the three coaches who each had their sons playing on the field.

Thousands rally on Las Vegas Strip in support of food service workers demanding better pay, benefits

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:38 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Thousands of hospitality workers rallied Thursday evening beneath the glittery lights of the Las Vegas Strip to call attention to ongoing union contract negotiations for higher pay and better benefits for food service workers at one of the largest arenas on the famed tourist corridor.The Culinary Workers Union, a political powerhouse in Nevada, said in a statement ahead of the rally that servers, dishwashers, cooks and bartenders who work at T-Mobile Arena have been locked in contract negotiations for nearly a year with their employer, Levy Premium Food Service. The workers say they want a fair contract that will ensure “one job is enough to provide for their families.”Union members packed the walkways near the arena on Thursday, with the crowd mostly dressed in red spilling onto Las Vegas Boulevard.The union represents 60,000 hospitality workers in Las Vegas and Reno, including 200 Levy employees who work at the arena, the home stadium of the Vegas Golden Knights.T...

Two rival robotaxi services win approval to operate throughout San Francisco despite safety concerns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:38 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California regulators on Thursday approved an expansion that will allow two rival robotaxi services to operate throughout San Francisco at all hours, despite safety worries spurred by recurring problems with unexpected stops and other erratic behavior that resulted in unmanned vehicles blocking traffic, including emergency vehicles. The state’s Public Utilities Commission voted to approve rival services from Cruise and Waymo to operate around-the-clock service. It will make San Francisco first major U.S. city with two fleets of driverless vehicles competing for passengers against ride-hailing and taxi services dependent on humans to operate the cars.It is a distinction that San Francisco officials didn’t want, largely because of the headaches that Cruise and Waymo have been causing in the city while testing their robotaxis on a restricted basis during the past year.But it ended in a major victory for Cruise — a subsidiary of General Motors — and Waymo — a ...