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Feeling crowded yet? The US Census Bureau estimates the world’s population has passed 8 billion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:27:11 GMT

By MEAD GRUVER (Associated Press)The human species has topped 8 billion, with longer lifespans offsetting fewer births, but world population growth continues a long-term trend of slowing down, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday.The bureau estimates the global population exceeded the threshold Sept. 26, a precise date the agency said to take with a grain of salt.The United Nations estimated the number was passed 10 months earlier, having declared November 22, 2022, the “Day of 8 Billion,” the Census Bureau pointed out in a statement.The discrepancy is due to countries counting people differently — or not at all. Many lack systems to record births and deaths. Some of the most populous countries, such as India and Nigeria, haven’t conducted censuses in over a decade, according to the bureau.While world population growth remains brisk, growing from 6 billion to 8 billion since the turn of the millennium, the rate has slowed since doubling between 1960 and 2000....

Greater Boston Food Bank passes 1,200 turkeys along ‘human chain’ to kick off holidays

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:27:11 GMT

“This is turkey time,” the head of Greater Boston Food Bank declared Thursday before 1,200 birds were moved along a “human chain” of volunteers, politicians and sports mascots to kick off the holiday season.The birds moved as part of the organization’s 18th annual “Chain of Giving” represent just a fraction of the roughly 24,000 turkeys, 100,000 chickens and 20,000 chicken pieces that will be distributed to families in need throughout the holidays, according to Catherine D’Amato, GBFB’s president and CEO.“There’s no doubt that families are struggling,” D’Amato said. “We know hunger is no longer an emergency. Think about that. It’s no longer an emergency. It’s a daily experience for too many of our neighbors across the state.”The need has increased significantly since the pandemic, she told the Herald, citing statistics that show 1 in 3 Massachusetts residents are facing food insecurity now, compared to the 1 in 8 people who were chronically hungry before COVID.“So that’s 1.8 million...

Apple to pay $25 million to settle allegations of discriminatory hiring practices in 2018, 2019

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:27:11 GMT

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — Apple has agreed to pay $25 million to settle allegations that it engaged in a pattern of discriminatory hiring practices when filling some of its jobs during 2018 and 2019.The deal announced Thursday resolved a lengthy investigation by the Department of Justice into alleged violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act.Federal regulators said an inquiry that began in 2019 determined that Apple’s hiring practices discriminated against U.S. candidates for jobs that were awarded to some immigrant workers seeking to be granted permanent resident status in the country. In some instances, Apple also discriminated against non-U.S. residents, according to the settlement.Apple vehemently denied any wrongdoing in the formal seven-page settlement defended its hiring record in a statement to The Associated Press.“Apple proudly employs more than 90,000 people in the United States and continues to invest nationwide, creating millions of jobs,”...

Jezebel, an incisive feminist voice since the height of the blogosphere era, is shutting down

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:27:11 GMT

By ALEXANDRA OLSON (AP Business Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — Jezebel, the sharp-edged feminist website that found an impassioned and devoted following at the height of the blogosphere era but ended up struggling with its business model, is shutting down after 16 years, its parent company announced Thursday.It is the latest gender-focused media site to fold as the media industry struggles with plummeting digital advertising that has also cut into the profitability of major tech companies from Google to Facebook. Bitch Media, which had a print magazine, website and podcast, closed last year after 25 years, citing sustainability. The Washington Post folded The Lily, its freestanding publication on gender an identity issues, into its main website last year.G/O Media said 23 staffers would be laid off, including Jezebel’s team, as part of a restructuring to cope with economic headwinds and a difficult digital advertising environment. The New York-based company also announced the de...

Brush fire breaks out near homes in Oceanside

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:27:11 GMT

OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- Firefighters are battling a brush fire near homes Thursday in Oceanside. The fire occurred around 3:13 p.m. on Marron Rd. and College Blvd., according to California Highway Patrol's log.Around 3:58 p.m., Carlsbad police alerted the public that first responders were working on the blaze in the area of College Blvd., Marron Rd., Tamarack Ave. and Carlsbad Village Dr. Widespread rainfall, mountain snow possible in San Diego County SkyFOX was over the scene, where helitankers appeared to have the fire under control, preventing it from spreading to homes.Drivers should expect traffic delays on eastbound State Route 78 at College Blvd. due to the fire burning south of the freeway, per CHP.Check back for updates on this developing story.

Media workers stage sit-in at New York Times headquarters to call for ceasefire in Gaza

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:27:11 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Pro-Palestinian demonstrators occupied the lobby of The New York Times on Thursday, accusing the media of betraying a bias toward Israel in its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war and demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the publication’s Manhattan headquarters. Many entered the building’s atrium for a sit-in and vigil that lasted more than an hour.Led by a group of media workers calling themselves “Writers Bloc,” demonstrators read off the names of thousands of Palestinians killed in Gaza, including at least 36 journalists whose deaths have been confirmed since the war began.They scattered editions of a mock newspaper — “The New York War Crimes” — that charged the media with “complicity in laundering genocide” and called on the Times’ editorial board to publicly back a ceasefire.The sit-in followed a series of actions at high-profile locations in New York intended to bring attention to the growing death toll in Gaza.On Tuesda...

Man sentenced to life for fatally shooting 2 Dallas hospital workers after his girlfriend gave birth

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:27:11 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — A man was sentenced to life in prison Thursday after being convicted of fatally shooting two workers at a Dallas hospital last year as he argued with his girlfriend, who had just given birth to their child.Nestor Hernandez, 31, was found guilty of capital murder in the October 2022 shooting deaths of Jacqueline Pokuaa, 45, a social worker, and Katie Annette Flowers, 63, a nurse, at Methodist Dallas Medical Center. He received an automatic sentence of life without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors didn’t seek the death penalty.Defense attorneys had asked jurors to consider a lesser charge, acknowledging that Hernandez opened fire but saying he didn’t mean to kill anyone. Taking the stand at the trial, Hernandez admitted to shooting the two women but said it was an accident. Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot told jurors that Hernandez went to the hospital that day with “rage, resentment, anger and a plan to kill.” Prosecutor George Lewis said Hernan...

Mexico City prosecutors accused of asking for phone records of prominent politicians

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:27:11 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — An opposition candidate for the mayorship of Mexico City accused the city prosecutor’s office of having filed a request for his phone records and those of other prominent politicians Thursday. The allegation is the latest suggestion that city prosecutors have abused their power for political ends. The prosecutors office “categorically denied” the accusations Thursday. The city is governed by the Morena party of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who pledged to end political espionage in Mexico but apparently has not done so. The case, first reported by The New York Times, involves Santiago Taboada, the borough chief of a wealthy part of the city. Taboada plans to run for mayor in 2024. He said the phone record request constituted “political persecution.” “Now more than ever, the political persecution I have been subject to for months has been exposed,” Taboada wrote in his social media accounts.City prosecutors allegedly asked a private phone company to turn o...

Class-action lawsuit alleges unsafe conditions at migrant detention facility in New Mexico

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:27:11 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A new class-action lawsuit alleges that U.S. immigration authorities disregarded signs of unsanitary and unsafe conditions at a detention center in New Mexico to ensure the facility would continue to receive public funding and remain open.The lawsuit announced Wednesday by a coalition of migrants’ rights advocates was filed on behalf of four Venezuelans ranging in age from 26 to 40 who have sought asylum in the U.S. and say they were denied medical care, access to working showers and adequate food at the Torrance County Detention Facility, all while being pressed into cleaning duties, sometimes without compensation.The detention center in the rural town of Estancia, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) from the Mexico border, is contracted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to accommodate at least 505 adult male migrants at any time, though actual populations fluctuate.Advocates have repeatedly alleged in recent years that the the facility has inadequate ...

Police investigate vandalism at US Rep. Monica De La Cruz’s Texas office over Israel-Hamas war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:27:11 GMT

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — Texas police said Thursday they are investigating messages spray-painted on U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz’s office that condemn the Republican’s support for Israel in the war with Hamas.De La Cruz is a first-term congresswoman whose district is on the U.S.-Mexico border. Spokesperson Ryan Saylor said the district office was vandalized twice this week with messages that included “Monica murders” and “Israel kills Jews too.” The majority of both parties have historically stood firmly on the side of Israel, although divisions have emerged in the Democratic Party about the U.S. response to the war. In a statement, De La Cruz said the vandalism would not silence her support for Israel. The McAllen Police Department said it was made aware of the vandalism on Tuesday and that the investigation is ongoing. The Associated Press