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7 people killed after more than 150 vehicles crashed along Louisiana’s I-55 amid dense fog, officials say

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:28:17 GMT

(CNN) — At least seven people were killed Monday in a slew of crashes along Interstate 55 in Louisiana’s St. John the Baptist Parish that involved at least 158 vehicles, state police say.More than 25 people were taken to hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to critical, Louisiana State Police said in an evening news release. And many victims sought medical help on their own, authorities said.Meteorologists earlier said “super fog” had heavily impacted the area, just west of New Orleans, around the time of the pileups. Super fog is a thick fog that develops in damp, smoky conditions and can send visibilities plummeting to less than 10 feet, according to the National Weather Service.Some of the vehicles caught on fire after the initial crash, authorities said. One of the vehicles involved in the wrecks was a tanker truck carrying “hazardous liquid,” police said without elaborating on the substance.Police were working Monday evening to move the truck due ...

Rock collected by Apollo 17 astronauts reveals moon’s true age

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:28:17 GMT

(CNN) — Lunar dust collected by Apollo 17 astronauts in the 1970s has revealed that the moon is 40 million years older than previously believed.After landing on the moon on December 11, 1972, NASA astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt collected rocks and dust from the lunar surface. A new analysis of that sample detected zircon crystals and dated them to 4.46 billion years old. Previous estimates put the moon, formed by a massive celestial collision, at 4.425 billion years old.The findings were published Monday in the journal Geochemical Perspectives Letters.“These crystals are the oldest known solids that formed after the giant impact. And because we know how old these crystals are, they serve as an anchor for the lunar chronology,” said senior study author Philipp Heck, Robert A. Pritzker Curator for Meteoritics and Polar Studies at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, in a statement.The early days of our solar system — when Earth was still forming and...

Obama warns Israel’s actions in Gaza could ‘backfire’

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:28:17 GMT

Former U.S. President Barack Obama warned that any actions by Israel that ignore the human cost of the war against Hamas “could ultimately backfire.”In a statement — posted on the online site Medium and titled “Thoughts on Israel and Gaza” — Obama argued that moves such as cutting off food and water to Gaza could “harden Palestinian attitudes for generations,” weaken international support for Israel and “undermine efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region.”In the statement, Obama reiterated the right of Israel to defend itself against “wanton violence.” He also called Israel’s decision to allow relief trucks into Gaza “an encouraging step.” However, he argued that more needs to be done by the international community to provide critical aid.During his presidency, Obama backed Israel’s right to self-defense against Hamas and tried, but failed, to negotiate a peace deal. The former U.S. president had an at-times difficult relationship with Israel...

Step up emissions cuts in agriculture, says EU climate chief

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:28:17 GMT

The EU must pick up the pace on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, particularly in the agricultural sector, the bloc’s climate commissioner said Tuesday. The bloc slashed its emissions by around 3 percent last year, meaning it has now achieved a 32.5 percent reduction compared to 1990 levels, according to preliminary data, the European Commission said in a report out Tuesday. The target for 2030 is 55 percent. Wopke Hoekstra, the EU’s new climate commissioner, told reporters that the EU is “on track” to meet its 2030 targets, but added: “However, to fully achieve these targets, the pace of emission reductions needs to step up.” For that, “we need much more substantial progress on cutting emissions in agriculture,” he said. Tackling agricultural emissions has long been a hot-button issue in the EU, with many countries reluctant to impose new rules on farmers. Recent legislative efforts to make agriculture more sustainable, such as a new Nature Restoration Law, are...

Patriots-Bills film review: How Bill O’Brien and Mac Jones found a winning formula

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:28:17 GMT

After seven weeks, the Patriots finally found their formula.Let’s skip the cliched “complementary football,” a tidy way of saying it’s generally a good idea to play well on offense, defense and special teams in the same game.Obviously, a banged-up Patriots defense must continue producing turnovers, as Jabrill Peppers did intercepting Josh Allen on Buffalo’s first play from scrimmage Sunday. Obviously, more special teams performances that include rookie kicker Chad Ryland hitting all of his field goals, Bryce Baringer dropping 100% of his punts inside the opponent’s 20 and the Pats winning the field position battle will help.But the Patriots’ real formula involves alchemy: transforming the anchor that dragged them down for six weeks into wind behind their sails for the rest of the season. That anchor, of course, was the offense.Mac Jones played arguably the best game of his career Sunday, considering the caliber of the opponent, his surroundi...

Now freed, an Israeli hostage describes the ‘hell’ of harrowing Hamas attack and terrifying capture

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:28:17 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Eighty-five-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz spoke of a “hell that we never knew before and never thought we would experience” as she described the harrowing Oct. 7 assault on her kibbutz by Hamas militants and the terror of being taken hostage into the Gaza Strip.Lifshitz was the first of the four hostages released so far to speak of their experience, from the initial attack through the more than two weeks of captivity.“Masses swarmed our houses, beat people, and some were taken hostage,” said Lifshitz, speaking softly from a wheelchair as she briefed reporters on Tuesday at Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital, a day after Hamas released her and 79-year-old Nurit Cooper. “They didn’t care if they were young or old.”Her 83-year-old husband, Oded, remains a hostage in Gaza.Lifshitz, a member of Kibbutz Nir Oz, was among the more than 200 Israelis and foreigners seized after heavily armed Hamas militants broke through Israel’s multibillion-dollar electric border fence a...

Miners from a rival union hold hundreds of colleagues underground at a gold mine in South Africa

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:28:17 GMT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A group of miners from an unregistered, rival union are holding around 500 of their colleagues underground for the second day at a gold mine in South Africa over a union dispute. Some 15 miners have been injured in scuffles, the head of the mine said on Tuesday.Details were sketchy and there were conflicting statements about what happened.According to Jon Hericourt, CEO of New Kleynfontein Gold Mine company, which manages the mine, the incident erupted early on Monday when the miners from the unregistered union prevented hundreds of others from leaving after their night shift ended at the Modder East mine in Springs, east of Johannesburg. He said he did not know exactly how many of the miners were being “held hostage” by others from the rival union. There were all sorts of hammers, picks, shovels and other mining equipment that could potentially be used as weapons, he said.Police were deployed to the mine but they have not been in contact with anyone underground ...

US suspending most foreign aid to Gabon after formal coup designation

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:28:17 GMT

LIBREVILLE, Gabon (AP) — The U.S. government is suspending most financial assistance to Gabon after a military coup earlier this year ousted the president whose family had ruled the nation for more than five decades, the State Department said.The official coup d’etat designation comes nearly two months after President Ali Bongo Ondimba ‘s overthrow.“We underscore that our humanitarian, health, and education assistance will continue to benefit the people of Gabon,” spokesperson Matthew Milller said in a statement Monday.Foreign aid already had been put on temporary hold to Gabon as of Sept. 26, the statement said.“We will resume our assistance alongside concrete actions by the transitional government toward establishing democratic rule,” Miller added.Ondimba had served two terms since coming to power in 2009 after the death of his father, who ruled the country for 41 years. Another group of mutinous soldiers attempted a coup in 2019 but was quickly overpowered.The former ...

China announces the removal of defense minister missing for almost 2 months with little explanation

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:28:17 GMT

TAIPEI. Taiwan (AP) — China has replaced Defense Minister Gen. Li Shangfu, who has been out of public view for almost two months with little explanation, state media reported Tuesday. Li is the second senior Chinese official to disappear this year, following former Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who was removed from office in July with no explanation offered. Li, who became defense minister during a Cabinet reshuffle in March, hasn’t been seen since giving a speech on Aug. 29. There is no indication that the disappearances of Qin and Li signal a change in China’s foreign or defense policies, although they have raised questions about the resilience of president and ruling Communist Party leader Xi Jinping’s circle of power. Xi has a reputation for valuing loyalty above all and has relentlessly attacked corruption in public and private, sometimes in what has been seen as a method of eliminating political rivals and shoring up his political position amid a deteriorating economy and rising ...

Trump’s lawyers file challenges to Washington election subversion case, calling it unconstitutional

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:28:17 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for Donald Trump are raising new challenges to the federal election subversion case against him, telling a judge that the indictment should be dismissed because it violates the former president’s free speech rights and represents a vindictive prosecution.The motions filed late Monday in the case charging the Republican with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost are on top of a pending argument by defense attorneys that he is immune from federal prosecution for actions taken within his official role as president.Special counsel Jack Smith’s team urged a judge last week to reject that argument and is expected to do the same for the latest motions. It is routine for defendants to ask a judge to dismiss the charges against them, but such requests are rarely granted. In Trump’s case, though, the challenges to the indictment could at a minimum force a delay in a prosecution that is set for trial in Washington next March.T...