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Canada-India dispute likely target for disinformation efforts, State Department warns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:36 GMT

WASHINGTON — Canada’s ongoing diplomatic standoff with India risks making it an even more tempting target for international efforts that use disinformation to reshape global narratives, a senior State Department official says. Whether it’s restive political factions, grassroots public outrage, economic instability or geopolitical disputes, conflict always makes it easier for falsehoods to take root, said Global Engagement Center co-ordinator James Rubin. “Any time there is an underlying discontent in a country, the manipulators will use that,” Rubin told a briefing Thursday about the centre’s new report on China’s goals for reshaping the information space. “Unfortunately, they’re getting better and better at it.” Social media now lays bare the divisions that exist in any given part of the world, “and through artificial intelligence and spending money on it, they can develop tailored narratives,” he said. And while Rub...

'A carpet of dead birds:' Nearly 1,000 migrating songbirds die after crashing into windows at Chicago exhibition hall

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:36 GMT

David Willard has been checking the grounds of Chicago's lakefront exhibition center for dead birds for 40 years. On Thursday morning he found something horrible: Hundreds of dead songbirds, so thick they looked like a carpet.Nearly 1,000 songbirds perished during the night after crashing into the McCormick Place Lakeside Center's windows, the result, according to avian experts, of a deadly confluence of prime migration conditions, rain and the low-slung exhibition hall's lights and window-lined walls.“It was just like a carpet of dead birds at the windows there,” said Willard, a retired bird division collections manager at the Chicago Field Museum, where his duties included administering, preserving and cataloging the museum's collection of 500,000 bird specimens as well as searching for bird strikes as part of migration research. “A normal night would be zero to 15 (dead) birds. It was just kind of a shocking outlier to what we've experienced," Willard said. "In 40 years of keepin...

One drink, One stop: Bars, restaurants walking distance from Blue Line stations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:36 GMT

CHICAGO — Before fall ends and winter begins, make sure to get out and enjoy the beautiful walking weather before it's too late.Grab yourself an unlimited ride day pass for the CTA and enjoy the city of Chicago with a drink at a local bar or restaurant at nearly every Blue Line station.Find a list of "Bars and pubs" and "Restaurants" with a 3.8 rating and above on Google, as well as within a 10 to 15 minute walk to and from the specific CTA Blue line station below.RosemontBub City -- 4.3 Rating5441 Park PlacePark Tavern -- 4.0 Rating5433 Park PlaceRed Bar -- 3.9 Rating9300 West Bryn Mawr AvenueCumberlandBar Louie O'Hare -- 3.9 Rating5615 North Cumberland AvenueHarlem (O'Hare Branch)Earnie's Tap -- 4.7 Rating7112 West Higgins AvenueTeaser's Pub -- 4.1 Rating7123 West Higgins AvenueJefferson ParkRex Tavern -- 4.6 Rating4933 North Milwaukee AvenueJefferson Inn -- 4.3 Rating4874 North Milwaukee AvenueThe District House -- 4.5 Rating5722 West Higgins Avenue One drink, One stop: Bars, r...

GM agrees to place EV battery manufacturing under UAW agreement

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:36 GMT

(The Hill) — General Motors (GM) has agreed to place battery manufacturing for electric vehicles (EVs) under its main agreement with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, UAW President Shawn Fain announced on Friday.Fain said the union won't expand its strike against the Big Three automakers following the the last-minute development in negotiations.“We've been told for months that this is impossible,” Fain said. Jeffries calls effort to kick Pelosi, Hoyer out of hideaway offices ‘petty, partisan and petulant’ “We've been told the EV future must be a race to the bottom. And now we've called their bluff.”GM's commitment to use UAW workers for EV battery manufacturing is a massive victory for the union. Autoworkers have expressed deep concerns about the shift toward EVs given that most are made with non-union labor and outside of the U.S.The UAW was initially prepared to call on members to walk out at one of GM’s “biggest and most important plants” in Arlington, Texas, Fain said. How...

What the September jobs report means for the economy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:36 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — President Joe Biden is celebrating another month of robust job gains, with 336,000 added to the economy in September."It's no accident. This is Bidenomics at work," the president said Friday.He said the figure, which exceeded expectations, is a positive signal."We have the highest share of working-age Americans in the workforce in 20 years," he said.Some economists say the outlook is not that simple."It's not entirely smooth sailing or full steam ahead for the economy," Mark Hamrick, a senior analyst for financial services company Bankrate, said. "We're still talking about the risk of a government shutdown in mid-November. We have global tensions. ... We have an autoworker strike and we have high interest rates that make the cost and availability of borrowing more tenuous."The Federal Reserve consistently raised interest rates for more than a year to fight inflation. Its next steps are less certain, Hamrick said.While the inflation rate is now less than half t...

Austin Animal Center director addresses audit, council criticism

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:36 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- After an audit and external review of the Austin Animal Center were released last week, KXAN sat down with Chief Animal Services Officer and director, Don Bland, to respond to the concerns found in it. Bland pointed to overcrowding at the shelter as a major issue and said he wants the City of Austin to lean on public feedback to form next steps. He also responded to harsh criticism from Austin City Council members. The conversation is edited for conciseness. KXAN's Grace Reader: This is the first time that folks are really hearing from you after that audit came out. So first, I want to open it up to you to just respond to what you saw in it.KXAN's Grace Reader sits down with Austin Animal Center Director Don Bland (KXAN photo)Chief Animal Services Officer Don Bland: We appreciate the auditors and the work that they did, they did a lot of work. You know, there's only so much they could touch on, it would have taken them more years to fully develop an audit that cove...

Breezy cold front brings coolest highs since April

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:36 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Friday was a noticeably warmer day across Central Texas thanks to some extra sunshine that pushed temperatures into the middle and upper 80s, however a second cold front is just hours away.That cold front, currently working into North Texas, will arrive for most of us just before midnight and bring increasing winds and the coolest air in months.Tonight skies will range from partly to mostly cloudy. Wind gusts 20-25 mph will be possible as the front arrives and even after the front slides south. Breezy Saturday morningOvernight lows drop down into the upper 50s by the time you wake up Saturday morning.Tonight's forecastWe're forecasting the coolest high temperatures in Austin since April 24 for Saturday. Highs in the low to mid 70s will be a full 10-15 degrees below normal for this time of year. Saturday will have a mix of sun and clouds on a very fall-like second day of ACL Weekend One.Sunday will have more sun and temperatures will approach 80.ACL Weekend OneLows ...

Corinth woman pleads guilty to vehicular homicide

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:36 GMT

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A Corinth woman has pleaded guilty to causing the death of Anne Burchhardt on July 17 in the Town of Niskayuna. Maureen Morrow, 43, was accused of driving while under the influence of drugs when she crashed into a vehicle driven by Burchhardt. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! According to the indictment, Burchhardt died as a result of injuries sustained from the crash. Analysis of Morrow's blood showed the presence of Alprazolam, Amphetamine, Benzoylecgonine, Fentanyl, Methamphetamine, Methadone, and Nordiazepam. Morrow had a prior conviction for DWI in 2018 in Saratoga County and a felony weapons possession charge in Warren County from 2012.Sentencing is scheduled for December 8. The District Attorney's Office recommended a sentence of eight-and-a-half to seventeen years of incarceration for the charge of aggravated vehicular homicide in the first degree. Morrow will also be required to pay $1,875 ...

It takes a city: 23 turtles hatch at Crandall Park

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:36 GMT

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. (NEWS10) - The painted turtle is one of the most common types seen around New York. The ponds around Crandall Park are no exception. Turtles with orange stripes on their shells and necks can be seen basking on stumps and poking their heads out of the water. Around the start of the summer, one turtle was seen doing something else - laying a clutch of eggs in the middle of the park. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! "I run through the park most days," said Elizabeth Little Hogan, of the Crandall Park Beautification Committee. "I was coming around a hill and saw a turtle there. I talked to another lady who had taken a picture, and when I called the Department of Public Works, they already knew about it."This summer, a sunny spot on a sandy bank near the park's central-south wetland area became a nursery for 23 painted turtle eggs buried in the sand. Once the nest was found, DPW employees set up a barrier with cones...

LIVE: VP Kamala Harris to speak in St. Louis during fall DNC meeting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:36 GMT

LIVE: Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to speak sometime between 4-4:15 p.m. Friday afternoon. Follow the live stream above for Harris' upcoming remarks. ------ST. LOUIS - Vice President Kamala Harris is coming to St. Louis on Friday. She and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will be here for the fall meeting of the Democratic National Committee. They're meeting this week at the Marriott Grand Hotel on Washington Avenue. The vice president will also deliver remarks at a campaign reception Friday evening. This Missouri town’s water is testing above the limits for radium Aldermanic President Megan Green will also speak at the DNC meeting. She is slated to speak at 5:00 p.m. on Friday during a poverty caucus, and then she will take part in a panel discussion.We’re told the event is open to all Democrats, but the DNC is asking that you register online. The meeting there comes just after the drama played out earlier this week with the dismantling of the homeless encampment outside o...