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Global plastic treaty talks limp on despite blockade by oil-rich countries

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:00 GMT

PARIS — Getting 170-plus countries to agree on a global treaty to fight plastic pollution was never going to be easy. But negotiators didn’t think clearing the first hurdle would be this hard.A second round of U.N. talks for an international plan to tackle plastic pollution limped toward its conclusion Friday, marred by delays, protests, and geopolitical tensions.A key aim for many countries was to give the go-ahead for the broad strokes of a plastics treaty to be drafted, giving them something to work off of at the next round of talks in Kenya in November.The meeting ended Friday evening with a mandate to draft the text — to the relief of countries in the High Ambition Coalition, which is pushing to “end plastic pollution by 2040,” and NGOs. “After a week of negotiations, the world is one step closer to the unmissable opportunity of a global treaty to end the plastic pollution crisis,” said WWF Special Envoy Marco Lambertini. “The first draft of t...

‘Now we go.’ As Jameson Taillon returns to form and bullpen steps up in 1-run win, the Chicago Cubs must ride the momentum.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:00 GMT

Jameson Taillon’s start to his four-year deal with the Chicago Cubs largely has been forgettable.A left groin strain and time on the injured list two weeks into the season spiraled into a five-start stretch that produced 21 earned runs in 17⅓ innings. Encouraging moments have been fleeting for the 31-year-old veteran this season, with the Cubs believing in his track record as a big-league starter with a career 3.84 ERA and 107 ERA+.“I’ve been just grinding trying to find it,” Taillon said Friday. “After you come to a new team and organization, you just want to impress and you want to prove that you’re worth the commitment that they gave you. I feel like up until this point, I haven’t been doing that, I haven’t been pulling my weight.”Taillon delivered his best outing in a Cubs uniform with a tone-setting performance in a 2-1 win Friday against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.The Padres managed only one base runner on an ...

Column: It’s no Taylor Swift concert, but Chicago White Sox hope to to shake off possibility of a cruel summer to start homestand

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:00 GMT

The opener of a three-game series between the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers on Friday might have lacked some of the anticipation of the Taylor Swift concert a few miles north.There was no bad blood between the teams, as was the case in years past. All the Sox could do after their 23-35 start in April and May was to shake it off or face the possibility of another cruel summer on the South Side.Manager Pedro Grifol was just excited to have his whole team back for the first time, with Elvis Andrus and starter Mike Clevinger coming off the injured list Friday, four days after the return of closer Liam Hendriks from non-Hodgkin lymphoma.“Having a full roster like this and having some depth is going to allow us to rest people more often than we have been able to,” Grifol said before Friday’s 3-0 victory. “And that’s important for us to allow bodies to recover while we still have the depth in our lineup.”How Grifol deals with the rare abundance of...

MIT Graduation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:00 GMT

On a beautiful summer like day, MIT graduated members of its class of 2023 with their first degrees from the world renowned institution.

Lucas: IRS still gunning for taxpayers under Biden

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:00 GMT

Joe Biden will soon have a bigger army than the U.S had when it invaded Normandy in World War II.That invasion, which led to victory over Nazi Germany, took place on June 6, 1944 — the longest day — and will be commemorated Tuesday.Excluding the UK and Canada, the U.S. had some 71,000 troops in that invasion, 54,000 who stormed the beaches at Omaha and Utah, along with 13,000 paratroopers and 4,000 glider infantrymen who landed inland.Joe Biden’s army in his war against the American taxpayer is made up of 85,260 new IRS agents – down from 87,000 — which not only doubles the existing size of the agency but will cost the taxpayers billions to pay for the expansion.It is too bad Biden will not send IRS agents to the southern border to protect the American people from the millions of illegal immigrants who have invaded the country. Instead, they will go after Americans.Biden administration maintains that the new agents will only go after tax dodging corporations and billiona...

Battenfeld: Could Biden health concerns trigger Democratic doomsday scenario?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:00 GMT

Some falls are funny and some are alarming. The tumble by 80-year-old President Biden on the stage in Colorado falls into the alarming category.As you’ve probably seen, Biden tripped over a sandbag and fell head first onto the stage at the Air Force Academy after speaking, drawing audible gasps from the audience. Looking dazed and confused, the commander-in-chief pointed at the sandbag, as if it had jumped out in front of him.The media coverage of the incident was almost apologetic, as if covering for the president. The media pool report described Biden as looking “spry” after the fall. The headline in the Reuters story was, “Biden trips and falls during graduation ceremony, recovers quickly.” White House officials called him “totally fine.”A number of media had to go back to 1975 to talk about a fall then-President Gerald Ford took, as if to somehow imply this was common.But it wasn’t. If your 80-year-old father fell like that, you wouldn’t be quite so dismissive. You’d be naturall...

Adam Frazier wants to walk more than he strikes out. The Orioles veteran is one of the rare players who could.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:00 GMT

To Adam Frazier, his goal is obvious.The veteran second baseman knows what he is, and what he isn’t.“I’m not a middle-of-the-order bat,” he said. “It’s about knowing your role.”Frazier, one of the best hitters at making contact in the major leagues, wants to walk more times this season than he strikes out — a feat he’s never accomplished and one that only six qualified batters did in 2022. Despite the fact that he’s part of a small percentage of players capable of achieving that goal, he doesn’t view it as unusual.“Well, why wouldn’t it be a goal?” Frazier quipped, noting that, of course, any player would want to walk more than he strikes out.However, simply having that as a goal — one that no Oriole has achieved since Rafael Palmeiro in 2004 — exemplifies Frazier’s skill set and value in the Orioles’ lineup so far this season, his first in Baltimore.“I’ve got a sp...

No more survivors found after India train crash kills over 280, injures 900; Modi heads to site

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:00 GMT

BALASORE, India (AP) — Rescuers found no more survivors in the overturned and mangled wreckage of two passenger trains that derailed in eastern India, killing more than 280 people and injuring hundreds in one of the country’s deadliest rail crashes in decades, officials said Saturday.Chaotic scenes erupted after the derailment on Friday night about 220 kilometers (137 miles) southwest of Kolkata, as rescuers climbed atop the wrecked trains to break open doors and windows using cutting torches. The death toll rose steadily throughout the night. Scores of bodies, covered by white sheets, lay on the ground near the tracks as locals and rescuers raced to help survivors. Army soldiers and air force helicopters joined the effort.“By 10 p.m. (on Friday) we were able to rescue the survivors. After that it was about picking up dead bodies,” Sudhanshu Sarangi, director of Odisha state’s fire and emergency department, told The Associated Press. “This is very, very tragic. I have ne...

US defense secretary says Washington won’t stand for ‘coercion and bullying’ from China

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:00 GMT

SINGAPORE (AP) — U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin vowed Saturday that Washington would not stand for any “coercion and bullying” of its allies and partners by China, while assuring Beijing that the United States remains committed to maintaining the status quo on Taiwan and would prefer dialogue over conflict.Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual forum bringing together top defense officials, diplomats and leaders in Singapore, Austin lobbied for support for Washington’s vision of a “free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific within a world of rules and rights” as the best course to counter increasing Chinese assertiveness in the region.The U.S. has been expanding its own activities around the Indo-Pacific to counter sweeping territorial claims from China, including regularly sailing through and flying over the Taiwan Strait and in the South China Sea. “We are committed to ensuring that every country can fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows,” he...

Israeli army kills gunman in shootout along Egypt’s border

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:00 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli troops shot and killed a gunman on Saturday in a shootout in southern Israel along the Egyptian border, the military said. It said the assailant was in Israeli territory when he opened fire at troops. The soldiers returned fire, killing the gunman. In an earlier statement, the army said two people were wounded. Israel and Egypt signed a peace agreement in 1979 and maintain close security ties. Fighting along their shared border is rare.The exchange of fire reportedly took place around the Nitzana border crossing between Israel and Egypt. The crossing is located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of the point where Israel’s border with Egypt and the Gaza Strip converge. It’s used to import goods from Egypt destined for Israel or the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.Israel built a fence along the porous border a decade ago to halt the entry of African migrants and Islamic militants who are active in Egypt’s Sinai desert.The Associated Press