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National Zoo’s annual ZooLights event will cost you $6 per ticket this year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:20 GMT

The Smithsonian National Zoo says its annual ZooLights event in D.C. will return from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. starting on Nov. 24 and continuing through Dec. 30.But it won’t be free.The annual event, now in its 15th year, will cost $6 per person, and children over 2 will have to have a ticket, the National Zoo said. Additionally, people can pay a flat-rate parking fee of $30.Money from the ticket sales will go to “animal care and conservation science at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute,” the zoo said.“Paid tickets are a change from past years when this special event was free to attend,” the zoo said in a release. “The ticket fee will offset the significant increase in costs associated with running this event.”Just like in previous years, people will see LED lights, illuminations and animal lanterns. They can also see live music performances, do some holiday shopping and enjoy food favorites.“Special wint...

Los talibanes dicen que más de 2.000 personas han muerto en el terremoto que sacudió el oeste de Afganistán

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:20 GMT

(CNN) — Unas 2.053 personas han muerto después de que un poderoso terremoto sacudiera el oeste de Afganistán, dijeron los talibanes este domingo, mientras la nación se tambalea por otro desastre natural en un momento de profunda crisis económica.Los fallecidos fueron reportado en 13 aldeas de la provincia occidental de Herat. Zabiullah Mojahid, portavoz de los talibanes, dijo en una publicación en X, antes conocido como Twitter, que 1.240 personas resultaron heridas y 1.320 casas quedaron total o parcialmente destruidas.Mojahid añadió que diez equipos de rescate llegaron a la provincia de Herat y también se enviaron al lugar alimentos, agua, medicinas y ropa.El terremoto de magnitud 6,3 se produjo este sábado a 40 kilómetros al oeste de la ciudad de Herat, en la provincia de Herat, la tercera más grande de Afganistán.Previamente, Abdul Wahed Rayan, un alto funcionario talibán del Ministerio de Información y Cultura, dijo a CNN que estimaban que cerca de 2.000 personas habían m...

Wetter Weather this Week

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:20 GMT

An unsettled weather pattern returns to South Florida this week as a weak front moves into the region this evening, stalling our nearby, then lifting back north as a warm front on Wednesday. With this front in the vicinity of South Florida combined with more moisture in place, rain chances will be higher this week at a 40-60% chance.As mentioned, this weakening cold front will reach the area later today. This will prompt increaing clouds throughout the day with scattered showers and thunderstorms possible at times during the afternoon and evening hours.If you have any outdoor plans and want to see the sunshine, then the morning and early afternoon will be the best time for that!Clouds will linger into our Monday with partly sunny skies and scattered, light passing showers expected. With winds more out of the north on Monday, high temperatures will be seasonable into the mid to upper 80s.That return to mild air will be short-lived, however, as winds veer more off the ocean by Tuesday...

US lawmakers want to help Israel, but political chaos spells delays

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:20 GMT

Within hours of the stunning attack by Hamas militants in Israel, U.S. lawmakers were quick to promise more aid to America’s closest ally in the Middle East.Yet those pledges come at a time of deep political dysfunction in Washington, raising questions over how quickly the money can start flowing.Despite pronouncements of support on both sides of the aisle, there will likely be no fast or easy response until the chaos surrounding the House’s empty speakership is settled. Both candidates for the gavel backed more support for Israel on Saturday, yet the House is still several days away from electing a leader, and the lower chamber remains far from unified on most issues.At the same time, Congress also has to grapple with a looming government shutdown when a funding patch expires Nov. 17.“There is nothing the House can do until they elect a speaker, and I don’t know if that happens quickly,” former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told Fox News on Saturday.A Defense Departme...

No jackpot winner in Saturday’s Powerball drawing, historic prize has now grown to an estimated $1.55 billion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:20 GMT

(CNN) — The already historic Powerball jackpot climbed to an estimated $1.55 billion after there was no big winner in Saturday night’s drawing, leaving the third largest prize in the game’s history still up for grabs.If the jackpot is won in the next drawing on Monday, a lucky player would have the option to claim a $679.8 million cash prize before tax, according to Powerball’s website.The jackpot rolled for a 34th time Saturday, with no winners for the $1.4 billion jackpot. The prize would have been the fifth largest US lottery jackpot.There have been no grand prize winners since July 19, when a single ticket sold in California nabbed a jackpot worth $1.08 billion.While no ticket matched all six numbers to claim the big prize Saturday, there were still some big winners.Multiple tickets matched five numbers to win $1 million prizes in California, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin. Another two tickets, sold in Iowa and Maine, nabbed $2 mi...

Cooler and breezy Sunday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:20 GMT

Good morning! it’s dry, cooler and breezy today. We get the sunshine back, so it’ll be a great day to get outside for any fall activities. We hold on to temperatures starting off in the 40s and ending in the 60s this week. Tuesday and the end of the week brings the chance of rain.There’s a chill to the air this morning, but it’s refreshing. Hello, new air mass! You’ll want the jacket this morning with temperatures in the upper 40s/low 50s. We’ll see mostly sunshine through the day as temperatures rebound to the low 60s.Tonight, temperatures fall into the 40s. Tomorrow will be similar to today – breezy, some sun and clouds with cool highs in the low 60s.I want to give a weekend weather shout-out to the first and third graders at Snug Harbor in Quincy! I visited their school this week. We created fog (always a favorite!), made it rain and shared our forecasts in front of the green screen.-Meteorologist Melanie Black

A policeman in Egypt killed 2 Israelis and 1 Egyptian at a tourist site in Alexandria

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:20 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian policeman opened fire Sunday on Israeli tourists in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, killing at least two Israelis and one Egyptian, Israeli and Egyptian authorities said.A statement from Egypt’s Interior Ministry said that another person was wounded in the attack at the Pompey’s Pillar site in Alexandria. It provided no further details.The Israeli Foreign Ministry identified the wounded as an Israeli who suffered moderate injuries. The ministry said in a statement that Israeli authorities were working with the Egyptian government to bring the Israelis home.Extra News television channel, which has close ties to Egyptian security agencies, reported that the suspected assailant was detained.Security forces quickly cordoned off the site of the attack. Graphic footage posted on social media showed two people lying motionless on the ground. Another was seen being helped by a group of men. One woman was heard shouting for an ambulance.Sunday’s attack ca...

A Baltic Sea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia is shut down over a suspected leak

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:20 GMT

HELSINKI (AP) — Finland and Estonia said Sunday that the undersea Balticconnector gas pipeline running between the two countries across the Baltic Sea has been temporarily taken out of service due to a suspected leak.Gasgrid Finland and Elering, the Finnish and Estonian gas system operators, said they noted an unusual drop in pressure in the pipeline shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday, after which they shut down the gas flow.“Based on observations, it was suspected that the offshore pipeline between Finland and Estonia was leaking,” Gasgrid Finland said in a statement. “The valves in the offshore pipeline are now closed and the leak is thus stopped.”The Finnish operator gave no reason for the suspected leak and said it was investigating together with Elering.Gasgrid Finland said the Finnish gas system is stable and the supply of gas has been secured through the Inkoo floating LNG terminal, referring to the offshore support vessel Exemplar — a floating liquefied natural gas terminal at the...

Trans Mountain route change will ‘desecrate’ sacred site: Secwépemc knowledge keeper

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:20 GMT

OTTAWA — A Secwépemc law called X7ensq’t says that if you disrespect the land and don’t take care of it properly, the land and the sky will turn on you.“It’s a serious law,” said Mike McKenzie, a Secwépemc knowledge keeper. He said he wonders “how much farther” people want to go in violating it. McKenzie was speaking about the Trans Mountain Corp., which last week resumed construction close to Pípsell, or Jacko Lake, near Kamloops, B.C., after a federal regulator approved a change to the Trans Mountain pipeline route.McKenzie, who has been a vocal critic of the pipeline expansion, said he believes the destruction of the site is a continuation of cultural genocide.“Without that place, we lose a big part of ourselves,” said McKenzie, who noted the Secwépemc creation story takes place in Pípsell, and their laws and customs are born from that land.“This is our Vatican. This is our Notre Dame. This is a place that gives our peop...

Other voices: Merrick Garland, an impressive bastion of judicial independence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:20 GMT

In a 1970 issue of the student newspaper at Niles West High School in suburban Chicago, senior Merrick Garland, the class valedictorian, offered the following advice to younger students:“Be sure to be a monitor and get in control of the (mimeograph) room,” he wrote, “because the person who controls the mimeo room controls the school.”Well, not quite. But, considering how Garland has ended up as the nation’s attorney general during some of the biggest legal firestorms since Watergate, it is just as well that he learned a few things at an early age about the power of the press.And the White House.Garland’s Justice Department is prosecuting both former President Donald Trump and the son of President Joe Biden. Four criminal indictments with a total of 91 felony charges have been filed against Trump this year — two on state charges in New York and Georgia and two on federal charges. Separately, Biden is the subject of a special counsel investiga...