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Biden administration approves controversial Willow oil project in Alaska, which has galvanized online activism

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:34 GMT

(CNN) — The Biden administration has approved the massive Willow oil drilling project in Alaska, angering climate advocates and setting the stage for a court challenge.The Willow Project is a decadeslong oil drilling venture in the National Petroleum Reserve, which is owned by the federal government. The area where the project is planned holds up to 600 million barrels of oil, though that oil would take years to reach the market since the project has yet to be constructed.By the administration’s own estimates, the project would generate enough oil to release 9.2 million metric tons of planet-warming carbon pollution a year — equivalent to adding 2 million gas-powered cars to the roads.The approval is a victory for Alaska’s bipartisan congressional delegation and a coalition of Alaska Native tribes and groups who hailed the drilling venture as a much-needed new source of revenue and jobs for the remote region.But it is a major blow to climate groups ...

Bank stocks drop and S&P 500 swings as Wall Street shakes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:34 GMT

By STAN CHOE (AP Business Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is worried about what may be next to topple following the second- and third-largest bank failures in U.S. history, and stocks are swinging sharply Monday as investors scramble to find someplace safe to park their money.The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in morning trading, but only after tumbling 1.4% at the open. The sharpest drops were again coming from banks. Investors are worried that a relentless rise in interest rates meant to get inflation under control are approaching a tipping point and may be cracking the banking system. The U.S. government announced a plan late Sunday meant to shore up the banking industry following the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank since Friday. The most pressure is on the regional banks a couple steps below in size of the massive, “too-big-to-fail” banks that helped take down the economy in 2007 and 2008. Shares of First Republic plunged 78%, even ...

Biden OKs controversial, huge Willow oil drilling in Alaska

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:34 GMT

By MATTHEW DALY and CHRIS MEGERIAN (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Monday it is approving the controversial major Willow oil project on Alaska’s petroleum-rich North Slope, one of President Joe Biden’s most consequential climate choices that is likely to draw condemnation from environmentalists who say it flies in the face of the Democratic president’s pledges.The announcement comes a day after the administration, in a big conservation move, said it would bar or limit drilling in some other areas of Alaska and the Arctic Ocean.Biden’s Willow plan would allow three drill sites initially, which project developer ConocoPhillips has said would include about 219 total wells. A fourth drill site proposed for the project would be denied. The company has said it considers the three-site option workable. Houston-based ConocoPhillips will relinquish rights to about 68,000 acres of existing leases in the National Petroleum Reserve...

March Madness bracket primer: Who should you pick?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:34 GMT

If you’re like most of the country, you probably didn’t count on a No. 8 seed reaching the national title game last year — or a No. 15 seed making it to the Elite Eight.Thank you North Carolina and Saint Peter’s, who made sure there’s nowhere to go but up trying to pick a winning bracket in 2023.This season, of course, picking the March Madness bracket comes with its own set of potential pitfalls. How do you account for injuries at Houston and UCLA? Can defending champ Kansas make another run after losing handily in the Big 12 Tournament final? Is this the year you can trust the Big Ten?Here’s one way to go with the bracket:SOUTH REGIONFirst Four: Texas A&M Corpus Christi over Southeast Missouri State.First round winners: Alabama, West Virginia, San Diego State, Virginia, Creighton, Baylor, Utah State and Arizona.Maryland was terrific at home this season and not very good on the road. At a neutral site, the Terrapins get a tough first-round matchup against a West Virginia team r...

Patriots free agency tracker and grades: Every New England signing, rumor and move

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:34 GMT

Welcome to NFL free agency!The NFL will officially open for business Monday at noon with the start of its “legal tampering” period, during which time teams can begin negotiating with free agents and their representatives.Spoiler: most of those talks have already been held.Several of the top free agents — including possibly Jakobi Meyers — should agree to a new contract Monday, when historically most major deals have been reached and reported following weeks of unsanctioned contract talks.As for the Patriots, they’re in a strong position. They own the eighth-most cap space in the NFL at $30.9 million, per Over the Cap, and rank among the lowest-spending teams in the league over the last three years. They have clear needs at wide receiver, offensive tackle and cornerback. Bill Belichick could solve one or two of them this week, provided the Pats are willing to spend and identify proper value in the market.So will they make a big splash? Or will the Patrio...

The meaning behind the blue ribbons worn at the Oscars

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:34 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Small and subtle, the blue ribbons worn by many celebrities at the Oscars nonetheless had an important message: support refugees.According to a statement from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, donning the #WithRefugees ribbons Sunday “sends a powerful visual message that everyone has the right to seek safety, whoever, wherever, whenever.”The ribbons were made by Knotty Tie Co., which the agency says provides employment, training and education to refugees resettled in the Denver area.“In many of the films nominated at festivals and awards ceremonies this season, the human themes of conflict, separation and loss are present,” the agency said in the statement, citing movies like “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.”“Through effective storytelling, these films help erode discrimination and misunderstandings, offer new perspectives and help to build compassion for people forced to flee, the statement continued.”Like o...

UN: World after earthquake was slow to send aid to Syria

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:34 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — The international community and the Syrian government did not act quickly last month to help people in need in the rebel-held northwest after a deadly earthquake hit Turkey and Syria, a U.N. commission said Monday.The Feb. 6 magnitude 7.8 earthquake and strong aftershocks that ravaged southern Turkey and northwestern Syria killed more than 50,000 people, including over 6,000 in Syria.The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said there should be an investigation into why it took a week to open border crossings for aid to flow. It added that war-torn Syria “now needs a comprehensive cease-fire that is fully respected” for civilians, including aid workers, to be safe.It took a week for the U.N. and Syria’s President Bashar Assad’s government to agree on opening two more border crossings into the rebel-held region bordering Turkey as many people were still under the rubble.“Since the earthquake, we have seen many acts to help victims by the Syrians them...

Missouri officer killed, 2nd hurt in shooting; suspect fled

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:34 GMT

HERMANN, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri police officer has been killed and a second officer is badly wounded after a shooting at a small-town convenience store.The shooting about 9:30 p.m. Sunday killed Detective Sgt. Mason Griffith of the Hermann Police Department. Authorities have not released the name of the injured officer. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the injured officer was in serious but stable condition at a hospital.The patrol has not released information about what led to the shooting. It wasn’t clear if the officers returned fire. The patrol identified the suspect as 35-year-old Kenneth Lee Simpson of St. Louis County, who got away.The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Monday that police are focusing their search for Simpson on a home along Highway 19 near Hermann, not far from where the shooting happened.Police surrounded the home and yelled for him to come outside. Officers earlier searched near a motel in Hermann, where the Post-Dispatch said Simpson and his girl...

Death toll climbs as Cyclone Freddy slams Malawi, Mozambique

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:34 GMT

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — An unrelenting Cyclone Freddy that is currently battering southern Africa has killed at least 56 people in Malawi and Mozambique since it struck the continent for a second time on Saturday night, authorities in both countries have confirmed. Local police said 51 people in Malawi, including 36 in Chilobwe in the financial hub of Blantyre in the center of the country have died, with several others missing or injured. Authorities in Mozambique reported that five people were killed in the country since Saturday.The deaths in Malawi include five members of a single family who died in Blantyre’s Ndirande township after Freddy’s destructive winds and heavy rains demolished their house, according to a police report. A three-year-old child who was “trapped in the debris” is also among the victims, with her parents among those reported missing, authorities also said.“We suspect that this figure will rise as we are trying to compile one national report from ...

Markets volatile in early morning trading after U.S. bank failures

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:34 GMT

TORONTO — It is a volatile trading session for markets this morning amid fears of financial contagion in the U.S. after the second- and third-largest bank failures in that country’s history, while Canada’s main stock exchange moves lower on weakness in the energy and financial sectors.The S&P/TSX composite index was down 148.96 points at 19,625.96.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 61.37 points at 31,971.01. The S&P 500 index was down 8.91 points at 3,852.68, while the Nasdaq composite was down 8.10 points at 11,130.79.The Canadian dollar traded for 72.76 cents US compared with 72.43 cents US on Friday.The April crude contract was down US$.38 at US$73.30 per barrel and the April natural gas contract was up 13 cents at US$2.56 per mmBTU.The April gold contract was up US$45.20 at US$1,912.4 an ounce and the May copper contract was down three cents at US$4.00 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2023.Companies in this story: ...