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India moon landing near south pole is ‘fantastic achievement’: A possible spot for moon bases

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:35:55 GMT

India took moon exploration to the next phase becoming the first country to land near the lunar south pole — an “exciting accomplishment not only for them but for the international community,” according to a moon expert.India’s mission Chandrayaan-3 successfully soft-landed on the moon Wednesday, joining the U.S., Russia and China as the only countries to soft-land a spacecraft on the moon.The spacecraft landed further south than any in history, near the lunar south pole where some researchers believe there is plenty of water ice. The south pole is a potential spot for moon bases in the future.“It’s a fantastic achievement for India,” University of Notre Dame Professor Clive Neal told the Herald. “It’s an exciting accomplishment not only for them but for the international community.“This is an area of the moon we have no idea about,” he added. “And this gives us another data point in the highlands of the moon.&#...

What’s next for the Chicago White Sox front office? A report lists Chris Getz and Dayton Moore as names to watch

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:35:55 GMT

Yasmani Grandal recalled going through front office changes early in his major-league career with the San Diego Padres.The catcher is experiencing it again as a veteran with the Chicago White Sox.“Usually that happens when a team doesn’t perform,” Grandal said Wednesday.The Sox announced an overhaul Tuesday, firing executive vice president Ken Williams and general manager Rick Hahn.“Definitely shocking,” Grandal said. “But the one thing I’ve learned in this game is that it’s also a business. Things like this happen all the time.”The Sox have followed up a disappointing 2022, where they went 81-81 and missed the playoffs, by taking a huge step back at 50-77.“We just haven’t reached that potential,” said shortstop Tim Anderson, who returned to the lineup Wednesday after serving his five-game suspension. “We have to continue to try to get better. We haven’t got to where we need to be.”The Sox won ...

Padres pitcher Robert Suárez ejected after sticky substance check

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:35:55 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Padres relief pitcher Robert Suárez was ejected from the game Wednesday against the Miami Marlins after a sticky substance check.Suárez, who was replacing Steven Wilson in the top of the eighth inning, got looked at by the umpires prior to entering the game. However, Suárez was shortly tossed out following the substance check.Tom Cosgrove ended up pitching the eight inning instead of Suárez.Major League Baseball umpires usually perform a substance check after every inning and when a new pitcher is brought into the game. Philippine Cultural Arts Festival coming to Balboa Park It is uncertain at this time what Suárez possessed to prompt the ejection.Suárez will be suspended for 10 games, according to a rule Major League Baseball implemented in June 2021 to crack down against players using illegal foreign substances to doctor baseballs. Suárez can, however, appeal the suspension, per Padres manager Bob Melvin.The Padres would be limited to 25 players during Suárez’s sus...

'Let's save lives': Aztecs deliver PSA on dangers of fentanyl

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:35:55 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The message is powerful and honest, delivered by some of the most admired and respected young athletes in San Diego's community. And the message is simple: fentanyl kills, here’s what you need to look for and here's what you need to do. Members of San Diego State University men’s basketball team, including several who played in the 2023 NCAA National Championship Game, are using their voices to get the word out about the deadly consequences of fentanyl.  WATCH the PSA "Fentanyl kills, creates chaos, ruins families," Lamont Butler says in the video. "It doesn't care about your race. It doesn't care how you identify."Frank and honest, the public service announcement was launched this week to highlight Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day. The powerful video was posted to social media sites including Instagram, X, formerly known as Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and YouTube. City Attorney Mara Elliott is a mom to teenagers. Her office has prosecuted dozens ...

Gunfire in Pittsburgh neighborhood prompts standoff and evacuations; 1 person later pronounced dead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:35:55 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A man facing eviction opened fire at officers from inside a Pittsburgh home Wednesday, shooting down police drones and prompting evacuations in the neighborhood, in a gunbattle and siege that lasted much of the day and ended with authorities saying he was dead. City emergency medical service responders pronounced the man dead shortly after 5 p.m. after the hourslong standoff in the city’s Garfield neighborhood, Pittsburgh Public Safety reported. Officials did not immediately identify the man or elaborate on the circumstances of his death.Allegheny County Sheriff Kevin Kraus said deputies went to the residence to serve the eviction warrant and tried to talk to the occupant, but when they finally made contact at the door, they abruptly came under fire.“They began to take cover, return fire — engaged in a pretty significant gunbattle,” Kraus said. One deputy was initially reported as having been shot but actually sustained only a superficial head injury “when he...

Wagner mercenary leader, Russian mutineer, ‘Putin’s chef’: The many sides of Yevgeny Prigozhin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:35:55 GMT

Yevgeny Prigozhin’s fate has been entwined with the Kremlin for decades — as a trusted government contractor, and the head of the Wagner mercenary army that fought in Ukraine and has been blamed for doing Russia’s dirty work in Syria and Africa. But when he turned his men toward Moscow two months ago, many inside Russia and beyond started wondering just how long he could last after drawing the fury of Russian President Vladimir Putin.Prigozhin cut a deal with Putin and the leader of Belarus for a safe haven for himself and the men involved in the rebellion. He was reported to pop up periodically in Russia, and appeared in a recruitment video earlier this week.But then on Wednesday Russia’s civil aviation agency said he was aboard a plane that crashed north of Moscow, killing all 10 people on board.PRIGOZHIN’S BACKGROUNDPrigozhin was convicted of robbery and assault in 1981, and sentenced to 12 years in prison. When he got out, he opened a restaurant business ...

Chinese mother of teenage girl found dead in B.C. tearfully testifies at murder trial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:35:55 GMT

VANCOUVER — The Chinese mother of a 13-year-old girl found dead in a Burnaby, B.C., park six years ago has taken the witness stand at the murder trial of her accused killer.The mother, who cannot be named under the terms of a publication ban on the girls’ identity, broke down in tears as she talked about the meaning of her daughter’s Chinese name. The name is a reference to the light rain that was falling on the day the girl was born, she told the British Columbia Supreme Court hearing.The girl’s body was found in Burnaby’s Central Park in the early hours of July 19, 2017, just hours after her mother reported her missing.The woman repeatedly wept at the mention of the girl’s name during the trial of Ibrahim Ali on Wednesday.Ali pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the case earlier this year.The mother, testifying in Mandarin through an interpreter, told the court her daughter had been taking morning summer school classes in July 2017 and spent h...

Oil production boosts government income in New Mexico, as legislators build savings ‘bridge’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:35:55 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Record-breaking oil production in New Mexico is likely to provide state government with a new multibillion-dollar surplus during the upcoming budget year, economists for the state announced Wednesday.Annual state general fund income would increase to $13 billion for the fiscal year that runs from July 2024 to June 2025 — a surplus of $3.5 billion, or 36%, over current annual general fund spending obligations, according to the forecast from lead economists at four state agencies including the Legislature’s budget and accountability office.The estimates were presented to a panel of leading legislators Wednesday and set the stage for budget negotiations when the Legislature meets in January 2024, amid public concerns about crime, health care and the quality of public education in a state with high rates of childhood poverty and low workforce participation.Annual oil production in New Mexico has more than doubled over the past five years, as the state became the No...

Tensions high in San Francisco as city seeks reversal of ban on clearing homeless encampments

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:35:55 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tensions flared Wednesday as lawyers for San Francisco argued in appellate court that the city can no longer maintain safe, clean streets while trying to get homeless people indoors after a federal judge banned the city from clearing tent encampments until there are more shelter beds than homeless individuals.San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said people are refusing offers of shelter more frequently because of the injunction and that it would cost at least $1.5 billion to house every person who is currently homeless. The order has drawn furious responses from city leaders, including Mayor London Breed, who joined more than 200 people outside the federal courthouse Wednesday to urge the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to vacate the order. “We are compassionate, we are supportive, we continue to help people, but this is not the way,” she said. “‘Anything goes in San Francisco’ is not the way.” But attorneys for homeless residents who sued the city ar...

Mobile debit payments in stores jump 53% over past year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:35:55 GMT

Interac says mobile debit payments in stores jumped 53 per cent over the past 12 months, while e-commerce purchases rose 17 per cent.The survey shows the trends were driven by Gen Z, who also influenced their Gen X parents in adopting contactless payments via mobile phone.The survey shows eight in 10 (78 per cent) Gen Z adults pay using their smartphones, while only 42 per cent of their parents’ generation relied on contactless payments, citing concerns about security.The national debit network says more than a billion debit mobile contactless and in-app transactions happened between August 2022 and July 2023.William Keliehor, chief commercial officer at Interac, says debit remains central to the way Canadians choose to pay, even as it takes new forms.The survey also shows 63 per cent of Canadians expect it will soon be normal to not carry a physical wallet, knowing you can pay with a smartphone or smartwatch.The survey by Hill+Knowlton Strategies polled 1,502 Canadians in June.