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3 men arrested in South Africa for stealing large crocodile

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:51:21 GMT

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Three men have been arrested in South Africa for stealing a 2.5-meter (8-feet) long Nile crocodile worth about $1,300 from a farm in the North West province, police said Monday.The men, who are all aged between 20 and 35, are believed to have used a pick-up truck to take the animal from a crocodile farm in the Hartbeesfontein area about 200 kilometers (124 miles) west of Johannesburg.The crocodile was found tied up with rope and wire in an abandoned farmhouse. The men had covered it up with tree branches in an attempt to hide it, police said. Police also found the pick-up truck. The men were arrested last week and are due to appear in court on Monday.Police are investigating how they managed to get the large crocodile out of the farm, which had secure fencing, police spokeswoman Col. Adele Myburgh said.“How did they slip this animal out?” she said. “It’s not a baby crocodile by any means.”Myburgh said the crocodile was badly dehydrated when...

European leaders to commit to more wind energy production

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:51:21 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — Nine Western European leaders on Monday are committing to ramp up the production of clean energy from wind turbines in the North Sea to both meet climate targets and reduce their strategic energy dependence on Russia. The leaders will also seek to improve security around the growing underwater electricity grid so it cannot fall victim to hybrid threats. Fears of such attacks have increased since the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year. The leaders said in a joint op-ed contribution in Politico that they need more wind turbines and grid infrastructure “to reach our climate goals, and rid ourselves of Russian gas, ensuring a more secure and independent Europe.” To underscore their commitments, the Netherlands, Britain, Norway and the European Union all announced new projects to boost the production of such green energy and move toward greater strategic independence. The summit in Belgium’s North Sea port of Ostend is the second one to address the ever more pressing i...

Animatronic dragon bursts into flames during Disneyland show

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:51:21 GMT

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Spectators at Disneyland’s popular “Fantasmic” show got a shock this weekend when the feature’s fire-breathing animatronic dragon suddenly burst into flames. No injuries were reported following the blaze Saturday night at the Southern California theme park, the Anaheim Fire Department said. Ryan Laux, a frequent Disneyland visitor, said fire has always been a part of the “Fantasmic” presentation. But he said he knew something was awry when when flames didn’t come from where they usually do. “The head started going on fire instead of the fire projecting out,” said Laux, who lives in Los Angeles and captured the blaze on video.The show was stopped almost immediately “and then right after that, the dragon started catching fire and the whole body was up in flames,” he said Sunday. The show takes place twice nightly near the park’s famous Tom Sawyer Island. The climax features Mickey Mouse battling a giant dragon named Maleficent.Laux ...

‘Gender Queer’ tops library group’s list of challenged books

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:51:21 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — With Florida legislators barring even the mention of being gay in classrooms and similar restrictions under consideration in other states, a report released Monday says books with LGBTQ+ themes remain the most likely targets of bans or attempted bans at public schools and libraries around the country.The American Library Association announced that Maia Kobabe’s graphic memoir “Gender Queer” was the most “challenged” book of 2022, the second consecutive year it has topped the list.The ALA defines a challenge as a “formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.”Other books facing similar trials include George M. Johnson’s “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” Mike Curato’s “Flamer,” Stephen Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” John Green’s “Looking for Alaska,” Jonathan Evison’s “Lawn Boy” and Juno Dawson’s “This Book Is Gay.”“All the challenges are openly saying that young people should no...

Jury to hear closing arguments in Proud Boys leaders’ trial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:51:21 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A historic trial over the deadly U.S. Capitol insurrection is drawing to a close, with prosecutors and defense lawyers set to make their final appeals to jurors before they decide the fate of Proud Boys extremist group leaders charged with plotting to use force to keep then-President Donald Trump in power. A federal jury in Washington, D.C., is scheduled to begin hearing closing arguments on Monday after more than three months of testimony in the seditious conspiracy case against former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants. Tarrio is one of the top targets of the Justice Department’s investigation of the riot that erupted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress prepared to certify Joe Biden’s presidential election victory over Trump. Tarrio wasn’t in Washington, D.C., that day but is accused of orchestrating an attack from afar.The Justice Department has already secured seditious conspiracy convictions against the founder and m...

'Young and the Restless' star Eric Braeden announces he has cancer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:51:21 GMT

In the above video, Eric Braeden on his dreams growing up in post-war Germany at the 53rd Monte-Carlo Television Festival in 2013. (Getty Images Entertainment Video)TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Eric Braeden, the actor best known for his role as Victor Newman in the hit soap opera "Young and the Restless," announced that he has been diagnosed with cancer during an emotional Facebook Live on Friday. The 82-year-old German actor told his fans in the 13-minute livestream that he began experiencing issues with his prostate while recovering from a recent knee surgery. Trump: ‘Nixon had no support … I have great Jim Jordan’ "I hate to be this personal, but I think this may be good for some older guys who may or may not listen to this," Braeden shared. The actor said that while he has had issues with his prostate before, this time, they became so bad that he could no longer urinate. Braeden added that it was "one of the most painful experiences."Before his diagnosis, the 82-year-old said that he...

Ken Potts, one of the last 2 USS Arizona survivors, dies at 102

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:51:21 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — Ken Potts, one of the last two remaining survivors of the USS Arizona battleship, which sank during the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, has died. He was 102.Howard Kenton Potts died Friday at the home in Provo, Utah, that he shared with his wife of 66 years, according to Randy Stratton, whose late father, Donald Stratton, was Potts' Arizona shipmate and close friend.Stratton said Potts “had all his marbles” but lately was having a hard time getting out of bed. When Stratton spoke to Potts on his birthday, April 15, he was happy to have made it to 102. USS Arizona survivor celebrates 100th birthday “But he knew that his body was kind of shutting down on him, and he was just hoping that he could get better but (it) turned out not,” Stratton said.Potts was born and raised in Honey Bend, Illinois, and enlisted in the Navy in 1939.He was working as a crane operator shuttling supplies to the Arizona the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, when the Pearl Harbor attack happened...

Active week of weather with two threats of severe storms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:51:21 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Keep your KXAN Weather app set to your location and volume on loud as we are tracking two different severe weather set-ups between now and midweek. SATURDAY NIGHT HAIL AS LARGE AS TENNIS BALLS FOR SOME Today will be one of the quieter days of the work week with only a few spots of sprinkles/light rain possible. Mainly cloudy skies and cool temperatures (60s) can be expected areawide.A disturbance passing overhead will bring an increased chance for scattered storms Tuesday afternoon and evening. Storm development will largely depend on whether the "lid" in our atmosphere breaks (formally known as the "cap"), but current thinking points to this lid eroding and storms strengthening late in the day.A slight risk (2 out of 5) exists for areas in the eastern Hill Country, Austin-metro and eastern counties Tuesday afternoon and evening. Large hail, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes are all possible.Scattered severe storms possible Tuesday afternoon and eveningAll mod...

‘Pristine’ Menominee forest at risk for lack of workers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:51:21 GMT

MENOMINEE COUNTY, Wis. — Amid the sprawling farmlands of northeast Wisconsin, the Menominee forest feels like an elixir, and a marvel. Its trees press in, towering and close, softening the air, a dense emerald wilderness that’s home to wolves, bears, otters, warblers and hawks, and that shows little hint of human hands.Over the last 160 years, much of this forest has been chopped down and regrown nearly three times. The Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin, its stewards, have pulled nearly 200 million cubic feet of timber from this land since 1854 — white pine cut into museum displays and hard maple made into basketball courts for the Olympics.Yet the forest has more trees on the same acreage than it did a century and a half ago — with some trees over 200 years old.The Menominee accomplished this by putting the well-being of the forest and their people ahead of profits and doing the exact opposite of commercial foresters. They chop down trees that are sick and dying or harvest those that ha...

‘Advancing equity and access’: Founder of BikeMN reminisces on career as he steps into retirement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:51:21 GMT

Ever since the BikeMN nonprofit, Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota, got its wheels rolling in 2008 under founder and Executive Director Dorian Grilley’s leadership, the entire state has experienced his passionate advocacy for biking.But even though Grilley has announced his retirement from the position, his mission with Minnesota’s biking community is far from over.“I am honored to have dedicated my career to advancing equity and access in biking across our state and beyond,” Grilley said. “I’m so proud to leave behind a strong organization that I truly believe in, with dedicated and thoughtful people at the helm who will usher in the next era of biking advocacy and education in Minnesota.”Even though he is stepping down as executive director, he still plans to volunteer with BikeMN as an advocate at the Capitol and advocate for active transportation on a part-time basis with Minnesota communities.BikeMN is a nonprofit statewide organization that strives to make walking and ...