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Iceland to tax housing to pay for lava barriers over volcanic eruption fears

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:56 GMT

Iceland’s parliament has approved a new tax on all housing for the next three years to fund the construction of lava barriers to protect infrastructure in the southwest of the country, an area which is a hotbed of seismic activity and has been bracing for volcanic eruptions over the past days.The law, passed overnight with 57 votes in Iceland’s 63-member parliament, levies a temporary property tax of 0.0008 percent on homes, and is expected to generate nearly 1 billion ISK (€6.5 million) in revenue. The funds raised will be used to build protections such as dikes, embankments and canals around Svartsengi, a geothermal power station located on the southern Reykjanes peninsula, about 65 kilometers from the capital, Reykjavík. The power station is the main supplier of water and electricity to the peninsula.The region has recorded thousands of earthquakes in recent days, with seismologists warning a volcanic eruption is imminent. Grindavík, a small fishing town with 3,000 re...

Chicago Bulls see a playmaking future for rookie Julian Phillips: ‘He can really see the court’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:56 GMT

For rookie Julian Phillips, the first weeks of his NBA debut have been a waiting game.Phillips rarely steps on the court for the Bulls, averaging less than three minutes in his first 10 games as an NBA player. The Bulls know their rookie needs to play. But Phillips has already made a strong impression even without meaningful time on the court.“He’s got a really good upside,” coach Billy Donovan said. “He definitely needs to play in games. That’s going to be important for him. But where he’s been from where he was — when we started summer league practice and then going through summer league and coming back to training camp — I think we’ve seen a pretty steady incline from all the time that he’s been here.”Phillips did not play Monday in the Bulls’ 118-109 loss at the Milwaukee Bucks.For the early weeks of the season, Donovan wanted Phillips to stay close to the team to become familiar with his new teammates ̵...

Celtics’ Jayson Tatum takes issue with technical foul in win over Knicks

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:56 GMT

Don’t get Jayson Tatum angry.But even then, it probably won’t matter.Tatum scored 17 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter to put away the Knicks in a 114-98 Celtics victory on Monday despite drawing a technical foul he strongly disagreed with.The Celtics led by 12 when Tatum was whistled for his fourth personal foul, which frustrated him. He clapped his hands, then said something in the direction of the official who called the foul before the official on the other side assessed him a technical foul.“I shouldn’t have got the tech,” Tatum said. “I mean, it’s tough. It’s an emotional game, right? The fans can see it, everybody watching can see it, it’s hard to play the game without emotions. I understand there’s a fine line and balance, but fourth quarter, we playing defense and I screamed nothing crazy. I’m not even directing it towards anybody. “For the ref on the other side to come and give me a tech, I don’t agree with that because it wasn’t right. Can’t go back...

Del Mar City Council votes on 'guiding principles' to help shape rail realignment project

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:56 GMT

DEL MAR, Calif. – Del Mar City Council voted 4 to 1 to approve a set of guidelines to make it clear where the city stands on the LOSSAN rail realignment project and any future decisions made about it. Del Mar residents also spoke out on where they believe the city should stand on the controversial plan to move the train off the bluffs by 2035. “Do not be passive, lets be active. Let’s get active as residents,” Clyde Freeman said. There are differing opinions even among councilmembers about the plan, which includes the strong possibility of an underground tunnel. “I find the proposed guidelines problematic, because they don’t clearly state with the majority of residents think. Mainly that there should be no tunnel that goes through Del Mar,” Steve Quirk said.   City of San Diego passes plan to reduce fees, entice homeowners to pay for sidewalk repairs Some in the community still don’t want the tunnel or a train at all. Additionally, the placement of the proposed tunnel ha...

3 murderers freed in Australia after court ruled out holding migrants indefinitely, minister says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:56 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Three murderers are among 81 foreigners recently released in Australia after the High Court ruled their indefinite detention in migrant centers was unconstitutional, the immigration minister said on Tuesday.The court hasn’t released the reasons behind its ruling last week that overturned a 2004 precedent that stateless people could be detained indefinitely.The Melbourne-based Human Rights Law Center reported last month that 127 people had been detained more than five years. The average was 709 days.Australia’s center-left government had argued against the release of the foreign and stateless detainees whom Australia does not want to resettle and other countries are reluctant to accept.Opposition lawmakers called them “hardcore criminals” and accused the government of endangering the public by releasing them.Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said the released foreigners included three murderers and several sex offenders. He offered to give deput...

Stock market today: Asian shares are mostly higher ahead of US inflation data and a US-China summit

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:56 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher Tuesday ahead of potentially market-moving developments, including a U.S.-China summit and data releases from the U.S., Japan and China.Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.3% to finish at 32,695.93. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.8% to 7,006.70. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.3% to 2,435.33. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was little changed, falling less than 0.1% to 17,418.94 while the Shanghai Composite edged up 0.2% to 3,052.37. “Asian stocks gained ground as investors awaited U.S. inflation figures, hoping to confirm that interest rates have peaked. Meanwhile, positive geopolitical sentiments filled the backdrop as investors looked forward to anticipated talks between the U.S. and China,” Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, said in a written commentary.China is due to release monthly economic indicators on Wednesday, and Japan will announce its latest growth numbers. On Wednesday, Chinese lea...

Rescue operation to save 40 workers trapped under a collapsed tunnel in north India enters 3rd day

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:56 GMT

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Rescuers are working around the clock Tuesday to remove debris to extract 40 workers who have been trapped for over two days after an under-construction tunnel collapsed in northern India. Officials hope to extricate them in the next 24 hours.A 2.5-foot (0.76 meter)-wide steel pipe will be pushed through an opening of excavated debris with the help of hydraulic jacks to safely pull out the stranded workers, authorities said.About 200 rescuers from federal and state disaster relief agencies are using drilling equipment and excavators to reach them.The tunnel collapsed Sunday in Uttarakhand, a mountainous state dotted with Hindu temples that attract many pilgrims and tourists. The tunnel is part of the busy Chardham all-weather road, a flagship federal government project connecting various Hindu pilgrimage sites.Senior government official Ranjit Sinha said falling debris has been hindering the rescue operation and added they expect to free the workers by Tuesday ...

Live updates | Thousands more flee northern Gaza as Israeli troops battle Palestinian militants

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:56 GMT

Fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants in northern Gaza caused another 200,000 people to flee south in the past 10 days, the U.N. humanitarian office said Tuesday.The humanitarian office, known as OCHA, said only one hospital in the north is capable of treating patients. Some of the fighting is around hospitals where patients, newborns and medics are stranded with no electricity and dwindling supplies. Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals as cover for its fighters, alleging that Hamas has set up its main command center in and beneath Shifa hospital, the largest in the besieged territory. Both Hamas and Shifa hospital staff deny the Israeli allegations.The southern part of Gaza is not much safer. Israel carries out frequent airstrikes against what it says are militant targets that often kill women and children.More than two-thirds of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have fled their homes since the war began.Gaza City, the largest urban area in the territory, is ...

Kazakhstan attends first 'Central Asia – G7' ministerial meeting

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:56 GMT

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Roman Vassilenko participated in the first ministerial meeting of the Central Asian and G7 countries that took place in an online format. Prospects for cooperation in the fields of regional security, economy, transport, energy and investment, combating global warming and protecting the environment, water management, as well as tourism were discussed at the meeting. In his remarks, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan stressed the importance of expanding trade ties, increasing the involvement of the G7 economies in the region, as well as developing the potential of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route in connecting key industrial centers of Europe and Asia. Roman Vassilenko further noted that Kazakhstan is committed to joint measures to counter modern global and regional challenges, in particular, solving the emergency in the field of climate, food crisis, and water issues as well as saving the Aral Sea. Kazakhstan’s pl...

Young woman found dead in Orange County identified

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:56 GMT

A tight-knit Orange County community is in shock after the body of a 27-year-old woman was found dead in an alley behind an old movie theater and a restaurant Sunday.  Officers with Laguna Beach Police Department responded after a construction worker discovered the  body of Tatum Goodwin “down in a secluded location” at around 8:20 a.m. near the 200 block of Ocean Avenue, a news release from the LBPD stated.  Police added that her body showed trauma consistent with a homicide.  “She was just such a loving, honest person,” a friend of the 27-year-old, Aleena Macintosh, told KTLA’s Mary Beth McDade. “You just wouldn’t think that anything would happen to her.”  Others who knew her say they are still in disbelief that the young, attractive member of their community was found under these tragic circumstances.  Tatum Goodwin, 27, was found dead in Laguna Beach on Nov. 12, 2023. Tatum Goodwin, 27, was found dead in Laguna Beach on Nov. 12, 2023. Tatum Goodwin, 27, was f...