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French prosecutors probe Champagne grape-pickers’ deaths in extreme heat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:52:41 GMT

Public prosecutors in France’s northeastern Champagne region are investigating the deaths of at least four grape-pickers who died while working in extreme heat, according to local media reports.One casualty was a 19-year-old seasonal worker in the Reims region, who died last Friday as the temperature climbed to at least 32 degrees Celsius in the shade, France Bleu Champagne-Ardenne reported, as France was hit by a late summer heat wave that led to record temperatures across the country in early September.“With climate change, the situation is bound to get worse,” Anthony Smith, union representative at the French Labor Ministry, told radio broadcaster RMC. “In France, labor inspectors don’t have the power to stop an activity during severe heat or heat waves.”Around 120,000 seasonal workers head to the Champagne region every year at the end of the summer to pick the grapes used to produce the iconic French bubbly.Another two workers died while harve...

Classes set to resume in Leominster as community cleans up from historic flooding

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:52:41 GMT

Students are set to return to class in Leominster on Thursday as cleanup efforts continue following severe flash flooding in the area earlier this week. More rain on Wednesday sent water cascading down already washed out roadways and triggered a flood watch for much of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island as well as parts of southern New Hampshire. And as kids head back to class and the community looks to return to a sense of normalcy, officials say the recovery from flooding may still take months. “It’s going to take a long time to have this all fixed up,” said Leominster resident Ann Godfrey.Floodwaters rose fast on Monday, ultimately washing out roads and damaging homes, businesses and city facilities. First responders from numerous state and local agencies rescued residents from flooded homes. As the sun then rose on Tuesday morning, several roads remained closed due to sinkholes and other damage.Near Hamilton Street in Leominster, railroad tracks still hung over a w...

COVID-19 cases reported on luxury cruise ship MV Ocean Explorer that ran aground in Greenland

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:52:41 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The operator of a luxury cruise ship that ran aground in Greenland with 206 people on board said Thursday at least three passengers have contracted COVID-19. The announcement followed a third failed attempt to free the cruise liner, after a fisheries research vessel attempted to pull the ship free at high tide on Wednesday.“These passengers are currently in isolation. They are looked after by our onboard doctor, medical team and crew, and they are doing well,” the Australia-based Aurora Expeditions said in a statement. The others on the MV Ocean Explorer were “safe and healthy,” it added.Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald quoted a retiree from Australia, Steven Fraser, who is on the ship, saying: “Everyone’s in good spirits. It’s a little bit frustrating, but we are in a beautiful part of the world.”Fraser told the newspaper that he himself had come down with COVID-19 on the ship.The cruise ship ran aground above the Arctic Circle o...

Firefighters fear the toxic chemicals in their gear could be contributing to rising cancer cases

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:52:41 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Boston firefighter Daniel Ranahan had heard about colleagues getting cancer but he was stunned when doctors discovered a large tumor in his chest.He was only 30 and had been in the Boston Fire Department less than a decade. But as he investigated his diagnosis of Hodgkin’s lymphoma in October 2020 and sought successful treatment, he learned he and others wore gear that contained the toxic industrial compound PFAS.“You always hear about the dangers. You just never think it’s going be you,” said Ranahan, who stopped working due to the cancer and is among thousands of firefighters nationwide who sued PFAS manufacturers and companies that make firefighting gear and foam, seeking damages for their exposure.“These guys put this on day in and day out to protect neighborhoods and wherever they are working,” he said.The multi-layered coats and pants worn by firefighters have become the latest battleground over PFAS, or per- and polyfluorinated substances. ...

Thrifty at the top: Orioles and Rays among MLB’s lowest payrolls, highest win totals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:52:41 GMT

The Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays each fielded full lineups Wednesday that will be paid less this year than several players on the New York Yankees. Their payrolls haven’t mattered, though. The two thrifty teams have the highest win totals in the American League.Baltimore’s 10 starters in Wednesday night’s 1-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals included its highest-paid player, pitcher Kyle Gibson, but their entire lineup combined to total less in payroll than Yankee superstars Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole and Giancarlo Stanton are each paid individually in 2023.Baltimore (91-54) and Tampa Bay (90-57) have piled up victories this season — they’re the only AL teams with 90 wins — with prudent budgets. The teams rank 27th and 28th among MLB player payrolls, according to Spotrac, but have the second- and third-best records in baseball. The Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and Yankees have spent more on players this year, but all sit below the Orioles and Rays...

Orioles ready for high-stakes series vs. Rays in battle for AL East: ‘It’s going to be electric’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:52:41 GMT

Brandon Hyde is one of the few in the Orioles’ dugout with postseason experience.“It’s totally different,” the former Chicago Cubs assistant and current Orioles manager said. “You’ve got serious adrenaline going.”The upcoming series against the Tampa Bay Rays — the Orioles’ most consequential set in years — will feel as close to playoff baseball as perhaps any in the regular season can.The fate of the American League East is in the balance, and the way the four games at Camden Yards play out will have an outsized impact on determining who will claim the top spot by season’s end. Baltimore owns a two-game lead over Tampa Bay ahead of Thursday’s opener with the potential of clinching its first playoff berth since 2016 as early as Friday.Outfielder Austin Hays, one of several veterans who braved the club’s painful rebuild, said the Orioles have done well at focusing on their games rather than how the Rays are...

2023 Toyota Prius is redesigned and revitalized

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:52:41 GMT

While the originator of the hybrid electric continues to leave its mark on the auto industry, consumers continue to enjoy great pricing, fuel mileage while not sacrificing space and usability. For Toyota, the Prius is a staple to the fleet and one that deserves nicely sized recognition.In 2023, and over a quarter of a century in the Toyota fleet, a 5th generation Prius is released and now with a 2.0L 4-cylinder hybrid engine with front wheel drive. Our tester, a 2023 Prius Limited wrapped in Reservoir Blue, had very nice appeal. 6 model options exist in the Prius fleet with Limited AWD topping the Hybrid sedan option. Our Limited tester came with heated rear seats and a digital rearview mirror. 33 accessory options such as all-weather floor mats, body side moldings etc. are also available for purchase but in our tester we only experienced the cargo mat in the trunk.On the exterior, it’s all about increased styling. With a redesigned front fascia and windshield design, we notic...

Venice faces possible UNESCO downgrade as it struggles to manage mass tourism

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:52:41 GMT

VENICE, Italy (AP) — A scowling gondoliere ferrying sightseers 10 at a time across the mouth of Venice’s Grand Canal scolds passengers to sit still and frets over being shorted the bargain 2-euro fare.The brief journey perched along the sides of a packed gondola is a far cry from romantic scenes of gondolieres serenading couples as they ply Venice’s picturesque canals but is emblematic of the city’s plunge into mass tourism.The storied and fragile lagoon city is not alone in its struggle to manage an onslaught of tourists in the low-cost flight era. But the stakes are particularly high this week as the UNESCO World Heritage Committee decides whether to add Venice to its list of endangered world sites. A decision could come as early as Thursday. A declassification would appear an indictment of the city’s management of tourism, after it escaped a downgrade two years ago when the Rome government enacted a ban on cruise ships off St. Mark’s Square and in the Giudecca canal. ...

UK police pay damages and express regret to protesters arrested at London vigil for murdered woman

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:52:41 GMT

LONDON (AP) — British police have paid damages to two protesters who were arrested while attending a vigil for a woman murdered by a serving police officer. Thursday’s announcement comes as the London force tries to rebuild trust after a series of incidents that exposed racism and sexism within its ranks.Patsy Stevenson and Dania Al-Obeid were detained at the March 2021 protest vigil in London, which police said violated pandemic lockdown rules in place at the time.The gathering was called after Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old London woman, was abducted and murdered by an off-duty Metropolitan Police officer as she walked home at night.The crime shocked the country, angered many women and raised questions about a police force that unknowingly harbored a murderer in its ranks. Police officer Wayne Couzens later pleaded guilty to Everard’s murder and was sentenced to life in prison.A planned vigil was canceled after police told organizers it would violate coronavirus restrictions, ...

Spain records its third hottest summer since records began as a drought drags on

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:52:41 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Spain this year recorded its third hottest summer since official records began 62 years ago, authorities said Thursday, with temperatures peaking at 46.8 C (116 F) as the country’s severe drought dragged on.The average summer temperature was 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.34 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal, the Spanish weather agency AEMET said.The World Meteorological Organization said last week that last month wasn’t only the world’s hottest August scientists ever recorded by far. It was also the second hottest month measured after July 2023.Since 1961, mainland Spain’s average temperature has risen 1.6 degrees C (2.88 degrees F), according to AEMET.Spain’s two hottest summers were in 2022 and 2003.This year’s January-August period in Spain equaled the same periods in 2022 and 2020 as the country’s hottest ever recorded over those months, AEMET said.At the same time, this summer was the rainiest since the turn of the century, AEMET said, though most of Spa...