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Ticker: A decade after outcry, SeaWorld launches orca-free park in UAE, its first venture outside the US

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:59 GMT

U.S. theme park chain SeaWorld, which has been mired in controversy in recent years over its treatment of killer whales and other marine mammals, has opened a massive new aquatic life park in the United Arab Emirates. It’s the company’s first venture outside the United States.The $1.2 billion project with state-owned developer Miral features the world’s largest aquarium and a cylindrical LED screen. The park does not feature orcas but houses animals like dolphins and seals, whose captivity and training for profit and entertainment purposes are also often criticized as unethical by animal rights advocacy groups.The new facility gives the Orlando, Fla.-based company a foothold in a fast-growing international tourism destination and the opportunity to continue its rebranding after years of criticism and allegations of animal cruelty.UN steps up criticism of IMF and World Bank, the other pillars of the post-World War II global orderFrom the ashes of World War II, three insti...

Security tight for Vegas Golden Knights victory parade, amid echoes of deadly 2017 shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:59 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Tens of thousands of Vegas Golden Knights fans, maybe more, were expected at the heart of the Las Vegas Strip on Saturday for a Stanley Cup victory parade and a rally to mark the team’s first-ever NHL championship.For the team that played its first game as an expansion franchise in October 2017 and for tourists in hotel rooms with windows overlooking the parade route in 2023, the event bore echoes of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history five years ago. Guests in high-rises with views of the strip were awakened by security guards asking to check around windows for guns or other weapons.Las Vegas police said they prepared for upwards of 100,000 people to cram street-level viewing areas along Las Vegas Boulevard for a celebration that planners compared with annual New Year’s Eve fireworks shows that in past years have drawn estimates of 400,000 people. Unlike a winter midnight, evening temperatures on Saturday were expected to be in the 90s.Hotel security...

At least 15 injured as Baltimore bus crashes into 2 cars, building

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:59 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — At least 15 people were injured Saturday when a mass transit bus crashed with two cars before hitting a building in Baltimore, authorities said.Baltimore police said officers in the city’s central district responded to a Maryland Transit Administration bus crash at about 10:20 a.m. A preliminary investigation showed that the bus crashed with a Lexus and a Nissan before coming to rest in a building. The Baltimore Sun reported that it was an apartment building.Police said in a news release that 15 people were injured, with two people suffering possible life-threatening injuries. Baltimore City Fire Department spokesman Kevin Cartwright told the newspaper that 17 people were injured, with none of the injuries being life-threatening. Witnesses said the Lexus was speeding and ran a stop light when it struck the bus.“There were bystander, spectator reports that there were vehicles speeding through this and the MTA bus, in an effort to avoid being a part of that, collided ...

Sudan officials say airstrike killed 17 people, including 5 children, in capital Khartoum

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:59 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — An airstrike in Sudan’s capital Khartoum on Saturday killed at least 17 people, including five children, health officials said, as fighting continued between rival generals seeking to control the country.The attack was one of the deadliest of the clashes in urban areas of Khartoum and elsewhere in Sudan between the military and a powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces.There was no immediate comment Saturday from either side of the conflict on the strike, and it was not clear whether the attack was by warplanes or a drone. The military’s aircraft have repeatedly targeted RSF troops and the RSF has reportedly used drones and anti-aircraft weapons against the military.The fighting broke out in mid-April, capping months of increasing tensions between the leaders of the military and the RSF. The clashes have killed more than 3,000 people and wounded over 6,000 others, said Health Minister Haitham Mohammed Ibrahim in an interview late Saturday with the ...

Official says Yemeni pilgrims depart Sanaa on first direct flight to Saudi Arabia since 2016

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:59 GMT

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A commercial flight carrying more than 270 Yemeni Muslim pilgrims left the rebel-held capital of Sanaa on Saturday to Saudi Arabia, an official said, the first such flight in about seven years.The flight by Yemen’s national carrier Yemenia — also known as Yemen Airways — took off from Sanaa’s international airport at 8 p.m. local time, heading to the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah, Khalid al-Shayyef, head of the Yemeni airport, said.He told The Associated Press the flight was the first of five that would transfer this year’s Muslim pilgrims from Sanaa to Saudi Arabia for hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca required once in a lifetime of every Muslim who can afford it and is physically able to make it.Along with Saturday’s flight, two more have been scheduled for Monday and Wednesday, while Houthi and Saudi officials were working on scheduling two additional flights, he said.Yemen’s capital has been under the control of the Iran-backed Houthis since they desce...

Judge gives Enbridge 3 years to close oil pipeline on tribal land in Wisconsin

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:59 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal judge has given Enbridge three years to shut down parts of an oil pipeline that crosses reservation land and ordered the energy company to pay a Native American tribe more than $5 million for trespassing.Friday’s order from U.S. District Judge William Conley came after members of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa told him during a hearing in Madison that the Enbrige Line 5 pipeline is at immediate risk of being exposed by erosion and rupturing on their land.The tribe argued that an emergency exists because large sections of nearby riverbank have washed away this year, leaving less than 15 feet (4.6 meters) of land between Line 5 and the Bad River as it meanders on the reservation.Experts and environmental advocates have warned in court that exposed pipelines would be weakened and could rupture at any time, causing massive oil spills.The judge’s order said a rupture on tribal land “would unquestionably be a public nuisance” but de...

St. Louis security guard punches man lying on light rail platform, video shows

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:59 GMT

St. LOUIS (AP) — A security guard for the St. Louis light rail system repeatedly punched in the head a man lying facedown on a busy platform, as nearby commuters recorded video and shouted for him to stop.The guard, who worked for a subcontractor, has since been “removed from duty,” said Kevin Scott, general manager of security at Bi-State Development, which operates Metro Transit, in a written statement Saturday.“Metro Transit does not condone unprofessional and extreme actions regardless of circumstances,” he said, adding that the agency is assisting police with their investigation.Obtained by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, bystander video from Friday shows the guard in a black and yellow uniform standing with one foot on either side of the man, who is lying on his stomach trying weakly to shield his head with his hands. The guard bends down and hits the man in the head three times with a closed fist.Both the officer and the man who was punched are Black. One person can be heard say...

Sheriff: Juvenile seriously injured in Aurora crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:59 GMT

AURORA, Ill. — A juvenile was seriously injured after a vehicle crash in Aurora Saturday, according to the Kane County Sheriff's Office.Deputies said they were called to the 1900 block of Liberty Street around 1:20 p.m. after receiving information on a vehicle crash involving a juvenile.After arriving on scene, deputies gave the juvenile medical aid before he was taken to Copley Memorial Hospital for further treatment.According to the KCSO, the status of the juvenile is unknown other than that his injuries were serious enough to warrant him being transported to Copley Memorial Hospital. Multiple shot near Lincoln Park Zoo: Chicago Police No other information is available at this time.If anyone witnessed or has any information regarding this crash, deputies ask that they reach out to the KCSO's investigations division at 630-444-1103.Stay with WGN News as this article will be updated once more information becomes available.

Michael Jordan's decision to sell the Hornets leaves some team decisions in flux

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:59 GMT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The timing of Michael Jordan’s decision to sell his majority ownership stake in the Charlotte Hornets has left the organization in flux, with several looming key personnel decisions.The Hornets have the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft on Thursday night. They also have some difficult decisions to make in free agency in early July, including whether to re-sign embattled restricted free agent Miles Bridges.With the NBA’s Board of Governors unlikely to approve the team’s sale to an ownership group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall until at least another month or two, the question becomes who will sign off on general manager Mitch Kupchak’s potentially franchise-altering decisions this summer.Will it be Jordan, a lame duck majority owner? Or will the new ownership have a major input? Jordan will remain on as a minority owner after the sale is approved, so he still has a vested interest in the organization.Bobby Marks, a front-office insider for ESPN, said the timing...

West Virginia's Bob Huggins arrested on suspicion of drunken driving in Pittsburgh

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:59 GMT

West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, a month after the university suspended him for three games for using an anti-gay slur while also denigrating Catholics during a radio interview.Huggins, 69, of Morgantown, West Virginia, was pulled over by police in Pittsburgh on Friday night. He was charged with driving under the influence, was released from custody and will appear at a later date for a preliminary hearing, according to a police report.An officer observed garbage bags with empty beer containers both inside the vehicle and in the trunk, according to a criminal complaint. Huggins said he had been to a basketball camp with his brother in Sherrodsville, Ohio. An officer said Huggins was asked multiple times what city he was in but never got a response. A breath test determined Huggins’ blood alcohol content was 0.21%, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08% in Pennsylvania. A blood sample also was taken from Huggins at a hosp...