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PHOTOS: Velella velellas, or By-the-Wind sailors, spotted on San Diego beaches

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:30 GMT

SAN DIEGO – Thousands of blue jellyfish-like creatures have been spotted on Southern California beaches in the last few weeks – from Los Angeles to San Diego.These blueish, purple creatures known as Velella velella, or By-the-Wind sailors, have been captured dotting the shoreline in piles for the first time in years, amazing scientists and beachgoers alike.“They’re kind of what I would consider an ephemeral species – a little bit rare and exciting to come across,” Anya Stajner, a PHD student at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, told FOX5SanDiego.com. Stajner has studied the velella velellas extensively, in addition to kinds of zooplankton. “Sometimes you’ll find them in large amounts, and sometimes, you won’t find them at all,” she continued. Sea lions at La Jolla Cove: What to know before visiting Velella velella are known as a colonial hydroid, which is a type of species similar to the Portuguese Man O’War. While they have a jelly-like appearance, they are not closel...

‘The Last Wild Horse’ cloned in San Diego

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:30 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A once endangered species of wild horse has been successfully cloned -- again.A Przewalski’s horse, sometimes called “the Last Wild Horse,” was born at ViaGen Pets & Equine’s cloning facility in Texas on Feb. 17 and will soon be moved the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. That's according to an announcement by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance on Wednesday. Officials said, "Scientists are elated with the recent birth of the world’s second successfully cloned Przewalski’s horse, supporting the concept that cloning can be used as a viable tool for genetic rescue and contribute to new options for fostering resilience and genetic sustainability of endangered species."The foal is a clone of a male Przewalski’s horse stallion whose living cell line was cryopreserved over 40 years ago in the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Biodiversity Bank’s Frozen Zoo, the organization explained in a news release.Back in August 2020, the world's first cloned Przewalski’s horse, Kurt, was bor...

No vote after Uvalde parents plead for tougher gun laws

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:30 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — It was getting close to midnight when Kimberly Mata-Rubio finally got her first chance since the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde — nearly one year ago — to ask Texas lawmakers to their faces to pass proposed restrictions on guns that had finally gotten a hearing.Sobbing, she pleaded for them to raise the purchase age for semiautomatic rifles like the one an 18-year-old gunman used to kill her daughter Lexi.“Did you look at images of children running for their lives, and think, ‘What if we had enacted stricter gun laws?’'” Mata-Rubio asked a state House committee, wiping away tears.The hearing adjourned — shortly after 3 a.m. Wednesday — without a vote, and with no certainty that one will happen later. The result was the end, in the middle of the night, of what may wind up as the only debate in the Texas Capitol this year over a raft of stricter gun proposals filed following the deaths of 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde last May.Other than ...

Ukraine’s top prosecutor speaks of ‘evil’ Russian atrocities

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:30 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia’s invading forces are deliberately using rape, torture and kidnapping to try to sow terror among civilians in Ukraine, the top prosecutor in Ukraine told U.S. lawmakers in graphic testimony Wednesday.Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said nearly 80,000 cases of war crimes have been registered in Ukraine since the war began in February 2022.Focusing on just one area of the country that has felt the brunt of the war, Kostin described some of the discoveries made when the Ukrainian military liberated Kherson last November. He said some 20 torture chambers were found and more than 1,000 survivors have reported an array of abuses, including the use of electric shocks, waterboarding, being forced to strip naked, and threats of mutilation and death.Kostin said more than 60 cases of rape were documented in the Kherson region alone. In areas still controlled by Russian forces, residents, including children, are being forcefully relocated to other occupied territ...

Michigan man linked to extremist group pleads guilty

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:30 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit-area man linked to an anti-government group and arrested just before the fall election pleaded guilty Wednesday to gun-related charges.Timothy Teagan had attended various rallies with an AR-style rifle while dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, clothing favored by the Boogaloo Boys, a group bracing for a U.S. civil war.Teagan, however, did not face terrorism charges. Rather, he pleaded guilty to concealing his chronic use of marijuana when applying for a gun purchase and possessing a firearm and ammunition while being a drug user, both federal crimes.Prosecutors will recommend a 13-month prison term when Teagan returns to federal court on Aug. 16, according to the plea agreement. He will get credit for his time spent in custody since his arrest. Teagan, who lived in Plymouth, was arrested by local police in October and accused of assaulting his father. FBI agents subsequently searched the home and discovered body armor, boogaloo flags and gas masks.“They were asking...

Cuba’s parliament ratifies President Díaz-Canel for new term

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:30 GMT

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba’s National Assembly ratified President Miguel Díaz-Canel on Wednesday for a new five-year term, in a decision to maintain continuity as the island faces a deep economic crisis. More than 400 representatives to the assembly who were ratified by voters in March took office early Wednesday and then convened the chamber to elect the government’s leadership and the president. Díaz-Canel obtained the votes of 459 of the 462 legislators present.In his new term, Díaz-Canel must deal with a severe recession prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, soaring inflation triggered by a series of financial policy decisions and strict sanctions imposed by the U.S. He also must grapple with discontent among many Cubans expressed in part through record rates of emigration to the U.S. and elsewhere. The president himself expressed his strong “personal dissatisfaction” in December that he was not able to improve the economic situation. But he rejected any change to Cuba’s political system. ...

Edmonton zoo employee ‘doing well’ following Burmese python bite

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:30 GMT

EDMONTON — A zoo employee is recovering after she was bitten Tuesday by a Burmese rock python. Debi Winwood, a spokesperson for Edmonton Valley Zoo, said in a statement that the woman received immediate first aid from other employees and emergency services were called. She said the woman was taken to hospital for minor medical treatment and “is doing well.” Alberta Health Services confirmed in a statement that emergency services responded to a snake bite at the zoo around 8:19 a.m. It said a woman in her 30s was taken to the hospital in “stable, non-life-threatening condition.”Winwood said the city is reviewing what happened, including procedures for carrying the snake. She said all emergency protocols were followed. The snake, named Lucy, is about 15 years old, weighs 75 kilograms and is 3.6 metres long. Winwood said Lucy has been at the zoo since December 2016 and “has not previously demonstrated any aggressive behaviour.”She added that all of t...

S&P/TSX composite edges down as energy and base metal sectors move lower

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:30 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index edged lower on Wednesday, weighed down by losses in the energy and base metal stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.The S&P/TSX composite index was down 3.85 points at 20,680.83.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 79.62 points at 33,897.01. The S&P 500 index was down 0.35 points at 4,154.52, while the Nasdaq composite was up 3.82 points at 12,157.23.The Canadian dollar traded for 74.30 cents US, according to XE.com, compared with 74.70 cents US on Tuesday.The June crude contract was down US$1.66 at US$79.24 per barrel and the May natural gas contract was down 14 cents at US$2.22 per mmBTU.The June gold contract was down US$12.40 at US$2,007.30 an ounce and the May copper contract was down a penny at US$4.08 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)The Canadian Press

Oilsands wastewater seepage cleanup to be complete by end of May: Imperial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:30 GMT

CALGARY — Imperial Oil Ltd. said its cleanup efforts following recent high-profile wastewater releases from its Kearl oilsands site will be complete next month.Executives with the Calgary-based company said at an annual investor day event Wednesday that cleanup from February’s wastewater overflow from a containment pond is already complete, and efforts to fully remediate the tailings pond seepage the company discovered last May have advanced significantly.“Throughout the month of May we’ll essentially be complete, is the way we look at that,” said Imperial senior vice-president Simon Younger during a question and answer session with analysts.The update came one day before Imperial executives are set to testify Thursday before a House of Commons committee that is probing why it took nine months for First Nations and governments to find out what was happening with the company’s wastewater spills.On Wednesday, Imperial said it has identified the cause of the February ...

Stock market today: Wall Street is mixed as calm continues

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:30 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street barely budged again on Wednesday following another set of mixed earnings reports from big U.S. companies.The S&P 500 inched down by 0.35 points, or less than 0.1%, to 4,154.42. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 79.62, or 0.2%, to 33,897.01, and the Nasdaq composite edged up by 3.81 points, or less than 0.1%, to 12,157.23. Tesla weighed heavily on the market after the electric-vehicle company cut prices for its two top-selling models, its fourth price cut in the U.S. this year. That could be a signal Tesla is trying to spur sales amid shifting U.S. tax credits for electric vehicles. Tesla fell 2% before releasing its latest earnings report after trading closed. Netflix slumped 3.2% after reporting weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, though its profit topped forecasts. Elevance Health dropped 5.3% despite reporting stronger profit and revenue than expected. The health insurer gave a forecast for earnings this year that f...