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Oakland teachers union votes to authorize strike

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:55:21 GMT

OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) – Oakland’s public school teachers have approved a strike. The union voted to approve the move, which parents have petitioned against.Parents KRON4 spoke with say they worry a strike will put a burden on their families and disrupt classes with just a few weeks left in the school year. But the teachers union says this may be a necessary step to ensure its members get paid what they’re worth.Four-hundred parents signed a petition against the strike, but the teachers have decided they now have the power to go on with it if they choose to do so. Stabbing at Northgate High in Walnut Creek, student in custody The interim president of the Oakland Education Association Ismael Amendariz says no progress has been made in negotiations, so teachers voted to authorize a strike. But he says if OUSD bargains in good faith and reaches an agreement they will avoid the strike.Amendariz explains they have not been able to agree with the district about special education, safety...

“Tenemos que estar preocupados”: organizaciones alertan por ataques a otras píldoras abortivas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:55:21 GMT

WASHINGTON DC – Organizaciones defensoras del aborto en Estados Unidos alertaron este martes sobre un posible ataque a otro tipo de píldoras abortivas, después de que el acceso a la mifepristona se viera amenazado recientemente.Tanto la mifepristona como el misoprostol son píldoras abortivas ampliamente utilizadas en EEUU para interrumpir el embarazo. El Tribunal Supremo del país decidió el pasado viernes mantener el acceso a la píldora abortiva mifepristona, suspendiendo de momento las restricciones que un tribunal de apelaciones había ordenado la semana pasada.Tras los esfuerzos para restringir su uso, ahora las organizaciones alertan de que el misoprostol está en el punto de mira de los detractores del aborto en el país.Mini Timmaraju, presidenta de la organización NARAL Pro-Choice America, explicó que, después de “ir detrás de la mifepristona sin éxito”, los extremistas tratarán de atacar al misoprostol: “Tenemos que estar preocupados por eso”, añad...

Erdoğan says he’s fine after health scare on live TV

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:55:21 GMT

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is facing the toughest election of his 20-year rule, cut short a live TV interview Tuesday night after suffering from an upset stomach.Erdoğan was being interviewed on Turkish TV when the program was interrupted for about 20 minutes, after the president suddenly felt ill off-camera, according to the BBC.He later came back to the screen, explaining he had suffered from a “serious stomach cold” and had considered canceling the interview — which started one-and-a-half hours late — after doing “intense campaign work” on Monday and Tuesday.“Naturally, we are facing such issues from time to time amid such a busy schedule,” Erdoğan said.Erdoğan’s live broadcast with the journalists tonight was abruptly cut off after muffled noises coming from the mics. It worried many people. Erdogan is now back, says he had a stomach emergency and he was very tired. pic.twitter.com/sfRgm0MaHQ— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) April 25, 20...

Longer naps tied to higher risk for obesity, high blood pressure: Brigham research

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:55:21 GMT

People who take longer midday naps are at a higher risk for obesity and high blood pressure, according to Boston researchers who found that “not all siestas are the same.”The Brigham and Women’s Hospital scientists looked at more than 3,000 adults from a Mediterranean population, examining the relationship of midday naps with obesity and other conditions tied to heart disease and diabetes.The researchers found that those who took siestas of 30 minutes or longer (considered long siestas) were more likely to have a higher body mass index, elevated blood pressure, and a cluster of other conditions associated with heart disease and diabetes (metabolic syndrome) — compared with those who didn’t take long siestas.However, those who took short siestas, also known as “power naps,” did not see an increased risk for obesity and other conditions. In contrast, short siesta-takers were less likely to have elevated systolic blood pressure than those who t...

Israeli principal in Australian court on sex convictions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:55:21 GMT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Former Jewish girls school principal and now convicted sex offender Malka Leifer was ordered on Wednesday to appear in an Australian court in June for a two-day sentencing hearing.A Victoria state County Court jury convicted the 56-year-old Israeli citizen and mother of eight early this month on 18 charges relating to the sexual abuse of sisters Dassi Erlich and Elly Sapper when they were students and student teachers at Adass Israel School in Melbourne from 2003 until 2007.Leifer faced a procedural hearing via a video link from prison on Wednesday during which Judge Mark Gamble set a timetable for her sentencing hearing on June 28-29.Gamble said there were significant matters he wanted addressed by prosecutor Justin Lewis and Leifer’s lawyer Ian Hill in the hearing, including details of the time Leifer spent in police or correctional custody in Israel.That includes time in “quasi-custody” such as home detention, Gamble said.The convictions include rape, ...

Pope to visit Hungary amid diverging views on war, migrants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:55:21 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The spiritual priorities of Pope Francis will be on display during a trip this week to Hungary, where the populist government will seek to downplay its diverging views on matters like immigration and minority rights while focusing instead on points where it aligns with the pontiff.Francis will meet with children with disabilities, refugees and those living in poverty on the three-day trip that begins Friday. He will also have an audience with Hungary’s president and its nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban.The visit will be a political boon for Orban, whose contentious stances on migration, the war in Ukraine and LGBTQ+ rights stand in stark contrast with Francis’ views of inclusion and acceptance for the marginalized and support for Ukraine during Russia’s war.Yet the cardinal of Hungary’s Roman Catholic Church, Peter Erdo, as well as other members of the Catholic community, expect the pope’s visit to be a celebration of Christian unity, and that differ...

No one is driving this taxi. What possibly could go wrong?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:55:21 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — I won’t forget the first time I took a ride in a car without anyone sitting in the driver’s seat.It happened one night last September when a Chevy Bolt named Peaches picked me up outside a San Francisco bar. Our ensuing half-hour ride together produced, at first, a titillating display of technology’s promise. Then an unexpected twist made me worry that the encounter had turned into a mistake I would regret.Peaches and I were getting along great for most of our time together as the car deftly navigated through hilly San Francisco streets similar to those that Steve McQueen careened through during a famous chase scene in the 1968 film “Bullitt.” Unlike McQueen, Peaches never exceeded 30 miles per hour (48 kilometers per hour) because of restrictions imposed by state regulators on a ride-hailing service operated by Cruise, a General Motors subsidiary, since it won approval to transport fare-paying passengers last June.It was all going so smoothly ...

Sudanese abroad try to extend a lifeline and aid back home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:55:21 GMT

LONDON (AP) — With her homeland now a conflict zone, rest does not come easily for Dr. Sara Abdelgalil.She is anxious about family still in Sudan that she can’t reach. Her sleepless mother paces the floor above her with worry. And her phone buzzes at all hours with text messages seeking medical advice from thousands of miles away.Abdelgalil is a pediatrician in Norwich, England, but Sudan is her “first home,” and she has become part of a lifeline of doctors providing long-distance support to the people living in a state of chaos and terror as fighting rages outside their homes.“We don’t sleep well because we’re expecting the worst,” said Abdelgalil, who texts relatives each morning to make sure they’re still alive. “I’m trying not to panic as much as I can.”For some of the roughly 50,000 Sudanese people in the United Kingdom, a sense of helplessness over a situation that seems to have no end in sight has been replaced by a sense of duty. Some are trying to help fam...

Sun's back "big time" Wednesday and warming follows Thursday-Friday, especially away from Lake Michigan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:55:21 GMT

Warm-up ahead, but weekend cool-down loomsWarming ahead, but temps take a dive over the weekendFrost and Freeze advisories were hoisted for Tuesday night into early Wednesday for much of the Chicago area, with temps in the 20s expected away from the lake—but sunshine returns "big time" Wednesday and warming follows Thursday and Friday especially away from lake Michigan—but a powerhouse 180 mph jet stream wind max over the Gulf of Alaska is to dive into nation's mid-section spinning up a chilly late season upper low this weekend into next week with lots of clouds and showersVIEW SLIDESHOW OF THE UPCOMING CHANGES:FROST ADVISORIES (in light blue) and FREEZE WARNINGS (in areas shaded in dark blue) TUES NIGHT INTO WED MORNINGACTIVE NWS FROST ADVISORIES AND FREEZE WARNINGS TUES NIGHT & WED MORNINGPREDICTED LOW TEMPS at daybreak Wednesday morningPROJECTED LOW TEMPS WED MORNINGBRIEF BUT NOTICEABLE WARMING for several days later this week. THIS ARE FORECAST HIGHS THURSDAYFORECAST THURSDA...

Moldova: EU sets up a civilian mission to strengthen the resilience of the security sector

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:55:21 GMT

The Council on 24 April established the EU Partnership Mission in the Republic of Moldova (EUPM Moldova) under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The objective of this civilian mission is to enhance the resilience of the security sector of the country in the areas of crisis management and hybrid threats, including cybersecurity, and countering foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI).To this end, the mission will provide advice at strategic level on the development of strategies and policies, and identify the needs for capacity building for early warning, detection, identification, attribution of threats and the response to hybrid threats.The mission will feature a project cell responsible for identifying and implementing projects in the aforementioned areas, in close coordination with other like-minded actors.In response to Moldova’s request, EUPM Moldova will have an initial mandate of two years and its Operational Headquarters will be in Moldova. Stefa...