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Japan nuclear watchdog asks Fukushima plant operator to assess risk from reactor damage

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:58:02 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — A nuclear watchdog has asked the operator of Japan’s wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant to assess possible risks resulting from damage that was found in a key supporting structure inside one of the three melted reactors.A robotic probe sent inside the Fukushima Daiichi plant’s Unit 1 primary containment chamber found that its pedestal — the main supporting structure directly under its core — was extensively damaged. Most of its thick concrete exterior was missing, exposing the internal steel reinforcement.About 880 tons of highly radioactive melted nuclear fuel remain inside the plant’s three damaged reactors. Robotic probes have provided some information, but the status of the melted debris is still largely unknown. Based on data collected from earlier probes and simulations, experts have said most of the melted fuel inside Unit 1, believed to be the worst hit, fell to the bottom of the primary containment chamber, but some might have fallen through to t...

Foxtrot, a tiki boat, others coming to The Yards

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:58:02 GMT

Sea Suite Cruises now offers tiki party boat river cruises. (Courtesy Sea Suite Cruises)Phase II of The Yards at Capitol Riverfront has some new tenants.Foxtrot Market will open its eighth D.C.-area location in the next few weeks. Its 4,300-square-foot store is at 1275 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. Chicago-based Foxtrot opened its first D.C. location in Georgetown in 2021.Another out-of-town transplant, New York French bakery Maman, will open a 3,500-square-foot store at The Yards, its fourth in D.C. Its first area location opened at Bethesda Row in 2022. It has others at Union Market and Georgetown.Playa Bowls will open its newest location at The Yards, bringing along acai bowls and smoothies. It has several locations in the D.C. area, and will open its 1,400 square foot store at The Yards in 2024.Local plant shop Jungle & Loom will open a 2,000-square-foot store at 1275 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. in 2024.As previously announced, Sea Suite Cruises now offers river cruises with a tiki pa...

Jaguars sign ex-Broncos PK Brandon McManus, waive Riley Patterson

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:58:02 GMT

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Jacksonville Jaguars signed Brandon McManus in hopes of upgrading their special teams Thursday, two days after Denver dropped the veteran kicker and former team captain.The Jaguars waived kicker Riley Patterson to make room on the 90-man roster for McManus, who had been scheduled to count nearly $5 million against Denver’s salary cap in 2023.The 31-year-old McManus was the last holdover from the Broncos team that won Super Bowl 50. He finished his nine-year career with Denver as the second-leading scorer in team history (946 points). He connected on a franchise-most 42 field goals of 50 yards or longer in the regular season and the playoffs.McManus made 223 of 274 field goals in the regular season while hitting 96.9% of his extra points. His combined field-goal percentage (82%) in the regular season and postseason is the second-best mark in team history behind Matt Prater (82.9%).McManus was perfect in the playoffs following the 2015 regular seaso...

East Texas teenager charged with murder in killings of parents and siblings

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:58:02 GMT

NASH, Texas (AP) — Authorities in east Texas have jailed an 18-year-old man on capital murder charges in the shootings of his parents, sister and brother.Police in the small town of Nash, Texas, say officers responding to a report that a man had harmed his family and was threatening to kill himself on Tuesday found Cesar Olalde barricaded inside a home. They were told that multiple people were dead inside.Olalde later called police, saying “he had pulled the trigger, and shot his family,” according to a probable cause affidavit by Nash Police officer Craig Buster.The officers persuaded Olalde to surrender and then found the bodies of his parents, Reuben Olalde and Aida Garcia, older sister Lisbet Olalde and younger brother Oliver Olalde in a bathroom.“It appeared as if the victims had been shot at various places in the residence and drug to the bathroom,” according to the affidavit. “Multiple spent cartridge casings” were found on the floor of the home, and “blood spatter on multipl...

Heat downgrade Gabe Vincent to out for Game 5 with sprained ankle

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:58:02 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — The Miami Heat will be without starting point guard Gabe Vincent for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics on Thursday night because of a sprained ankle.Vincent got hurt late in Miami’s Game 4 loss when he landed awkwardly while trying to save a loose ball near the Heat bench. He got re-taped and returned to that game, but the effects of the sprain led to the Heat downgrading Vincent to out for Game 5.Miami enters Thursday with a 3-1 series lead.The move could send Kyle Lowry into the starting lineup for Miami; he has been coming off the bench while Vincent starts.Vincent started each of Miami’s first 15 playoff games. He’s averaged 13.1 points in the postseason, third-best on the Heat behind Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.Miami has played most of the playoffs without two other guards — Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo. Herro has been cleared to resume some basketball activities after recovering from a broken hand but is still...

Senior residents evacuated after roof collapses in Clewiston Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:58:02 GMT

(CNN) – The building in Clewiston had to be evacuated after the roof collapsed due to thunderstorms in the area.“There’s some tree debris inside. The entire roof’s collapsed. The whole thing soaked inside so we got guys coming out right now,” said Justin. “We’re going to try to dry everything out, push all the water out. All the furniture is destroyed inside, all the beds, electronics, just everything’s destroyed.”Justin and about 40 others were inside assessing and fixing the damage to the Clewiston Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. He doesn’t know when it will be safe for residents to return.“That’s probably not going to be anytime soon because there was quite a bit of damage but definitely as quick as we can,” said Justin.The good news is that everyone is okay.“There was no one hurt. That’s a good thing. I thank God for that,” said one witness. A spokesperson for the nursing home was ...

Shaq gets served — again — in FTX lawsuit

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:58:02 GMT

(CNN) – After months of cat and mouse, lawyers for a group of FTX investors have served Shaquille O’Neal. Again.Plaintiffs’ attorneys say O’Neal has repeatedly dodged process servers who have been trying to hand-deliver legal complaints related to his role as a celebrity spokesperson for the cryptocurrency platform FTX, which collapsed late last year and is now the subject of a massive federal investigation.The 7-foot-1 NBA hall-of-famer and commentator is one of several celebrities accused of defrauding investors by appearing as a spokesperson for FTX, though he is the only one who has tried to dodge being served, according to lawyers for the plaintiffs.“It seems absurd to have to go to such great lengths to serve Mr. O’Neal,” said Adam Moskowitz, a lawyer representing FTX investors.The delivery finally happened, Moskowitz said, on Tuesday night, outside of the Miami venue formerly known as FTX Arena.Lawyers for O’Neal didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment....

Europe’s privacy regime: 5 years in 5 charts

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:58:02 GMT

Europe’s most famous technology law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), turned 5 on Thursday. The law, which came into force on May 25, 2018, has prompted businesses — from tech giants to hotel chains, cellphone companies to mom-and-pop businesses — to tighten their privacy policies. Many have cleaned up how they handle people’s personal data, encouraged by the prospect of being fined up to 4 percent of their annual revenue.Despite its wide influence on organizations’ handling of personal information — and on how people consider both privacy and EU rulemaking more broadly — the bloc is in a fierce debate over whether its rulebook has succeeded in delivering on its promise. European regulators have clashed over how to hold Big Tech to account, and the European Commission is looking to fix some of the GDPR’s flaws to allow for speedier, more forceful responses to privacy violations, in a new proposal expected in early July.POLITICO scoured the statist...

UK Conservatives abandon plan to protect animal welfare

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:58:02 GMT

LONDON — A bill aimed at boosting animal welfare and championed by Boris Johnson has been shelved, the U.K. government confirmed Thursday — sparking immediate anger from some of its own MPs.Ministers faced claims of backsliding — including from the Conservative benches — after a minister said the U.K. would drop its Kept Animals Bill, and instead only seek other means to introduce some of its measures.Promised by ex-prime minister Johnson — who introduced other protection measures including a bill which recognized animals as sentient beings — the legislation would have imposed new curbs on puppy imports and end the export of live animals for fattening and slaughter. The bill had already stalled once, and was reintroduced to the Commons last May.Announcing the move in the House of Commons Thursday, Environment Minister Mark Spencer insisted the government would still meet 2019 Conservative manifesto commitments on animal welfare. But he said the move was necessary to avoid the measur...

Zelenskyy gives surprise speech at US university

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:58:02 GMT

Before Johns Hopkins University graduates moved their tassels to the left on Thursday, they were sent off with a virtual livestream from a surprise commencement speaker: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.“The United States has also not lost a single day in helping Ukraine repel the Russian aggression,” Zelenskyy said. “President [Joe] Biden, a strong bipartisan coalition in Congress and most of all the American people have … risen to this occasion and are leading the free world to secure freedom in Europe.”In his speech, Zelenskyy focused on the importance of time, a resource he said is more valuable than oil, uranium or lithium.The Ukrainian leader also spoke on how he recently visited the frontlines in his country, a trip in which he spoke with soldiers who have similar backgrounds in schooling to those graduating at Johns Hopkins, while others can only dream of such an educational opportunity.Unlike American students, young Ukrainians don’t have as much control over the tim...