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Holiday crowds at airports and on highways are expected to be even bigger than last year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:44 GMT

More Americans are expected to fly or drive far from home over Christmas than did last year, putting a cap on a busy year for travel.Auto club AAA forecast Monday that 115.2 million people will go 50 miles or more from home during the 10 days between Dec. 23 and New Year’s Day. That’s 2.2% more than AAA predicted during the comparable stretch last year.“That desire to get away is stronger than we have seen in a very long time,” said AAA spokeswoman Aixa Diaz. “People are willing to adjust their budgets in other areas of their life, but they want to keep traveling.”The AAA predicts that the holiday season will still fall 3% short of record travel in 2019, the last Christmas before COVID-19 hit the United States.Air travel in the U.S. has already rebounded, surpassing 2019 levels.The number of travelers going through U.S. airport checkpoints is up 12.4% over last year and 1.4% higher than in 2019, according to the Transportation Security Administration. Travel around...

DC area working toward dry weather after Sunday storms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:44 GMT

Sunday’s rainstorms are expected to stretch well into Monday, bringing the potential for rain, cooler temperatures and wet snow to the D.C. area ahead of a brief break from wet weather.Through the early morning hours, WTOP meteorologist Lauryn Ricketts is predicting continued rain that’s unlikely to be stronger than Sunday’s storms.“Get ready for a wet night as we will continue to see rain push across our area. Cold air will also push in from the west, eventually changing some rain to wet snow/sleet before it pushes out for good by Monday morning. ” Ricketts tells WTOP.Ricketts said that while a lot of rain has been falling across the area, any of the wet snow or sleet the area could see is unlikely to stick. A coat of snow on grassy surfaces or tree branches, she said is likely to be the most you see.Aside from wet roadways, Ricketts said, drivers should only expect a few impacts through the morning drive.“Low visibility because of fog and heavy ...

Gustavsson gets 2nd shutout of the season as Wild hand Kraken 8th straight loss with 3-0 win

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:44 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — Filip Gustavsson stopped 24 shots for his second shutout of the season, and the Minnesota Wild beat Seattle 3-0 Sunday night to hand the Kraken their eighth straight loss.Matt Boldy, Marco Rossi and Joel Eriksson Ek scored for Minnesota, which improved to 5-2-0 since John Hynes replaced the fired Dean Evason as coach on Nov. 27. Gustavsson got his fifth career shutout.“When you’ve lost seven in a row and had a bad start to the year, it’s going to be a long way back,” Gustavsson said of the Wild’s November skid that led to the coaching change. “Since it’s a two-point league, it’s always hard to catch up. But keep playing like this, and we’re going to have an opportunity to get back there.”Joey Daccord finished with 23 saves for the Kraken, who have been blanked twice during the second-longest losing streak in franchise history. They are one away from matching the franchise record set December 2021 to January 2022 during their inaugural season.Boldy put the Wild onto th...

What to stream this week: ‘Barbie,’ Taylor Swift in your home, Cody Johnson and ‘Reacher’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:44 GMT

“Barbie” makes her way onto the Max streaming service and the second season of Prime Video’s “Reacher” starring Alan Ritchson are some of the new television, movies and music headed to a device near you.Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are the reuniting of early cast members of “The Real Housewives of New York” for a new Bravo series, a Christmas TV special from country star Cody Johnson and Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” concert movie lands in homes on premium on-demand.NEW MOVIES TO STREAM— “Barbie.” The blockbuster of the year is finally making its streaming debut, just in time for the holidays. Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” will premiere Friday on Max (formerly HBO Max) after its pink-festooned $1.4 billion bonanza in theaters. (The film also remains available on video-on-demand.) So prepare your Mojo Dojo Casa House now for the hit of 2023.— After a tour through North American stadiums and a blockbuster ...

What happened to the whale in PB? Expert explains possible causes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:44 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A 52-foot young female fin whale was found dead and washed ashore in Pacific Beach early Sunday morning.To put 52 feet into perspective, it's almost (about 8 feet less than) the distance from home base to the pitcher's mound at Petco Park, or about the length of a semi-truck trailer.According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), there's an estimated up to 90,000 fin whales left in the world after they were hunted until the last century for their oil, meat, etc.The WWF estimates that fin whales can grow to be 80 feet long and weigh up to 80 tons. 52-foot whale washes up on Pacific Beach in San Diego “They are huge, huge whales," SDSU Geologist Professor Emeritus Pat Abbot said. “They are large even among whales.” He said this whale in particular was young and hadn't reached its full maturity.He said they don't typically come close to shores. On Sunday afternoon, the whale was rolled and towed back into the Pacific Ocean to be part of the environment once again.“This is a ...

BTS members RM and V start compulsory military service in South Korea. Band seeks to reunite in 2025

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:44 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Singers RM and V of the K-pop band BTS began their mandatory military duties under South Korean law, their management agency announced Monday. This came a day before two of their bandmates, Jimin and Jung Kook, were also expected to report for duty.Three other BTS members — Jin, J-Hope and Suga — are already months into their conscription. The seven singers of the popular K-pop band plan to reunite as a group sometime in 2025 after they finish their service.Jin and J-Hope are serving in the army while Suga is fulfilling his duty as a social service agent, an alternative form of military service.According to HYBE, the band’s management company, RM and V arrived at an army boot camp in the central city of Nonsan to start their 18-month compulsory service.The company said Jimin and Jung Kook would report to the army together. It didn’t immediately confirm South Korean media reports that they would be at the boot camp on Tuesday.“I’ve been so happy to have been...

Some nations want to remove more pollution than they produce. That will take giving nature a boost

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:44 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Why promise net zero emissions when you can go even lower, such as negative emissions?As countries at the COP28 climate talks are wrangling over ways to lower their greenhouse gas emissions, a Danish-led group of countries has decided to set the ultimate goal: to remove more carbon dioxide, the main source of global warming, from the atmosphere than they emit.The Group of Negative Emitters was launched Sunday in Dubai by Denmark, Finland and Panama, and aims to reach that goal by slashing emissions, protecting and expanding forests, and investing in new technologies. Panama has already reached the goal with its vast forests that act as a huge carbon sink. Finland and Denmark hope to achieve this by 2035 and 2045, respectively.“It’s a huge challenge to become carbon neutral and then carbon negative and we are not yet there,” cautioned Kai Mykkänen, Finland’s environment minister, “but we are really targeting this.”For the rich Nordic country, the st...

Live updates | Israel says it’s prepared to fight for months to defeat Hamas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:44 GMT

Israel said it is prepared to fight for months or longer to defeat Gaza’s Hamas rulers, as its ground offense intensifies with more airstrikes and artillery fire.Qatar, which has played a key mediating role, says efforts to stop the war and have all hostages released will continue, but a willingness to discuss a cease-fire is fading. Israel faces international outrage after its military offensive has killed more than 17,700 Palestinians in Gaza, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry. About 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced within the besieged territory, where U.N. agencies say there is no safe place to flee.The United States has provided vital support to Israel in recent days by vetoing a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire and pushing through an emergency sale of over $100 million worth of tank ammunition to Israel. The U.N. General Assembly plans to vote Tuesday on a ...

Artificial intelligence act: Council and Parliament strike a deal on the first rules for AI in the world

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:44 GMT

Following three-day ‘marathon’ talks, the Council presidency and the European Parliament’s negotiators have reached a provisional agreement on the proposal on harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (AI), the so-called artificial intelligence act. The draft regulation aims to ensure that AI systems placed on the European market and used in the EU are safe and respect fundamental rights and EU values. This landmark proposal also aims to stimulate investment and innovation on AI in Europe.This is a historical achievement, and a huge milestone towards the future! Today’s agreement effectively addresses a global challenge in a fast-evolving technological environment on a key area for the future of our societies and economies. And in this endeavour, we managed to keep an extremely delicate balance: boosting innovation and uptake of artificial intelligence across Europe whilst fully respecting the fundamental rights of our citizens.Carme Artigas, Spanish secretary of state for digital...

Racist remarks against Mexicans caught on camera in Disneyland bathroom

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:44 GMT

A woman caught on camera saying “I hate Mexicans” in a Disneyland bathroom led to the arrest of a well-known street-vendor activist in San Bernardino County Sunday.  The Disneyland bathroom exchange unfolded late last week when Eva Ramirez filmed another woman tossing out racist comments after reportedly hearing Ramirez and her son speaking Spanish in the bathroom.  Ramirez said that they were at the theme park enjoying her son’s birthday and that the altercation started with a disagreement over a bathroom stall.  “I’m at Disneyland and this person just heard me speaking Spanish and she said, ‘Great, you’re a f-----g Mexican, right?’ Repeat what you just said,” Ramirez is heard telling the woman in the video. “You have a problem with people that speak Spanish in your country, right?” “Yeah, but it’s America. It’s America,” the unidentified woman responds. “You don’t speak Spanish in America. It’s an English-speaking country.”  “Your comment is racist, and it has ...