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Himalayan glaciers could lose 80% of their volume if global warming isn't controlled, study finds

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:51:26 GMT

BENGALURU, India (AP) — Glaciers are melting at unprecedented rates across the Hindu Kush Himalayan mountain ranges and could lose up to 80% of their volume this century if greenhouse gas emissions aren't sharply reduced, according to a report.The report Tuesday from Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development warned that flash floods and avalanches would grow more likely in coming years, and that the availability of fresh water would be affected for nearly 2 billion people who live downstream of 12 rivers that originate in the mountains.Ice and snow in the Hindu Kush Himalayan ranges is an important source of water for those rivers, which flow through 16 countries in Asia and provide fresh water to 240 million people in the mountains and another 1.65 billion downstream.“The people living in these mountains who have contributed next to nothing to global warming are at high risk due to climate change,” said Amina Maharjan, a migration specialist and one o...

‘We’re fighting … for each other’: SF Giants walk off Padres on Yastrzemski’s splash hit

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:51:26 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — By now, you should know not to count out these San Francisco Giants until the 27th and final out. Because, look, they did it again.Silenced for six innings Monday night by longtime nemesis Michael Wacha, trailing the Padres by two runs entering the ninth inning, the Giants manufactured yet another come-from-behind win, extending their season-best winning streak to eight games, walking off their division rivals in improbable fashion.Mike Yastrzemski, who homered once already in the sixth and scored the tying run in the bottom of the ninth, launched a walk-off splash hit in the bottom of the 10th to beat the Padres, 7-4. Yastrzemski, less than a week removed from another game-winning home run in St. Louis, emphatically dropped his bat and watch the ball sail into McCovey Cove — the counter in right field now reads 102 — before being mobbed by his teammates at home plate.“That was probably the first time I’ve actually enjoyed it a little bit,” Yastrzem...

Vive de milagro: mujer estadounidense que cayó 165 pies cerca de castillo alemán sale del hospital

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:51:26 GMT

BERLÍN — La policía del sur de Alemania dijo el lunes que una turista estadounidense que fue empujada a un barranco durante un ataque cerca del castillo de Neuschwanstein en el que murió su amiga de 21 años fue dada de alta del hospital.La mujer de 22 años había tratado de evitar que un hombre de Michigan de 30 años supuestamente agrediera a su amiga después de atraerlas por un sendero que conduce a un mirador con vista al famoso castillo, que atrae a más de un millón de turistas cada año.La mujer mayor cayó casi 50 metros (165 pies) por una pendiente empinada, pero pudo salir del hospital el viernes, dijo el portavoz policial Holger Stabik.Ambas mujeres fueron recuperadas por rescatistas de montaña poco después del ataque del miércoles, pero la víctima más joven murió más tarde en el hospital a causa de sus heridas.El sospechoso, cuyo nombre al igual que el de las víctimas no fue revelado debido a las normas de privacidad alemanas, fue arrestado poco después del incidente. Está det...

A challenging search in remote waters intensifies for the missing submersible that was touring the Titanic wreckage with 5 on board

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:51:26 GMT

FILE - This undated photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company's Titan submersible. On Monday, June 19, 2023, a rescue operation was underway deep in the Atlantic Ocean in search of the technologically advanced submersible vessel carrying five people to document the wreckage of the Titanic, the iconic ocean liner that sank more than a century earlier. (OceanGate Expeditions via AP, File)(AP) FILE - This undated photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company's Titan submersible. On Monday, June 19, 2023, a rescue operation was underway deep in the Atlantic Ocean in search of the technologically advanced submersible vessel carrying five people to document the wreckage of the Titanic, the iconic ocean liner that san...

Russia launches major overnight attacks across Ukraine, including in west

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:51:26 GMT

Russia launched a barrage of drone and missile attacks at Ukraine overnight, aiming as far west as Lviv (just 70 kilometers from the Polish border), while Kyiv continues its attempts to claw back its territory from Moscow’s forces.“In total, the occupiers used 35 attack drones. Air defense managed to destroy 32 of them,” the Ukrainian armed forces said, adding the drones were Iranian-made.Russia’s attacks focused on the Kyiv region, and also hit the western city of Lviv, close to the Polish border, the Ukrainian military said, while the southern city of Zaporizhzhia was targeted with ballistic missiles.“Our air defense forces and assets detected and destroyed about two dozen enemy targets in the airspace around Kyiv,” said Serhiy Popko, head of the capital’s military administration. “No information on casualties or damage has been received so far.”No casualties were reported in Lviv, where a “critical facility” was hi...

How to navigate Spain’s EU presidency policy agenda like a pro

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:51:26 GMT

Spare a thought for Spanish diplomats in Brussels. They’re going to be working flat-out until Christmas.Sweden has spent the last six months trying to process a huge pile of legislative files, many of which were proposed late by a European Commission distracted by COVID-19 and Russia’s war on Ukraine.Despite commendable progress, many of these files still need a lot of work before being passed into law. Look at the files we’ve laid out below, then look back at what we wrote six months ago, and you’ll see many of the same entries.Spain’s turn leading the Council of the EU is the last full-length presidency before next year’s European Parliament elections, which will take place from June 6-9; campaigning will eat away at legislative capacity for several weeks before that, leaving Belgium just a few short months to wrap everything up before a new Parliament and Commission reset the agenda.Here’s a selection of the files weighing down Spain’s in-tray.Grappling with the AI bo...

Can Spain close urgent EU fiscal reforms? Don’t bank on it

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:51:26 GMT

Spanish negotiators will feel pressure to make progress on all files before EU election next June, which will throw the legislative agenda into disarray. But one file stands out for its urgency: If new fiscal rules aren’t agreed soon, an outdated rulebook suspended during the pandemic will come back into force with little hope of compliance.The EU’s Stability and Growth Pact was put on ice in 2020 to allow governments to jolt their economies back to life after COVID-19. Since then, supporting Ukraine against the Russian invasion — and weathering the related surge in energy prices — has ballooned their budgets further.The pact is due to come back into force on January 1, 2024 and it’s unlikely that new rules will be in place by then — which is why the Commission already issued provisional guidelines for 2024, trying to create a bridge between the old rules and the new ones under negotiation. If Spain can reach a deal in the EU Council by the end of the year, and lawmakers can do like...

How Spain (almost) got its way on power market reform

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:51:26 GMT

Spain takes the helm of the EU Council with a recent win under its belt, namely persuading the European Commission and member countries to budge on its demand to reform the bloc’s wholesale power market.Over two years of volatile energy prices, Spain’s push to decouple wholesale electricity prices from natural gas has moved from a marginal position to one that has, partially at least, become part of the European Commission’s legislative proposal.But the initiative has been controversial, and Spain may be limited in how much further it can push as Parliament and Council work on their responses to the Commission’s plan. Its presidency of the Council, rather than giving it more heft, may in fact require Madrid to step back from its strong stance in order to be seen as a fair arbiter between the various interests at the table. But skeptics of Madrid’s ability to be even-handed were handed fresh ammunition during Monday’s su...

Chaining the chatbots: Spain closes in on AI Act

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:51:26 GMT

AI, caramba!Spain’s stint chairing EU Council meetings comes at an opportune time for its AI policy leaders: After the European Parliament adopted its position on the AI Act last week, Spain has the opportunity to start — and perhaps finish — final negotiations to see the sweeping bill passed into law. The country has bet big on its own AI sector, encouraging investment and preparing the ground for regulation. Since the U.K. left the EU in 2020, Spain has a reasonable claim to be the new heart of the bloc’s AI industry; shepherding through the AI Act would be a crowning achievement.It won’t be simple, though. Parliament and Council are split on how to treat facial recognition applications, with lawmakers favoring a strict ban and governments hoping for carve-outs for policing purposes. They are also split on how exactly to define “high-risk” AI applications, which will bear the brunt of the AI Act’s enforcement powers.Spain must be seen to respect other governments’ views in tr...

Can Spain’s charm offensive win over Latin America?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:51:26 GMT

Spain is smitten with Latin America. The region has vast mineral reserves needed for Europe’s green and digital agendas, and a trading bloc that’s tantalizingly close to sealing a deal with the EU; but also unpredictable politics and a patchy record on sustainable resource exploitation.Madrid is hoping to capitalize on this potential during its Council presidency. With its cultural and linguistic ties to the region, and with a path marked by the European Commission’s new strategy for Latin America and the Caribbean, Spain looks well-placed to make progress.“We’ll be strengthening everything related to open strategic autonomy,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said last week as he presented Spain’s priorities. “It’s absolutely vital that we complete three agreements: one with Chile, one with Mexico, and the Mercosur agreement.”In particular, recent movement in talks with Mercosur — comprising Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay — has opened up what Sp...