Child seats in Italy to be fitted with alarms after spate of deaths of children trapped in hot cars
Parents of babies and toddlers will be required to use special alarmed child seats under a new law in Italy, in response to a spate of children dying in cars from extreme heat. Parents who fail to buy the alarmed car seats, or buy alarm attachments, face fines of up to €326 and five points being docked…
A New Arab Spring Is Unfolding in Iraq and Lebanon. But Things Could Get Bloody If Iran Gets Its Way
Since October, protests in Iraq and Lebanon have re-energized the Middle East region as hundreds of thousands of young people descend onto public squares, repeating 2011 Arab Spring slogans that call for regime downfall. But while Iraq and Lebanon could offer great promise if protesters learn from past failures in the region, they could also…
Texas executes inmate for strangling El Paso woman in 2002
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Texas inmate who was a member of a white supremacist gang was executed Wednesday evening for strangling a woman nearly 20 years ago over fears she would alert police about his drug operation. Justen Hall, 38, received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the October 2002…
Trump says talks with Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan on dam dispute went well
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had held talks with officials from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan over a disputed new dam Ethiopia is building on the Nile River. “The meeting went well and discussions will continue during the day!” Trump wrote in a Twitter post. Egypt fears its water crisis…
Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan set January goal on controversial Nile dam
Washington (AFP) – Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan on Wednesday set a January 15 target for resolving an intensifying feud over a massive dam being constructed on Africa’s Nile River, which has raised fears of conflict over scarce water. US President Donald Trump agreed to mediate among the three nations in Washington at the request of…
Factbox: Key facts about Ethiopia's giant Nile dam
(Reuters) – Ethiopia is building a giant dam on the Blue Nile, close to its border with Sudan. Ethiopia says the hydropower project is crucial to its economic development. Egypt is worried the dam will affect flow of the Nile, its main source of fresh water. THE DAM The $4 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam…
One of the world's thickest mountain glaciers is melting because of global warming
One of the world’s thickest mountain glaciers is finally succumbing to global warming, a new analysis reports. The Taku Glacier north of Juneau, Alaska, has started to retreat as temperatures rise, said Mauri Pelto, a glaciologist at Nichols College in Massachusetts. Up until now, of the 250 glaciers he has studied, all had retreated except…
Huge trove of mammoth skeletons found in Mexico
Mexico City (AFP) – Archaeologists said Wednesday they have made the largest-ever discovery of mammoth remains: a trove of 800 bones from at least 14 of the extinct giants found in central Mexico. Moreover, they believe they have made the first-ever find of a mammoth trap set by humans, who would have used it to…
Texas executes ex-leader of white supremacist gang for murder
Washington (AFP) – Texas on Wednesday executed a former leader of a white supremacist gang for the 2002 murder of a woman near El Paso. Justen Hall, 38, was pronounced dead at 6:32 pm (0032 GMT) at Texas’s Huntsville penitentiary. Hall was sentenced to death in 2005 for strangling to death a 29 year-old woman…
The Latest: Texas man executed in 2002 strangulation
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — The Latest on the execution of Justen Hall in the 2002 slaying of Melanie Billhartz (all times local): 6:42 p.m. A white supremacist gang member has been executed for strangling a West Texas woman over fears she would alert police about his drug operation. Justen Hall received a lethal injection Wednesday…