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Djokovic and Alcaraz meet in French Open semifinals; other matchup is Zverev vs. Ruud

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:17 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz are scheduled to play against each other for the first time in more than a year when they meet in the French Open semifinals.The much-anticipated showdown is the first singles match on Friday at Court Philippe Chatrier.It is the 45th Grand Slam semifinal for Djokovic, a 36-year-old from Serbia, and the second for Alcaraz, a 20-year-old from Spain. Djokovic is hoping to leave Roland Garros this year with his third title in Paris and his 23rd major championship overall, which would break a tie with rival Rafael Nadal for the most by a man in the history of tennis.The other men’s semifinal will follow, pitting No. 4 Casper Ruud, last year’s runner-up at Roland Garros, against No. 22 Alexander Zverev. Neither has won a major trophy.Alcaraz is seeded No. 1, and Djokovic is No. 3. Each has dropped just one set along the way to the semifinals.They’ve only faced off once before on tour — on red clay at the Madrid Masters in Ma...

Pets, zoo animals share discomfort with humans in unhealthy air

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:17 GMT

Pets will be more comfortable inside during the current smog conditions, says a veterinarian.(WTOP/Neal Augenstein) Pets will be more comfortable inside during the current smog conditions, says a veterinarian.(WTOP/Neal Augenstein) Dogs and cats are just as uncomfortable as their humans, with the ongoing pollution and unhealthy air from wildfires in Canada.“We’re seeing very similar respiratory issues in animals, as people are complaining about,” said Christine Klippen, emergency veterinarian at Friendship Hospital For Animals, in D.C.“Increased coughing, reverse sneezing, animals with itchy eyes, and itchy feet, as a result of the smog that’s going on outside right now.”Klippen...

DC mayor taps San Francisco health director to lead health department

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:17 GMT

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced two new additions to her cabinet during an event at Howard University Thursday.Dr. Ayanna Bennett was named the acting director of the D.C. Department of Health. She will take over for interim director Dr. Sharon Lewis on July 17. Lewis had been filling in after Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt left the agency last July.Bennett most recently worked for the city of San Francisco, where she served as the chief health equity officer and director of the city’s Public Health’s Office of Health Equity. She had been with the San Francisco Department of Public Health since 2016, working on combining multiple efforts across the agency as the director of Interdivisional Initiatives.Her work at the San Francisco department included initiatives that aimed to address long-standing health inequities and disparities of the city’s African American population.Bennett will join the D.C. agency as it continues to recover from the effects of COVID-19 and as it contin...

DC air quality minimally improving, Code Orange expected Friday

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:17 GMT

The U.S. Capitol is barely visible from the Washington Monument on Thursday, June 8, 2023 as smoke from Canadian wildfires blanketed the D.C. area for the third straight day. (WTOP/David Andrews)(WTOP/David Andrews) The U.S. Capitol is barely visible from the Washington Monument on Thursday, June 8, 2023 as smoke from Canadian wildfires blanketed the D.C. area for the third straight day. (WTOP/David Andrews)(WTOP/David Andrews) The air quality in the D.C. area remained at Code Red early Friday morning, and is expected to improve to Orange in the coming hours. Here’s what you need to know.What is a Code Orange Air Quality Alert?While Code Red means some members of the public may experience health effects and ...

A dam collapses and thousands face the deluge – often with no help – in Russian-occupied Ukraine

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:17 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — For days, the Ukrainian teenager has waited in the attic, just down the street from the cemetery of her flooded town, marking time with her 83-year-old grandfather and two other elderly people and hoping for help to escape the deluge of a catastrophic dam collapse.But help is slow in coming to Oleshky, a Russian-occupied town across the Dnieper River from the city of Kherson with a prewar population of 24,000, according to those stranded and their desperate Ukrainian rescuers. Russian forces are taking rescuers’ boats, they say. Some say the soldiers will only help people with Russian passports. “Russian soldiers are standing at the checkpoints, preventing (rescuers) from approaching the most-affected areas and taking away the boats,” said one volunteer, Yaroslav Vasiliev. “They are afraid of saboteurs, they suspect everyone.”So 19-year-old Yektarina But and the three elderly people with her simply wait, along with thousands of others believed to be trappe...

Child victims of stabbing attack in France still in critical condition, president to visit

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:17 GMT

PARIS (AP) — France’s president was heading Friday to the Alps to be at the side of families traumatized by the savage stabbings of four very young children and two adults, as investigators worked to unravel the motives of a Syrian man taken into custody.President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte were traveling together to comfort victims wounded in Thursday’s attack, meet their families and people who came to their aid in Annecy, a lakeside town ringed by mountains, the president’s office said.The four critically injured child victims — aged between 22 months and 3 years old — were rushed to hospitals in the French city of Grenoble and Geneva in neighboring Switzerland. It wasn’t immediately clear if those cities would also be part of the presidential couple’s travel itinerary.Two children remained in critical condition Friday morning, government spokesman Olivier Veran said. Two of the four children are French and the other two were tourists — on...

Philippines evacuates people near Mayon Volcano, where more unrest indicates eruption may be coming

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:17 GMT

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine troops, police and rescue workers began forcibly evacuating residents near Mayon Volcano on Friday as its increasing unrest indicated a violent eruption of one of the country’s most active volcanoes is possible within weeks or days.The area within a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) radius of Mayon’s crater is supposed to be off-limits due to possible volcanic emissions, lava flows, rockfalls and other hazards. But many poor villagers have built houses and tended farms in Mayon’s danger zone over the years.President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said an evacuation of residents from the permanent danger zone was underway and promised to provide aid to the displaced until the crisis ended.“Right now, what we are doing is preparing and moving people away from the area so that, should the time come, I hope it doesn’t happen…we’re ready,” Marcos told reporters. “But unfortunately science tells us that may happen because the lid or the cap on top of the lava ...

Honduran president begins first visit to China since breaking off ties with Taiwan

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:17 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Honduran President Xiomara Castro arrived in Shanghai on Friday on her first visit since China established ties with Honduras, pulling it away from former diplomatic ally Taiwan.Castro, whose visit extends until June 14, will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping “to jointly plan for the future development” of ties, China’s official Xinhua News Agency said.Honduras established formal relations with China in March, becoming the latest in a string of former diplomatic allies to break ties with Taiwan. China sees self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province, to be retaken by force if necessary, and prohibits its diplomatic partners from having formal ties with Taipei.Beijing has intensified its battle for diplomatic recognition against Taiwan since independence-leaning Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016. Since then, China has managed to lure away nine of Taiwan’s former allies with a campaign involving billions of dollars of investments.Beiji...

Italian court convicts Swiss billionaire in asbestos deaths

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:17 GMT

An Italian court on Wednesday (7 June) sentenced a Swiss billionaire to 12 years in jail after convicting him on charges of aggravated manslaughter related to the death of hundreds of people from exposure to asbestos.Judges in the city of Novara issued the verdict after more than seven hours of deliberations, according to multiple Italian media reports, which said prosecutors had asked for life imprisonment.Stephan Schmidheiny was found guilty of causing the death of 392 people, including more than 60 workers and around 330 residents in the northern town of Casale Monferrato, where he his Eternit firm was based.Defence lawyer Astolfo Di Amato told the Adnkronos news agency that he would appeal, but said his team was already "very pleased" that the court's manslaughter verdict meant that his client cannot be considered an "intentional murderer".Schmidheiny's factories had used asbestos in the production of cement between the 1970s and the 1980s. They closed in 1986, but workers and l...

For the Green transition, Azerbaijan seeks solidarity and partnership with Europe

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:17 GMT

As part of the EU’s Green Week 2023, the Sustainable Energy Hub brought together in Brussels decision makers from Azerbaijan, the European Union and beyond. They discussed how a country that’s become one of the EU’s most important sources of oil and gas is also leading the way towards a green transition and becoming a sustainable energy supplier, writes Political Editor Nick Powell.“We can mitigate climate change through solidarity and partnership”, Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the EU, Vaqif Sadiqov, told an EU Green Week event that focussed on the potential for collaboration and growth through sustainable investment in his country. A reliable supplier of energy to Europe, accounting for some 5% of both the EU’s oil and its gas, Azerbaijan’s main priorities include sustainably growing a competitive economy and being green growth country with a clean environment.Henrik Hololei, from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships, argued that the transforma...