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French education minister announces ban on Islamic dress in schools

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:21 GMT

PARIS — French Education Minister Gabriel Attal announced on Sunday that France will ban the Islamic garment known as the abaya in schools.“The school of the Republic was built around strong values, secularism is one of them. … When you enter a classroom, you shouldn’t be able to identify the religion of pupils,” Attal said in an interview with French TV channel TF1.“I announce that [pupils] will no longer be able to wear abaya at school,” he said.The abaya is a long, flowing dress commonly worn by Muslim women as it complies with Islamic beliefs on modest dress — but it’s also worn by other communities in North Africa and the Middle East. In 2004, France banned religious symbols in schools, including large crosses, Jewish kippahs and Islamic headscarves. But the abaya occupies a gray zone and hasn’t specifically been banned.Attal, who was appointed in July, announced that he would lead talks in the coming weeks before issuing new “...

Zelenskyy hails Ukraine pilot ‘Juice,’ 2 others killed in mid-air collision

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:21 GMT

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday paid tribute to three Ukrainian pilots killed in a mid-air collision, including one with the callsign “Juice” who gained prominence for giving anonymous media interviews during Russia’s war in the country.“Yesterday, a catastrophe in the sky over the Zhytomyr region killed three pilots, including Andriy Pilschikov, callsign ‘Juice,’” Zelenskyy wrote on X, the platform previously known as Twitter. “My heart goes out to the pilots’ friends and loved ones. The investigation is ongoing, and the truth will be revealed.”Pilschikov was killed during a combat mission when two L-39 planes collided, the Ukrainian Air Force said on X. He was not piloting the planes, but was there in an observing capacity, according to a U.S. official.Pilschikov was a high-profile proponent of increased American assistance to Ukraine to help modernize the country’s air forces, which he had depicted as a weakness against the Russians.“They have almost...

Rays get comeback victory as Yankees fail to secure elusive series win

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:21 GMT

TAMPA — The Yankees started their long road trip with a series loss, as the team fell to the Rays, 7-4, on Sunday at Tropicana Field.The Yankees, who have won just one series since July began, blew a 4-2 lead with two outs in the sixth inning when an erratic Ian Hamilton gave up a single and hit a batter before Randy Arozarena picked up an infield hit. Harold Ramírez then poked one just over the head of Gleyber Torres, who didn’t get the best read on the two-run, game-tying blooper.Brandon Lowe then gave the Rays the lead with his own two-run single off of Wandy Peralta. Hamilton was charged with all four runs that scored in the sixth.The Yankees had already overcome one rocky inning, as a first-inning stolen base attempt from Arozarena drew errant throws from Kyle Higashioka and Harrison Bader. The latter throw went by Oswald Peraza and Carlos Rodón near third base and allowed Arozarena to race home. Lowe followed up by immediately clobbering a solo home run t...

Orioles shut down by Ty Blach, one of the worst pitchers of their rebuild, in 4-3 loss to Rockies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:21 GMT

Part of the reason the story of the 2023 Orioles is so great is the teams they have followed, the years of ineptitude and bad baseball, batters who struggled to get hits and pitchers for whom it sometimes seemed impossible to get outs.Ty Blach was among the latter. Five mostly disastrous starts in 2019 left him as, by one statistical measure, the worst pitcher in franchise history. Sunday at Camden Yards, he delivered one of the best opposing pitching performances this year’s Orioles have seen, allowing a run over seven innings in the Colorado Rockies’ 4-3 victory to avoid a sweep.With Blach out of the game, the Orioles tied the score on Ryan O’Hearn’s pinch-hit, two-run home run in the eighth, but Colorado managed a run off Yennier Cano in the ninth without a ball leaving the infield.Blach’s performance and the late run pushed the possibility of the Orioles (81-49) guaranteeing a winning season back at least a day. They were far from that status when t...

Broadband subsidies for millions could expire next year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:21 GMT

LOS ANGELES — One of the features that President Joe Biden cited in his plan to bring internet to every home and business in the United States by 2030 was affordability. But an important federal program established to keep broadband costs down for low-income households is set to expire next year.The Affordable Connectivity Program has not reached everyone who is eligible. According to an analysis of enrollment and census data, less than than 40% of eligible households have utilized the program, which provides monthly subsidies of $30, and in some cases, up to $75, to help pay for internet connections.Still, the program has been a lifeline for Kimberlyn Barton-Reyes, who is paraplegic and visually impaired. Barton-Reyes did not have to wait for an in-person appointment when a seizure-alert system disconnected from her electric wheelchair in November. The company that services her chair assessed the problem remotely, ordered the parts she needed and got the chair fixed quickly.“...

Commuters in these San Diego areas spend 10% of their annual wages on the drive: report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:21 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Although working from home has become a common practice for many, others are still faced with the daily commute to and from their jobs.With construction zone, accidents and periodic traffic jams impacting commuter flow weekly, Chamber of Commerce weighed the question -- what is the actual cost of commuting annually?To find the answer to that question, the research company looked deeper into factors that attribute to average daily and yearly costs of commuting in 170 of the most populated cities across the country. Find out if San Diego County owes you money Their analysis compared the average round-trip commute time in each city with the median income for full-time, year-round workers.To determine the average commute cost per day, Chamber of Commerce first multiplied the mean wage per minute by the average round-trip commute duration. Then, the research company multiplied that value by the total working days per year to determine the annual commute cost.According to t...

DeSantis leaves campaign trail and returns to Florida facing tropical storm and shooting aftermath

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:21 GMT

Crises at home pose a new test for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose presidential campaign travels are now up in the air as his state mourns a racially motivated shooting in Jacksonville and prepares for a tropical storm.A day after appearing in Iowa, DeSantis was back in the state capital of Tallahassee on Sunday for a news conference on Tropical Storm Idalia. He urged Floridians to heed the advice of emergency managers. He also offered condolences and condemned the killing of three Black people by a white man who authorities say left behind a suicide note, a will, and writings with racist material.DeSantis’ campaign schedule had called for him to be in South Carolina Monday for a town hall in Kershaw and a barbecue with Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., in Anderson. It was not immediately clear where he would go forward with those appearances.Asked whether he would be in Florida this week, DeSantis responded, “I’m here. I’m here.”“We’re locked in on this; we’re going to get the job done. T...

Many support staff positions unfilled in Quebec schools, union warns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:21 GMT

MONTREAL — As Quebec struggles to recruit enough teachers to fill its classrooms ahead of the new school year, a major union is warning that it’s proving equally hard to find enough support staff.The Fédération des employées et employés de services publics says there is a worrying number of vacancies for positions such as secretaries, special education technicians and educators who provide childcare outside of school hours.The latter shortage is the most acute, with about 230 vacant positions at the Montreal service centre and 405 at the Mille-Îles service centre in the Laurentians.The union says this means some workers will be left supervising 30 or 40 children at a time, and some schools may have to limit or roll back their services.Union vice-president Frédéric Brun says the problem is exacerbated by the ongoing teacher shortage, as many special education technicians have been asked to fill in at the head of the classroom.The union says hundreds of support staff have also q...

Less sleep, less exercise and less relaxation – here’s the data on just how much parents sacrifice during the school year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:21 GMT

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.(The Coversation) - Moms of school-age children get significantly less sleep during the school year than during the summer.We are economists who specialize in education and health research. We combined extensive data on school district schedules with information derived from the American Time Use Survey to explore the ways families use their time differently depending on whether school is in session or out for summer.We observed mothers on average tend to sleep 25 minutes less, have 28 minutes less free time and allocate seven minutes less for exercise on weekdays during the school year than during the summer. For comparison, fathers reduce sleep by 11 minutes during the school year relative to the summer, have 21 minutes less free time and five fewer exercise minutes.Conversely, mothers spend about half an hour more per day during the school year ...

Arborists continue fight to save Lahaina's iconic banyan tree

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:21 GMT

HONOLULU (KHON) -- Arborists continue their efforts to restore the historic banyan tree in Lahaina, one of the few landmarks left standing after the devastating Maui fires. Experts told Nexstar's KHON that crews were able to brew up a batch of compost that will help the soil and generate new roots. Arborists said when the crew applied the compost, they saw some live roots, which appeared to be in good condition. Now, it's just a waiting game to see when the banyan tree will soak up the nutrients. It could take a few weeks, months or even years, but arborists are closely monitoring the banyan tree."So we're monitoring moisture, we're monitoring all the 'vital signs' on a tree," said arborist Steve Nimz. "We have instruments that we can test the movement." Can Lahaina’s famed banyan tree really survive? The team said they're keeping everything on record and continuing to review the banyan tree's improvements in meetings.A man sits on the Lahaina historic banyan tree damaged by a wil...