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The safest cities and countries for women who travel alone

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:17 GMT

Mia Taylor | TravelPulse (TNS)Solo travel among women has been growing exponentially over the past decade. During the four years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, searches for the term “solo female travel” had increased six-fold, according to data from the Solo Female Travelers Club. And that search volume recovered in 2022 once the pandemic became less of a concern.But even as women increasingly embark on travel alone, safety remains a top concern. The 2022 Solo Female Travel Trends Survey showed that 65% of women who travel alone worry about their personal safety.A new report from travel insurance provider Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection (BHTP) and GeoSure Global, aims to address such concerns. The report identifies the world’s 11 safest cities and countries for women traveling alone. And there’s one country in particular that appears among the top 11 more than any other.The runaway winner of the BHTP ranking is Switzerland. In particular, Basel, Switzerland, nabbed the No...

Heat it up: Tips for eating, growing, and cooking with hot peppers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:17 GMT

Don’t worry if the rest of your family does not appreciate the spicy heat your favorite hot peppers add to entrees, beverages and desserts. Proper pepper selection, care and preparation can help you turn down the heat as needed.Hot peppers’ spicy heat is measured in Scoville Heat Units named for Wilbur Scoville. The level of heat was originally determined by a panel of individual tasters. Chili peppers were ground and added to a sugar-water solution. The solution was continually diluted until the panelist found the solution no longer burned their mouth. Each pepper was assigned a number based on the amount of sugar-water solution needed to reach that point. Today a more accurate less subjective high-performance liquid chromatography method can be used for measuring the pungency of hot peppers.Poblano and Siracha rate between 1,000 to 2,500, jalapenos up to 8,000, cayenne can peak at 50,000, habaneros up to 350,000 and one of the hottest, the ghost pepper, at as much as 2,200,000 uni...

No end in sight for House-Senate squabble over climate policy committee

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:17 GMT

A legislative squabble between two Democrats leading a climate policy committee appears to have no end in sight after the House chair lobbed more bombs at his Senate counterpart during a Thursday morning hearing.Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy Committee House Chair Jeffrey Roy accused Senate Chair Michael Barrett of refusing to work with him, blocking major offshore wind legislation during the previous legislative session, and leveraging internal rules to exert control over what ideas move forward.The dispute between leaders of the committee splashed into public view on Monday, offering a rare look at an intra-party quarrel over behind-the-scenes work. It led the two Democrats to schedule separate hearings this week, a split from the normal procedure of a joint committee, which consists of members from both branches.And if the chairs cannot come to an accord soon, it could spell disaster for hundreds of bills on climate change and renewable energy, which require House-Sena...

Amid DeSantis fight, Disney drops $1 billion Orlando campus plans

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:17 GMT

Amid its political feud with Gov. Ron DeSantis, Disney is dropping plans to build a nearly $1 billion corporate campus at Lake Nona that would have brought 2,000 high-paying jobs to  Orlando.In 2021, Disney paid $46.4 million for 58 acres in the neighborhood that it planned to turn into a complex for its creative team, Imagineering, and other jobs. The average salary of the positions was cited as $120,000.But in a memo to employees Thursday, Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro attributed the project’s cancellation to “changing business conditions,” without mentioning The Walt Disney Co.’s escalating battle with the governor.“Given the considerable changes that have occurred since the announcement of this project, including new leadership and changing business conditions, we have decided not to move forward with construction of the campus. This was not an easy decision to make, but I believe it is the right one,” his message read.D’Amaro said ...

Two Boston city councilors blast Arroyo for Rollins election tampering connection

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:17 GMT

Two Boston city councilors are blasting Ricardo Arroyo for “eagerly” welcoming U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins’ attempts to influence the outcome of last year’s election for Suffolk District Attorney, while another councilor is calling the attacks politically motivated.Councilor-at-Large Erin Murphy said the alleged ethical violations revealed in Wednesday’s Department of Justice report were “disturbing.”She called for “swift and appropriate consequences” for Councilor Arroyo, and joined Council President Ed Flynn in saying that city constituents “have a right to more ethical representation.”Arroyo, in his own statement, said that the bombshell report, while “sad and unfortunate” did not point to any wrongdoing on his part.“Attempts to influence the outcome of an election by a federal official with as much power as U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins are outrageous,” Murphy said in a Thursday statement. “According to the federal report, residents of Suffolk County had their election tampere...

Magnitude 5.1 quake rattles Greek island of Crete but no early reports of damage or injuries

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:17 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities say an earthquake with preliminary magnitude 5.1 has shaken the southern island of Crete. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.The Athens Geodynamic Institute said the quake struck just before 10 a.m. local (1900GMT) Thursday on the island’s southern coast, at a depth of nearly 9 kilometers (5.6 miles).Earthquakes are common in Greece, and Crete is one of the country’s most quake-prone areas. Severe damage and injuries are rare. In 1999, an Athens quake killed 143 people.The Associated Press

3 former officers indicted in beating of Georgia jail detainee

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:17 GMT

WOODBINE, Ga. (AP) — A grand jury in Georgia has indicted three former sheriff’s officers in the beating of a Black jail detainee that was recorded by security cameras. The indictment handed down Wednesday in coastal Camden County charges ex-deputy Ryan Biegel and former jail officers Braxton Massey and Mason Garrick with misdemeanor counts of battery and simple battery as well as a felony count of violating their oath of office.The charges stem from the September beating of Jarrett Hobbs, who was jailed after a traffic stop. Security camera video showed the white officers rush into Hobbs’ cell and begin punching him in the head and neck. Another camera recorded Hobbs being hurled against a wall and pinned to the floor.The Georgia Bureau of Investigation began looking into the beating after Hobbs’ attorneys obtained the video footage. In November, all three men were fired after being arrested on the same charges contained in the indictment. The indictment means a grand j...

Man wanted after approaching children and offering candy to go with him

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:17 GMT

Toronto police are searching for a man in connection with a suspicious incident at a North York school.Investigators say around noon on Friday, May 12, a group of children were playing on school property in the area of Pleasant Avenue and Cactus Avenue, near Bathurst Street and Steeles Avenue West when a man approached four young boys and offered them candy if they went with him to his van.Police say no van was seen and the children ran and reported the incident to their teacher.The man is described as having dark skin, in his teens or early 20s with curly black hair.He was last seen wearing a black shift, dark pants and running shoes. He was riding a black mountain bike and carrying a peach coloured backpack.

Emissions from wildfires hit record high in 2021 as climate change drives fire threat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:17 GMT

OTTAWA — Emissions from wildfires hit a new record in 2021, producing more greenhouse gases than the oil and gas sector and heavy industry combined.With a total estimated carbon footprint of 270 million tonnes, wildfire emissions were the single biggest source of greenhouse gases that year.But they were not included when Canada tallied its total emissions for the year, because wildfires aren’t considered to be directly under human control.Rebecca Hornbrook, an atmospheric chemist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, says wildfire emissions are in many ways part of the natural carbon cycle and shouldn’t be viewed the same way we see emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.But she says the increased number of wildfires, and their growing intensity in a world impacted by climate change, are cause for concern.Hornbrook says the air pollution from wildfires is something everyone should be watching for, noting the major fires burning in Alberta are a...

Ecuador lawmakers denounce president’s disbanding of National Assembly, argue it wasn’t legal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:17 GMT

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuadorian lawmakers who were ousted when President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly denounced the move Thursday and argued it wasn’t legal because the country wasn’t facing any urgent crisis.The conservative president, who had sparred with the left-leaning assembly over his pro-business agenda since taking office in 2021, disbanded the chamber Wednesday just as it tried to oust him on mismanagement allegations in an impeachment trial.Lasso was making first use of a 2008 constitutional provision that allows the president to dissolve the assembly during times of political crisis, with the requirement that new elections be held for both lawmakers and the president.However, a lawsuit filed Thursday by the assembly’s former head, Virgilio Saquicela, argues that Lasso’s move violated the constitution because the country was not experiencing any social upheaval. Instead, Lasso’s detractors have argued, the president chose to disband the cha...