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British-born actress and singer Jane Birkin, who found fame in France, dies age 76

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:16:21 GMT

(CNN) — Jane Birkin, the British singer and actress who found fame in France, has died aged 76, CNN affiliate BFMTV reported Sunday, citing its sources.Birkin was born in London but moved to Paris when she was 20 to work on a movie called “Slogan.”She fell in love with the movie’s star, French actor and singer Serge Gainsbourg, and the two quickly became the subject of widespread public fascination. The couple often collaborated professionally, memorably performing together on “Je t’aime… moi non plus.”While her relationship with Gainsbourg made Birkin a household name, Birkin quickly become a star in her own right and a fashion icon in France, despite being British.She was the inspiration for the famous Birkin bag by French luxury house Hermes.“Mom represents a very Parisian style, which is funny because she’s not,” her daughter Lou Doillon told CNN in 2017.

China should be pressured on climate issues, US national security adviser says

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:16:21 GMT

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday that China should be pressured to “take significant, substantial action“ in reducing emissions and fight climate change.Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sullivan said of China: “They should not able to hide behind any kind of claim that they’re a developing nation, to step up to their responsibility. And their responsibility under the Paris climate accord is to take significant, substantial action to reduce emissions on a defined time frame in the near-term.”John Kerry, the former secretary of State who is President Joe Biden’s climate envoy, is due in Beijing to attempt to revive U.S.-China climate negotiations.CNN host Jake Tapper noted that the United States is facing a number of weather-related crises at the moment, including intense heat waves and major flooding, which have been attributed to climate change. Those seeking to combat climate change have focused on China and India, as developing nations wh...

Russia has ‘sufficient stockpile’ of cluster bombs to strike back, Putin warns

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:16:21 GMT

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that Russia has a “sufficient stockpile” of cluster bombs and threatened to take “reciprocal action” if Ukraine used the weapons against Russian troops.The Pentagon confirmed on Thursday that Washington had delivered the cluster munitions, which over 110 countries worldwide have banned, to Ukraine. Kyiv says it needs the explosive shells to compensate for ammunition shortages as it is currently mounting a counteroffensive against Russia’s invasion. Ukraine has said that cluster bombs would only be used on its own territory to dislodge Russian soldiers from occupied areas. Cluster bombs are filled with submunitions that are released in the air and make the weapons more effective against enemy troops but can also pose a risk for civilians.“I want to note that in the Russian Federation there is a sufficient stockpile of different kinds of cluster bombs. We have not used them yet. But of course if they are used against us, we r...

Tornado watch issued for most of Massachusetts, all of Connecticut, parts of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine until 3 pm

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:16:21 GMT

Keep your eyes to the sky today!An “atmospheric river” first brought the state a tornado warning — that ended at 9:15 a.m. with another in effect until 10:30 a.m. — and now a tornado watch until 3 p.m. for most of Massachusetts.According to the National Weather Service, all of Connecticut and sections of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and southern Maine fall under that watch. The city of Boston seems to be safe, so far.The rest of Massachusetts and Vermont — basically the whole northeast — is under a thunderstorm and flood watch on and off into tomorrow. That’s a mix of “torrential rainfall,” hail, wind suddenly gusting and driving that could be perilous.That unyielding atmospheric river is moving northeast with western Mass, Vermont and New Hampshire in for more misery. (Now it has triggered another tornado warning for the Fitchburg area until 10:30 a.m.)Related ArticlesCrime & Public Safety | Early-week floods leav...

A flash flood on a Pennsylvania road claims 3 lives; 4 others, including a baby, are missing

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:16:21 GMT

WASHINGTON CROSSING, Pa. (AP) — A sudden flash flood swamped a southeastern Pennsylvania road, sweeping several cars away and claiming at least three lives. Four other people, including a 9-month-old baby, remained missing, authorities said.Officials in Bucks County’s Makefield Township said torrential rains occurred at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday in the Washington Crossing area. Other parts of the East Coast were experiencing heavy rain, including Vermont. Authorities there said landslides could become a problem on Sunday as the state copes with more rain following days of flooding.“My team and I continue to monitor the situation as more rain falls in Vermont. There are flash flood warnings throughout the state today. Remain vigilant and be prepared,” Gov. Phil Scott said. Sunday’s strong storms led to hundreds of flight cancellations at airports in the New York City area, according to the tracking service FlightAware. More than 300 flights were canceled at Newark Liberty Intern...

Police search for suspect in Regent Park stabbing

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:16:21 GMT

The search is on for a suspect following a stabbing in Regent Park Sunday morning.Police say they were called to the area of River Street and Dundas Street East just after 10:30 a.m. following reports someone had been stabbed in the leg. Paramedics transported a man in his 30s to a nearby hospital in serious but non-life threatening condition. The suspect fled the scene before police arrived. He was last seen wearing a white hat and a plaid red shirt.

Brittney Griner makes an emotional and dominant return to record-setting WNBA All-Star Game

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:16:21 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Brittney Griner made an emphatic and emotional return to the WNBA’s midseason showcase event.She scored 18 points, including her team’s first six, and put down two dunks in the league’s All-Star Game on Saturday night.The sellout crowd roared when Griner was introduced and, clearly moved by the ovation, she tapped her chest over her heart with her right hand. There was no doubt that a year after being forced to miss this event while detained in Russia, Griner was the star of the show.“To have that ovation and all those little memories that I can cherish now, it means the world,” Griner said. “So it was no question I was going to come and play. They have never wavered in their support.”Griner led Team Stewart, captained by the New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart, to a 143-127 victory over Team Wilson, led by the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson. The 143 points and 270 combined points are All-Star Game records.Team Stewart’s Jewell ...

With another Toronto shelter hotel to close, residents call for action from new mayor

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:16:21 GMT

Michael Smith wants to settle down. At 71 years old, he imagines what it would be like to have his own home. Somewhere he can call up his friends, fire up the BBQ and share a meal over the sounds of his favourite music: Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley and The Doors. Smith has been homeless for about 25 years. In that time, he says the closest he’s come to a place of his own is in a downtown Toronto hotel, one of several sites the city converted to temporary homeless shelters at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Smith – who has schizophrenia, a heart condition, walks with a cane and has survived multiple strokes – was connected with a nearby family doctor shortly after he moved to the hotel in 2020, he says. Almost everyone coming and going from the hotel says hello. A cashier at the Tim Hortons next door knows him by name and comes by his table later to warn about a storm brewing. But Smith is set to be displaced when the Strathcona Hotel owner reclaims the site at the end of Au...

Tokito Oda wins wheelchair final to become youngest male Wimbledon champion

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:16:21 GMT

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Tokito Oda became the youngest man to win a Wimbledon singles title in any discipline after defeating Alfie Hewett in the men’s wheelchair final on Sunday.The 17-year-old Japanese player won 6-4, 6-2 on No. 1 Court to earn his second straight Grand Slam title after also winning the French Open in June.“I’m still 17. So, I want to open a champagne, but I couldn’t,” Oda said. “So I have to drink sparkling water.”His French Open victory, where he also beat Hewett in the final, made Oda the youngest man to win a Grand Slam singles title in any discipline — excluding juniors — at 17 years, 33 days.He was 17 years, 69 days when he won the Wimbledon title. Boris Becker was the youngest men’s singles champion at the All England Club at 17 years, 228 days in 1985.In the women’s wheelchair doubles final, Diede De Groot followed up her singles victory by adding another title alongside Jiske Griffioen. The Dutch pair beat Yui Kamiji of Japan and Kgoth...

N.W.T. researchers studying permafrost, ‘the foundation on which everything is built’

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:16:21 GMT

INUVIK, N.W.T. — Off the side of the road not far from the airport in Inuvik, N.W.T., among the shrubs and spruce trees, a series of rusted metal bars are buried deep in the ground. Installed in 2004, they are helping researchers measure how the ground is changing over time.Jennifer Humphries, permafrost specialist at the Aurora Research Institute, says it’s the only site in the world south of the treeline looking at the long-term thermal expansion and contraction of the ground connected to annual changes in air temperature. She says the ground there has been expanding two centimetres every year. “It is a very neat site,” she says.Past clouds of buzzing insects, several trees nearby sport metal platforms attached to their slim trunks, measuring changes in tilt. As the permafrost degrades unevenly below, Humphries says it can cause what’s known as “drunken forests” where off-kilter trees lean in different directions.This is one of several places in...