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John Oliver’s campaign for puking mullet bird delays New Zealand vote for favorite feathered friend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:38 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Vote checkers in New Zealand have been so overwhelmed by foreign interference that they’ve been forced to delay announcing a winner. The contest is to choose the nation’s favorite bird and the interference is from comedian John Oliver.Usually billed Bird of the Year, the annual event by conservation group Forest and Bird is held to raise awareness about the plight of the nation’s native birds, some of which have been driven to extinction. This year, the contest was named Bird of the Century to mark the group’s centennial.Oliver discovered a loophole in the rules, which allowed anybody with a valid email address to cast a vote. So he went all-out in a humorous campaign for his favored bird, the pūteketeke, a water bird, on his HBO show “Last Week Tonight.”Oliver had a billboard erected for “The Lord of the Wings” in New Zealand’s capital, Wellington. He also put up billboards in Paris, Tokyo, London, and Mumbai, India. He had a plane w...

South Korea and members of the US-led UN command warn North Korea over its nuclear threat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:38 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Senior defense officials from South Korea, the United States and other nations on Tuesday warned North Korea over its nuclear ambitions and threats, vowing an unspecified collective response to any war-like aggression by the North toward its rival.Their joint statement came after a meeting in Seoul involving U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik and officials from 16 other countries under the U.S.-led United Nations Command, which provided combat or medical forces in support of the South during the 1950-53 Korean War.The meeting came a day after Austin and Shin held annual defense talks where the allies updated a bilateral security agreement with the aim of more effectively countering North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile threats.In the joint statement, the defense ministers and other representatives of the U.N. Command’s member states strongly condemned North Korea’s “unlawful” nuclear and ballistic missile...

Broncos report card: Defense’s big-time run continues in win over Buffalo on Monday night

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:38 GMT

Offense – C+The Broncos went long stretches where they didn’t do much of anything offensively. They finished with 300 yards on the dot. They turned four turnovers into just six points. They were maddeningly conservative at times. And yet, after Sean Payton drew criticism early in the year for being too impatient, it’s hard to heap blame on him for playing a grind-it-out style here. Especially with a 24-22 win in the bag. Russell Wilson played turnover-free, though he’s got to take fewer hits over the final eight weeks. Denver’s longest rushing play was 11 yards. Here’s the stat that perhaps mattered second-most after the plus-3 turnover differential: 37 minutes, 21 seconds. The Broncos had the ball that long and used it to eke out a critical win.Defense – A-Vance Joseph’s group is on some kind of heater. After forcing five turnovers in Week 8 against Kansas City, the Broncos came up with four more against Buffalo on Monday night. A group that looked slow and unathletic early in the ...

Avalanche shake off slow start, recent struggles to crush the Kraken

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:38 GMT

Has an NHL season ever turned on a coach’s challenge before?That’s a bit of hyperbole, but the Avalanche have been scuffling lately and appeared to hit rock bottom Monday night. The Seattle Kraken already had the lead, and turned a Cale Makar misplay near the offensive blue line into a shorthanded goal … until they didn’t.Colorado successfully challenged that Brandon Tanev interfered with Alexandar Georgiev, and the goal was wiped off the board. And eventually, the Avs started to look more like the team that raced to a 6-0 start this season.Here are some observations from the 5-1 win at Climate Pledge Arena:1. Mikko Rantanen scored arguably the most important goal of the season to date to tie the score in the second period. Ross Colton followed with one to put the Avs in front. A common thread between the two?Colton scored on a rebound at the edge of the crease. Rantanen was in the crease, and between Seattle goalie Joey Daccord and the goal line. The combine...

Kiszla: Playoffs? Broncos believe anything is possible after miracle of Brain Freeze in Buffalo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:38 GMT

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — When the football reaper came knocking, announced by the deathly chill of Old Man Winter’s breath on the back of their necks, the Broncos climbed out of the abyss and beat the Bills, 24-22, in a weird Monday night that will long be remembered as the Brain Freeze in Buffalo.I can’t believe what I just saw. Was this the NFL? Or Bizarro World?In the chaos of the fourth quarter’s final seconds, Denver kicker Wil Lutz, whose night had been one, long, slow-motion pratfall of botched kicks, rushed on the field with his teammates. May Day! He then doinked a 41-yard field goal that had thousands of witnesses in the stadium thinking the Bills had escaped with a one-point victory.“I couldn’t tell if (Lutz) made it,” Broncos coach Sean Payton admitted. “Did he put it wide right?”He did. Wide right, with a whiff as wretched as an earlier extra point he hooked wide left.But, lo and behold, Lutz was bailed out by the foolis...

Kazakhstan's transport minister: Our transport strategy advances in co-operation with global partners

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:38 GMT

Since its independence, Kazakhstan has made great efforts to develop its transport and transit potential and modernise transport corridors, having allocated over the past 15 years over $35 billion for these purposes.Today, our transport industry is an area of profitable investments. The shortest routes from Europe to Central Asia, China and South-East Asia pass through our country. We have formed a network of efficient transit transcontinental corridors and routes.TITR, or the Middle Corridor, is a single logistical solution linking transit flows between Europe, Central Asia and China. The route can become a continental bridge between the largest markets, halving the time of freight traffic and significantly reducing transport costs.In 2022 and nine months of 2023, its cargo volumes have doubled.We are working with our neighbours and partners in the region to regulate tariffs on the corridor. Today, we have already fixed the tariffs for container transportation on the route. We plan...

Commuting nightmare commences with closure of 10 Freeway downtown

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:38 GMT

The closure of the 10 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles after a massive fire broke out over the weekend has created a nightmare for commuters and prompted concerns for businesses in the impacted areas.  Cars in bumper-to-bumper traffic inched their way around I-10 near Alameda Street near downtown Monday, with some drivers saying it was hard not to lose their cool.  “I had a moment of road rage,” commuter Rachel Perlman told KTLA’s Omar Lewis. “I mean, usually I can be mellow, but I was hoping I didn’t run out of gas before I got here.”  For nearby businesses, like Aurthur’s Garden restaurant on Hooper Avenue, it was rush hour without the rush of customers.   10 Freeway fire set with ‘malice intent,’ Newsom says “It’s bad. It affects everything around,” Alma Lorenzo, owner of Aurthur’s Garden, said. “We don’t get as many clients traffic gets so bad.  The restaurant owner said she noticed a drastic drop in business since the fire started over the weekend and ...

United flight makes emergency landing at SFO due to 'potential security issue'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:38 GMT

(KRON) -- A United Airlines flight made an emergency landing at San Francisco International Airport Monday night, United confirmed. Flight UA1909 was headed from Los Angeles to Vancouver, but it touched down in the Bay Area due to "a potential security issue on board," United said. According to Flight Aware, the plane took off at 7:13 p.m. and landed at SFO at 9:28 p.m. "United flight 1909 diverted to San Francisco this evening due to a potential security issue on board. The flight landed safely and was met by local law enforcement. We are working to get our customers to their final destination as soon as possible," United said. There were 148 passengers on the plane, and it had an eight-member crew. United did not expand on the nature of the possible threat. KRON4 has reached out to the San Francisco Police Department for more and are awaiting a response.

Flu season starts early in the Bay Area

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:38 GMT

(KRON) – Flu season is developing earlier than expected in California. According to the latest report from the Center for Disease Control published Monday, the number of respiratory illness cases is rising across most of the United States. “The flu season has started,” said UCSF’s infectious disease specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong. “I think we’re on the cusp of seeing a large increase in cases.” ‘Let Gaza live’: Hundreds of Jewish protesters take over Oakland Federal Building in support of Palestine Dr. Chin-Hong says while levels are still low, his hospital is seeing more patients every day. Public health data shows the overall percentage of doctor’s visits for flu-like illnesses is 3.8% – up from 3.3% the week before. Traditionally, California’s flu season peaks in February, but last year it peaked in late November and early December. This year is on a similar trajectory.Dr. Chin-Hong says it’s not too late to get your flu shot, and that the season could be prolonged.“I thin...

Iceland to tax housing to pay for lava barriers over volcanic eruption fears

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:38 GMT

Iceland’s parliament has approved a new tax on all housing for the next three years to fund the construction of lava barriers to protect infrastructure in the southwest of the country, an area which is a hotbed of seismic activity and has been bracing for volcanic eruptions over the past days.The law, passed overnight with 57 votes in Iceland’s 63-member parliament, levies a temporary property tax of 0.0008 percent on homes, and is expected to generate nearly 1 billion ISK (€6.5 million) in revenue. The funds raised will be used to build protections such as dikes, embankments and canals around Svartsengi, a geothermal power station located on the southern Reykjanes peninsula, about 65 kilometers from the capital, Reykjavík. The power station is the main supplier of water and electricity to the peninsula.The region has recorded thousands of earthquakes in recent days, with seismologists warning a volcanic eruption is imminent. Grindavík, a small fishing town with 3,000 re...