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Ocean census aims to discover 100,000 previously unknown marine species

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:03:13 GMT

(CNN) — Researchers have embarked on an ambitious global initiative to discover and record marine life hidden in the world’s oceans.Ocean Census aims to identify 100,000 unknown species in the next 10 years, allowing scientists to better understand and protect the deep-sea ecosystem.There are huge gaps in our knowledge of the ocean depths. Of the 2.2 million species believed to exist in the Earth’s oceans, only 240,000 have been described by scientists, according to the census.The initiative builds on past projects such as the Census of Marine Life, which concluded in 2010 and identified 6,000 potential new ocean species.New advances in technology include high-resolution underwater imaging, machine learning, and sequencing of DNA contained in seawater. The innovations will help accelerate the speed and scale of discovery of new life forms, said marine biologist Alex Rogers, the project’s science director. He is a professor of conservation biology at the Unive...

Dutch court orders man who fathered 550 kids to stop donating sperm

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:03:13 GMT

A Dutch judge has ordered a “mass sperm donor” who’s already fathered at least 550 children to stop donating.The man donated sperm in the Netherlands and abroad, including to Danish sperm bank Cryos, but also offered his sperm up via online platforms.He donated to at least 11 Dutch fertility clinics, which imposed a maximum of 25 children in 12 families per donor, while making false promises that he hadn’t offered his sperm elsewhere and wouldn’t do so in the future. In 2017, it was discovered that he’d already fathered 102 children via those clinics.The judge ruled that the man “deliberately lied to get parents to pick him as a donor,” knowing full well that they wouldn’t have chosen him if they’d known how many children he’d already helped conceive.The man claimed he was acting in the interests of prospective parents, who he wanted to help.One mother and Stichting Donorkind, an organization that represented several ...

Mississippi jail escapee caught in Texas as manhunt continues for 2 surviving inmates, sheriff says

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:03:13 GMT

(CNN) — One of the four men who escaped from a Mississippi jail last weekend was apprehended in Texas on Thursday, as authorities continue their search for the two surviving escaped inmates after confirming the fourth died in a burning building.“Escapee Jerry Raynes is in custody in Spring Valley, TX,” Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones tweeted Thursday afternoon alongside a picture of Raynes in custody. “(US Marshals Fugitive Task Force), Harris County Sheriff’s Office and Spring Valley PD assisted with the capture. Raynes will be held facing extradition back to MS.”Jones announced Wednesday that Raynes was spotted Sunday at a Spring Valley Village convenience store, some 400 miles southwest of the Raymond Detention Center in Hinds County, where he and three other men — Casey Grayson, 24; Corey Harrison, 22; and Dylan Arrington, 22 — climbed onto the roof and escaped overnight Saturday, according to the sheriff’s office.A tru...

Court reinstates charges against leaders of Holyoke veterans’ home

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:03:13 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts’ highest court overruled a lower court judge Thursday and reinstated criminal neglect charges against two top former officials at a veterans’ home. Nearly 80 veterans died at the Veterans’ Home in Holyoke after contracting the coronavirus in one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in a long-term care facility in the nation.The ruling allows the case against Bennett Walsh, the former superintendent at the facility, and Dr. David Clinton, its former medical director, to move forward.In their ruling, the majority of the justices found that the facts presented to the grand jury constituted probable cause to believe that Walsh and Clinton violated the elder abuse statute and that Hampden Superior Court Judge Edward McDonough Jr. erred in dismissing the charges.“Of course, sometimes bad things happen for no discernable reason, and no one is to blame. At any subsequent trial, prosecutors will need to prove their case. We conclude only that they will have the o...

Former NH coach in sex abuse case files intent to plead guilty

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:03:13 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A former New Hampshire college volunteer basketball coach who is accused of sexually abusing children and making child sex abuse photos and videos has filed a sealed notice of intent to plead guilty, weeks before jury selection was scheduled for his trial.The document was filed in Merrimack County Superior Court on Wednesday in the case of Joshua Pincoske. No details are available on the plea. His attorney declined to comment.Pincoske, who had faced jury selection in June, now has a hearing scheduled in September.He had pleaded not guilty last year to numerous counts of manufacturing child sex abuse images, several counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault, and one count of possession of a child sexual image.In a separate case in Strafford County, Pincoske was charged last year with sexual misconduct allegations. He pleaded not guilty. Jury selection in that case is scheduled for December.Pincoske also pleaded not guilty to federal charges last yea...

Don McLean offers duet with South Korean president who sang ‘American Pie’ to Biden

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:03:13 GMT

(CNN) — American singer songwriter Don McLean joked on Thursday that he was planning to sing his iconic “American Pie” with the South Korean president, after the leader entertained US President Joe Biden with a karaoke rendition of the song.The two leaders met Wednesday at the White House state dinner, a glamorous affair attended by stars like Angelina Jolie and Olympic gold medalist snowboarder Chloe Kim.After watching several musical performances, Biden told the crowd a story about how his sons would sing McLean’s 1971 hit “American Pie” when driving to school.“We know this is one of your favorite songs,” he told Yoon, who drew cheers from the crowd as he launched into the classic lyrics.Yoon received a standing ovation for his efforts before Biden presented him with a guitar signed by McLean.The legendary singer later told CNN that he had big plans for the South Korean leader.“I intend to go over ...

Column: Drafting Darnell Wright is the latest item on the Chicago Bears’ checklist to better evaluate QB Justin Fields

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:03:13 GMT

Ryan Poles used the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft to add future assets and get a bona fide wide receiver for Justin Fields in DJ Moore.When the Chicago Bears general manager got around to using his first-round pick Thursday night, he added more protection for Fields by choosing Tennessee offensive tackle Darnell Wright with the No. 10 pick.Much of the rest of the draft figures to be about finding defensive linemen and pass rushers for an undermanned unit, but the Bears won’t go into next season with folks saying they lack adequate protection or targets for Fields. Poles called Wright a “tone setter.”If 2022 was about tearing down the roster and resetting the salary cap, 2023 is about making a complete assessment of Fields. To do that, the Bears needed to start building the offense. After coming up short in a bid to sign offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey in free agency — I was told the Bears’ offer was close to $17 million per year — they drafted a pl...

Column: The Carolina Panthers made Bryce Young the No. 1 pick. Why it matters to Ryan Poles and the Chicago Bears.

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:03:13 GMT

For the last four months, Bryce Young has stood in and taken the shots he knew were coming during the pre-draft process.Not built to last in the modern-day NFL. Too short. Too slight. Too risky.Young has fielded questions on his physical shortcomings and answered them with a “control what you can control” mindset. “It’s fair,” he said.Young also took every opportunity he had — from interviews at the combine to his pro day workout at Alabama to visits at the facilities of the Carolina Panthers, Houston Texans and Las Vegas Raiders — to sell teams on his skills and his mentality.On a stage Thursday night at Union Station Kansas City, Young got his “Welcome to the NFL” hug from Roger Goodell and took his pedestal as the top pick in the 2023 NFL draft.There it was, at 7:17 p.m., the No. 1 selection.The pick the Chicago Bears once owned was spent by the Panthers. For the 18th time in 25 years, the No. 1 player drafted was a quarterbac...

Russian missile and drone attack in Ukraine kills 17 people

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:03:13 GMT

UMAN, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired more than 20 cruise missiles and two drones at Ukraine early Friday, killing at least 17 people, most of them when two missiles slammed into an apartment building in the center of the country, officials said. Three children were among the dead.The missile attacks included the first one against Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, in nearly two months, although there were no reports of any targets hit. The city government said Ukraine’s air force intercepted 11 cruise missiles and two unmanned aerial vehicles over Kyiv. The strikes on the nine-story residential building in central Ukraine occurred in Uman, a city located around 215 kilometers (134 miles) south of Kyiv. Fifteen people died in that attack, according to the interior ministry, including two 10-year-old children and a toddler. Another of the victims was a 75-year-old woman who lived in a neighboring building and suffered internal bleeding from the huge blast’s shock wave, according to eme...

Guards on famous yacht mistakenly shoot at Yemen Coast Guard

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:03:13 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Private armed guards aboard a famous yacht once owned by the late Welsh actor Richard Burton opened fire on Yemeni Coast Guard members Friday after mistaking them for pirates, sparking a gunfight in the Gulf of Aden, authorities said. It wasn’t immediately clear if anyone was wounded.The incident off Yemen shows the danger faced by both shippers and security forces in the waters off the Arab world’s poorest country, even as it remains crucial for global commerce. Details of what happened to the Kalizma remained unclear hours after the incident, which the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations initially reported as an attack with gunfire off Nishtun, in Yemen’s far east near the border with Oman.But by Friday afternoon, the British military operation providing support to ships across the Mideast described the attack in the Gulf of Aden as being “confirmed by authorities as government agency activity,” without elabora...