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Fishing for Secrets in the Nord Stream Abyss

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:50 GMT

The skies over the Baltic Sea are a clear blue with just faint ribbons of clouds. It’s May 24 and Erik Andersson eats a bowl of yogurt for breakfast on the deck of the Swedish diving vessel Baltic Explorer. Between bites, the 62-year-old retired engineer and entrepreneur discusses the previous day’s work on his investigation into one of the most significant international crimes in recent history: the bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines.“Well, we arrived at the site, it was the southern site, you know, the first bomb that exploded at 2:03 in the morning local time 26th of September, and we started by making sonar scans with the sonar sensors that are attached to the boat,” he says to the camera held by his daughter Agnes, who has joined him on the expedition to document his journey. “We’re scanning back and forth over the explosion site and by doing that, we got a three-dimensional depth profile. And we could map out, we could see immediately that that was the trench, 100 by 60 mete...

England wins toss and opts to bowl first against Australia in 2nd Ashes test at Lord’s

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:50 GMT

LONDON (AP) — England chose to bowl first against Australia on a green strip under cloudy skies at Lord’s in the second Ashes test on Wednesday.“The overheads have played a massive part in this,” England captain Ben Stokes said. “The wicket looks like it’s got plenty of grass on it so hopefully we can exploit that this morning.”Australia chose fast bowler Mitchell Starc ahead of Scott Boland in the only change to the side which won the first test by two wickets at Edgbaston.Starc played in the world test championship final win against India at the Oval this month but lost out to Boland at Edgbaston when Josh Hazlewood returned from injury.The cloud cover at Lord’s was expected to tip the scales in favor of the accurate Boland again but Starc’s pace and bounce was preferred.“We just wanted some variety,” Australia captain Pat Cummins said. “We’re really happy with how Scott has been going. Unfortunately he is the one to miss out this week but we’re...

What is a Therme? Massive spa resort considering DC site aims to be ‘antithesis to the metaverse’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:50 GMT

Last month, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced D.C. had inked a deal with a company seeking to build a massive $500 million complex in the District. No, it’s not for a new Commander’s stadium or swanky hotel.The agreement is with an Austrian-based company that hopes to build an indoor spa and water park the size of 10 baseball fields somewhere in the nation’s capital.The exclusive deal Bowser announced called for a one-year period in which the Therme Group would only consider locations in D.C. — not anywhere else in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia or Pennsylvania — for its next “Therme” spa.D.C. officials hail the potential project as a key part of D.C.’s “comeback” from post-pandemic economic uncertainty and the idea has support from some local business leaders.But, a month into the exclusive agreement, WTOP’s DMV Download podcast digs into the deal: Just what is a Therme? Where is there space to build o...

DC United’s Benteke, Miller selected to MLS All-Star roster that will face Arsenal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:50 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Reigning league MVP Hany Mukhtar and teammate Walker Zimmerman from Nashville, LAFC scoring leader Dénis Bouanga and top newcomer Giorgos Giakoumakis highlight the 26-player roster for the Major League Soccer All-Star Game.The MLS All-Stars announced Tuesday will face Premier League powerhouse Arsenal on July 19 in Washington.The 26-player roster consists of 12 players voted into the game by a combination of fans, players and media, 12 selected by D.C. United and All-Star head coach Wayne Rooney and two commissioners’ selections.FC Cincinnati, currently leading the Supporters’ Shield standings with 43 points, has the most selections of any club with three — midfielder Luciano Acosta and defenders Álvaro Barreal and Matt Miazga.A total of 17 different clubs will be represented in the All-Star Game and 19 of the 26 players are first-time selections.After winning his first MVP last season, Mukhtar leads the league with 13 goals in 20 matches played for Nashville. HeR...

Bayern Munich and Qatar end sponsorship deal which riled fans

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:50 GMT

MUNICH (AP) — Bayern Munich and Qatar Airways said Wednesday they are ending a sponsorship deal which caused tension between the German soccer champion and its fans.Bayern and the Qatari state-owned airline said in a joint statement that the sponsorship “ends by mutual agreement on 30 June 2023 after five very exciting years together.” Bayern’s players wore the Qatar Airways logo on their sleeves and regularly traveled to Qatar for winter training camps, including one in January this year.Fan groups critical of the human rights record of the 2022 World Cup host nation had campaigned not to renew the deal when it expired at the end of the season.Bayern fans booed the club’s directors at the club’s 2021 annual general meeting when officials refused to allow a vote on the sponsorship deal. Bayern management defended the sponsorship by saying that it had helped to bring positive change to Qatar, which was heavily criticized ahead of the World Cup for the conditions of migran...

Some Dutch people seeking euthanasia cite autism or intellectual disabilities, researchers say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:50 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Several people with autism and intellectual disabilities have been legally euthanized in the Netherlands in recent years because they said they could not lead normal lives, researchers have found. The cases included five people younger than 30 who cited autism as either the only reason or a major contributing factor for euthanasia, setting an uneasy precedent that some experts say stretches the limits of what the law originally intended. In 2002, the Netherlands became the first country to allow doctors to kill patients at their request if they met strict requirements, including having an incurable illness causing “unbearable” physical or mental suffering. Between 2012 and 2021, nearly 60,000 people were killed at their own request, according to the Dutch government’s euthanasia review committee. To show how the rules are being applied and interpreted, the committee has released documents related to more than 900 of those people, most of whom were older and had c...

Costco sigue el ejemplo de Netflix: entérate qué hará para evitar que compartas tu membresía, según CNBC

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:50 GMT

Costco parece estar siguiendo el ejemplo de Netflix.El minorista está tomando medidas enérgicas contra las personas que ingresan a escondidas a sus clubes y tratan de comprar con las tarjetas de membresía de otras personas.Costco dijo que siempre ha pedido a los compradores sus tarjetas de membresía en las cajas registradoras cuando pagan. Ahora, también solicita ver tarjetas con una foto en las cajas de autopago, y ver una identificación con foto si la tarjeta de membresía de un comprador no la tiene.“No creemos que sea correcto que los no miembros reciban los mismos beneficios y precios de quienes sí lo son”, dijo la compañía en un comunicado.Costco, que ofrece un servicio de membresía a sus clientes, dijo que ha notado un abuso mayor del uso de tarjetas compartidas desde que expandió el servicio de autopago a más supermercados. CNBC: el icónico combo de hot dog a $1.50 de Costco se convierte en una camiseta viral Más cara: Sam’...

Los surcoreanos se vuelven más jóvenes de la noche a la mañana después de que el país desechara la “edad coreana”

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:50 GMT

Seúl, Corea del Sur (CNN) — Más de 51 millones de personas en Corea del Sur se despertaron este miércoles siendo uno o dos años más jóvenes, al menos, de acuerdo con la ley.Según la legislación que entró en vigencia este miércoles, “todas las áreas judiciales y administrativas” en el país de Asia oriental adoptarán el sistema de “edad internacional” utilizado en la mayor parte del mundo, poniendo fin a años de debate sobre los problemas causados por el uso anteriormente común de la “edad coreana” y “edad del calendario”.La estandarización de las edades “reducirá diversas confusiones y disputas sociales”, dijo Lee Wan-kyu, ministro de Legislación Gubernamental, en una conferencia de prensa este lunes.También se espera que la ley, aprobada por el Parlamento de Corea del Sur en diciembre pasado, “reduzca en gran medida los costos sociales que han sido innecesarios debido al uso mixto de los estándares de edad”, dijo Lee, y agregó que esta había sido una im...

Travelers, experts react to severe weather conditions causing major travel problems at MIA

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:50 GMT

In the face of relentless severe weather conditions across the country, travelers at Miami International Airport (MIA) have been grappling with significant disruptions to their flights, leading to frustration and inconvenience. From endless delays to exhausted passengers resorting to sleeping on airport floors, the impact of these weather-related challenges has been extensive.Since Saturday, the nation’s airlines have been forced to cancel over 6,000 flights, with an additional 32,000 experiencing delays. Such statistics reflect the magnitude of the travel woes that have beset airports nationwide, leaving passengers stranded and longing for their intended destinations.Zachary Navit, a weary traveler, voiced his exasperation as he mentioned he barely got sleep while he awaited his flight.“It’s certainly been a test of patience, frustrating in many ways,” he said.Edwar Barajona, another traveler caught in the chaos, described scenes of long queues, distressed c...

‘Tragic’ Brexit has hipster beer boss crying into his pints

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:50 GMT

Brexit has brought “zero benefit” to businesses in the U.K., the boss of a major beer chain lamented Wednesday.James Watt, CEO of Brewdog — known for its in-your-face marketing and bars with kids play equipment in them — told Bloomberg that Britain’s exit from the EU has “had a significant negative impact on our business,” and made getting beer to its customers in Europe “significantly more difficult.”“For me, it’s just massively handicapped U.K. companies that do business in Europe, with zero benefit at all,” he added.“I think it’s been tragic for U.K. business and a lot of the economic issues the U.K. is facing — more inflation than other places, being harder to do business, is a result of the catastrophic decision to leave the EU. It’s really crippled businesses in the U.K,” Watt said.Brewdog is headquartered in Ellon, near Aberdeen in Scotland. It has experienced a rough ride over the past year, ...