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Azerbaijan’s achievements in clean-energy transition

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:51:05 GMT

2023 was a very successful year for Azerbaijan as the country restored its territorial integrity and reached significant achievements in different sectors of the economy including the energy sector. - writes Shahmar Hajiyev, Senior Advisor at the Center of Analysis of International Relations It is worth noting that the energy sector plays a key role in Azerbaijan’s economy and, driven by its natural resources, the country’s energy production is strongly tied to fossil fuels. The finalization of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) enables the country to export its natural gas to the European energy markets. In 2016, the country signed the Paris Agreement on climate change, which set up a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by up to 35 per cent by 2030. Overall, Azerbaijan aims to export not only fossil fuels but also green energy to Europe. To this end, the country has already started to develop its renewable energy capacity, and one of the country’s primary goals is to support...

California restaurant bouncing back after racist dog meat claims

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:51:05 GMT

David Rasavong’s cultural pride is evident all throughout his restaurant.It’s on the wall of family portraits and where a stunning mural depicts his family’s journey from Laos to California. It’s on the menu filled with Lao and Thai dishes like the crispy coconut rice salad of Nam Khao and the stir-fried rice noodles of Pad See Ew.And it’s in the fact that Love & Thai in Fresno, California, restaurant is open at all. A baseless accusation grounded in a racist stereotype about Asian food using dog meat brought a six-month barrage of harassment so heated that Rasavong, 41, closed down its previous location over fears for his family’s safety.His earlier restaurant had only been open for seven months when a so-called animal welfare crusader in May implied on social media that a pitbull tied up at an unconnected home next door was going to be served on the menu.A day after the initial commentary, vitriolic statements, voicemails and calls rained down. Rasavong’s body still tenses up ...

Packs of wild dogs terrorizing Riverside County: LAT

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:51:05 GMT

Packs of wild dogs may be played for laughs in Hollywood movies, but in Riverside County, they're no joke.Groups of canines have slain livestock near Anza and, in 2018, killed a woman "in broad daylight," according to a report in the Los Angeles Times."Earlier this spring, a pack of free-roaming hounds — identified as three Labrador mixes, two Queensland blue heelers and a husky — slaughtered a herd of goats and two sheep," the Times reports.The Valley News also reports that "dozens of goats were killed by dogs ... near Anza’s Hamilton Schools" last year. Authorities Round up Stray Dogs in Anza After Woman Was Severely Attacked by Pit Bulls The Riverside County Department of Animal Services is working to combat the canines by "bringing a spay-neuter bus to the region, providing occasional vaccination and educational clinics, and urging people to keep their pets indoors and behind fences," the Times says, but "it only takes a few bad actors — and a couple of breeding seasons — for ...

More people are canceling their streaming subscriptions

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:51:05 GMT

Retaining customers is getting more difficult for streaming services.Customer cancellations on major streaming platforms rose to 6.3% in November, from 5.1% the year prior, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The newspaper cited data from Antenna, a subscription analytics provider.The data comes as multiple streaming services have announced price changes and hikes over the past year. The many ways to watch KTLA for free Amazon Prime Video is moving ahead with plans to introduce advertisements to its content unless users pay an additional fee of $2.99 per month. Netflix upped the price of its "Basic" and "Premium" tiers by $2 earlier this fall.People who use Peacock, Paramount+, Hulu and Apple TV+ also saw price increases in 2023.Companies have been trying a range of tactics to boost revenues, including lower-priced options that include advertising. In a shareholder letter earlier this fall, Netflix said roughly 30% of its incoming subscribers are opting for its $7 plan...

Las Vegas judge attacked by convicted felon in the courtroom (video)

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:51:05 GMT

Graphic warning: The video above may be disturbing for some viewers.A man attacked a Las Vegas judge in her courtroom Wednesday, forcing her to take cover and injuring a marshal in the process, a video obtained by Nexstar's KLAS reveals. KTLA's sister station KLAS reports. Deobra Redden, 30, a three-time felon, was in Clark County District Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus’ courtroom for sentencing on a charge of attempted battery with substantial bodily harm, records said. Meat market thief wearing ‘Dirty Bird’ hoodie flees on scooter Holthus was sitting behind the bench when Redden ran up to her, jumped over the bench and attacked her, the video shows. Several other people then fought with Redden before throwing him to the ground. An alarm also sounded for several minutes alerting others to the incident.Before the attack, Redden's attorney asked Holthus to sentence his client to probation. Holthus then said, "I think it's time he get a taste of something else."Deobra Redden, 30, a th...

Inside the Spiral Unearths Robert Smithson’s Childhood, Catholicism, Art, and Death

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:51:05 GMT

A spiral, when you think about it, works like an inside-out labyrinth. The end is completely visible from the outside. If you can walk it, there’s hypnotic pleasure in following your feet to the center. That’s the experience promised by Spiral Jetty, the monumental earthwork that arcs through the blood-red waters at Rozel Point, in Utah’s Great Salt Lake. This is a massive sculpture — a 1,500-foot-long rock pathway conceived and built in 1970 by the enigmatic artist Robert Smithson. A tall, skinny, brooding, chain-smoking ersatz cowboy from Passaic, New Jersey, Smithson lived only three more years after finishing Spiral Jetty. He went up in a light plane for a long view of his newest project, Amarillo Ramp, still in its beginning stages, and crashed in the desert. He was 35.A good artist bio is a treasure box, and Suzaan Boettger gives the reader more of Smithson than anyone has to date. Still, reading Inside the Spiral is like getting a Snickers bar and being forced to eat the wrap...

TGI Fridays abruptly closes 36 restaurants. See the list

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:51:05 GMT

By Jordan Valinsky | CNNNew York  — Some fans of TGI Fridays were likely surprised this week when they found their local restaurant permanently closed because the chain abruptly shut down dozens of locations around the US.The chain said in a release that it closed 36 “underperforming” restaurants as part of its “ongoing growth strategy,” which also includes also a shakeup of its executive ranks and selling some restaurants back to its former CEO.Related ArticlesRestaurants, Food and Drink | 7 amazing Bay Area things to do this weekend Restaurants, Food and Drink | Central California restaurant’s comeback shows how outdated, false Asian stereotype of dog-eating persists Restaurants, Food and Drink | Taco Bell staple is coming to a store near you Restaurants, Food and Drink | New at Starbucks: Customers may use their own cups for mobile, drive-thru orders Restaurants, Food and Drink | High-end Oakland Mexican r...

Pac-12 football: Grading each team’s performance in the 2023 season

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:51:05 GMT

The final Pac-12 football season (as we know it) not only lived up to expectations, it thumped expectations. It broke open a close game in the third quarter and beat expectations by multiple touchdowns.The conference placed a team in the College Football Playoff and two teams in the New Year’s Six bowl lineup. It produced two Heisman Trophy finalists and the AP Coach of the Year (Washington’s Kalen DeBoer), generated a winning record against Power Five opponents and won more bowl games than it lost.In other words, the Pac-12 is leaving the college football stage on top after 108 years of competition.Collectively, the conference deserves an A+ for its showing in 2023. But what about the individual teams?The following grades are based on performance relative to expectations. To our expectations. To expectations that took into account personnel, schedules, circumstances and program potential. Two teams can have the same record but receive different grades.Here we go …...

66-year-old woman beaten, robbed in Oakland

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:51:05 GMT

OAKLAND — A 66-year-old woman was pushed to the ground and kicked repeatedly in the head Wednesday evening in North Oakland by two suspects who stole her purse, her iPhone and a shopping bag, authorities said.The Oakland woman sustained numerous cuts and bruises. She was treated at the scene and declined being taken to a hospital.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Police converge on People’s Park at UC Berkeley in attempt to wall off for construction Crime and Public Safety | 72-year-old man charged with threatening to kill East Bay Rep. Eric Swalwell and his kids Crime and Public Safety | Did Pamela Price recall group exploit Oakland officer’s murder with fundraising thread? Crime and Public Safety | Stockton man charged with murder of Oakland officer had killed before as a teen Crime and Public Safety | Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price barred from prosecuting her loudes...

Police converge on People’s Park at UC Berkeley in attempt to wall off for construction

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:51:05 GMT

BERKELEY — An overnight move by UC Berkeley to wall off historic People’s Park in preparation for a long-term construction project was met with a heated swarm of protesters early Thursday morning, beginning another chapter in a saga of litigation.Shortly after midnight, hundreds of law enforcement officials outfitted in riot gear were deployed by the university, California Highway Patrol and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office to start pushing out activists occupying the 2.8-acre park. Dozens of double-stacked cargo shipping containers were used to barricade the streets surrounding the park, clearing the way for UC Berkeley’s latest attempt to advance its controversial student housing project slated for the historic open space.Activists occupied the park Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, after they were tipped off to the university’s plans. Protestors sat atop the single-story building in the middle of the park known as the “kitchen” and chanted at p...