Paris prepares for 100-day countdown to the Olympics. It wants to rekindle love for the Games

PARIS — In Paris’ outskirts, a bright-eyed young girl is eager for the Olympic and Paralympic Games to end. That’s because the swimming club where 10-year-old Lyla Kebbi trains will inherit an Olympic pool. It will be dismantled after the Games and trucked from the Olympic race venue in Paris’ high-rise business district to Sevran, … Read more

Victims of Montana asbestos pollution that killed hundreds take Warren Buffet’s railroad to court

LIBBY, Mont. — Paul Resch remembers playing baseball as a kid on a field constructed from asbestos-tainted vermiculite, mere yards from railroad tracks where trains kicked up clouds of dust as they hauled the contaminated material from a mountaintop mine through the northwestern Montana town of Libby. He liked to sneak into vermiculite-filled storage bins … Read more

What to know about the latest bird flu outbreak in the US

A poultry facility in Michigan and egg producer in Texas both reported outbreaks of avian flu this week. The latest developments on the virus also include infected dairy cows and the first known instance of a human catching bird flu from a mammal. Although health officials say the risk to the public remains low, there … Read more

St. Louis-area residents make plea for compensation for illnesses tied to nuclear contamination

Karen Nickel has been dealing with lupus and other illnesses for years, illnesses she blames on childhood exposure to a suburban St. Louis creek where Cold War-era nuclear waste was dumped decades ago. It’s time, she said Friday, for the federal government to start making amends. “People have died and are still dying,” Nickel, co-founder … Read more

Venice day-trippers will face steep fines if they fail to pay an access fee under a pilot program

MILAN — Day-trippers to the fabled canal city of Venice who fail to pay 5 euros ($5.43) to enter the lagoon city’s historic center during a time-limited pilot program launching later this month will face fines starting at 10 times the entrance fee, officials said Thursday. Venice announced last year it would launch the long-discussed … Read more

AP Exclusive: EPA didn’t declare a public health emergency after fiery Ohio derailment

The aftermath of last year’s fiery train derailment in eastern Ohio doesn’t qualify as a public health emergency because widespread health problems and ongoing chemical exposures haven’t been documented, federal officials said. The Environmental Protection Agency never approved that designation after the February 2023 Norfolk Southern derailment even though the disaster forced the evacuation of … Read more

Michelle Yeoh to join business and political leaders at Global Citizen NOW summit to fight poverty

NEW YORK — Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh, Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi, and Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg are among the diverse group of political, business and philanthropic leaders Global Citizen will convene in New York on May 1 and 2, the nonprofit announced on Thursday. The Global Citizen NOW summit will seek support for workable solutions … Read more

Michelle Yeoh to join business and political leaders at Global Citizen NOW summit to fight poverty

NEW YORK — Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh, Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi, and Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg are among the diverse group of political, business and philanthropic leaders Global Citizen will convene in New York on May 1 and 2, the nonprofit announced on Thursday. The Global Citizen NOW summit will seek support for workable solutions … Read more

Green Day will headline United Nations-backed global climate concert in San Francisco

LOS ANGELES — LOS ANGELES (AP) — Green Day will headline a United Nations Human Rights-backed global climate concert on Tuesday at the famed Fillmore in San Francisco. The intimate event, which is co-hosted by the Recording Academy, aims to bring attention to the inequalities exacerbated by climate change. Ultra Q, an alternative rock band … Read more

Oxford coach blasts Thames pollution as a national disgrace ahead of Boat Race with Cambridge

LONDON — The coach of Oxford’s crew taking part in the Boat Race described the pollution in London’s River Thames as a “national disgrace.” Testing by a campaign group has found high levels of E.coli along a section of the Thames in southwest London that will be used for the historic race on Saturday. Crew … Read more