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The US will provide cluster bombs to Ukraine and defends the delivery of the controversial weapon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:59 GMT

By ZEKE MILLER, TARA COPP and LOLITA C. BALDOR (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration will provide cluster munitions to Ukraine, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday, vowing the U.S. will not leave Ukraine defenseless and asserting that Kyiv has promised to use the controversial bombs carefully.The decision comes on the eve of the NATO summit in Lithuania, where President Joe Biden is likely to face questions from allies on why the U.S. would send a weapon into Ukraine that more than two-thirds of alliance members have banned because it has a track record for causing many civilian casualties. Biden, in a CNN interview, said it was a difficult decision, but he ultimately took the Defense Department’s recommendation to provide the bombs. “It took me a while to be convinced to do it,” said Biden, adding that he discussed the matter with allies and with lawmakers on the Hill. But, he said, “The Ukrainians are running ou...

Man sentenced to prison for using stolen identities of UCSD students

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:59 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A man who used the stolen identities of UC San Diego undergraduate students to commit bank fraud was sentenced in federal court Friday.US attorney Randy Grossman's office announced Nehemiah Joel Weave, 37, will spend 47 months behind bars and be ordered to pay $225,392 in restitution to the victims.Back in September 2022, Weaver pleaded guilty to bank fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges, court records show. He admitted to using the identities of at least 15 people, which included UCSD students, his former supervisor and a former girlfriend. Two arrested after crime spree in four parts of San Diego County How were these identities stolen? Grossman's office says it was with the help of Weaver's co-defendant, Mia Nikole Bell, who admitted to stealing the student's private information while working as a UCSD employee and turning it over to Weaver. Bell was sentenced in December 2022 to four months in custody and was ordered to pay $16,480 ...

Chicago area man who drowned trying to help children had survived 9/11 attacks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:59 GMT

WINNETKA, Ill. (AP) — A suburban Chicago man who drowned in Lake Michigan while trying to help children struggling in the lake was a survivor of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, his family said.Witnesses said Luke Laidley, 43, was boating Tuesday with others on the lakefront north of Chicago when he jumped into the lake to help at least one child who had fallen off a raft being pulled by the boat.The Winnetka man went underwater before being pulled from the lake by others on the boat. Laidley died later Tuesday at an Evanston hospital and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office determined his manner of death was drowning, said Natalia Derevyanny, an office spokeswoman.An obituary prepared by his family states that Laidley “risked his life for the children who were struggling when their tube flipped on Lake Michigan.”The obituary adds that Laidley was 21 and on his second day on the job with Morgan Stanley in the World Trade Center’s South Towe...

Dutch prime minister announces resignation after ruling coalition fails to agree on migration policy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:59 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced his resignation and that of his Cabinet on Friday, citing irreconcilable differences within his four-party coalition about how to rein in migration.The decision by the Netherlands’ longest-serving premier means the country will face a general election later this year for the 150-seat lower house of Parliament.“It is no secret that the coalition partners have very different views on migration policy,” Rutte told reporters in The Hague. “And today, unfortunately, we have to draw the conclusion that those differences are irreconcilable. That is why I will immediately … offer the resignation of the entire Cabinet to the king in writing”Opposition lawmakers wasted no time in calling for fresh elections. Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-immigration Party for Freedom, tweeted, “Quick elections now.” Jesse Klaver, leader of the Green Left party also called for elections and told Dutch broadcaster NOS: “This country nee...

Federal prosecutors accuse Michigan man of strangling missing 2-year-old

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:59 GMT

A Michigan man apparently strangled his ex-girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter with a cellphone cord and left her body in a Detroit alley, according to a federal complaint filed Friday.The U.S. attorney’s office in Grand Rapids charged 26-year-old Rashad Trice with kidnapping a minor and kidnapping resulting in death in connection with Wynter Cole Smith’s disappearance, adding to a litany of state charges that include attempted murder and fleeing police.“There is probable cause to believe (Smith) was murdered by Trice and left in the alley, where her body was discovered,” FBI Special Agent Christopher Rodolico wrote in the complaint. Trice would face mandatory life in a federal prison and could get the death penalty if he’s convicted of kidnapping resulting in death. He would face 20 years to life if convicted of kidnapping a minor. Online court records in the federal case listed Sharon Turek as his federal public defender. She declined to comment Friday. Trice got in...

Iowa Republicans will pursue a 6-week abortion ban during a special session that starts Tuesday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:59 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s Republican-controlled Legislature will aim to enact a ban on abortion after roughly six weeks of pregnancy during a rare special session that starts Tuesday, a draft of the bill shows.The proposed measure is similar to a 2018 law that a deadlocked state Supreme Court declined to reinstate last month, prompting Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds to call for the extraordinary session. Abortion is currently legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.The drafted bill, like the 2018 law, would prohibit abortion once cardiac activity can be detected, which is usually around six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant. A district court deemed that law unconstitutional in 2019 given rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and the state’s highest court that affirmed a woman’s fundamental constitutional right to abortion. Both bodies overturned those rulings last year, so Reynolds sought to reinstate the 2018 law.The current draft of the b...

A 10-year-old Canadian girl is wowing the skateboarding world. Tony Hawk is her mentor for X Games

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:59 GMT

Skateboarding is more than just a way of life for Reese Nelson, it’s all she’s ever known.The 10-year-old from Calgary can’t remember when she first started skating or when she first dropped into a halfpipe, it’s just been omnipresent in her life.Given that, it’s no surprise she has caught the attention of skateboarding legend Tony Hawk.Nelson will be competing in the women’s vert and the best trick events at the upcoming X-Games. Skating in the women’s vert is especially important for Nelson, since that event hasn’t been held at the X-Games since 2010, three years before she was born.“It’s really exciting,” Nelson from Carlsbad, California, told The Canadian Press. “I’m excited for everybody to see what women can do on vert.”Hawk, who has become a mentor and coach for Nelson, created his Vert Alert event in 2021 to try and promote the sport that made him an internationally renowned star. He made sure his tour has men’s and women’s events to help re-establish vert skateboardin...

Rudy Giuliani should be disbarred for pursuing Trump’s false election claims, a review panel says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani could be disbarred in Washington after a review panel on Friday condemned how he pursued the false claims that then-President Donald Trump made about his 2020 presidential election loss. Giuliani “claimed massive election fraud but had no evidence,” wrote the three-member panel in a report that details the errors and unsupported claims the former mayor made in a Pennsylvania lawsuit seeking to overturn the Republican president’s loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Between Election Day and the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, Giuliani and other Trump lawyers repeatedly pressed claims of election fraud that were almost uniformly rejected by federal and state courts. He’s the third lawyer who could lose his ability to practice law over what he did for Trump: John Eastman faces disbarment in California, and Lin Wood this week surrendered his license in Georgia.“Mr. Giuliani’s effort to undermine the integrity of the 2020 p...

Calgary real estate market sizzles as newcomers flock to Alberta

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:59 GMT

CALGARY — As the curtain rises on the 10-day extravaganza that is the famed Calgary Stampede, homebuyers are also stampeding to snap up real estate in Alberta’s largest city.This summer, the hottest commodity in town isn’t the perfect pair of cowboy boots or a well-broken-in Stetson — it’s a detached home on a nice lot or a perfect downtown condo with a view.“It started taking off around February, and it’s been like this all year,” said Calgary real estate agent Matt Halladay, who has been helping buyers navigate what has become Canada’s hottest real estate market in 2023.That means homes selling often the day they’re listed, he said, for well over the asking price — and occasionally sight unseen, as sellers accept a bid before the scheduled viewings even start.“It’s common to see anywhere from four to 17 offers (on one listing),” Halladay said. “The most I’ve heard of, on one that we lost out on, was 26 o...

S&P/TSX composite ticks upward on energy and base metals, U.S. stock markets down

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:59 GMT

TORONTO — Gains in energy and base metal stocks helped lift Canada’s main stock index higher Friday, while U.S. markets were down after a day of mixed trading. New jobs data in the U.S. and Canada released Friday showed a still-resilient labour market, helping seal the deal for central banks on both sides of the border to announce interest rate hikes at their next meetings. The S&P/TSX composite index was up 20.35 points at 19,831.04.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 187.38 points at 33,734.88. The S&P 500 index was down 12.64 points at 4,398.95, while the Nasdaq composite was down 18.33 points at 13,660.72.Canada posted a bigger-than-expected gain of 60,000 jobs in June after a loss in May, but also saw unemployment rise to 5.4 per cent. June was the second month in a row the unemployment rate has risen as economists and central bank officials eye the labour market for signs of cooling. “The Bank of Canada has little choice but to raise another 25...