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Syrian president Assad arrives in Moscow, set to meet Putin

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:29 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad arrived in Moscow on Tuesday, where he is scheduled to meet top ally Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia is a main backer of Assad and has a broad presence in Syria, where a 12-year uprising-turned-civil war has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population. Moscow has played a pivotal role in fighting back armed opposition groups trying to topple Assad’s government through its military support, and has also aggressively backed Damascus against opponents at the United Nations.The Kremlin confirmed Tuesday that Putin will meet with Assad on Wednesday — the anniversary of the conflict — in a statement carried by Russia’s state news agency Tass.According to the statement, “further development of Russian-Syrian cooperation in the political, trade, economic and humanitarian spheres, as well as the prospects for a comprehensive settlement of the situation in and around Syria,” will be on the agenda....

Ohio sues Norfolk Southern over toxic train derailment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:29 GMT

Ohio filed a lawsuit against railroad Norfolk Southern to make sure it pays for the cleanup and environmental damage caused by a fiery train derailment on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border last month, the state’s attorney general said Tuesday. The federal lawsuit also seeks to force the company to pay for groundwater and soil monitoring in the years ahead and economic losses in the village of East Palestine and surrounding areas, said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. “The fallout from this highly preventable accident is going to reverberate throughout Ohio for many years to come,” Yost said. No one was hurt in the Feb. 3 derailment, but half of the roughly 5,000 residents of East Palestine had to evacuate for days when responders intentionally burned toxic chemicals in some of the derailed cars to prevent an uncontrolled explosion, leaving residents with lingering health concerns. Government officials say tests over the past month haven’t found dangerous levels of chemicals i...

Five years after Rio councilwoman slain, questions and hope

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:29 GMT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Relatives and supporters gathered Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro to mark five years since the assassination of Black, bisexual city councilwoman Marielle Franco amid hope that investigations into her death will accelerate under Brazil’s new leftist president.“It has been five years of pain, suffering, hope and questions without answers. Half a decade is a long time,” Marinete da Silva, the slain councilwoman’s mother, told reporters after the inauguration of an 11-meter (36-foot) cutout of her daughter at the Rio Art Museum downtown.Known universally by her first name, Marielle is depicted wearing a flowered dress, and the figure represents her towering legacy, da Silva said.Marielle won election in 2016 to the city council, where she fought against violence targeting women while defending human rights and social programs, particularly in favelas like the one where she was born and raised. The rising political star and her driver were killed on the evening of ...

City of Wichita settles fatal SWAT shooting for $5 million

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:29 GMT

The city of Wichita on Tuesday approved a $5 million settlement of a lawsuit filed by the family of a man who was shot and killed by a police officer during a hoax call in 2017.The settlement will go to the two children of 28-year-old Andrew Finch, who was shot by officer Justin Rapp as he stepped out of his house on Dec. 28, 2017, to see why it was surrounded by police.Finch, who was unarmed, was shot by Rapp within 10 seconds of opening his door. Rapp has said that he thought Finch had a gun. Finch’s death drew national attention to “swatting,” a form of retaliation in which someone reports a false emergency to get authorities, particularly a SWAT team, to respond to an address. “While this settlement will not bring back our beloved Andy, it helps bring some closure as our family moves forward, especially Andy’s two young children,” Lisa and Dominica Finch, Finch’s mother and sister, respectively, said in a statement. Investigators later determined the call was the result of...

Former Kentucky lawmaker makes plea on gender-affirming care

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:29 GMT

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — For years, Jerry Miller was a fixture at legislative hearings in Kentucky, but this time was different: the Republican ex-lawmaker opened up about how his young grandchild could be hurt by a bill to ban access to gender-affirming medical care for those under 18.“This bill condemns vulnerable children to an even more difficult life than they’ve already been born into,” Miller told a Senate committee on Tuesday. “Please don’t let a parent’s right to protect their children be collateral damage in the culture wars.”Despite his emotional pleas, the transgender-related bill was approved by the GOP-led committee, sending it to the full Senate. Some Republican members, however, raised concerns about portions of the measure, which could temporarily slow its path through the chamber. The House recently approved its version of the measure.The measure grew in scope before emerging from the Senate committee. The panel tacked on elements of other trans-related proposal...

SEC’s climate reporting draft rule draws huge public comment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:29 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A closely watched rule from the Securities and Exchange Commission that would require public companies to say much more to shareholders about how their operations affect the climate has generated more public comment than many recent regulations from the agency, attorneys and industry experts say. The SEC is expected to issue a final rule in the spring following a draft last summer that drew nearly 15,000 comments, according to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. The rule would make the U.S. the latest government, after the European Union, to regulate what companies must report on their greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. Companies could have to report on the cost of climate change for their business above a certain threshold. “Anecdotally, I’ve never seen this number of comments come back on anything proposed by the SEC,” said Steve Soter, vice president at Workiva, a software company that helps companies with regulatory and financial reporting. Four in 10 exec...

Northeast winter storm knocks out power, closes schools

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:29 GMT

PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) — A winter storm dumped heavy, wet snow in parts of the Northeast on Tuesday, causing tens of thousands of power outages, widespread school closings, dangerous road conditions and a plane to slide off a taxiway.The storm’s path included parts of New England, upstate New York, northeastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey. Snow totals by the time it winds up Wednesday were expected to range from a few inches to a few feet, depending on the area.Heavy, wet snow made driving treacherous in the Berkshires in western Massachusetts, weighing down tree limbs and causing several spinouts. The storm dumped at least a foot of wintry mix in some areas.Further east in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Jean Guerrer said the heavy wet snow made it too dangerous for him to drive to work as a Boston-based taxi driver.Peter Davis, a semiretired commercial roofer, relished in the snowstorm, breaking out his new snow blower in an area that, until now, has had little snow. But ...

Abortion pill access case: Judge wants ‘less advertisement’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:29 GMT

A federal judge overseeing a high-stakes case that could threaten access to medication abortion across the nation told lawyers not to publicize upcoming arguments in the lawsuit, in a move experts say is outside the norm in the U.S. judicial system.U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk — who was appointed by former President Donald Trump and is known for conservative views — told attorneys during a status conference by telephone on Friday that because the case has prompted death threats and protests, “less advertisement of this hearing is better,” according to a transcript of the meeting.“And because of limited security resources and staffing, I will ask that the parties avoid further publicizing the date of the hearing,” Kacsmaryk said, according to the transcript released Tuesday. “This is not a gag order but just a request for courtesy given the death threats and harassing phone calls and voicemails that this division has received.”Kacsmaryk did not specify who made threats.“We w...

‘A transformational decision’: Alberta requiring body cameras for all police services

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:29 GMT

EDMONTON — The Alberta government is planning to require all police services in the province to use body cameras. Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis said Tuesday that officers often respond to complex calls and make split-second decisions. That can raise concerns from the public about officers’ actions and whether appropriate force was used. “Mandating police to wear body-worn cameras is a transformational decision that will ensure all interactions with officers are objective,” Ellis said.“Police are responding to complex calls that may involve vulnerable Albertans, that are experiencing mental health crisis, suffering from addiction or having difficult moments in their life that is clouding their decision-making skills.”Ellis said the provincial government will be working with the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police on funding, logistics and when the cameras will roll out. He said the association is to develop a mandate over the next few months to &...

My statement stands, Supreme Court justice says of alleged ‘unwanted touching’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:29 GMT

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Russell Brown continues to insist he did nothing wrong prior to an alleged altercation in Arizona that triggered a complaint to the Canadian Judicial Council.A lawyer for Brown says the justice has nothing to add after a police report alleged “unwanted touching” of a female guest during a Jan. 28 encounter at a Scottsdale resort lounge.In the report, the complainant, Jon Crump, accuses Brown of being intoxicated and hitting on Crump’s female companions. Crump told police he punched the judge “a few times” in the face.One of those companions told police Brown kissed her on the cheek “once or twice,” placed his hand on the small of her back and touched her on the leg.The police report says she denied being touched in a “sexual way” but answered “yes” when the officer asked if Brown’s alleged behaviour constituted “unwanted touching.” In a statement Friday, Brown descr...