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UN official: Hostilities in Syria have reached the worst point in four years

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:54:28 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — The head of the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria said Tuesday that fighting in the country has reached its worst point in years, with devastating consequences for civilians.“We are witnessing the largest escalation of hostilities in Syria in four years,” Paulo Pinheiro told the U.N. General Assembly. “Yet again there appears to be total disregard for civilians’ lives in what are often tit-for-tat reprisals.”A drone strike earlier this month on the Homs Military Academy killed 89 people, including 31 women and five children, and wounded as many as 277. No group claimed responsibility for the attack but the Syrian military accused insurgents “backed by known international forces” of carrying it out and launched a brutal campaign of airstrikes on opposition-held areas of northwest Syria in retaliation.“In just four days of ground shelling… some 200 civilians were killed and injured, and medical facilities, schools and markets were impacted yet again,” Pinhe...

Federal Court approves $23B First Nations child-welfare settlement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:54:28 GMT

A Federal Court judge has verbally approved a landmark $23-billion settlement that will see Ottawa compensate more than 300,000 First Nations children and their families over chronic underfunding of on-reserve child-welfare services.It comes more than 15 years after the Assembly of First Nations and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society launched a joint human rights complaint.The 2007 complaint revolved around allegations that Ottawa’s underfunding of on-reserve child welfare services amounted to discrimination. It also said First Nations children were denied equal access to support like school supplies and medical equipment.More to come.

Houston mayoral candidate Jackson Lee regretful after recording of her allegedly berating staffers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:54:28 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who is running to be Houston’s next mayor, expressed regret and said that “everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect” following the release of an unverified audio recording purported to be of the longtime Democratic lawmaker berating staff members with a barrage of expletives.In the recording, which was sent anonymously to multiple news organizations on Friday, a woman who sounds like Jackson Lee can be heard criticizing a male staff member after he tells her that some information she was seeking was with another staffer. It is unclear when the recording was made.“I want you to have a (expletive) brain. I want you to have read it. I want you to say, ’Congresswoman, it was such and such date. That’s what I want. That’s the kind of staff that I want to have,” the woman can be heard saying.In the rest of the 95-second recording, the woman berates the staffer she is talking to and another staff member, whom she described as a “...

3 suspects sought in assault at Toronto school parking lot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:54:28 GMT

Toronto police are searching for three suspects in connection to an alleged assault outside a middle school in Flemingdon Park that occurred just as students were leaving for the day.Police say just after 3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 20, officers responded to a person with a knife call in the parking lot of Valley Park Middle School on Overlea Boulevard near Don Mills Road.It is alleged three male suspects approached another person in the parking lot and struck them on the shoulder with an edged weapon.The suspects then fled the area.Police have not released the age of the victim or elaborated on the severity of their injuries.It is not yet known if the suspects and victim knew each other or attended the school.Police describe the suspects as:Suspect #1: 17 to 20-years old, tanned skin with medium complexion, black braided hair, wearing a blue hoodie, a mask, black pants, and black shoesSuspect #2: 15 to 17 years old, tanned skin with a medium complexion, short black hair, wearing a grey ...

2nd trial in death of New York anti-gang activist ends in mistrial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:54:28 GMT

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — The second trial of a New York woman accused of causing the death of an anti-gang activist in a dispute over a memorial honoring the activist’s slain daughter has ended in a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a verdict on the top count of criminally negligent homicide.Jurors on Long Island deadlocked Monday after four days of deliberations in the case of Annmarie Drago, accused of fatally running over Evelyn Rodriguez in 2018. Drago was found guilty of one misdemeanor count of petit larceny for stealing a bouquet and other items from the memorial that Rodriguez had set up to honor her teenage daughter, Kayla Cuevas.Newsday reported that neither Drago not defense attorney Matthew Hereth commented after the mistrial was declared Monday in a courtroom in Suffolk County.Drago was convicted in Rodriguez’s death in 2020, but the conviction was overturned last year and the judge ordered a new trial, citing prosecutorial misconduct.Suffolk County District...

CP NewsAlert: Federal Court approves $23B First Nations child-welfare settlement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:54:28 GMT

OTTAWA — A Federal Court judge has verbally approved a landmark $23-billion settlement that will see Ottawa compensate more than 300,000 First Nations children and their families over chronic underfunding of on-reserve child-welfare services.More coming. The Canadian Press

‘Blood on your hands’: Ontario NDP leader Stiles’ Toronto office vandalized

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:54:28 GMT

The Toronto constituency office of Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles was vandalized one day after she removed MPP Sarah Jama from caucus over comments she made on social media about the Israel-Hamas war.The office, located at Bloor Street, was seen defaced with the words “Free Palestine. Blood is on your hands.” Stiles’ photo is covered in what appears to be red paint.“I don’t know who did it or what happened,” Stiles told CityNews. “Nobody is hurt. My staff are fine, we’ll make the necessary reports.”On Monday, Stiles announced that Jama was removed from caucus in the wake of a social media post she made about the Israel-Hamas war. On Oct. 10, Jama, the MPP for Hamilton Centre, posted a two-paragraph statement under Ontario NDP letterhead that made no mention of the surprise attack by Hamas.The constituency office of Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles was vandalized one day after she kicked out MPP Sarah Jama over comments she m...

A look at the 18 people charged alongside Donald Trump in the Georgia election fraud case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:54:28 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Four of the 18 people charged alongside former President Donald Trump with participating in an illegal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia have now negotiated deals with prosecutors, pleading guilty to reduced charges in exchange for their truthful testimony in future trials.Lawyer Jenna Ellis on Tuesday became the latest to turn against Trump, pleading guilty to a single felony charge in exchange for a sentence of probation rather than prison time. Fellow attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro reached similar deals last week, just as their trial in the case was supposed to start because they had invoked their rights to a speedy trial. Bail bondsman Scott Graham Hall last month was the first to plead guilty.Trump and the others charged in the case have pleaded not guilty.The sweeping indictment, brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in August, capped an investigation that had lasted more than two years and...

Five people, including shooter, dead after shootings in Sault Ste. Marie, police say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:54:28 GMT

Five people – including three children and a shooter – were found dead in the northern Ontario city of Sault Ste. Marie after shootings at two homes, police said Tuesday, calling what happened a tragic case of intimate partner violence. Sault Ste. Marie police said the shootings that took place Monday night had left the community in deep mourning. “The grief the families, friends, and loved ones of the victims are facing is unimaginable. Our hearts go out to them,” Chief Hugh Stevenson wrote in a statement.“As our community grieves this tragedy, I urge everyone to please watch out for each other.”Police said the shootings were not random acts of violence and there was no ongoing risk to public safety. They also said they would not be releasing the names of the victims or the accused because it was an intimate partner violence case. Police were alerted to the shootings late Monday night, they said. Officers first discovered the body of a 41-year-old around 10:...

Pilot who police say tried to cut the engines on a jet midflight now faces a federal charge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:54:28 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot struggled with the flight crew as he tried to cut the engines on a regional jet midflight on Sunday, and even tried to grab the handle of an emergency exit after being restrained, federal prosecutors said in charges announced Tuesday.Joseph David Emerson, 44, of Pleasant Hill, California, was initially arrested in Oregon on Sunday night on state counts of attempted murder after the flight crew reported that he attempted to shut down the engines on a Horizon Air flight from Washington state to California while riding in the extra seat in the cockpit. The plane was diverted to Portland, where it landed safely with more than 80 people onboard.A federal charge of interfering with a flight crew made public Tuesday said Emerson, who as an off-duty pilot was authorized to ride in the cockpit’s jump seat, made casual conversation with the captain and first officer when the plane was between Astoria, Oregon, and Portland, before trying ...