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Cardin eyes changes on Egypt, Turkey and around the world as he takes powerful Senate foreign post

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:57 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee pointed Thursday to possible policy shifts affecting Egypt, Turkey, the war in Ukraine and other issues around the globe as he took over the powerful leadership of the panel, replacing indicted Sen. Bob Menendez.Sen. Ben Cardin, a veteran Maryland Democrat, will have an abbreviated term leading the committee because his term expires in January 2025 and he is not seeking reelection. He described him unexpectedly inheriting the chairmanship, with its power to help shape how the United States approaches the rest of the world, as a “pinch yourself” moment.Cardin spoke to reporters under the chandelier and vaulted ceiling of the historic 19th-century committee room on his first full day on the job. Menendez was indicted on Sept. 22 on charges he and his wife, Nadine, accepted bribes including cash and gold bars in transactions that included using his position as committee chairman to influence some U.S. policy d...

Officers kill man who killed a police dog and wounded two people in South Carolina

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:57 GMT

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — A man who shot two people, including a sheriff’s deputy, along the South Carolina coast was killed by officers after he fatally wounded a police dog, authorities said.The dog, named Rico, was sent into a home on Johns Island, west of Charleston, Thursday afternoon to search for Ernest Robert Burbage III in places a robot couldn’t reach, State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel said. After killing the dog, he came out of the home and pointed the same high-powered rifle at officers, who shot and killed him, authorities said, ending the daylong ordeal.Law enforcement had been looking for Burbage since he randomly fired at a car on the island on Wednesday, authorities said. After shooting at the vehicle, Burbage fired on members of a SWAT team as they got out of an armored vehicle late Wednesday, and one of the shots struck the deputy driving the vehicle in the head, Sheriff Kristin Graziano said.Charleston County Master Deputy James Gilbreath...

Authorities in Maui will open more of the burn zone to visits by residents next week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:57 GMT

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Authorities in Maui are opening more of the burn zone from last month’s devastating wildfire for visits by residents and property owners who lost homes.Early this week, officials began permitting those who lived in a small section in the north end of Lahaina to return for the first time since the Aug. 8 wildfire demolished the historic coastal town. Next Monday and Tuesday, residents of three more streets in that area will be allowed back, Maui County said in a news release Thursday.The wildfire killed at least 97 people, making it the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, and destroyed more than 2,000 buildings, most of them homes. It first erupted in the morning when strong winds appeared to cause a Hawaiian Electric power line to fall, igniting dry brush and grass. The fire was initially declared contained, but one flared up again in the same area around 3 p.m. and raced through the town.Lawmakers probing the cause of the wildfire did not ge...

Suzanne Morphew’s remains found 3 years after she went missing in Colorado. What happened to her?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:57 GMT

DENVER (AP) — The discovery of Suzanne Morphew’s remains more than three years after the Colorado woman went missing on Mother’s Day is raising new questions about what happened and whether her husband remains a suspect since murder charges brought against him were dropped.Barry Morphew reasserted his innocence in a statement issued through his attorneys Thursday. They said he and the couple’s two grown daughters had held out hope Suzanne Morphew would return alive. He previously filed a $15 million lawsuit against county officials, accusing them of violating his constitutional rights.Authorities are not answering questions about how last week’s discovery of the remains impacts the case, saying only that the investigation continues.Here’s what to know about the case:WHAT HAPPENED TO SUZANNE MORPHEW?Morphew, originally from Alexandria, Indiana, was 49 when she was reported missing by a neighbor near the small city of Salida, Colorado, on May 10, 2020 — Mother&...

Before senior aide to Pennsylvania governor resigned, coworker accused adviser of sexual harassment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:57 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A senior adviser to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro who abruptly resigned this week had been accused earlier this year of sexual harassment by a coworker who said his behavior forced her to quit her job in the governor’s office.Mike Vereb, who served as Shapiro’s secretary of legislative affairs until his resignation on Wednesday, was accused in the woman’s complaint to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission of subjecting her to lewd, misogynistic and unwanted sexual advances during her brief stint working in the governor’s administration.Vereb didn’t immediately respond to a message left on his cellphone Thursday.A former state lawmaker, Vereb worked closely with Shapiro when he was attorney general. After the Democrat won the governor’s post, Verb assumed the role of shepherding the governor’s agenda through the politically divided Legislature.In a statement dated March 31 to the state Office of Administration, the wom...

Back-to-back tropical storms: Newly formed Rina trails Philippe out in the Atlantic

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:57 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Rina formed Thursday in the Atlantic to the east of Tropical Storm Philipe, and forecasters said it was too early to tell how much further Rina might strengthen because of possible interaction between the back-to-back storms. Hours after gaining tropical storm status, Rina still had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph), the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.Rina was centered 1,110 miles (1,785 kilometers) east of the Northern Leeward Islands. No coastal watches or warnings are in effect for either, and there were no hazards affecting land. Rina was traveling north-northwest at a clip of about 14 mph (22 kph).Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Philippe was crawling slowly across the ocean at 2 mph (4 kph) in a west-northwestly direction. Forecasters said top sustained winds were about 45 mph (75 kph), with little change in strength expected. The hurricane center said the storm’s fate remains uncertain, adding Philippe could dissipate in the next f...

Nebraska police standoff ends with arrest and safe hostage release

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:57 GMT

Nebraska police on Wednesday arrested a 37-year-old man after a nearly 30-hour standoff and the release of three hostages, including two children. Police arrested the man, who had barricaded himself inside a home after crashing into the garage Tuesday, several hours after he released a woman he had held hostage for almost 24 hours. The two girls had been freed from the house Tuesday. All three hostages were uninjured, Scotts Bluff County Sheriff Mark Overman said. Local law enforcement agencies have said the faceoff began when a deputy tried to pull the man over for a traffic violation Tuesday in Gering. The man fled, and police allege he shot at law enforcement vehicles during a brief police chase before crashing into the home.The man backed out of plans to release the woman multiple times during negotiations with an FBI hostage rescue team and other law enforcement officials, Overman said. The man shot about seven rounds at law enforcement during the standoff. The man hid behind w...

Adil Shamji bows out of Liberal leadership race, throws support behind Crombie

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:57 GMT

The Ontario Liberal leadership race is now down to just four candidates.On Thursday night, Adil Shamji announced that he was dropping out of the race and throwing his support behind Bonnie Crombie.Shamji, who is the MPP for Don Valley East, issued a statement saying he realized he wasn’t going to win and decided to bow out and support the Mississauga mayor.“From the very beginning, I have known that with four spectacular candidates in the race and myself, only one can come out as leader of our party,” he wrote. “Today, I acknowledge that this leader will not be me.“I will continue my campaign in a different capacity, still fighting for healthcare, housing, education, and the environment, but from now on, behind Bonnie Crombie and her team. It is a tremendous privilege to work with someone as committed to public service as Bonnie is, someone who possesses the unique talent of getting people excited and bringing them together behind a common vision.”Shamji adde...

9 years after mine spill in northern Mexico, new report gives locals hope for long-awaited cleanup

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:57 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nine years after a massive waste spill from a copper mine in the northern Mexican border state of Sonora, locals are still suffering from “alarming” levels of soil, air and water pollution, Mexico’s Environment Department said Thursday.Summarizing a 239-page report, officials also confirmed, using satellite images, that the spill was not solely caused by dramatic rainfall, as was initially reported, but by the “inadequate design” of a dam at Buenavista del Cobre mine, owned by the country’s largest copper producer, Grupo México.Locals and environmental advocates say the report offers the clearest view yet of the catastrophic scale of the accident and, with it, new hope that Grupo México may finally be held financially accountable after almost a decade of legal battles and broken promises.“We expect that, with this new document, we’ll have an easy path for getting the money,” said Luis Franco, a community coordinator with regional advocacy group PODER. “At th...

Pritzker: Illinois has spent $328M on helping Chicago's migrant crisis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:57 GMT

CHICAGO -- Governor JB Pritzker said the state of Illinois has spent $328 million to help manage Chicago's migrant crisis and he's calling on the federal government to pitch in.Pritzker said on Thursday he has concerns about the $29 million "base camp" planned to house the migrants currently living in Chicago police stations, but the governor didn’t publicly explain what his concerns are.The City of Chicago has received more than 15,000 migrants. Some pointing to Republican governors for sending migrants to Chicago, but the democratic mayor of El Paso, Texas, chartered two buses of migrants to the city last weekend.Gov. Pritzker responded to democratic mayor of El Paso sending migrants to Chicago:"[He] needs to listen to the cities that he’s sending folks to and start thinking about whether or not this should be spread across the country. Why is he not sending anybody to Idaho, Wyoming?"The Illinois governor also stated that he has spoken with the Department of Homeland Security and...