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Russian foreign minister visits Venezuela, offers support

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:19 GMT

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Russia and Venezuela reviewed some of their hundreds of bilateral agreements covering the financial, energy, agricultural and other sectors during discussions between their top diplomats and other high-level officials Tuesday in the South American country. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Venezuelan counterpart Yván Gil held a joint press conference in Caracas hours after the former arrived in the country in the second stop of a tour of four Latin American nations. Both men vowed continued support for each other’s country and condemned the economic sanctions Washington has imposed on them.“We fully support the position of our Venezuelan friends,” Lavrov said. “It is their country … and we are going to support it in any way so that the Venezuelan economy becomes an independent economy from the pressures of the United States and other western actors.”Lavrov’s remarks were translated from Russian to Spanish by a government-provided translat...

Saskatchewan minister asks man guilty of domestic assault to return service medal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:19 GMT

REGINA — A Saskatchewan cabinet minister has apologized aftera public service medal was given to a man who pleaded guilty to domestic assault, but the Opposition New Democrats say it shows a pattern of the provincial government not taking intimate partner violence seriously. “It is not appropriate for someone who is guilty of domestic abuse to receive a medal or an honour from the province,” Agriculture Minister David Marit said in a statement Tuesday. Jim Wickett, a former chairman of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association from Rosetown, Sask., was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal in December.Provincial court records show Wickett was charged for the assault last June in Rosetown. He pleaded guilty Feb. 9. He was given a conditional discharge with nine months probation. Marit said he accepted ministry recommendations for the award last year and put forward nominations for people who had served in the agriculture industry.Marit said that at ...

Court tosses Berkeley gas ban, but wider impact is unclear

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:19 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The politically liberal enclave of Berkeley, California became the first U.S. city to adopt a ban on natural gas in new homes and buildings in 2019, which started a climate change-driven effort in dozens of other cities and counties that’s morphed into a heated debate about the future of gas stoves.On Monday, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco sided with the California Restaurant Association to halt the city’s effort, saying it violates federal law that gives the U.S. government the authority to set energy-efficiency standards for appliances.The ruling has drawn criticism from Berkeley officials and environmentalists, although it’s unclear what kind of impact the decision will have on climate advocates’ fight to go electric, given its narrow scope and the possibility of an appeal to a broader panel of judges. Berkeley banned the installation of natural gas piping in new construction, which the judges said turned the energy use o...

Parking garage collapses in NYC, killing 1; 5 injured

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:19 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A parking garage collapsed Tuesday in lower Manhattan’s Financial District, killing one worker, injuring five and crushing cars as concrete floors fell on top of each other like a stack of pancakes, officials said. Vehicles tumbled into what looked like a frozen stream of sedans and SUVs. People nearby described a fearsome rumbling, followed by screams.“It felt like an earthquake,” said Liam Gaeta, a student at nearby Pace University. “Like the earth opened up inside, like that’s how violent it was,” said another student, Jadess Speller, who initially thought a bomb had gone off. Other students described seeing cars falling in the building. One vehicle landed on its end in the garage entrance, a photo posted by Mayor Eric Adams’ office showed. Authorities believed they had accounted for everyone inside the building, but searches continued Tuesday evening to make sure no one was in any of the squashed cars, Fire Department Chief of Operations John Esposito...

Transgender girls go to court over Arizona school sports ban

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:19 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — The parents of two transgender girls in Arizona filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging a year-old state law banning trans girls from participating in school sports. Attorneys for the families, whose names are concealed in court documents out of fear for their childrens’ safety, filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Tucson. The plaintiffs include an 11-year-old who wants to play girls’ soccer, basketball and cross-country, and a 15-year-old volleyball player. In court filings, they are going by the names Jane Doe and Megan Roe.“Jane knows this would be because she is transgender, and I worry about how that will affect her self-esteem and her confidence,” her mother said in a statement. “The ban’s exclusion of plaintiffs from participating in school sports because they are transgender denies them equal treatment under the law,” attorneys wrote in the 21-page complaint. The attorneys also argued the law violates the Equal Protection Clause unde...

New Jersey halts electric vehicle rebates, demand too high

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:19 GMT

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey residents looking to buy or lease an electric vehicle won’t be able to get a government rebate — at least temporarily — because the state program is so popular that it’s already running out of money, officials said.The Charge Up New Jersey program has disbursed an estimated $35 million for the fiscal year ending this July, according to the state’s Board of Public Utilities. The board said Monday it was putting the program on pause because all the earmarked funding will soon be disbursed, based on current rate of application approvals and eligible vehicle orders.Now in its third year, the program gives state residents up to $4,000 right when they buy or lease a new electric vehicle. On average, EVs now cost more than $58,000, according to Kelley Blue Book, a price that’s beyond the reach of many U.S. households. Federal tax credits and other incentives are designed to bring prices down and attract more buyers.New Jersey’s utility boar...

Southwestern US rivers get boost from winter snowpack

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:19 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Federal water managers have more room to breathe this spring as two Southwestern rivers that provide New Mexico and Texas with drinking water and irrigation supplies are seeing the benefits of record snowpack and spring runoff. Forecasters with the National Weather Service delivered the good news Tuesday for water managers, cities and farmers as federal officials rolled out operating plans for the Rio Grande and the Pecos River. The mountain ranges in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico that serve as headwaters for the two rivers last winter saw nearly double the snowpack of historic averages, resulting in runoff that will provide a major boost to reservoirs. And even more of that snowmelt will reach streams and rivers since soil moisture levels were able to recover last summer during what was one of the strongest monsoons the region had seen in 130 years.“This is really good news for us because one of the big things that’s been killing water supply fo...

Tennessee moves to shield gun firms after school shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:19 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — In the wake of a deadly school shooting last month, Republican lawmakers in Tennessee awarded final passage Tuesday to a proposal that would further protect gun and ammunition dealers, manufacturers and sellers against lawsuits.The Senate’s 19-9 vote sends the bill to Republican Gov. Bill Lee, despite pushback from Democrats saying lawmakers are trying to shield gun companies just weeks after the Nashville school shooting that killed six people, including three 9-year-olds. The final vote came as Lee’s administration was still trying to drum up enough support among lawmakers in his party to pass legislation to keep firearms away from people who could harm themselves or others. The fate of that kind of measure remains uncertain.Lawmakers are hurrying to finish a legislative session as soon as this week while receiving national scrutiny over the expulsion of two young Black lawmakers — who are now reinstated — over a House floor gun control protest....

B.C. mom whose son was killed urges people to call police, not film violence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:19 GMT

VANCOUVER — The mother of a teenager stabbed to death on a transit bus in Surrey, B.C., says she hopes her son’s death will bring change. Holly Indridson said while she believes there needs to be more police and security on buses, the public also needs to be more aware of what to do. “If you see these types of acts happening, don’t film them … call the police,” she said in an interview Tuesday.She said teachers and other members of the public who see children with violent tendencies should refer them for help. “There’s no reason people do these types of things,” she said of her son’s murder. Indridson said her 17-year-old son, Ethan Bespflug, didn’t know the man who attacked him, but was acquainted with the woman who was with his alleged attacker. Her plea comes as premiers from across the country are slated to meet with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police Friday to discuss the recent spate of violence across Canada. On Canadian tra...

Driver attacked, vehicle stolen at gas station in Wicker Park

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:19 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago police are looking for the suspects who the department says stole a man's vehicle at a gas station on the city's West Side. The incident happened at a moment's notice at a gas station in the city’s Wicker Park neighborhood. The man who was carjacked escaped with his life, though the crime is the latest in a string of carjackings that have plagued the city of Chicago.SEE ALSO: Downtown beating witness: ‘They were going to kill that young man’Around 4 a.m., at the intersection of Western and North avenues, three cars drove onto the lot. The owner of the Honda CRV exited the vehicle and entered the store. It was then that a man gets out of one of the three cars, runs over to the Honda, jumps in and tries to take off. Instead, he is met by the owner who ran out of the store when he saw what was happening. A confrontation ensued and the owner of the vehicle was able to pull the man out of the vehicle. But then a second suspect intervenes, assaulting the owner of the Hon...