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Biden to visit Japan, Australia for meetings with allies

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:36 GMT

President Joe Biden will visit Japan and Australia next month to huddle with allies on their continued response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as well as ways to confront China’s assertive economic and military moves in the Indo-Pacific region, the White House announced Tuesday.Biden will attend a summit of the leaders of the Group of Seven advanced democracies in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 19-21, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. Then he will make his first trip as president to Australia, which will include the third in-person meeting of the so-called “Quad” leadership of the U.S., Japan, Australia and India.“The President and G7 leaders will discuss a range of the most pressing global issues, including the G7’s unwavering support for Ukraine, addressing the dual food and climate crises, securing inclusive and resilient economic growth, and continuing to lead a clean energy transition at home and for our partners around the world,” she said.At the Quad...

Jailed strongman’s whereabouts unknown amid Sudan chaos

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:36 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — An attack on the prison holding deposed Sudanese strongman Omar al-Bashir has raised questions about his whereabouts, with one of the warring sides saying he is being held in a secure location and the other alleging he has been released.Al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan for three decades despite wars and sanctions, was overthrown during a popular uprising in 2019. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and other crimes committed during the conflict in Sudan’s western Darfur region in the 2000s. He and other former top officials accused of atrocities have been held in Kober prison in Khartoum for the last four years, as authorities have declined ICC requests that they be handed over.The Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which together had removed al-Bashir from power during mass protests, are now battling one another across the capital. The fighting reached the prison over the weekend, with conflicting reports about what t...

Authorities find 8 bodies in Mexican resort of Cancun

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:36 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Authorities in the Mexican resort of Cancun said Tuesday they are trying to identify eight bodies found dumped in the Caribbean resort. Speaking to families of missing people, Oscar Montes de Oca, the head prosecutor of the Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo pledged to carry out more searches and identifications. The bodies were found in searches over the weekend in which police looked in wooded lots and even sinkhole ponds known as cenotes. More than 112,000 people are listed as missing in Mexico, and searches for clandestine grave sites have become common throughout the country. What is unusual is that they are now being carried out in Cancun, the crown jewel of Mexico’s tourism industry. The clandestine body dumping grounds are often used by drug cartels to dispose of bodies of their victims. Several cartels are fighting for control of the Caribbean coast and its lucrative retail drug trade.Montes de Oca said five of the bodies were found at a building site ...

Ex-New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to join Harvard

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:36 GMT

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who led her country through a devastating mass shooting, will be temporarily joining Harvard University later this year, Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf said Tuesday.Ardern, a global icon of the left and an inspiration to women around the world, has been appointed to dual fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School. She will serve as the 2023 Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Fellow and a Hauser Leader in the school’s Center for Public Leadership beginning this fall.“Jacinda Ardern showed the world strong and empathetic political leadership,” Elmendorf said in statement, adding that Ardern will “bring important insights for our students and will generate vital conversations about the public policy choices facing leaders at all levels.”Ardern, who was just 37 when she became prime minister in 2017, shocked New Zealanders when she announced in January she was stepping down from the role after more tha...

Myles Gray had swollen airway, blood in his throat after police beating: paramedic

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:36 GMT

BURNABY, B.C. — Myles Gray’s airway was swollen and there was blood in his mouth and throat as an advanced life support paramedic inserted an intubation tube in an effort to revive him after a beating by several Vancouver police officers, the first responder said.It took two attempts to get the tube down Gray’s throat, Stephen Shipman testified Tuesday at the British Columbia coroner’s inquest into the 33-year-old’s death.Gray died in August 2015 after the beating by several officers that left him with injuries including a fractured eye socket, a crushed voice box and ruptured testicles.Shipman told the inquest he initially thought Gray was not a white man because of the bruising evident on his face and parts of his body.He was badly beaten regardless of circumstances, the paramedic said.Of the 14 Vancouver police officers who have testified so far, most have said they didn’t notice any injuries besides redness on Gray’s face and some body bruisin...

Trump might use trial docs to scorch witnesses, DA says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:36 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — New York prosecutors have asked a judge to bar Donald Trump from using evidence from his criminal case to attack witnesses, citing what they say is the former president’s history of making “harassing, embarrassing, and threatening statements” about people he’s tangled with in legal disputes.The Manhattan district attorney’s office filed court papers Monday asking Judge Juan Manuel Merchan for a protective order that would put strict guardrails around Trump’s access to and use of evidence turned over by prosecutors prior to trial. That kind of evidence sharing, called discovery, is routine in criminal cases, and is intended to help ensure a fair trial.Prosecutors want to block Trump from posting evidence to social media or providing it to third parties. They also want to restrict how he views certain sensitive material, asking that he do so only in the presence of his lawyers — and that he not be able to copy, photograph or transcribe those rec...

Fight over police misconduct records far from finished

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:36 GMT

CHICAGO -- WGN first introduced you to Charles Green several years ago. He had been arrested at the age of 16 for a quadruple murder on Chicago’s West Side. Sentenced to life in prison, he would spend decades behind bars.Green was released in 2009 when the case against him crumbled amid questions about police tactics and why eyewitness testimony that could’ve helped Green was not allowed to be heard at trial.As part of Green’s fight to clear his name, his attorney, Jared Kosoglad, sent an open records request to the Chicago Police Department for “closed complaint register files,” or records of officer misconduct. RELATED: Former inmate fighting for release of CPD misconduct files The attorney asked for not just the files involving officers in Green’s case, but the entire department going back to the late 1960s, including allegations during the years Mayor Lori Lightfoot led an agency that probes misconduct.The city declined and Kosoglad filed a lawsuit on behalf Green.The leg...

Next storm arrives Wednesday night

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:36 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A severe thunderstorm brought several half-inch diameter hail reports in the Bastrop area and rain totals as high as 1.26" Tuesday night. Some brief downpours made it into Austin just before sunset, but that part of the storm remained weaker.As thunderstorms fade, we turn our attention to two more severe-weather producing storm systems on the way to Central Texas before the week is over.A separate storm system brings another risk of severe storms late Wednesday night through Thursday morning. The highest risk currently appears to be in our northern tier of counties, where hail, wind damage and an isolated tornado will be possible.Strong storm forecast after 9 p.m. Wednesday to around 7 a.m. Thursday Saturday night storms bring tennis ball size hail to Hill Country Beneficial rain is expected in most areas this week, with 1-2" of rain likely and some higher totals in a few communities.A third storm system brings a risk of strong storms late Friday night through the...

With 6-2 win, Twins lock down first season series against Yankees since 2001

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:36 GMT

Byron Buxton and Trevor Larnach traded two-run home runs in a four-run sixth inning, and Joe Ryan pitched became the first Twins pitcher since 1979 to start a season with a 5-0 record as the Twins beat the New York Yankees, 6-2, in front of 19,201 paid on Tuesday at Target Field.With the victory, the Twins sealed their first season series win over the Yankees since 2001. Minnesota has won the first two games of this three-game series, and the Twins split a four-game series in New York April 13-16.The win also assures Minnesota of its first series victory against the Yankees since they took two of three games Sept. 10-12, 2018.Buxton’s two-run shot to left chased Yankees starter Nestor Cortes with no outs in the sixth, scoring Jorge Polanco after a leadoff double to break a 2-2 tie. It was Buxton’s fourth home run of the season and came on a full count.The Yankees brought in right-hander Ron Marinaccio, who struck out Jose Miranda and allowed an infield single by Ryan Jeffers. Larnac...

Saints rout Red Wings 14-1 with season-high offensive output

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:36 GMT

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The St. Paul Saints set season records for runs, hit and runs in an inning en route to a 14-1 rout of the Rochester Red Wings on Tuesday at Innovative Field.The Saints finished with 17 hits, highlighted by a seven-run outburst in the sixth inning, to improve to 14-7 this season with their fifth consecutive victory.Michael Helman hit two home runs for St. Paul, including a grand slam in the big sixth inning that put the Saints up 11-0, and Kyle Garlick and Alex Kirilloff both homered as well. Mark Contreras finished 4-for-5 with a double, two RBIs and three runs scored. Garlick was 3-for-4, and Helman was 3-for-5 with six RBIs.Eight of the nine Saints starters had a hit in the game, eight of nine scored a run, and five of nine drove in a run.Not to be overlooked, St. Paul starting pitcher Aaron Sanchez threw 5.0 shutout innings, allowing just a one-out double in the second inning while walking five and striking out four.The lone Red Wings run came on a solo home run...