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A man faced murder charges after deputies killed his cousin in a drug raid. A jury acquitted him

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:41 GMT

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Varshan Brown was charged with murder and taken to trial after sheriff’s deputies fatally shot his cousin in a violent drug raid at Brown’s southeast Georgia home.After hearing four days of evidence and arguments in a Camden County courtroom, a jury convicted Brown, 49, of possessing cocaine and assaulting officers by shooting at them. But jurors concluded the death of his cousin, Latoya James, wasn’t Brown’s fault. They acquitted him of a felony murder charge.Attorneys for James’ family said the verdict Thursday validates their argument that deputies ultimately were responsible for the 37-year-old Black woman’s death — not only because they shot her, but also for bursting into Brown’s home with little warning in the middle of the night. They have compared the deputies’ actions to the botched Kentucky narcotics raid that left Breonna Taylor dead and have a federal civil lawsuit pending that seeks $25 million from the Cam...

In San Francisco, Kenya’s president woos American tech companies despite increasing taxes at home

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:41 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya’s president is wooing American tech companies, promising a business-friendly environment — even though he has raised taxes on businesses at home. President William Ruto made the appeal in an address to leading U.S. technology companies and investors on Friday in San Francisco, highlighting investment opportunities in his country and lauding his government’s “strategic priorities.” “For the sake of stability, we have a tax code that is simple to enforce, consistent, fair and predictable” — one that won’t change in the next three years, he said. “We have eliminated value-added tax on exported services and the tax on stock-based compensation for employees of startups, as well as the domestic equity requirement for ICT companies,” he said.But critics say that his government’s newly imposed and also several proposed taxes will increase the cost of doing business in Kenya, including in the tech sector.His administration in its firs...

A Jan. 6 rioter was convicted and sentenced in secret. No one will say why

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:41 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hundreds of rioters have been charged, convicted and sentenced for joining the mob attack on the U.S. Capitol. Unlike their cases, Samuel Lazar’s appears to have been resolved in secret — kept under seal with no explanation, even after his release from prison. Lazar, 37, of Ephrata, Pennsylvania, was arrested in July 2021 on charges that he came to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, dressed in tactical gear and protective goggles, and used chemical spray on officers who were desperately trying to beat back the angry Donald Trump supporters. There is no public record of a conviction or a sentence in Lazar’s court docket. But the Bureau of Prisons told The Associated Press that the man was released from federal custody this week after completing a sentence for assaulting or resisting a federal officer. Lazar was sentenced in Washington’s federal court on March 17 to 30 months in prison, according to the Bureau of Prisons, but there’s no public record of such a ...

Guatemala’s president-elect says he’s ready to call people onto the streets

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:41 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — President-elect Bernardo Arévalo plans to call Guatemalans into the streets next week to protest efforts to derail his presidency before he can take office, he said Friday in an interview with The Associated Press.It would be Arévalo’s first such request since winning the election Aug. 20. Since his landslide victory, the attorney general’s office has continued pursuing multiple investigations related to the registration of Arévalo’s Seed Movement party, and alleged fraud in the election. International observers have said that is not supported by evidence.Arévalo said he has tried his own legal maneuvers to stop those who want to keep him from power, but now it’s necessary for the people to come out to the streets to support him. He said he wants to see businesspeople, farmers, Indigenous groups, and workers all come out to reject what has been happening.It wouldn’t be the protest of one party, or oneself, against the system, but rather of “a people...

Lawsuit alleges sexual assault during Virginia Military Institute overnight open house

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:41 GMT

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) — A prospective student claims in a lawsuit that a Virginia Military Institute cadet sexually assaulted her during a 2021 overnight open house.The suit filed in U.S. District Court in Lynchburg on Thursday states that the woman, then a high school student interested in attending the nation’s oldest state-supported military college, was assigned a cadet host with whom she shared a room, The Roanoke Times reported.The woman identified as Jane Doe in court records attended a two-day open house, described on VMI’s website as the best way for high school students to “experience first-hand what it’s like being a cadet,” with her parents, who have strong ties to the school, according to the lawsuit. The assault allegedly happened early on Sept. 18, 2021, and later that day after leaving campus with her parents, the student “expressed in an extremely distressed manner” that she had been sexually assaulted, the lawsuit stated. The cadet was not identified by name or sex i...

Environment Canada extends hurricane watch to Halifax as ‘very large’ Lee approaches

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:41 GMT

HALIFAX — Boats were being pulled out of the water in Nova Scotia Friday as forecasters warned hurricane Lee could soon bring damaging winds, large waves, flooding and power outages.Jennifer Chandler, commodore at the Chester Yacht Club, said she and her team have been working for days to prepare for what she anticipates will be a “significant storm.” Chester is in Lunenburg County, which with neighbouring Halifax County was added Friday to the list of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick communities under a hurricane watch.“When we get a direct impact, it hits us pretty hard here,” Chandler said in an interview. “Over the last five days, most people have been taking their boats out if they can …. We’ll be lashing down a lot of the gear. We’ve already taken all the furniture off our deck.”Hurricane Lee is expected to move into western Nova Scotia and southern New Brunswick on Saturday, bringing heavy rains, high winds, and powerful wave...

Are grocery stores greedy or a scapegoat? Group pushes back on feds’ ultimatum

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:41 GMT

A group representing grocery stores in Canada is pushing back against the federal government’s ultimatum on stabilizing food prices.The prime minister is demanding grocery chains across the country reduce costs for consumers or face consequences. CEOs will be at the table next week, as Justin Trudeau summons the heads of the top five grocery chains to a meeting next week.“They’re making record profits while Canadians are struggling to put food on the table,” Trudeau said.He wants companies to present a strategy by Thanksgiving to ease the financial pain of filling the fridge.Related articles: Majority of Canadians believe grocery prices will continue to rise: pollAre our governments siding with big grocers?Canadian shoppers turn to discount retailers to fight inflationHowever, the Retail Council of Canada says it feels grocery stores are being made to be scapegoats, as the discussion around cost of living continues.“At the end of the day, it’s rea...

UN calls for more fairness for developing nations at a G77 summit in Cuba

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:41 GMT

HAVANA (AP) — The U.N. secretary-general called Friday for nations to build a world that is more fair for developing countries, as he kicked off a summit in Cuba of the G77 group of emerging economies plus China. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that while many of the countries of the G77 have helped lift millions of people from poverty, they still face a lot of crises, including hunger, inflation, climate disasters and debt, and they haven’t gotten enough help.“The conclusion is clear: The world is failing developing countries,” Guterres said in Spanish.The summit of G77 group, which was founded in the 1960s, is taking place in Cuba just a few days ahead of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. “The voice of the G77 plus China will always be essential at the United Nations,” Guterres said. “And I count on your group, who have long been champions of multilateralism, to step up, to use your power, and fight: Champion a system rooted in equality; champion a system ...

Jeezy files for divorce from Jeannie Mai after 2 years of marriage

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:41 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rapper Jeezy has filed for divorce from TV personality Jeannie Mai after two years of in marriage.The 45-year-old rapper, whose birth name is Jay Wayne Jenkins, filed to end his marriage on Thursday in Georgia’s Superior Court of Fulton County.The filling says “the marriage of the parties is irretrievably broken” and “there is no hope for reconciliation.”The pair welcomed their first child together, a daughter, in January 2022. Jeezy and Mai began dating in 2018 and were married in March 2021.Jeezy is seeking joint legal custody of their daughter, according to the divorce documents. The two had a prenuptial agreement that Jeezy expects will be enforced, according to the filing.Representatives for Jeezy and Jeannie Mai did not immediately respond to requests for comment.The Grammy Award-nominated rapper Jeezy exploded on the music scene in the mid-’00s and is widely considered a trailblazer of Atlanta trap. He has released 10 studio albums.Mai, 44, is a Calif...

One American, two Russians ride Russian capsule to the International Space Station

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:41 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — One American and two Russians made a quick trip Friday to the International Space aboard a Russian capsule.NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and docked at the station three hours later. O’Hara will spend six months there while Kononenko and Chub will spend a year.The trio was supposed to fly to the space station last spring, but their original capsule was needed as a replacement for another crew. That crew — also two Russians and an American — will ride it home later this month. Their stay was extended from six months to a year when their Soyuz capsule developed a coolant leak while parked at the station.It’s the first spaceflight for O’Hara and Chub, while mission commander Kononenko is on his fifth trip to the orbiting outpost.They join seven station residents from U.S., Russia, Denmark and Japan.By the end of his yearlong stay, Kononenko will set a new rec...