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US defense secretary, Israeli leaders discuss more targeted approach in Gaza

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

By TARA COPP, MELANIE LIDMAN and SAMY MAGDY (Associated Press)TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed with Israeli leaders Monday ways to scale back major combat operations in Gaza but said Washington was not imposing a timetable despite international calls for a cease-fire.Austin and other U.S. officials have repeatedly expressed concern about the large number of civilian deaths in Gaza, even while underscoring American backing for Israel’s campaign aimed at crushing Hamas. Neither side elaborated Monday on what needed to change on the ground for a shift to more precise operations after weeks of devastating bombardment and a ground offensive. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.At a press conference alongside Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Austin said, “This is Israel’s operation. I’m not here to dictate timelines or terms.” The U.S. has vetoed calls for a cease-fire at...

UW-Madison launches program to cover Indigenous students’ full costs, including tuition and housing

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Indigenous students from any of Wisconsin’s 11 tribes will be able to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison for free beginning next fall, Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin announced Monday.The Wisconsin Tribal Education Promise program will use private donations and other internal funding to cover tuition, fees, housing, meals, books and other expenses for undergraduate students who can prove they’re members of one of Wisconsin’s tribes, Mnookin said at a news conference.Confirmed tribal members who pursue a law or medical degree will get their tuition and fees covered as well. The program will begin with the fall 2024 semester. The program is similar to Bucky’s Tuition Promise and Bucky’s Pell Pathway programs. Bucky’s Tuition Promise guarantees the university will cover tuition and fees for students from low-income households. Bucky’s Pell Pathway program covers the full financial needs of students from low-income families through grants, scho...

Judge issues order keeping Confederate memorial at Arlington Cemetery for now

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — A federal judge on Monday issued a temporary restraining order barring removal of a memorial to Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.A group called Defend Arlington, affiliated with a group called Save Southern Heritage Florida, filed a lawsuit Sunday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, seeking the restraining order. A hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday. Work to remove the memorial had begun Monday before the restraining order was issued, but the memorial remains in place on cemetery grounds. The cemetery had said on Friday that it expected to complete the removal this week. It said the removal was required by Congress, and that it was complying with environmental and historic-preservation regulations. But the lawsuit accused the Army, which runs the cemetery, of violating regulations in seeking a hasty removal of the memorial. “The removal will desecrate, damage, and likely destroy the Memorial longstanding at ANC as a grave marke...

Russell Brand questioned by London police over 6 more sexual offense claims, UK media say

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Comedian Russell Brand has been questioned for a second time by police investigating sexual offense allegations, British media reported Monday.Brand, 48, was interviewed under caution last week over six “non-recent” allegations, the Press Association news agency reported. Brand was questioned by police in November over three other claims. London’s Metropolitan Police did not identify Brand but said in a statement that a man in his 40s attended a police station in south London for a second time on Dec. 14.“He was interviewed under caution by detectives in relation to a further six, non-recent, sexual offenses,” police said. British police do not name suspects who have not been arrested and charged.In September, British media outlets published claims by four women of being sexually assaulted or raped by Brand between 2006 and 2013, at the height of his fame. The accusers have not been named.The comedian, author and “Get Him To The Greek” actor has denied the ...

Trans Mountain project costs ‘reasonably and justifiably incurred:’ Crown corporation

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

CALGARY — The company building the Trans Mountain pipeline has submitted evidence to support its claim that oil companies must pay more in tolls in light of the pipeline project’s mounting costs.Trans Mountain Corp. says in a new regulatory filing that the increased costs of the pipeline expansion project were “reasonably and justifiably incurred.”The Crown corporation has successfully applied for permission to charge oil shippers higher tolls once the pipeline expansion is operational, but only on an interim basis until the Canada Energy Regulator makes a final decision.Trans Mountain Corp. wants to charge oil companies a benchmark toll that is nearly twice the amount of a 2017 estimate, as it seeks to recoup some of the pipeline expansion project’s spiralling capital costs.The pipeline project, which is more than 97 per cent complete, has gone from a 2017 construction cost estimate of $7.4 billion to a most recent estimate of $30.9 billion.Trans Mountain Co...

Mexico’s president calls for state prosecutor’s ouster after 12 were killed leaving holiday party

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president on Monday called for the resignation of the state prosecutor in Guanajuato in light of the state’s high levels of violence, a day after gunmen killed 12 people at a holiday party there. Guanajuato has been the scene of bloody turf battles between the Jalisco cartel and local gangs backed by the Sinaloa cartel. The state has long had the highest number of homicides in Mexico.The Guanajuato state prosecutor’s office confirmed the killings on Sunday and four more in the town of Salamanca, but has so far not provided details about the possible motive.President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, speaking at his daily news conference, said he did not have all of the information either, but that the victims were coming out of a traditional holiday party known as a “posada” in the town of Salvatierra when gunmen arrived and shot them.He said there were some working hypotheses, but declined to comment further on what he called an “atrocious” crime. He tied the...

Quebec mother acquitted in daughters’ deaths after third murder trial

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

LAVAL, Que. — A Quebec woman has been acquitted in the 2009 deaths of her young daughters after a third trial on murder charges.Adele Sorella was convicted of murder in 2013 and 2019 follow jury trials, but both of those decisions were overturned on appeal.The third trial was heard before Quebec Superior Court Justice Myriam Lachance in Laval earlier this fall, but without any witnesses or new evidence.Lachance said today in her ruling, which took nearly three hours to deliver, that there were gaps in the Crown’s theory that led her to acquit Sorella on two counts of murder.The young victims, nine-year-old Amanda and eight-year-old Sabrina, were found dead in their playroom on March 31, 2009, laying side by side in their school uniforms.Their bodies bore no signs of violence and the cause of their death has never been determined.Sorella was arrested the following day after crashing her SUV into a hydro pole.Her husband and the girls’ father was Giuseppe De Vito, a man wi...

G League player and girlfriend are arrested in killing of woman found dead near Las Vegas: Police

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A player with the Sacramento Kings’ G League affiliate and his girlfriend have been arrested in the killing of a woman whose remains were found earlier this month near Las Vegas, authorities said.Chance Comanche, 27, and Sakari Harnden, 19, will be charged with murder and kidnapping in the killing of 23-year-old Marayna Rodgers, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police announced Sunday.Rodgers was reported missing on Dec. 7 and her remains were later found in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, police said.Authorities have not released a cause of death or discussed a possible motive, but police said investigators suspected foul play and obtained evidence to arrest Harnden and Comanche.Police said Harnden was a friend of Rodgers, who was a medical assistant from Washington state.According to police, Rodgers was out with friends in Las Vegas on Dec. 5 and had a prearranged meeting with Harnden, who brought Comanche with her.Harnden was arrested Wednesday in Las Vegas an...

Parenting advice YouTuber Ruby Franke of Utah set to take plea agreement in child abuse case

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

A Utah mother of six who gave parenting advice via a once-popular YouTube channel called “8 Passengers” is expected to enter a plea agreement at a hearing Monday on charges that she abused and starved two of her children, her attorney said. Winward Law announced in a statement Friday that the alleged abuse occurred while Ruby Franke was influenced by a relationship counselor who led her to “a distorted sense of morality.” The statement does not say what charges Franke might plead guilty to or if any sentencing agreement had been reached. “Ruby Franke is a devoted mother and is also a woman committed to constant improvement,” Winward Law said in a statement. Franke initially believed that Jodi Hildebrandt “had the insight to offer a path to continual improvement,” but said that Hildebrandt “took advantage of this quest and twisted it into something heinous.” Hildebrandt “systematically isolated Ruby Franke from her extended family, older children, and her husband, Kevin Franke,...

B.C. watchdog investigates after man killed in police-involved shooting in Abbotsford

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. — One man is dead after a police-involved shooting in Abbotsford, British Columbia, on Sunday night.Police say the shooting happened in the 1700 block of Riverside Road, and the section between Marshall and King roads has been closed due to the ongoing investigation.Abbotsford Police say in a statement that one man died in the incident, although his name and other details surrounding the shooting have not been released.No police officers were injured in the incident.Police say they have notified B.C’s Independent Investigations Office, and the watchdog agency is leading the investigation into what happened.Abbotsford is located about 70 kilometres east of Vancouver.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 18, 2023.The Canadian Press