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US proposes plan to protect the snow-dependent Canada lynx before warming shrinks its habitat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:57 GMT

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. officials proposed a $31 million recovery plan for Canada lynx on Friday in a bid to help the snow-dependent wildcat species that scientists say could be wiped out in parts of the contiguous U.S. by the end of the century.The proposal marks a sharp turnaround from five years ago, when officials in Donald Trump’s presidency said lynx had recovered and no longer needed protection after their numbers had rebounded in some areas. President Joseph Biden’s administration in 2021 reached a legal settlement with environmental groups to retain threatened species protections for lynx that were first imposed in 2000.Populations of the medium-sized wildcats in New Hampshire, Maine and Washington state are most at risk as habitat changes reduce populations of their primary food, snowshoe hares, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service documents indicate.But declines for lynx would be seen in boreal forests across the contiguous U.S. under even the most optimistic warming scenar...

Judge rejects Trump’s claim of immunity in his federal 2020 election prosecution

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:57 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump is not immune from prosecution in his election interference case in Washington, a federal judge ruled Friday, knocking down the Republican’s bid to derail the case charging him with plotting to overturn the 2020 presidential election.U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s decision tees up a legal fight over the scope of presidential power that could ultimately reach the U.S Supreme Court. Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing in the case, is expected to quickly appeal to fight what his lawyers have characterized as an unsettled legal question.In her ruling, Chutkan said “former Presidents enjoy no special conditions on their federal criminal liability.” “Defendant may be subject to federal investigation, indictment, prosecution, conviction, and punishment for any criminal acts undertaken while in office,” she wrote. Trump’s legal team had argued that the case, which is scheduled to go to trial in March, should be dismissed because the 2024 Repu...

Some facts about CSIS, Canada’s spy agency, amid claims of sexual assault, harassment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:57 GMT

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service says it’s conducting a workplace assessment of its British Columbia office where a group of officers said they were subjected to sexual assault and harassment. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday their allegations were “devastating,” and his entire government was following up “very directly” on the issues raised by the whistleblowers in an investigation published by The Canadian Press.Here’s a look at Canada’s spy agency:— The duties of CSIS are to investigate threats to Canada’s security, report them to government, and take measures to reduce any risk they pose. It also briefs officials, collects foreign intelligence and does security assessments for immigration and other purposes, including when someone requires access to classified information.— The agency had more than 3,200 employees in 2020, according to its website. Last year, it said 48 per cent of staff were women and 20 per c...

Former Colombian military officer accused in base bombing extradited to Florida

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:57 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — A former Colombian military officer accused of injuring dozens, including three U.S. soldiers, in a bombing attack at a Colombian military base has been extradited to South Florida.A five-count indictment against Andres Fernando Medina Rodriguez, 39, was unsealed Friday in Miami federal court, according to court records. A federal grand jury brought charges last year that include conspiring to murder members of the U.S. uniformed services and attempted murder of members of the U.S. uniformed services. He faces a possible life sentence.A defense attorney for Medina Rodriguez didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment from The Associated Press.Court records list another man charged in the indictment, Ciro Alfonso Gutierrez Ballesteros, as a fugitive.According to the indictment, Medina Rodriguez and others planned a bombing attack against the Colombian 30th Army Brigade Base in Cucuta, Colombia. Medina Rodriguez used his status as a medically discharged Colomb...

Ronaldo walks off to chants of ‘Messi, Messi’ as his team loses 3-0 in Riyadh derby

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:57 GMT

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo walked off the field with the gleeful chants of “Messi, Messi, Messi!” ringing in his ears from delighted Al-Hilal fans who had just watched their Saudi Pro League team beat the Portugal superstar’s Al-Nassr 3-0 in the Riyadh Derby on Friday. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner may have finished on the losing team — Aleksandar Mitrovic scored twice after fellow Serbian Sergej Milinkovic-Savic opened for Al-Hilal — but Ronaldo still remains the focus of attention in Saudi Arabian soccer.As thousands of cars headed east out of downtown Riyadh to watch the top two league teams and bitter local rivals face off at the King Fahd International Stadium — the last to be played at the arena for three years as it is to be renovated to host games at the 2027 Asian Cup and anticipated 2034 World Cup — one Al-Nassr fan leaned out and shouted: “Are you here to see Cristiano?”When Ronaldo warmed up, there were cheers from the several thousand away fa...

Former Memphis officer charged in Tyre Nichols’ death had some violations in prior prison guard job

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:57 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Before a former Memphis Police officer joined in a deadly beating on Tyre Nichols, prompting murder charges against him and four colleagues, Demetrius Haley incurred some policy violations in a prior prison guard job and faced accusations of excessive force that his department deemed unfounded or unsubstantiated, according to newly unsealed personnel records.Demetrius Haley worked for the prison operated by the Shelby County Division of Corrections as a correctional officer from January 2015 until July 2020, when he resigned to join the Memphis Police Department.While working as a corrections officer, Haley was accused of excessive force for using a chemical spray on inmate Cordarlrius Sledge in 2015, but an investigation found no violations of the department’s use of force policies and the allegations were unsubstantiated. The records showed that Sledge was treated for a fractured right temporal bone and perforated ear drum and the incident prompted 34 inmates...

New York could see more legal pot shops after state settles cases that halted market

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:57 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York could soon start to get more recreational marijuana dispensaries after a judge on Friday approved legal settlements to end lawsuits that halted the state’s legal cannabis licensing program. The settlements lift a court order that has blocked the state from processing or issuing retail marijuana licenses since August. State officials said the agreement will allow more than 400 potential retailers to move forward with pending applications to open storefronts.“With this settlement behind us, hundreds of new licenses can now move forward, new stores will open, and consumers can legally buy safer, legal, tested cannabis products from New York-based entrepreneurs and small businesses,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement.The state’s legal market has been in shambles since sales began about a year ago. Bureaucratic problems and lawsuits have allowed only about two dozen legal dispensaries to open, as farmers sit on a glut of crops and black market...

Ex-correctional officer at federal prison in California gets 5 years for sexually abusing inmates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:57 GMT

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A former federal correctional officer was sentenced Friday to more than five years in prison for sexually abusing two inmates at a women’s prison in California where the warden and other employees were charged with similar conduct.A federal jury in June found John Russell Bellhouse guilty on two counts of sexual abuse and three counts of abusive sexual contact involving the two women between 2019 and 2020 at FCI Dublin, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) east of Oakland.He was sentenced to five years and three months behind bars on Friday.U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey for the Northern District of California, whose office prosecuted the case, said the sentence “makes clear that the sexual abuse of inmates by guards will not be tolerated.”“This conduct was a disturbing deviation from the expectations and requirements of all federal correctional officers,” Ramsey said in a statement Friday. “Bellhouse violated his oath and abused the power given to him, all to...

Los Angeles police searching for suspect in three fatal shootings of homeless people

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:57 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles police are searching for a suspect in the fatal shootings of three homeless people in separate incidents around the city, authorities announced Friday.All three shootings occurred in the early morning hours over several days in November, Police Chief Michel Moore said at a news conference along with Mayor Karen Bass and District Attorney George Gascón.Moore said in all three instances the victims were alone and out in the open. “Each one was shot and killed as they slept” or were preparing to turn in for the night, Moore said.The police department has set up a task force of investigators that is working around the clock to apprehend the killer, the Los Angeles Times reported.Jose Bolanos, 37, was found dead with a gunshot wound around 3 a.m. on Nov. 26 in an alley in South Los Angeles, police said. The following day, Mark Diggs, 62, was shot and killed while pushing a shopping cart around 5 a.m. near downtown, according to officials.The third shooting ...

US expels an ex-Chilean army officer accused of a folk singer’s torture and murder

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:57 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — The U.S. has expelled a former Chilean Army officer accused of torturing and killing folk singer Victor Jara during the country’s bloody 1973 coup.Pedro Barrientos had emigrated to Florida in 1990, the same year the bloody dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet came to an end. This year, he was stripped of his U.S. citizenship after it was found he concealed information about his Chilean military service during his immigration proceedings.Jara, a popular singer and university professor, was a fervent supporter of socialist President Salvador Allende. He was seized and taken to a Santiago stadium where thousands of prisoners were held only hours after Pinochet assaulted the presidential palace and overthrew Allende on Sept. 11, 1973. There, he was beaten and he was shot with at least 44 bullets — one of the first of more than 3,000 Chileans killed for opposing Pinochet’s iron-fisted rule. Barrientos has always denied any involvement in Jara’s murderBut in 2016...