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Columbus statue, removed from a square in Providence, Rhode Island, re-emerges in nearby town

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:50:38 GMT

Three years after a Christopher Columbus statue was removed from a square in Providence, Rhode Island, the bronze cast has re-emerged, this time in a park in Johnston, Rhode Island, about 9 miles west of the capital.The statue had been targeted by vandals, at one point being splashed with red paint with a sign reading “Stop celebrating genocide” leaning against its pedestal. In 2020, the statue was removed.Activists say celebrating Columbus ignores the rape, murder and genocide endured by Indigenous people during the European settlement of North America.Johnston Mayor Joseph Polisena Jr. said residents of his heavily Italian-American town are pleased to give the statue a new home.“It’s important and not just for Italian Americans. It’s American history. It’s world history, if you look at it from a historical perspective,” he said.While not the first European to land in North America — that’s believed to be Leif Erikson — Columbus helped usher in a wave of European exploration and ex...

At least one dead in I-5 crash

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:50:38 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- At least one person is dead after a crash early Thursday on Interstate 5 near downtown San Diego.The collision was reported around 2:35 a.m. on southbound I-5, just north of state Route 54, according to a California Highway Patrol incident log.A stretch of southbound I-5 was closed for several hours. By 6 a.m., all lanes had reopened.Check back for updates on this developing story.

California workers will get five sick days instead of three under law signed by Newsom

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:50:38 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Workers in California will soon receive a minimum of five days of paid sick leave annually, instead of three, under a new law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Wednesday.The law, which takes effect in January, also increases the amount of sick leave workers can carry over into the following year. Newsom said it demonstrates that prioritizing the health and well-being of workers “is of the utmost importance for California’s future."“Too many folks are still having to choose between skipping a day’s pay and taking care of themselves or their family members when they get sick,” Newsom said in a statement announcing his action.It was one of more than a dozen bills the Democratic governor signed Wednesday. He has until mid-October to act on all the legislation sent to him this year. He can sign, veto or let bills become law without his signature.Beyond preventing workers from choosing between taking a day off or getting paid, proponents of the sick day legislation argue ...

Some top biscuits and gravy are in San Diego area: Yelp

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:50:38 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- When a craving strikes for biscuits and gravy, it may be comforting to know that the San Diego area has some of the best around -- almost as comforting as the Southern staple itself.That's according to a new list compiled by Yelp, which ranked the top 25 spots in the country to enjoy the breakfast dish.Beach Break Café in Oceanside ranked No. 15 on the list. Sip a top-ranked espresso martini at this Little Italy restaurant: Yelp "Great service and the best biscuits and gravy ever," one person wrote on Yelp."Side note: these are now my new favorite biscuits and gravy!" another Yelper said."Their biscuits are house made and have such a rich taste like your grandma's biscuits," another review said.Farther inland, in Vista, Connie's came in at No. 24. Highest-rated Cajun restaurants in San Diego, according to Yelp "If you're a big biscuits and gravy fan, this is your place!" one Yelper wrote in August."The sausage had a great taste and the biscuits were on point!!!!!," ...

Media entrepreneur unites young activists with power brokers for fight to make social media safe

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:50:38 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A media entrepreneur is trying to connect young people disturbed by the impact of social media on mental health with older power players to fight for change in how tech companies do business.The newly-formed Sustainable Media Center is intent on stopping companies from using algorithms to push damaging information to vulnerable youths, dark things like suicide methods. Venture capitalist and trustee Bradley Tusk has seen it personally; he believes his daughter’s eating disorder was made worse by what she saw online.It’s a long way from initial hopes that the internet would connect the world for more positive uses, said founder Steven Rosenbaum, former producer of “MTV News: Unfiltered, ” several documentaries and ex-leader of the NYC Media Lab.“When you find that what you helped build is causing more harm than good, there’s no way you can get up in the morning and not do anything about it,” Rosenbaum said.U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy in May cal...

Russian strike on village kills 50, Ukrainian officials say, as Zelenskyy seeks more Western support

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:50:38 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian rocket struck a village cafe and store in eastern Ukraine on Thursday and killed at least 50 civilians in one of the deadliest attacks in months, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other top officials in Kyiv.The attack came as Zelenskyy attended a summit of about 50 European leaders in Spain to drum up support from Ukraine’s allies.He denounced the attack in the village of Hroza as a “demonstrably brutal Russian crime” and “a completely deliberate act of terrorism.”Presidential chief of staff Andrii Yermak and Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said a 6-year-old boy was among the dead, adding that seven other people were wounded. Hroza, which had a population of about 500 before the war, is located in the northeastern Kharkiv region.About 60 people were in the cafe were attending a wake after a funeral, said Internal Affairs Minister Ihor Klymenko, speaking on national TV.According to preliminary information from Kyiv, the village was stru...

Nearly 50 European leaders stress support for Ukraine at a summit in Spain. Zelenskyy seeks more aid

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:50:38 GMT

GRANADA, Spain (AP) — Almost 50 European leaders used a summit in the southern Spanish city of Granada on Thursday to stress that they stand by Ukraine at a time when Western resolve appears somewhat weakened.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that beside maintaining such unity, more military aid to get through the winter was essential.Despite the political, economic and military support, the desperate struggle to rid Ukraine territory of invading Russian forces has ground to a stalemate, and Zelenskyy insisted that it was no time for wavering in the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin. And especially now that questions about continued support are growing in the United States too. “Europe must be strong” despite what happens in other places around the globe, Zelenskyy said, calling for more air defense systems, artillery shells, long-range missiles and drones.He said that victory or defeat in Ukraine would determine Europe’s fate. Zelenskyy flew in early in the ...

Indonesia’s agriculture minister resigns amid a corruption investigation

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:50:38 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s agriculture minister resigned Thursday as the country’s anti-graft commission ramped up an investigation into alleged corruption at his ministry.The Corruption Eradication Commission, known as KPK, has alleged that there has been bribery linked to job promotions at the Agriculture Ministry as well as fraudulent projects involving private vendors, but it has not disclosed details.Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo, though not yet been formally named as a suspect, said Thursday that he was resigning to focus on the case against him, and that he hopes the public will assume he is innocent until there is a court verdict.“Don’t judge me first. Let the legal process proceed, and I’m ready to face it,” Limpo told a news conference in Jakarta.Limpo was on working visit to Italy and Spain when the KPK searched his official residence in Jakarta last week. He returned to Jakarta late Wednesday.KPK’s spokesperson Ali Fikri told a news conference short...

Deadly Thai mall shooting exposes murky trade in blank handguns that are turned into lethal weapons

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:50:38 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Police in Thailand said Thursday they have arrested three men they accuse of selling the handgun and ammunition used by a 14-year-old boy who allegedly killed two people and wounded five others at a shopping mall in Bangkok.The shooting Tuesday at the Siam Paragon mall in the Thai capital has highlighted a gray area of the gun trade: the sale of handguns originally manufactured to shoot blanks but which can be modified to fire live ammunition. Thai police identified the gun used in Tuesday’s shootings as one of these so-called blank, or blank-firing, handguns.Blank guns generally face fewer restrictions and can be imported and registered more easily than regular guns. What alarms law enforcement authorities in several countries, not just Thailand, is that such guns can not only be turned into lethal weapons, but also are harder to trace than real guns.On Wednesday, a Thai police spokesman said 10,000 blank guns are in circulation in the country, and the authorities ha...

Stock market today: Wall Street drifts lower as pressure from the bond market stays high

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:50:38 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is drifting lower Thursday, as pressure from the bond market remains high due to worries about a too-hot U.S. job market. The S&P 500 was 0.4% lower in morning trading, the latest stumble in what’s been an ugly run since the start of August. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 31 points, or 0.1%, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% lower.Stocks have struggled since the summer under the weight of soaring Treasury yields in the bond market, which undercut stock prices and crimp corporate profits. Yields have leaped as traders acquiesce to a new normal where the Federal Reserve is likely to keep its main interest rate at a high level for a long time, as it tries to extinguish high inflation.Treasury yields wavered up and down Thursday after a report showed fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected. That’s a sign fewer workers are getting laid off than expected, which i...