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Governments pledge money, attention to Venezuela’s crisis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:48 GMT

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Governments and financial institutions pledged millions of dollars Friday for humanitarian and development projects to address the urgent needs of Venezuelans at home and abroad affected by a crisis that diplomats acknowledged requires renewed attention.The funding promises came during a conference in Brussels designed to raise awareness of Venezuela’s protracted economic, social and political crisis, which has pushed millions into poverty and driven more than 7 million others to migrate, mostly within Latin America.“So, how is it that a crisis of this magnitude has flown under the radar of public attention and also from international response?” Harjit S. Sajjan, Canada’s minister of international development, said, adding that the coronavirus pandemic and “competing international priorities” have overshadowed Venezuela’s situation. “We need to take need to make sure that the world is aware of this massive challenge facing the Americas,” Saijan said.O...

Markets slump Friday as investors grapple with banking fallout, rate uncertainty

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:48 GMT

TORONTO — Financial markets have flip-flopped all week as a global crisis in confidence over the banking sector has led to a dramatic shift in expectations for central banks’ fight against inflation, and has made a recession more likely.The S&P/TSX Composite was down by less than one per cent at mid-afternoon on Friday, weighed down by weakness in energy, financial and industrial stocks. U.S. markets were similarly in the red to cap a messy week of trading. After the closures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the United States last weekend, fears over the financial system spread, sending bank stocks tanking Monday before markets recovered somewhat the next day.On Wednesday, the flames were further fanned by European lender Credit Suisse’s latest problems, and on Thursday and Friday another bank joined in on the widening crisis, with the biggest U.S. banks coming to the rescue of First Republic Bank in an effort to prevent it from joining the ranks of SVB and Sig...

Appeals court upholds federal conviction of pardoned man

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:48 GMT

LONDON, Ky. (AP) — An appeals court has upheld the conviction of a man pardoned by Kentucky’s former governor on state charges for a 2014 drug robbery killing but was later convicted for the same slaying in federal court.A U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals panel released its ruling Thursday, deciding against Patrick Baker’s appeal on every point, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.Federal prosecutors brought charges against Baker after he was released from prison when former Gov. Matt Bevin pardoned him on his way out of office in 2019. Baker’s family had political connections to Bevin, including hosting a fundraiser for the one-term governor.A federal jury in eastern Kentucky convicted Baker on a charge of murder committed during a drug trafficking crime and he was sentenced in 2022 to 42 years in prison.Baker was convicted of reckless homicide in Donald Mills’ death in state court in 2017. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison, but Bevin’s pardon released him and erased t...

Drivers given assurances about safety at Saudi Arabian GP

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:48 GMT

Formula One is back in Saudi Arabia this weekend, one year after a missile strike hit an oil depot near the track during race week.And while the drivers expressed confidence in their safety ahead of Sunday’s race, seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton again broached the subject of human rights issues in the kingdom.Drivers have been given assurances by F1 that increased safety measures will prevent the race from being impacted like last year, when Houthi rebels from Yemen hit a depot only 11 kilometers (seven miles) away during the first practice session. The attack led to hours of talks between drivers, organizers and stakeholders but the race went ahead.The missile strike came two weeks after 81 people were put to death in Saudi Arabia in a mass execution — the largest in the kingdom’s modern history. According to Reprieve, a non-profit organization defending people facing human rights abuses, a further 16 executions were then carried out.Saudi Arabia is one of several count...

St. Patrick’s Day rites: Parades, bagpipes, clinking pints

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:48 GMT

Oh, Danny boy, ’tis the time of year when Irish bagpipes are calling in the concrete glens of New York City, across the swooning boughs of Savannah, Georgia, and in the halls of the White House as the U.S. celebrates St. Patrick’s Day with parades, pub crawls and a state visit.Thousands of tourists and locals alike crowded the oak-shaded squares and downtown sidewalks of Savannah on Friday. The city’s parade, a 199-year-old tradition, is the South’s largest.Veteran parade watchers arrived before dawn to claim space in the squares for picnic tables and party tents. Bars opened at 7 a.m. to greet customers already thirsty for beer and Bloody Marys.The annual parade in New York City — which bills itself as the world’s largest and oldest — drew throngs to Fifth Avenue to await bagpipes and bands, and give homage to Ireland’s patron saint.“When we march up Fifth Avenue,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said during the annual St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast...

‘Troubled’ Eby seeks CSIS briefing on alleged Chinese meddling in Vancouver election

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:48 GMT

VANCOUVER — British Columbia Premier David Eby says he’s “very troubled” by allegations of Chinese interference in Vancouver’s municipal elections last year and he’s asked Canada’s intelligence agency for a briefing.Eby says Canadians deserve a “thorough and independent investigation” into the claims reported in the Globe and Mail newspaper this week that China’s consulate in Vancouver meddled in the municipal polls by using diaspora community groups and grooming certain candidates.The premier says he’s asked for a “full briefing” by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service but he hasn’t received it yet.The newspaper report cites CSIS documents, but Eby says he’s not in a position to comment on their credibility.The report prompted Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim to say on Thursday that he was disgusted by its “insinuations,” and he wouldn’t be part of the conversation if he was Caucasian...

Gary Police Department overhaul: Agencies provide an update

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:48 GMT

GARY, Ind. — Multiple law enforcement agencies are highlighting a "violent crime reduction strategy" in Gary following what the mayor called a hard reset of the department.The Gary Police Department, Indiana State Police, Lake County Prosecutors Office, Indiana State Excise Police, and the U.S. Attorney's Office all gathered together Friday in Gary to discuss their collaboration as well as changes within the Homicide Task Force. Gary police names interim chief from ISP partnership Interim Chief of the Gary Police Department Jerry Williams described some of the changes he has helped to make within the department since taking the position on Jan. 6. His appointment followed eight months of studying the department to identify needed changes as a part of an Indiana State Police led task force.The Gary Police Department has had nearly a dozen chiefs since 2006, and it has been without a permanent police chief since 2020.Williams will hold the interim role until at least July and Gary M...

Friday Forecast: Temps in mid 30s with scattered flurries

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:48 GMT

The weather for Friday is looking mostly cloudy, with morning rain/snow, decreasing clouds and flurries, with gusts of 40 mph. High: 35Morning winds Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here Friday Night: Partly cloudy, increasing clouds, flurries, near & below 0 chills, W 10-20 G30. 15Saturday's weather is mostly cloudy with a slight chance snow showers and flurries, W 10-20 G30. High: 28Full forecast details at the WGN Weather Center

Republicans from Northern Border Security caucus to address drug, human trafficking concerns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:48 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) -- Lawmakers say they are concerned about an increase in human and drug trafficking across the border between the U.S. and Canada.Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Penn.) says it's time to expand the discussion about border security."There's a lot more to the borders of the United States than just the southwestern border. We also have a northern border," Kelly said.That's why Kelly and other house republicans created the Northern Border Caucus."We have big borders but we've always kind of trusted that there's going to be oversight. The thing we're finding out now is there really not as much oversight as we need," Kelly said.Kelly says all the current attention on the southern border is opening a door for human and drug trafficking up North."I do know in those New England states, the amount of drugs coming in through that area is having an incredible effect on the lives of people," Kelly said.The U.S.-Canadian border stretches across more than 5000 miles and is more than double...

New study cites Wuhan raccoon dogs as possible origin of COVID-19

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:48 GMT

(The Hill) - A new analysis of genetic information conducted by an international group of researchers has found evidence to suggest that COVID-19 originated from infected animals sold at a market in Wuhan.As was first reported by The Atlantic, French evolutionary biologist Florence Débarre recently uncovered genetic data from the global virology database GISAID. The data had been submitted by Chinese researchers who collected the genetic sequences from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which has been scrutinized as being the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.Despite the name, thousands mammals were found to have been sold at the market, where they were kept in cramped and unhygienic spaces.The genetic data suggested that raccoon dogs being sold at the market could have been carrying and shedding the SARS-CoV-2 virus at the time. The analysis, which is not conclusive, is being led by researchers Kristian Andersen, Edward Holmes and Michael Worobey.In communications with Atlantic ...