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A New York City lawmaker has been charged with bringing a gun to a pro-Palestinian protest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:24 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City lawmaker was arraigned on a gun charge Thursday after prosecutors said she brought a pistol to a pro-Palestinian demonstration.City Council member Inna Vernikov, a Republican and vocal supporter of Israel, was seen in photos and videos with the butt of a gun jutting out from her waistband while she was counterprotesting at an Oct. 13 pro-Palestinian rally at Brooklyn College, according to prosecutors.Student demonstrations both in support of Israel and in support of Palestinians have roiled college campuses in New York and across the nation since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. The conflict is especially fraught at Brooklyn College, which has large numbers of Palestinian and Jewish students.Vernikov was charged in Brooklyn criminal court with one count of possessing a gun at a sensitive location.Vernikov had a license to carry a concealed weapon, but under New York law, licensed gun owners may not bring weapons to certain sensitive locations, inclu...

Justice Department opens civil rights probes into South Carolina jails beset by deaths and violence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:24 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Two South Carolina jails where incarcerated people have died violently at the hands of employees or others held behind bars are under federal investigation, the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday.Officials said the civil rights probes will examine the conditions at detention centers in the southern state’s urban hubs of Charleston and Columbia. They cited the deaths of a mentally ill Black man stunned 10 times by two jail employees who kneeled on his back until he stopped breathing and another man beaten to death by five attackers locked in cells with unsecured doors.“People confined in local jails across our country do not abandon their civil and constitutional rights at the jailhouse door,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke told reporters Thursday. “Incarceration should never carry with it the risk of death or serious harm.”Eight people jailed at the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center have died since 2022, according to Clarke...

US Air Force terminates missile test flight due to anomaly after California launch

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:24 GMT

VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — An unarmed U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile was intentionally destroyed over the Pacific Ocean when something went wrong during a test launch from California, the Air Force said.The flight of the Minuteman 3 missile was “safely terminated” at 12:06 a.m. Wednesday due to an “anomaly” during launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base, the Air Force Global Strike Command said in a statement.An investigative group was being formed to determine the cause.“An anomaly is any unexpected event during the test,” the statement said. “Since anomalies may arise from many factors relating to the operational platform itself, or the test equipment, careful analysis is needed to identify the cause.” Minuteman 3 missiles are routinely tested with launches from Vandenberg on the coast northwest of Los Angeles. A typical test involves a missile’s reentry vehicle traveling about 4,200 miles (6,800 kilometers) over the Pacific to Kwajalein Atoll in the...

Rwanda announces visa-free travel for all Africans as continent opens up to free movement of people

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:24 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Rwanda announced Thursday that it will allow Africans to travel visa-free to the country, becoming the latest nation on the continent to announce such a measure aimed at boosting free movement of people and trade to rival Europe’s Schengen zone.President Paul Kagame made the announcement in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, where he pitched the potential of Africa as “a unified tourism destination” for a continent that still relies on 60% of its tourists from outside Africa, according to data from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.“Any African, can get on a plane to Rwanda whenever they wish and they will not pay a thing to enter our country” said Kagame during the 23rd Global Summit of the World Travel and Tourism Council.“We should not lose sight of our own continental market,” he said. “Africans are the future of global tourism as our middle class continues to grow at a fast pace in the decades to come.”Once implemented, Rwanda w...

Finance committee calls for feds to block RBC-HSBC deal on competition concerns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:24 GMT

OTTAWA — The finance committee of the House of Commons has called on the Finance Minister to block RBC’s $13.5-billion takeover of HSBC Canada over concerns it will hurt competition. The committee says in a report to Parliament that there are already very few financial institutions in the Canadian banking sector, so the removal of a competitor could raise bank fees that are already elevated.The six committee members from the Conservative, Bloc Québécois and NDP parties voted in favour of the report, while Liberal members abstained.The takeover has already been approved by the Competition Bureau, but still requires approval from Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.RBC spokesman Andrew McGrath said in a statement that the takeover is in the best interest of HSBC Canada’s 700,000 clients, and that the Competition Bureau’s review did not identify Competition Act concerns with the deal.Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in October called for the deal to be blocked, poi...

REVIEW: Priscilla is an amazing film that will anger Elvis fans

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:24 GMT

The 2022 Elvis biopic is not the first time the King of Rock and Roll’s life has been adapted to the big screen, but in the year since its release it has been solidified in many people’s eyes as the definitive one. It captures the excess of his life, the complicated relationship with his manager, and the power his performance had on the public. But a biopic film can’t capture every perspective of its subject, simply due to the amount of time in covering a life. One that was touched on briefly in the film was his relationship with his wife Priscilla, which eventually fell apart due to his frequent drug usage according to the 2022 film. However, if you were to ask Priscilla Presley herself why the relationship fell apart, it seems like she’d say drugs were only a small part of it.Callie Spaeny in Priscilla, courtesy of Elevation Pictures.Sofia Coppola’s (the director behind Marie Antoinette and Lost in Translation) latest film Priscilla is an adaptation o...

TVA Group lays off more than 500 employees as audiences and ad revenues shrink

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:24 GMT

MONTREAL — The TVA Group says it is laying off 547 employees — nearly a third of its workforce — amid restructuring as the company contends with declining audiences and ad revenues.The Montreal-based broadcaster says the shift involves overhauling its news division, ending its in-house entertainment content production and optimizing its real estate assets — including a reconsideration of the future use of its headquarters east of downtown.Pierre Karl Péladeau, CEO of Quebecor Inc., which owns TVA, says the subsidiary’s deficit is no longer sustainable.He says the company aims to refocus its activities, reduce operating costs and continue to offer original Quebec content.The 63-year-old company attributes its financial strain to the proliferation of streaming services and the shift of advertising spending to web giants rather than legacy media.TVA also took a shot at social media platforms for benefiting from links to news stories without paying for content and at CBC/Radio-Can...

City Council delays vote on Chicago’s status as a Sanctuary City

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:24 GMT

CHICAGO — A special Chicago City Council meeting led to some chaos as the council members met to vote on a possible referendum on the city's status as a Sanctuary City.For the referendum vote to happen, there needs to be at least 26 alderpeople present. The fractured body, throughout the contentious day, made multiple attempts to vote but came up short. Mayor Johnson in Washington D.C. over migrant crisis The meeting comes as Mayor Brandon Johnson is in Washington D.C. in an urgent attempt to get funding to deal with the crisis.The meeting ended with shouts and accusations. Venezuelan migrants accused of stealing nearly $3K in merchandise from Oak Brook Macy’s The lights were turned off in the midst of a chaotic debate as alderpeople argued about what constitutes a quorum."It's becoming very frustrating to get business done in the appropriate manner," 32nd Ward Ald. Scott Waguespack said. Dozens of alderpeople argued for citizens to vote on Chicago's decades-old Sanctuary ...

Cash rewards offered in 2 separate armed robberies of mail carriers on West Side

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:24 GMT

CHICAGO — The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is offering a reward of up to $150,000 for information leading to an arrest in a pair of armed robberies on the city's West Side. Getaway vehicle tied to the armed robbery of a mail carrier on Sept. 15, 2022. (Photo: U.S. Postal Inspection Service)Postal inspectors said the incidents occurred last year on Sept. 15 and Nov. 26 in the 5300 block of W. Washington Ave. and the 1300 block of W. Van Buren, respectively. 2 arrested following armed robbery of mail carrier in Harvey In both incidents, a USPS mail carrier is approached by the armed suspect(s) and makes off in a getaway vehicle. USPS provides shipping deadlines ahead of busy holiday season Surveillance photos show a 2018 Gray Jeep Compass linked to the armed robbery of a mail carrier on Nov. 26, 2022. (Photo: U.S. Postal Inspection Service) Concerning the Sept. 15 armed robbery, authorities said the suspect(s) drove away in a silver car, believed to be an early 2000s Audi seda...

CPD: 5-year-old, mother missing from Dunning neighborhood

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:24 GMT

CHICAGO — The Chicago Police Department is seeking the public's help after a 5-year-old girl and her mother went missing in the Dunning neighborhood Sunday.Carly Melone, 5, and her mother, Katherine Labellarte, both reported missing from the Dunning neighborhood on Oct. 29. (Courtesy: CPD)Carly Melone, 5, was last seen at her residence in the 6200 block of West Grace Street on Oct. 29.Police believe Melone may be with her mother, Katherine Labellarte, who was also reported missing.Anyone with information that can help CPD find Carly and her mother is encouraged to call Area Five detectives at 312-746-6554.