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Trump likely won’t attend trial over rape claim, lawyer says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:52 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump is unlikely to attend a civil trial next week over columnist E. Jean Carroll’s claim that he raped her in a department store dressing room, the former president’s lawyer signaled Wednesday.While not completely ruling out Trump’s presence at the trial, attorney Joe Tacopina asked the presiding judge to tell jurors that the Republican’s absence from the courtroom was intended to avoid logistical burdens that New York City and the court system would face if Trump were present.Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday. Tacopina said jurors should be told that Trump’s “presence is excused unless and until he is called by either party to testify.”Judge Lewis A. Kaplan had instructed attorneys for both Trump and Carroll to say by Thursday whether their clients would be present for the trial.Carroll, who said in a 2019 memoir that Trump raped her in the 1990s during a chance encounter at Manhattan’s luxury Bergdorf Goodman ...

Senator says several cabinet ministers knew she was issuing travel docs to Afghans

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:52 GMT

OTTAWA — A Manitoba senator who denies falsifying travel documents says several cabinet ministers were aware of her choice to send letters to Afghans to help them flee as the Taliban took over the country, and that no one told her to stop.The Globe and Mail reports that 150 Afghans who received letters from Sen. Marilou McPhedran are now stranded in an Albanian hotel room, unable to come to Canada as refugees because the government deems their documents inauthentic.McPhedran told the House of Commons immigration committee today that then-defence minister Harjit Sajjan and Maryam Monsef, women and gender equity minister at the time, knew she was planning to send documents to Afghan refugees to help them get out of the country in 2021.She said she believes former foreign affairs minister Marc Garneau and Marco Mendicino, who was then immigration minister, also knew.“It’s very clear that there are communications about getting out as many of these facilitation letters as pos...

Vital Metals pauses construction of Saskatoon critical minerals facility

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:52 GMT

REGINA — Canada’s only rare earths mining company is pausing all construction at its Saskatoon processing facility. Vital Metals says the pause will allow the company to conserve cash and seek other sources of funding to potentially build a sustainable business model for the facility. The company planned to complete a calcine circuit that would produce a rare earths oxide product for potential sale to a third party. It says it has been unable to secure such sales on commercially satisfactory terms.The company, which mines a deposit in the Northwest Territories, says it intends to retain Saskatoon employees as it conducts a strategic review of the project. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau toured the facility in January to promote critical minerals as being key for clean energy technologies. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2023.The Canadian Press

Chicago Mayor-elect Johnson pledges ‘smart’ fight on crime

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:52 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Chicago’s mayor-elect on Wednesday attempted to dispel the often-contentious relationship between the nation’s third-largest city and the rest of the state, telling a joint session of the General Assembly, “There’s more than enough for everybody in the state of Illinois.”Brandon Johnson, whose victory in the mayor’s race this month provided a welcome boost for progressives, played to his fellow Democrats, who hold supermajorities in both the House and Senate. He extolled the “Blue Wall” they’ve built and pledged to “be a partner in this incredible, progressive body that has delivered for people across the state.”Pounded later by reporters’ questions about reducing crime in Chicago, he promised to be “smart” as well as “tough,” putting resources into youth employment and other preventive measures as well as enforcement. But his primary message was one of collaboration. “They told us that if something is good for Chicago, th...

Violins of Hope: How 2 violin makers keep history alive through restoring instruments

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:52 GMT

CHICAGO — For two decades, a father and son duo have quietly collected and repaired over 70 violins used by victims and survivors of the Holocaust."I opened the violin," Amnon Weinstein said, recalling one of the violins he has helped restore. "I remember black powder all on the inside from the crematorium and horrible places."Amnon and Avshalom Weinstein work on the violins in their workshops based in Tel Aviv and Istanbul, and this week, decades of painstaking work made its way to Chicago. Velvet-lined cases containing string instruments that once nestled under the chins of people who used them to help tell their own stories through music, arrived in unassuming cardboard boxes, ripe to be played and for those stories to be told once more."It was a teary moment," said Ilene Uhlmann, Director of Community Engagement at JCC Chicago. "Each one has an amazingly inspirational story, and they tell stories of hope, resilience and resistance." Mundelein PD and Working Bikes, bringing smi...

How soon will Netflix crack down on password sharing in the US?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:52 GMT

(NEXSTAR) - Netflix has been warning for months that it would begin cracking down on password sharing in the U.S. after rolling out changes in multiple countries, including Canada. Company executives gave yet another hint on how soon Netflix will tackle password sharing in the U.S., albeit later than anticipated. Netflix has been exploring ways to crack down on password sharing, including a log-in verification process in 2021, and the use of sub-accounts for people living outside the account owner’s home in 2022, which was tested in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru. In early February, Netflix expanded its paid account sharing into Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain.Some version of paid password sharing was expected to come to the U.S. by the end of quarter one – a date that has since passed. Netflix to bring down the curtain on its DVD-by-mail service During a first-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, Netflix co-CEO and director Gregory Peters said that rec...

Illinois high school wrestler sucker-punched by opponent after loss in viral video

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:52 GMT

SANDWICH, Ill. — An Illinois high school wrestler is speaking out after a widely-shared video shows him getting punched by his opponent after a match.Jillian Hill’s 14-year-old son Cooper is a two-time state wrestling champion, competing in the 125-128-pound division. On April 8, Cooper competed in the Beat the Streets tournament at Oak Park High School with his team out of Spar Academy in Aurora. "He had won the match by tech-fall and when they came to the circle, Cooper extended his hand to shake his hand," Hill told WGN News. "That’s when the assault happened." Downtown beating witness: ‘They were going to kill that young man’ The video shows Cooper, in an orange singlet, shaking his competitor's hand just seconds before the Maine West High School student punches him in the face. Cooper immediately fell to the ground."I remember there was this stinging in my face. I balled up and I checked for blood. I looked up to see my stepdad and mom checking me," Cooper told WGN ...

Early start to downtown violence worries Chicagoans, as summer looms

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:52 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago residents worried about the downtown violence over the weekend expressed their concerns to police on Wednesday.Members of the 18th Police District met with community members to help build relationships among the people they serve. The meeting was inr response to Saturday, when a large crowd of young people swarmed the streets in the Loop, attacking visitors, committing robberies and causing overall chaos. Downtown beating witness: ‘They were going to kill that young man’ The unruly group gathered near the intersection of East Washington Street and Michigan Avenue. In addition to damaged vehicles, traffic and CTA were also disrupted in the area. In all, 15 people, including nine adults and six juveniles, were arrested following the incident and two teens were shot. The 18th District is just a block away from where the incidents occurred and residents who live in the area spoke to police about what is being done to keep them safe. "I'm here because I...

Mother of death row inmate Ivan Cantu seeks new trial after key witness recants testimony

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:52 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The mother of Texas death row inmate Ivan Abner Cantu went to the Texas Capitol on Wednesday, along with a private investigator and a volunteer legal team, to advocate for a stay of execution and a review of new evidence in the case.Ivan, 49, was convicted by a Collin County jury in 2001 for the murders of James Mosqueda (Ivan's cousin) and Amy Kitchen (Mosqueda's fiancé) in November 2000. He is scheduled for execution on April 26.However, in a petition to Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, Ivan's legal team claims that they have found evidence that could exonerate Ivan. How does the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles decide who gets pardoned? The new evidence includes the discovery of jewelry missing from the victims, telephone records and forensic pathology. The petition also states that one of the witnesses, Jeff Boettcher, has since disavowed his testimony, stating that "he was not a credible witness due to his history of drug abuse."M...

AFD, ATCEMS break ground on joint station in southeast Austin

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:52 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The City of Austin, the Austin Fire Department and Austin-Travis County EMS broke ground Wednesday for the reconstruction of the joint Fire/EMS station in southeast Austin, according to a city news release.The station, located at 5309 E. Riverside Drive, is slated for completion in early 2024, according to the city.In 2018, Austin City Council set the goal for Austin Fire emergency response times at eight minutes of call receipt, 90% of the time, the release said. This is a goal consistent with national standards set by the Commission of Fire Protection Accreditation International, as well as the National Fire Protection Association.The Fire #22/EMS #12 station is one of several priority stations slated for renovation/reconstruction, the release said.“It's no secret that Austin is expanding in every direction, whether it's in our district or any other area of the city. Given the continued expansion, I will continue working with my council colleagues to make public s...