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Israel denies involvement in Gaza hospital blast, says explosion caused by Palestinian rocket

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:58:19 GMT

By NAJIB JOBAIN, SAMYA KULLAB, RAVI NESSMAN and MATTHEW LEE (Associated Press)KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli military says it had no involvement in an explosion that killed hundreds of people at a Gaza City hospital and that the blast was caused by a misfired Palestinian rocket.The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza says an Israeli airstrike caused the blast, and that it killed some 500 people, many of whom had sought shelter from an ongoing Israeli offensive.The Israeli military, however, said Palestinian militants had fired a barrage of rockets near the hospital at the time.Photos and video purportedly from al-Ahli Hospital on social media showed fire engulfing the building and the hospital’s grounds strewn with torn bodies, many of them young children. Around them in the grass were blankets, school backpacks and other belongings. The images could not immediately be independently verified.The strike came as the U.S. was trying to convince Israel to allow the deliv...

Mayor denies discussing absentee ballots with campaign volunteer at center of ballot stuffing claims

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:58:19 GMT

The mayor of Connecticut’s largest city denied under oath Tuesday ever discussing absentee ballots with a campaign volunteer who resembles a woman seen on surveillance video stuffing papers into a drop box multiple times ahead of the mayoral primary.In a court hearing, Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim tried to distance himself from Wanda Geter-Pataky, a local Democratic official and supporter who has been accused by Ganim’s opponent of absentee ballot fraud in connection with Ganim’s narrow victory in September’s primary. Geter-Pataky last week refused to say whether she was the woman seen on surveillance footage making multiple trips to an election drop box and stuffing papers inside that looked like ballots.Ganim also testified he did not talk to Geter-Pataky about handling absentee ballots differently after state elections officials investigating allegations of absentee ballot fraud in Ganim’s 2019 primary referred her and two others with ties to his campa...

Trump returns to his civil fraud trial, hears an employee and an appraiser testify against him

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:58:19 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump returned Tuesday to the civil fraud trial that imperils his real estate empire, watching and deploring the case as an employee and an outside appraiser testified that his company essentially put a thumb on the scale when sizing up his properties’ value. Incensed by a case that disputes his net worth and could strip him of such signature holdings as Trump Tower, the former president is due to testify later in the trial. But he chose to attend the first three days and came back Tuesday to observe — and to protest his treatment to the news cameras waiting outside the Manhattan courtroom. Star witness Michael Cohen, a onetime Trump fixer now turned foe, postponed his scheduled testimony because of a health problem.Instead, Trump company accountant Donna Kidder testified that she was told to make some assumptions favorable to the firm on internal financial spreadsheets. Outside appraiser Doug Larson said he didn’t suggest or condone a former Trump...

No charges for deputy who fatally shot 21-year-old during traffic stop

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:58:19 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot a 21-year-old man during a traffic stop won’t be criminally charged, a prosecutor announced on Tuesday.Jarveon Hudspeth was shot and killed June 24 by a Shelby County Sheriff’s Office deputy after the deputy approached his car and tried to stop it from leaving the scene, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.Videos of the traffic stop show a deputy holding onto the car’s steering wheel and being carried away as the vehicle speeds off, but does not show the moment when the deputy shot the driver.The deputy was hospitalized in critical condition but has since been released.“It is still not clear to us what the reason was for the traffic stop,” Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told news outlets. “What is clear is that Mr. Hudspeth, when he’s outside the vehicle talking with the deputy, had been instructed by the deputy not to reenter his vehicle. He nonetheless did so and started to...

Cleanup cost for nuclear contamination sites has risen nearly $1 billion since 2016, report says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:58:19 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The estimated future cost to clean up 19 sites contaminated by nuclear waste from the Cold War era has risen by nearly $1 billion in the past seven years, according to a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.The GAO report urges the Army Corps of Engineers to improve management practices for cleaning up contaminated sites under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program, or FUSRAP. The recommendations include improved planning so resources can be better shared among sites and developing more comprehensive cost estimates.Officials say inflation is partly to blame for the cost increase, along with uncertainties about the cleanup. The report found that four sites with “complicated cleanup remedies or large amounts of contamination” are responsible for about three-fourths of the cost increase. Two of those sites are in New York state — one near Niagara Falls and one in Lockport. The others are in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, an...

Government to begin sharing results of federal spending review next month, Anand says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:58:19 GMT

OTTAWA — Treasury Board President Anita Anand says the federal government will begin sharing the results of its spending review next month, with final calculations coming out at the beginning of March.The Liberals promised in the spring budget to reduce overall government spending by $14.1 billion from 2023 to 2028, and by $4.1 billion annually after that.The Liberals pledged to reduce discretionary spending on government consulting, professional services and travel by 15 per cent or $7.1 billion over five years.The public service is also supposed to find $7 billion in savings over four years on operations and transfer payments.Anand said at a news conference that ministers were tasked to find excess spending in their departments and to re-examine things like outsourcing and executive travel.Anand said those savings will be used to to spend on government priorities, such as the clean economy, affordable housing and supports for the middle class. This report by The Canadian Press was...

OPP identifies man charged in double-fatal crash on QEW near Mississauga

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:58:19 GMT

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have identified a 32-year-old man charged in a double-fatal, multi-vehicle crash on the QEW last weekend.OPP said the fatal collision happened on the eastbound portion of the highway between Erin Mills Parkway and Mississauga Road just after midnight on Sunday.Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said four vehicles were involved, two of which caught fire.Sgt. Schmidt said the first vehicle hit had two occupants — a 34-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman, both from Hamilton. That car and the first one that was struck was “consumed by fire.”“The two occupants in that second vehicle were pronounced deceased at the scene,” Sgt. Schmidt said. “The driver of the vehicle that struck the second one was able to get out… they were subsequently arrested.”OPP identified the accused as 32-year-old Andy Persaud of Mississauga. He is charged with two counts of impaired driving causing death and two counts of dangerous driving causing death. ...

Trump appealing narrow gag order imposed on him in federal election interference case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:58:19 GMT

Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers told a court Tuesday that they are appealing a narrow gag order imposed on him in his federal 2020 election interference case. Trump’s lawyers said in court papers that they will challenge an order from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan that bars Trump from making statements targeting prosecutors, potential witnesses and court staff. Special counsel Jack Smith’s team sought the order against the Republican 2024 presidential front-runner over a litany of verbal attacks from him on likely witnesses and others. Prosecutors say the attacks were designed to undermine the public’s confidence in the judicial process and taint the jury pool. Trump vowed Monday to appeal the ruling, calling it unconstitutional. During a court hearing on Monday, Chutkan said Trump can criticize the Justice Department generally and assert his belief that the case in Washington is politically motivated. But Chutkan, who was appointed by President B...

Wisconsin Republicans reject eight Evers appointees, including majority of environmental board

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:58:19 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republicans who control the Wisconsin Senate voted Tuesday to fire eight state board appointees from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ administration, including a majority of the panel that sets the state’s environmental and wildlife policies.In a series of votes that fell mostly along party lines, the Senate rejected confirmation for four members of the Natural Resources Board, as well as a Democratic elections commissioner who tried earlier this year to prevent the Senate from voting to fire the state’s top elections official, a nonpartisan role. Republicans also rejected nomination of a medical board chair who has supported abortion rights, Evers’ former spokesperson who was reappointed to the Council on Domestic Abuse, and a member of an agricultural board whose appointment was opposed by dairy and business groups.For years, Evers and Senate Republicans have clashed over gubernatorial appointments. GOP lawmakers refused to act on many of the gove...

Tories want House to study CBC editorial choice, despite broadcaster’s independence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:58:19 GMT

OTTAWA — The official Opposition is attempting to have a House of Commons committee study an editorial decision of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., despite its independence from the government being enshrined in law. Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman introduced a motion today to summon the head of CBC and its director of journalistic standards to testify over the broadcaster’s policy not to call Hamas militants “terrorists.”The CBC is defending the policy, saying it uses the words “terrorist” or “terrorism” when they are attributed to someone, but is asking reporters to avoid using the words in their own voice because they are loaded with meaning, politics and emotion that can impede their journalism.Paul Knox, a professor emeritus at the Toronto Metropolitan University school of journalism, says he believes the Tories’ motion is unprecedented, and he thinks it is out of line because it infringes on freedom of the press.He sa...