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Biden makes his economic case in deep-red South Carolina, says his policies add jobs in GOP states

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:40 GMT

WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Making his case for 2024, President Joe Biden declared in deep-red South Carolina on Thursday that Republican-led states are gaining factory jobs because of economic measures he pushed through Congress despite stiff GOP opposition.In a nod toward next year’s elections, Biden argued that government investments in computer chips, batteries and electric vehicles will help the U.S. out-compete China and that his agenda has delivered in ways that former President Donald Trump could not. “I didn’t get much help from the other team, but that didn’t stop us from getting it done,” the president said, speaking in a state that he lost by nearly 12 percentage points in 2020. “Every Republican member of Congress voted against the Inflation Reduction Act.”White House officials maintain that if Republicans had their way, South Carolina, like many other Republican-controlled states, would have lost out on billions of dollars in investments and thousands ...

Andrew Tate loses appeal against house arrest in Romania as human trafficking case continues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:40 GMT

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Andrew Tate, the divisive social media personality and former professional kickboxer who is charged in Romania with rape, human trafficking, and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, lost an appeal on Thursday against a court’s earlier decision to keep him under house arrest, his spokesperson said.The Bucharest Court of Appeal ruled against Tate’s appeal, which challenged a court’s June 23 decision to extend the house arrest measure for 30 more days as the criminal case continues. That decision was made days after Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, formally indicted the 36-year-old social media star along with his brother Tristan, and two Romanian women in the same case. All four were initially arrested near Romania’s capital in late December, and have denied the allegations against them.Before the appeal court’s final ruling on Thursday, two judges had disagreed on whether or not to uphold the house arrest measure, so a third...

Recent events that indicate Earth’s climate has entered uncharted territory

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:40 GMT

As a warming Earth simmered into worrisome new territory this week, scientists said the unofficial records being set for average planetary temperature were a clear sign of how pollutants released by humans are warming their environment. But the heat is also just one way the planet is telling us something is gravely wrong, they said.“Heat sets the pace of our climate in so many ways … it’s never just the heat,” said Kim Cobb, a climate scientist at Brown University. Dying coral reefs, more intense Nor’easters and the wildfire smoke that has choked much of North America this summer are among the many other signals of climate distress.“The increasing heating of our planet caused by fossil fuel use is not unexpected, but it is dangerous for us humans and for the ecosystems we depend on. We need to stop it, fast,” said Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.Some other recent “firsts” and events that indicate climate change has entered uncharted territ...

Photographers sue over injuries suffered during 2020 Wisconsin police protests

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:40 GMT

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — Two freelance photographers have filed a lawsuit alleging that police unlawfully shot them with rubber bullets during a protest over police racism in Wisconsin three years ago.Alyssa Schukar and Scott Olson filed the lawsuit in federal court in Milwaukee on July 4. According to the lawsuit, Schukar and Olson were assigned to cover protests in Kenosha in August 2020 for the New York Times and Getty Images, respectively.The protests erupted after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, who is Black, seven times during a domestic disturbance. The shooting left Blake paralyzed.The demonstrations went on for days. Kyle Rittenhouse, a teen who lived in nearby Illinois at the time, shot three men during a protest on Aug. 23, killing two of them. A jury acquitted Rittenhouse of homicide and reckless endangerment charges in November 2021 after he said he acted in self-defense. Rittenhouse was 17 years old on the night of the shootings.Schukar and Olson were covering a p...

Cameraman injured at Yankee Stadium by wild throw has broken eye socket

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:40 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A cameraman hit in the head by an errant throw Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium has a broken eye socket and is home resting, the YES Network said in a statement Thursday.Positioned right next to the New York Yankees’ dugout on the first-base side, Pete Stendel of YES Network was struck by a hurried throw from Baltimore Orioles rookie shortstop Gunnar Henderson, who fired high to first as he tried to complete a double play in the fifth inning.Stendel was taken to the hospital, and YES said late Wednesday he was conscious and undergoing tests. The network provided an update Thursday saying he has an orbital fracture and had been released.“Every time that a ball goes over the first baseman or even a foul ball from the hitter, you don’t want to see it going towards a fan. It just happened to be in the wrong spot, and I hope he’s doing all right,” Henderson said following his team’s 6-3 victory. “My prayers go out to him. I’m just thankful for the guys that rushed ...

Missing 2-year-old girl is found dead in an overgrown alley in Detroit, ending a massive search

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:40 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A missing 2-year-old Michigan girl who disappeared during an attack on her mother was found dead nearly 100 miles away in Detroit, three days after she vanished.Wynter Cole Smith’s body was discovered Wednesday evening by FBI agents in an overgrown alley in a neighborhood on the east side of Detroit, ending a massive search along a major interstate between the city and the state capital. “I am deeply saddened to report that the search for Wynter Cole Smith has come to an end,” said Lansing police Chief Ellery Sosebee. “This investigation has moved from a missing child case to a homicide investigation.” Sosebee declined to offer more details as he promised that the girl’s family will get justice. “This is not the outcome anyone had hoped for,” Sosebee said.Wynter lived with her mother in Lansing, 90 miles (145 kilometers) west of Detroit. Rashad Trice, 26, was suspected of taking Wynter late Sunday. Police said Trice stabbed the 22-year-o...

Two Canadian women and three children on way home from detention camps in Syria

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:40 GMT

OTTAWA — Two women and three children who were temporarily missing in Syria after failing to board a repatriation flight to Canada in April are finally on their way home.The women and children were among a group of 19 people Canada agreed to bring home from Kurdish-operated prison camps in northeastern Syria in January.They have been held for years at displaced persons camps in a region now controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.The other 14 people arrived in April but these women and children failed to show up for the flight and neither their lawyers nor the Canadian government knew what happened for several days.One of their lawyers later said the women and children had been detained by Kurdish guards and not allowed to travel to board the plane at that time.Ottawa lawyer Lawrence Greenspon, who reached the agreement earlier this year to bring home the 19 women and children from Syria, said their return now is very good news. “I have spoken to their families ...

Mayor Johnson's transition committee releases 200-plus page report on how to improve Chicago

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:40 GMT

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson received recommendations from his transition committee Thursday on ways to improve Chicago across several sectors.The transition report is more than 200 pages long, outlining plans to address some of the city’s most pressing issues from education to immigration, to housing and public safety. "This blueprint represents a platform that I ran on. But it's also a representation of how we will govern. It represents democracy, where everyone literally has a seat at the table no matter your community, no matter how rich or how poor you are," Johnson said while addressing his transition team.Johnson spoke in front of hundreds of members of the transition team Thursday morning at a church in Washington Park. They called the report a living document that centers the needs of investing, especially in young people, on public safety. Full transition report below:TransitionReport.07.2023DownloadGoals include improving systems and staffing to reinforce confidence us...

Bond set for Naperville man after fatal hit-and-run in West Chicago

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:40 GMT

WEST CHICAGO, Ill. -- A Naperville man has been charged after a fatal hit-and-run crash that left a 40-year-old man dead Tuesday. John Gary, 26, is charged with a felony count of failure to report an accident involving death with a bond set at $500,000. According to court documents, West Chicago police officers responded to a hit and run crash near Joliet Street and Wilson Street around 10:49 p.m. Tuesday. Upon arrival, a 40-year-old victim, Renato Vargas-Guitierrez, was found unconscious and was pronounced dead shortly after. Deadly hit-and-run investigation prompts SWAT response in West Chicago It is alleged that Vargas-Guitierrez was riding his bicycle southbound on Joliet Street when he was struck by Gray's vehicle who was also travelling southbound. Police said Gray fled the scene after the crash.Gray was located near the area of Stevens Court and Continental Drive around four minutes later.His bond is set at $500,000. Gray's next court appearance is scheduled for August 3....

Man who disappeared as teen in 2015 was at home all along, police say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:40 GMT

HOUSTON (KIAH) — A man who was reported missing as a teen eight years ago was found alive but injured earlier this week, and police now say he had been at home all along. Rudy Farias IV was 17 years old when he vanished on March 6, 2015, while walking his two dogs near Tidwell Road in north Houston. The dogs were later found, but Rudy was not located.That is until Sunday, when Farias' family and the Texas Center of the Missing said that Rudy, now 25, had been found. He was taken to the hospital for "several injuries," his family said, adding that he was in "bad shape."Authorities previously said Farias had been diagnosed with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. According to his family, Farias was found unresponsive outside of a church. But he may not have been missing this entire time. A Texas man who went missing as a teen in 2015 has been found alive, his family and police say During a press conference Thursday, Houston Police said evidence collected this we...