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Ray Epps, ex-Marine targeted by a Jan. 6 conspiracy theory, is charged with a misdemeanor in riot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:52 GMT

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and LINDSAY WHITEHURST (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Ray Epps, a former Marine who became the target of a Jan. 6, 2021, conspiracy theory, has been charged with a misdemeanor offense in connection with the U.S. Capitol riot and is expected to plead guilty, according to court papers filed Tuesday. Epps, who claimed in a lawsuit filed this year that Fox News Channel made him a scapegoat for the Capitol riot, is charged with disorderly or disruptive conduct on restricted grounds, court records show. Epps’ attorney, Edward J. Ungvarsky, said in an email that the case was filed with an anticipation that Epps would plead guilty to the charge. The judge has scheduled a plea agreement hearing for Wednesday. Epps, a one-time supporter of President Donald Trump who has said he went to Washington to protest the 2020 election Trump lost to Joe Biden, was falsely accused by Fox of being a government agent who was whipping up trouble th...

After unintended 12-year pause, South Carolina says it has secured drug to resume lethal injections

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:52 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina has obtained a drug needed to carry out lethal injections and is ready to perform the state’s first execution in over 12 years, officials announced Tuesday.The pause on executions wasn’t official. The state’s supply of the three drugs it used to kill inmates expired and drug companies refused to sell them any more because they could be publicly identified.The South Carolina General Assembly passed a shield law in May allowing the state to keep secret the procedure for executions and the suppliers of drugs or other items used.On Tuesday, four months later, state Corrections Director Bryan Stirling announced he bought a supply of pentobarbital and the state would begin using the sedative as the only drug in its executions.Jeffrey Collins, The Associated Press

A Moscow court declines to hear an appeal by jailed US journalist Evan Gershkovich

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:52 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich appeared Tuesday in Moscow City Court, seeking release from jail on espionage charges, but it declined to hear his appeal and returned the case to a lower court to deal with unspecified procedural violations.The decision means Gershkovich, 31, will remain jailed at least until Nov. 30, unless his appeal is heard in the meantime and he is released — an unlikely outcome.Before the session was closed, Gershkovich appeared in the glass defendants’ cage, smiling at fellow journalists and wearing a yellow sweater and blue jeans. He was detained in March while on a reporting trip to the city of Yekaterinburg, about 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) east of Moscow.There was initial confusion about the outcome when the state news agency Tass reported the court had rejected Gershkovich’s appeal, but it later changed its report to say the case was sent to the lower court.The court proceedings are closed because prosecutors say deta...

Canadian markets fall after report that inflation rose, U.S. markets also move lower

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:52 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index fell 1.3 per cent Tuesday in a broad-based decline after the latest inflation print came in higher than expected, while U.S. stock markets also moved lower.The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 273.94 points at 20,218.89.A hotter-than-expected inflation reading “really spooked” Canadian equity markets Tuesday, said Kevin Burkett, portfolio manager at Victoria-based Burkett Asset Management. Year-over-year inflation was four per cent in August, higher than the 3.8 per cent increase Bay Street economists were expecting on average. It marked the second consecutive month that inflation rose.Investors are now digesting the idea that another interest rate hike from the Bank of Canada could be in the cards, he said.Meanwhile, U.S. markets were tepid the day before the U.S. Federal Reserve announces its latest interest rate decision. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 106.57 points at 34,517.73. The S&P 500 ...

California law restricting companies’ use of information from kids online is halted by federal judge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:52 GMT

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge has halted implementation of a California law intended to restrict companies’ use of information gathered from young internet users in order to protect the privacy of minors. U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman on Monday granted a preliminary injunction, saying the legislation interferes with firms’ use of the internet in ways the state has failed to justify.The law would require businesses to report to the state on any product or service they offer on the internet that is likely to be accessed by those under 18, and provide plans to reduce any harms minors might suffer. It would also prohibit businesses from collecting most types of personal information about young internet users, including their physical locations.“The State has no right to enforce obligations that would essentially press private companies into service as government censors,” Freeman wrote. The judge wrote that while she is “keenly aware of the myriad harms t...

Sikh community ‘reeling’ on news of India interference in death: B.C.’s AG says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:52 GMT

British Columbia’s attorney general says the community is reeling over news that the Canadian government is investigating a link between the shooting death of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the government of India, although insiders say it’s not a surprise. Niki Sharma says the link is shocking and every B.C. resident has the freedom to express their political views without the threat of violence and harm. She says the province will do everything necessary to make sure that if there are other B.C. residents under threat that they are protected. Mukhbir Singh of the World Sikh Organization says Sikhs have been speaking out against India’s targeting of its community members for years, including allegations of espionage, spreading disinformation and now murder.Singh told an Ottawa news conference that he wants Sikhs at risk to receive more protection, while noting that some members have been told by officials that they need to move away to keep themselves safe. ...

Russia has turned food, energy and even children into weapons against Ukraine, Zelenskyy says at UN

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:52 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Russia is “weaponizing” everything from food and energy to abducted children in its war against Ukraine — and he warned world leaders that the same could happen to them.“When hatred is weaponized against one nation, it never stops there,” he said at the U.N. General Assembly’s annual top-level meeting. “The goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources into weapons against you — against the international rules-based order.”The war in Ukraine has deepened major global supply disruptions caused by the pandemic, driving a huge spike in food and energy prices, jolting the global economy and increasing hardship in many developing countries.Decades-old energy supply channels to Europe from Russia, a major oil and gas producer, were halted or severely disrupted by the war due to sanctions, trade disputes, pipeline shutoffs and a major push by Western cou...

2 DuPage County residents die from West Nile virus

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:52 GMT

DUPAGE COUNTY, Ill. — DuPage County's health department on Tuesday confirmed its first two human West Nile virus-related deaths. County health officials said an Addison resident in their 70s and a West Chicago resident in their 60s both became ill in late August and later died, marking the first casualties linked to the illness this year. Year-to-date, DuPage County health officials state six human cases have been reported."We are saddened to report the first two deaths from West Nile virus in DuPage County for 2023," said Adam Forker, Executive Director, DuPage County Health Department. "Please make sure to protect yourself and loved ones from mosquito bites and reduce your exposure."Symptoms of West Nile virus include fever, headache, body aches, joint pains, vomiting, diarrhea, or rash. Officials add that less than 1% of patients will develop a serious neurologic illness such as encephalitis or meningitis.People over the age of 60 and those who have serious health ailments - canc...

Police offer warning to Lake View businesses after rash of early-morning break-ins

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:52 GMT

CHICAGO — Police are offering a warning after a rash of burglaries at businesses in the city's Lake View neighborhood last week. According to police, the burglaries happened within half a mile of each other in the early morning hours between Wednesday, Sept. 13, and Friday, Sept. 15.  Suspect in custody after shooting sends Bolingbrook police on manhunt Police say in each instance, a man, who is believed to be between 20 and 30 years of age, broke through the windows and doors of four different Lake View businesses and stole items from inside.Officers say at the time of the burglaries, the man was seen carrying a black backpack while wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt, black pants and a surgical face mask.Chicago police provided the following timeline of the burglaries that took place in the early morning hours between 9/13/23 and 9/15/23:3400 block of North Clark Street at 4 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 13.3400 block of North Clark Street at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 13.1000 block ...

Video shows Alabama police use stun gun on band director who wouldn't stop performance

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:52 GMT

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Attorney Juandalynn Givan released a video on Monday from a bystander showing the moments that led to Birmingham Police using a stun gun to detain Minor High School Band Director Johnny Mims.Birmingham Police say it happened after the Minor and Jackson Olin High School football game last Thursday. On Monday night, BPD released the body camera footage showing the officer who used the stun gun on Mims.BPD said officers were trying to clear out the stadium when they asked both Minor and Jackson Olin's band directors to stop their performances. Police say Jackson Olin's band stopped while Minor's did not, and Johnny Mims didn't comply.Mims was treated at UAB Hospital and arrested. He was charged with disorderly conduct, harassment and resisting arrest. Musk: X, formerly Twitter, ‘moving toward’ monthly fee Following his arrest, Jefferson County Schools released a statement saying they are in the process of gathering all the facts and have no further comment. ...