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Steve Bannon ordered to pay nearly $500K in unpaid legal bills

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:38:50 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Steve Bannon must pay nearly $500,000 in outstanding legal fees to his former attorneys, a New York judge ruled.Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump and far-right strategist, was sued earlier this year for allegedly stiffing the Manhattan law firm that has defended him against a cascade of legal troubles in recent years.In her six-page order released this week, Judge Arlene Bluth found that Bannon paid just $375,000 of more than $850,000 in legal fees he owed to Davidoff, Hutcher & Citron LLP.He was ordered to pay the balance of $480,487, along with 1% interest and “reasonable legal fees.”In a statement, Bannon’s current attorney, Harlan Protass, said his client plans to appeal the “clearly wrong” decision.Jeffrey Citron, a managing partner at Davidoff, Hutcher & Citron, said it was unfortunate that Bannon forced the firm to take legal action despite receiving “excellent representation.”“The firm intends to pursue every opportunity to coll...

Reenactment of Parkland school massacre on campus will be allowed as part of lawsuit against deputy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:38:50 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The 2018 Parkland high school massacre will be reenacted twice with the firing of about 140 blanks on campus as part of families’ lawsuits against the former sheriff’s deputy they accuse of failing to stop the gunman, a judge ruled Wednesday. Circuit Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips granted the motion from attorney David Brill, who says his video recorded reenactment will prove former Broward Deputy Scot Peterson knew the shooter was firing inside a three-story classroom building at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018, but chose not to intercede. Phillips also granted the request by Peterson’s attorney, Michael Piper, who questioned the validity of such reenactments but said his side would also now need to conduct one. Peterson, the school’s on-campus deputy, was acquitted last month of criminal charges accusing him of inaction, but the civil case against him, the Broward Sheriff’s Office and others is governed by...

Unaccompanied migrant girl from Guatemala dies in US custody from underlying disease, officials say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:38:50 GMT

An unaccompanied 15-year-old migrant girl from Guatemala died on Monday from an underlying disease while in federal custody, according to officials.This marks the fourth death of a child in U.S. government custody this year. The girl had been hospitalized at El Paso Children’s Hospital for a significant, pre-existing illness when she was referred from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to the Office of Refugee Resettlement in May, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement Tuesday.The girl was provided medical treatment “according to the mother’s wishes and aligned with the recommendations of the hospital’s health care provider team,” the statement said.The girl’s condition deteriorated Friday, and she died Monday as a result of multi-organ failure due to an underlying disease, officials said. Officials said her mother and brother were with her when she died and in the days leading up to her death.Officials did not release the girl’s name ...

3.3 billion people live in countries that spend more on debt interest than education, UN says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:38:50 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Some 3.3 billion people – almost half of humanity – now live in countries that spend more money paying interest on their debts than on education or health, according to a new U.N. report released Wednesday.U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a press conference launching the report that because this “crushing debt crisis” is concentrated mostly in poor developing countries, it is “not judged to pose a systemic risk to the global financial system.”“This is a mirage,” the U.N. chief warned. “3.3 billion people is more than a systemic risk, it is a systemic failure.”Guterres said financial markets may seem not to be suffering yet — but billions of people are and the levels of public debt “are staggering and surging.”“In 2022, global public debt reached a record $92 trillion and developing countries shoulder a disproportionate amount,” he said. According to the report, the number of countries facing high debt levels has increased sharply from 22 nations in ...

Boat found off Senegal’s coast adds to mystery over migrant vessels reported missing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:38:50 GMT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A boat carrying migrants was found in distress off the coast of Senegal, and more than 90 passengers remained missing after 50 were rescued and seven were discovered dead, a fishermen’s association reported Wednesday. The boat was located in the Atlantic Ocean last Friday off the coast of the fishing city of Saint-Louis, which is on northern Senegal’s border with Mauritania, according to Abdou Ndiaga Beye, the vice secretary of the Local Artisanal Fishing Council. The dead people were all males, and police questioned the survivors rescued by Senegal’s coast guard, who said the boat originally had carried 148 people, Beye told The Associated Press.It was unclear if the vessel was one of three boats carrying a total of 300 people that Spanish aid group Walking Borders said went missing in late June after departing Senegal. However, some of the survivors were from the two towns where the three boats started their journeys. The fishing council off...

Prosecutors won’t seek death penalty against men charged in Whitey Bulger’s prison killing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:38:50 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors will not pursue the death penalty against two men charged with the prison killing of notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, according to court papers filed Wednesday. Prosecutors said in a court filing that in the event Fotios “Freddy” Geas, a former Mafia hitman, and Paul J. DeCologero, a Massachusetts gangster, are convicted of murder in Bulger’s killing, they will not seek a death sentence. Geas also faced a possible death sentence if found guilty of an additional charge of murder by a federal prisoner serving a life sentence. But prosecutors said they would not seek it in the event he is convicted of that charge either. Geas and DeCologero were charged last August in the 2018 slaying of Bulger, who who ran the largely Irish mob in Boston in the 1970s and ’80s and served as an FBI informant who ratted on his gang’s main rival. Bulger was killed just hours after he was transferred to a prison in West Virginia from another lockup in...

Calgary company inks deal with Adidas to produce CO2-embedded running shoes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:38:50 GMT

CALGARY — A Calgary-based technology company has signed a deal with Adidas that will see the sneaker giant manufacture some of its shoes using ink embedded with captured carbon emissions.The partnership is a major win for Oco, the consumer-facing offshoot of Carbon Upcycling Technologies, a company that specializes in carbon capture and utilization solutions for heavy industry sectors.Currently focused on the cement industry, Carbon Upcycling uses patented technology installed at Enmax’s Shepard Energy Centre east of Calgary to capture carbon dioxide emissions produced by Alberta’s largest natural gas-fired power generating facility and sequester them in industrial byproducts for use in concrete production.But the company also aims to engage the public with products that help people see the potential of carbon capture technology.Oco takes the solid powder created from its parent company’s carbon sequestration process and markets it to brands looking to improve thei...

Woman kidnaps 4 girls at knifepoint from Manteno park: police

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:38:50 GMT

MANTENO, Ill. — A woman is charged with allegedly abducting four girls at knifepoint from a park in Manteno and holding them captive for nearly three hours.Police said Anita Diaz, 47, faces charges of Aggravated Unlawful Restraint.Officers were called to the park around 5 p.m. Monday for reports of a possible abduction and release of four juvenile girls. The victims told police that around 2 p.m., Diaz approached them at the park and displayed a knife, threatened them and forced them to get in her car.Diaz then allegedly took the girls to multiple locations in the Bourbonnais and Manteno area, including to her home. 3 dead, 14 injured in Illinois crash involving Greyhound bus and commercial vehicles Diaz released the victims shortly before 5 p.m. at a park in Manteno. The girls were unharmed and returned to their parents, according to police.Police said Diaz was located by officers and arrested.

Chicago Weather Live: Storms blanket Chicago area - an interactive livestream

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:38:50 GMT

CHICAGO — WGN meteorologist Tim Joyce took your questions as severe storms move through the Chicago area. Flood Watch in effect as heavy rain, storms move through area Viewers joined Tim and WGN News Now host Chip Brewster at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday for an interactive, weather-centric livestream. They took as many viewer questions and comments as they could.Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog See the full replay of the livestream in the video above. Watch for a future Chicago Weather Live livestream to join the conversation!

Chicagoland residents asked to limit water usage

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:38:50 GMT

CHICAGO - The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago is asking people to reduce their water usage at home and work. July has been a nightmarish month for many impacted by severe weather across Chicagoland. With more rain on the horizon, there are growing concerns amongst city residents and officials. On Wednesday, a WGN News camera captured Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson exiting the MWRD building, though he did not take any questions. Johnson’s neighborhood on the city’s West Side was among the worst hit by flooding on July 2. With Cicero being another area hard hit by rain, some locals fear the worst.   Pritzker issues disaster proclamation for Illinois counties impacted by storms While rainfall on Wednesday is not expected to be as bad – with possibly one to two inches forecast for much of the Chicago area over midday hours – some area residents already report seeing standing water. Kevin Fitzpatrick, assistant director of engineering for MWRD, ...