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OAS says legal actions in Guatemala appear aimed at keeping president-elect from taking power

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:57:32 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — The head of the Organization of American States’ election observation mission said Friday that the actions taken by Guatemala’s justice system against the Seed Movement party of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo appear to be aimed at preventing him from taking power.Eladio Loizaga told a special meeting of the permanent council that the Aug. 20 election was peaceful, transparent and left no doubt as to the will of the people. But in summarizing the various legal actions taken by the Attorney General’s office against the Seed Movement, Loizaga said there appears to be clear political intent.“Given the documented conditions, it is impossible that the Electoral Observation Mission would arrive at any other conclusion than that in this very specific case the mechanisms and tools of Guatemalan justice are being used politically” against the Seed Movement, he said, adding that the behavior of Guatemalan authorities has been “selective, disproportionate and clear...

HUD secretary learns about housing challenges during Alaska visit

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:57:32 GMT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A senior Biden administration official learned how housing and homeless issues are different in Alaska during a visit this week to the nation’s largest state.U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge finished a two-day stop with a discussion with Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, local leaders and Alaska Native officials in Anchorage, Alaska Public Media reported.She said at a news conference after the event that she appreciated everyone’s willingness to share about their challenges.“It’s always the squeaky wheel, so today I got the squeaky wheel in a very loud way,” Fudge said.Sullivan highlighted how Alaska is different from the rest of the country. Most of the state’s rural Alaska Native villages are off the state’s limited road system, and they have drastically higher costs of living.“Most of America, as you go further out from the big cities, a lot of times housing and the cost of living actually decrease,” he said. “In Alaska, i...

Two key fires in Okanagan, B.C., are under control, but winds pose challenge to north

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:57:32 GMT

KELOWNA, B.C. — Two of the three fires making up a devastating wildfire complex that destroyed almost 200 homes around Lake Okanagan in the B.C. Interior are now under control.But the BC Wildfire Service says the region’s most destructive fire, the McDougall Creek blaze in West Kelowna, continues to defy suppression efforts.The three fires make up the Grouse fire complex that forced thousands of people to evacuate and has been a key front in B.C.’s worst wildfire season on record since the McDougall Creek fire swept down on West Kelowna on Aug. 17, setting neighbourhoods ablaze.The Lake Country and Clifton-McKinley fires on the east side of Lake Okanagan then sprang into life, threatening the City of Kelowna and properties to the north.The Central Okanagan emergency operations centre says although those two fires are now under control, evacuation alerts remain in place, and residents need to be ready to leave at short notice.Firefighters are meanwhile warning residents i...

Delaware man who police blocked from warning of speed trap wins $50K judgment

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:57:32 GMT

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Delaware State Police have agreed to pay $50,000 to resolve a federal lawsuit filed by a man who said troopers violated his constitutional rights by preventing him from warning motorists about a speed trap.A judgment was entered Friday in favor of Jonathan Guessford, 54, who said in the lawsuit that police unlawfully prevented him from engaging in peaceful protest by standing on the roadside and holding up a small cardboard sign reading “Radar Ahead!”After Guessford raised a middle finger at troopers while driving away from an initial encounter, he was stopped and cited for “improper use of a hand signal.” The charge was later dropped.The episode on March 11, 2022, was captured on cell phone videos taken by Guessford and included in his complaint, as well as on dashboard cameras in the vehicles of Corporal Stephen Douglas, Trooper Nicholas Gallo and Master Corporal Raiford Box.Police dashcam audio captures the troopers laughing and giggling at the notion of citing...

New fences, gate controls among international border upgrades since ‘Freedom Convoy’

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:57:32 GMT

OTTAWA — The Canadian Border Services Agency is improving the perimeter fences, gate controls and road infrastructure at 11 border crossings between the United States and Canada following the “Freedom Convoy” protests blockaded several crossings last year.Protesters blocked ports of entry into Canada last year to oppose COVID-19 public health restrictions in solidarity with a massive demonstration that occupied the streets of downtown Ottawa for three weeks.Transport Canada estimated as much as $3.9 billion in trade activity was halted because of the blockades, which was one of the factors in the prime minister’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act.On Thursday, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the improvements at the border was one of the ways the government is responding to the recommendations of a federal inquiry into the use of the Act.The CBSA says other security measures installed at the border crossings include speed bumps, closed-circuit televi...

Spain legal panel opens case against suspended soccer chief over World Cup kiss

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:57:32 GMT

MADRID (AP) — A Spanish government legal panel is opening a case against suspended soccer chief Luis Rubiales for kissing a player on the lips without consent after Spain won the Women’s World Cup.Miquel Iceta, acting minister of culture and sport and the government’s sports council that is linked to the legal panel announced the move on Friday.Rubiales has come in for a storm of criticism and calls for his resignation for his behavior during and after the recent World Cup final in Sydney.FIFA has already suspended Rubiales for 90 days while it studies the case, so the Spanish decision will have little immediate effect. The FIFA suspension, which can be extended for 45 days more, bans Rubiales from his posts as president of the Spanish Football Federation and a vice president of UEFA.Spain is hoping to remove him independently of the FIFA processIceta said that while the government cannot directly suspend Rubiales, as was its intention, it will ask the legal panel to consider ...

France’s Macron says schools will be ‘intractable’ in enforcing ban on robes often worn by Muslims

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:57:32 GMT

PARIS (AP) — French students won’t get past the door if they show up for school wearing long robes, President Emmanuel Macron made clear Friday, saying authorities would be “intractable” in enforcing a new rule when classes resume next week. French Education Minister Gabriel Attal announced at a news conference four days ago that robes worn mainly by Muslims, known as abayas for girls and women and khamis for boys and men, would be banned with the start of the new school year on Monday.Macron addressed the dress code for the first publicly after visiting a professional school in the Vaucluse region of southern France “We know there will be cases” of students testing the rule, the president said, including ones trying to “defy the republican system.” Macron said they would not be able to slip into class, stressing that “we will be intractable on the subject.”The education minister described girls and boys wearing the robes in junior high and high school as “an infringement on secular...

2 South Elgin High School students killed in crash identified

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:57:32 GMT

SOUTH ELGIN, Ill. — South Elgin High School students and staff are mourning the loss of two students killed in a car crash in Bartlett.Police said the crash happened just after 7 a.m. Thursday near the intersection of Route 25 and Keynon Road. Four girls were on their way to school in a Honda Civic, when they collided with a semi-truck.The truck ended up on its side and the Honda ended up in a corn field.Fire crews removed the roof of the passenger car to gain access to the girls inside the Honda Civic.On Friday the Kane County coroner released a statement identifying the victims as 16-year-old Tahlulay Henry and 17-year-old Kamorra Campbell.The two other girls, along with the truck driver, were injured.Two memorial sites have been created in honor of the two female victims; one at the scene of the crash and one at the high school.South Elgin students began their day Friday with a vigil, with all the students huddled together to remember their two classmates. 2 South Elgin HS stud...

Illinois considering change to obscure tax

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:57:32 GMT

(WTVO) — Illinois lawmakers are considering a change to an obscure tax.The "Estate Tax" kicks in when a resident gets an inheritance of more than $4 million. There are family farms across Illinois that fall into that category, but they sometimes cannot pay it without selling assets when it is due.That is because most of the money from farms either goes into the land or into the crops.Governor JB Pritzker did not say whether or not he would support raising the threshold to $12 million."It'll be important to consider around that what the effect on the state budget would be, what the effect on families would be, is that the right threshold to have for the estate tax in the state of Illinois, all of which I'll take into consideration," Pritzker said.Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines"When you can't give that to your kids, that's a huge, huge difference," added State Senator Sally Turner. "So, I think we need to pay attention to that, and I appreciate Governor taking a look at it."...

'Beyond frightful': 2 men injured in suburban Metra stairway collapse

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:57:32 GMT

UNIVERSITY PARK, Ill. — Two men are thankful their injuries weren't catastrophic after a stairway at a suburban Metra station collapsed last week.Like a usual Wednesday afternoon, David Knuth was commuting from his job downtown to get home via a Metra train. He disembarked at the University Park station and began his journey to the parking lot.What happened next is something Knuth can't get out of his mind as he deals with lacerations, deep bruising and mental scars. The stairway collapsed with Knuth and four others on it — leaving him on top of the rubble."It gave out, it collapsed and I was right smack in the middle," Knuth said. "I fell on top of debris and six or eight stairs seemed to rot out."Despite the injuries, Knuth refused to be transported by authorities because he "just wanted to get out of there.""When I landed, I scooted off the pile and couldn't believe what just happened," Knuth said. "A bunch of people rushed up on me and I heard sirens pretty quickly."Paul Johnson...