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Adrift in the Atlantic, a boat of death and lost dreams

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:15 GMT

BELLE GARDEN, Tobago (AP) — Around 6:30 a.m. on May 28, 2021, off the beach near the Caribbean island of Tobago, a narrow white-and-blue boat drifted onto the horizon. From a distance, it seemed no one was aboard. But as fishermen approached, they smelled death. Then they saw the decomposing bodies of more than a dozen Black men. What is clear now, but was not then, is this: 135 days earlier, 43 people were believed to have left a port city across the ocean in Mauritania. They were trying to reach Spain’s Canary Islands.Instead, they ended up here, on the other side of the Atlantic. At least seven boats carrying dead bodies appearing to be from Northwest Africa washed up in the Caribbean and in Brazil in 2021. These “ghost boats” — and likely many others that have vanished — are in part an unintended result of years of efforts and billions of dollars spent by Europe to stop crossings on the Mediterranean Sea. That crackdown helped push migrants to return to the far longer, more obsc...

Dem, GOP convention picks show Midwest’s political influence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:15 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Donald Trump won the White House in 2016 by breaking up the famed electoral “blue wall,” snatching the Midwestern battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin, along with Pennsylvania, from Democrats. He lost the White House four years later when those same states flipped to Joe Biden.Both parties are already zeroing in on the Midwest ahead of next year’s presidential election, each choosing to hold their national conventions in the region. Republicans will have their event in July 2024 in Milwaukee, the largest city in the swing state of Wisconsin. Democrats announced Tuesday that they would hold theirs the following month in Chicago, just 90 miles away, in solidly blue Illinois. In picking Chicago over other finalists New York and Atlanta, the Democratic National Committee said, the party was “returning to the Midwest, a critical Democratic stronghold” and called Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota part of the “blue wall” crucial to Biden’...

Takeaways of AP Investigation into deadly migrant voyage

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:15 GMT

For nearly two years, The Associated Press assembled puzzle pieces from across three continents to uncover the story of a mysterious Mauritanian boat — and the people it carried to death as they drifted across the Atlantic Ocean and appeared in the Caribbean island of Tobago on May 28, 2021. Mauritania, a large country in northwest Africa, is nearly 3,000 miles (4,800 km) away from Tobago. Evidence found on the boat — and its style and color as a typical Mauritanian “pirogue”— suggested the dead were likely African migrants who were trying to reach Europe but got lost in the Atlantic.Here are some takeaways from the AP investigation that included interviews with dozens of relatives and friends of missing migrants, officials and forensic experts, as well as police documents and DNA testing:—43 young men from Mauritania, Mali, Senegal and possibly other West African nations, too, are believed to have boarded the boat 135 days earlier. AP has identified 33 of them by name.—They departe...

Brazil’s Lula visits China, seeking ties and Ukraine support

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:15 GMT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva flew off to China on Tuesday to strengthen ties with his nation’s biggest trade partner and win support for his long shot push for peace in Ukraine. Lula wants Brazil, China and other nations to help mediate the war as part of his nation’s return to the world stage, but his proposals to end the conflict have irked Ukraine and some in the West. Less controversial is the Brazilian and Chinese mutual interest in trade after a rocky period under Lula’s predecessor. China and Brazil are expected to sign at least 20 bilateral agreements during Lula’s two-day stay, according to the Brazilian government. Lula plans to visit Shanghai and Beijing, and meet with his counterpart, Xi Jinping, on Friday.The two leaders are expected to discuss trade, investment, reindustrialization, energy transition, climate change and peace agreements, the Brazilian government said.China is Brazil’s biggest export market, each ...

Latest inflation data could show further gradual improvement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:15 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The persistence of high inflation will likely be on display — again — in Wednesday’s latest government report on consumer price increases. Yet there may also be some signs of improvement in the March inflation data, with the prices of some key items, such as gasoline, furniture and new cars, potentially rising more slowly or falling outright. Compared with 12 months earlier, economists predict that inflation slowed sharply, from 6% in February to 5.2% in March, according to a survey by the data provider FactSet. But excluding volatile food and gas costs, so-called core prices are thought to have ticked up to 5.6% from a year ago, compared with a 5.5% rise in February. That figure has changed little since December. The Federal Reserve and many private economists regard core prices as a better measure of underlying inflation. Rapid price increases in the economy’s vast service sector — ranging from rents and restaurant meals to haircuts and auto insurance...

Authorities search swollen St. Croix River after teen fell off cliff in Minnesota state park

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:15 GMT

An 18-year-old man is missing in the swollen St. Croix River after he fell off a rock ledge Tuesday evening at Interstate State Park in Taylors Falls, Minn.According to the Chisago County sheriff’s office, the Wisconsin resident fell shortly after 6 p.m. when he apparently lost his footing and tumbled off the cliff and into the river.An extensive rescue effort involving multiple area agencies was launched, but the victim, who wasn’t immediately identified, remained missing at nightfall.The sheriff’s office said the search was paused and would resume in the morning.It also asked the public not to search on or near the river. A large spring runoff is feeding the St. Croix, leading to a high flow rate. That, combined with debris typically seen during the snowmelt, has made for dangerous search conditions on the river, the sheriff’s office said.Interstate State Park and its twin state park in Wisconsin straddle the rocky St. Croix gorge between Taylors Falls and St. Croix Fa...

Wentzville School District and city officials battle over new apartment developments

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:15 GMT

ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. - A political showdown in St. Charles County is pitting the Wentzville School District against the Dardenne Prairie Mayor and Board of Aldermen.The two are battling over the new Prairie Encore development at Feise and Bryan roads. The development would include restaurants, shops, a gas station, and a 190-unit apartment building.The project is funded with $68 million in bonds, with the developer, Kaleco, paying no property taxes for 12 years.The Board of Aldermen is set to give final approval to the deal at a meeting on Wednesday, April 12, at 6 p.m. The meeting date was set for March. However, it comes one week before new members of the board take office. One of those board members, Laura Gittemeier, won a landslide victory over incumbent Kasey Reilly. Prairie Encore was the key issue in the race, with Gittemeier opposing it and Reilly supporting it. Top story: “Easter Miracle” for Lake St. Louis officer critically injured by suspected drunk driver People b...

St. Louis realtor’s work highlighted during Fair Housing Month

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:15 GMT

ST. LOUIS - According to Census Bureau data, white St. Louisans are nearly twice as likely as black St. Louisans to own a home. Black homeownership rates remain the lowest of all racial groups in the country. April is Fair Housing Month, and there’s a St. Louis realtor who’s advocated for fair housing since the 1970s. Her name is Barbara Heise.“White man has gained wealth by selling his house, right? Not so in the black community," Heise said.Heise’s fight for fair housing can be traced back to the days of blockbusting. Top story: “Easter Miracle” for Lake St. Louis officer critically injured by suspected drunk driver “You could get me to tears on this subject because of my passion. It’s just not fair," she said. More than 40 years later, she’s still standing up for equity and inclusion in St. Louis communities.“Affirmatively furthering fair housing doesn’t have anything to do, nothing to do with affordable housing," Heise said.Heise co-founded the nonprofit “With Action...

Colorado falls to Oilers in overtime in rare convergence of 100-point talent, but Avs clinch home ice in first round

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:15 GMT

It was 37 years and 16 days ago when Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and three other Hockey Hall of Famers converged in the same game with 688 combined points in the 1985-86 season.That marked the highest combined point total between any five players entering a game in NHL history. Three days later, five 100-point scorers appeared again in the same regular season game, for the very last time in an era when it was common.Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and the three Oilers they faced Tuesday night at Ball Arena might all be destined for the Hall of Fame someday as well. But with five 100-point scorers coming together for the first time since 1986, Edmonton defenseman Evan Bouchard was the hero who scored the overtime goal that gave the Oilers a 2-1 win over the Avs.“I liked our game. I thought we were engaged right away,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said hours after mentioning his concern with the team’s energy level at morning skate. “Played hard. Pretty tight check...

SF Giants walk tight rope to blank Dodgers, beat rivals for first time in 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:15 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — Turns out there’s a simple solution to a streaky, strikeout-prone offense: sensational pitching. That is the formula, at least, that worked for the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night.Before back-to-back home runs padded their lead in the bottom of the eighth, the Giants only had to cash in once behind starter Alex Wood and a lights-out effort from their bullpen to beat the Dodgers, 5-0, only their second win in their past 15 tries against their archrivals.Left-hander Scott Alexander successfully walked the tight rope put in front of him in a pivotal sixth inning, escaping a bases-loaded jam with a soft dribbler and a strikeout, to back up 4⅔ shutout innings from Wood, who struck out five and surrendered only one hit. With more solid relief work from Jakob Junis, Tyler Rogers, John Brebbia and Camilo Doval, the six Giants pitchers combined for their first shutout of the season.Joc Pederson gave the Giants an early lead, which they clung to as they traded zero...