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Sentencing hearing continues for man found guilty in London attack on Muslim family

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:14 GMT

A sentencing hearing is set to continue today for a man who killed four members of a Muslim family in London, Ont.Nathaniel Veltman, 23, was found guilty in November of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder for hitting the Afzaal family with his truck while they were out for a walk on June 6, 2021.His trial was heard in Windsor, Ont., but the sentencing proceedings, including victim impact statements, are taking place in London, where the attack took place.A relative of the family killed in the truck attack recalled picking up clothes from her grand-niece’s bedroom floor a day after the murders and “desperately seeking solace” in her scent for the final time.Hina Islam’s comments were among the emotional victim impact statements delivered at Veltman’s sentencing hearing yesterday after a jury learned he targeted the Afzaal family because they were wearing traditional Muslim clothing.Forty-six-year-old Salman Afzaal; his 44...

Armed ethnic alliance in northern Myanmar is said to have seized a city that was a key goal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:14 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — An alliance of ethnic armed groups in northeastern Myanmar has reportedly achieved one of the main goals it set when it launched an offensive last October by taking control of Laukkaing, a key city on the border with China, according to local residents and independent media accounts on Friday.The Three Brotherhood Alliance — comprising the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army — took control of Laukkaing late Thursday after forces of the country’s military government reportedly laid down their arms and were allowed to withdraw, according to reports that have not yet been officially confirmed by either side.Laukkaing is the capital of Kokang Self-Administered Zone, geographically part of northern Shan state. The MNDAA is a military force of the Kokang minority, who are ethnic Chinese.The city’s fall to the alliance is the biggest in a series of defeats suffered by Myanmar’s military government since...

Senegal’s opposition leader faces setback in presidential race after defamation conviction is upheld

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:14 GMT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegal’s top opposition leader suffered a major setback in his quest to contest the presidency on Friday when a top court upheld the defamation conviction in a case brought against him by a government minister.The Supreme Court’s ruling against Ousmane Sonko’s appeal is the latest twist in a prolonged legal battle that the opposition leader has alleged is to stop his presidential bid in the February elections.“The trial was the very last chance,” Sonko’s lawyer Khoureychi Ba said of the ruling delivered after a session that started on Thursday. “I realize that Mr. Sonko’s opponents have succeeded in eliminating him from the Feb. 25 presidential election,” Ba said.Sonko, who finished third in the country’s 2019 presidential election, is widely seen as the main challenger to President Macky Sall’s ruling party. Sall himself ultimately decided not to seek a third term in office after Sonko’s supporters launched months of protests that at times turned ...

A competition Chinese chess player says he’s going to court after losing his title over a defecation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:14 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — A competitor in Chinese chess says he has sued the national association in China for mental distress after he was stripped of a title for drinking alcohol and defecating in the bathtub of his hotel room at a recent competition.Yan Chenglong doesn’t deny what happened but wrote in a civil complaint this week that he drank a moderate amount of beer to celebrate his win with other players and that some food had caused stomach problems and he couldn’t make it to the toilet in time.The complaint came one week after a social media post by the Chinese Xiangqi Association that described the drinking and defecation. It said an investigation had found that Yan damaged hotel property, violated public order and good behavior, and had a negative impact on the tournament.Chinese chess, called xiangqi in Chinese, is a traditional board game that remains popular, particularly among older people. Neighborhood residents play in parks and along sidewalks, often with small cr...

Wisconsin governor who called for marijuana legalization says he’ll back limited GOP proposal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:14 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, who has pushed for full legalization of recreational marijuana, said Wednesday that he is open to a more limited medical marijuana legalization being promoted by Republicans.“I would think that getting it all done in one fell swoop would be more thoughtful as far as meeting the needs of Wisconsinites that have asked for it,” Evers said in an interview with The Associated Press. “But if that’s what we can accomplish right now, I’ll be supportive of that.”Republicans have been working behind closed doors for years on a medical marijuana bill and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said in December that they would unveil it this month. Republicans have repeatedly rejected calls from Evers and other Democrats to legalize all uses of marijuana, including medical and recreational.Vos said the proposal would be limited and modeled after the medical marijuana law that had been in place in neighboring Minnesota before it moved to full legalization.Evers...

Wisconsin’s Democratic governor says Biden must visit battleground state often to win it

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:14 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — President Joe Biden must make frequent visits to battleground Wisconsin if he hopes to win it in November, focusing his message on his successes and issues that matter to the middle class, not just the argument that the fate of democracy is at stake, the state’s Democratic governor said.And while the 81-year-old Biden’s age is “of course” a concern, Gov. Tony Evers said he can win by showing younger voters why they should care. “I think democracy is on the line, but we also have to recognize what a great job he has done on infrastructure issues and other things,” Evers told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday, mentioning work to replace lead pipes. “He needs to be here, simple as that.”Four of the past six presidential elections in Wisconsin have been decided by less than a percentage point, making the state one of a small number that could go either way in November. Biden defeated former President Donald Trump in 2020 by fewer than 21,000...

Russia approves 2 candidates for ballot against Putin in March election

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:14 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s national elections commission on Friday registered the first two candidates who will compete with President Vladimir Putin in the March election that Putin is all but certain to win.The commission approved putting Leonid Slutsky of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party and Vladislav Davankov of the New People Party on the ballot for the March 15-17 vote. Neither poses a significant challenge to Putin, who has dominated Russian politics since becoming president in 2000. Both candidates’ parties are largely supportive in parliament of legislation backed by Putin’s power-base United Russia party.Slutsky, as head of the lower house of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, has been a prominent backer of Kremlin foreign policy that is increasingly oppositional to the West. In the last presidential election in 2018, the party’s candidate tallied less than 6% of the vote.Davankov is a deputy speaker of the lower house of parliament, ...

US Mint releases $5, $1 and half-dollar Harriet Tubman coins

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:14 GMT

(The Hill) - The U.S. Mint on Thursday began accepting preorders for its first commemorative coin program honoring abolitionist Harriet Tubman.The 2024 collection includes a $5 gold coin, a $1 silver one and a half-dollar silver coin.The Mint’s website listed surcharges of “$35 for each $5 gold coin, $10 for each silver dollar, and $5 for each clad half dollar.” Current order prices for the commemorative coins range from $47, for an uncirculated half-dollar coin, to $718 for a proof $5 one.The coins depict different moments from Tubman’s life.On the silver dollar, Tubman is honored for her work as a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, the secret network of safe houses on routes that enslaved Americans took to escape to freedom. Tubman was born into slavery before escaping, but she returned many times in her efforts to help free other enslaved people.The $5 coin shows a close-up image of an older Tubman, and on its reverse side, the coin includes several phrases associ...

Letters: Superintendent of the Year, with these achievement levels?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:14 GMT

Achievement and awardsHow does the St. Paul Public School Superintendent win Minnesota School Superintendent of the Year, much less become a finalist for national superintendent, without core subject competency or graduation rates (as reported in this paper) used as criteria for the awards?Thirty years ago, these achievement levels we are now at would have resulted in the superintendent being fired. Today, they all win meaningless awards.Pat McKenzie, Hastings Medical decisions from judges?I am wondering how many of our Supreme Court justices have medical degrees? Would any of them allow or take legal advice from their doctors?Why not? Then why are we relying on judges to make medical decisions? Why are they allowed to make medical decisions that will affect women’s lives everywhere in this country?LaVonne McCombie, Hudson Why people are madI am a native Minnesotan. I grew up in a small farm community. All the support for Donald Trump is hard to believe. He never rec...

Hannah Sward: My life after meth — learning to open and close the curtains

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:14 GMT

When I was on meth, I was busy. Very busy. There was gardening to do, color-coding the closet, taking apart doorknobs, trying to put doorknobs back together and trips to Home Depot at 3 a.m. to look at light fixtures and nails. I had things to do, and whatever I was doing I was very interested in. Until I wasn’t, leaving the bathroom doorknob on the floor and moving on to some other project.Time on meth is very different from time with no meth.No more gardening or trips to Home Depot. Everything stops. Imagine. You’ve been busy not sleeping, not eating, not living in real time for a decade. Then one day you stop. How do you live?For example, it’s 10 p.m. and you brush your teeth and wash your face, you get ready for bed. Yes, bed. Then, you take it a step further and get into bed. At 10 p.m. It’s dark out. The birds are not singing and the sun is not up. Which is how it’s supposed to be when people go to bed. You turn off your light and lie there.After ...