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Jury clears 3 men in the last trial tied to the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:51:12 GMT

By ED WHITE (Associated Press)A jury acquitted three men Friday in the last trial connected to a plan to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a scheme that was portrayed as an example of homegrown terrorism on the eve of the 2020 presidential election.William Null, twin brother Michael Null and Eric Molitor were found not guilty of providing support for a terrorist act and a weapon charge. They were the last of 14 men to face charges in state or federal court. Nine were convicted and now five have been cleared.The Nulls and Molitor were accused of supporting leaders of the plan by participating in military-style drills and traveling to see Whitmer’s vacation home in northern Michigan. The key players, Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr., were convicted of a kidnapping conspiracy last year in a different court.In the latest trial, the jury heard 14 days of testimony in Antrim County, the location of Whitmer’s lakeside property, 185 miles (297 kilometers) north of the state Cap...

From Asian markets to beer fests, these events are happening in San Diego County this weekend

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:51:12 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The weekend is meant for leisure and good times, and San Diego County has several events on the calendar that are perfect for just that.From North County to South Bay, Sept. 15-17 shows a promising lineup of events and activities for adults looking to have some fun and families looking for a nice outing.FOX 5 has created a compilation of some things to do across the county this weekend. Dump Day: How to dispose of unwanted items for free San Diego626 Night Market (Family-Friendly): Delicious foods, live entertainment, craft vendors and an atmosphere that welcomes all — that’s what you can expect when strolling through 626 Night Market in San Diego. The famous Asian bazaar is back this weekend from 1-10 p.m. each night. Tickets are free but limited, so you must register online.Pixies with Modest Mouse and Cat Power: This triple lineup concert will draw the crowd at Petco Park's Gallagher Square on Saturday at 7 p.m. These indie rock staples will close th...

Women’s World Cup winners maintain boycott of Spain’s national team. Coach delays picking her squad

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:51:12 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The new coach of Spain’s women’s team had to delay the announcement of her first squad Friday after nearly all of the country’s World Cup-winning players maintained their boycott of the national team as part of their fight against sexism in soccer.Spain coach Montse Tomé was set to announce her squad on Friday. But 20 minutes before she was supposed to hold a news conference, the federation said it was postponed to a time to be determined.The federation said the players had rejected their attempts to convince them to return to the team early on Friday.That leaves Tomé with the difficult decision of whether to still call up the revolting players, or select a completely different team for upcoming Nations League games against Sweden and Switzerland on Sept. 22 and 26. According to Spanish sports law, athletes are required to answer the call of its national teams unless there are circumstances that impede them from playing, such as an injury.Sp...

UNESCO puts 2 locations in war-ravaged Ukraine on its list of historic sites in danger

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:51:12 GMT

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — The U.N.’s World Heritage Committee on Friday placed two major historical sites in Ukraine on its list of such sites that it considers to be in danger.The iconic St. Sophia Cathedral in the capital, Kyiv, and the medieval center of the western city of Lviv, are UNESCO World Heritage Sites central to Ukraine’s culture and history. The decision Friday to put those two on the body’s list of sites “in danger” has no enforcement mechanism, but could help deter Russian attacks.Neither site has been directly targeted since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Lviv has largely been spared from the fighting. But Russia has unleashed waves of strikes on Kyiv and other cities, hitting residential areas and critical infrastructure with Iranian-made attack drones.The decision was made at the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee, which is being held in Saudi Arabia. The committee maintains UNESCO’s World...

Oil companies can only decarbonize as fast as the rest of the economy: Shell Canada

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:51:12 GMT

CALGARY — The president of British oil giant Shell’s Canadian subsidiary says the pace of the global energy transition isn’t up to oil and gas companies.Shell Canada president Susannah Pierce says while oil and gas companies must do what they can to reduce their own emissions, they can only move as fast as the rest of the economy.Pierce says the global economy is still fossil fuel-driven and fossil fuels are what customers are demanding.She says transitioning to a lower-carbon economy will require government incentives across the entire value chain, particularly in fossil fuel-intensive industries like cement and steel manufacturing, shipping and aviation.Pierce made the comments just days before hundreds of energy sector executives and government representatives from around the globe arrive in Calgary for next week’s 24th World Petroleum Congress. The theme of the conference, which was last held in Canada in 2000, is the energy transition.This report by The Canadi...

One American, two Russians blast off in Russian spacecraft heading to International Space Station

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:51:12 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — One American and two Russian space crew members blasted off Friday aboard a Russian spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a mission to the International Space Station.NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub lifted off on the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft at 8:44 p.m. local time ( 1544 GMT, 11:44 a.m. EDT). O’Hara will spend six months on the International Space Station while Kononenko and Chub will spend a year there. Neither O’Hara nor Chub have ever flown to space before, but they are flying with veteran cosmonaut Kononenko, who has made the trip four times already. The trio should arrive at the space station after a flight of about three hours.The Associated Press

Canadian Press NewsAlert: Metroland Media Group seeks bankruptcy protection

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:51:12 GMT

TORONTO — Metroland Media Group says it plans to end the print editions of its community newspapers and will exit the flyer business as it seeks protection under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act as part of a restructuring plan.More coming.The Canadian Press

S&P/TSX composite little changed in mid-morning trading, U.S. markets down

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:51:12 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index was little changed in midday trading Friday, while U.S. markets traded lower, led by losses in tech.The S&P/TSX composite index was up 1.43 points at 20,569.27.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 175.53 points at 34,731.58. The S&P 500 index was down 40.84 points at 4,464.26, while the Nasdaq composite was down at 194.81 points at 13,731.24.The Canadian dollar traded for 73.97 cents US compared with 73.99 cents US on Thursday.The October crude contract was up nine cents at US$90.25 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down three cents at US$2.68 per mmBTU.The December gold contract was up US$16.90 at $1,949.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was down three cents at US$3.79 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)The Canadian Press

Younger voters will be critical in 2024. Biden and Trump are taking different paths to reach them

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:51:12 GMT

HAMPTON, Va. (AP) — Students were dancing in the aisles and their seats in the Hampton University auditorium long before Vice President Kamala Harris took the stage for the first stop of her fall college tour.Jaden Clemons and Layth Carpenter, both 18-year-old freshmen, said they viewed Harris as “authentic” and “relatable” as the alum of Howard University, another historically Black school.But neither was ready to commit to supporting Harris and Joe Biden next year, the first time they will be eligible to vote in a presidential election. And when it comes to lining up behind Democrats or Republicans, Clemons said, “We don’t even feel like it’s something that we need to choose.”Getting students like these two off the sidelines is one of the top challenges for the White House as Biden seeks a second term as the oldest president in American history, and it’s one that Harris will confront as she crisscrosses between campuses in the coming weeks. Although young people lean left, they...

Climate protesters around the world are calling for an end to fossil fuels as Earth heats up

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:51:12 GMT

Tens of thousands of climate activists around the world launched protests Friday to call for an end to the burning of planet-warming fossil fuels as the globe suffers dramatic weather extremes and record-breaking heat, with plans to continue through the weekend.The protests — driven by several mostly youth-led, local and global climate groups and organizations, including Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Future movement — were taking place in dozens of countries and hundreds of cities worldwide. In Quezon City in the Philippines, activists lay in front of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in protest, and held signs demanding fossil fuels — from coal to natural gas — be phased out. Outside the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources office in Jakarta, Indonesia, protesters held signs calling for end to dirty fuels and greenwashing as police officers looked on.In Sweden, climate activists gathered in front of Parliament, just next to the Royal Palace where Sweden’s...