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Italian prosecutors say no evidence of Russian secret service role in escape of suspect sought by US

Published Tue, 31 Dec 2024 23:55:32 GMT

MILAN (AP) — There is no evidence of Russian secret services involvement in the escape from Italian custody of a Russian businessman wanted by the U.S. on sanctions-busting charges, Milan prosecutors told a news conference Wednesday.Two suspects have been arrested, one in northern Italy and another in Croatia, and another four are being sought for helping Artyom Uss, the 40-year-old son of the governor of Russia’s vast Krasnoyarsk region in eastern Siberia, to escape house arrest near Milan last March. He had been arrested five months earlier at a Milan airport trying to board a flight to Istanbul.Uss disappeared a day after an Italian court approved his extradition to the United States, which has offered a $7 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction on charges of smuggling U.S. technologies in violation of Western sanctions and money laundering. Uss resurfaced in Russia last April.He faces up to 30 years in prison, Milan prosecutors said.According to the U...

Oregon power company to pay nearly $300 million to settle latest lawsuit over 2020 wildfires

Published Tue, 31 Dec 2024 23:55:32 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Electricity utility PacifiCorp will pay $299 million to settle a lawsuit brought by about 220 customers who were harmed by devastating wildfires in southern Oregon in 2020. The settlement announced Tuesday comes after the utility lost a similar lawsuit in June for wildfires in other parts of the state, The Oregonian reported. The utility has faced several lawsuits from property owners and residents who say PacifiCorp negligently failed to shut off power to its 600,000 customers during a windstorm over Labor Day weekend in 2020, despite warnings from state leaders and top fire officials, and that its power lines caused multiple blazes. The fires were among the worst natural disasters in Oregon’s history. They killed nine people, burned more than 1,875 square miles (4,856 square kilometers) and destroyed upward of 5,000 homes and other structures.The settlement ends three years of legal wrangling with victims of the Archie Creek fire, which devastated communities...

It Used to Be Hers: Sara Bareilles dons her apron once more with ‘Waitress’ live-capture film

Published Tue, 31 Dec 2024 23:55:32 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — She was an admired pop star with a voice like butter. But writing a musical about a woman who bakes pies? When Sara Bareilles was approached more than a decade ago about penning the score for “Waitress” on Broadway, she literally pictured a mountain in front of her, impossible to climb.Bareilles hadn’t even yet seen the source material, the 2007 indie movie starring Keri Russell as Jenna, a small-town waitress in an abusive marriage who bakes for solace and self-expression. And though she loved musicals, Bareilles had never written from any character’s perspective but her own. But at that initial lunch meeting, theater director Diane Paulus suggested Bareilles go watch the film and then write something, anything: “Whatever pours out of you.” A few weeks later, an MP3 file from Bareilles popped into Paulus’ inbox. It was “She Used to Be Mine,” an achingly wistful, painful yet also somehow triumphant anthem for Jenna. And it was ready to go. Paulus thought: “OK, we’ve ...

Biden to press Congress to pass Ukraine aid package in Wednesday speech, as US offers dire warnings

Published Tue, 31 Dec 2024 23:55:32 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday is set to publicly call on Congress to pass tens of billions of dollars in military and economic assistance for Ukraine as his administration warns of dire consequences for Kyiv if lawmakers don’t act.Biden’s address comes hours after he huddled with leaders of the Group of Seven advanced democracies, which have staunchly supported Ukraine against Russia’s ongoing invasion, and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Biden has asked Congress for nearly $106 billion to fund the wars in Ukraine, Israel and other security needs, but has faced stiff resistance on Capitol Hill. Some Republicans have grown tired of providing support to Ukraine after the U.S. has already sent $111 billion, and other GOP lawmakers are insisting on stiff changes to U.S. border policy as a condition of voting for the measure.The White House has sent increasingly sharp warnings to lawmakers of what would happen if they don’t approve th...

One in five Ontario ER patients needed family doctor, not urgent care: auditor general

Published Tue, 31 Dec 2024 23:55:32 GMT

Ontario’s acting auditor general says one in five patients who visited the province’s emergency departments were only there because they did not have a family doctor.Nick Stavropoulos has released an annual report that focuses on 12 value-for-money audits.Four of those audits focused on health care, including an examination of emergency departments, health care in northern Ontario, the state of long-term care homes and Public Health Ontario.Stavropoulos says Ontario did not have a provincewide strategy to help hospitals prevent temporary emergency department closures. Related: Ford government’s decision to move science centre to Ontario Place ‘not fully informed’: auditor general He has found hospitals continue to struggle with shortages of nurses and doctors and that patients are waiting an average of two hours before a physician assessment and there’s a 24-hour wait for an in-patient.Stavropoulos also says hospitals are becoming...

2 bodies found in creeks as atmospheric river drops record-breaking rain in Pacific Northwest

Published Tue, 31 Dec 2024 23:55:32 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Authorities in Oregon were investigating the deaths of two people whose bodies were found in creeks this week as an atmospheric river brought heavy rain, flooding and unseasonably warm temperatures to the Pacific Northwest.The U.S. Coast Guard rescued five people from flooded areas on Tuesday and the conditions also closed rail links, schools and roads in some areas and shattered daily rainfall and temperature records in Washington state. Amtrak said that no passenger trains will be running between Seattle and Portland, Oregon, until Thursday because of a landslide.Atmospheric rivers, sometimes known as a “Pineapple Express” because the long and narrow bands of water vapor convey warm subtropical moisture across the Pacific from near Hawaii, delivered enormous amounts of rain and snow to California last winter.The National Weather Service had issued flood warnings in parts of western Washington. While river flooding was expected to linger in western Washington ...

In Mexico, Yellen announces economics sanctions as the US aims to crack down on fentanyl trafficking

Published Tue, 31 Dec 2024 23:55:32 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday announced economic sanctions against 15 people and two companies that the United States says are linked to a Mexican drug cartel as she visited Mexico City for talks with officials about efforts to fight fentanyl trafficking.“We cannot end the U.S. opioid crisis and achieve greater security without looking beyond our borders,” she said.Yellen traveled to Mexico this week after the Treasury Department announced a strike force to help combat illicit fentanyl trafficking as the U.S. and China step up efforts to stop the movement of the powerful opioid and drug-making materials into the U.S. When President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met in California in November, they announced that China would instruct chemical companies to curtail shipments of the materials used to produce fentanyl to Latin America.The new sanctions were imposed on 15 Mexicans and two Mexican-based companies linked, directly or ind...

Man shot in apparent road rage incident at gas station on South Side: police

Published Tue, 31 Dec 2024 23:55:32 GMT

CHICAGO — A man was shot at a gas station in an apparent road rage incident on the city's South Side, according to police.The shooting happened around 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Falcon gas station in the 7800 block of South Western Avenue in the Ashburn neighborhood.Police said the 37-year-old man was outside the gas station when an unknown person exited a vehicle and approached him. The two got into a verbal altercation, and the offender then fired shots in the man's direction.The victim sustained gunshot wounds throughout the body. He then self-transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center and is listed in stable condition. 2 Chicago officers among 3 seriously injured in West Side fire; man’s body found No one is in custody. Area One detectives are investigating.The scene remains active. An investigation is underway.

Man unaccounted for after fire found dead inside West Side home; 2 officers among 3 injured

Published Tue, 31 Dec 2024 23:55:32 GMT

CHICAGO — A man unaccounted for after a fire has been found dead inside a home on the city's West Side.The man's body was located in the fire debris, according to officials. The blaze started around 1:15 a.m. Wednesday on the 1200 block of South Kedvale in North Lawndale. Officials said police were in the area and responded to the scene before the fire department arrived.According to authorities, two responding officers were on the porch of the home when it collapsed. One officer remains hospitalized and his condition has stabilized.A 75-year-old woman, identified as Dessi Street, was able to get out of the home but was critically injured and transported to Mount Sinai Hospital. The woman's son was unaccounted for, but his remains were located around 10 a.m. Wednesday. The man has been identified as 37-year-old Carl Street.The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.

Ed Burke trial: 'Shakedown' described on witness stand as Burger King saga continues

Published Tue, 31 Dec 2024 23:55:32 GMT

CHICAGO — Federal prosecutors are continuing to present evidence Wednesday in Ed Burke's alleged "shakedown" of Burger King franchise owners.Jeff MacDonald was an executive for Tri City Foods, a subsidiary of the Dhanani Group, which is a company that operates hundreds of Burger King franchises around the country.MacDonald oversaw the remodeling project of the restaurant at the corner of 40th Street and Pulaski Road, which is in Burke's former ward.Burke's accused of extorting the business owners by pressuring them to hire his private law firm to do their tax appeal work.After meeting with Burke about the remodeling project, MacDonald sent an email to other executives saying that the alderman would not sign off on the project unless the company agreed to make charitable donations.MacDonald later described that as a "shakedown." Ed Burke trial: Alleged’ shakedown’ of Burger King owner once again the focus Defense attorneys sought to show that the idea of charitable donation was Bur...