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International court prosecutor to probe crimes in eastern Congo following government request

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:22:57 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Thursday he is opening a preliminary probe in Congo after the African nation asked him to investigate alleged crimes in its North Kivu province since January last year.The request marks the second time Congolese authorities have sought an investigation by the global war crimes court. Congo, a member state of the court, first requested a probe in 2004 into crimes since 2002. That led to three convictions of rebel leaders involved in the long-running armed conflict in the mineralrich nation.Prosecutor Karim Khan said that Congo’s new request — known at the court as a referral — asks prosecutors to “investigate particular armed forces and groups” allegedly responsible for crimes in the eastern province of North Kivu.Conflict has been simmering for decades in eastern Congo, where more than 120 armed groups are fighting. Most are vying for land and control of mines with valuable minerals, wh...

CP NewsAlert: Wildfire evacuation order lifted for Tumbler Ridge, B.C.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:22:57 GMT

An evacuation order has been lifted for the community of Tumbler Ridge, B.C., nine days after more than 2,000 residents were forced out by an encroaching wildfire. More comingThe Canadian Press

Nova Scotia man who served 16 years after wrongful conviction dead at 67, lawyer says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:22:57 GMT

HALIFAX — A lawyer for Glen Assoun, the Nova Scotia man who served 16 years in prison after he was wrongfully convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend, confirmed today that his longtime client has died.Sean MacDonald says Assoun, 67, died suddenly Wednesday night while he was at a restaurant in Dartmouth, N.S.Assoun was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in September 1999 for the stabbing death of Brenda Lee Anne Way in Dartmouth — a crime that has yet to be solved.One of Assoun’s lawyers began reviewing the case, and he persuaded the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted to take it on in 2010.In 2014, the federal Justice Department said a preliminary assessment determined there could have been a miscarriage of justice, and an in-depth investigation was ordered before Assoun was released from prison with conditions in November 2014.In March 2019, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court dismissed Assoun’s conviction, and he later agr...

Record revenue and attendance has business booming again for the American Hockey League

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:22:57 GMT

More than 10,000 fans filled the Hershey Bears’ home arena on Tuesday night to watch the oldest American Hockey League franchise take on the newest, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, in the Calder Cup Finals.It was the third consecutive game in the AHL championship series to be sold out and pushed total playoff attendance for the NHL’s top developmental league above half a million fans. That’s a record for the nearly 90-year-old league that also set a new high water mark for revenue, which president and CEO Scott Howson estimates is 15% to 20% above pre-pandemic levels.Three years after canceling the playoffs and two years after gutting through a shortened season with almost no fans in arenas and a few teams opting out of playing entirely, business is finally booming again for the AHL.“We’ve just recovered so quickly,” Howson told The Associated Press this week. “It’s a testament to our product. It’s a testament to our markets. It’s a testament to what our teams are ...

Man indicted in chokehold death of New York subway rider Jordan Neely, prosecutor confirms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:22:57 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A grand jury has indicted a man who put an agitated New York City subway rider in a fatal chokehold, prosecutors confirmed Thursday.Daniel Penny was initially charged with manslaughter last month in the May 1 death of Jordan Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator who struggled in recent years with homelessness and mental illness.A spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg confirmed the grand jury voted to indict, a day after the news was widely reported. The specific charges will be unveiled during Penny’s arraignment on June 28th. He had initially been charged with manslaughter in the second degree, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, but a grand jury’s approval of charges was needed for the case to continue.Neely was shouting at passengers and begging for money when Penny, a former U.S. Marine, pinned him to the floor of the moving subway car with the help of two other riders. Penny then held Neely in a chokehold...

US Open a source of uncertainty on and off the course

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:22:57 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Uncertainty off the course. Uncertainty on it. The U.S. Open was set to tee off into uncharted territory Thursday, with the golf world perplexed by the recent shakeup-makeup between Saudi golf interests and the PGA Tour and 156 of the sport’s best players taking on a course hardly anyone has seen. Pretty much every question heading into the 123rd playing of America’s national championship dealt with one or the other of those issues. Los Angeles Country Club is a beautiful mystery, the first course in LA to host the Open in 75 years. It’s known for its runway-wide fairways — they average 43 yards across — but many of those expanses are heavily canted, built to reject tee shots into the healthy, spongy Bermuda rough or into the native, scrub-dotted and unpredictable sandscapes called barrancas that wind through this urban oasis.There is a reachable par 4 — the sixth hole — that will, at times, play shorter than the downhill par-3 seventh. ThereR...

Ontario driver had 5 times legal limit of alcohol following crash: OPP

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:22:57 GMT

Provincial police in Southern Ontario have charged a driver following a crash and subsequent blood test that revealed a remarkable level of impairment.The driver in question was involved in a collision on April 21 in the Municipality of Huron East. Police say a pickup truck crashed into a hydro pole in a rural area about 40 kilometres southeast of Goderich.Both the truck and pole sustained significant damage and the driver was taken to hospital with serious injuries. No one else was injured in the crash.Police say further investigation revealed the driver had consumed alcohol sometime before the collision. Investigators obtained a warrant for his blood sample and a test was taken at the hospital.The driver’s blood alcohol content came back as 0.409 — or five times the legal limit of 0.08. According to the Cleveland Clinic, anything blood/alcohol level over 0.4 is considered potentially fatal.Over 5 times the legal limit?!?! #HuronOPP has charged a 43-yr-old @HuronEast re...

UN chief says fossil fuels ‘incompatible with human survival,’ calls for credible exit strategy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:22:57 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The head of the United Nations launched an angry tirade against fossil fuel companies Thursday, accusing them of betraying future generations and undermining efforts to phase out a product he called “incompatible with human survival.”Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also dismissed suggestions by some oil executives — including the man tapped to chair this year’s international climate talks in Dubai — that fossil fuel firms can keep up production if they find a way to capture planet-warming carbon emissions. He warned that this would just make them “more efficient planet-wreckers.”It’s not the first time the U.N. chief has called out Big Oil over its role in causing global warming, but the blunt attack reflects growing frustration at the industry’s recent profit bonanza despite warnings from scientists that burning fossil fuels will push the world far beyond any safe climate threshold.“Last year, the oil and gas industry reaped a record $4 trillion windfall in net inc...

Man fatally shoots ex-wife, then himself in Geneva: police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:22:57 GMT

GENEVA, Ill. — Police are investigating after a 49-year-old man fatally shot his ex-wife, then himself, in Geneva early Wednesday evening.Police responded around 5:20 p.m. to a home in the 100 block of Pebble Beach Court following a 911 call.According to police, Chad Dockery, of Hinsdale, called 911 to report he murdered his ex-wife, Amanda Dockery, 48, a resident of the home officers responded to. He also told dispatchers he was armed with a pistol. Upon arrival, an officer saw Chad inside a vehicle at the end of the home's driveway and as the officer approached, a gun was fired.Police said Chad was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside the vehicle and a 9mm pistol was recovered from the scene.Amanda was found inside the home with two apparent gunshot wounds, according to police. Both Amanda and Chad were transported to Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva, where they were both pronounced dead.  Man, woman dead after being found shot at Geneva home No other...

Skilling: It's official, Chicago area in a 'severe drought'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:22:57 GMT

It's Thursday which means the new "drought monitor" is in, offering our country's official assessment of drought conditions. It places much of the Chicago metro area in a state of "severe drought." That's a upgrade from the "moderate drought" assessed in last week's report.The upgrade in drought severity is little wonder. Even with the wonderful rain that fell over portions of our area Tuesday (which, by the way, isn't taken into account by the latest drought monitor analysis which looks at the precip situation going into this past Monday. It's worth noting the Tuesday rains for all intents and purposes bypassed many sections of the area)--Chicago's O'Hare's precip deficit illustrates the continuing moisture deficit. The precip shortfall since mid-April is running at more than 6" since April 1.Even with Tuesday's 0.54" at O'Hare--the site's total rainfall since April 1 amounts to only 4.20"---not even close to the 10.22" which is considered normal from April 1 through today (June 15...