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Why China is trying to mediate in Russia’s war with Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:10 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping said Wednesday that Beijing will send an envoy to Ukraine to discuss a possible “political settlement” to Russia’s war with the country.Beijing has previously avoided involvement in conflicts between other countries but appears to be trying to assert itself as a global diplomatic force after arranging talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran in March that led them to restore diplomatic relations after a seven-year break.Xi told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a phone call that a Chinese envoy, a former Chinese ambassador to Russia, would visit Ukraine and “other countries” to discuss a possible political settlement, according to a government statement.It made no mention of Russia or last year’s invasion of Ukraine and didn’t indicate whether the Chinese envoy might visit Moscow.The Xi-Zelenskyy phone call was long anticipated after Beijing said it wanted to serve as a mediator in the war.WHY DOES THIS MATTER?China is the only majo...

Minister didn’t authorize fake travel docs for Afghans, says he didn’t check email

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:10 GMT

OTTAWA — International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan told his fellow MPs Wednesday he did not know a Canadian senator was handing out unauthorized travel documents to hundreds of Afghans during the rise of the Taliban in 2021 because he wasn’t checking his email at the time. Sen. Marilou McPhedran told the House immigration committee last week that Sajjan’s then-chief of staff, George Young, had given her a template for a “visa facilitation letter” that people could use to clear checkpoints on their way to the airport to escape the country. She shared that template with several “trusted advocates,” including the chief human rights officer with FIFA and a former Canadian Olympian.McPhedran said she doesn’t know how many letters were handed out, but believes it was about 640.Sajjan was defence minister at the time and McPhedran said she copied him and several other ministers on many emails about her activities.Sajjan told the committee he...

Rapper MoneySign Suede dies in California prison stabbing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:10 GMT

SOLEDAD, Calif. (AP) — Rapper MoneySign Suede has died after he was stabbed in a shower at a California prison, authorities and his attorney said.Jaime Brugada Valdez, 22, of Huntington Park, was found in the shower area of the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday, according to a statement from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.Despite life-saving efforts, he died at a prison medical facility.The agency didn’t detail his injuries but said his death was being investigated as a homicide.“They said it was a stabbing to the neck,” Valdez’s attorney, Nicholas Rosenberg, told the Los Angeles Times.Suede signed to Atlantic Records in 2021, and released his most recent album “Parkside Baby” last September, the Times said.The Monterey County prison houses more than 4,000 minimum- and medium-security inmates.Valdez was sent there after being sentenced in Riverside County last December to serve two years and eight months...

School board wants workers comp for teacher shot by boy, 6

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:10 GMT

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The Virginia school district where a 6-year-old shot his teacher argues that her injuries fall under the state’s workers compensation act and cannot be addressed through her $40 million lawsuit, according to court documents filed Wednesday. Abigail Zwerner was “clearly injured while at work, at her place of employment, by a student in the classroom,” the Newport News School Board stated in response to her lawsuit, which it wants dismissed. The school board also rejected Zwerner’s claim that she could reasonably expect to work with young children who pose no danger, pointing to numerous incidents of violence against teachers across the U.S. and in Newport News. “While in an ideal world, young children would not pose any danger to others, including their teachers, this is sadly not reality,” the filing stated.Zwerner, 25, was shot in the hand and chest on Jan. 6 as she sat at a reading table in her first-grade classroom at Richneck Elementary. She spent...

Alabama judge: No bond for suspects in Sweet 16 shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:10 GMT

DADEVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A judge on Wednesday denied bond for five suspects charged with reckless murder in connection with a shooting at a Sweet 16 birthday party that killed four people and injured dozens in Alabama, according to court records and state investigators. Tallapoosa County District Judge Clayton Turner ordered Wilson LaMar Hill Jr., 20, of Auburn; Johnny Letron Brown, 20, of Tuskegee; and Willie George Brown Jr., 19, also of Auburn, to be held without bond. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said that the judge also denied bond for two juvenile suspects. The state agency previously identified the pair as Tyreese “Ty Reik” McCullough, 17, and Travis McCullough, 16, both of Tuskegee. A sixth suspect, a 15-year-old from Tuskegee, is awaiting a hearing, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said. The six are each charged with four counts of reckless murder in connection with the April 15 shooting in Dadeville that killed four people and injured 32 others. Two Dadeville High Sc...

Mexico’s president admits he briefly fainted due to COVID-19

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:10 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president acknowledged Wednesday he did “briefly faint” over the weekend before he was diagnosed with COVID-19, something his spokesman had previously denied. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said his doctors had been concerned enough to administer a liter of rehydration fluids. He said in a videotaped chat from the National Palace in Mexico City — where he lives and is isolating — that doctors wanted to fly him back to the capital in a stretcher.López Obrador had been on a working tour of the Yucatan peninsula Sunday when he tested positive for the coronavirus, his third bout of COVID-19.But he wrote in his social media accounts Sunday that “it isn’t serious.”Reports in the local press that day said López Obrador had felt faint Sunday morning and had to cancel his tour, something his presidential spokesman denied at the time.But on Wednesday, the president acknowledged that it “had become complicated … I had a crisis, because my blood pressure...

B.C. coroner’s inquest hears updated toxicology results for Myles Gray

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:10 GMT

BURNABY, B.C. — An initial drug screening report suggested Myles Gray had a natural psychoactive compound in his system when he died, but followup testing revealed a concentration that didn’t meet the threshold for detection, a forensic toxicologist told the British Columbia coroner’s inquest into the 33-year-old’s death.Aaron Shapiro testified that he reviewed the original toxicology report and changed the finding for mitragynine, an extract from an Asian plant known as kratom.“What this means is that the drug was either not present in the sample, or it means that the drug was present at a concentration that was below our instruments’ ability to detect it,” said Shapiro, testifying as an expert witness.“Unfortunately I can’t tell the difference between those two scenarios.”Gray died in August 2015, shortly after a beating by several Vancouver police officers that left him with injuries including a fractured eye socket, nose and ...

LL Cool J, first tour in 30 years, to stop in Chicago

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:10 GMT

CHICAGO -- "Ladies Love Cool James" will be hitting the road to tour for the first time in 30 years.LL Cool J will be stopping in Chicago for his "The F.O.R.C.E Live" tour at the United Center on Sunday, August 13.LL Cool J, more recently known for his acting, was one of the first hip-hop artists to achieve commercial success after his 1985 hit "I Need A Beat" from his debut album "Radio." But, his fourth studio album "Mama Said Knock You Out" in 1990 cemented his place in the hip-hop history books. Chicago & House Music: A relationship over four decades in the making The two-time Grammy Award winning hip-hop legend will have quiet the support during "The F.O.R.C.E Live" tour.Three-time Grammy Award winning supergroup, The Roots, will be embarking on the summer tour with LL Cool J. The Philadelphia-native band have been around for over 35 years and continue to redefine their style with hits like "The Seed (2.0)," "What They Do," and their Grammy Award winning single "You Got M...

Tornado Watch in effect through 1 a.m.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:10 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A Tornado Watch is in effect for much of the area, including Austin, until 1 a.m. Thursday for the potential of tornadoes.Severe thunderstorms are possible even outside of the Tornado Watch, with large hail and damaging winds the main concerns.We are concerned about isolated supercell development near or over the I-35 corridor this evening. Any storms that are able to develop could do so rapidly, and turn dangerous in a hurry. Make sure you download the KXAN Weather App and enable your location to receive severe weather alerts for your area.After an isolated severe storm, the "main event" comes along a cold front later tonight. The front is bringing scattered severe thunderstorms to the Hill Country this evening that are expected to move into the Austin area starting between 10-11 p.m. Storms will linger in many areas through the overnight hours.Showers will taper off early Thursday morning, with a pleasant, cooler day. Saturday night storms bring tennis ball size...

City of Austin Parks and Rec Dept. hiring for full-time temporary positions, offering up to $800 in bonuses

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:10 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Wednesday, the City of Austin announced a new bonus program within the Parks and Recreation Department to attract would-be workers with a bit of extra money.The city said the department needs cashiers, ground assistants and maintenance workers for the spring and summer. There are currently about 50 full-time temporary positions needing to be filled.People can get up to $800 in bonuses depending on the number of hours worked, according to the city.The city said an employee must work a certain number of hours until October 31, 2023, to be eligible. With 400 hours worked, there is a $400 bonus, and at 600 hours worked another $400 bonus would be added.The department is also offering similar bonuses to lifeguards this summer. The jobs themselves pay $20 an hour.