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Judge denies change of venue motion in rape trial of man also accused of Memphis teacher’s killing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:46 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee man accused of raping a woman a year before he was charged with kidnapping and killing a schoolteacher will have his fate decided by a Memphis-area jury when he goes to trial in the sexual assault case, a judge has ruled.Shelby County Judge Lee Coffee on Wednesday denied a change of venue motion filed by Juni Ganguli, the lawyer for Cleotha Abston, news outlets reported. Ganguli argued that Abston could not get a fair trial from Shelby County jurors because of intense media publicity surrounding the 2021 rape and the 2022 killing of Eliza Fletcher.Abston was not arrested on the rape charges before Eliza Fletcher’s killing because of a long delay in processing the sexual assault kit, authorities have said. Abston has pleaded not guilty in both cases.Coffee has scheduled an April 8 trial for Abston on the charges of kidnapping and raping a woman in September 2021. Abston is charged with snatching Fletcher from a street near the University of Memphis d...

Former Guatemalan president released on bond; leaves prison for first time since 2015

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:46 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Former Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina was released from prison — the first time since his resignation and arrest in 2015 — after posting bond of more than $10.3 million quetzales ($1.3 million), according to his lawyer.Pérez Molina was convicted and sentenced to 16 years in prison in December 2022 for a bribery scheme known locally as “La Linea” or “The Line.” But under Guatemala’s multi-step sentencing process, he appealed and the sentence has not yet been confirmed, making him eligible to post bond. He was released Wednesday night.“We filed this alternative measure that had already been granted beforehand,” said César Calderón, Pérez Molina’s lawyer.The bond posted allowed the former president to regain his freedom while the appeal is considered. He is not allowed to leave Guatemala and must check in with prosecutors every 30 days.Pérez Molina was also sentenced to eight years in prison in September after pleading guilty to charges of fraud, mon...

Initial foreign interference inquiry hearings to weigh confidentiality of information

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:46 GMT

OTTAWA — A federal inquiry into foreign interference says its initial hearings will help identify ways to make information public, even though much of it will originate from classified documents and sources.In a public notice, the inquiry says the five days of hearings on national security and confidentiality of information, to begin Jan. 29, will help set the stage for the next public hearings, likely to take place at the end of March.The March hearings are expected to delve into allegations of foreign interference in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, with a report on these matters due May 3.After its first report, the inquiry will focus on policy issues, looking at the ability of the government to detect, deter and counter foreign interference targeting Canada’s democratic processes.The inquiry has created an e-mail address — [email protected] — that can be used to submit information in confidence.It also notes that people fearful of testifying publicly may be permitte...

Jewish advocates say suspected hate-motivated arson at North York deli has left community reeling

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:46 GMT

The day after his store was targeted, the Jewish owner of International Delicatessen Foods in North York covered the words “Free Palestine” that had been spray-painted on his store.Toronto police responded to a fire at the location on Wednesday and discovered gas cannisters, smashed windows and the graffiti, leading them to investigate the incident as a hate-motivated crime. The fire was put out and no injuries were reported.The owner declined to comment to media outside the store on Thursday, but many customers and community members stopped by to show their support.“When the people are just coming and doing this kind of chaos, for myself it’s unacceptable,” said one community member. “[We] just need more respect, especially in this country with 150 nationalities around here, it’s a home for everyone.”“For me, it’s shock, for me it’s surprise, and I think it can’t be in [a] democratic country,” said anothe...

Woman dead after Thunder Bay police don’t respond to domestic disturbance call: SIU

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:46 GMT

Ontario’s police watchdog is investigating the circumstances around the death of a 21-year-old woman found in a Thunder Bay home after it says officers did not respond to a 911 domestic disturbance call. Thunder Bay police got the call at 2 a.m. on Dec. 30 from a home on Ray Boulevard, the Special Investigations Unit said in a release. The unit said officers did not go to the home after receiving the initial call. When police got a second 911 call, also from the house, to “cancel” the call for service, officers again did not respond, the watchdog said. A third 911 call was made from the house to indicate the woman was dead, and only then did officers respond.Two investigators and one forensic investigator have been assigned to the case. Thunder Bay police said they are “continuing to investigate the death and review the circumstances of the incident.”The service added it is cooperating with the Special Investigations Unit as its...

UN somber economic forecast cites conflicts, sluggish trade, high interest and climate disasters

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:46 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations issued a somber global economic forecast for 2024 on Thursday, pointing to challenges from escalating conflicts, sluggish global trade, persistently high interest rates and increasing climate disasters.In its flagship economic report, the U.N. projected that global economic growth would slow to 2.4% this year from an estimated 2.7% in 2023, which exceeds expectations. But both are still below the 3.0% growth rate before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, it said.The U.N. forecast is lower than those of the International Monetary Fund in October and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in late November.The IMF said it expects global growth to slow from an expected 3% in 2023 to 2.9% in 2024. The Paris-based OECD, comprising 38 mainly developed countries, estimated that international growth would also slow from an expected 2.9% in 2023 to 2.7% in 2024.The U.N.’s report — World Economic Situation and Prospects 2024 &...

Eli Lilly starts website to connect patients with new obesity treatment, Zepbound, other drugs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:46 GMT

Eli Lilly has launched a unique website to connect U.S. patients seeking obesity treatment to doctors, dieticians and its new weight-loss drug, Zepbound.The drugmaker said Thursday it will use the site, called LillyDirect, to pair visitors with third-party mail-order pharmacies for prescriptions and to care providers through a virtual medical weight-loss clinic.The site also offers a directory for in-person care and help with insulins and migraine treatments.Lilly says the doctors connected through the website are independent and not paid to promote its products, and the drugmaker also isn’t paid to send referrals to them.In November, U.S. regulators approved Zepbound, a version of the popular diabetes treatment Mounjaro, to be used as a weight-loss treatment. The drug joins Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy in a hot field for care, chronic weight management.At least 100 million adults are considered obese in the United States.Indianapolis-based Lilly started its site to eliminate some of the c...

Alabama judge puts a temporary hold on medical marijuana companies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:46 GMT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A judge has temporarily blocked Alabama from issuing licenses to medical marijuana facilities amid an ongoing legal battle over how the state selected the winning companies. Montgomery Circuit Judge James Anderson issued a temporary restraining order late Wednesday to stop the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission from issuing licenses for “integrated” facilities that grow, transport and sell medical marijuana. The coveted licenses, which the commission planned to issue this month, will be on hold while he hears a challenge to the selection process. Companies that were not selected to receive the licenses have challenged the selection process used by the commission. Anderson said he is sympathetic to concerns about delaying the availability of medical marijuana but said a pause on the licenses is merited.The restraining order is the latest development in a legal battle that has plagued the start of Alabama’s medical marijuana program. Alabama lawmakers voted to...

Founding member of experimental rock band Mr. Bungle suspected of killing girlfriend in California

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:46 GMT

CAPITOLA, Calif. (AP) — Theo Lengyel, a founding member of the experimental rock band Mr. Bungle, has been arrested on suspicion of killing his girlfriend after human remains were found at a park near San Francisco, police said. Alice “Alyx” Kamakaokalani Herrmann was last seen Dec. 3 in Santa Cruz County, where she lives, and became the subject of a missing person inquiry the following week, according to a statement from the Capitola Police Department. “As the investigation progressed, it became clear that foul play was involved, leading to the identification of Theobald Lengyel as a suspect,” Capitola police wrote in a statement. Lengyel, 54, was arrested Tuesday after investigators discovered human remains in a wooded area of Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley, the statement said. DNA confirmation is still pending but police believe it is Herrmann. Jail records show Lengyel, of El Cerrito, California, was held without bail on one count of first-degree murder. He’s scheduled t...

King’s daughter says wars, gun violence, racism have pushed humanity to the brink

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:46 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Citing gun violence in the U.S., the deaths of families in Ukraine and Gaza from war, and threats from artificial intelligence, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter said Thursday the world urgently needs to study and adopt her father’s philosophy of nonviolence to avoid self-destruction.The Rev. Bernice King used an address to announce events for the upcoming holiday in honor of her father to warn that humanity was at a critical juncture.“We are witnessing unprecedented loss of human life and especially among the Black, brown and indigenous people throughout the world,” she said. She also mentioned conflicts in Yemen, Congo and Ethiopia and cited racism against Black people as another threat to humans, saying it remained a “blight” more than 50 years after her father was assassinated. Overall, humanity was dangerously close to fulfilling her father’s prophecy that it could destroy itself through the misuse of its own instruments, she warned. Bu...