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Judge denies defense’s motion for mistrial during 5th day of trial for ex-Hialeah PD officer accused of beating up homeless man

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:47 GMT

The defense team for a former Hialeah Police officer accused of beating a homeless man asked a judge for a mistrial. Officer Rafael Otano is accused of kidnapping and beating Jose Ortega Gutierrez, along with former Officer Lorenzo Orfila, on Dec. 17, 2022.During the fifth day of the trial on Friday, the defense said that the state was confusing the jury by putting the officer on trial for policy violations rather than the crime itself. The state said no report was made about the incident at all, which ultimately broke policy.The defense argued that they couldn’t point the finger at Officer Otano for the assault.“When you put a police officer on trial, if you commit the state to bring in evidence against policy violations; didn’t turn on the body cam, didn’t fill out this report, didn’t call a sergeant, all those things, basically a jury can convict him for alleged kidnapping and some other alleged serious crimes based upon elements, violation...

This baby gorilla almost died before a zookeeper held him close. Now he has a new adoptive mom

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:47 GMT

Brisbane, Australia (CNN) — In many ways, raising a baby gorilla is very similar to nurturing human newborns, says Chad Staples, a father of four and the director of Mogo Wildlife Park, a small private zoo in the town of the same name on Australia’s southeastern coast.“The similarities are amazing. Even just looking at his eyes, it’s just like when you look at a newborn and they just take in the whole universe with every blink,” Staples told CNN of Kaius, the wide-eyed baby gorilla he’s reared from birth.In the early months, Kaius slept in Staples’ bedroom, and the zookeeper regularly fed him milk and changed his diapers – a difficult task to perform on a primate that’s much stronger than a human baby and able to grip with both his hands and feet.“With a baby, you’ve only got to deal with some little hands that might help, but with a gorilla, he was really right into making it very difficult,” he said. “I just laughed I thought, ‘Oh my goodness.’”As he got older, Kaius would cl...

Prigozhin’s lesson for Trump & Co: Don’t trust Putin’s promises

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:47 GMT

KYIV — U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy has joined ex-President Donald Trump in believing that there are deals in good faith to be made with Russian President Vladimir Putin. That’s a position that was also taken last December by French President Emmanuel Macron, who held out the prospect of negotiating security guarantees for Russia with Putin under a new security architecture for Europe. You try telling Yevgeny Prigozhin that the Kremlin keeps its word in deals. Two months ago, after Prigozhin’s abortive coup, Russia’s security services said they wouldn’t be pressing charges and Prigozhin was tricked into a false sense that he had received security guarantees. Putin’s real verdict was served up as an explosion in a private jet at 28,000 feet.Any Ukrainian can tell you Russia’s assurances that it’s not going to invade are worth zero. Moscow was meant to respect Ukrainian sovereignty and grant Kyiv security guarantees acc...

Boston city leaders pitch plan to take down tents at Mass and Cass

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:47 GMT

A new proposal from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu would give Boston police officers the power to take down tents and tarps in the area of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, Wu announced Friday. Wu announced the proposal alongside other city leaders at an event in Roxbury as officials continue efforts to tackle the ongoing substance use disorder, mental health and homelessness crisis in the area known as “Mass and Cass.”Now moving forward, Wu said she will ask the Boston City Council to approve the proposed ordinance allowing police to take down tents and other structures in cases where people living inside are offered alternative places to live, services, transportation and space to store their belongings. Among plans, Wu said the city is setting up an alternative location with 30 beds to help shelter people currently living at Mass and Cass. “We do not believe that living on the street in a tent in the public way is safe for anyone when there is adequate shel...

Taxi crashes into house in Roslindale

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:47 GMT

One person was taken to a hospital Friday after a taxi crashed into a house in Roslindale, police said.The crash happened near the intersection of Belgrade Avenue and Walworth Street around 9 a.m. Friday morning.  Video from the scene later showed damage to the house, with a set of front stairs completely smashed after the crash. Police said the person who was taken to the hospital was in the car at the time of the crash and suffered minor injuries. The car was removed from the area and city inspectional services personnel were also called to the scene to evaluate the house, according to police.

Wildfire smoke linked to asthma attack spikes in the US

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:47 GMT

By Cailley LaPara, Bloomberg NewsSmoke from Canadian wildfires that blanketed U.S. cities this spring and summer were linked to spikes in emergency department visits for asthma in New York and other regions of the country.U.S. asthma visits to emergency departments were 17% higher than expected over 19 days that wildfire smoke triggered air quality alerts for sensitive groups between April 30 and Aug. 4, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis.A woman walks as the sun rises behind the One World Trade Center and the New York skyline, while the smoke from Canada wildfires covers the Manhattan borough as it is seen from the Liberty State Park on June 8, 2023 in New Jersey. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)Nearly 26 million people in the U.S. have asthma, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. Wildfire smoke contains matter such as PM2.5 particles that can worsen air quality and exacerbate the condition. The number of actual ast...

Spanish soccer president spurns calls to resign after kissing player on lips at Women’s World Cup

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:47 GMT

By JOSEPH WILSON (Associated Press)BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Facing his possible removal from office, the president of the Spanish soccer federation refused to step down Friday despite the uproar he caused when he kissed a player on the lips after the Women’s World Cup final.“I won’t resign,” Luis Rubiales declared four times in quick succession at an emergency general assembly of the federation.The 46-year-old Rubiales, who was also chastised for grabbing his crotch after Spain’s 1-0 victory over England on Sunday, is under immense pressure to leave his post after he grasped and kissed women’s team player Jenni Hermoso during the awards ceremony in Sydney, Australia. The action marred the title celebrations in front of a global audience, and criticism has steadily mounted. Spain’s acting prime minister, players unions, players for Spain’s women’s team, and even some players on men’s teams have said he must go.Several S...

Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Barbenheimer are expected to add billions to US economy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:47 GMT

By Augusta Saraiva, Bloomberg NewsTaylor Swift, Beyoncé and “Barbenheimer” fever are giving a serious boost to the U.S. economy.The megastars’ tours and blockbuster films are expected to add up to $8.5 billion to U.S. growth in the third quarter, according to Bloomberg Economics. The nearly 50 U.S. concerts the artists have scheduled could add $5.4 billion to gross domestic product, while the films “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” are projected to add about $3.1 billion in consumer spending and exports from international ticket sales.Taken together, that would raise annualized real personal consumption expenditures and GDP by 0.7 and 0.5 percentage points, respectively, in the July-through-September period, economists Anna Wong and Eliza Winger wrote in a note late Wednesday. The economists nearly doubled their forecast for growth in the July-to-September period, partly as a result of the spending gains.Advertisements for the Oppenheimer movie is seen on the Chines...

Ask a travel nerd: How can I make solo travel affordable and fun?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:47 GMT

By Sam Kemmis | NerdWalletWhen I first became a digital nomad in 2018, I expected a life of adventure and ease. “No more commuting!” I thought. “No more parking tickets or forgetting to water my plants!”Yet far from making my life simpler and better, solo travel was tough at first. For one thing, the way I was doing it was expensive. For another, it was lonely. “No more retirement savings! No more, um, friends?”Not every traveler is looking to become a full-time digital nomad, but solo travel on the whole has become more popular over the past several years. Single-person flight searches were up 36% in 2023 compared with 2022, according to data from Kayak, a travel search platform. And Google searches for “solo travel” have increased 59% in the first half of 2023 compared with the same period in 2019, according to Google Trends.Solo travel can certainly be expensive. Booking a $150 hotel room might not be a big deal for families, but it adds up quickly for singletons. It can also be ...

First Nations ‘shutting down’ B.C.’s Joffre Lakes Park for more than a month

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:47 GMT

Two First Nations say they’re “shutting down” public access to B.C.’s Joffre Lakes Park for more than a month to allow for harvest celebrations.The Lil’wat and N’Quatqua First Nations say they’re asserting their title and rights to shared unceded territory to take time to harvest and gather resources.They say the park will reopen on National Truth and Reconciliation Day on Sept. 30.In a statement, the nations say the decision is supported by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and a Supreme Court of Canada ruling that said First Nations’ consent is required to use its lands and resources.The statement dated Wednesday says the goal is to “ensure our well-being for our future” and asks people to honour the decision.The B.C. Parks website says that due to “unanticipated circumstances,” the park is currently inaccessible to the general public and that day-use pass and reservation holde...