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Charges reduced against group who vandalized San Rafael church statue

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:12 GMT

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (KRON) – Catholics in Marin County marched in protest Tuesday afternoon over the district attorney’s decision to reduce charges for people who vandalized a church statue. Several people were arrested back in 2020 for the vandalism at Saint Raphael Church, but they won’t be facing any jail time. The Father Junipero Serra statue was destroyed by five people during a protest in October 2020. Churchgoers say they’re enraged to learn that charges have been reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor by DA Lori Frugoli. Man who allegedly killed 16-year-old at Livermore Taco Bell extradited from Mexico, arrested “We are very upset that the statue was torn down,” one churchgoer said. “We consider that a hate crime.”Father Junipero Serra, a Spanish-born priest, helped establish California’s Catholic mission. Today, he is today considered a controversial figure.“It represents not only catholic history, but also Native American Indian history,” Frugoli said. “It’s history. It h...

China warns of risks from artificial intelligence, calls for beefed-up national security measures

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:12 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China warns of risks from artificial intelligence, calls for beefed-up national security measures.Source

Yankees place Harrison Bader on 10-day IL but get Gold Glove catcher Jose Trevino back

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:12 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — The New York Yankees placed outfielder Harrison Bader on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring injury on Tuesday.Bader left Monday’s series opener in Seattle in the third inning after beating out an infield single. He was replaced by Greg Allen, who started in center field on Tuesday.Bader had an MRI on Tuesday that revealed a low-grade strain, and shortly before the game the Yankees made the move to put him on the injured list.“Probably be a couple weeks, but we’ll see. Obviously, a guy like him really, really relies on the legs,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It wasn’t bad, but enough to know that at least this 10 days are going to be needed.”Bader strained his left oblique muscle during spring training and the Gold Glove centerfielder didn’t make his season debut until May 3. He is hitting .267 with six homers, 19 RBIs and six stolen bases.Franchy Cordero was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take Bader’s spot.Bader’s i...

Loveland Reservoir reopens in Alpine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:12 GMT

ALPINE, Calif. -- East County residents are relieved that their beloved Loveland Reservoir is finally back open.It took a strong showing by the Alpine and Jamul community. They raised the alarm over the Sweetwater Authority draining the reservoir and fought hard to get it back open.East County families again enjoying the recreational activities that the Loveland Reservoir has offered for generations.“Just enjoying hiking and walking around and seeing the water birds that come in this area,” said Kim Dudzik Hales, an East County resident. “Enjoy the plant life and everything else.”But last November, the Sweetwater Authority drained the reservoir and closed it to the public. “I’m angry,” East County resident Warner Recabaren said. “The purpose of this of course was drinking water and they’re supposed to use it for drinking but they took it all -- 100% of it. All the way to dry and what you see down here now is nothing but a cemetery of dead fish.”Sweetwater Authority says the act...

Vatican questions $17 million donation to impact investing fund, moves to prevent similar gifts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:12 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The former monastery on a quiet residential street in Rome once sheltered Jews fearing deportation in World War II. Purchased by the Vatican in 2021 as a dormitory for foreign nuns studying at Rome’s pontifical universities, the building now stands empty, a collateral victim of the latest financial scandal to hit the Holy See.Pope Francis has asked aides to get to the bottom of how at least $17 million, including money to refurbish the dorm, was transferred from the Vatican’s U.S.-based missionary fundraising coffers into an impact investing vehicle run by a priest, The Associated Press has learned. Two years later, the U.S. fundraiser says the money is gone, and the monastery is shuttered. Its renovation is tied up in bureaucratic red tape, while the nuns studying in Rome are still housed at a convent a 90-minute commute away.The story of what happened to the money is one that has vexed Vatican officials on both sides of the Atlantic, all the more because the tr...

Australian general says US warns war crime allegations could prevent work with Australia’s SAS

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:12 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s defense force chief says the U.S. government has warned that allegations of war crimes against Australian soldiers in Afghanistan could prevent U.S. forces from working with Australia’s Special Air Service Regiment.Gen. Angus Campbell told a Senate committee on Wednesday that he received a letter from the U.S. defense attache in Canberra on March 2021 suggesting the SAS may have been “tainted” by the allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan raised in an Australian investigation report.Campbell said “one individual” had his “posted position adjusted” following the letter.The letter warned that the Brereton report, which detailed “credible information” that Australian soldiers had unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners and civilians, could trigger a U.S. law that prevents the country’s military working with units linked to “gross violations of human rights.”“I received a letter from the defense attache of the United States Armed Forces based in Ca...

Gaza Strip’s Palestinians polarized by unorthodox watermelon delicacy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:12 GMT

KHUZAA, Gaza Strip (AP) — Locals call it “watermelon salad.” But this delicacy popular in the southern Gaza Strip at this time of year is far from the sweet, refreshing taste the name evokes.“Lasima,” “Ajar,” or “Qursa” are different names for the hot, savory meal that takes hours to prepare. There’s watermelon inside, but one can hardly taste it.In a territory that prides itself on its culinary traditions, Lasima is surprisingly divisive. Residents in southern Gaza love the dish. Just a few kilometers (miles) to the north, people shun it as unclean, due to its hands-on preparation.Lasima is available just two months a year. It is made with melons that are picked when they are small and not yet ripe. They are roasted on a fire and peeled, and the soft flesh is mixed with roasted eggplants and thinly sliced tomatoes, lemon, garlic, onion and olive oil. Then it is eaten with a special dough baked in the ashes of the fire.The name “Ajar,” or “unripe” in Arabic, refers to the baby melon...

Ukraine peace plan only way to end Russia's war, says Zelenskiy aide

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:12 GMT

Kyiv's peace plan is the only way to end Russia's war in Ukraine and the time for mediation efforts has passed, a top aide to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.Chief diplomatic adviser Ihor Zhovkva said that Ukraine had no interest in a ceasefire that locks in Russian territorial gains, and wanted the implementation of its peace plan, which envisages the full withdrawal of Russian troops.He pushed back on a flurry of peace initiatives from China, Brazil, the Vatican and South Africa in recent months."There cannot be a Brazilian peace plan, a Chinese peace plan, a South African peace plan when you are talking about the war in Ukraine," Zhovkva said in an interview late on Friday.Zelenskiy made a major push to court the Global South this month in response to peace moves from some of its members. He attended the Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia on 19 May, holding talks with host Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Iraq and other delegations.He then flew to Japan where he met t...

EU's Borrell: Russia won't enter negotiations while trying to win war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:12 GMT

The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell (pictured), on Monday (29 May) said he believed Russia will not be willing to negotiate while it is still trying to win the war in Ukraine, adding that he was "not optimistic" about what could happen in the conflict this summer."I see a concentration of troops on both sides, the clear will of Russia to try to win the war," Borrell told an event in Barcelona. "(Russia) will not go to a negotiation until it has tried to win the war."He added that Russia has repeatedly signaled it would not cease the campaign until its military goals have been achieved.Borrell's comments came the same day Russia said its military had hit Ukrainian air bases and Ukrainian forces shelled industrial facilities inside Russia as both sides sought the upper hand ahead of what Kyiv hopes will be a decisive counter-offensive."I'm afraid that between now and the summer, the war is going to continue. (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has amassed over 300,000 men ...

80-year-old man arrested for fatal shooting in parking lot of Amazon Fresh store in Westchester

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:12 GMT

An 80-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a fatal shooting Tuesday outside an Amazon Fresh store in Westchester.  The deadly altercation unfolded around 4 p.m. in the 6800 block of La Cienega Boulevard, near Centinela Avenue, in the store’s parking lot.  Cellphone video captured the confrontation between the 80-year-old man, who can be seen holding a gun, and a 30-year-old man standing near a white pickup truck, as it escalated into a fatal shooting that was witnessed by several people.  “The young guy that got shot was being very aggressive,” Tracey Knox, who witnessed the shooting, told KTLA. “He was saying derogatory things to the African American gentleman, and I believe that there was some words that were said and he turned around and shot him.” Another witness said the whole incident started when the younger man drove his pickup truck erratically into the store’s parking lot.  “The guy that got shot came through the alley, I’m assuming to...