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‘It’s just chaos.’ Halifax man learns home gone as officials warn of wildfire danger

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:29 GMT

HALIFAX — For the second time in the past seven years, Danny Osborne has fled his home because of a wildfire.In May 2016, he escaped the devastating fires in Fort McMurray, Alta., which forced the evacuation of 90,000 people and destroyed 2,400 homes and businesses. And his Alberta home survived the disaster.But on Tuesday, Osborne learned the Halifax-area wildfire that has been burning out of control since Sunday had gutted his new residence in Nova Scotia.He was among a group from the Yankeetown subdivision northwest of Halifax who were led by RCMP to their properties to retrieve pets after the wildfire swept through.“It’s gone,” the 45-year-old construction worker said after he returned from seeing what was left of his home. “It is completely flattened.”Osborne recalled how when he left his house after an evacuation was ordered, he saw black, churning smoke in his rear-view mirror and felt the same “gut-wrenching” emotions he endured during the...

North Korea launches rocket likely connected to military spy satellite, South Korea says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:29 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military says North Korea has launched a purported space-launch vehicle after announcing a plan to put its first military spy satellite into orbit.The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff on Wednesday did not immediately provide further flight details. Following the launch, officials in South Korea’s capital of Seoul sent alerts over public speakers and smartphones for residents to prepare for evacuation, but there were no immediate reports of damages or disruption. Japan’s coast guard said Monday that North Korea informed it of a plan to launch a satellite between May 31 and June 11.A satellite launch by North Korea is a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban the country from using ballistic technology because it’s regarded as a cover for missile tests.The Associated Press

New US aid package for Ukraine will total about $300 million and include munitions for drones

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:29 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. military aid package for Ukraine that is expected to be announced this week will total up to $300 million and will include additional munitions for drones, U.S. officials said Tuesday. The drone ammunition comes after new attacks by unmanned aircraft targeted Moscow. There has been no suggestion that U.S.-made drones or munitions were used in the recent attacks on Moscow, and U.S. officials have repeatedly said that Ukraine has agreed not to use any American-provided weapons for attacks on Russian soil. The Kremlin blamed Kyiv for Tuesday’s attack, but Ukrainian officials had no direct comment.But the new aid package comes at a tense moment in the war. The latest drone attack on Moscow follows Russia’s seizure of the eastern Ukrainian city Bakhmut after a nine-month battle that killed tens of thousands of people. Ukraine is also showing signs that its long-awaited spring counteroffensive may already be underway.The Russian Defense Ministry said f...

WATCH: Flames tear through balconies at Toronto apartment complex

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:29 GMT

A fierce fire that tore through apartments at a highrise complex at Spadina Avenue and King Street West was captured on video obtained by CityNews on Tuesday.Crews were called to the scene at around 2 p.m., and police quickly closed off roads in the area.Video shows rapidly spreading flames enveloping apartment balconies on the 11th and 12th floors.FIRE:Spadina Ave & King St. W.1:56pm– reports of fire on the 11th floor– police o/s– @Toronto_Fire o/s– road closures in the area– expect delays#GO1222524^av— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) May 30, 2023Curious residents could be seen peering out from their balconies to watch as thick black smoke filled the air.All roads in the area have since reopened.Toronto Fire crews were able to extinguish the fire, and no injuries have been reported.Toronto firefighters on scene at a fire on King St W. Crews have extinguished a 12th floor balcony fire. Crews are ventilating the unit and continuing operati...

White man who pulled gun gets probation for MLK Day confrontation with Black teens

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:29 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — A white man was sentenced to probation in South Florida Tuesday for pulling a gun and yelling racial slurs in a traffic confrontation with a group of Black teenagers protesting housing inequality on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2019.As part of a deal with with prosecutors, Mark Bartlett, 55, pleaded guilty to a hate crime and aggravated assault and also agreed not to possess a firearm for a decade, the Miami Herald reported. Bartlett must also perform 300 hours of community service and take anger management classes and racial sensitivity training. Bartlett could have faced decades in prison, but Miami-Dade County Judge Alberto Milian granted Bartlett a withhold of adjudication, which means Bartlett will avoid a formal conviction.Bartlett had previously claimed he was acting in self-defense during the confrontation, but following a 2021 hearing Milian ruled that Bartlett did not act reasonably in getting out of his SUV and pulling a pistol on the teenage protesters who ...

Hawaii reopens popular stretch of Waikiki beach after endangered monk seal pup weans

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:29 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — A young Hawaiian monk seal has weaned and relocated, allowing a stretch of a popular Hawaii beach to reopen Tuesday after it was made off-limits to protect the endangered pup while it nursed.Hawaii officials last month cordoned off a large stretch of a popular Waikiki neighborhood beach to protect the seal mother, named Kaiwi, and her days-old pup, named Pualani. State conservation and and resources enforcement officers kept around-the-clock watch.The birth of an endangered seal at one of Hawaii’s most popular tourism hubs highlighted the tension between protecting the islands’ fragile ecosystems and maintaining access to the pristine white-sand beaches that attract millions of visitors each year. Kaimana Beach is next to a mid-sized hotel and is a favorite swimming and sunbathing spot for locals and visitors. Starting six years ago, monk seals have occasionally given birth there, setting the stage for conflict between seal mothers and beachgoers.Authorities took ext...

New Mexico man charged in cold case: ‘I needed to confess’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:29 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Officers found Tony Peralta sitting on a curb not far from a convenience store where he borrowed a cell phone to call 911 and confess to the 2008 killing of his former landlord.Sweating and taking puffs from his cigarette, he told them he’s tired of covering it up, tired of living with the lie and tired of being overwhelmed by guilt. He agreed to take the officers to where he buried the body before standing up and volunteering to be cuffed.Police in the southeastern New Mexico community of Roswell released the 911 recording and nearly an hour of officer body camera video in response to a records request filed by The Associated Press. The May 1 footage shows Peralta repeatedly thanking the officers for picking him up.“I confess, man. I confess. I don’t want to live life anymore without confessing,” he said while sitting in an interview room at police headquarters. The uniformed officers and detectives who talked with Peralta peppered him with ques...

What to know about the Texas prison where Elizabeth Holmes is serving her 11-year sentence

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:29 GMT

BRYAN, Texas (AP) — Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes has reported to a federal prison in Texas — marking the start of her 11-year sentence for overseeing a notorious blood testing hoax.Holmes, 39, was convicted of fraud last year for duping investors who contributed hundreds of millions of dollars in the failed Silicon Valley startup. Holmes and Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, Holmes’ former partner and fellow executive who is currently serving a nearly 13-year prison sentence, said Theranos had developed a device that could quickly scan for diseases and other medical conditions with a just few drops of blood. But the technology never worked as advertised — leading to the meteoric downfall of a company that once promised to revolutionize health care.On Tuesday, Holmes entered a federal women’s prison camp in Bryan, Texas — a minimum-security facility where the federal judge who sentenced Holmes in November recommended she be incarcerated.Here are some things to know about Feder...

NYC enacts ‘Homeless Bill of Rights,’ but doubts arise over key provisions such as right to shelter

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:29 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Mayor Eric Adams allowed a “Homeless Bill of Rights” to become law over the weekend, a step supporters say will strengthen legal protections for the unhoused in a city struggling with a record number of people in its shelter system.The measure passed the City Council with bipartisan support in April as city shelters were swelled beyond capacity by the arrival of 70,000 international migrants since last spring.Among other things, the new law gives people the explicit right to sleep outdoors in public places — though not anyplace they like. New York City has other laws in place that could limit where outside the unhoused can sleep.Police can clear sidewalks and streets of anyone who impedes the flow of traffic. Most city parks close at 1 a.m. And people can’t generally sleep on privately owned property.The law also gives people the right to complain about shelter accommodations without repercussion and includes safeguards to prevent a person from being assigne...

With vocabulary more important than ever, National Spelling Bee requires different prep

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:29 GMT

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Navneeth Murali would strongly prefer for the Scripps National Spelling Bee to get rid of the onstage, multiple-choice vocabulary questions that were introduced to the competition two years ago.“It’s sort of hit or miss, the onstage vocab format, and it’s sort of brutal in my opinion,” the 17-year-old former speller said.The vocabulary questions are part of a series of changes to the post-pandemic bee, which is leaner and, in some ways, meaner. Accomplished spellers can be bounced from the bee without ever misspelling a word. And because there is no alternative path to the bee as there was in the late 2010s, the regional bees spellers must win to qualify can be incredibly tense, and sometimes shocking. Last year’s national runner-up, Vikram Raju, didn’t make it back in his final year of eligibility.The tweaks help ensure the bee, which began Tuesday with the preliminary rounds and concludes Thursday, finishes on schedule with a sole cham...