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Protesters briefly storm the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad in protest over Quran burning

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:35 GMT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Hundreds of followers of the influential Iraqi Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada Sadr briefly stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad on Thursday in protest of the burning of a Quran in Sweden.An Iraqi security official said the Swedish Embassy was evacuated by security forces after the protesters breached the building, raising pictures of Sadr and flags of his militia, the Mahdi Army. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media.Some of the protesters also burned rainbow flags, a symbol of LGBTQ+ pride.Iraqi officials didn’t make any public statement on the storming of the embassy.On Wednesday, a man who identified himself in Swedish media as a refugee from Iraq burned a Quran outside a mosque in central Stockholm.The Iraqi security official said the man was an Iraqi Christian who had previously fought in a Christian unit of the Popular Mobilization Forces, a collection of mostly Shiite militias that were i...

Number of homeless residents in Los Angeles County jumps by 9% in annual count

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:35 GMT

The number of homeless residents counted in Los Angeles County has spiked again, increasing by 9% since last year in the latest marker of how deep the crisis is of people sleeping in cars, encampments or shelters in California. Results released Thursday from a federally required tally conducted in January found 75,518 people were homeless on any given night across the county, compared with 69,144 in 2022. About 46,260 were within the city of Los Angeles, where public frustration has grown as tents have proliferated on sidewalks and in parks. The increase was made up entirely of residents living on the streets, as opposed to those in shelters. The countywide unsheltered population increased 14% to more than 55,000, while the number of people in shelters declined slightly to just over 20,000.Since 2015, homelessness has increased by 70% in the county and 80% in the city.Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared a homelessness state of emergency on her first day in office last December. Sh...

Political consultant gets 24 years for paying hitmen to kill a colleague

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:35 GMT

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey political consultant who had two hitmen kill a colleague for $15,000 was sentenced to 24 years in federal prison on Thursday.Sean Caddle, a 45-year-old former Democratic campaign consultant, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit murder-for-hire in the killing of Michael Galdieri, whose apartment was set on fire after he was fatally stabbed in 2014. U.S. District Judge John Michael Vazquez sounded skeptical of Caddle’s acceptance of any responsibility, saying it sounded as if he was trying to “save his own skin” by cooperating with prosecutors in a separate tax and wire fraud case that led to a guilty plea from a former top aide to the state Senate president. “This is one of the most unusual and certainly one of the most heinous crimes I’ve encountered as a judge,” Vazquez said. Caddle, who had been out of prison on house arrest, was led away by U.S. Marshals after the hearing. He appeared before the judge in an untucked button-down shirt and k...

With Muslim members away for Eid, Minneapolis City Council kills rent control measure

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:35 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — While three Muslim council members were away to observe the Eid al-Adha holiday, the Minneapolis City Council narrowly voted to kill a measure that would have put a rent control question on the ballot this fall. A majority of the council supports a 3% annual residential rent cap. But with Aisha Chughtai, Jeremiah Ellison and Jamal Osman out on Wednesday, the council voted not to move the measure forward, Minnesota Public Radio reported.“Islamophobia!” one person in the audience blurted out during the meeting, the Star Tribune reported. Such accusations raged on Twitter, while at the same time, rent control opponents expressed relief the issue was off the table.The Wednesday meeting was scheduled more than a year ago to accommodate Eid, which at the time had been predicted to fall on Thursday, Minnesota Public Radio reported. But the date is subject to change depending on lunar observations.According to City Clerk Casey Carl, the first time anyone raised a concern ...

Italian researchers reach the edge of space flying aboard Virgin Galactic’s rocket-powered plane

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:35 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A team of Italian researchers reached the edge of space Thursday morning, flying aboard a rocket-powered plane piloted by Virgin Galactic as the space tourism company prepares for monthly commercial flights.The flight launched from Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert, with two Italian Air Force officers and an engineer with the National Research Council of Italy focusing on a series of microgravity experiments during their few minutes of weightlessness. One wore a special suit that measured biometric data and physiological responses while another conducted tests using sensors to track heart rate, brain function and other metrics while in microgravity. The third studied how certain liquids and solids mix in that very weak gravity.Virgin Galactic livestreamed the flight on its website, showing the moment when the ship released from its carrier plane and the rocket was ignited. The entire trip — from lifting off at Spaceport America to gliding back down ...

NFL suspends 3 players indefinitely for violating the gambling policy, a fourth gets 6 games

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:35 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Cornerback Isaiah Rodgers Sr. lost the biggest bet of his life Thursday.He was waived by the Indianapolis Colts shortly after the NFL suspended Rodgers and two other players indefinitely for gambling on NFL games last season.The Colts also cut backup defensive end Rashod Berry after Berry and free agent defensive tackle Demetrius Taylor received the same punishment for the same infraction. None of the three can seek reinstatement until after next season.Tennessee Titans right tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere received a six-game suspension for betting on non-NFL sports at the team’s facility, though he can participate in all of the team’s offseason and preseason activities including preseason games.For the Colts, the decision came swiftly and decisively — even for a potential starter like Rodgers.“We have made the following roster moves as a consequence of the determination that these players violated the league’s gambling policy,” Colts general manager Chris Bal...

What Google’s move to block news in Canada means for your next search

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:35 GMT

TORONTO — Google said Thursday that it will strip Canadian news from its services in response to a new federal law that forces tech giants to pay publishers for news they share through their services.The move stands to alter how Canadians access, read and even stumble across news stories.Here’s what it means for Canadians.Where is Google removing Canadian news from?Google is removing links to Canadian news publications from its search engine, news aggregator and discovery product.Will Canadians be able to access any news through Google?Canadian users will still be able to access news content about the country from international outlets such as BBC, New York Times and the Guardian, which Google is not blocking links to.When will the changes take effect?Google says it will stop linking to news from Canadian publishers as soon as the Online News Act comes into effect. The law passed last week but isn’t expected to come into effect until the end of the year.Why is Google doi...

Toronto needs to do more for vulnerable residents during air quality alerts: advocate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:35 GMT

Air quality alerts have become more frequent in Ontario as the country deals with widespread forest fires. At one point on Wednesday, Toronto had the worst air quality of any city in the world. Its expected to remain a concern throughout the summer and Toronto Public Health has warned spending time outdoors could pose various health risks if conditions are bad.But outreach worker, Lorraine Lam, tells CityNews the city has failed to accommodate vulnerable and unhoused populations when issuing alerts.“The reality is there are no options for people to go, and once again, we’re seeing the city is really inadequately prepared for this.”Lam said the city should be providing 24/7 low-barrier respite spaces for people who are vulnerable.“For a lot of people I work with, they also have underlying conditions around cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses as well that we know are exacerbated in these air quality conditions,” said Lam.This will lead to more people...

Anti-2SLGBTQ+ flyer passed out at Oshawa church

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:35 GMT

WARNING: This story contains details some readers may find disturbing.A priest at an Oshawa Catholic church allowed an insert containing anti-2SLGBTQ+ messaging to be distributed in a weekly bulletin.A flyer was passed around at St. Gertrude’s Parish church on Sunday, the same day as many annual Pride events took place in the GTA and Durham region.A Reddit user posted in the r/Oshawa forum photos of the flyer titled “On Pride Month and Flying the Rainbow Flag over our Catholic Schools”.The letter writes inaccuracies about the 2SLGBTQ+ community, including commenting on the colours of the flag as different “agendas” of the community.Further, under a section headlined “here are some Catholic facts to keep in mind,” the author writes that the green stripe of the flag “normalizes demonic behaviour” and finishes with “this insanity has gone too far.”At the end of the letter the author writes, “remove the ungodly Prid...

Anti-gang community defense activist Hipólito Mora killed in Mexico

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:35 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The leader of an armed civilian movement that once kicked a drug cartel out of the western Mexico state of Michoacan has been killed, authorities confirmed Thursday. Tributes quickly rolled in for slain “self defense” leader Hipólito Mora. He was one of the last surviving leaders of Michoacan’s armed vigilante movement, in which farmers and ranchers banded together to expel the Knights Templar cartel from the state between 2013 and 2014. Mora was one of the few fighters to reman in his hometown after the struggle, tending to his lime groves. But Mora complained in recent years that many vigilante forces were later infiltrated by the cartels, and that gang violence was worse than ever.“He was a man who could not be corrupted, a natural leader, an authentic voice,” said Rev. Gregorio López, a Catholic priest who accompanied and participated in the self-defense movement of that time. All the leaders of the movement were in constant danger, and López was known for wea...