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Colombia announces cease-fire with a group that split off from the FARC rebels

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:50 GMT

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s government and one of the nation’s last remaining rebel groups announced Tuesday that they will start peace talks next month, and enter a 10-month cease-fire that is expected to decrease violence against civilians.The agreement between the Colombian government and the rebel group known as FARC-EMC comes as President Gustavo Petro tries to bolster his plans to pacify rural areas of Colombia by negotiating simultaneously with all of the nation’s remaining rebel factions, under his “total peace” strategy. In August the Petro administration brokered a six-month cease-fire with the National Liberation Army, the nation’s largest remaining rebel group, and also set up a committee that will decide how community groups will participate in peace talks with that group.The FARC-EMC are a splinter group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The splinter group refused to join a 2016 peace deal between the main FARC group and the governmen...

Canada signs $3B nuclear deal with Romania, as Europe aims to wean off Russian energy

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:50 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada and Romania signed a $3-billion export development deal Tuesday that will see two new nuclear reactors built in the eastern European country, in a move that both governments’ energy ministers say will make it harder for Russia to use its energy exports as a weapon.“This is first and foremost about energy security,” said Romanian Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja at a press conference in Ottawa Tuesday. “Indeed not just for Romania but the whole region.”Burduja said Romania already has an agreement with neighbouring Moldova to share some of the power from the two new Candu reactors, which are expected to go online by 2032.The country is in talks with Ukraine, Hungary and Austria as well.The two new reactors will join two existing Candu reactors that have been delivering electricity from a nuclear power centre in the southeastern Romanian town of Cernavoda since 1996 and 2007, respectively.Burduja said those supply about one-fifth of Roman...

Over $1M in counterfeit merchandise seized by CBP at O’Hare's mail branch

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:50 GMT

CHICAGO — Dozens of counterfeit designer products with a suggested retail price of over $1 million were seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at O’Hare's International Mail Branch in Chicago.According to CBP, officers seized the shipment, which contained 67 pieces of counterfeit designer watches, bracelets, handbags and scarves as it was headed to a residence in Oklahoma on Monday night. Pritzker, Democrats return focus to reproductive rights ahead of next election season CBP says the shipments contained 53 watches with Rolex, Gucci, Hermes, and Louis Vuitton logos, nine bracelets with Rolex logos, three Louis Vuitton handbags and two Gucci scarves, all of which were deemed to be counterfeit by trade experts with CBP Centers of Excellence and Expertise.Image provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Image provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Image provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection According to the CBP trade experts, had the products been re...

'Dobbs decision just made me angry:' Pritzker, Democrats return focus to reproductive rights ahead of next election season

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:50 GMT

NEW YORK — Fourteen months before the next national election, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and fellow Democrats are gearing up to rerun a familiar playbook from the last election cycle."The Dobbs decision just made me angry," Pritzker said at the Clinton Global Initiative Tuesday.Pritzker, along with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, were front and center in New York, placing the national spotlight on abortion and reproductive rights."The biggest and most important decision that a woman will make in her lifetime is whether and when to have a child," Whitmer said. "If you don’t think that access to abortion is about the economy, you probably don’t have a uterus or know someone who does.""Every state around us in Illinois is an anti-choice state now," Pritzker added. "And that means that we’ve had a massive increase in the number of women who are seeking just to exercise their fundamental rights, their reproductive rights." Latest fro...

Clean up underway after suburban high school has flooding

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:50 GMT

BENSENVILLE, Ill. — Heavy rains over the weekend apparently left some damage at a high school in Bensenville.School staff said there was standing water, but it has been drained and affected areas were cleaned in preparation for school Monday. ‘Rain was everywhere’: South Suburban residents cleaning up after heavy rains, damaging floods Officials at Fenton High School confirmed they experienced some flash flooding.In a letter sent to parents, Dr. Sam Benseten, the associate superintendent and principal said carpets in a few office areas and classrooms were still damp.Benseten said a mitigation company is cleaning and drying the affected offices and rooms.

Did your kids buy gear in Fortnite without asking you? You could get a refund

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:50 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Parents whose kids bought virtual gear without their knowledge on the popular Fortnite video game could soon be able to get a refund.U.S. regulators are starting to notify more than 37 million people by email that they may be eligible for compensation as part of a legal settlement with Fortnite's maker, Epic Games Inc.The Federal Trade Commission announced late last year that Epic Games would pay $520 million in penalties and refunds to settle complaints revolving around children’s privacy and its payment methods that tricked players into making unintended purchases. Hey Dude to pay $1.95 million for suppressing negative reviews, other violations Part of that $520 million consists of $245 million in customer refunds, as part of a settlement finalized in March. It's meant to cover some of the costs of unwanted V-Bucks, the game's in-game currency, or virtual items such as outfits or cartoonish purple llama loot crates.Consumers have until Jan. 17 to subm...

Mom thinks someone stuck needle in daughter's arm, drugged her in downtown Austin

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:50 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN)— The mother of an Austin woman has a warning after she said her daughter might've been drugged — but not through her drink.She thinks someone might've also tried to abduct her.It happened in the Red River Cultural District in downtown Austin over the weekend. According to the woman's mother, her friend may have saved her life.On Tuesday, the trauma was evident when KXAN spoke to the woman who said she started acting out of character after two drinks.She asked KXAN not to identify her. She said she is timid about talking about what she remembers."I don't know," the woman said with a deep sigh. "We went to one of the places I'm really familiar with, and then I had one drink at the next place and went to the bathroom...from then on out. I don't know what happened."The woman told KXAN's Jala Washington the night was a blur. Her friend said she saw her trying to get into a rideshare with a stranger, outside a bar in the Red River area.When they both woke up the next morning...

Austin works on program to test for spiked drinks at bars

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:50 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- City staff in Austin are in the early stages of developing a program to distribute alcohol test strips to bars on Sixth and Rainey Streets that would allow patrons to see if their drinks got spiked."[It] is an important element to the overall goal of keeping our community safe, particularly considering a spiked drink is often a precursor to a more traumatic event," according to a spokesperson for the City of Austin's Development Services Department. The strips would detect the presence of date rape drugs. Council Member Zo Qadri said he put forth the idea after people brought concerns to his office about getting drugged downtown. While he's not connecting spiked drinks to the February death of Jason John, who was last seen on Rainey Street on a night out, he said subsequent conversations with constituents addressed druggings. "Folks talking about their drinks spiked, having their friends' drink spiked," Qadri said. "We want to make sure we're on top of that."The pro...

Gov. Abbott will call special session for school vouchers in October

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:50 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- After two weeks of a tumultuous impeachment trial following nearly nine straight months of work for the part-time legislature, Texas lawmakers are preparing to return to the Capitol in October for a special session that will determine whether Gov. Greg Abbott can finally finish his push to send public dollars to private schools.On Tuesday, Gov. Abbott is holding a tele-town hall with Christian faith leaders across the state to announce "School Choice Sunday," an event in support of state-funded education savings accounts and expanded parental rights taking place on Oct. 15. The Governor will discuss "how empowering parents with education freedom is the key to saving the hearts and minds of our children," the Texas Public Policy Foundation said ahead of the event. Rural districts fret as Gov. Abbott rallies supporters for ‘school choice’ at Capitol All year, the Governor has spent considerable time and political capital in support of his "school choice" initiati...

Nearing triple digits through the weekend

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:50 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Hot... and only getting hotter.Afternoon highs will run +5° hotter than normal this week with most areas running up the thermometer to the mid- to upper 90s. Mainly sunny and dry skies will stretch areawide with increasing humidity making the heat feel even more uncomfortable.Unseasonably hot through the weekA quick-passing disturbance may bring a small chance at a few showers late Friday, but eyes continue to stay focused on a cold front with a better chance of rain-bearing opportunities. New data points to this front arriving sometime late in the day Monday.Cold front brings opportunity for rain late weekend into next weekScattered showers look possible beginning Sunday and continuing through Tuesday. Meanwhile, temperatures will cool a few degrees to the low 90s. NEW BLOG: El Niño into 2024: What that means for winter and spring STORY: Central Texas drought ‘top one or two driest’ Austin Interactive Weather Stats (2023) FIRST WARNING WEATHER: Stay up to d...