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Police, city officials to testify in ‘Freedom Convoy’ organizers’ trial

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:21 GMT

OTTAWA — Police, city officials and former Ottawa mayor Jim Watson will be among 22 witnesses called at the criminal trial of “Freedom Convoy” organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber.As their trial got underway at the Ottawa courthouse Tuesday, Crown attorney Tim Radcliffe said he will also submit more than 100 exhibits. That will include dozens of videos, photos and letters from the Freedom Convoy protest, which gridlocked the city of Ottawa in winter 2022.Given the mountain of material expected at the trial the opening morning was largely spent with lawyers explaining how they expect the trial to unfold over 16 days of testimony.“We’re trying to put this case on the rails,” Justice Heather Perkins-McVey told the court.Jim Watson, who was the mayor of Ottawa during the protest, was at the courthouse Tuesday and confirmed he expects to testify.Lich and Barber were part of the original group that mobilized a convoy of big rigs and other trucks and cars t...

America’s small towns are disbanding police forces, citing hiring woes

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:21 GMT

GOODHUE, Minnesota (AP) — As Goodhue Police Chief Josh Smith struggled this summer to fill vacancies in his small department, he warned the town’s City Council that unless pay and benefits improved, finding new officers would never happen.When nothing changed, Smith quit. So did his few remaining officers, leading the Minnesota town of 1,300 residents to shutter its police force in late August.America is in the midst of a police officer shortage that many in law enforcement blame on the two-fold morale hit of 2020 — the coronavirus pandemic and criticism of police that boiled over with the murder of George Floyd by a police officer. From Minnesota to Maine, Ohio to Texas, small towns unable to fill jobs are eliminating their police departments and turning over police work to their county sheriff, a neighboring town or state police.The trend isn’t altogether new.At least 521 U.S. towns and cities with populations of 1,000 to 200,000 disbanded policing between 1972 and 201...

UK government lifts de facto ban on onshore wind farms

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:21 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Conservative government relaxed planning rules Tuesday and lifted restrictions that effectively banned the building of new onshore wind farms in England.Rules introduced in 2015 by then-Prime Minister David Cameron, who also led a Conservative administration, allowed a single objection to a wind turbine application to block its development. The regulations led to a dramatic decline in the number of new turbines granted planning permission.Some Conservatives pressured the current government to overturn the rules. Lawmaker Alok Sharma, who was president of the 2021 U.N. climate change conference and led the lobbying campaign, called them “outdated” and “not a sensible way for a planning system to operate.”Authorities said Tuesday that the eased restrictions mean that onshore wind projects supported by local residents will get approved more quickly. They said elected local officials will have the ability to make final decisions based on the prevailing view...

Tourist-flooded Venice OKs test of fee for day-trippers on peak visitor weekends in 2024

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:21 GMT

ROME (AP) — Tourist-flooded Venice approved guidelines on Tuesday for testing a new fee for day-trippers on peak visitor weekends next year. The city council gave the go-ahead for the guidelines, tweaking earlier plans for a fee that were announced a year ago. Final approval of the plan will come up for consideration on Sept. 12.The fee, initially 5 euros ($5.50) per day-tripper, is “not a tool for making cash,” the city said in a statement. Instead, the strategy aims to improve the quality of life for Venice’s dwindling number of full-time residents as well as overnight visitors, who already pay a lodging tax and so will be exempt from the fee.The test will last about 30 days and take place in 2024 on spring weekends spanning Italian national holidays and on summer weekends. The exact days of the test will be set by the city in the coming weeks.“The aim is to disincentivize daily tourism in certain periods, in line with the fragility and uniqueness of the city,” t...

Israeli raid into West Bank camp kills 1 Palestinian, separate shooting attack wounds soldier

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:21 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli troops killed a Palestinian militant during an army raid in the West Bank on Tuesday, Palestinian health officials said, while elsewhere in the occupied territory an alleged Palestinian assailant wounded an Israeli soldier in a shooting attack.The events marked the latest violence to roil the territory during one of the most violent stretches of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in nearly two decades. Israel has pressed on with near-nightly raids in the West Bank while Palestinian militants have ramped up shooting attacks against Israelis.The early morning military raid into the Nur Shams refugee camp near the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem on Tuesday prompted a firefight between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants. The army said troops found and demolished an explosives stockpile. Residents shared videos of bulldozers ripping off all the asphalt on the camp’s main road. The army also said that soldiers came under attack from armed gunmen and ...

Canada’s promised Indo-Pacific trade representative to be based in Jakarta: Mary Ng

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:21 GMT

JAKARTA — Canada will open an export development office in Jakarta and has named an Indo-Pacific trade representative to help Canadian businesses enter new markets in the region, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday while in Indonesia.“It’s really important for Canadian companies and exporters to grow in this region because when they do, that means good jobs back at home,” Trade Minister Mary Ng told reporters in Jakarta.That is where the new trade representative, Paul Thoppil, will be based, Ng said.Trudeau arrived in Indonesia earlier Tuesday with a commitment to keep growing his relationship with the southeast Asian country. One of his first events was an official visit with President Joko Widodo at his palace.The two leaders spent their meeting discussing their growing ties, which Canada views as necessary in order to increase its diplomatic and trade presence in the Indo-Pacific region. A trade representative was promised in the Indo-Pacific strateg...

Recovery mission in progress for missing Lake Michigan swimmer

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:21 GMT

CHICAGO — Authorities are looking for a missing swimmer's body after shifting to a recovery mission Tuesday morning.At around 9 a.m., the Chicago Fire Department said they responded to Lake Michigan approximately one mile out from McCormick Place.The missing swimmer took a 27-foot boat out before they disappeared, CFD said. Man dead, woman critical after being pulled from Lake Michigan At around 10:30 a.m., the rescue mission was shifted to a recovery with the Coast Guard and Chicago police are now leading.WGN News will update this story once more information becomes available.

4 shot during argument on West Side

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:21 GMT

CHICAGO — Four people were shot following an argument on the city's West Side.The shooting happened around 1:36 a.m. Tuesday on the 4700 block of West Gladys. Police said a group of people were in a verbal altercation with another group when an unknown person fired shots in the direction of the group.A 19-year-old woman was shot in the right buttocks and transported to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition. A 20-year-old man was shot in the left arm and groin area, and was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition. Man dead, woman critical after being pulled from Lake Michigan An 18-year-old man was shot in the right shin and transported to Stroger Hospital in good condition. Another 18-year-old man sustained a graze wound to the left shoulder and refused medical attention.No one is in custody. Area Four Detectives are investigating.

McConnell does not have seizure disorder, did not suffer stroke, says Capitol physician

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:21 GMT

Brian Monahan, the Capitol's attending physician, said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) does not have a seizure disorder and did not suffer a stroke after a medical episode last week.McConnell's office on Tuesday released a letter from Monahan to the GOP leader outlining the results of an exam.McConnell froze for the second time in recent months last week when a reporter in Covington, Ky., asked him about his political plans when his term is up in 2026, leading to concern about this health. A spokesperson for the GOP leader said that the 30-second freeze came after he became "lightheaded." "My examination of you following your August 30, 2023 brief episode included several medical evaluations: brain MRI imaging, EEG study and consultations with several neurologists for a comprehensive neurology assessment," Monahan said. "There is no evidence that you have a seizure disorder or that you experienced a stroke, TIA or movement disorder such as Parkinson’s disease." "...

Court strikes down Alabama congressional map in scathing opinion

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:21 GMT

(The Hill) -- A three-judge panel struck down Alabama’s new congressional map Tuesday, finding the GOP-led state fell short of complying with the Supreme Court’s recent directive.The ruling paves the way for a court-appointed official to instead draw the lines for the 2024 election cycle.“And we are struck by the extraordinary circumstance we face,” the federal judges wrote in a 196-page opinion.“We are not aware of any other case in which a state legislature — faced with a federal court order declaring that its electoral plan unlawfully dilutes minority votes and requiring a plan that provides an additional opportunity district — responded with a plan that the state concedes does not provide that district,” they continued.The ruling orders a court-appointed special master to submit three new maps by Sept. 25 that fix the dilution of Black voters in the state. It could provide a boost to Democrats as they attempt to retake the House in 2024.Alabama had submitted the new map aft...