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VP Harris, a former prosecutor, will lead new White House office of gun violence prevention

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has asked Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the first-ever federal office of gun violence prevention, which will seek to find ways around congressional inaction to stem rising violence.Harris, a former prosecutor and state attorney general, has years of experience on the issue and was the natural fit to lead the effort, White House officials said. Adding the new office to her portfolio means Harris is tasked with some of the highest-profile domestic issues — including voting rights and abortion, as well as the increase in migration to the U.S. But they’re also among the most fraught, difficult to solve and hard for Democrats to make headway on in Congress.“Throughout her career, the vice president has worked tirelessly to protect people from gun violence,” said Kristine Lucius, a domestic policy aide to Harris. “The vice president feels the urgency of this issue from every family she’s grieved with and from students across the cou...

Missile attack targeted Russia’s Black Sea fleet in Crimea, local governor says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:59 GMT

KYIV — A rocket attack was launched against Russia’s Black Sea fleet on Friday, with one missile damaging the fleet’s headquarters building in Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea, the local Russian-backed governor said. Five missiles were shot down with anti-aircraft defenses, according to the Russian defense ministry. “According to available information, one serviceman was killed,” the ministry said in a statement Friday.“The enemy launched a missile attack on the fleet headquarters,” Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said on Telegram. Shrapnel fragments fell near a theater. Information about victims was being confirmed, he said. “Another attack is possible,” Razvozhayev added, urging locals to stay out of the city center. Kyiv, as it usually does in these cases, did not immediately take direct responsibility for the attack. “The only thing I can confirm is that as a result of the aggression against Ukraine, the Russian troops in C...

Patriots mailbag: Will Demario Douglas escape Bill Belichick’s doghouse?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:59 GMT

It’s pretty clear what Patriots fans are most concerned about two weeks into the season based on this week’s mailbag questions: offensive line play and the team’s playmaking ability.Let’s dive heavily into those two topics in this week’s mailbag:@littleashtagDo you think the OL can get their act together so Mac has time to throw and connect with his receivers. Can the OL finally allow the run game to get going? What will it take to make those vital changes,I think they can, but it might take a while. And the hope is that it’s not too late in the season by the time the offensive line does round into shape.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots already have NFL’s next great special teamer in Brenden Schooler New England Patriots | Source: Patriots add third QB Will Grier, place CB Marcus Jones on IR New England Patriots | Patriots-Jets injury report: Pats defensive starter returns Thursday, O...

United States and China launch economic and financial working groups with aim of easing tensions

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department and China’s Ministry of Finance launched a pair of economic working groups on Friday in an effort to ease tensions and deepen ties between the nations. Led by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Vice Premier He Lifeng, the working groups will be divided into economic and financial segments.The working groups will “establish a durable channel of communication between the world’s two largest economies,” Yellen said in a series of tweets detailing the announcement. She said the groups will “serve as important forums to communicate America’s interests and concerns, promote a healthy economic competition between our two countries with a level playing field for American workers and businesses.”The announcement follows a string of high-ranking administration officials’ visits to China this year, which sets the stage for a possible meeting between President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in November at an A...

Monte McNaughton leaving provincial politics, Premier Ford to shuffle cabinet again

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:59 GMT

Ontario Labour Minister Monte McNaughton is leaving cabinet and politics to take a job in the private sector, Premier Doug Ford announced on Friday.McNaughton, who has represented the riding of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex since 2011, has served as minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development since 2019.“After serving the province of Ontario and the people of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex for the last 12 years, Minister McNaughton has informed me that he’s stepping away from public life to take on an exciting opportunity in the private sector. He made this decision based on what is best for him and his family at this point in his life and career,” Ford said in a statement.“Whether tackling Ontario’s generational labour shortage, connecting workers to better jobs with bigger paycheques, or breaking the stigma of skilled trades, Monte has been instrumental in our government’s plan to put workers at the centre of Ontario’s economy and unprecedented growth...

Norway drops spying claims against foreign student, says he’s being held now for a ‘financial crime’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:59 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norwegian authorities said Friday they have dropped spying allegations against an unidentified 25-year-old foreign student and are now holding him on suspicion of a “serious financial crime.”The student, from Malaysia, was arrested in Norway on Sept. 8 for illegally eavesdropping by using various technical devices. A court ordered he be held in pre-trial custody for four weeks, on suspicion of espionage and intelligence operations against the NATO-member Nordic country.The original allegations against him have now changed, with police saying Friday his use of signal technology was an effort to gain information for financial gain.Marianne Bender, a prosecutor for the Norwegian police’s economic crime department, said the young man used devices for mobile phone surveillance, or IMSI-catchers, in an attempt to commit “gross frauds” in country’s capital, Oslo, and in the city of Bergen, Norway’s second largest city.The International Mobile Su...

Zelenskyy in Toronto: Ukrainian president to attend reception, rally tonight

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:59 GMT

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s mission to drum up political and financial support for the Ukrainian war effort continues on Friday his first visit to Canada since the war with Russia began.Zelenskyy arrived in Ottawa late Thursday night and is scheduled to travel to Toronto later in the day for an evening meeting at a downtown hotel and a rally with officials and local community members.His first stop in Toronto will be at the Fairmont Royal York at 6:30 p.m. where he is expected to take part in a round table discussion at the hotel with Canadian business leaders. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will also be in attendance.Following the meeting, the Ukrainian president will accompany Trudeau and Freeland to a reception and rally at Fort York for 8:30 p.m. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow will attend the rally that is expected to include members of the city’s Ukrainian community.Security preparations were underway early Friday morning at both...

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says her husband has lung cancer

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:59 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The husband of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has been diagnosed with lung cancer, the governor’s office announced Thursday.Reynolds said her husband, Kevin Reynolds, 65, has been diagnosed with lung cancer, and expressed optimism about his treatment.“Our doctor has assured us that significant advancements in lung cancer treatment have been very effective and we have every reason to be optimistic,” the governor said in a statement. “We are confident in our team as we begin treatment, and we will beat this together.”Reynolds called her husband “my anchor throughout our 41 years of marriage.”Kevin Reynolds retired in 2017 after a career in soil and water conservation. He and the governor have three daughters and 11 grandchildren.The Associated Press

Russia says a Ukrainian missile strike hit its Black Sea Fleet headquarters, a serviceman is missing

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:59 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine carried out a fiery missile strike Friday on the main headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and one serviceman was missing, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Photos and video showed large plumes of smoke over the building in Sevastopol in annexed Crimea.The ministry initially said one servicemember was killed but then issued a subsequent statement saying he was missing.The Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said no one was injured outside the burning headquarters, and he didn’t provide information on other casualties. Firefighters battled the blaze, and more emergency forces were being brought in, an indication the fire could be massive.Sevastopol residents said they heard explosions in the skies and saw smoke, Russian news outlets reported. Images circulated in Ukrainian Telegram channels showed clouds of smoke over the seafront. The Associated Press could not immediately verify the videos.A stream of ambulances arr...

Stock market today: Wall Street higher, but likely not enough to this turn losing week into a winner

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:59 GMT

Wall Street ticked modestly higher early Friday, but not nearly enough to erase a week of losses driven by the potential for an era of consistently higher interest rates.Futures for the S&P 500 edged 0.2% higher while the Dow Jones industrials rose just 0.1%. Markets are poised to finish the week with significant losses after the Federal Reserve left its benchmark borrowing rate alone Wednesday, with officials at the central bank signaling that they may cut rates next year by only half a percentage point. Investors had been hoping for bigger, faster cuts to interest rates.Even with no increase at two of its past three meetings, the Fed has raised its benchmark borrowing rate 11 times in the past year-and-a-half in its bid to extinguish persistent inflation. High rates tend to hit high-growth stocks particularly hard, and Big Tech companies have been among the market’s biggest losers this week.The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite has tumbled almost 6% this week, twice the decline of t...