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Killing of Maryland high schooler solved 52 years later

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:38 GMT

MILLERSVILLE, Md. (AP) — More than a half-century after Maryland high school student Pamela Conyers was found strangled to death following her disappearance from a local shopping mall, law enforcement officials announced Friday that they finally solved the case.But the suspect, Forrest Clyde Williams III — whom detectives identified using DNA technology and genetics research — died in 2018 of natural causes. Officials haven’t linked him to other unsolved crimes, leaving many unanswered questions for residents of the close-knit suburban community outside Baltimore. The night of Conyers’ disappearance, the 16-year-old attended a high school pep rally and then drove to the mall. Her parents reported her missing when she never returned from running errands. Four days later, authorities discovered her body in a wooded area, not far from the family car she had been driving.There was no evidence to suggest Conyers knew her accused killer, Anne Arundel County police officials said at a news...

Joly pushes China to include Ukraine in peace talks, as South Africa seeks resolution

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:38 GMT

OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is asking China to expand its talks with Russia on a peace plan for Ukraine to include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.Joly says that earlier this month at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, she asked her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang to have Chinese President Xi Jinping speak with Zelenskyy.She was speaking at a public discussion on multilateralism with Norwegian Foreign Affairs Minister Anniken Huitfeldt in Ottawa.At that event, South Africa’s envoy to Canada urged both countries to support a peace settlement to the war instead of arming Ukraine.Meanwhile, Huitfeldt acknowledged that developing countries are upset that the Ukraine crisis has pulled the West’s attention and funding away from issues that have festered for years.Huitfeldt said that Norway prefers to take a neutral approach to conflicts and help peace mediations, but she said the invasion of Ukraine presents a security risk for all of Europe.This...

Mississippi man gets 2 years for threats to CDC officials

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:38 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi man allegedly upset about the COVID-19 vaccination program has been sentenced to two years in prison for threatening federal health officials, federal prosecutors said. Robert Wiser Bates, 39, of Ridgeland, placed phone calls to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta in July 2021 and left threatening voicemails for the agency’s director, Rochelle Walensky, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca.An investigation found Bates made similar threats towards Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease at the National Institutes of Health, LaMarca’s office said. Bates pleaded guilty Dec. 19 to charges of making threats in interstate commerce.The Associated Press

Sketch released as police try to identify victim of vicious attack west of Toronto

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:38 GMT

Toronto police have released a composite sketch of a male victim violently assaulted and left unconscious on a sidewalk west of the city.Authorities were called to the Celestine Drive and The Westway area in Richview around 11 p.m. on Sunday for reports that a young man was unconscious on the sidewalk.It’s alleged that a dark-coloured sedan stopped in the area, and two suspects exited the vehicle and opened the trunk. The suspects moved an injured man out of the trunk and put him on the sidewalk.The suspects then got back into the vehicle and fled the scene.Police have been unable to identify the victim, described as a young man or boy, anywhere from 13 to 20 years old. He remains in the hospital in critical condition, with injuries to his face.Police say they’re working with neighbouring forces and the Homicide & Missing Persons Unit to identify the young man and gather information on suspects and the suspect vehicle. The composite sketch was completed by a forensic...

Prosecutors accuse Barcelona of corruption in ref payments

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:38 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Prosecutors have formally accused Barcelona of corruption because of its payments of millions of euros over several years to a company that belonged to the vice president of Spain’s football refereeing committee.The decision, made official on Friday, was reported this week by Spanish newspaper El País. An investigating judge will decide whether the accusations should lead to charges.Barcelona, which denies wrongdoing, has been under scrutiny since the club’s payments became public. The payments were initially investigated as part of a tax probe into the company.Prosecutors in Barcelona have issued three accusations which include alleged corruption in sports and fraudulent management. The other accusation related to the alleged falsification of mercantile documentation.Spanish soccer has been rocked since it was revealed that Spain’s tax officials were probing Barcelona’s payment of 1.4 million euros ($1.5 million) from 2016-18 to a company b...

Russia lists World Wildlife Fund, others as foreign agents

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:38 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Friday added the World Wildlife Fund to its register of foreign agents, along with a prominent Kremlin critic, a renowned economist and a few others.Russian law requires individuals and organizations that are determined to have received foreign funding and to have engaged in loosely defined “political activity” to identify themselves as “foreign agents.” The label brings additional government scrutiny. It also carries a strong pejorative connotation in Russia. Authorities have used the law to discredit those listed and to stifle dissent. The World Wildlife Fund, which is headquartered in Washington, is a conservation group with projects throughout the world, including in Russia. Explaining the decision in Moscow, the Russian Justice Ministry said the organization, “under the guise of protecting nature and the environment … tried to influence the decisions of the executive and legislative authorities” and “hindered the implementation of...

Ex-Alabama player Miles indicted on capital murder charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:38 GMT

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles has been indicted by a grand jury on capital murder charges for the January shooting death of a 23-year-old woman near campus, his lawyer confirmed to The Associated Press on Friday.Michael Davis, who is also charged in the shooting death of 23-year-old Jamea Harris, was also indicted, defense lawyer Mary Turner told the AP. Turner only represents Miles.Tuscaloosa County District Attorney Hays Webb told AL.com that the indictments against Miles and Davis, who’ve been held without bond since their arrest, were issued on Wednesday.Harris was sitting in a car when she was struck by a bullet. A police investigator testified last month that Miles provided the handgun Davis allegedly used in the shooting. During a court hearing last month, Turner suggested Miles was in a defensive posture when he told Davis where the gun was located. But prosecutors maintained there was ample evidence to pursue charges in the shoo...

Stocks tumble as Wall Street wonders what will break next

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:38 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Fear rattled Wall Street, and stocks tumbled Friday on worries about what’s next to break under the weight of rising interest rates following the biggest U.S. bank failure in nearly 15 years.The S&P 500 dropped 1.4% to cap its worst week since September. That’s despite a highly anticipated report on Friday showing pay raises for workers are slowing and other signals Wall Street wants to see of cooling pressure on inflation.The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 345 points, or 1.1%, while the Nasdaq composite sank 1.8%.Some of the market’s sharpest drops again came from the financial industry, where stocks tanked for a second day. Regulators took over Silicon Valley Bank in a surprise midday move after shares of its parent company, SVB Financial, plunged more than 60% this week. The company, which served the industry surrounding startup companies, was trying to raise cash to relieve a crunch. Analysts have said it was in a relatively unique situation, but it&...

Oregon courthouse security video shows escaping defendant

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:38 GMT

HILLSBORO, Ore. (AP) — Newly released video in Oregon shows a defendant escaping from courthouse seconds after sheriff’s deputies remove his shackles. The defendant Edi Villalobos Jr. was appearing in court in the Portland suburb of Hillsboro on Feb. 27 for jury selection after he allegedly stabbed two men, and killed one, two years ago, KGW-TV reported. Security camera footage released by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday shows the 28-year-old entering the courtroom guarded by two officers. Villalobos is wearing a blue dress shirt and dark slacks.One officer removes removes Villalobos’ hand and leg cuffs, in line with legal requirements for the court session. Then Villalobos scoots behind two desk chairs and runs out the courtroom door. No one is blocking the path to the door. The footage then shows Villalobos racing down multiple hallways and through two doors as the two officers chase him and passersby get out of their way.Officers found Villalo...

Environmental groups celebrate as ExxonMobil gives up oil exploration permits in B.C.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:38 GMT

VANCOUVER — Environmental groups are celebrating after ExxonMobil relinquished offshore oil and gas exploration permits in British Columbia dating back more than 50 years. Lawyer Ian Miron with Ecojustice Canada says the company has been dropped from a Federal Court lawsuit filed by the David Suzuki Foundation and World Wildlife Fund Canada last year challenging the Canadian government’s continual renewal of the permits. Miron says the permits formerly held by Exxon covered “really environmentally significant areas” off the B.C. coast. ExxonMobil spokeswoman Margot Bruce-O’Connell confirms the company gave up nine permits it held in B.C. but is refusing to comment further. Miron says the groups’ legal challenge remains active against Chevron Canada, which also holds long-standing permits in the province.He says there’s a “policy-based moratorium” that prohibits oil and gas exploration in marine protected areas off the B.C. coast, but it̵...