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Could America’s giant panda exodus be reversed? The Chinese president’s comments spark optimism

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:21 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Panda lovers in America received a much-needed injection of hope when Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday that his government was “ready to continue” lending the black and white icons to American zoos. But it wasn’t certain when or where the pandas might be coming, although Xi gave a hint that California zoogoers, especially those in San Diego, might have reason to celebrate.Here’s a look at where things stand:U.S. panda woesThe number of giant pandas in American zoos has steadily dwindled as multiple exchange agreements have expired and not been renewed. The San Diego Zoo sent its pandas home in 2019 and the last bear at the Memphis, Tennessee, zoo went home earlier this year. Washington’s National Zoo sent its three pandas — Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cub, Xiao Qi Ji — to China one week ago. Currently the only pandas in America are at the Atlanta Zoo, and that loan agreement expires next year. Veteran China-watchers have speculated t...

California family sues sheriff’s office after deputy kidnapped girl, killed her mother, grandparents

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:21 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California family is suing a Virginia sheriff’s department that hired a deputy who sexually extorted and kidnapped a 15-year-old girl at gunpoint, killed her mother and grandparents, and set their home on fire.Austin Lee Edwards, 28, died by suicide during a shootout with law enforcement on Nov. 25, hours after the violence in Riverside, a city about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The teenager was rescued.Edwards had been hired as a Washington County sheriff’s deputy in Virginia just nine days before the killings, even though a 2016 court order prohibited him from buying, possessing and transporting a firearm. The court order stemmed from a psychiatric detention after Edwards cut himself and threatened to kill his father. The girl’s aunt, Mychelle Blandin, and her minor sister filed the lawsuit Thursday in federal court in the Central District of California against the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Edwards’ esta...

Judge rules against tribes in fight over Nevada lithium mine they say is near sacred massacre site

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:21 GMT

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A federal judge in Nevada has dealt another legal setback to Native American tribes trying to halt construction of one of the biggest lithium mines in the world.U.S. District Judge Miranda Du granted the government’s motion to dismiss their claims the mine is being built illegally near the sacred site of an 1865 massacre along the Nevada-Oregon line.But she said in last week’s order the three tribes suing the Bureau of Land Management deserve another chance to amend their complaint to try to prove the agency failed to adequately consult with them as required by the National Historic Preservation Act. “Given that the court has now twice agreed with federal defendants (and) plaintiffs did not vary their argument … the court is skeptical that plaintiffs could successfully amend it. But skeptical does not mean futile,” Du wrote Nov. 9.She also noted part of their case is still pending on appeal at the 9th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals, which indicated last m...

Ohio man sentenced to nearly 5 years in prison for attacks on police during Capitol riot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:21 GMT

An Ohio man who repeatedly attacked police officers as he joined a mob of Donald Trump supporters in storming the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Thursday to nearly five years in prison.Kenneth Joseph Owen Thomas has acted as a “one-man misinformation machine” since the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, using his social media platforms to spread false narratives about the attack, according to federal prosecutors. They say Thomas produces more than 20 hours of Jan. 6-related online content every week.“The primary message Thomas attempts to convey throughout all of his appearances is ‘Jan 6th was a Setup,’ words that are emblazoned front and center on the landing page for the website and ‘brand’ he created after his arrest,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich sentenced Thomas, 41, of East Liverpool, Ohio, to four years and 10 months of incarceration, according to online court records. The judge also ordered him to pay a $20,000 fine and $2,000 in restitution.Pros...

Illinois earmarks $160 million to keep migrants warm in Chicago as winter approaches

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:21 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Thursday that Illinois will funnel an additional $160 million to help migrants arriving in Chicago to resettle, including $65 million to help the city launch “winterized” temporary shelter to avoid people sleeping outdoors in cold weather.The announcement came on an unseasonably warm Chicago day in the 60s, but with a forecast for temperatures to dip as low as 17 degrees Fahrenheit (-8 degrees Celsius) next week. Most of the roughly 24,000 asylum seekers who have come to Chicago since Gov. Greg Abbot began sending buses last year hail from much warmer climates, leaving them vulnerable to Chicago’s winters.Chicago and other U.S. cities, including New York, have struggled to house asylum-seekers as winter weather hits and accommodate a growing migrant population. State officials said roughly 700 new migrants arrive each week. Similar issues could occur as wintry weather closes in on New York, which is struggling to accommodate a growin...

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accused of years of rape, abuse by singer Cassie in lawsuit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:21 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs, was accused in a lawsuit Thursday of subjecting R&B singer Cassie to a yearslong relationship that included beatings and rape.Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, alleged in the suit filed against the producer and music mogul in New York federal court that Combs brought her into his “ostentatious, fast-paced, and drug-fueled lifestyle” not long after she met him and signed to his label when she was 19 and he was 37 in 2005. Combs. attorney Ben Brafman did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. In a statement to the New York Times, he said Combs denies the allegations. Ventura, now 37 herself, said Combs, now 54, began the pattern of abuse soon after. The suit alleges he subjected her to savage beatings, plied her with drugs, and forced her to have sex with other men while he masturbated and filmed them. The suit says Combs forced his way into her home and raped her as the relationship was ending in 2018. “After years in ...

The protests outside DNC headquarters signal the divides in Biden’s base over Israel-Hamas war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:21 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — National Democrats this year have insisted the party is united and ready to rally around President Joe Biden heading into next year’s election. But a protest outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters signals growing tension within the coalition that has propelled Democrats to victory in recent elections.Clashing with police Wednesday night were demonstrators calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and criticizing Biden’s support of Israel’s offensive following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. Inside the building were Democrats organizing to try to take back the U.S. House next year, including moderates from swing states Biden flipped from former President Donald Trump. Both the protesters and the members of Congress on Thursday said they were shaken and angry at the other side. Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan, a longtime Biden ally, said: “We were so close. I mean, I was just on the other side of that door. I was rattled.”The political symbolis...

Canada’s long-standing support of Israel at the UN faces pressure in Hamas war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:21 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada’s long-standing support of Israel in votes at the United Nations has come under renewed scrutiny during the latest Israel-Hamas war. On Oct. 27, Canada abstained on a motion calling for a sustained humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, and last week, it joined Israel and the U.S. in voting down a motion about Israeli settlements in the West Bank.Canada was also among only four states that rejected a different motion last week calling on Israel to stop impeding the work of the UN agency that conducts humanitarian efforts for Palestinians, and it also rejected a motion affirming the property rights of Arabs inside Israel.Here’s how Ottawa has approached these votes over time, and what experts say it could mean for Canada’s relationship with developing countries.A LONG-STANDING POLICYIsrael is regularly subject to motions at the United Nations condemning its treatment of Palestinians. Many Arab countries argue that Israeli officials are violating inter...

Tesla didn’t squelch United Auto Workers message when it cracked down on T-shirts, court says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:21 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Automaker Tesla did not infringe on its workers’ rights to unionize when it ordered employees at a California assembly plant to stop wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the United Auto Workers logo, a federal appeals court has ruled. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a 3-2 decision issued last year by the National Labor Relations Board, which had said Tesla couldn’t prohibit union attire. The court opinion noted that Tesla allowed workers to affix “any number or size” of pro-union stickers to company-issued clothing. “We may have concluded differently had Tesla prohibited union insignia,” read the opinion issued Tuesday by a unanimous panel of three 5th Circuit judges.The Associated Press sent emails requesting comment to Tesla and the UAW. According to the court record, Tesla issued special black clothing with the company name and logo, dubbed “Team Wear,” to employees who worked on autos that had been recently painted. The clothing is issued to ...

Kansas to appeal ruling blocking abortion rules, including a medication restriction

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:21 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Republican attorney general in Kansas is appealing a state judge’s ruling that has blocked enforcement of multiple abortion restrictions, including a new limit on medication and an older rule forcing patients to wait 24 hours before they can get the procedure. Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a notice Thursday in Johnson County District Court in the Kansas City area, saying he will ask higher courts to overturn Judge K. Christopher Jayaram’s decision last month. The judge concluded that abortion providers were likely to successfully argue in a lawsuit that the restrictions violate the Kansas Constitution.“The attorney general has a responsibility to protect women against radicals who want to deny them the ability to make informed decisions about their own health and the welfare of their babies,” Kobach spokesperson Danedri Herbert said in an email. Jayaram’s order is set to remain in effect through a trial of the providers’ lawsuit at the ...