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Kim Gardner steps down as St. Louis prosecutor 2 weeks sooner than planned

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:55:53 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Embattled St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, who this month announced she would resign effective June 1, said Tuesday she is leaving office immediately, ending a turbulent tenure marked by frequent criticism, especially from Missouri’s Republican leaders.The sudden announcement created confusion about who is running the prosecutor’s office in Missouri’s second-largest city. A statement from Gardner’s office said she has been working with St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell on the transition so his office can take over city cases “to prioritize public safety.”But Republican Gov. Mike Parson, who will appoint a replacement, told reporters that he’ll announce his pick by Friday, and that until that person takes over, the Missouri attorney general’s office will operate the circuit attorney’s office, starting Wednesday.Parson met earlier Tuesday with Black clergy leaders who urged him to appoint a Black person to the...

Surging Alaska rivers leave behind huge chunks of ice, damaged homes

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:55:53 GMT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Ice jams in two Alaska rivers unleashed major, rapid flooding over the weekend that damaged homes and left huge chunks of ice as tall as 12 feet (3.7 meters) littered across communities in the state’s southwest and east.Floodwaters on the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers rose quickly Saturday before retreating Sunday, leaving widespread damage in communities like Circle and Crooked Creek, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Homes were lifted off foundations, smashed into by ice, or inundated with water.A flood warning was in effect until Tuesday evening for several villages in southwest Alaska. A flood watch was in effect for several eastern communities due to a surge of ice and water moving down the Yukon river, according to the National Weather Service. A heightened risk of flooding this year had been predicted due to above-average snowpack and low temperatures into the spring.Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued a disaster declaration for the communities of Eagle and Circl...

B.C. teen sustained head injuries before death, pathologist tells murder trial

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:55:53 GMT

VANCOUVER — A forensic pathologist testifying in the trial of a man accused of murdering a 13-year-old girl in Burnaby, B.C., told the British Columbia Supreme Court Tuesday that the victim sustained “blunt force” scalp and head injuries before she died.“They could have happened immediately before death or up to several hours before death,” Dr. Jason Morin said.The body of the girl, who cannot be identified under the terms of a publication ban, was found in Burnaby’s Central Park in July 2017, just hours after her mother had reported her missing.Ibrahim Ali last month pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the trial.Morin, who conducted the autopsy, said the girl died after being strangled, which caused the bursting of blood vessels from under her chin to the top of her face, and in her eyes.He previously told the court that the four-hour autopsy and subsequent neuropathology report showed there had been a lack of blood supply to the teen’s ...

‘Probably organized crime’: Montreal police probe wave of arsons, extortion attempts

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:55:53 GMT

MONTREAL — The greater Montreal area has witnessed a notable increase in arsons in recent months, with restaurants, cafés and vehicles the frequent targets.Police and other law enforcement experts say most of the fires are likely tied to extortion attempts by organized crime.“The first common denominator is there’s probably organized crime involved,” André Gélinas, a retired Montreal police sergeant-detective, said Monday in an interview.Gélinas, a former intelligence officer, said some of the fires could be connected to turf wars — notable examples in Montreal occurred among pizzerias and towing companies, he said. But what’s very likely is that most of the cases involve protection rackets, he added.Criminals, he said, offer business owners “protection” in exchange for fixed monthly payments. Those who fail to pay are vandalized by the same criminals.“What’s particular is organized crime is asking for money to protect the owners from ...

YouTube’s recommendations send violent and graphic gun videos to 9-year-olds, study finds

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:55:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — When researchers at a nonprofit that studies social media wanted to understand the connection between YouTube videos and gun violence, they set up accounts on the platform that mimicked the behavior of typical boys living in the U.S.They simulated two nine-year-olds who both liked video games. The accounts were identical, except that one clicked on the videos recommended by YouTube, and the other ignored the platform’s suggestions.The account that clicked on YouTube’s suggestions was soon flooded with graphic videos about school shootings, tactical gun training videos and how-to instructions on making firearms fully automatic. One video featured an elementary school-age girl wielding a handgun; another showed a shooter using a .50 caliber gun to fire on a dummy head filled with lifelike blood and brains. Many of the videos violate YouTube’s own policies against violent or gory content.The findings show that despite YouTube’s rules and conten...

Police make arrest in fatal downtown stabbing, identify victim

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:55:53 GMT

Toronto police have made an arrest after a man was fatally stabbed in downtown Toronto on Monday.Police say two men became involved in an altercation in the Charles and Yonge streets area at around 4:15 p.m. and one of the men stabbed the other with a sharp-edged weapon.The victim was rushed to hospital where he was later pronounced dead.He has since been identified as Marcus Roberts, 39, of Toronto.On Tuesday police arrested a suspect, charging Markland Watt, 49, of Toronto, with first-degree murder.Just days earlier, another man was fatally stabbed nearby in the Yonge-Dundas Square area.Richard Sasaki, 40, died after he was stabbed in front of a city-run supervised injection site on Victoria Street on Friday, May 12, just before 2 p.m.Toronto police identified the victim as 40-year-old Richard Sasaki. Photo: TPS.The suspect in Sasaki’s killing remains at large.

Clarification: Climate-Kerry story

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:55:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a story published May 14, 2023, The Associated Press reported that the American Petroleum Institute declined comment. The story should have made clear that the organization declined to comment on whether carbon capture technology could be fully online quickly enough. The story also included an incomplete sentence about the API’s position on federal carbon capture policies.The Associated Press

IRS moves forward with free e-filing system in pilot program to launch in 2024

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:55:53 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Most taxpayers are interested in filing their taxes directly to the IRS for free, a new report says, and that option will be tested next year.The IRS has spent the past nine months studying whether U.S. taxpayers want to see a free, e-filing system run by the government — and is now preparing to launch a pilot program.The prospect of a free, government-run, online tax filing system has been debated for a long time. Supporters argue that the option would make tax return services more equitable and accessible for taxpayers nationwide. But there’s also been pushback from some big tax-prep companies.Now, the IRS plans to launch a pilot program for the 2024 filing season to test a “direct file” system and help the federal government decide whether to move forward with potentially implementing it in the future, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel and the Treasury’s Chief Implementation Officer Laurel Blatchford said Tuesday.There are still few details available about the p...

UN: Africa’s Sahel desperately needs help to fight violent extremism and stop its spread

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:55:53 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Africa’s Sahel region has become a hot spot for violent extremism, but the joint force set up in 2014 to combat groups linked to the Islamic State, al-Qaida and others has failed to stop their inroads, and a senior U.N. official warned Tuesday that without greater international support and regional cooperation the instability will expand toward West African coastal countries.“Resolute advances in the fight against terrorism, violent extremism and organized crime in the Sahel desperately need to be made,” U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Africa Martha Pobee told a U.N. Security Council meeting.The counterterrorism force, now comprised of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania and Niger, lost Mali a year ago when its ruling junta decided to pull out. Pobee said the force hasn’t conducted any major military operations since January.She said the force is adjusting to new realities: France moving its counterterrorism force from Mali to Niger due to tensions with t...

Pennsylvania House control up for grabs again in special elections

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:55:53 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democrats’ narrow majority in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is on the line Tuesday with two special elections that will determine which party controls the chamber.One of those contests is expected to swing Republicans’ way, but the other in Delaware County, in the Philadelphia suburbs, will be more competitive. It’s the second time this year that Democrats have sweated the outcome of House special elections, and they hope to be just as lucky as before.The stakes are high: A Democratic victory in Delaware County would give first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro at least one chamber to aid his agenda going into the final month of budget negotiations. The results could also affect a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion rights that legislative Republicans are one House vote away from putting before voters as a referendum.In that race, Democrat Heather Boyd, a former congressional and state legislative aide, is competing against Republic...