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US and Kenya sign defense agreement ahead of planned Haiti deployment

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:25:25 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The U.S. and Kenya signed a defense agreement Monday that will see the East African nation get resources and support for security deployments as it is poised to lead a multi-national peacekeeping mission to Haiti to combat gang violence.U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Kenya’s Defense Minister Aden Duale signed the accord at a meeting in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The agreement guides the countries’ defense relations for the next five years as the war in East Africa against the al-Qaeda linked al-Shabab extremist group intensifies.Austin thanked Kenya for volunteering to take the leadership of the Haiti multi-national force and reiterated that the U.S government would work with Congress to secure the $100 million in funding that it pledged on the sidelines of the U.N General Assembly.Austin said the rest of the world ought to follow Kenya’s commitment to global security and “step up and provide more personnel, equipment, support, training and fun...

Texas Walmart shooter agrees to pay more than $5M to families over 2019 racist attack

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:25:25 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A white Texas gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack on Hispanic shoppers at a Walmart in 2019 agreed Monday to pay more than $5 million to families of the victims.Patrick Crusius was sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences in July after pleading guilty to federal hate crime charges following one of the nation’s worst mass killings. U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama signed off on the amount that Crusius must pay in restitution. Crusius still faces a separate trial in a Texas court that could end with him getting the death penalty.Police say Crusius drove more than 700 miles from his home near Dallas to target Hispanics with an AK-style rifle inside and outside the store. Moments before the attack began, Crusius posted a racist screed online that warned of a Hispanic “invasion” of Texas.Paul J. Weber, The Associated Press

Milan fashion celebrated diversity and inclusion with refrain: Make more space for color, curves

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:25:25 GMT

MILAN (AP) — More curvy models than ever showed up on Milan runways this season, due mostly to a single show by Brazilian designer Karoline Vitto, while designers of color showcased their work at collateral events meant to promote their visibility — along with diversity — in the backrooms of Italian fashion.Wherever diversity and inclusion were being celebrated during Milan Fashion Week, which ended Sunday, there was one underlying refrain: Make more space. CURVY MODELS GET OUTING AT KAROLINE VITTO“We made history! It was incredible,’’ world-renown curvy model Ashley Graham gushed as she embraced London-based Vitto after Sunday’s show. Graham is often the only curvy model on major fashion runways, but for this show she led a cast of models ranging in size from UK 10 to UK 24 (US 6 to US 20).By comparison, some Milan brands typically size up to 48 Italian (US size 12), while some, notably Dolce & Gabbana which sponsored Vitto, has extended some looks up to an Italian size 52 (US ...

US-backed Kurdish forces impose curfew in eastern Syria after new clashes with rival Arab militia

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:25:25 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces imposed a curfew after clashes erupted again on Monday in eastern Syria, where their fighters had battled for weeks with rival Arab militiamen, Syrian media and activists reported.The fighting in a region where hundreds of American troops are deployed has pointed to dangerous seams in a coalition that has kept a lid on the defeated Islamic State group for years. The reports say the Syrian Democratic Forces imposed the open-ended measure in several towns in Deir el-Zour province, including the town of Ziban, close to the Iraqi border where the Americans are based. Hundreds of U.S. troops have been there since 2015 to help in the fight against the militant Islamic State group. The oil-rich province is home to Syria’s largest oil fields.Al Mayadeen, a pan-Arab TV station, said several fighters from the Kurdish-led forces were killed after Arab gunmen took over several parts of Ziban on Monday. The SDF in a statement Monday said the gunmen en...

Music Review: Breathy, mid-tempo Wilco returns for ‘Cousin,’ which is heavy on the slower tracks

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:25:25 GMT

If you like your Wilco mid-tempo, melodic and breathy, then “Cousin” is for you. Taking yet another departure in tone after last year’s epic double album “Cruel Country,” the Chicago combo’s latest is more along the lines of 2019’s “Ode to Joy.” Wilco enlisted Welsh artist Cate Le Bon to produce the 10 tracks on “Cousin,” the band’s 13th studio record. It marked the first time since 2007’s “Sky Blue Sky” that Wilco went outside the band for a producer.The result is a deeply layered, musically rich record, albeit heavy on the slower tracks. At times, like on “Pittsburgh,” the soundscape is so thick it feels like an aural impressionist painting, with layer upon layer of music melded together to create a sonic image.This is music for late at night, with the lights down low, a favorite beverage within reach, and no distractions.“Infinite Surprise” is a standout, leading off “Cousin” slowly and then building to a cacophonous crescendo. But songwriter a...

Unifor’s narrow vote of support for Ford contract shows challenges ahead: experts

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:25:25 GMT

TORONTO — The narrow vote of support by Unifor members for the proposed contract with Ford Motor Co. has experts saying that reaching deals with General Motors and Stellantis could prove more challenging. Unifor members at Ford voted 54 per cent in favour of a new three-year collective agreement over the weekend, a sharp contrast to the 81 per cent support their last contract received.The union has said the deal will set the pattern for contract talks at GM and Stellantis, but Steven Tufts, a labour expert at York University, said the relatively low support raises the question of whether workers will accept the template.“The wild card here is will GM and Stellantis workers, will they ratify an agreement that’s based on the Ford pattern, or will they want more, given their companies are bigger and more profitable?” The Ford deal already does mark notable gains for the union, including a 20 per cent base wage gain for production workers over the contract, a move back...

Weather-related home repairs highest in Atlantic Canada: HomeStars survey

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:25:25 GMT

TORONTO — Homeowners in Atlantic Canada completed the highest number of emergency repairs due to weather-related events in the past year, according to HomeStars’ latest renovation report.One-third of homeowners across Canada who renovated or repaired their properties in the past year made weather-related repairs, while 41 per cent of those in Atlantic Canada specifically said they did emergency repairs, many of them because of catastrophic flooding.The survey shows 79 per cent of respondents say sustainability was important when choosing building materials for renovations, while 59 per cent who renovated over the last 12 months chose green products.HomeStars CEO Shir Magen says while inflation and interest rates put a damper on overall spending on repairs and renovations, 73 per cent of Canadians surveyed still plan to do at least one home renovation in the next 12 months. The report says Canadian homeowners who spent an average of $12,300 on renovations in the past year but s...

At least 1 person is killed and 18 are missing in a landslide in Guatemala

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:25:25 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Heavy rains set off a landslide in Guatemala’s capital early Monday sweeping several humble homes into a river and leaving a young girl dead and at least 18 people missing, including 10 minors.The 5-year-old girl was recovered by firefighters partially buried in debris and mud some 3 miles (5 kilometers) down the Naranjo river.The landslide swept away six homes and the families who lived in them around 2 a.m. Around 5 a.m. the firefighters announced they would start a search.Landslides are a constant threat during Guatemala’s rainy season, which extends to November. There are few controls on where people build their homes, especially in poor settlements, putting them at greater risk.Images provided by rescuers showed a long path of the landslide and evidence of domestic life strewn along the river bank. The military set up a command center to oversee the rescue effort.The Associated Press

UK police open sexual offenses investigation after Russell Brand allegations

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:25:25 GMT

British police have opened a sex crimes investigation triggered by news reports about comedian Russell Brand.London’s Metropolitan Police Force said Monday that it had “received a number of allegations of sexual offences” after a television documentary and newspaper investigations. It said there have been no arrests.Brand, 48, denies allegations of sexual assault made by four women in a Channel 4 television documentary and The Times and Sunday Times newspapers.The accusers, who have not been named, include one who said she was sexually assaulted during a relationship with him when she was 16. Another woman says Brand raped her in Los Angeles in 2012.The police force did not name Brand in its statement but referred to the recent articles and documentary. It said detectives were investigating allegations of “non-recent” sexual offences, both in London and elsewhere.“We continue to encourage anyone who believes they may have been a victim of a sexual...

2 charged with murder after suburban man allegedly hires hit on ex-girlfriend

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:25:25 GMT

NORTH CHICAGO, Ill. — Two men have been charged with murder following a plot to kill an ex-girlfriend in the northern suburbs, authorities allege.On Friday morning at around 6:05 a.m., North Chicago police responded to a report of shots fired in the 1000 block of Victoria Avenue. Officers at the scene located a woman shot to death inside of a vehicle in a driveway.Police initially told the public it appeared to be a targeted shooting and no one was in custody.Investigators allege Seferino Calihua-Rodriguez, 35, of Waukegan, had a previous relationship with the woman and became upset when it ended.Authorities allege Calihua-Rodriguez hired Misael Chavarin-Plazola, 26, also of Waukegan, to kill the woman.Chavarin-Plazola allegedly followed through and also attempted to kill a second person who was entering the vehicle with the woman, police said. Shots missed the other person.Calihua-Rodriguez was arrested on Friday and Chavarin-Plazola was arrested on Saturday.Calihua-Rodriguez has b...