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House expels George Santos in historic vote

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:32 GMT

The House voted Friday to expel Rep. George Santos, ending the New York Republican’s tumultuous tenure in Congress and officially etching his name in the history books as the sixth lawmaker ever to be ousted from the lower chamber.The extraordinary move, unseen in 20 years, took three attempts over six months and required support from large numbers in both parties to meet the inflated threshold — two-thirds of the chamber — for expelling a sitting member. The final tally, 311-114-2, surpassed that mark, with 105 Republicans joining almost all Democrats to remove the scandal-plagued Santos after just 11 months in office. Reps. Bobby Scott (Va.) and Nikema Williams (Ga.) were the only Democrats to vote against expelling Santos. Reps. Al Green (D-Texas) and Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.) voted present.The measure brought fresh attention to the bubbling tensions within the Republican conference, but its ultimate success demonstrated just how toxic Santos had become in the eyes of even many o...

Hezbollah and Israeli troops exchange fire along the border as 2 civilians are killed in Lebanon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:32 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group attacked several Israeli army posts along the two countries’ border and Israel shelled a village in southern Lebanon on Friday, killing two civilians, officials said.It was the first time Hezbollah launched attacks on Israeli troops along the Lebanon-Israel border since the start of a seven-day truce between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah. That cease-fire collapsed on Friday, plunging the Israel-Hamas conflict back into open combat. Israel’s military said it hit the sources of the fire directed at the military. Lebanese security officials, meanwhile, said a woman and her son died when Israeli shells hit their home in the southern village of Houla. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Lebanon’s state news agency identified the woman and her son as Nasifa Mazraani and Mohammed. Their deaths raise to at least 16 the number of civilians killed by Israeli...

Agriculture officials confirm 25th case of cattle anthrax in North Dakota this year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:32 GMT

A new case of cattle anthrax has been confirmed in southwest North Dakota’s Grant County, bringing the number of cases in the state to 25 this year, according to state agriculture officials.It’s the first case reported in the state since August, all in Grant County and neighboring Hettinger and Adams counties. Those cases have led to about 170 cattle deaths, the North Dakota Department of Agriculture said in a news release Thursday.While it’s unusual to see a case so late in the year, Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said, the area has seen unusually mild weather recently that has allowed cattle to remain on pastureland where anthrax thrives. The year’s South Dakota outbreak is the worst since 2005. From 2006 through last year, 18 cases of cattle anthrax were confirmed. Outbreaks in the U.S. are rare, as a vaccine for livestock is cheap and easily administered.“Many producers in the affected area worked with veterinarians to administer vaccinations earlier this yea...

GOP businessman Sandy Pensler joins crowded field of Senate candidates in Michigan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:32 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Detroit-area businessman Sandy Pensler launched his second campaign for U.S. Senate on Friday, joining close to a dozen other Republican candidates in Michigan who are hoping to flip the open seat for the first time in over two decades. Pensler lost the GOP primary for Senate in 2018 by over 9 percentage points to now-U.S. Rep. John James, who would go on to lose to incumbent Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Pensler poured millions into his primary bid at the time. “The American experiment is in big trouble. It’s burning,” Pensler said in campaign video Friday. “I believe we can turn it around but we need to apply basic morals, take responsibility and fight like hell.”Pensler joins a crowded field of Republican candidates that includes former U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers and Peter Meijer and former Detroit Police Chief James Craig. The Republicans are vying for a seat that’s been held by Democrats since 2001 but that will be vacated by Stabenow, who...

Excerpts of Supreme Court opinions by Sandra Day O’Connor

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:32 GMT

The following are excerpts from Supreme Court opinions by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who died Friday at age 93:From Florida v. Bostick in 1991, involving police searches on buses:“We have held that the Fourth Amendment permits police officers to approach individuals at random in airport lobbies and other public places to ask them questions and to request consent to search their luggage, so long as a reasonable person would understand that he or she could refuse to cooperate. This case requires us to determine whether the same rule applies to police encounters that take place on a bus.The mere fact that Bostick did not feel free to leave the bus does not mean that the police seized him. This court is not empowered to forbid law enforcement practices simply because it considers them distasteful. The Fourth Amendment proscribes unreasonable searches and seizures; it does not proscribe voluntary cooperation.The cramped confines of a bus are one relevant factor that should be con...

Man charged with second-degree murder after four killed in Winnipeg shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:32 GMT

WINNIPEG — Police have charged a man in a shooting that killed four people in Winnipeg.Officers were called early Sunday to a home in the West Broadway neighbourhood, where they found five people wounded. A man and a woman were pronounced dead at the scene, and another man and a woman died later in hospital.A fifth person, a 55-year-old man, remains in hospital in “very critical” condition, Insp. Jennifer McKinnon told reporters Friday.“This has been a stressful time for, not only the Winnipeg Police Service, but the entire city and beyond,” she said.“It’s times like this that we really need to come together as a community to lend support to one another. We can’t do this alone.”Police identified those killed as: Crystal Beardy, 34; her sister Stephanie Beardy, 33; Melelek Lesikel, 29; and Dylan Lavallee, 41.Jamie Randy Felix, 32, who is from Winnipeg, faces four counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.McKinnon ...

Supreme Court decisions forced some rethink of oil, gas emissions cap, minister says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:32 GMT

OTTAWA — Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says two recent court decisions striking down some federal environment policies delayed plans to implement a cap on emissions from oil and gas production.Guilbeault in is Dubai for the annual global climate pact talks taking place over the next two weeks. Guilbeault said earlier this week that the framework outlining the Liberals’ long-promised oil and gas cap is likely to be published during COP28. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who will meet with Guilbeault in Dubai during the event, has promised to fight any emissions cap on oil and gas as an intrusion on provincial jurisdiction over natural resources. Guilbeault says two recent court decisions that touched on federal and provincial jurisdiction did force him to go back and make sure the proposed cap won’t intrude on that jurisdiction.One decision overturned parts of the federal environmental review process and another struck down the designation of manufactured plastic...

Biden is heading to Hollywood for a major fundraiser featuring Steven Spielberg and Shonda Rhimes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:32 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will head to Los Angeles next week for a big-dollar event that will be his first since strikes by writers and actors effectively ground his fundraising to a halt in the heart of the entertainment industry, which has long served as the ATM for the Democratic Party. The event next Friday at the home of Michael Smith, a celebrity interior designer, and his partner James Costos, a former HBO executive who was President Barack Obama’s ambassador to Spain, is expected to raise millions and draw a star-studded crowd. Rocker Lenny Kravitz is expected to perform.Director Steven Spielberg and his wife, Kate Capshaw, who starred in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” are among the hosts of the event, as are recording industry mogul David Geffen, “Scandal” showrunner Shonda Rhimes and “This is Spinal Tap” director Rob Reiner, according to an invitation obtained by The Associated Press.Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, is also a co-host. ...

Preliminary Dutch government talks delayed as official seeking coalitions says he needs more time

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:32 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The official appointed to investigate possible coalitions after the Dutch election won by Geert Wilders ‘ far-right Party for Freedom said Friday he needs more time because of reluctance by potential partners to join Wilders in a government.Ronald Plasterk, a former government minister from the center-left Labor Party, had been expected to present his report on possible formations early next week ahead of a Dec. 7 debate in the lower house of parliament.But in a letter to the lower house president, Vera Bergkamp, he said he hopes to report back to her early in the following week.The delay comes after two key parties backed away from joining a coalition with Wilders. The new leader of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) of outgoing prime minister Mark Rutte has said she will not join a coalition led by Wilders, but would offer it support in parliament.Pieter Omtzigt, the leader of another potential coalition partner, New Social...

Fed’s Powell notes inflation is easing but says further progress is needed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:32 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation is slowing steadily, but it’s too early to declare victory or to discuss when the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates, Chair Jerome Powell said in prepared remarks Friday. Speaking at Spelman College in Atlanta, Powell noted that consumer prices, excluding volatile food and energy costs, rose at just a 2.5% annual rate in the past six months. That’s not far above the Fed’s 2% inflation target. Still, more progress is needed, Powell said. He added, “It would be premature to conclude with confidence” that the Fed has raised its benchmark interest rate high enough to fully defeat high inflation. Nor is it time to “speculate on when policy might ease,” Powell said, referring to the possibility of cuts in the Fed’s benchmark interest rate, which affects many consumer and business loans. Instead, he said, the Fed’s interest-rate-setting committee “is moving forward carefully” — phrasing that analysts consider a sig...