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Traffickers plead guilty to smuggling over $10,000 in endangered sea cucumbers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:19 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Wildlife traffickers pleaded guilty this week in federal court in California to illegally importing endangered sea cucumbers — which are prized in China for food and medicine and as a reputed aphrodisiac — from Mexico.Zunyu Zhao and Xionwei Xiao were charged with conspiracy and illegal importation of brown sea cucumbers worth over $10,000 from 2017 to 2019 and are scheduled to be sentenced in September and November, respectively. Prosecutors haven’t said where in the ocean the sea cucumbers were obtained. But the defendants were allegedly found with the smuggled bottom-feeders as they crossed from Mexico into the U.S. at Calexico. Zhao and Xiao agreed to pay restitution to the Mexican government’s environmental protection agency. They could get up to 25 years in prison.Attorneys for Zhao and Xiao did not respond to requests for comment.After seizing the sea cucumbers at the border, investigators found text messages and images sent between Zhao and Xiao...

Insurgents in Syria’s northwest kill at least 9 soldiers as fighting surges in other areas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:19 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Al-Qaida-linked militants attacked an army position in northwest Syria on Friday, killing at least nine government soldiers and wounding others, opposition activists said. There was no immediate word from the government.The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said nine soldiers died as well as one of the attackers, who belong to the al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, the strongest insurgent group in northwest Syria. It said 12 soldiers and one HTS member were wounded in the attack.Taher al-Omar, an opposition activist who closely follows HTS, said the attack in the northwestern province of Latakia killed 18 soldiers and several others.The attack came less than a week after insurgents in northwest Syria attacked an army position, killing and wounding more than 30 troops.A truce reached between Russia and Turkey in March 2020 that ended a Russian-backed government offensive on Idlib province has been repeatedly violate...

‘It’s putrid’: Something stinks in one neighbourhood. Residents are demanding answers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:19 GMT

In the bedroom community of Stoney Creek, in Hamilton, the sidewalks and playgrounds have been fairly quiet this summer.“On good days you’d see people jogging and kids playing,” said resident Tony DiMaria.But an ongoing stench is keeping people indoors.“A lot of people have been staying inside,” he said. “It’s putrid, it smells like rotten eggs, we’ve been dealing with this all summer.”Residents don’t have to look far for the source. It’s coming from a large landfill, which was here before a lot of the homes in this sprawling community were built around it.“We’ve had smells before but never this bad.” DiMaria said.While most complaints from residents hit a fever pitch this summer, the stench has been ongoing since April.“The odours started early on when they were constructing a new cell for the landfill,” said Hamilton City Councillor Brad Clark.“It seemed to be coming from a leachate pond and the company was quick to react to fix the problem but it hasn’t worked.”The landfill...

Russian students are returning to school, where they face new lessons to boost their patriotism

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:19 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Clad in white shirts and carrying bouquets, children across Russia flocked back to school Friday, where the Kremlin’s narratives about the war in Ukraine and its confrontation with the West were taking an even more prominent spot than before. Students are expected each week to listen to Russia’s national anthem and watch the country’s tricolor flag being raised. There’s a weekly subject loosely translated as “Conversations about Important Things,” which was introduced last year with the goal of boosting patriotism.A new high school history textbook has a chapter on the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the “special military operation” — the Kremlin’s euphemism for the war, and some basic military training is included in a course on self-defense and first aid.President Vladimir Putin even got involved, personally meeting Friday with 30 school students from different regions and describing Russians as “an invincible nation.” The Kr...

Canadian government offering exemption to Google, Meta in draft Online News Act regulations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:19 GMT

The federal government has released draft regulations for its Online News Act and revealed a new exemption that would allow Meta and Google to pay a certain amount to a group of news outlets.For Google, the figure is $172 million a year. For Facebook’s parent company, it’s $62 million.Instead of reaching deals with all major news outlets, the tech giants now have the option to reach a deal with a collective group that would include independent and minority language outlets. The minimum threshold could also include non-monetary contributions to Canadian journalism.The act, also known as Bill C-18, received Royal Assent in June of this year. It’s aimed at getting large tech corporations like Google and Meta to pay Canadian news outlets to share their content online.In a Friday news release, the feds say the proposed regulations will be published Saturday in the Canada Gazette. The government says the regulations, along with the accompanying Regulatory Impact Analysis...

Former prosecutor who resigned from Russia probe investigation tapped for state Supreme Court post

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:19 GMT

A former top federal prosecutor who resigned from the investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe has been tapped to fill an open seat on the Connecticut State Supreme Court.Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont announced Nora Dannehy’s nomination on Friday, calling his former general counsel “a woman of integrity who pursues justice wherever the evidence may lead.” Besides the Trump-Russia probe, Dannehy is well known in Connecticut for leading the successful federal corruption prosecutions of former Republican Gov. John G. Rowland in 2004 and other public figures during her tenure as the first woman U.S. Attorney in Connecticut.“Nora Dannehy is a person who knows what she knows, but you also know that she cares.” said Lamont, paraphrasing a quote from the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt. “She cares deeply about justice. She’s going to be an extraordinary associate justice on the Supreme Court.”She will be presented to the Democratic-controlled General Assembly for con...

ACC becomes latest super conference, expanding cross-country by adding Stanford, Cal and SMU

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:19 GMT

The Atlantic Coast Conference voted Friday to add Stanford, California and SMU to the league next year, providing a landing spot for two more schools from the disintegrating Pac-12 and creating a fourth super conference in major college sports.The additions make the ACC the latest power conference to expand its membership and footprint westward. Starting in August 2024, the league with Tobacco Road roots in North Carolina will increase its number of football schools to 17 and 18 in most other sports, with Notre Dame remaining a football independent.“We are thrilled to welcome three world-class institutions to the ACC, and we look forward to having them compete as part of our amazing league,” ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said in a statement.The ACC needed 12 of its 15 members to approve expansion, and the vote was not unanimous. Florida State said it voted no because the move did not fully address its concerns about the conference’s revenue distribution model.“All three school...

UK orders more than 100 schools to keep buildings closed, citing risk of crumbling concrete

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:19 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The British government has ordered more than 100 schools to keep some or all of their buildings closed when the new academic year begins next week because of concern that crumbling concrete threatens the safety of children and staff.The announcement late Thursday sent school administrators scrambling to find ways to accommodate pupils, with some expected to return to the online instruction used during the COVID-19 pandemic. The timing of the decision, just days before the start of classes, raised questions from parents and school officials about why the government didn’t act sooner.Schools Minister Nick Gibb told the BBC that a beam collapse over the summer sparked an urgent reconsideration of whether buildings constructed with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete were safe for school children. The Department for Education ordered 104 schools to keep some or all of their buildings closed when the autumn term begins Monday.“That’s a very cautious approach, so parents ...

2 men on water scooters killed by Algerian forces after crossing maritime border, Moroccan media say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:19 GMT

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Algerian forces killed two men and detained a third after they strayed across Morocco’s maritime border with Algeria on water scooters, according to Moroccan media reports.Such deadly run-ins are rare on the border, which has long been closed because of deep tensions between the two North African neighbors, linked to the disputed territory of Western Sahara among other issues.A French citizen was among those killed Tuesday, and the detained man is also French, the French Foreign Ministry said Friday. Moroccan media reports said the men involved were French-Moroccan dual citizens.Moroccan prosecutors opened an investigation into a “violent sea incident” involving five people on water scooters, the official Moroccan news agency MAP reported. Moroccan officials haven’t provided details about what happened.Algerian police and coast guard officials did not respond to requests for comment.Mohamed Kissi told Moroccan news website 360.ma that he...

Cubs calling up a prospect as September begins

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:19 GMT

CINCINNATI — As the Chicago Cubs begin the final full month of the regular season, the team is calling up one of their prospects.The hope is that Alexander Canario can give the team a boost as they look for their first playoff berth since 2020.The Cubs have officially called up outfielder Alexander Canario & pitcher Shane Greene from Triple-A Iowa..Both are eligible to play in today’s doubleheader against the Reds..@WGNNews pic.twitter.com/pSJt1YPLvW— Larry Hawley (@HawleySports) September 1, 2023The outfielder received his first call-up from the Cubs on Friday ahead of their four-game series with the Reds in Cincinnati on Friday along with right-handed pitcher Shane Greene. Canario will have the opportunity to make his major league debut when the teams meet for a doubleheader on Friday, with Game 1 starting at 12:10 p.m. and Game 2 at 5:40 p.m.It's been a great comeback for Canario, who is the 14th-ranked prospect in the Cubs' system according to MLB.com, after he suffere...