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Age of airman in leaks case not the issue: defense chief

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:33 GMT

MUSKO NAVAL BASE, Sweden (AP) — The age of the airman charged in one of the most significant U.S. intelligence leaks in recent memory — just 21 years old — has been the focus of a growing question: Why would the nation give someone so young access to some of its most important secrets?But the airman’s age has not come up as a focus of the Pentagon’s investigation into how the documents were leaked. That investigation instead is targeting what security lapses took place that allowed Airman 1st Class Jack Teixeira to allegedly remove the top secret level documents from the Massachusetts National Guard base where he worked. For the Pentagon’s leaders, who have seen 17- and 18-year-olds serve, age isn’t the issue. “The vast majority of our military is young,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters traveling with him in Sweden on Wednesday. “It’s not exceptional that young people are doing important things in our military. That’s that’s really not the...

CMHC reports annual pace of housing starts in Canada slowed in March

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:33 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in March fell 11 per cent compared with February.The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in March came in at 213,865 units, down from 240,927 in February.The drop came as the annual rate of urban starts in the month fell 12 per cent with 192,545 units.The annual rate of multi-unit urban starts fell 11 per cent to 151,769 for March, while the pace of single-detached urban starts fell 16 per cent to 40,776.The annual rate of rural starts was estimated at 21,320 units for the month.The six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate was 240,669 in March, down six per cent from 254,658 in February. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2023.The Canadian Press

‘Somebody Somewhere’ finds more joy, acceptance in season 2

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:33 GMT

There are no flying dragons, zombies or media moguls in the HBO series “ Somebody Somewhere, ” making it different in tone and scope from the network’s larger, flashier shows. But the Bridget Everett-starring series is unique in its own right for its themes of representation, acceptance and also normalcy in middle America.In the comedy-drama, Everett plays Sam, a single middle-aged woman living in Manhattan, Kansas, who when we first meet her, is grieving the death of her sister and distant from those around her. It’s like someone turns the lights on in her world when she befriends Joel (Jeff Hiller), a religious, gay man with a big heart who laughs at all of Sam’s jokes and loves her for who she is. Joel invites Sam to sing with his gay choir and she finds the acceptance and community she was looking for. Their circle also includes Sam’s sister (Mary Catherine Garrison) and Fred, a trans scientist played by Murray Hill. In season two, premiering Sunday...

Bulgaria temporarily bans imports of Ukrainian farm produce

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:33 GMT

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria on Wednesday became the latest European country to temporarily ban the import of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural produce following protests from local farmers, excluding goods in transit destined for export.The measure will be in place until the end of June. Officials said it will protect Bulgarian farmers’ competitiveness amid a market glut of Ukrainian grain that has lowered prices, and help them sell their own grain that has piled up, unsold, in warehouses.Agriculture Minister Yavor Gechev told reporters that Sofia is following the example of fellow European Union members Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia, adding that Bulgaria’s market was “really saturated enough with crops.”“Our own production is worth billions, and we believe it will be difficult to sell, so we will suffer serious losses unless we take measures” Gechev said.Similar moves by other countries in the region drew the anger of the EU’s executive branch, the European Commissio...

Madagascar faces ‘catastrophic’ hunger after 3 cyclones

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:33 GMT

MANANJARY, Madagascar (AP) — Battered by three intense cyclones in the space of a year, southeast Madagascar is experiencing the knock-on effect of those climatic disasters: “catastrophic” hunger in remote, inaccessible areas that is gaining little international attention, humanitarian groups say.Cyclone Batsirai hit in February 2022, followed two weeks later by Cyclone Emnati. Then, Cyclone Freddy made landfall on the Indian Ocean island in February of this year. The combined impact left 60%-90% of farming areas in the southeast badly damaged and food crops largely destroyed, according to a report by UNICEF and Madagascar’s National Office for Nutrition.The suffering is felt by people like Iavosoa, a desperate young mother whose 10-month-old daughter, Soaravo, was at risk of not living to see her first birthday because of acute malnutrition. Iavosoa, who only gave her first name to protect her privacy, also has a 3-year-old son suffering from moderate malnutrition.A team from...

Video shows Cook County correctional officer beating inmate 'more than 30 times'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:33 GMT

Note: Viewer discretion is advised in the video above.CHICAGO — Surveillance footage obtained by WGN News shows an inmate being beaten for nearly a minute at Cook County Jail last year. The correctional officer accused of the beating has been charged.Richard Smith, 44, is charged with official misconduct and aggravated battery following the incident at Cook County Jail on Sept. 20, 2022.In the video, an inmate, a 24-year-old man, is seen speaking with two guards for about 40 seconds in the jail's residential treatment unit.Video shows the confrontation turn violent with a correctional officer seeming to throw the first punch. After a few seconds of the man defending himself with some punches back, Smith allegedly started to knee him while throwing uppercuts as the other correctional officer, who has not been identified, held him.The inmate then falls to the ground as Smith is shown continuing to beat the man.Richard SmithMultiple correctional officers then move in to try to break up...

Marcus Stroman's outstanding start to 2023 continues in Cubs' win

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:33 GMT

OAKLAND — The word that fits the Cubs' Opening Day starter in 2023 is quality, because every outing he's had so far this season has been just that.For the third time in four starts, its helped the Cubs to a victory. Marcus Stroman pushed his ERA under one on Tuesday night in Oakland with six shutout innings against the Athletics, nearly matching the exact output of his previous three starts. While the offense didn't awaken in time to get him the win, a four-run eighth inning helped the Cubs to a 4-0 victory and a fourth-straight series win. Their record is up to 10-6 on the season as they look to sweep their first series of the year Wednesday at 2:37 p.m. at Oakland Coliseum. Stroman threw 100 pitches in the six innings, surrendering just two hits while striking out five batters compared to two walks. The outing lowers his ERA to 0.75 on the season, the second-lowest in all of Major League Baseball.Only Seattle's Luis Castillo is lower as he has a 0.73 ERA early in the season. In 24...

Austin student wins C-SPAN documentary competition

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:33 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A 16-year-old student from Austin has won a national prize with his documentary film.Carson Collins recently claimed top honors in C-SPAN’s national 2023 StudentCam competition.Nearly 3,000 students —from 40 states — participated in the project-based learning experience.In the end, Collins took home the title with his documentary "A Perilous Purchase: CCP Ownership of U.S. Land."The first-place prize included a $3,000 check, which he’s already putting to use for future projects."I've spent some of it on new camera equipment and new editing equipment,” Collins said. “I'm looking into creating my own video production business."Last year, the home-schooled student finished 3rd in C-SPAN’s competition.After working on this year’s film for three months, this win meant even more for Collins."It's been very meaningful to see the changes that I learned and initiated from last year’s video,” he explained. “For this video, I tried to adhere to the rubric and better adhere to w...

Herbie's Burgers opening new location in Schenectady

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:33 GMT

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Herbie's Burgers is set to open its fifth location in Schenectady. The restaurant will be located at 177 Jay Street. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Owner Nicholas Warchol said the new location is in the early stages, with them just signing the lease for the space. No opening date has been announced yet.Herbie's Burger just opened its fourth location at 415 Fulton Street in Troy on April 13. The company also opened a restaurant at 1827 Western Avenue in Guilderland at the end of 2022. Herbie’s has two other locations on Lark Street in Albany and Troy Schenectady Road in Latham.  Pinhead Susan’s in Schenectady closes, owner looking to lease The Herbie’s menu features different types of burgers (including vegan), fries and milkshakes. You can view the full menu on the Herbie’s Burgers website.

Kim Gardner faces more legal trouble after no-show at murder trial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:33 GMT

ST. LOUIS - As the St. Louis Circuit Attorney joined her legal team in court on Tuesday to call for a judge to dismiss Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s case calling for her removal from office, another judge was threatening to jail her for contempt of court.Circuit Judge Scott Millikan’s order said Gardner “must appear before this court to show cause why you should not be held in indirect criminal contempt of this court and be sentenced to a term of imprisonment, be required to pay a fine, or both."The judge’s action came after Gardner’s assistant, who was prosecuting an Arch grounds murder from September 2021, did not show up for day 1 of the trial on Monday. Millikan said there was no word from Gardner’s office as to why. As a result, the judge said the case may have to be dropped and suspect Jonathon Jones set free, though police said he and an accomplice were caught on camera shooting the victim to death. His attorney is invoking the defendant’s right to a speedy trial ...