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88-year-old Australian free 7 years after kidnapping in West Africa

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:11 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An 88-year-old Australian doctor held captive in West Africa for more than seven years has been released, the Australian government said on Friday.Kenneth Elliott, from the west coast city of Perth, was safe and well and had been reunited with his wife Jocelyn and their children, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement.Elliott and his wife were kidnapped by Islamic extremists in northern Burkina Faso in January 2016 near the border with Mali and Niger, where they were running a medical clinic. Jocelyn Elliott was released a month later.Wong said the Australian government and the Elliott family have worked tirelessly toward Elliott’s release. She did not detail the circumstances of his release.“We wish to express our thanks to God and all who have continued to pray for us,” Elliott’s family said in a statement released by the minister’s department.“We express our relief that Dr. Elliott is free and thank the Australian government and all who have be...

$3 billion accounting error means the Pentagon can send more weapons to Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:11 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has overestimated the value of the weapons it has sent to Ukraine by at least $3 billion — an accounting error that could be a boon for the war effort because it will allow the Defense Department to send more weapons now without asking Congress for more money. The acknowledgment Thursday comes at a time when Pentagon is under increased pressure by Congress to show accountability for the billions of dollars it has sent in weapons, ammunition and equipment to Ukraine and as some lawmakers question whether that level of support should continue. It also could free up more money for critical weapons as Ukraine is on the verge of a much anticipated counteroffensive — which will require as much military aid as they can get. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has previously said the offensive was delayed because they did not yet have everything they needed. The error was caused when officials overvalued some of the systems sent to Ukraine, using the value...

Trial over Kari Lake’s last challenge to loss in Arizona governor’s race ends for 2nd day

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:11 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — The trial for Kari Lake’s only remaining legal claim in her challenge to the Arizona governor’s race ended Thursday without a decision. Attorneys for Gov. Katie Hobbs, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Maricopa County, who had yet to bring out any of their own witnesses, asked Judge Peter Thompson to go ahead and enter a judgment based on partial findings. Thompson declined but cautioned it is not meant “to be a comment either way on anything. I’m reserving until I hear everything where this comes out.”The judge is allowing the Republican gubernatorial candidate three days to prove county election officials failed to perform higher-level signature verifications on mail-in ballots that had been flagged. Maricopa County has a failed process for verifying thousands of ballot signatures that even some of its own workers question, her attorneys argued in court Wednesday.Lake’s lawyers spent most of the trial’s first day showing video ...

Saskatchewan police chief retires after report finds neglect of duty in child death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:11 GMT

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. — A Saskatchewan police chief says he is retiring after a report found officers who responded to a domestic violence call didn’t check on the well-being of a toddler in the hours before the child was killed.Chief Jonathan Bergen of the Prince Albert Police Service says he is unable to accept the responsibilities needed to stay in the position.The Public Complaints Commission report into last year’s death of 13-month-old Tanner Brass says two officers neglected their duty in the case.The boy’s father has been charged with second-degree murder and his trial is scheduled for next year.The toddler’s mother has demanded the officers be fired, alleging she was racially profiled when she called for help and officers took her to a police station, leaving the boy with his father.Bergen says there have been attacks on his leadership and his family and that any decision to discipline the officers could be misrepresented as biased.This report by The Canadian Pre...

Chicago man arrested in connection with April 2022 homicide in Maywood

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:11 GMT

MAYWOOD, Ill. — A Chicago man has been arrested in connection with the death of a man found in his car last year in Maywood, according to police.Kevaughn Mickles, 19, was arrested Tuesday in connection with the death of Xavier Harvey, 33, according to a news release from the Maywood Police Department. Father found Naperville Snapchat predator hiding in daughter’s closet, police say Mickles is charged with one count of first-degree murder and is being held without bond, according to police.Harvey was found shot in his car on April 1, 2022, near 10th Avenue and Lexington Street.Anyone with information is asked to call Sgt. Pezdek at 708-368-4131 or report tips anonymously by calling 708-450-1787.

Family seeks answers after mother dies at Lincolnshire nursing facility

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:11 GMT

LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. -- An Illinois man points to negligence and calls his mother's passing a wrongful death due to the lack of care at a Lincolnshire nursing home earlier this month.Barbara Demar was 89-years-old. She had lived at a nursing facility for about five years before her family decided to move her to a different nursing home following the staffing shortage that was reported earlier this month."This transition put her in a place that was very tough," David Blair, the mother was former resident of Warren Barr, said.David Blair managed to move his 89-year-old mother, Barbara Demar, out of the formally known Warren Barr facility the same day the staffing shortage was reported on may first."I was there that day. It was like a scene out of zombies, nobody there, patients walking around, no staff, police and fire, ems, just chaotic," Blair said.According to the Lincolnshire Police Department and letters shared from family members with WGN, the property was in transition back to it...

2 workers missing, 15 others rescued in 5-alarm NC apartment complex fire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:11 GMT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Two construction workers remain missing as firefighters across Charlotte battled a massive five-alarm fire Thursday at a construction site in the city's SouthPark area. Fifteen other workers were rescued earlier Thursday.In addition to the multiple rescues, one person was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries, and two others were evaluated at the scene, officials confirmed. The apartment complex fire broke out just after 9 a.m. Thursday, in the 7700 block of Liberty Row Drive. Large black clouds of smoke and flames could be seen from miles away. SouthPark apartment complex destroyed in fire was set to open in 2024 Thick smoke and soot were filling the streets surrounding the immediate area. Many were observed watching the fire, wearing masks, and coughing as crews responded. Emergency officials warned everyone to avoid the area as smoke was decreasing air quality. More than 90 firefighters responded to the fire and battled the flames in ...

Austin lowering speed limits on North Lamar Boulevard

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:11 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Drivers along a stretch of North Lamar Boulevard will be asked to drive slower after people in the area asked the Texas Department of Transportation to change the speed limit. Austin City Council voted Thursday to approve modifications to speed limits between Parmer Lane and Braker Lane on North Lamar. Right now, the speed limit is 50 miles per hour unless in a school zone. After the change Thursday, the speed limit will be dropped to 45 miles per hour between Parmer Lane and Oakbrook Drive. From Oakbrook Drive to Braker Lane will now be 40 miles per hour. "On Lamar, it's just so hectic and it always feels like a rat race and people are trying to cut people off and so yeah, slowing down the traffic here would be a welcome change," Jake, a man who lives on the stretch of the road told KXAN. "People are still gonna speed. That's just the truth of the fact. If you want to get caught by police that's up to you. You take the risk," another person who lives on Parmer told...

Texas mother fights for swim school legislation after 3-year-old son drowns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:11 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A bill one Texas mother said is designed to better protect children at swim schools is in jeopardy at the Texas Capitol this week as we near the end of the session. It would take a last-minute push for the Mitchell Chang Swim Safety Act to pass in the Senate.  The bill is named after three-year-old Mitchell Chang, who drowned after a parent's night out event at a Texas swim school.  "The best way to describe him was warmth -- you just felt him when he came in the room," said April Chang, Mitchell's mother. Her family enjoyed that warmth, his smile and spirit, until 2018.  That's when they took Mitchell and his brother to a parent's night out event at a swim school in San Antonio. "It was the first time they were left somewhere besides their pre-school without us," Chang said. Chang and her husband went out to eat to pass the time. "We were eating, and we got a call from the fire chief, and he was like you need to go to the hosp...

Salman Rushdie attends PEN America gala, his first in-person appearance since stabbing last summer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:11 GMT

NEW YORK — Salman Rushdie has made his first in-person public appearance since being stabbed repeatedly and hospitalized nine months ago. The author was in attendance Thursday night for the annual gala of PEN America, the literary and free expression organization for which he once served as president.“I feel great,” said Rushdie, wearing a dark collarless jacket and matching pants. “I have a long associated with PEN America and I’m just happy to be amongst writers and book people.”Rushdie, 75, attended the gala, where hundreds of writers and other PEN members gathered for the dinner benefit.“Saturday Night Live” founder Lorne Michaels and Iranian dissident Narges Mohammadi were among those scheduled to be honored.Last August, Rushdie was appearing at the Chautauqua Institution, a nonprofit education and retreat center in western New York, when he was assaulted by a young man dressed in black and carrying a knife. Rushdie sustained multiple wounds, leaving him blind in his right eye ...