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'The best kept secret:' Lao Food Festival debuts in San Diego this weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:47 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A two-day festival celebrating the diverse and rich cuisine of Laos is set to debut in San Diego this weekend.This first-of-its-kind event -- called the Lao Food Festival -- will be held at Mira Mesa Community Park with a variety of food vendors serving up a range of traditional dishes. From cooking contests and live demos, festivalgoers will get some insight into the history of Lao food while sampling bites around the park. ‘It’s like disco meets Jurassic Park:’ That’s the vibe felt at this San Diego coffee shop This Southeast Asian country is known for its "tapestry of flavors" and culinary traditions that have been passed down through generations.Not familiar with Lao food? That's okay. There will be a guided food tour available for those who are new to the cuisine. With 20 different vendors expected to be in attendance, there will be many savory and sweet dishes to try. In addition to all the food, live entertainment at the Cultural Stage will be bringing some gro...

American arrested for pushing 2 US tourists into ravine at German castle, leaving one woman dead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:47 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — An American man has been arrested after allegedly assaulting two U.S. tourists near Neuschwanstein castle in southern Germany and then pushing them down a steep slope, an attack that left one of the women dead, authorities said Thursday.The incident near the popular tourist attraction happened on Wednesday afternoon near the Marienbruecke, a bridge over a gorge close to the castle that offers a famous view of Neuschwanstein.The 30-year-old man met the two female tourists, ages 21 and 22, on a hiking path and lured them onto a trail that leads to a viewpoint, police said in a statement. He then “physically attacked” the younger woman, police said. When her companion tried to intervene, he choked her and pushed her down a steep slope. The assailant then appears to have attempted to sexually assault the 21-year-old before pushing her down the slope as well. She fell nearly 50 meters (165 feet), ending up close to her friend.A mountain rescue team reached both women. The 2...

Gunman’s hatred of Jews motivated massacre at Pittsburgh synagogue, prosecutor tells jury

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:47 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A truck driver who hated Jewish people turned a sacred house of worship into a “hunting ground” when he burst into a Pittsburgh synagogue and killed 11 congregants, a federal prosecutor said Thursday, asking jurors to return a conviction in the nation’s deadliest antisemitic attack.Robert Bowers is charged with 63 criminal counts, including hate crimes resulting in death and obstruction of the free exercise of religion resulting in death. Some of the charges carry a potential death sentence.In closing arguments Thursday, a prosecutor told the jury that Bowers targeted his victims because of their religion. “He is filled with hatred for Jews,” prosecutor Mary Hahn said, noting Bowers had an extensive history of posting antisemitic and white supremacist content online. “That is what propelled him to act.”Bowers fired about 100 rounds that day. He reloaded at least twice, stepped over the bloodied bodies of his victims to look for more people to shoo...

Chinese spies breached hundreds of public, private networks, security firm says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:47 GMT

Suspected state-backed Chinese hackers used a security hole in a popular email security appliance to break into the networks of hundreds of public and private sector organizations globally, nearly a third of them government agencies including foreign ministries, the cybersecurity firm Mandiant said Thursday.“This is the broadest cyber espionage campaign known to be conducted by a China-nexus threat actor since the mass exploitation of Microsoft Exchange in early 2021,” Charles Carmakal, Mandiant’s chief technical officer, said in a emailed statement. That hack compromised tens of thousands of computers globally.In a blog post Thursday, Google-owned Mandiant expressed “high confidence” that the group exploiting a software vulnerability in Barracuda Networks’ Email Security Gateway was engaged in “espionage activity in support of the People’s Republic of China.” It said the activivity began as early as October. The hackers sent emails containing malicious file attachments ...

Quebec to exhume remains of Innu boys whose families have questions about 1970 deaths

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:47 GMT

MONTREAL — A Quebec Superior Court judge has authorized the exhumation of the remains of two Innu boys whose families have questions about their 1970 deaths at a Quebec hospital.The exhumations are the first to be authorized under a 2021 Quebec law intended to help Indigenous families learn more about the deaths and disappearances of their children in Quebec health-care institutions. The children, aged four months and one month, died in May 1970 at a hospital in Baie-Comeau, Que., around 413 kilometres northeast of Quebec City, after they were admitted for whooping cough.Justice Nancy Bonsaint’s ruling says that in both cases, the families were instructed not to open their children’s caskets and that burials took place the day after their deaths.Françoise Ruperthouse, who helped the families apply for the court authorization, says they wonder whether their children were really in the caskets given to them.The province’s coroner will conduct a DNA test on the remain...

Third-party review finds ‘toxic’ culture at University of Prince Edward Island

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:47 GMT

CHARLOTTETOWN — A review of allegations of workplace misconduct at the University of Prince Edward Island says the school had a toxic environment where bullying and harassment were widespread and condoned at the top.The 112-page report by Toronto law firm Rubin Thomlinson also says the university failed to create a safe, respectful, and positive environment for staff and students.The university ordered the review in December 2021 following allegations of workplace misconduct against its former president, Alaa Abd-El-Aziz.The review says the president was accused of making inappropriate comments, but it doesn’t include details.A news release from the university says the review was conducted early to mid-2022 through surveys and interviews.University board of governors chair Pat Sinnott and president Greg Keefe say they regret that the institution hasn’t always lived up to its values.This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 15, 2023.The Canadian Press

Justin Guarini, Briga Heelan honor music of Britney Spears in ‘Once Upon a One More Time’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:47 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Performing in a fairy tale musical with songs by the Princess of Pop can be both magical and daunting. That’s the way Justin Guarini and Briga Heelan, who star in “Once Upon a One More Time,” see their roles in the jukebox musical that features songs by Britney Spears.The musical debuted at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., in 2021 and now it’s on Broadway with Heelan and Guarini reprising their roles as Cinderella and Prince Charming.On a recent two-show day, fans of all ages were wearing Britney-themed attire waiting to be seated and both actors are well aware that Spears’ dedicated fan base has high expectations.Guarini, the runner-up to Kelly Clarkson on the first season of “American Idol,” said Spears’ music reminds him of the “iconic moments of growing up.” So honoring the Princess of Pop was “a huge honor” for him, the chance to share “in the joy and so much of the fun that she has created for millions of people across the world....

Court upholds convictions against Babcock’s killers, Dellen Millard loses all three appeals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:47 GMT

Ontario’s top court has upheld convictions against Dellen Millard and Mark Smich for killing a 23-year-old woman, marking back-to-back appeals dismissed this week against the multiple murderers.The decision in the murder case of Laura Babcock comes a day after the Court of Appeal for Ontario upheld convictions against the two men for the 2013 murder of 32-year-old Tim Bosma.For Millard, the heir to an aviation fortune turned infamous murderer, the decision caps a trio of unsuccessful appeals after the court also dismissed his attempt to overturn his conviction for murdering his father.In a 125-paragraph decision on the Babcock appeal, the court dismissed Millard’s argument he was denied a fair trial because he needed more time to retain a lawyer and dismissed Smich’s argument the jury was not properly instructed on how to separate the evidence between the two men.The 2017 trial for Babock’s murder saw prosecutors argue the once close friends turned co-accused...

Indigenous kept from economic opportunities from pot legalization: Senate committee

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:47 GMT

OTTAWA — A Senate committee says the current cannabis market and legislation has kept Indigenous Peoples from sharing in the economic opportunities that the legalization of recreational pot created.The standing Senate committee on Indigenous Peoples wants the country to shift its approach to cannabis to help Indigenous communities and entrepreneurs better benefit from the pot market.The committee found some First Nations are completely blocked from participating in the cannabis market because some provinces and territories have not responded to their requests for agreements to produce and sell cannabis.While agreements have been reached in British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan, Indigenous communities told the committee Quebec and the Northwest Territories have not similar moves.The committee also wants an excise tax-sharing framework that is specific to Indigenous communities to be developed, so First Nations communities can share revenues more broadly. First Nations communitie...

Vehicle theft reaching critical point, costing Canada $1 billion per year: Report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:47 GMT

A new report is shining a light on an alarming number of auto thefts happening across Canada and is calling on the federal government to take aim at organized crime.The report from the Canadian Financing and Leasing Association (CFLA) says a vehicle is stolen every six minutes in Canada, costing the country a billion dollars every year. The organization says the auto theft crisis has been escalating since before the COVID-19 pandemic, with thefts having surged by 300 per cent in Toronto alone since 2015.The CFLA says the thefts pose a significant safety and financial risk and help fuel illicit activities. Organized crime rings typically exploit the export market in three ways:Identity theft on financed vehicles – criminals create fake identities of people or businesses to finance vehicleReVINing – exploiting loopholes in provincial vehicle registries to replace the vehicle identification number (VIN) on vehiclesContainer export – shipping stolen vehicles overseas t...