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‘We want her back:’ The husband of a US journalist detained in Russia appeals for her release

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:10 GMT

PRAGUE (AP) — This wasn’t how Pavel Butorin expected to celebrate the anniversary of 21 years together with his wife, with her in a Russian prison and barely any communication available. Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva — who works as an editor for Radio Free Europe, funded by the U.S. government — has been detained in Russia for almost a month, charged with failing to self-register as a “foreign agent.” “Alsu should be celebrating this anniversary with me and our children at home, not in a Russian prison,” a visibly shaken Butorin told The Associated Press in an interview in Prague on Friday. “We want her back. Alsu must be released as soon as possible.” Kurmasheva was detained on Oct 18, becoming the second U.S. journalist detained in Russia this year, after Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested on espionage charges in March. She is being held in a detention center, awaiting a trial that could sentence her to up to five years in prison.H...

Calls for a Gaza cease-fire divide Europe’s Socialists 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:10 GMT

MÁLAGA, Spain — Europe’s Social Democrats on Saturday unanimously cheered Pedro Sánchez’s likely return to power in Spain after he agreed to an amnesty for Catalan separatists — but they found it harder to reach a common position on Israel’s war against Hamas.Socialist parties from across the Continent gathered at their annual meeting in southern Spain to chart a course for the EU elections next June, warn about the rise of far-right populists, and cheer on Frans Timmermans, who is leading an alliance with the Greens in the Dutch elections this month.There was a triumphal mood at the meeting as delegates chanted “Pedro presidente” and treated Sánchez to rapturous applause. Choreography aside, however, the gulf between Berlin and Madrid on the Middle East conflict was plain to see.Sánchez in a speech to the gathering demanded a “humanitarian cease-fire” in Gaza, where Israel’s retaliatory strikes and ground invasion have claimed some 11,000 lives, including women and children, s...

How to enjoy Fleet Week San Diego on Veterans Day weekend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:10 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Fleet Week San Diego is in full swing and there are an array of events and activities to be enjoyed in celebration of the U.S. Armed Forces.Organizers say these inspiring local events are designed to honor and support "our military’s incalculable contributions as defenders of our nation and neighbors in our community." Veterans Day deals: Free or discounted restaurant offers for veterans, active duty military From now through Sunday, Nov. 12, the public is welcomed to enjoy San Diego Fleet Week at one of the following happenings at and near the Broadway Pier (located at 1000 N. Harbor Drive in San Diego):-- Ship Tours and Military Displays (Nov. 10-12)-- Military Family Day (Nov. 11)-- Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) Cooking Competition (Nov. 11)-- Veterans Day Boat Parade (Nov. 12)-- Veterans Day Concert (Nov. 12) Prince Harry, Meghan visit San Diego ahead of Veterans Day Can't catch one of these events? Here's a list of other Veterans Day weekend activities across the Sa...

More than 800 Sudanese reportedly killed in attack on Darfur town, UN says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:10 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Fighters from a paramilitary force and their allied Arab militias rampaged through a town in Sudan’s war-ravaged region of Darfur, reportedly killing more than 800 people in a multiday attack, doctors and the U.N. said.The attack on Ardamata in West Darfur province earlier this month was the latest in a series of atrocities in Darfur that marked the monthslong war between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, RSF.Sudan has been engulfed in chaos since in mid-April, when simmering tensions between military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and the commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open warfare.The war came 18 months after both generals removed a transitional government in a military coup. The military takeover ended Sudan’s short-lived fragile transition to democracy following a popular uprising that forced the overthrow of longtime strongman Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.In recent w...

Sen. Manchin is the last in a line of formidable West Virginia Democrats who promoted coal interests

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:10 GMT

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Joe Manchin’s impending departure from the U.S. Senate marks the end of an era for West Virginia’s conservative Democrats, who for decades held outsize influence in Washington. It’s the latest sign of the party’s steady decline in the state that often has paralleled the demise of Appalachian coal.Manchin, 76, is the last in a line of formidable Democratic senators from the Mountain State who promoted coal interests at the national level. He stayed true to a path set by stalwarts like Robert C. Byrd, Jennings Randolph and Jay Rockefeller, even as he navigated the shifting terrain of national energy policy.While Democrats moved aggressively away from fossil fuels in an effort to combat the threat of climate change, Manchin pressed for an “all of the above” energy policy intended to maintain coal as at least a component of the nation’s energy portfolio. He presented himself to voters as the reasonable moderate between two extremes.Manchin has ...

Fire closes major highway in Los Angeles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:10 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A major highway near downtown Los Angeles was closed in both directions Saturday after a fire rampaged through storage lots underneath it.The fire sent towering flames into the night sky early Saturday morning, and daybreak revealed twisted guardrails and blackened, chipped concrete at an Interstate 10 overpass in an industrial zone.The California Department of Transportations sent personnel to inspect the highway, with detours established to ease snarled highway traffic. Interstate 10, which runs east-west, was closed near downtown Los Angeles for at least 24 hours into Sunday, authorities said. The cause of the fire hasn’t been disclosed.The fire department said the blaze burned through trailers, wood pallets and other things in storage lots on both sides of the highway, though firefighters successfully safeguarded three nearby commercial buildings.More than 160 firefighters from 26 companies responded to a blaze, which spread across 8 acres (3 hectares) —...

Former Ghana striker Raphael Dwamena dies after collapsing during Albanian Super League soccer game

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:10 GMT

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Former Ghana striker Raphael Dwamena has died after collapsing Saturday during an Albanian Super League soccer match.The Albanian Football Federation confirmed the death of the 28-year-old Dwamena. Footage on social media appeared to show the player by himself and falling over on the field in the 24th minute of the match between Dwamena’s Egnatia and Partizani. Other players rushed over and, despite immediate medical intervention, the federation said “the player unfortunately passed away.” The game was halted at 1-1 with no further play. Dwamena, this season’s top scorer with nine goals in the Albanian Super League, made eight appearances for Ghana and scored twice.“ The Ghana Football Association is sad to hear of the death of our former player Raphael Dwamena and wish to express our deepest condolences to his family at this difficult moment,” it said in a statement.No details over a possible cause were given by the Albanian federation but local m...

Arson investigation underway after woman, train conductor injured in fire on CTA train

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:10 GMT

CHICAGO -- An arson investigation is underway after the train conductor was injured in a fire on a CTA train overnight, police said.According to police, a man started a fire on a CTA rail car near the Van Buren Street station around 12:54 a.m. The man had taken off by the time officers arrived on the scene.Police said a woman who was also the train conductor, suffered smoke inhalation and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where she is reported to be in good condition. Man charged in connection with shooting outside strip club in South Loop In a separate matter, there was a report that a man in a wheelchair fell onto the tracks. Paramedics took away a man who appeared to have head injuries. Police said the fire caused minor damage to the train and a cause is still being investigated. Police have not said if the suspect is in custody and there was no additional information provided.WGN is actively following this incident and will update as more information is available.

'Diet weed': What it is, and why experts say it can be dangerous

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:10 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – Should we be wary of “diet weed”?Delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta-8-THC) is one of many cannabinoids found in the cannabis sativa plant, though it isn’t naturally produced at the same rate or potency as Delta-9-THC, the compound largely responsible for marijuana’s psychoactive effects.“Chemically, they’re almost identical. But that one little difference in that chemical structure results in a different way that it interacts with your body … with your [cannabinoid] receptors,” explains Ryan Vandrey, Ph.D., a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine who specializes in the behavior pharmacology of cannabis.“The reason people call Delta-8-THC ‘diet weed’ [is because] that chemical difference is a little less potent at what it does at the receptor,” Vandrey said, telling Nexstar that Delta-8 is “about half as effective” at producing the same effects as Delta-9. Marijuana use increases risk of heart attacks, new studies suggest Still, Delta-8-THC has experie...

St. Louis Encephalitis confirmed in California city after 39 years — what is it?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:10 GMT

LONG BEACH, Calif. (KTLA) — The health department in Long Beach, California, has confirmed its first human case of mosquito-borne St. Louis Encephalitis since 1984, city officials announced on Thursday.The person who was infected was hospitalized but is currently recovering at home, officials said, and no other cases have been identified. But what exactly is St. Louis Encephalitis? Did you know bread bag tag colors mean something? SLE is a virus that can spread to people if infected by certain infected mosquitoes, though mosquitoes in the culex species are the most common carriers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains that the typical transmission cycle is that infected common birds (pigeons, sparrows, etc.) will be bitten by a mosquito. Infected mosquitoes then bite humans, passing on the virus. People can’t transmit the disease to another person or pass it along to non-infected mosquitoes who bite them. Humans are considered "dead end hosts," the CDC says. Mo...