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Six former Mississippi officers have pleaded guilty to state charges for torturing two Black men

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:47 GMT

BRANDON, Miss. (AP) — Six white former Mississippi law officers pleaded guilty to state charges on Monday for torturing two Black men in a racist assault. All six had recently admitted their guilt in a connected federal civil rights case.Prosecutors say some of the officers nicknamed themselves the “Goon Squad” because of their willingness to use excessive force and cover it up, including the attack that ended with a deputy shooting one victim in the mouth.In January, the officers entered a house without a warrant and handcuffed and assaulted the two men with stun guns, a sex toy and other objects. The officers mocked them with racial slurs throughout a 90-minute torture session, then devised a cover-up that included planting drugs and a gun, leading to false charges that could have sent one victim to prison for years.Their conspiracy unraveled months later, after one of them told the sheriff he had lied, leading to confessions from the others. Each one agreed to sentences recommend...

CNN revamps schedule, with new roles for Phillip, Coates, Wallace and Amanpour

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:47 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — CNN is making dramatic changes to its lineup, announcing Monday that it was giving Abby Phillip and Laura Coates new weeknight shows and launching new weekend programs with Christiane Amanpour and Chris Wallace.Virtually no daypart goes unchanged in the revamp, as the network struggles with ratings challenges worsened by the quickening pulse of people cutting the cord on cable television. The changes were a swift move from CNN’s new leadership team of Amy Entelis, David Leavy, Virginia Moseley and Eric Sherling. They replaced former CNN chief executive Chris Licht, who was fired this spring.Phillip, a political correspondent, and Coates, a CNN legal analyst, will host back-to-back weeknight shows starting at 10 p.m. Eastern, under the plans. With Kaitlan Collins at 9 p.m. and Erin Burnett at 7 p.m., that gives CNN an evening schedule led by women, with the exception of Anderson Cooper’s hour at 8 p.m.Wallace and Amanpour will both host live hours on Saturday mo...

Just how much are fans spending on Taylor Swift Toronto concert tickets?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:47 GMT

Canadian fans who managed to score tickets for one of Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated six shows in Toronto have already spent a good chunk of money. Those who live outside the Toronto area are now also budgeting for the cost of travel and accommodation in November 2024.The Canadian Press spoke to several Swifties about how much they’re expecting to spend.Winning the golden ticketAshley Stewart, 24, saw Taylor Swift during her Fearless tour when it made a stop in her home province of Prince Edward Island back in 2010. This time around, she knew the pop star wouldn’t be stopping anywhere east of Toronto.“Being from the Atlantic provinces, we fully knew that we would have to travel somewhere if we wanted to see her. So, we were expecting that if we wanted to go to the Eras Tour, we would have to pay to travel,” the longtime Swifty said.Stewart said getting the presale code for Swift tickets felt like a scene straight out of a movie.Ashley Stewart shows o...

75% of Canadians had COVID-19 immunity in March: Study

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:47 GMT

In the latest study on COVID-19 by the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF), it is believed that as of March 2023, three-quarters of Canadians had immunity against SARS-CoV-2.The CITF team collected data using blood samples to estimate trends around the virus.Using three time periods: pre-vaccination (March 2020 to November 2020); vaccine roll-out (December 2020 to November 2021); and the Omicron waves (December 2021 to March 2023), they were able to determine during the first two phases of the pandemic that very few Canadians had SARS-CoV-2 in their blood.In May 2020, when COVID-19 was relatively new in Canada, less than 0.3 per cent of Canadians were showing a previous infection. By November 2021, that percentage rose to 9 per cent.RELATED: StatsCan finds 98% of Canadians have COVID-19 antibodies“Despite high vaccine coverage in Canada, the rate of infection rose rapidly with the highly contagious Omicron variant,” explains Dr. Bruce Mazer, study co-lead, Associate Scientific Direc...

Biden administration urges colleges to pursue racial diversity without affirmative action

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:47 GMT

New guidance from the Biden administration on Monday urges colleges to use a range of strategies to promote racial diversity on campus after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in admissions.Colleges can focus their recruiting in high minority areas, for example, and take steps to retain students of color who are already on campus, including by offering affinity clubs geared toward students of a certain race. Colleges can also consider how an applicant’s race has shaped personal experience, as detailed in students’ application essays or letters of recommendation, according to the new guidance.It also encourages them to consider ending policies known to stint racial diversity, including preferences for legacy students and the children of donors.“Ensuring access to higher education for students from different backgrounds is one of the most powerful tools we have to prepare graduates to lead an increasingly diverse nation and make real our country’s promise of opportunity ...

Hunter Biden’s lawyers say gun portion of plea deal remains valid after special counsel announcement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:47 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorneys for Hunter Biden are pushing to keep part of a plea deal they reached with the prosecutor whose new status as special counsel intensified the tax investigation into the president’s son ahead of the 2024 election.Biden’s attorney argued in court documents late Sunday that an agreement sparing him prosecution on a felony gun charge still is in place even though the plea agreement on misdemeanor tax offenses largely unraveled during a court appearance last month.His lawyer argues the Justice Department decided to “renege” on its end of the deal on tax charges. The agreement on the gun charge also contains an immunity clause against federal prosecutions for some other potential crimes. Biden plans to abide by the terms of that agreement, including not using drugs or alcohol, attorney Christopher Clark said in court filings. He said prosecutors invited them to begin plea negotiations in May, “largely dictated” the language of the agreement and signed it,...

Ethiopian airstrike on a town square in the restive Amhara region kills 26, health official says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:47 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A senior health official says an airstrike on a crowded town square in Ethiopia’s restive Amhara region has killed at least 26 people and wounded more than 55 others. Sunday’s airstrike came days after federal authorities asserted that calm had been restored in the region. Militia members in Amhara have been clashing with Ethiopia’s military over efforts to disband them, and last week the military retook key regional towns by force. Lawyers and witnesses say authorities are carrying out mass arrests of hundreds, even thousands, of people in the capital because of the deadly unrest.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Authorities in Ethiopia are carrying out mass arrests of hundreds, even thousands, of people in the capital after deadly unrest in the country’s Amhara region, lawyers and witnesses said.Ethiopia’s Cabinet declared a state of emergency earlier this month in Amhara after local militia fighters known ...

Russia targets city of Odesa with missiles and drones but Ukraine says it shot them all down

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:47 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched three waves of drones and missiles against the southern Ukraine port city of Odesa, officials said Monday, though the Ukrainian air force said it intercepted all the airborne weapons fired during the nighttime attacks.Falling debris from the interceptions of 15 Shahed drones and eight Kalibr missiles damaged a residential building, a supermarket and a dormitory of an educational facility in the city, Odesa Gov. Oleh Kiper said.Two employees of the supermarket were hospitalized, Kiper said. Video showed a huge blaze at the store during the night and, the next day, the large building’s charred and mangled wreckage.Meanwhile, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, rebuked critics who say Kyiv’s counteroffensive aimed at shoving back the Kremlin’s forces should be advancing more quickly.The Ukrainian army has no intention of engaging in a series of conspicuous “large-scale battles” against the Russians a...

S&P/TSX composite down nearly 100 points, U.S. stock markets mixed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:47 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index was down nearly 100 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the energy and base metal sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.The S&P/TSX composite index was down 90.99 points at 20,316.58.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 2.11 points at 35,279.29. The S&P 500 index was up 14.26 points at 4,478.31, while the Nasdaq composite was up 75.09 points at 13,719.94.The Canadian dollar traded for 74.25 cents US compared with 74.39 cents US on Friday.The September crude contract was down 59 cents at US$82.60 per barrel and the September natural gas contract was down a penny at US$2.76 per mmBTU.The December gold contract was down US$5.70 at US$1,940.90 an ounce and the September copper contract was down a penny at US$3.71 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)The Canadian Press

UK government rejects claims it was slow to evacuate asylum-seekers after bacteria detected on barge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:47 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s government Monday rejected claims that it was slow to evacuate asylum-seekers from a barge moored off the south coast of England once traces of the bacteria that causes Legionnaire’s disease were found in the ship’s water system.In the latest critique of the government’s ballyhooed efforts to control migration and reduce the cost of housing a rising number of asylum-seekers, local health officials said over the weekend that the barge operator was told about the bacteria last Monday — the day before asylum-seekers were moved onto the Bibby Stockholm.But Health Secretary Steve Barclay said ministers weren’t informed about the bacteria until Thursday and they took “very quick action.” The Home Office, the central government department that oversees migration, moved all 39 men who were being housed on the ship into other accommodation on Friday.Questions about the government’s response to the bacteria issue came after immigration dominated the weekend news, with ...