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International reinforcements arrive in Quebec as wildfires stabilize

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:39:59 GMT

MONTREAL — The arrival of firefighters from France and New Brunswick is expected to bolster efforts to contain and control the large number of fires burning across Quebec in what’s expected to be a marathon wildfire season, officials said Friday. Maïté Blanchette Vézina, the province’s minister of forests and natural resources, said the situation in the province remains critical but is improving.The province’s forest fire prevention agency — SOPFEU — says the arrival of fresh forces on the ground is a sign “the sprint phase has ended and we’re now in the marathon phase,” she told a Quebec City briefing.Blanchette Vézina said the efforts in the coming days will permit firefighters to contain and begin extinguishing some of the approximately 140 fires that remained active across the province as of Friday morning, including some that have been allowed to burn freely due to a lack of personnel. She said the improved situation is also allowing the prov...

Stock market today: Wall Street is mixed; Big Tech climbs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:39:59 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks gave up an early gain and turned mixed on Wall Street as more gains for Big Tech companies helped offset weakness elsewhere in the market. The S&P 500 was up 0.1% and is headed for a fourth straight week of gains. Big technology companies were doing much of the heavy lifting, and more stocks fell than rose in the index.The Dow Jones Industrial Average was just barely lower as of 12:35 p.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite was up 0.1%.Trading has been listless throughout the week amid a lack of any big market moving reports or news. The benchmark S&P index still gained enough ground by Thursday to close 20% above its October low, entering a new bull market.Technology stocks, which have been responsible for much of Wall Street’s gains, did better than the rest of the market. Adobe rose 4.2% and Advanced Micro Devices rose 2.4%. General Motors rose 1.9% and Tesla rose 3.6% after announcing a deal for electric-vehicle charging. Electric vehicles made by...

Biden in North Carolina to push clean energy agenda and promote order aiding military spouses

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:39:59 GMT

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday will sign an executive order that aims to bolster job opportunities for military and veteran spouses whose careers are often disrupted by their loved ones’ deployments.Biden is using a visit to the recently renamed Fort Liberty in North Carolina to highlight the order. The order directs agencies to develop a federal government-wide strategic plan on hiring and job retention for military spouses; bolster child care options; improve the collection of data on military and veteran spouses, caregivers and survivors in the federal workforce; and more than a dozen additional actions.First lady Jill Biden, in a call with reporters to preview the action, said the order was largely framed by conversations through the White House’s Joining Forces initiative, which looks to support families, caregivers and survivors of members of the U.S. military. The Democratic president is expected to sign the order during his visit to the ba...

Federal prosecutors charge Texas businessman linked to Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:39:59 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas businessman at the center of the scandal that led to the historic impeachment of state Attorney General Ken Paxton was charged Friday with eight counts of making false statements while seeking loans from mortgage lenders in 2017 and 2018.The federal indictment of real estate developer Nate Paul is the result of a yearslong FBI investigation — a probe Paxton involved his office in, setting off a chain of events that ultimately led to his impeachment and suspension from office last month. Paul, 36, did not enter a plea during his initial appearance in an Austin court nor visibly react as the charges against him were read. He entered the federal courtroom shackled and wearing jeans, a blue shirt and Nikes, and was released ahead of trial but ordered to surrender his passport and inform the court of any travel outside Texas.One of Paul’s lawyers, David Gerger, said his client may comment after his court appearance. Dan Cogdell, a defense attorney for P...

New York lawmakers consider bill to automatically seal old criminal records

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:39:59 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — People in New York who have old criminal records could have them automatically sealed as long as they remain out of trouble for a certain number of years under a bill lawmakers debated Friday.The “clean slate” legislation would automatically seal most recent convictions — three years after serving time or parole for a misdemeanor, and eight years for felony convictions. Sex crimes and most Class A felonies, such as murder, will not be eligible for sealing.Some liberal lawmakers and unions who support the bill say it would give New Yorkers a path forward that is not encumbered by past mistakes. They say a criminal record often means difficulty obtaining secure work and housing. That’s the case for Ismael Diaz Jr., of Long Island, who was released from prison seven years ago and is still struggling to find secure employment.Diaz, who served almost 10 years in prison for manslaughter, said he went through three rounds of interviews for a janitorial position at...

Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra will tour with stops in Europe and Britain to support war effort

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:39:59 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra will tour for the second straight summer, appearing in eight cities in Europe and Britain in support of the nation’s war effort against Russia.Keri-Lynn Wilson, the Canadian-Ukrainian wife of Metropolitan Opera general manager Peter Gelb, will conduct the tour, which runs from Aug. 20 to Sept. 3 and is being produced by the Met and the Teatr Wielki-Polish National Opera. The Aug. 24 concert at Berlin’s Schönhausen Palace coincides with Ukrainian Independence Day and will be a free outdoor performance.“Putin and the Russian propaganda machine have kind of weaponized culture and it’s very important for Ukraine to mount its own cultural defense,” Gelb said Friday, referring to the Russian president. “Ukrainian people need to be bolstered. They’ve been battered and their morale needs to be lifted.”Musicians include members of the Kyiv National Opera, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra and Kharkiv Opera. Wil...

Young black bear wanders Washington D.C. neighborhood, sparking a frenzy before being captured

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:39:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A young black bear gave residents of a quiet northeast Washington neighborhood a start Friday morning when they woke to find a furry interloper wandering backyards and sniffing around garbage cans.Pictures of the bear and its capture touched off a frenzy on social media. It also spurred a healthy online debate as to whether to name it Franklin, for the street where he was captured, or Smokey — for both the iconic cartoon bear and as a testament to this particularly smoky week in Washington weather. The bear was discovered roaming the Brookland neighborhood, less than 5 miles from the Capitol and White House. It prompted formation of a sort of ursine emergency task force including the Metropolitan Police Department, the local Humane Rescue Alliance, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the National Zoo. Authorities formed a perimeter near the 1300 block of Franklin Street NE to keep curious onlookers away. When the young male bear climbed a tree, police ...

Trump faces unprecedented legal peril, but will it hurt his standing with Republican voters?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:39:59 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — In March, when Donald Trump became the first former president in U.S. history indicted on criminal charges, his reelection campaign saw a huge surge in donations. Even political rivals rushed to support him. There was no dent in his front-runner status after the state charges in New York.Thursday’s news that Trump has been indicted again, this time on federal charges related to his handling of classified documents, may offer a repeat.Trump faces seven criminal charges, including the willful retention of national defense information, obstruction of justice and conspiracy, though the scope of the evidence remained unclear because the indictment was under seal. But the day after Trump was indicted, there were clear signs that Republican voters may be willing to entrust him again with access to the nation’s biggest secrets and authority over the very laws prosecutors say he defied.Republican pollster Neil Newhouse said the indictment would not fundamentally...

Cabins destroyed during ‘explosive growth’ of wildfire near Sambaa K’e, N.W.T.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:39:59 GMT

TROUT LAKE, N.W.T. — An out-of-control wildfire burning near Sambaa K’e, a small Dene community in the Northwest Territories, has destroyed two cabins.The territory’s wildfire agency says the losses are believed to have occurred during explosive growth of the fire last week.The fire near the Alberta boundary has burned an estimated 2,650 square kilometres in the territory and is 10 kilometres away from Sambaa K’e.A home in the community was destroyed during an ignition operation on Sunday night.Residents of Sambaa K’e, which is home to nearly 100 people, were ordered to evacuate on May 31.The wildfire agency says ongoing work to protect structures includes drops from air tankers, sprinklers, and backburns around structures.This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 9, 2023.The Canadian Press

Florida woman who fatally shot neighbor granted $154,000 bond

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:39:59 GMT

OCALA, Fla. (AP) — A judge granted a $154,000 bond Friday for a white Florida woman charged with fatally shooting a Black neighbor through her front door. Susan Louise Lorincz, 58, of Ocala returned to court in Marion County a day after she pleaded not guilty to a first-degree felony charge of manslaughter with a firearm, as well as counts of culpable negligence, battery and assault. As a condition of her bond, Circuit Court Judge Robert Hodges ordered Lorincz to wear an ankle monitor and to stay away from the family of her slain neighbor, 34-year-old Ajike Owens.The courtroom was packed with relatives and supporters of Owens, a mother of four children. One of the family’s attorneys, Anthony Thomas, told reporters after the Friday hearing that they would continue to push for Lorincz to face a more serious charge of second-degree murder. “We don’t believe that Susan had any sort of respect at all for human life,” Thomas said. “This wasn’t something where she was cle...