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An influx of migrant children tests the preparedness of NYC schools

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:08 GMT

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN, ROBERT BUMSTED and ELLIOT SPAGAT (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — Damien, age 5, was giddy with excitement as he left a Manhattan homeless shelter, sometimes running and skipping along the sidewalk accompanied by his wistful mother, a migrant from Ecuador.“What I want for him is a future,” Kimberly Carchipulla said in Spanish of her son, one of nearly 800,000 New York City public school students who headed off to class Thursday for their first day of the new school year.That is what school officials want, too, as the city’s classrooms work to accommodate nearly 20,000 migrant children newly arrived in the U.S. — a number that could swell as record numbers of families cross the border from Mexico in hopes of gaining asylum.Several major U.S. cities have struggled with an influx of many thousands of asylum seekers who have filled up homeless shelters after entering the U.S.New York City’s shelter system has been especially ov...

A look at the uranium-based ammunition the US is sending to Ukraine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:08 GMT

By TARA COPP (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has announced it’s sending depleted uranium anti-tank rounds to Ukraine, following Britain’s lead in sending the controversial munitions to help Kyiv push through Russian lines in its grueling counteroffensive. The 120 mm rounds will be used to arm the 31 M1A1 Abrams tanks the U.S. plans to deliver to Ukraine in the fall. Such armor-piercing rounds were developed by the U.S. during the Cold War to destroy Soviet tanks, including the same T-72 tanks that Ukraine now faces in its counteroffensive. Depleted uranium is a byproduct of the uranium enrichment process needed to create nuclear weapons. The rounds retain some radioactive properties, but they can’t generate a nuclear reaction like a nuclear weapon would, RAND nuclear expert and policy researcher Edward Geist said. When Britain announced in March it was sending Ukraine the depleted uranium rounds, Russia falsely claimed they have nuclear component...

Man fatally stabbed near McDonald’s identified

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:08 GMT

SAN DIEGO — A man who was stabbed to death near a McDonald’s in the Midway District last week has been identified by authorities.According to the San Diego Police Department, 44-year-old Joshua Goodman was the individual found suffering from a stab wound in the parking lot at 3805 Midway Drive on Wednesday, Aug. 30.San Diego Police Homicide Detectives responded to scene to investigate. San Diego International Airport warns travelers about upcoming I-5 closure During the preliminary investigation, officers learned the victim rode his bicycle into theparking sometime before 11:30 a.m. with a suspect arriving shortly after in a light-colored minivan. Police say the suspect exited the vehicle and immediately began to chase the victim in circles in the parking lot. During the chase, the suspect repeatedly stabbed at the victim with what appeared to be a knife. Detectives have determined the minivan was driven by a second person, now believed to be an unknown female, who drove through ...

Dozens of migrants rescued off Greek island of Lesbos. Search is under way for woman feared missing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:08 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Dozens of migrants were rescued from a small boat in difficulty off an eastern Aegean Sea island and a search was underway for one more person, Greek authorities said Thursday, as arrivals to the southeastern European country increase.The coast guard said 43 people were picked up from the small vessel southeast of Lesbos, and three patrol boats were seeking a woman reported by survivors as potentially missing.Greece was once the main entry point to the European Union for people fleeing strife and poverty in the Middle East and Africa, but it has now been overtaken by Italy and Spain. Nevertheless, according to United Nations data, about 19,700 people have arrived in Greece since January. That surpasses the total of almost 19,000 for all of 2022. About half arrived in July and August. Most cross to the eastern Greek islands from the nearby Turkish coast.The coast guard said Thursday that, in addition to the people picked up off Lesbos, 50 migrants were rescued f...

Wisconsin GOP threatens to impeach justice over donations, but conservatives also took party cash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:08 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Republicans talking about impeaching a state Supreme Court justice before she’s heard a case are pointing to the nearly $10 million she received from the Democratic Party as proof that she can’t fairly rule on redistricting cases that could weaken the GOP’s hold on the Legislature.But the state GOP and other conservative groups have given campaign cash to other sitting justices, and they’re not recusing themselves on cases involving donors. All but one sitting justice — liberal Ann Walsh Bradley — have received contributions from a party at the national, state or county level, according to data from Wisconsin’s campaign finance system and an analysis by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which tracks campaign spending.Conservative Justices Brian Hagedorn and Rebecca Bradley have received contributions from the state Republican Party totaling roughly $150,000 and $70,000 respectively. The state Democratic Party has given lib...

First offer from General Motors falls short of demands by the United Auto Workers, but it’s a start

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:08 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors first wage-and-benefit offer to the United Auto Workers on Thursday falls far short of the union’s initial demands.The offer comes just a week before the UAW’s national contracts with GM, Stellantis and Ford expire, and even though both sides are far apart, it’s a sign of movement on economic issues. Union President Shawn called the offer “insulting.” He is threatening to strike against any automaker that hasn’t reached a tentative agreement by the time contracts expire at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 14. A strike against one or more automakers by up to 146,000 auto workers is a real possibility.GM said in a letter to workers that it’s offering a 10% wage increase during a new four-year contract, plus two more 3% one-time payments. It’s also offering a $6,000 inflation payment, $5,000 more in lump sums to protect against inflation during the contract, and a $5,000 contract ratification bonus. The company wouldn’t s...

Victoria’s Secret overhauls its racy fashion catwalk in its latest moves to be more inclusive

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:08 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — For more than 20 years, Victoria’s Secret had bolstered its image built on a man’s vision of sexiness with one big annual event: its fashion catwalk extravaganza, with supermodels like Naomi Campbell sashaying down the runway in Swarovski-crystal covered wings, thongs and million dollar fantasy bras.Now, after a four-year hiatus, the lingerie brand came back Wednesday night with a complete overhaul that was part fashion event and part preview of a documentary-style film featuring 20 global creatives. It celebrated all different body shapes — girth and all. Top models like Winnie Harlow, who has vitiligo, a skin condition, showed up in some of the designs. The event also showcased the creators’ looks on headless mannequins of all body types. The Victoria’s Secret World Tour, to be aired globally on Amazon Prime Video on Sept. 26, marks the company’s biggest marketing investment in the past five years and its latest efforts to reverse its supercharged sexy image that l...

Movie Review: Oh, sister, what happened? ‘The Nun II’ is a face-plant horror splat

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:08 GMT

“The Conjuring” Universe celebrates 10 years in business this fall with the dull “The Nun II,” a movie that seems destined to pound a nail into this franchise’s undead coffin.A new directing and writing team fails to shock or scare with a color-by-numbers plot and a meandering, languid wannabe frightfest. A few audience members fired up their phones halfway through a recent preview, a bad sign for anyone hoping for a gripping experience.A sequel to “The Nun” — the top-earning film in the franchise, with more than $366 million worldwide — was never going to be denied and the sequel hews carefully to the previous success. You could even say it’s haunted by its better precedent.This time it is 1956 — four years after the events of “The Nun” — and a demon is once again stalking Europe. It’s the same horrific Valak we met last time and suspected didn’t die, despite being splashed by the blood of Christ. “The demon lives,” we are told.Returning are Taissa Farmiga —...

‘Flood the city,’ ‘Freedom Convoy’ organizers’ trial delves into social media videos

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:08 GMT

OTTAWA — “Freedom Convoy” organizer Chris Barber called for people to “flood the city” in one of a mountain of social media videos put to the court as part of his criminal trial Thursday.Barber, who operated a trucking business in Swift Current, Sask., is co-accused with his fellow protest organizer Tamara Lich from Medicine Hat, Alta.The trial is in its third day of testimony in Ottawa.Lich and Barber face charges related to their role in organizing the protest against COVID-19 health restrictions last year that blockaded Ottawa city streets for weeks with big-rig trucks and encampments.They were both among thousands of protesters who recorded and streamed videos from the protest as it unfolded.In a video showed to the court, Barber told supporters he believed riot police were on their way to Ottawa. He said that if protest organizers’ “phones go dark,” people should use whatever means possible to come to the city and protest peacefully. &#...

Ontario’s long-term care inspections collapsed when COVID hit: Ombudsman

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:08 GMT

Ontario’s ombudsman is calling for an overhaul of the province’s long-term care inspection system after his investigation found it was “completely overwhelmed” during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.The damning report from Paul Dube released Thursday morning suggests there was a complete lack of inspections of long-term care homes for seven weeks when COVID-19 arrived. He says no inspection reports were issued over a two-month period.“The Ministry of Long-Term Care was unprepared and unable to ensure the safety of long-term care residents and staff during the pandemic’s first wave,” says Dube.NEW – Ontario’s Ombudsman Paul Dubé calls for an overhaul of Ontario’s long-term care inspection system, after his just released investigation found it was “completely overwhelmed” during the first wave of COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/AJPTN7DELV— Richard Southern (@RichardCityNews) September 7, 2023The report notes the inspections stopped because t...