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Algerian court sentences prominent journalist to 5 years

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:41 GMT

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — A court in Algiers on Sunday sentenced a prominent journalist in the North African country to five years in prison with two years suspended and ordered his website and a radio station shut down based on the accusation that they threaten state security. Ihsane El-Kadi was detained Dec. 23 at his home in the capital, Algiers. He was accused of receiving foreign funding for his outlets. He has remained in custody since his arrest and appeared in court on Sunday for the verdict, along with a collective of lawyers, defending him, journalists and family members. The court also ordered El-Kandi to pay a fine of 700,000 Algerian dinars ($5,200). The media company which owns El-Kadi’s website and radio station was ordered dissolved, its assets seized, and a fine of one million Algerian dinars ($7,390) was slapped on its owners.El-Kadi, who was active in Algeria’s Hirak pro-democracy protest movement in 2019, appears to be the latest target of an encroaching crackdown ...

Man gets new trial in Chicago honor student’s death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:41 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — A state appeals court has ordered a new trial for the man accused of gunning down a Chicago honor student days after she had performed at Barack Obama’s 2013 presidential inauguration.Micheail Ward was found guilty in connection with the death of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton and sentenced to 84 years in prison in 2019. The Chicago Sun-Times reported Friday that the 1st District Appellate Court ruled that detectives improperly extracted a confession from Ward after he invoked his right to remain silent at least three times during a 12-hour interrogation. Ward was 18 years old at the time of the shooting. One of the detectives who questioned him, John Halloran, has secured confessions from suspects in at least six cases who were later cleared by DNA or other evidence, the Sun-Times reported.The three-judge appellate court said that Ward’s statements were inadmissible and the trial judge should have suppressed them. It was unclear whether prosecutors would r...

2 charged with cutting wires; 40,000 lose internet service

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:41 GMT

NORWALK, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut police have charged two people with cutting more than 2,000 fiber optic cables, leaving over 40,000 homes and businesses without internet service in the southwestern part of the state.Norwalk police said they arrested Asheville, North Carolina, residents Jillian Persons and Austin Geddings on Saturday during a surveillance operation. Both were charged with larceny and criminal mischief crimes, as well as interfering with police. Persons also was accused of giving a false statement to police.Both were detained on $200,000 bail. It was not immediately clear if they have lawyers who could respond to the allegations.Police said they responded to the reported damage of the Optimum cables on March 24 in Norwalk and quickly identified suspects and their vehicle. Authorities did not release details of how they made the identifications.Officers arrested Persons while staking out a business in Bridgeport, and Geddings was found a short time later in a wooded ...

Gov. JB Pritzker to visit Apollo Theater after deadly tornado hits Belvidere

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:41 GMT

BELVIDERE Ill. — Governer JB Pritzker is set to visit the site of the Apollo Theater in Belvidere where the classified tornado hit that killed one man and injured many others.One person is dead and 28 people were injured after the Apollo Theater collapsed during a concert amid the violent storm and winds that tore through the Midwest Friday evening. Belvidere Fire Chief Shawn Schadle said there were 260 people inside during the Apollo Theater around 7:55 p.m. when the roof and Apollo marquee collapsed. First responders responded within minutes as the closest fire facility was two blocks away.Police say five people suffered severe injuries, 18 suffered moderate injuries and five others with minor injuries. The fire chief identified the fatality as a 50-year-old man who was attending the concert. "He had a rock band t-short on," Schadle said. Police stated that 20 were transported by local ambulances and others were transp...

FBI offers $20,000 reward for info on missing mom of 8, believed to have been killed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:41 GMT

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — The FBI is offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information that leads to the location of a missing mother of eight. Law enforcement believe the woman, Heather Kelley of Michigan, has been killed. Kelley, 35, has been missing since December. Her car was found burning the next day. Once the fire was out, investigators found her blood and human hair in it.When Kelley left home, she told her kids she was going to see her boyfriend, who was serving time at a halfway house. Court records show the boyfriend’s electronic tether went dead the night Kelley was last seen. He later ran away from the halfway house.Nexstar is not naming the boyfriend because he has not been charged in relation to Kelley's death.The 37-year-old man has now been indicted on a federal charge of escaping a halfway house.He was scheduled to be released from federal custody on April 26, but the new escape charge means law enforcement can continue holding him, giving police in...

'This is all for you': Miss NC USA wins crown days after boyfriend diagnosed with brain tumor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:41 GMT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WJZY) – Jordyn McKey was stunned when she was crowned Miss North Carolina USA after an emotional week supporting her boyfriend through a health crisis. "I showed up very raw, I showed up very emotional," McKey said. "Earlier that week, my boyfriend had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, which was a huge shock to all of us." Her boyfriend's tumor was the size of a baseball. Days before the pageant, he had brain surgery."I obviously, at that point, knew that I wasn't going to be competing and that this wasn't going to be something I'm doing this week because how could I?" Gaston County Special Olympics cheerleaders embrace their ‘superpowers’ After surgery in Charlotte, "he opened his eyes, looked at me, and said, 'Why aren't you in High Point?'" McKey recalled. The pageant was being hosted in High Point, North Carolina. He urged her to chase her dream while he remained in the hospital.Video from her preliminary interview shows McKey speaking openly ...

Only 4 states don't have a town named after this water-side location: data

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:41 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – It’s not uncommon to visit another state and learn it has a town bearing the same name as a town in your state. Take, for example, Springfield, Illinois. If you visit Missouri, you’ll also find a Springfield. If you love Cleveland, Ohio, you may also love the Village of Cleveland in Wisconsin — though it is vastly smaller. Maybe you’re a history buff and prefer more presidential cities. Presidents George Washington and James Madison have the most cities named after them at 27, according to the U.S. Postal Service. And though he was never president, Founding Father Benjamin Franklin’s name is the most prevalent as a city at 28.  These are the hardest to find state quarters: Where does your state fall? Yet the most common name for a U.S. town isn't named after anyone at all. It’s more about the geography of the region. In all but four states, you’ll find a city or town, village or neighborhood named "Riverside," data from the U.S. Geological Surv...

Brooke Shields takes charge of her story in ‘Pretty Baby’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:41 GMT

NEW YORK — Brooke Shields has been known as beautiful, smart and famous since she was a baby, but a new documentary reveals why it’s taken decades for her to feel confident in her talent.With a dazzling array of archival photos and footage, and in-depth interviews with Shields, “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields” is a firsthand examination of her success as a model, actor, author and now lifestyle entrepreneur, despite being sexualized and objectified at a young age and managing her alcoholic mother — the original “momager,” Teri Shields.Like other recent documentaries on Britney Spears and Pamela Anderson, “Pretty Baby” includes a cringeworthy barrage of media clips where mostly older men reduce her to a pretty face and have little interest in her answers to their questions. The film, which drops in two parts on Hulu on Monday, looks back at how women were treated in the 1980’s and 1990’s — including Shields revealing she was the victim of a sexual assault by a Hollywood executive after ...

The U.S. leads the world in weather catastrophes. Here’s why.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:41 GMT

The United States is Earth’s punching bag for nasty weather.Blame geography for the U.S. getting hit by stronger, costlier, more varied and frequent extreme weather than anywhere on the planet, several experts said. Two oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, the Rocky Mountains, jutting peninsulas like Florida, clashing storm fronts and the jet stream combine to naturally brew the nastiest of weather.That’s only part of it. Nature dealt the United States a bad hand, but people have made it much worse by what, where and how we build, several experts told The Associated Press.Then add climate change, and “buckle up. More extreme events are expected,” said Rick Spinrad, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.Tornadoes. Hurricanes. Flash floods. Droughts. Wildfires. Blizzards. Ice storms. Nor’easters. Lake-effect snow. Heat waves. Severe thunderstorms. Hail. Lightning. Atmospheric rivers. Derechos. Dust storms. Monsoons. Bomb cyclones. And the dreaded polar vortex.It starts wi...

Traffic stop leads to drug arrest in Albany

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:41 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- An Albany man was arrested on Saturday after a traffic stop. Albany County Sheriff's Office deputies say Joshua Vanhoesen, 39, had a digital scale and approximately 30 fentanyl pills. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! On Saturday, around 6:17 p.m., deputies pulled over a car for speeding on Central Avenue. Vanhoesen was identified as the driver. Deputies say an investigation led to a request for a K-9 search of Vanhoesen's car. Deputies say the K-9 search yielded a digital scale with cocaine residue, along with a plastic bottle with roughly 30 fentanyl pills. Charges:Third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sellFourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substanceSeventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substanceSecond-degree criminally using drug paraphernaliaVTL 1180 D- Speed in zoneVanhoesen was taken into custody and was held at the Albany County C...