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18 years after Natalee Holloway disappearance, Peru to extradite key suspect to US

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:17 GMT

By REGINA GARCIA CANO and FRANKLIN BRICENO (Associated Press)LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru’s government will allow the extradition to the United States of the prime suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of American student Natalee Holloway on the Dutch Caribbean Island of Aruba, bringing her family hope there will be justice in the case.Dutch citizen Joran van der Sloot will be sent to the U.S., Peru announced Wednesday, to face trial on extortion and wire fraud charges, stemming from an accusation that he tried to extort the Holloway family after their daughter’s disappearance.Holloway, who lived in suburban Birmingham, Alabama, was 18 when she was last seen during a trip with classmates to Aruba. She vanished after a night with friends at a nightclub, leaving a mystery that sparked years of news coverage and countless true-crime podcasts. She was last seen leaving a bar with van der Sloot, then 18 years old.Van der Sloot was identified as a suspect and detained, along with two Surin...

Migrants rush across US border in final hours before Title 42 expires

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:17 GMT

By VALERIE GONZALEZ (Associated Press)MATAMOROS, Mexico (AP) — Migrants rushed across the Mexico border Thursday in hopes of entering the U.S. in the final hours before pandemic-related asylum restrictions are lifted — a change that many feared would make it more difficult for them to stay.With a late-night deadline looming, migrants in Mexico shed clothing before descending a steep bank into the Rio Grande, clutching plastic bags filled with clothes. One man held a baby in an open suitcase on his head.On the U.S. side of the river, migrants put on dry clothing and picked their way through concertina wire. Many surrendered immediately to authorities and hoped to be released while pursuing their cases in backlogged immigration courts, which takes years.It was not clear how many migrants were on the move, but a U.S. official reported that daily encounters on Tuesday hit 10,000 — nearly twice the level from March and only slightly below the 11,000 figure that authorit...

Yes, people are paying to be safely surrounded by bees in Colorado. Here’s why

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:17 GMT

Reclining on a bench in a wooden hut mere inches above thousands of humming honeybees in four active hives might sound like a frightening experience to some. It seems to have the opposite effect on guests who spend time in the “bee huts” at the Capella Ranch in Lafayette, Colorado, near Denver.There is nothing to fear because, while the hum of the bees and the aroma of fresh honey can waft into the hut’s interior through slats in the bench, the bees are kept out by screen mesh. Most guests find their visits relaxing, and some report more profound effects.When Kari Tewalt had her first bee hut experience there this week, she was entranced by the sound of the bees, noticing it had a “meditative” effect on her. She also felt what she called a “magnetic field,” a head-to-toe sensation akin to goosebumps.“It’s a sensation almost like an energy flow,” said Tewalt, 48, a Broomfield, Colorado, resident who enjoyed her session so much she made reservations for a return visit next week with h...

Elon Musk announces hiring of new Twitter CEO

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:17 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Elon Musk has announced he has hired a new CEO for Twitter. He did not identify by name who it will be but confirmed the new CEO will be a woman. Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last October, says he will step down from the CEO role and transition to being executive chair and Chief Technical Officer (CTO). Musk added he will be "overseeing product, software (and) sysops."The new CEO will start in approximately six weeks. In April, legacy blue checkmarks for Twitter users were removed. Only users who subscribe and pay for Twitter Blue have blue checkmarks. Musk recently said owning Twitter is "painful" but needed to be done. This story will be updated. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ford says decision coming ‘very, very soon’ on future of Peel Region

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:17 GMT

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says a decision on the possible future independence of cities within Peel Region will hopefully be made “very, very soon.”Peel encompasses Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon, and the region is responsible for services such as paramedics, health programs and recycling.Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie has been pushing for her city to become independent, saying it will save her municipality $1 billion over 10 years and make it more efficient.Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark announced in November that he would appoint facilitators to assess six regional governments, including Peel Region, and look at the best mix of roles between upper-tier and lower-tier municipalities with an eye to expanding “strong mayor” powers beyond Toronto and Ottawa.Ford says today that a final decision on Peel hasn’t yet been made, but he believes Mississauga and Brampton are large cities that can stand alone.Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown ...

House Republicans pass new asylum restrictions as Title 42 ends; Biden promises veto

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:17 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans passed a sweeping bill Thursday to build more U.S.-Mexico border wall and impose new restrictions on asylum seekers, creating a hard-line counter to President Joe Biden’s policies just as migrants are amassing along the border with the end of coronavirus pandemic restrictions.The bill has virtually no chance of becoming law. Democrats, who have a narrow hold on the Senate, have decried the aggressive measures in the bill as “cruel” and “anti-immigrant,” and Biden has already promised he would veto it.But the House GOP pointedly voted on the bill the same day as the expiration of Title 42, a public health emergency rule that allowed border authorities to quickly return many migrants who crossed the border illegally. Biden has conceded that the southern border will be “chaotic for a while” as migrants weigh whether to cross and U.S. officials use a new set of policies that aim to clamp down on illegal immigration while offering more lega...

Overnight temperatures to bring relief in upcoming B.C. and Alberta heat wave

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:17 GMT

VANCOUVER — Alberta and British Columbia are bracing for an unseasonable heat wave with daytime highs soaring up to 15 degrees above normal over the coming days, though overnight temperatures are expected to provide some relief.Armel Castellan, an Environment Canada meteorologist in B.C., says the coming heat wave shares some of the same characteristics as a so-called heat dome.But he says it doesn’t have the potential to reach the same extreme highs as the deadly event in June 2021, when temperatures in B.C.’s Interior pushed into the 40s.Castellan says the nights are still longer and cooler in mid-May than they were after the late-June heat dome two years ago, which the B.C. Coroners Service has said caused more than 600 heat-related deaths. Still, Sarah Henderson with the B.C. Centre for Disease Control says it’s crucial for people susceptible to heat to stay hydrated as temperatures rise.All of Alberta and most of B.C. are blanketed with special heat advisories...

S&P/TSX composite down more than 80 points, U.S. markets mixed Thursday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:17 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index was down more than 80 points Thursday, led by losses in energy and metals, while U.S. markets were mixed after key data releases showed the economy continues to slow. The S&P/TSX composite index was down 81.70 points at 20,417.61.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 221.82 points at 33,309.51. The S&P 500 index was down 7.02 points at 4,130.62, while the Nasdaq composite was up 22.07 points at 12,328.51.U.S. jobless claims rose last week to their highest level in a year and a half at 264,000, around 20,000 more than analysts were expecting. Meanwhile, the Producer Price Index showed that wholesale prices in the U.S. rose modestly in April, the 10th straight slowdown for the figure. “The biggest thing we got from the PPI and the jobless report (seems to be) that the economy is losing steam or slowing down, which in the big picture is what the government wants,” said Michael Currie, senior investment adviser at TD Wea...

Greenpeace alleges ‘greenwashing’ in oilsands ads; Competition Bureau to investigate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:17 GMT

CALGARY — The Competition Bureau of Canada has opened an investigation into allegations of greenwashing against the Pathways Alliance, a consortium of oilsands companies.Greenpeace Canada says it made the allegations earlier this year, together with representatives from the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) and Environmental Defence, as well as a concerned student from Guelph University.Greenpeace says it is concerned about the Pathways Alliance’s “Let’s Clear the Air” marketing campaign.The campaign talks up oilsands firms’ plan to get to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.But Greenpeace alleges the campaign is a misrepresentation, because it doesn’t account for the emissions generated by the use of the fossil fuel products Pathways sells, only for emissions generated during the production process.In its letter to the complainants, the Competition Bureau said its inquiry will seek to determine if the Pathways Al...

Hopes dashed for a new deal in Newfoundland and Labrador’s stalled crab fishery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:17 GMT

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Crab fishers and processors have once again locked horns in Newfoundland and Labrador, prolonging a bitter standoff in the province’s lucrative snow crab fishery.The union representing inshore fishers said Thursday that its latest proposition to hike the price paid to harvesters for their crab catches was roundly rejected by the group representing the province’s seafood processors. The Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union accused the Association of Seafood Processors of “pulling the plug” on negotiations.“Our organization has done everything possible to find a solution that will work for all parties and get a fishery going this year. It’s clear that we need immediate provincial intervention to get this situation sorted,” Greg Pretty, FFAW president, said in a news release.Crab season opened in much of Newfoundland and Labrador on April 10, but harvesters have refused to fish in protest of this year’s price at the wharf of $2.20 a...