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

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:25 GMT

By REGINA GARCIA CANO and FRANKLIN BRICENO (Associated Press)LIMA, Peru (AP) — The chief suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of American student Natalee Holloway is poised to face charges linked to the young woman’s vanishing for the first time after the government of Peru authorized his extradition to the United States.Neither U.S. nor Peruvian authorities on Thursday would say when they might transfer custody of Dutch citizen Joran van der Sloot. A day earlier the Peruvian Embassy in Washington announced the decision to extradite him to face trial on extortion and wire fraud charges, each of which carries lengthy sentences.Van der Sloot is in a maximum-security prison in the Andes serving a 28-year sentence for the murder of a Peruvian woman.Holloway, who lived in suburban Birmingham, Alabama, was 18 when she was last seen during a trip with classmates to the Caribbean island of Aruba. She vanished after a night with friends at a nightclub, leaving a mystery tha...

Boston’s Linus Ullmark named Vezina Award finalist

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:25 GMT

Linus Ullmark said on break-up day that he will be haunted with how he performed in the playoffs. But however comforting it may or not be, the Bruins’ goalie is in line for a consolation prize.Ullmark was named one of the three finalists for the Vezina Award given to the NHL’s top goalie on Thursday as voted on by the league’s general managers. The other two finalists are Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders and Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck, the 2020 winner and former UMass Lowell star.While some observers tried to make the case for other goalies in the last few weeks of the season, Ullmark should be considered the clear front-runner. He won what it is known as the goalie triple crown, leading the league in save percentage (.938), goals against average (1.89), and was tied with the Colorado Avalanche’s Alexander Georgiev in wins (40) while playing 13 fewer games than the Avs’ netminder. Ullmark posted a dominant 40-6-1 record.That level of excel...

Havasupai Tribe marks spiritual homecoming with return to onetime farmland in Grand Canyon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:25 GMT

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. (AP) — Carletta Tilousi hit the trail as the sun rose, the light revealing a grouping of cottonwood and ash trees deep in the Grand Canyon. Birds soared above and reptiles scampered across the rocks as the canyon walls grew taller and taller behind her. This was home, yet she rarely had been there over the years.“I can’t believe how far I’ve come, it’s amazing,” she said about halfway through the 4.5-mile hike over steep, rocky terrain. “I can’t believe my ancestors used to do this all the time.”Tilousi’s journey marked a pivotal moment in the Havasupai Tribe’s relationship with the U.S. government nearly a century after the last tribal member was forcibly removed from what’s now Grand Canyon National Park — one of the biggest tourist draws in the world. They recently partnered on events marking the rededication of a popular campground in the inner canyon from Indian Garden to Havasupai Gardens or “Ha’...

Ex-Kansas legislator convicted of COVID relief fraud sentenced to more than 2 years in US prison

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:25 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A former Kansas lawmaker who was convicted of 12 felonies for lying on applications for federal COVID-19 relief was sentenced Thursday to two years and three months in prison, according to online court records.An attorney for former Republican state Rep. Michael Capps argued for probation in court documents, citing Capps’ Air Force service in a combat zone. But prosecutors asked for a sentence of four years and three months in prison, arguing in court documents that he “continues to show neither remorse nor contrition” over stealing nearly $500,000 in funds meant to help businesses remain afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.In addition to the prison time, U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren sentenced Capps to two years of supervised release, and he ordered him to pay more than a half-million dollars in restitution and the forfeiture of illegal proceeds, The Wichita Eagle reported. A jury convicted the 45-year-old former lawmaker in December of four counts o...

With Missouri ban on gender-affirming care likely, Kansas City Council approves sanctuary status

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:25 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Officials in Missouri’s largest city approved a resolution Thursday to declare it a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care, defying state lawmakers who voted a day earlier to ban such care for minors and restrict it for some adults.Democratic Mayor Quinton Lucas praised the 12 to 1 vote, saying the city is committed to being a “welcoming, inclusive, and safe place for everyone, including our transgender and LGBTQ+ community.”Kansas City’s new, sanctuary status sets it apart as a Democratic-leaning city in a state with a Republican governor and GOP-controlled Legislature. Similar actions have been taken in cities that oppose state actions to restrict rights for transgender people, as in Austin, Texas. GOP Gov. Mike Parson is expected to sign into law the ban on gender-affirming care, joining at least 16 other states that have enacted similar laws restricting or banning such care for minors. The resolution also comes as a judge co...

US ambassador accuses South Africa of providing weapons, ammo to Russia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:25 GMT

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The U. S. ambassador to South Africa accused the country Thursday of providing weapons and ammunition to Russia for its war in Ukraine via a cargo ship linked to a sanctioned company that docked secretly at a naval base near the city of Cape Town in December.South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said an investigation into the visit by a Russian vessel named Lady R to his nation’s main naval base was already underway behind the scenes with the help of U.S. intelligence services before Ambassador Reuben Brigety went public at a news conference in the South African capital, Pretoria, that the cargo was weapons and ammunition.Brigety said the U.S. was certain that military equipment was loaded onto the Lady R at the Simon’s Town naval base between Dec. 6 and Dec. 8 and then transported to Russia. He said it brought into question South Africa’s supposed neutral stance on the war in Ukraine and its calls for the conflict to end.“The arming of the Rus...

CP NewsAlert: Suspect in stabbings of mother, child in Edmonton dies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:25 GMT

EDMONTON — Police say the suspect in the stabbing deaths of a mother and child in southeast Edmonton last week has died in hospital. More coming.The Canadian Press

Secure messaging arrives on Twitter – sort of. ‘Don’t trust it yet,’ Musk warns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:25 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twitter launched encrypted messaging Wednesday, offering select users the ability to communicate more securely. But its new service is much more of a baby step than a giant leap forward.For starters, it lacks basic protections that security experts consider essential for shielding messages from hackers and other prying eyes. Senders and receivers must also be subscribed to Twitter’s Blue service for $11 a month ($8 for desktop-only) or otherwise affiliated with an organization “verified” by Twitter for $1,000 a month plus $50 per user.The company’s official message announcing the rollout promised additional features soon. But CEO Elon Musk offered his own caution via a tweet: “ Try it, but don’t trust it yet. ”WHAT IS ENCRYPTED MESSAGING AGAIN?Ordinary messages sent across the internet, whether by email, direct message, Twitter or other means — are generally vulnerable to interception that could allow other people or organizations to read them. That includes the...

Fairfax Financial more than doubles first-quarter earnings at US$1.3 billion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:25 GMT

TORONTO — Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. says it earned US$1.3 billion in the first quarter of 2023, more than double earnings of US$588.7 million a year earlier. The Toronto-based company, which reports in U.S. dollars, says net earnings per diluted share were US$49.38, compared with US$22.67 the same quarter a year earlier. Net gains on investments were US$771.2 million, compared with a loss of US$195.2 million a year ago. Fairfax says gross premiums written totalled US$7.1 billion in the quarter ended March 31, up from US$6.7 billion a year earlier. Net insurance revenues were US$5.2 billion, up from US$4.7 billion. Chairman and CEO Prem Watsa said in a press release that significantly higher operating income from Fairfax’s property and casualty insurance and reinsurance operations reflected increased interest and dividends, among other positive trends. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 11, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:FFH)The Canadian Press

NDP leaves spring sitting at legislature facing turmoil in public housing management

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:25 GMT

VICTORIA — The New Democrat government in British Columbia started the spring legislative session promising more affordable homes for vulnerable people, but it ends the sitting amid turmoil over its public housing agency. An Ernst and Young audit found mismanagement and risk to public dollars at the Crown corporation BC Housing, and has the government facing sharp criticism as it leaves the legislature pledging tighter controls.The audit concluded there was mismanagement related to a conflict of interest between Shayne Ramsay, the former chief executive officer at BC Housing, and his spouse, Janice Abbott, who is CEO at Atira Women’s Resource Society, the corporation’s largest housing operator.Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon says the government will continue to provide housing to people who need it most, but for now has halted new funding to Atira and will launch another audit.Opposition BC United Leader Kevin Falcon says the report uncovers a scandal that points toward Pre...