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Mexico president’s ruling party ousts once-dominant party in most populous state

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:51:23 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The ruling party of Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador won the governorship of the country’s most populous state, dealing a life-threatening blow to the old ruling Institutional Revolutionary Part y — or PRI — which had governed the State of Mexico without interruption for nearly a century.With over 99% of precincts counted in a preliminary report, electoral authorities said Monday that Morena’s Delfina Gómez won 52.7% of votes in the State of Mexico — which surrounds Mexico City on three sides — to 44.3% for the PRI’s Alejandra del Moral. Del Moral later gave a concession speech acknowledging her defeat. The result was a new low for the PRI, which held Mexico’s presidency uninterrupted for 71 years until losing power in 2000 elections; the party had governed the State of Mexico and its 17 million inhabitants for 94 years until its loss Sunday.The PRI managed to hold on to the governorship of the sparsely populated norther...

DNA from drinking glass linked New Jersey man to 4 Boston sexual assaults, prosecutor says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:51:23 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — A New Jersey lawyer charged with sexually assaulting four women in Boston about 15 years ago was ordered held on $500,000 bail Monday during a hearing in which a prosecutor said authorities helped tie him to the attacks by getting DNA from a drinking glass he had used.Matthew Nilo, of Weehawken, New Jersey, pleaded not guilty in a Boston courtroom to several charges, including three counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping, one count of assault with intent to rape and one count of indecent assault and battery. The charges stem from four attacks that happened in Boston’s Charlestown neighborhood from August 2007 through December 2008 — a time that authorities say Nilo lived in the city.Nilo, 35, was arrested last week. During the hearing Monday, prosecutor Lynn Feigenbaum said that in some cases, the assailant said he had a gun and threatened to kill the victim. In one case, he showed the victim a knife, she said.The first two victims, who were both 23 years ...

2nd flight carrying migrants lands in Sacramento; California officials say Florida arranged travel

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:51:23 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Another plane carrying migrants arrived in Sacramento on Monday, marking the second flight in recent days that California officials allege was coordinated by Florida. The flight carrying roughly 20 migrants that arrived Monday follows the arrival Friday of 16 migrants from Colombia and Venezuela, who were taken from Texas to New Mexico before they were put on a chartered plane to California’s capital. It’s not clear what countries the latest group of arrivals are from, but their travel appears to have been arranged by the same company, said Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for California Attorney General Rob Bonta.Bonta says he’s investigating whether any crimes were committed.The first group of migrants was dropped off at the Roman Catholic Church diocese’s headquarters in Sacramento.They carried documents that said they were transported through a program run by Florida’s Division of Emergency Management and carried out by contractor Vertol ...

Former FBI agent Robert Hanssen, who was convicted of spying for Russia, dies in prison

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:51:23 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI agent who took more than $1.4 million in cash and diamonds to trade secrets with Russia and the former Soviet Union in one of the most notorious spying cases in American history died in prison Monday. Robert Hanssen, 79, was found unresponsive in his cell at a federal prison in Florence, Colorado, and later pronounced dead, prison officials said. Hanssen is believed to have died of natural causes, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of Hanssen’s death and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. He had been serving a sentence of life in prison without parole after pleading guilty to 15 counts of espionage and other charges in 2001. He had begun providing highly classified national security information to Russia and the former Soviet Union in 1985, and got more than $1.4 million worth of cash, bank funds and diamonds in exchange over the course of 16 years, accord...

Off-duty York regional officer sentenced after failing to remain at scene of collision

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:51:23 GMT

York Regional Police say one of its officers has been sentenced to an 18-month conditional sentence in connection with a 2019 fail-to-remain collision in Markham while off duty.On September 29, 2019, authorities responded to a report just after 7:15 p.m. of a serious collision on Highway 7, near York Durham Line where a motorcycle had been struck and the vehicle had fled the scene. The motorcyclist was taken to hospital with serious, life-altering injuries.Officers learned that a Nissan Pathfinder had collided with the motorcycle. Constable Nathan Coates drove the Nissan a few kilometres away, and once York police located the vehicle they arrested the off-duty officer.Coates was sentenced to an 18-month conditional sentence on Monday, which includes nine months of house arrest, 100 hours of community service and a 30-month driving prohibition. He also must submit a DNA sample to the National DNA Data Bank.In a release, York police said Coates had been a member of its force since 200...

Buffalo Bills break ground on new $1.54 billion stadium

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:51:23 GMT

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — In preparing to break ground on the Buffalo Bills new stadium, owner Terry Pegula looked to the sky to deliver a message to his late predecessor and franchise founder, Ralph Wilson.“Ralph, we’re moving across the street,” Pegula said to an eruption of laughter from a large gathering that included Wilson’s wife, Mary.“And what would he say to that, Mary?” Pegula said. “And don’t start crying because you’ll get me crying.”Using the Bills current home as a backdrop, Pegula, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday dug into a small plot of dirt across the street in breaking ground on new stadium scheduled to open by the 2026 season, and projected to cost $1.54 billion, with taxpayers picking up $850 million of the tab.The hour-long ceremony was a celebration of the team’s future, which is essentially secured with a new stadium that comes with a 30-year lease, and also the past. It was held amid construction equipment in what serve...

Wisconsin judge: Don’t delete records from probe into 2020 Trump loss

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:51:23 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge on Monday declined to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to ensure that no records are deleted from a now-closed state office created to investigate former President Donald Trump’s loss in 2020.The lawsuit was one of several filed by liberal watchdog group American Oversight against former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman and the office of special counsel that he led. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos hired Gableman to lead the probe in 2021 under pressure from Trump and conservative Republicans in Wisconsin who were pushing for decertifying Biden’s win. Vos put the investigation on hold in April 2022 and then fired Gableman in August 2022 after he turned up no evidence to back Trump’s false claims that the election had been stolen from him. Vos fired Gableman just days after Vos won his primary over an opponent endorsed by Gableman and Trump. Vos called Gableman an “embarrassment” to himself and the state. Even though the off...

India among top actors for foreign interference in Canada: national security adviser

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:51:23 GMT

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national security adviser says India is among the top sources of foreign interference in Canada, a public designation Ottawa has largely limited to authoritarian states.“When I talk about foreign interference and economic security, I’m now talking about a number of state actors and non-state proxies,” Jody Thomas said last Friday.“This includes Russia, Iran, India. That said, the actor that comes up most on these issues, and it’s no surprise to anybody, is China.”Thomas’s remarks, at a conference held by the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, come months after the Liberals highlighted India as part of their Indo-Pacific strategy and as a priority for establishing closer economic and scientific ties.India’s high commission in Ottawa has not responded to a request for comment.On occasion India has argued that elements in Canada are behind interference in Indian domestic affairs, particularly...

Agenda spat at UN climate talks as top official sees chance to ask ‘difficult questions’ in Dubai

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:51:23 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Nations resumed talks on tackling global warming Monday with the aim of shaping a deal that might put the world on track to prevent a dangerous increase in temperatures, as the U.N.’s top climate official called for deep cuts in fossil fuel use.Diplomats began two-week negotiations in Bonn, Germany, despite failing to agree on a formal agenda because of differences on the topic of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.The issue lies at the heart of the climate problem, since burning oil, coal and gas is responsible for most warming that’s occurred since preindustrial times.Simon Stiell, who heads the U.N. climate office, told The Associated Press in an interview over the weekend that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) will require a phaseout of fossil fuels, something many oil-producing countries have pushed back on.Environmental campaigners have lamented that this year’s U.N. climate summit will be held in the United Arab Emi...

Apple unveils sleek 'Vision Pro' goggles after years of speculation

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:51:23 GMT

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — Apple on Monday unveiled a long-rumored headset that will place its users between the virtual and real world, while also testing the technology trendsetter's ability to popularize new-fangled devices after others failed to capture the public's imagination.After years of speculation, Apple CEO Tim Cook hailed the arrival of the sleek goggles — dubbed "Vision Pro" — at the the company's annual developers conference held on a park-like campus in Cupertino, California, that Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs helped design.“This marks the beginning of a journey that will bring a new dimension to powerful personal technology," Cook told the crowd.Although Apple executives provided an extensive preview of the headset's capabilities during the final half hour of Monday's event, consumers will have to wait before they can get their hands on the device and prepare to pay a hefty price to boot. Vision Pro will sell for $3,500 once it's released in stores early next yea...