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Watchdog calls for House committee to uninvite RFK Jr. after his comments are blasted as antisemitic

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:24:04 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A Democratic watchdog group has called for a U.S. House committee to rescind an invitation to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after the Democratic presidential candidate was filmed falsely suggesting COVID-19 could have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people.Kyle Herrig, executive director of the Congressional Integrity Project, sent a letter to Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, asking him to disinvite Kennedy from a hearing scheduled for Thursday after the candidate’s comments at a New York City dinner last week prompted widespread accusations of antisemitism and racism.In the filmed remarks first published by The New York Post, Kennedy said “there is an argument” that COVID-19 “is ethnically targeted” and that it “attacks certain races disproportionately.”“COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most ...

A heat wave in southern Europe generates health warnings for residents and tourists

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:24:04 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italian health officials intensified heat warnings Monday as southern Europe began a brutally hot week with temperatures expected to top 40 degrees Celsius — or 104 degrees Fahrenheit — on a continent already sizzling under the sun and overburdened by tourists.Countries with borders on the Mediterranean Sea weren’t alone in suffering. Authorities in North Macedonia extended a heat alert for the next 10 days with predicted temperatures topping 43 C (109 F), while Kosovo also issued heat warnings. “Never in my life have I experienced heat like this before in Pristina,” Artan Kelani, a 22-year-old student, said in Kosovo’s capital, where it reached 34.4 C (94 F) Monday and was expected to get hotter starting Wednesday.The Italian Ministry of Health urged regions to beef up house-call services so older people don’t have to go out if they need medical care and to set up dedicated heat stations at hospitals to treat emergency cases. Rome braced for temperatures as ...

Killing of opposition leader in Moldova’s breakaway Transnistria region is under investigation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:24:04 GMT

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Moldova’s national police force has opened a homicide investigation after an opposition leader in the Russia-backed breakaway region of Transnistria was found fatally shot at his home, authorities said Monday. The police force said it was taking “all appropriate investigative measures regarding the crime of murder” in the violent death of Oleg Khorzhan, 47, the leader of the Transnistrian Communist Party. Moldovan authorities did not say when he was slain or provide details about possible evidence recovered from Khorzhan’s home in a town near Transnistria’s de facto capital, Tiraspol.Moldova’s Reintegration Policies Bureau said in a separate statement Monday that it has proposed launching a separate independent investigation under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s mission to the country, which borders Ukraine and Romania. The bureau strongly condemned “criminal actions that threaten people’s lives” an...

Ontario officer not disciplined after police dog bit off man’s ear in 2022

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:24:04 GMT

The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) says a London, Ont., police officer won’t face discipline following an incident in 2022 when a man was seriously injured after a police dog bit off his ear.Ontario’s police watchdog said that just after 8 a.m. on Nov. 3, 2022, officers with the London Police Service were dispatched to the Wellington Street and Horton Street East area following reports that a man was attempting to break into a residence.Police said the man fled the scene in an SUV before responding officers arrived. Authorities located the suspect but aborted efforts to pursue him when he failed to stop for police.A short time later, the man fled on foot in a townhouse complex and a police dog was released. The dog bit the 28-year-old man several times, and his left ear was partly severed.“The dog took the Complainant to the ground and bit him several times, including in the buttocks, and left upper arm and wrist. The most serious injury was one to his left ear,...

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs aspires to create new Black Wall Street through online marketplace Empower Global

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:24:04 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs wants to strengthen the Black dollar: The music mogul is spearheading a new online marketplace called Empower Global that will specifically feature Black-owned businesses.“I want to create our own Black Wall Street,” Combs told The Associated Press about his e-commerce platform, which launched last week. He feels passionate about building substantial wealth in his community similar to the Greenwood community, the thriving Black-owned business district in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that was decimated in a two-day attack by a white mob in Oklahoma in 1921.Combs said he’s not looking for financial benefit after he invested $20 million into Empower Global, which allows consumers to purchase products exclusively created and sold by Black entrepreneurs. The curated marketplace featuring Black-owned brands will allow consumers to purchase clothing, shoes, beauty accessories including skin care and fragrances, and even wall art. The platform was designed and crea...

Nike permanently ends Hockey Canada sponsorship

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:24:04 GMT

Nike has permanently ended its sponsorship of Hockey Canada in the wake of last year’s sexual assault allegations, Sportsnet confirmed Monday.The sponsorship termination was first reported by The Globe and Mail.“Nike is no longer a sponsor of Hockey Canada,” a company spokesperson said in an email to Sportsnet. “We will continue to provide on-ice product for Hockey Canada athletes as part of our partnership with the International Ice Hockey Federation, but our individual partnership with the federation has ended.”In a statement issued to Sportsnet Monday morning, Hockey Canada said it was “appreciative of the longstanding partnership it had with Nike for over two decades and respects their decision not to continue as a Hockey Canada partner.”Nike announced in October that it was pausing its relationship with the organization. Other top-tier sponsors including Esso, Telus and Tim Hortons had suspended sponsorship last summer.RELATED:Federal g...

Search underway for missing Little Village family last seen Tuesday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:24:04 GMT

CHICAGO — Community leaders in Little Village are asking for help locating a family who has been missing for nearly one week.Pedro Morales, 67, Justina Mendoza Rodriguez, 51 and Caleb Morales, 6, were last seen Tuesday, July 11.Family members said all their personal belongings were left behind.One of Morales' employees said before they disappeared, Morales told her he was being followed and seemed nervous.Friends and family gathered Sunday to pass out flyers and ask the community for help in finding the Morales family.Anyone with information on their wherabouts is urged to contact Chicago police.

CPS center opens program for newly arrived migrant children

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:24:04 GMT

CHICAGO -- Chicago Public Schools has opened a pilot program for children of migrants who have been brought to Chicago over the past year. Mayor Brandon Johnson as well as CPS CEO Pedro Martinez toured the new welcome center -- which amounts to a room set aside at Clemente high school in Ukrainian Village. More than 11,000 migrants have come to the city by being bussed or flown to Chicago from border states like Texas. Park Ridge’s Pickwick Theatre to host live entertainment, to be called ‘Copernicus @ The Pickwick’ The center will be apart of a 'one-stop-shop' for recent arrivals. Children who will be attending Chicago Public Schools will be able to get language screenings, health screenings and be placed in the proper programs within Chicago Public Schools. All of these services have been offered for years, but this is the first time that all of them will be available in one spot.The pilot program will service migrant families living on the West Side. It will be offered ay other...

FDA approves new drug to protect infants, toddlers from RSV

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:24:04 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials on Monday approved the first long-acting drug to protect babies and toddlers against a respiratory virus that sends tens of thousands of American children to the hospital each year.RSV is a cold-like nuisance for most healthy people, but it can be life-threatening in the very young and the elderly.The Food and Drug Administration approved the injection for infants and children up to 2 years old who face increased risk of severe RSV.“Today’s approval addresses the great need for products to help reduce the impact of RSV disease on children, families and the health care system” said FDA's Dr. John Farley in a statement.Last year, a surge in RSV cases flooded U.S. hospitals with wheezing children. There are no vaccines for babies yet, though Pfizer and other companies are working on them.AstraZeneca’s drug, to be sold under the brand name Beyfortus, is a laboratory-made version of an antibody that helps the immune system fight o...

Barton Springs Road safety project construction begins, plan updated based on community feedback

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:24:04 GMT

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect the adjustments to the Barton Springs Road Safety Improvements Pilot following public comment, which is separate from the Barton Springs Road Bridge Project. AUSTIN (KXAN) — This week marks the start of construction ahead of a year-long pilot project on Barton Springs Road that will reduce traffic to one lane in each direction in an effort to improve safety there.The part of the road that will change is between South Lamar Boulevard and Stratford Drive. To kick off the pilot this week, the city will construct bus stops between South Lamar Boulevard and Azie Morton Road.In April 2022, 10 people were seriously hurt when a car ran into them following a collision along Barton Springs Road, which prompted city officials to analyze this section and try to improve safety. It ties in with the city's commitment to being a Vision Zero community, with a goal of having no serious injuries or deaths related to traffic.Ahead of the rollout, th...