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Supreme Court rejects GOP argument in North Carolina case that could have transformed US elections

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:32:25 GMT

By MARK SHERMAN (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that state courts can act as a check on their legislatures in redistricting and other issues affecting federal elections, rejecting arguments by North Carolina Republicans that could have transformed contests for Congress and president.The justices by a 6-3 vote upheld a decision by North Carolina’s top court that struck down a congressional districting plan as excessively partisan under state law. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court that “state courts retain the authority to apply state constitutional restraints when legislatures act under the power conferred upon them by the Elections Clause. But federal courts must not abandon their own duty to exercise judicial review.”The high court did, though, suggest there could be limits on state court efforts to police elections for Congress and president.The practical effect of the decision is minimal in that the North Ca...

City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo violated conflict of interest law by representing brother in lawsuit, state finds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:32:25 GMT

Boston City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo violated the state’s conflict of interest law by continuing to represent his brother in a 2018 civil lawsuit after he was first elected to the city council in 2019, the State Ethics Commission said in a Tuesday statement.Arroyo signed a document admitting to the violation and agreed to pay a $3,000 penalty.The penalty follows a high profile sequence of events in which former U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins was accused of colluding with Arroyo to influence the race for Suffolk County District attorney, of which he was a candidate. Arroyo has denied he did anything wrong.Rollins resigned her office earlier this year following a federal investigation.The State Ethics Commission agreement did not describe the lawsuit in detail, only noting it was filed in Suffolk County Superior Court. A ethics commission spokesperson declined to dive into further detail, saying the commission could not “discuss matters that are outside of the content of the dispositio...

USS Midway Museum makes list of top attractions in US

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:32:25 GMT

SAN DIEGO — The USS Midway Museum is being recognized as one of the best attractions in the United States by Tripadvisor.The downtown San Diego maritime museum was recently ranked as the 10th-best attraction in the U.S. as part of Tripadvisor's 2023 Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best awards.The travel website compiled a list of the most iconic landmarks in the country that had a high volume of positive reviews over a 12-month period. Legoland among best amusement and water parks in world: Tripadvisor You can find the full list of attractions that made the Best of the Best list here.With a 5/5 rating and over 25,000 reviews on Tripadvisor, the USS Midway Museum was the top California attraction on the 2023 list.Located on the USS Midway, America's longest-serving aircraft carrier of the 20th century, the museum has over 60 exhibits and activities for the family to enjoy.You can find a full list of things to do at the USS Midway Museum here."Visitors explore a floating city at sea, ...

One of America’s first elected lesbian governors addresses Irish Senate on LBGTQ rights anniversary

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:32:25 GMT

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey — one of the country’s first two openly lesbian elected governors and a descendant of Irish immigrants — addressed the Irish Senate on Tuesday to help commemorate the 30th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Ireland.“It was not so long ago, when the story of Irish-American unity, and the story of gay liberation would never have been told together,” Healey said in her speech to the Senate. “I’m here to say they are stories of the same people, threads in the same fabric that binds us across time and strengthens us to face the future.”Ireland passed a law decriminalizing homosexual acts in 1993. Nearly two decades later, the predominantly Catholic nation legalized same-sex marriage, by popular vote, in 2015. The U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide the same year. “It’s been 19 years since we secured marriage equality in Massachusetts — eight years since both the citizens of Ireland and the Supreme Court of ...

Artificial intelligence takes centre stage at Collision tech conference in Toronto

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:32:25 GMT

TORONTO — When the Collision tech conference got underway in Toronto on Tuesday, there were two words that dominated discussions across the Enercare Centre: artificial intelligence.From the speakers that took to the annual event’s stages to the swath of startups seeking investments and exposure, seemingly everyone had something to say about the technology that is poised to upend industries and transform everyday tasks.“We are three steps into a 10-kilometre race,” said Adam Selipsky, chief executive of Amazon Web Services (AWS), the e-commerce giant’s cloud computing and database storage subsidiary, on stage Tuesday morning.“So the question is where are the runners going? What’s the course like, who’s watching the race?”He was questioned about whether AWS is already behind in the race because Microsoft has partnered with OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, a hit generative AI chatbot capable of humanlike conversations and tasks that debuted last y...

Eni chief executive says plan for pipeline to move gas to Cyprus ‘part of our discussion’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:32:25 GMT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The chief executive of energy company Eni said Tuesday that Cyprus-Israeli plans for a pipeline to move offshore natural gas from the two countries to Cyprus is “part of our discussion” with the Cypriot government. The gas would be processed for electricity generation and possible exportation.Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said after talks with Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides that any plan to develop gas deposits discovered off Cyprus’ southern coast “must have economic value.”Descalzi said talks focused primarily on Eni’s plans to drill by the end of the year an additional well in Block 6 — one of seven areas inside Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone where the Italian company along with partner Total of France hold licenses for hydrocarbon exploration. “We always support the government because they asked us, we work with them and clearly everything must have an economic value, but clearly we are working together. So it’s part of our discussion,” Descalzi said i...

Quebec movie theatre mogul Vincenzo Guzzo charged with criminal harassment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:32:25 GMT

MONTREAL — Quebec movie theatre mogul Vincenzo Guzzo has been charged with criminal harassment.The Quebec prosecutor’s office says Guzzo is accused of criminally harassing someone between November 2022 and June 2023.He was also charged for allegedly failing to comply with a condition not to communicate, directly or indirectly, with that person.A spokesperson for police in the Montreal suburb of Terrebonne, Que., says Guzzo was arrested over the weekend and appeared in court on Sunday.Guzzo is CEO of movie theatre chain Cinémas Guzzo and was one of the investors on the latest season of the CBC Television show Dragon’s Den.Requests for comment from Guzzo’s public relations representative were not immediately returned.This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2023. —This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.The Canadian Press

US push to lower wildfire risk across the West stumbles in places

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:32:25 GMT

DOWNIEVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Using chainsaws, heavy machinery and controlled burns, the Biden administration is trying to turn the tide on worsening wildfires in the U.S. West through a multi-billion dollar cleanup of forests choked with dead trees and undergrowth.Yet one year into what’s envisioned as a decade-long effort, federal land managers are scrambling to catch up after falling behind on several of their priority forests for thinning even as they exceeded goals elsewhere. And they’ve skipped over some highly at-risk communities to work in less threatened areas, according to data obtained by The Associated Press, public records and Congressional testimony.With climate change making the situation increasingly dire, mixed early results from the administration’s initiative underscore the challenge of reversing decades of lax forest management and aggressive fire suppression that allowed many woodlands to become tinderboxes. The ambitious effort comes amid pushback from...

In China, a muted reaction to the revolt in Russia belies anxiety over war, global balance of power

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:32:25 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China’s muted reaction to the Wagner mercenary group uprising against Russia’s military belies Beijing’s growing anxieties over the war in Ukraine and how this affects the global balance of power. China’s ruling Communist Party called the swift end of the 22-hour revolt Moscow’s “internal affair,” with state media affirming China’s support for Russia. Chinese observers said the incident showed how overblown Western rhetoric was regarding the “Russian internal conflict” and that President Vladimir Putin’s hold on power remains secure. But the uprising also threatens to deepen growing anxieties in Beijing over Russia’s war in Ukraine, given China’s limited ability to influence the situation. China has maintained a consistent position on the war: neutral on paper, but favoring Russia in practice, with frequent state visits and joint military drills between the two nations. It’s a delicate balance, calibrated carefully to avoid damaging relations with Russia o...

Father arrested after 3-week-old baby is killed by crossbow in upstate New York

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:32:25 GMT

COLESVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — An upstate New York man shot his companion with a crossbow while she was holding the couple’s 3-week-old daughter, killing the child and injuring the woman, authorities said.Sheriff’s deputies and emergency medical workers responded to a 911 call and found the injured woman and baby at a home in the town of Colesville shortly after 5 a.m. Monday, the Broome County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.The woman told deputies that Patrick Proefriedt, 26, had fired a crossbow at her while she was holding their infant daughter. The broadhead crossbow bolt hit the child in the torso and then struck the woman in the chest, the sheriff’s office said.Proefriedt removed the bolt and tried to stop the woman from calling 911 then drove away in a pickup truck, sheriff’s office spokesperson Emmanuel Priest said.Deputies and paramedics attempted lifesaving measures on the baby but she was pronounced dead at the scene, Priest said. The woman...