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Robbins: Trump’s actions in NY civil trial speak for themselves

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:24 GMT

As Donald Trump solidifies his support among Republicans for their party’s 2024 presidential nomination, a civil trial underway in federal court in Manhattan will adjudicate whether or not next year’s presumptive Republican presidential nominee is a rapist.Writer E. Jean Carroll has sued Trump for battery and defamation. The battery claim is based on Carroll’s charge that Trump sexually assaulted her; the alleged defamation arises from Trump’s accusations that she is lying. There is really only one question that the jury which began hearing testimony last week will have to answer: did Trump rape Carroll or didn’t he?Carroll provided a highly detailed account of what she maintains Trump did: where she was, what transpired in the minutes preceding the alleged assault and precisely what she contends occurred in a dressing room in the lingerie department of a fashionable New York department store.Trump’s lawyers have a few arrows in their quiver. An event as shocking and traumatic as th...

Met Gala 2023 live updates: Fashion highlights from carpet

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:24 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Fashion’s biggest night is underway — after all, it is the first Monday in May. Follow along for real-time updates on the 2023 Met Gala from The Associated Press. We’ll be bringing you news in all formats, all day and all night, from the carpet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and behind the scenes. This year’s theme revolves around late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld.Live updates are contributed by Leanne Italie, Jocelyn Noveck, Beatrice Dupuy, Lindsey Bahr, Elise Ryan, Mallika Sen and other AP journalists.___DOJA CAT. THAT’S THE HEADLINE.Doja Cat leaned into her name and love of cats for her first Met Gala look. The rapper arrived on the carpet with makeup and prosthetics that gave her a feline’s face, cat claws for her nails and sequined dress with cat ears.“I’m just really happy about it and I feel sexy,” she said of the look.The makeup took 45 minutes to an hour and getting the dress on took about 20 minutes.Doja Cat said the inspiratio...

At least 6 dead after dust storm causes crashes in Illinois

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:24 GMT

DIVERNON, Ill. (AP) — A windstorm in southern Illinois kicked up dangerous clouds of blinding dust off farm fields Monday, causing numerous crashes that killed at least six people on Interstate 55, police said.The late morning crashes involved 40 to 60 cars and multiple tractor-trailers, two of which caught fire, Illinois State Police Maj. Ryan Starrick said.He said at least six people died, all in the northbound lanes, and more than 30 people on both sides of I-55 were transported to hospitals with injuries.“The only thing you could hear after we got hit was crash after crash after crash behind us,” said Tom Thomas, 43, who was traveling south to St. Louis. I-55 was shut down in both directions in Montgomery County, 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of St. Louis, and likely won’t reopen until Tuesday.Starrick told reporters that it was a spring version of a “whiteout situation” typically seen in winter snowstorms. Gov. J.B. Pritzker described the scene as “horrific.” “The cause...

7 bodies found during search for missing Oklahoma teens

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:24 GMT

HENRYETTA, Okla. (AP) — Authorities discovered the bodies of seven people Monday while searching a rural Oklahoma property for two missing teenagers, state investigators confirmed.The bodies were found near the town of Henryetta, a town of about 6,000 located about 90 miles (145 kilometers) east of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokesman Gerald Davidson said.He said the state medical examiner will have to identify the victims, but authorities were no longer searching for the missing teens or a man they may have been with. “We’ve had our share of troubles and woes, but this one is pretty bad,” Okmulgee County Sheriff Eddy Rice told reporters. Rice declined to confirm the identities of any of the victims, where the bodies were found or any details about weapons that may have been discovered on the property.“We believe there’s no other threat to the community,” he added.A missing endangered person advisory had been issued earlier Monday for 14-year-old Ivy Webst...

Police shoot, kill man on Hawaii’s close-knit, rural Molokai

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:24 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — Police officers responding to a report of a temporary restraining order violation on the small and close-knit Hawaiian island of Molokai shot and killed a man. Two police officers were responding to the call Sunday morning when they encountered a man wielding a weapon, the Maui Police Department said.“The male advanced toward the officers, at which time one officer deployed his taser, which proved ineffective before both officers discharged their weapons,” police said in a statement.The man died at Molokai General Hospital, police said. The officers involved were put on administrative leave and an investigation is ongoing, police said. Residents of Molokai, which is part of Maui County and is known for a small-town atmosphere with no traffic lights, were shocked by the fatal shooting. Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, who holds the Molokai seat on the county council, told The Associated Press Monday there have been no similar incidents in recent memory.Maui police didn’...

Biden, top lawmakers to discuss debt limit at WH May 9

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:24 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden sought Monday to ease a debt limit standoff by inviting the four Congressional leaders to the White House on May 9 — signaling the growing fears of a default as the federal government might be unable to pay its bills as soon as June 1.Administration and congressional officials confirmed the individual calls to lawmakers and the meeting date, insisting on anonymity to discuss the plans. Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he spoke with Biden and expects to speak with him again, though he did not say whether he will attend the meeting.Biden plans to stress that Congress must take action to avoid default without conditions and will discuss the urgency of preventing default, as well as how to begin a separate process for passing a separate fiscal 2024 budget. But if even the lawmakers talk, there is no guarantee of progress on an issue that has revealed a gulf in how Democrats and Republicans think the country should be governed.Biden ...

Man deemed high risk of re-offending in Peel Region arrested

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:24 GMT

A man released from police custody in March and deemed a high risk of re-offending was arrested and charged last week.Peel police said 30-year-old Joseph Faulkner was released from prison on March 30 and residing in the Dundas Street West and Confederation Parkway area in Mississauga.Police said Faulkner was subject to several conditions, including not being in the presence of children under 16. He had also been bound by two probation orders, with end dates of August 1, 2023, and April 16, 2025.Investigators said they’d closely monitor Faulkner.On April 24, the 30-year-old was arrested and charged with theft under $5,000, breach of a probation order and two counts of breach of a prohibition order.Peel police said the accused had been remanded into custody and is awaiting a bail hearing.

TSN radio host, former NHL forward Jeff O’Neill on leave

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:24 GMT

TSN radio host and retired NHL forward Jeff O’Neill is on leave from his regular role on “OverDrive.”O’Neill has not appeared on the 1050 station for several days and was absent during Monday’s show.Bryan Hayes briefly addressed O’Neill’s absence, confirming the 47-year-old, who goes by the nickname “O-Dog,” is on leave.“We wanted to let you know that the O-Dog is on leave, and that’s as far as we’re going to go with it,” Hayes said on-air Monday. “The show is going to continue.”Hayes, the host of TSN’s “OverDrive” with former NHL goalie and co-host Jamie McLennan (known on-air as “Noodles”), was joined by former NHL defenceman Frank Corrado.Corrado, who has guest-hosted on “OverDrive” and been featured on TSN broadcasts, will appear more often on the 1050 station moving forward.“He’s OK. He’s getting messages from people and seeing al...

Mexico arrests drug cartel lieutenant near Texas border

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:24 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Police in Mexico said Monday they have arrested a top lieutenant of the violent Metros faction of the Gulf drug cartel implicated in 23 attacks on police and 9 against military personnel.The suspect was identified as Hugo Salinas Cortinas, whose nickname “La Cabra” means The Goat. Police and the Mexican Army said he was arrested Friday, but provided no explanation for the delay in making the announcement.Police said Salinas Cortinas was caught with two guns and 600 pills, apparently fentanyl. He allegedly headed up drug and migrant smuggling along a stretch of the Mexican side of the Rio Grande river, also known as the Rio Bravo.He allegedly operated in a territory comprising the towns of Camargo and Miguel Aleman, across the border from the Texas towns of Rio Grande City and Roma.Local media reported that a woman identified in 2021 as his wife had been arrested in Roma, Texas after police found over $800,000 hidden in shoeboxes and backpacks in her home. The Gulf...

West side bars and restaurants beef up security as CPD warns of April break-ins

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:24 GMT

CHICAGO — The Chicago Police Department sent out another crime alert to the West Side community Monday, warning businesses that bars, restaurants and taverns have been a target of more than a dozen break-ins since mid-April.Chicago police said at least 13 incidents have been reported since April 15, with each happening in the early morning hours and in many cases, unknown suspects throw a brick through a window to get inside of the establishment.A map of the 13 break-ins listed in the community alert sent out by CPD.Last week, WGN reported on several bars and restaurants that were victimized in the same manner, including the Cobra Lounge — which experienced two break-ins during April, the latest featuring a thief who stole two cash drawers — and the Irish Nobleman Pub, whose robbery was partially thwarted after the bar owner's wife yelled at the male suspect over a two-way radio, chasing him off. ‘There was like a quarter in there:’ Restaurant owners say they’re lucky following br...