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Australia seeking to stop Russia from building new embassy near Parliament for security reasons

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:00:38 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday to prevent Russia from building a new embassy near Parliament House on security grounds.Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the legislation would extinguish Russia’s lease on the site based on the advice of security agencies.“The government has received very clear security advice as to the risk presented by a new Russian presence so close to Parliament House,” Albanese told reporters. “We are acting quickly to ensure the lease site does not become a formal diplomatic presence.” Albanese said Australia’s government condemns Russia’s “illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine.” Albanese said opposition and other lawmakers that are not aligned with the government were briefed on the legislation on Wednesday night and had agreed to pass it through both chambers Thursday. The government holds a majority in the House but not the Senate.“To be clear, today’s decision is one ta...

Los Angeles City Hall rocked by another corruption scandal, rattles trust in government

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:00:38 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — These are dark days in Los Angeles, but perhaps nowhere is that more true than at scandal-ridden City Hall.The weather phenomenon known as June Gloom has for weeks sealed the city known for crystalline sunshine under a murky blanket of clouds. That could be an apt metaphor for a metropolis struggling with a panoply of crises, most recently a shocking string of corruption cases in city government.On Tuesday, prosecutors charged Councilmember Curren Price Jr., who has served on the 15-member council for a decade, with embezzlement and perjury. He’s the third city council member to be charged with a felony in recent years. Two former members — Jose Huizar and Mark Ridley Thomas — pleaded guilty to felonies this year.It follows a racism scandal last year that led to the resignation of then-council president Nury Martinez after a leaked tape exposed three Latino councilmembers plotting to expand their power at the expense of Black voters, revelations that shook the pub...

Nevada Legislature on brink of final approval of public money for A’s MLB stadium in Las Vegas

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:00:38 GMT

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — A public financing package to help build a new $1.5 billion baseball stadium for the Oakland Athletics in Las Vegas has taken what’s expected to be the last step toward final approval in the Democrat-controlled Nevada Legislature.The Nevada Assembly made minor changes Wednesday to the measure the Senate approved Tuesday on a 13-8 vote and sent it back to the senators on a 25-15 vote.The Senate was expected to approve the final version late Wednesday or Thursday before sending it to the desk of Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo.It still needs his signature, and MLB still must approve the A’s move to Las Vegas, but both are anticipated.The $380 million in public funding for the A’s stadium would mainly come from $180 million in transferable tax credits and $120 million in county bonds. Changes included in a single amendment in the Assembly on Wednesday included a shift in some money for homeless programs to more general spending for low-income housing.The Sen...

Ex-US congressman seeks no prison time at July sentencing for insider trading conviction

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:00:38 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A former Indiana congressman should spend no time in prison after his insider trading conviction, his lawyers told a judge Wednesday.Steve Buyer, 64, of Noblesville, Indiana, was convicted by a jury in Manhattan federal court in March of four securities fraud charges after a two-week trial for stock trades he made while working as a consultant and lobbyist after he finished serving in Congress from 1993 to 2011.He was convicted in connection with insider trading involving the $26.5 billion merger of T-Mobile and Sprint, announced in April 2018, and stock purchases he made at a later time in the management consulting company Navigant when his client Guidehouse was set to acquire it in a deal publicly disclosed weeks later.Federal sentencing guidelines call for him to serve a prison sentence of about three years, though judges frequently depart downward from the recommendations.His lawyers wrote in a submission ahead of a July 11 sentencing that the Republican should f...

2 Americans found dead at hotel in Mexico’s Baja California Sur

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:00:38 GMT

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico (AP) — Police in a seaside community on Mexico’s Baja California peninsula said Wednesday that two Americans have been found dead in their hotel room. Police said the deaths occurred in the community of El Pescadero on Tuesday. The town is located between Todos Santos and the resort of Los Cabos, in Baja California Sur state.U.S. officials said they were aware of the case but could not comment on it because of privacy concerns. There was no immediate information on the names or hometowns of the victims.According to a police, paramedics received a report Tuesday that the Americans were unconscious in their room. They were dead by the time paramedics arrived. The suspected cause of death was inhalation of gas. There have been several cases of such deaths in Mexico due to poisoning by carbon monoxide or other gases. Such gases are often produced by improperly vented or leaky water heaters and stoves.In October, three U.S. citizens found dead at a rented apartment...

Experts question prosecutors’ strategy against weapons expert in Alec Baldwin case

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:00:38 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — More than a year and a half after Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cinematographer while rehearsing a scene on set in New Mexico, prosecutors have yet to solve the biggest mystery in the tragic case: How did live rounds get on the set?Prosecutors said in their latest court filing that they have some evidence to support the theory that weapons expert Hannah Gutierrez-Reed may be responsible for the introduction of the rounds. But they have offered no details, and barring more evidence, they’re now basing part of their case against her on the idea that a night of drinking and marijuana use left her incapable of the judgment necessary to ensure the set was safe. Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys argue that prosecutors are resorting to character assassination, and some legal experts are doubtful it will make for a winning strategy for prosecutors.Several lawyers who are not involved with the case but have been watching it closely said Wednesday that prosecuti...

Woman who fled to Thailand after hit-and-run crash killed Michigan student enters no-contest plea

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:00:38 GMT

A Detroit-area woman accused of fleeing to Thailand after killing a Michigan State University student in a hit-and-run crash pleaded no contest Wednesday to failing to stop at the scene of an accident resulting in death.Tubtim “Sue” Howson, 57, of Oakland County, entered the plea in Oakland County Circuit Court in connection with the New Year’s Day hit-and-run that killed 22-year-old Ben Kable of Shelby Township, The Macomb Daily reported.Kable was walking on an Oakland County road before dawn on Jan 1. Kable was home from the university for the holidays.Howson is a dual U.S. and Thai citizen and left Michigan for Bangkok on Jan. 3. Authorities in Thailand took her into custody there. She was returned to the U.S. in February and extradited to Michigan.A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing purposes. Howson is scheduled to be sentenced on July 26 and faces up to five years in prison. She’s being held in the Oakland County Jail on a $1 mil...

Female Mexican gray wolf released into wild in Arizona in move to help wolf’s recovery

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:00:38 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — A female Mexican gray wolf that a group of schoolchildren nicknamed Asha has been returned to the wilds of Arizona after she was found wandering in northern New Mexico outside of a zone set up for the recovery of her subspecies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Wednesday. The wolf was headed north into the southern Rocky Mountains of New Mexico in January when the wildlife service captured her outside the recovery area. The Fish and Wildlife Service says it does not anthropomorphize wild animals by using human or pet names favored by the public and nongovernmental groups and calls her Female Wolf 2745.“Wolves like Asha have shown, time and time again, that this purely political boundary is ecologically irrelevant.” said Cyndi Tuell, Arizona and New Mexico director of the nongovernmental Western Watersheds. Tuell and other environmentalists say the zone is arbitrary and that the animals should be able to roam freely, potentially introducing them to other wolves ...

Nigeria anti-graft boss in custody after being suspended by president

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:00:38 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has suspended the head of the West African nation’s anti-graft agency for alleged abuse of office, the presidency said Wednesday.Abdulrasheed Bawa was suspended indefinitely as chairman of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission following the “weighty allegations of abuse of office leveled against him,” the Nigerian presidency said in a statement.Moments after he was suspended, Bawa was taken into custody by the country’s secret police in the capital of Abuja. The move was related to the investigations into his activities, according to Peter Afunanya, spokesman for Nigeria’s Department of State Services.Appointed in 2021 to lead the fight against the endemic corruption that has stifled the development of Africa’s top oil producer and largest economy, Bawa is the latest official suspended by Nigeria’s new president who took office last month after promising to make good use of the country’s rich resources to improv...

Sheriff: 2 inmates charged after being found with drug-soaked papers

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:00:38 GMT

COOK COUNTY, Ill. — Two inmates at the Cook County Jail from Chicago have been indicted and charged by a grand jury after a Cook County Sheriff's investigation found them in possession of paper soaked in drugs, according to Sheriff Thomas J. Dart.Grand jurors issued their indictment Tuesday, charging 19-year-old Alexander Hansen and 22-year-old Kiante Byrd with possession of contraband in a penal institution, a class 1 felony.19-year-old Alexander Hansen (left) and 22-year-old Kiante Byrd (right), both from Chicago.On April 27, jail staff recovered strips of drug-soaked paper in the right sock of Hansen. The next day, jail staff recovered drug-soaked paper in a notebook being carried by Byrd. In each case, the papers recovered tested positive for synthetic cannabinoids.Hansen has been held in custody at the Cook County Jail without bail since Sept. 29, 2022, on charges of armed robbery with a firearm and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon/vehicle/no FOID. Byrd has been held at the...