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West Africa recorded over 1,800 terrorist attack in first six months of 2023, regional official says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:14:59 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — West Africa recorded over 1,800 terrorist attacks in the first six months of the year resulting in nearly 4,600 deaths with dire humanitarian consequences, and a top regional official said Tuesday that’s just “a snippet of the horrendous impact of insecurity.”Omar Touray told the U.N. Security Council that half a million people in the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States known as ECOWAS are refugees and nearly 6.2 million are internally displaced. If there isn’t an adequate international response to the 30 million people ECOWAS assesses need food right now, he said, the number of people in need will increase to 42 million by the end of next month.Touray, who is president of the ECOWAS Commission, singled out the following drivers of insecurity in the region: terrorism, armed rebellion, organized crime, unconstitutional changes of government, illegal maritime activities, environmental crises and fake news.He said the region is worried about the re...

Anchorage mayor wants to give homeless people a one-way ticket to warm climates before Alaska winter

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:14:59 GMT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An unfunded proposal by Anchorage’s mayor to pay for plane tickets to warmer climates for homeless people who would otherwise be forced to winter outside in the bitter cold has caused a stir in Alaska’s biggest city.Last year, eight people — a record for the city — died of exposure in Anchorage and the closure of a large arena earlier this year that served as a makeshift city shelter is sure to exacerbate the crisis in a place where winter temperatures regularly dip below zero.“When people approach us and want to go to someplace warm or they want to go to some town where they have family or friends that can take care of them, if they choose to go there, we’ll support that,” Mayor Dave Bronson said at a Tuesday news conference.If the program moves forward, people can choose to relocate to the Lower 48 or somewhere else in Alaska where it might be warmer or where they have relatives.With the pandemic, officials configured the roughly 6,000-seat Sullivan Arena ...

Vatican abuse investigators begin their audit of secretive Peru-based Catholic society

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:14:59 GMT

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Two key Vatican investigators on Tuesday began an audit in Peru’s capital of a secretive Roman Catholic society with chapters across South America and in the U.S. following allegations that its founder sexually molested young recruits.Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, questioned the society’s spokespeople along with alleged abuse victims and journalists who have written on the case. The questioning took place in the Apostolic Nunciature in Lima.The scandal at the Peru-based Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, or Sodalitium of Christian Life, has close parallels to other cases of charismatic Catholic leaders in Latin America being accused of sex abuse — as well as the church dragging its feet on investigating claims and trying to keep scandals quiet.Founded in 1971, Sodalitium has a presence in schools and churches and runs retreat facilities with communities in Peru, Argentina, Colombia, Br...

Lawmakers say the UK should ban Russia’s Wagner as a terrorist group

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:14:59 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Britain has “underplayed and underestimated” the threat posed by the Russian Wagner mercenary group and should ban it as a terrorist organization, a powerful committee of U.K. lawmakers said Wednesday.The House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said the sanctions imposed by Britain on Wagner are “underwhelming” and U.K. authorities have done little to track the private army’s activities beyond Ukraine, where it has fought as part of Russia’s invading forces.“There are serious national security threats to the U.K. and its allies of allowing the network to continue to thrive,” said the committee, whose members come from both governing and opposition parties. It said Britain should “urgently proscribe the Wagner Network as a terrorist organization,” something the Conservative government has so far been unwilling to do.In a 78-page report, the committee said Wagner, which has close ties to the Russian state, operates like an “international crimin...

Colorado students at private career school that lost accreditation get federal loan relief

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:14:59 GMT

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The federal government will forgive loans for thousands of Colorado students who attended a private career school that lost accreditation and advertised with misleading data on alumni job placement and earnings that was more rosy than realistic, federal and state officials announced Tuesday.CollegeAmerica, owned by Salt Lake City-based Center for Excellence in Higher Education, Inc., had locations in Colorado and Arizona and offered associate degrees in business, computer technology and medical assisting, and bachelor’s degrees in business and computer science. It closed in 2021.In all, 7,400 former students enrolled at the three CollegeAmerica locations in Colorado between Jan. 1, 2006, and July 1, 2020, will have their federal student loans refunded and remaining balances forgiven after the school overstated — sometimes by double — the salaries that graduates could earn, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a news conference.“They basical...

Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz dies at 70

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:14:59 GMT

CHICAGO — The Chicago Blackhawks are mourning the death of the man who led the franchise for the better part of the last two decades. Rocky Wirtz, the chairman and principal owner of the NHL franchise, has died at the age of 70, sources have confirmed to WGN News on Tuesday evening. He has been in that role for the Blackhawks since 2007, taking over full time after his father Bill's death and the decision by his brother Peter not to remain in that position. He oversaw the rebuilding of the struggling franchise into one of the league's elite, then started that process again over the last two years. During his tenure, the Blackhawks won Stanley Cup championships in 2010, 2013, and 2015, seeing their popularity rise to new heights over the span of a decade. In his final years, the team had a decline of play on the ice, the fallout over the Jenner and Block report, and in his final days, the drafting of elite prospect Connor Bedard.**ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND EDITIONS, NOV. 8-9...

VIDEO: Camera footage shows Edison Park business owner robbed of catalytic converter at gunpoint

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:14:59 GMT

CHICAGO — The son of a Edison Park business owner robbed at gunpoint for his catalytic converter spoke out Tuesday, warning the community after his father came face-to-face with two armed suspects on the City's far Northwest Side.“He tried to stop the situation, but the guy pulled out a gun, so what is he gonna do?" said Edwin Espinoza, co-owner of Snappy Dog in Edison Park. "Nothing… just backs out and lets them take it.”According to the Chicago Police Department, a 48-year-old man was walking toward his vehicle in the 6600 block of North Northwest Highway around 5:30 a.m. Saturday morning when he saw two people taking his catalytic converter.Police said the offenders pulled out handguns and told him to walk away. He complied, and the thieves fled in a white SUV. UPS driver shot while delivering packages in West Humboldt Park Cameras at another nearby business caught the theft on video. As can be seen on tape, one suspect hands the other a tool, who then goes under the victim's S...

What are Ryan Poles' expectations for the 2023 Bears?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:14:59 GMT

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — There's nowhere for the Bears to go but up thanks to their 2022 season, but their general manager isn't going to restrict his expectations for his second season.Ryan Poles made that clear in his news conference on Tuesday at Halas Hall as Bears players arrived the day before training camp practices ahead of the 2023 season begin."I don't want to put a ceiling on what we can be, but I know our goals are always to win the division and be a championship-caliber team," said Poles when asked about expectations for the 2023 squad. "That standard is always going to be there."How close the Bears are to doing that is very much the question, especially after winning just three games in the general manager's first season. Roster improvements are across the board and figure to drive up the win total this fall and winter. That included the addition of a dynamic big-play receiver in D.J. Moore from the Panthers in the trade of the first overall pick. He also added to the offen...

Rare Apple sneakers up for sale at $50K

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:14:59 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — Call them iShoes? Or maybe even Air Jobs. Right now, Apple fans with a love for sneakers can snag a pair of ultra-rare shoes by Apple — Yes, that Apple. But it'll cost you a lot more than a new iPhone or MacBook. Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion inspired Airbnb materializes in Southern California World-famous auction house Sotheby's is currently selling (not auctioning) a pair of men's size 10.5 sneakers that were custom-made for Apple employees and given away at a sales conference in the mid-90s. The cost for the Omega Sports Apple Computer Sneakers is $50,000. Sotheby's tells Nexstar the shoes, which are in "new" condition in the box, are available for immediate purchase via the company's Buy Now marketplace. As explained by the shoes' listing, the rarity of the item majorly factors into the price.(Courtesy of Sotheby's)"Having never reached the general public, this particular pair of sneakers is one of the most obscure in existence and highly coveted on the resale mark...

Three arrested for multiple crimes, including vandalism of a church, FCSO says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:14:59 GMT

Editor's Note: The video above shows KXAN Live’s top headlines for July 25, 2023FAYETTE COUNTY, Texas — On Tuesday, the Fayette County Sheriff's Office arrested three people in connection with multiple crimes, including vandalism of a church in Fayette County, according to a FCSO news release.In the news release, FCSO Sheriff Keith Korenek said on July 18, deputies received reports of a burglary at the Mullins Prairie Store and vandalism that occurred at New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church.As investigators began working each case, they received information identifying one of the suspects in the Mullins Prairie Store burglary, FCSO said. Investigators located and interviewed the suspect, who admitted to taking part in both the burglary and vandalism of the church.During the course of the investigation, investigators were able to identify two more suspects and determined both suspects took part in two more crimes that occurred in the Mullins Prairie area a few weeks prior, the releas...