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Media watchdog says it was just ‘raising questions’ with insinuations about photographers and Hamas

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:41:47 GMT

The executive director of an Israeli media watchdog organization says it was simply “raising questions” by publicly wondering whether Palestinian photojournalists who documented the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel — and sent some of the first images of its aftermath to a watching world — had been tipped off in advance that it would happen.The report by the group HonestReporting, however, had serious ramifications at a time of war.It led two Israeli politicians to suggest the journalists be killed. Several of the world’s biggest news organizations — CNN, The New York Times, The Associated Press and Reuters — issued statements Thursday denying they knew about the attack ahead of time.HonestReporting, which describes itself as an organization devoting to fighting media disinformation about Israel and Zionism, did not specifically make those accusations against the companies. It did, however, suggest that freelance photographers whose work from that day was used by the outlets might...

Two days after an indictment, North Carolina’s state auditor says she’ll resign

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:41:47 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina State Auditor Beth Wood announced on Thursday that she will resign from her elected post next month, a decision coming two days after she was indicted on charges that she misused her state-owned vehicle for personal activities. Wood, a Democrat who was first elected auditor in 2008, had already announced last week that she wouldn’t seek reelection in 2024. That came before a Wake County grand jury formally accused her of a pair of misdemeanors.“I will step down as State Auditor on December 15, 2023, completing 30 years of service to the State of North Carolina,” Wood said in a written statement, “I made this decision because we have such a great team doing incredibly important work and I don’t want to be a distraction. It has been an honor and privilege to work with such a talented staff and to serve the citizens of this great state.”The indictment followed an eight-month investigation by state agents that appeared to germinate after she was...

Illinois lawmakers OK new nuclear technology but fail to extend private-school scholarships

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:41:47 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois House on Thursday approved development of new nuclear reactors, reversing a 1987 moratorium and sending to Gov. J.B. Pritzker a plan that addresses the Democrat’s safety concerns over the proposal. The 98-8 vote to allow construction of so-called small modular reactors beginning in 2026 came a day after developers of the only such project approved by federal regulators pulled the plug because of rising costs. The Illinois proposal is largely the same as one that earned overwhelming legislative approval but was vetoed by Pritzker last spring. It adds a study on the risks of new nuclear technology and puts a state agency in charge of oversight, issues missing from the original plan. Thursday was the final day of the Legislature’s fall veto session, six days that saw a much lighter agenda than in recent years and which left on the table issues involving extending a private-school scholarship program and allowing legislative staff member...

2 men accused of assaulting officers with flagpole, wasp spray during Capitol riot

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:41:47 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Two men in Indiana and Illinois were arrested this week and accused of separately assaulting peace officers with a flagpole and wasp spray during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.Troy Allen Koen, 53, of Brownsburg, Indiana, faces federal felony charges of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, destruction of government property and obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder, the District of Columbia U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release. Koen also faces four additional misdemeanor charges in connection with the riot. No attorney was listed for Koen in federal court records, and he declined to comment when reached by phone Thursday evening. He was arrested Thursday in Indianapolis and was expected to make an appearance in the Southern District Court of Indiana that day, the attorney’s office said.Separately, 57-year-old William Lewis of Burbank, Illinois, faces federal felony c...

Former Arizona senator reports being molested while running in Iowa

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:41:47 GMT

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A former United States senator from Arizona has said she was molested while jogging along the Missouri River in Council Bluffs, Iowa.Martha McSally described the Wednesday morning attack in a video she posted online. “A man came up behind me and he engulfed me in a bear hug and he molested and fondled me until I fought him off,” she said. “I then chased him down. I said a lot of swear words in this moment. I was in a fight, flight or freeze. And I chose to fight.”After McSally chased the man into the brush at Tom Hanafan River’s Edge Park, she called police. Council Bluffs Police said in a statement that McSally lost sight of the man before officers arrived around 11 a.m., and he escaped. Police are still looking for him.The former Senator turned keynote speaker who failed to win reelection in 2020 said she was in the area to deliver a speech about courage just across the Missouri River in Omaha Wednesday night.The first woman to fly a fighter plan in com...

Canopy Growth Corp. reports net loss of $324.8 million in second quarter

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:41:47 GMT

SMITHS FALLS, Ont. — Canopy Growth Corp. says its net loss for the second quarter was $324.8 million, compared with $305.8 million a year earlier.The company says its net loss from continuing operations was $148.2 million, compared with $196.5 million during the same quarter last year. Revenues for the quarter were $82.1 million, down from $100.4 million a year earlier. The company says its Canadian cannabis business delivered its third consecutive quarter of organic revenue growth while significantly reducing costs. This September, the company obtained creditor protection for BioSteel Sports Nutrition Inc. and said it intends to sell the business.In August, the company announced it had signed a deal to sell the Hershey building in Smiths Falls, Ont., back to the chocolate maker for around $53 million. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:WEED)The Canadian Press

Chase on Texas border that killed 8 puts high-speed pursuits in spotlight again

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:41:47 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The white Honda Civic sped down Highway 57, a rural two-lane corridor that reaches the U.S.-Mexico border, after a Texas sheriff’s deputy tried pulling over the car and gave chase when it didn’t stop. High-speed pursuits of migrants and suspected smugglers have become routine in Texas. But Wednesday’s chase came to one of the deadliest endings in recent years: a head-on crash that killed eight people, including Honduran citizens and two residents of Georgia. The mangled wreckage at the scene near La Pryor, a small town about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of San Antonio, laid bare the danger of high-speed pursuits undertaken by an ever-expanding presence of law enforcement at the border. Texas alone has stationed hundreds of additional troopers the past two years in the name of curbing the flow of migrants and drugs. The crash has also renewed criticism that the pursuits are too fast and have gone on for too long despite chases that have ended...

Music Review: On ‘Heaven Knows,’ Internet pop sensation PinkPantheress provides IRL charms

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:41:47 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — How do you become introduced to PinkPantheress? Is it the viral, U.K. garage-sampling TikTok hits “Break It Off” or “Pain”? Or is it more recent — an inescapable song of the summer, “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2,” featuring Ice Spice? Or “Angel,” her contribution to the Mark Ronson-produced “Barbie” soundtrack? Or something else entirely?There are countless ways in, but the destination is the same: sugary hooks that satiate, her sweet soprano carrying an addictive chorus above hybrid production. And as of Friday, it’s culminated in “Heaven Knows.” The debut full-length record from the U.K. star, who keeps her real name hidden, features 13 tracks she also co-produced. “Heaven Knows” is sometimes hyperpop, sometimes ornamented with the sound of pan flutes (“Blue”), sometimes 2000s emo-by-way-of- My Chemical Romance -inspired church organs (that’s “Another life,” featuring the Nigerian artist Rema of “Calm Down” fame), and sometimes something else entirely.Any kind of momentum...

Former Louisville officer charged in Breonna Taylor raid says he was defending fellow officers

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:41:47 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The ex-Louisville police officer on trial for firing into Breonna Taylor’s apartment the night she was killed testified Thursday he had to react quickly after a fellow officer was shot in the leg during the drug raid.Brett Hankison said he saw a muzzle flash come from inside Taylor’s hallway after officers knocked down the door in the early hours of March 13, 2020, to execute a search warrant. He testified he believed it sounded like an assault rifle, so he moved to the side of Taylor’s apartment and fired shots in through a sliding glass door and window.“I had to react,” Hankison said on the witness stand in U.S. District Court Thursday. “I had no choice.” Taylor’s boyfriend had fired a single shot at officers after they came through the door, and two officers at the entry returned fire, striking and killing Taylor in the hallway of her apartment. While no one was hit by the 10 shots he fired, prosecutors have argued Hankison was shooting erratically without ...

Manny Machado digs in at groundbreaking for San Diego FC’s training complex and academy

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:41:47 GMT

EL CAJON, Calif. (AP) — With his mustard-yellow suit practically matching the color of a bulldozer right behind him, Padres slugger Manny Machado put on a hard hat, grabbed a shovel and joined in the ceremonial groundbreaking Thursday for the MLS expansion San Diego FC’s $150 million training complex and youth academy. Machado is a founding partner of San Diego FC, which is building its training complex and Right to Dream Youth Development Academy on the Sycuan Reservation in eastern San Diego County ahead of its MLS debut in 2025. San Diego FC is a joint venture between Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation.“We said we were planting roots in San Diego, and what better way to see this project come to life than have our facility and youth development academy on the grounds of Sycuan Reservation,” Machado said. “It’s an absolute perfect location in beautiful San Diego.”“I’ve said from the beginning that this opportunity...