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House Republicans subpoena Hunter and James Biden as their impeachment inquiry ramps back up

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:09 GMT

By FARNOUSH AMIRI (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans issued subpoenas Wednesday to members of President Joe Biden’s family, taking their most aggressive step yet in an impeachment inquiry bitterly opposed by Democrats that is testing the reach of congressional oversight powers.The long-awaited move by Rep. James Comer, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, to subpoena the president’s son Hunter and his brother James comes as Republicans look to gain ground in their nearly yearlong investigation. So far, they have failed to uncover evidence directly implicating the president in any wrongdoing. But Republicans say the evidence trail they have uncovered paints a troubling picture of “influence peddling” by Biden’s family in their business dealings, particularly with clients overseas.“Now, the House Oversight Committee is going to bring in members of the Biden family and their associates to question them on this recor...

Top 50 places to eat in San Diego: Yelp

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:09 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- From tacos and pizza pies to authentic Filipino and Ethiopian cuisine, San Diego's dining scene has a lot to offer. To help foodies narrow down the most favored restaurants in the region, Yelp has created a 2023 collection of the top 50 places to eat in San Diego. To determine which spots earned a ranking on the list, Yelp says researchers identified businesses in the restaurants category, then ranked those establishment using a number of factors like the total volume and ratings of reviews between summer 2022 and summer 2023. Don’t swim at these San Diego beaches, says county health officials Restaurants on this list, which looked at businesses in and around the San Diego area, were all marked open on Yelp as of Oct. 23, 2023. Yelp also noted that all businesses on this list had a passing health score as of this same date. Enough with the methodology -- let's bite into this data. Will it be delicate pasta, juicy kabobs, or top notch pub faire for dinner?No. 50: Daru...

Azerbaijan’s president addresses a military parade in Karabakh and says ‘we showed the whole world’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:09 GMT

Hundreds of Azerbaijani soldiers paraded Wednesday through Khankendi, the capital city of the Karabakh region that came under full control of Azerbaijan in September after a lightning rout of ethnic Armenian forces.“We showed the whole world the strength, determination and indomitable spirit of the Azerbaijani people,” Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said in an address at the parade, which also included tanks and military equipment that was seized from Armenian forces.Khankendi, which Armenians called Stepanakert, was the headquarters of the self-declared separatist government of Nagorno-Karabakh. The region and sizable surrounding territory came under control of ethnic Armenians at the 1994 end of a separatist war.But Azerbaijan regained parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and most of the surrounding territory in 2020 after a six-week war. That fighting ended with a Russia-brokered truce between Azerbaijan and Armenia that called for Russian peacekeeping forces to be deployed in the Khanke...

‘Greed and corruption’: Federal jury convicts veteran DEA agents in bribery conspiracy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:09 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal jury convicted two longtime U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration supervisors Wednesday of leaking confidential information to defense attorneys as part of a bribery conspiracy that prosecutors say imperiled high-profile cases and the lives of overseas drug informants. The Manhattan jury found John Costanzo Jr. and Manny Recio guilty of bribery and wire fraud after a two-week trial that cast a harsh light on DEA’s handling of government secrets, including testimony about one breach so sensitive the judge closed the courtroom to avoid what he called “serious diplomatic repercussions.” “It’s about greed and corruption,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Deininger said in her closing argument. “What they were doing was wrong, and they knew it.”Recio and Costanzo join a growing list of more than a dozen DEA agents convicted of federal charges in recent years, including one who laundered money money for Colombian cartels. Another is scheduled...

Police release image of St. Catharines stabbing suspect

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:09 GMT

Investigators with Niagara Regional Police Service have released an image of a suspect after a man was stabbed in St. Catharines during a robbery attempt.Police say it happened on September 4 at around 10:35 p.m. in the Riordon Street and Gale Crescent area when the victim, a 46-year-old man, was walking with a friend.Investigators said two suspects approached the duo and demanded property from the victim’s friend.That led to an altercation that resulted in the victim being stabbed.He was taken to a trauma centre with non-life-threatening injuries and is now recovering at home, police added.A photo of one of the suspects has been released. He’s described as a Black male in his late 20s with a medium build. He was wearing black pants, a black hooded sweatshirt with a T-shirt visible underneath and black running shoes with white sole at heel.The second suspect is a Black male, 15-16 years old with a thin build. He was wearing grey pants and a white T-shirt with black runni...

Democratic governors want more funding for security at places of worship in wake of threats

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:09 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Democratic group of governors led by Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer have joined national leaders in calling for an increase in funding for security at places of worship as concerns grow over threats against Jewish and Muslim communities sparked by the Israel-Hamas war. Governors of 10 states and the territory of Puerto Rico sent a letter Wednesday, first obtained by The Associated Press, that was addressed to leaders in both chambers of the U.S. Congress. It calls for an increase in funding to the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which is set to give $305 million this year to nonprofits to help secure their facilities against potential attacks. “My fellow governors and I are calling for an increase to the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program so we can help keep people safe amid rising threats and violence targeted towards Jewish, Muslim, and Arab communities and houses of worship,” Whitmer said in a statement.The letter echoes calls from other...

Liberal and moderate candidates take control of school boards in contentious races across US

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:09 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — On Tuesday, voters across the U.S. largely rebuked conservative candidates in local school board elections who want to ban books and restrict classroom conversations on race and gender.In recent years, down-ballot elections have become proxy votes for polarizing national issues. This time, liberal and moderate candidates took control in high-profile races in conservative Iowa, and the swing states of Pennsylvania and Virginia.The American Federation of Teachers said that candidates endorsed by conservative groups such as Moms For Liberty and the 1776 Project, lost about 80% of their races nationally on Tuesday.“They don’t want to engage in this banning of books or censoring of honest history or undermining who kids are,” Randi Weingarten, the teachers union president told The Associated Press on Wednesday, characterizing the candidates who won as “pro-public school.”Conservative groups weren’t totally shut out though. In Pennsylvania’s York County, for i...

Oklahoma board recommends the governor spare the life of a death row inmate who argued self-defense

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:09 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board narrowly voted Wednesday to recommend sparing the life of a man set to be executed later this month for what he claims were the self-defense killings of two men in Oklahoma City in 2001.The board voted 3-2 to recommend clemency for Phillip Dean Hancock, who has long maintained he shot and killed Robert Jett Jr., 37, and James Lynch, 58, in self-defense after the two men attacked him. Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt must now decide whether to grant clemency to Hancock, who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection on Nov. 30.The board’s decision came after it heard from Hancock, 59, his attorneys, lawyers from the state and members of Jett and Lynch’s families. Two Republican state legislators who say they strongly support the death penalty, Reps. Kevin McDugle and Justin Humphrey, also testified on Hancock’s behalf.“If any one of us were in that same exact situation … we would have fought for our lives,” ...

The Organization of American States warns Nicaragua it will keep watching even as the country exits

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:09 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Organization of American States said Wednesday that it will continue closely monitoring Nicaragua’s democracy and human rights record even after the country’s imminent exit from the regional body later this month.OAS members made clear that Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega’s withdrawal from the organization his country has belonged to since 1950 would not mean losing a persistent critic of his administration.The OAS “will continue paying special attention to the situation in Nicaragua” and will try to promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms there, according to a resolution approved by members of the permanent council.“This is a clear message that we want to send to the Nicaraguan people, so that they know they are not alone,” said council President Ronald Sanders, the representative for Antigua and Barbuda, adding, “We are not going to abandon them.”Arturo McFields, Nicaragua’s representative at the OAS until he publicly denounce...

Maryland officials approve settlement to reform autopsy process after teen’s 2018 in-custody death

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:09 GMT

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland officials approved a settlement Wednesday that reforms the process for conducting autopsies on people killed in police custody, a move that follows the 2018 death of a Black man who died after a struggle with an officer.The settlement ends litigation relating to how the medical examiner’s office performed an autopsy for Anton Black, a 19-year-old who died in police custody on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.The state has agreed to adopt a policy that explicitly addresses how medical examiners handle in-custody deaths, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland announced in a news release. It would apply to all deaths involving law enforcement restraint, including those that occur in jails, prisons and juvenile facilities.“This landmark settlement with the Maryland Medical Examiner – the first of its kind ever in Maryland – will bring concrete changes to ensure that deaths in law enforcement custody are not given special treatment that too often favo...