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Texas man pleads guilty to smuggling gun linked to deadly Mexico kidnapping

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:29 GMT

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Texas man pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to purchasing a gun for a Mexican drug cartel that was linked to the deadly kidnapping of four Americans.Roberto Lugardo Moreno Jr., 42, of Harlingen, Texas, appeared before a federal judge in Brownsville and entered his guilty plea to charges of straw purchasing and smuggling a firearm.Lugardo Moreno bought a multi-caliber AR-style pistol at a pawn shop in 2019 and lied on a form stating he was the buyer when he purchased it for a Gulf Cartel member in Mexico, according to a federal complaint.“All too often, firearms are trafficked into Mexico where they end up in the hands of criminals who use them to murder, rob and extort innocent people,” U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani said in a statement. “This case is a textbook example of the dangers involved when criminals transport weapons into Mexico.”Sentencing was scheduled for August.A public defender appointed for Lugardo Moreno did not respond to a c...

Trial over Kari Lake’s last challenge to loss in Arizona governor’s race wraps up 1st day

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:29 GMT

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Maricopa County has a failed process for verifying thousands of ballot signatures that even some of its own workers question, attorneys for Kari Lake argued in court Wednesday.The Republican’s lawyers spent most of the first day of a three-day trial showing video and taking testimony from two previous signature screeners who alleged staff was overwhelmed. The allegations are the only remaining legal claim in Lake’s challenge of her defeat six months ago to Democrat Katie Hobbs in the Arizona governor’s race.“There’s simply no way to review signatures with respect to procedures,” Kurt Olsen, one of Lake’s attorneys said.The former TV anchor was among the most vocal of last year’s Republican candidates promoting former President Donald Trump’s election lies, which she made the centerpiece of her campaign. Lake listened to the proceedings from a seat in the back of the courtroom but did not speak. She left two hours into the hearing.While most other...

Ukrainian trauma surgeon operates on soldiers all day long amid Russia’s war

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:29 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — As the lead trauma surgeon at a military hospital in Ukraine’s capital, Petro Nikitin has his hands deep in a war churning hundreds of kilometers (miles) away. The 59-year-old doctor’s work to repair the bodies of some of the most badly injured soldiers is all-consuming. “I only operate,” Nikitin said, taking a short pause as his team continued surgery on a patient. “I do nothing else in my life now. I don’t see my children, who have been evacuated, I don’t see my wife, who has been evacuated, I live by myself, and all I do is treat the wounded.”While the Ukrainian military does not provide casualty figures, some Western sources estimate more than 100,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed or wounded since Russia invaded the country almost 15 months ago. Fighting has been particularly fierce in recent weeks around the eastern city of Bakhmut, scene of the war’s longest and bloodiest battle, where Ukrainian forces have recently clawed...

Seattle startup’s ex-CFO accused of diverting $35 million, losing it in crypto crash

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:29 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — The former chief financial officer of a Seattle-based startup took $35 million of his employer’s money without permission and lost it by investing in cryptocurrency before the crypto market crashed last year, according to a federal indictment returned by a grand jury Wednesday.Nevin Shetty, 39, was hired in March 2021 as CFO of Fabric, which makes software platforms for retail commerce.About a year later, after the company informed him it was letting him go over job performance concerns, he secretly took the money and transferred it to HighTower Treasury, a crypto platform he controlled as a side business, the indictment said.His idea was to pay the company 6% interest while retaining profits above that, but soon the $35 million investment was practically worthless, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle said in a news release.The indictment in U.S. District Court charged Shetty with four counts of wire fraud. He is scheduled to be arraigned May 25.Shetty&#...

Democratic Minneapolis City Council candidate says he doesn’t condone violence, days after melee

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:29 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Days after chaos erupted at a Democratic nominating convention for a Minneapolis City Council seat, one of the candidates said he does not condone violence.Nasri Warsame, a political newcomer and Somali immigrant who is running for the seat currently held by Aisha Chughtai, said Wednesday: “I do not condone violence. I do not condone intimidation or harassment of any sort.”Saturday’s convention was held to endorse a candidate for the Minneapolis City Council race. Video circulating on social media shows a disturbance happened after supporters of Chughtai took the stage to seek the delegates’ backing for the seat. That sparked an uproar among Warsame’s supporters. Some jumped on stage, shouting, banging on tables and waving signs. At least two people were injured, and the convention broke up with no endorsement.Warsame’s campaign manager, Abshir Omar, said Wednesday that Warsame’s supporters were victims — not perpetrators. Omar said Warsame’s sup...

‘Huge relief’ as Drayton Valley residents return home after wildfire evacuation

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:29 GMT

The mayor of a west-central Alberta town said it was emotional to return home nearly two weeks after an out-of-control wildfire forced residents to flee, but thousands elsewhere remain on edge as scores of fires continue to rage across much of the West. “Just happy to be home and happy to be supporting one another and just pulling together like we always do,” Drayton Valley Mayor Nancy Dodds told a news conference Wednesday.Fire officials pointed to areas around the community, 145 kilometres southwest of Edmonton, showing how close the flames crept. People hugged each other and employees at the local grocery store as shelves were being restocked. Virtually all of the store’s meat and dairy products left behind during the evacuation had to be thrown out. “It’s a huge relief, and we’re just so thankful that our home is still standing and that everyone is OK,” said Jade Verheul, who had to quickly leave with her children on May 4. Verheul said she was luck...

Fort St. John, B.C., breathes easier as wildfire evacuation alert is lifted

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:29 GMT

Residents of Fort St. John in northeastern British Columbia breathed a collective sigh of relief after the city lifted its wildfire evacuation alert Wednesday, although more than 1,300 properties in the surrounding area remain under an evacuation order.Toni Chittim, who lives with her husband and three children on a property 40 kilometres north of the city, said a blaze got so close to their home on Monday that flames were visible as they drove away.“The embers from the trees were going into our yard,” she said in an interview from a hotel in Fort St. John, as her home remains off-limits in the evacuation zone.“That was a scary point.”Chittim’s house was unscathed by the fire, as were five horses on the property, she said.There were four fire trucks in the yard and firefighting helicopters overhead, on their way to drop water on the encroaching flames, she said.“I did think the house was going to be gone that night,” Chittim said. “I l...

Pathologist calls girl’s strangulation ‘certain’ after lawyer queries autopsy wording

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:29 GMT

VANCOUVER — A forensic pathologist said it was his “certain conclusion” that a 13-year-old girl found dead in a B.C. park six years ago died of strangulation, after her alleged killer’s lawyer asked if wording in the autopsy report left any room for doubt.Dr. Jason Morin, who performed the autopsy, testified under cross-examination Wednesday that he took swabs of the girl’s neck to preserve any DNA that might have been left by her attacker.The body of the girl, who cannot be identified under the terms of a publication ban, was found in Burnaby’s Central Park in July 2017, just hours after her mother reported her missing. Ibrahim Ali has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.Morin previously told the jury in the British Columbia Supreme Court trial that his autopsy determined the girl died after being strangled, which had caused blood vessels in her eyes and face to burst.Ali’s lawyer Ben Lynskey on Wednesday pointed to “the absence of in...

Americans urged to cancel surgeries in Mexico border city after meningitis cases, 1 death

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:29 GMT

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — State and federal health officials are warning U.S. residents to cancel planned surgeries in a Mexico border city after five people from Texas who got procedures there came back and developed suspected cases of fungal meningitis. One of them died, officials said.The five people who became ill traveled to Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, for surgical procedures that included the use of an epidural, an anesthetic injected near the spinal column, the Texas Department of State Health Services said Tuesday. Four remain hospitalized, and one of them later died.Those who became ill range in age from 30 to 50 years old, the department said.The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel advisory Tuesday for U.S. residents seeking medical care in Matamoros. Meningitis is the swelling of the protective covering of the brain and spinal cord and should be treated urgently. Symptoms include fever, headache, a stiff neck, nausea, vomi...

Fire crews battling ‘toxic’ blaze on site of roofing company near Ashbridges Bay

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:29 GMT

A large tank on fire is spewing toxic fumes into the area near Ashbridges Bay.Fire crews were called to CanRoof Corporation on Commissioners Street between Carlaw Avenue and Leslie Street just after 7 p.m. for reports of a fire. An asphalt holding tank on the exterior of the building is on fire and officials says the air in the area is toxic from the burning material.Officials tell CityNews they are using firefighting foam as they attempt to bring the blaze under control. No injuries have been reported at this time.According to the company’s website, CanRoof is a global leader in the manufacture and supply of residential and commercial roofing products, waterproofing, insulation systems and accessories.