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One dead as tornado hits south Texas town near the Gulf coast

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:02 GMT

PORT ISABEL, Texas (AP) — At least one person was killed when a tornado struck a town on the Gulf coast near the southernmost tip of Texas, damaging dozens of homes and knocking down power lines early Saturday, authorities said. At least 10 people were also hospitalized, two in critical condition, said Cameron County Emergency Management Coordinator Tom Hushen. The storm hit the unincorporated community of Laguna Heights near South Padre Island at about 4 a.m. Hushen said there are “multiple minor injuries” such as cuts and bruises. The tornado “caused significant damage to residences … we have 40-60 damaged homes,” some heavily damaged, he said.National Weather Service investigators at the scene have confirmed it was a tornado and are working to determine the wind speed and strength, Hushen said.“We don’t quite have wind speed yet because there’s not a sensor over there, to exactly measure it,” weather service meteorologist Angelica Soria said. “(Investigators) can assess how...

‘All we want is to be safe’: Migrants push north after end of Title 42

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:02 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — For weeks, Solangel Contreras raced.The Venezuelan migrant and her family of 22 trudged through the dense jungles of the Darien Gap and hopped borders across Central America.They joined thousands of other migrants from across the Hemisphere in a scramble to reach the United States-Mexico border and request asylum.They raced, unsure what changing migratory rules and the end of a pandemic-era border restriction, Title 42, would mean for their chances at a new life in the U.S.But after missing that cutoff, robbed in Guatemala and crossing into Mexico shortly after the program ended Thursday night, Contreras, 33, had only one certainty in her mind: “We’re going to keep going.”Confusion has rippled from the U.S.-Mexico border to migrant routes across the Americas, as migrants scramble to understand complex and ever-changing policies. And while Title 42 has come to an end, the flow of migrants headed north has not.From the rolling mountains and jungles in Central Americ...

Procession for fallen OPP officer happening Saturday, funeral next week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:02 GMT

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) announced a procession to escort Sgt. Eric Mueller will be held on Saturday.Sgt. Mueller died in hospital following the early Thursday shooting at a home in Bourget, Ont. The 42-year-old and two other officers had been responding to a disturbance call, police have said.Alain Bellefeuille, a 39-year-old Bourget resident, is charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder in the case.An OPP spokesperson said the procession would leave the Ottawa Hospital – General Campus at 3:45 p.m. ET and travel along Highway 417 eastbound to Highway 174, which transitions to Highway 17, to Rockland, arriving at 4:30 p.m. ET.A procession for our fallen hero, #OPP Sgt. Eric Mueller, will commence at 3:45PM today at Ottawa Hospital – General Campus, and will travel to Rockland. #HeroesInLife pic.twitter.com/WttvhjUtYZ— OPP East Region (@OPP_ER) May 13, 2023Public members can show their respects from one of the many overpasses...

Pakistan leader says those involved in violence following Khan detention will face terrorism trials

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:02 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s prime minister said Saturday that authorities would go after those involved in violent protests following the detention of his predecessor, Imran Khan, including prosecution in anti-terrorism courts.Shahbaz Sharif’s warnings were a sign of further escalation in the long-running showdown between the government and Khan, who has the backing of large numbers of supporters.Khan returned to his home in the eastern city of Lahore early Saturday, after a court agreed to shield him from renewed arrest for two weeks. The 70-year-old former cricket star, who was toppled by parliament a year ago, planned to deliver a televised speech from his home later Saturday.The recent chain of events began Tuesday when Khan was dragged out of a courtroom and arrested in the capital of Islamabad. His detention was met by violent protests by his supporters, who torched cars and buildings, including military installations. Hundreds were arrested in the aftermath.Khan w...

Liverpool holds Eurovision Song Contest final, with Sweden favored and Ukraine in spotlight

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:02 GMT

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — What includes a Swedish diva, a Finnish rapper who loves pina coladas, a band of Croatian agit-rockers and an Austrian duo possessed by a long-dead writer? It could only be the Eurovision Song Contest.The grand final of the pan-continental pop music competition takes place Saturday in Liverpool. This year’s theme is “united by music,” and the event fuses the soul of English port city that birthed The Beatles with the spirit of war-battered Ukraine. Britain is hosting the event on behalf of Ukraine, which won last year’s competition.“I’ve never seen a city embrace Eurovision as much as Liverpool,” said Steve Holden, host of the official Eurovision Song Contest podcast. “It runs through the whole of the city. Every pub, every shop, every bar has the Ukrainian flag. … There’s a buzz, there’s a party atmosphere.”Under spring sunshine, fans flocked in their thousands to city’s dockside area — now a vast party zone — near the Liverpool Arena contest venue. ...

Opposition favored to top Sunday’s Thai election, but faces hurdles in taking power

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:02 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Voters in Thailand head to the polls on Sunday touted as a pivotal chance for change, eight years after incumbent Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha first came to power in a 2014 coup and is now running against the daughter of the politician who is the military’s top nemesis.The opposition Pheu Thai Party, headed by Paetongtarn Shinawatra, is widely predicted to win at least a healthy plurality of the seats in the 500-member lower House. But who heads the next government won’t by decided by Sunday’s vote alone. The prime minister will be selected in July in a joint session of the House and the 250-seat Senate. The winner must secure at least 376 votes and no party is likely to do that on its own.Pheu Thai won the most seats in the last election in 2019, but its archrival, the military-backed Palang Pracharath Party, succeeded in cobbling together a coalition with Prayuth as prime minister. It relied on unanimous support from the Senate, whose members s...

Indian cops hunt suspects in illegal crossing deaths of family to U.S. from Akwesasne

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:02 GMT

Police in India say they are looking for three men in connection with the deaths of a family from Gujarat trying to cross into the United States by boat through Akwesasne, Que., in March.Indian police allege the men were involved in running immigration firms that are used by people to enter countries with fake documents.Four Indian nationals whose bodies were among eight pulled from the St. Lawrence River had been travelling in Canada on a tourist visa from their home state of Gujarat. They included the father, Praveen Chaudhari, 50; mother, Daksha, 45; daughter, Vidhi, 23; and son, Meet, 20.Achal Tyagi, superintendent of police for the city of Mehsana, in the western state of Gujarat, says authorities have put out a lookout circular for three men: Nikulsinh Vihol, Sachin Vihol and Arjunsinh Chavda. They face charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, criminal breach of trust, cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property and criminal conspiracy.Tyagi says a poli...

Funerals to be held for firefighters killed during floods in Quebec

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:02 GMT

Funerals for two Quebec volunteer firefighters who died earlier this month during flash floods in the Charlevoix region will be private affairs.The municipality of St-Urbain, northeast of Quebec City says the families of both Régis Lavoie, 55, and Christopher Lavoie, 23, wanted to proceed with simple services in the image of the two fallen men and did not want civic funerals.Régis Lavoie’s funeral will take place later today at the St-Urbain church in the town about 110 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.The municipality says Christopher Lavoie’s funeral is scheduled for May 26.The two men — who are not related — were swept away by floodwaters on May 1 during a rescue mission in St-Urbain, Que., northeast of Quebec City.Quebec Premier Francois Legault has said that one of the firefighters used his own amphibious ATV to try to reach a couple whose home was surrounded by water in the town.Their bodies were discovered two days later about 500 metres apart in the Riviere du...

Pesto product distributed to Trader Joe's in 14 states recalled over labeling, allergen issue

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:02 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (KTVX) – Bakkavor USA, a prepared-foods provider based in North Carolina, has issued a voluntary recall of Trader Joe's-branded pesto pasta sauce which may have been packaged in containers labeled "hummus dip."The containers are not printed with the correct nutritional information, ingredients, or possible allergens that are present in the Trader Joe's Genova Pesto sauce contained within."People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to milk or walnuts run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reactions if they consume this product," Bakkavor USA wrote in a recall notice posted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The somewhat silly reason Trader Joe’s sells its bananas for 19 cents apiece Containers of Genova Pesto with the incorrect packaging were distributed between April 28–30 across 14 states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. The ...

UMN researchers are mapping coyote boundaries in the Twin Cities metro

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:02 GMT

Tim Regan never noticed coyotes or wild dogs in Highland Park. But in 2017, he walked past an old rail yard that was once part of the St. Paul Ford Motor Co. site, which had closed years earlier and was being torn down.“And I turned around and there was this coyote there,” he said.He quickly went home to get his camera, and when he came back, it was still lounging.“And then I just started seeing them,” Regan said. “They’re kind of everywhere if you look for them.” He didn’t stop photographing, either. Since 2017, he’s been chronicling the “Highland dogs,” learning their behaviors and assessing common misconceptions people have about them.This hobby connected him with the researchers spearheading the Twin Cities Coyote and Fox Project, a University of Minnesota effort to understand habitat use and diets and measure disease prevalence in coyote and fox populations in the metro area.‘Coyotes and foxes’James Forester, a principal investigator of the project, said looking int...