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At least 16 people killed when a boat caught fire in western Congo, as attacks rise in the east

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:59 GMT

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — At least 16 people were killed Monday when a boat caught fire on the Congo River, local officials said.The boat was carrying fuel and was on its way to the city of Mbandaka from the eastern part of the capital, Kinshasa, said Papy Epiana, the provincial deputy. At least 11 people were rescued and it’s unclear if more are missing. The accident comes two days after a boat capsized also on the Congo River, killing at least 40 people.Boat accidents are common on the Congo River and on the nation’s lakes because of the prevalent use of makeshift boats that are often overloaded. The majority of the population in the country’s northwest use the rivers to travel because of a lack of good roads and because it is less expensive.The accidents in the country’s west come amid rising insecurity in the conflict-riddled east. At least 30 people were killed and their homes burned Sunday night in Rutshuru Territory in North Kivu province, according to local authorit...

Cuomo could have run again for NY governor, but declined for family reasons, former top aide writes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:59 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment, discussed running to reclaim the office in 2022 but decided against it because he didn’t want to subject his daughters to another campaign, one of his top aides says in a book being released Tuesday.“We had a vendor lined up to print petitions and had assembled a volunteer army and a paid canvass operation that was set to go,” the Democrat’s former chief aide, Melissa DeRosa, writes in her political memoir, “What’s Left Unsaid: My Life at the Center of Power, Politics and Crisis.” Such a run would have pitted Cuomo against his successor and former lieutenant governor, fellow Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul. DeRosa said Cuomo “could not stomach” how state government was being run after his resignation. But despite support from relatives and aides willing to come out with “guns blazing,” she wrote, Cuomo considered how a run would impact his three daughter...

Vic Fischer, last surviving delegate to Alaska constitutional convention, dies at age 99

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:59 GMT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Vic Fischer, who was the last surviving delegate to the Alaska constitutional convention in the mid-1950s, has died. He was 99.His death Sunday in Anchorage was confirmed by Schawna Thoma, a family friend.Fischer was a delegate to the constitutional convention in which the foundational document that took effect when Alaska became a state was drafted. He was a member of the last territorial legislature — before Alaska became a state in 1959 — and later served in the state Legislature.Fischer was a voice in Alaska politics, including last year joining a bipartisan group that opposed calling a state constitutional convention. Alaska has not had a constitutional convention since the original one in the 1950s, and voters are asked every 10 years whether a convention should be called. Voters last year overwhelmingly voted to reject calling one.Fischer was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1924. His mother was a Soviet citizen and his father an American, according to bio...

Georgia man charged with murder after his girlfriend’s dead body is found in a suitcase

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:59 GMT

THOMASTON, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia man has been charged with murder after police said he killed his girlfriend, stuffed her body in a suitcase and stashed it in the closet of the apartment they shared.Freddrick Durham of Thomaston was being held without bail in the Upson County jail. Durham appeared before a judge on Monday, a Thomaston police investigator said by phone, but Durham does not yet have a lawyer who can speak for him.Officers and relatives had gone to Margret Dubignon’s apartment Friday in the the town about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of Atlanta, but didn’t find her, after last speaking to her on Thursday.She was officially reported missing Saturday morning, with relatives saying Durham and Dubignon’s vehicle were also missing. Officers were called back to the apartment 90 minutes later after relatives found Dubignon’s body in the suitcase. Upson County Coroner Craig Stubbs said Monday that Dubignon’s cause of death will be determined onc...

Ex-officer sentenced after assaulting man during unrest in Minneapolis after murder of George Floyd

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:59 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A former Minneapolis police officer was sentenced Monday to 15 days in the county workhouse, with eligibility for electronic home monitoring, after pleading guilty to assaulting a Black man during the unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd by another officer in 2020.Justin Stetson, 35, also received two years of probation. Under the terms of his plea agreement, he must also complete an anger management course, pay about $3,000 in fines and refrain from applying for law enforcement jobs for the rest of his life, among other measures. “The system that I believe was designed to provide justice to citizens … protected my attacker but not me,” Jaleel Stallings, 31, said in court on Monday, adding: “He brutally beat me. I offered no resistance.” Stetson told the court that he reaffirmed his guilty plea and stood by his previously filed apology to Stallings, and that he accepts responsibility for his actions.He was sentenced to serve his time in a workhous...

Cook County deputies announce 10 arrests in connection with sex trafficking, prostitution & child pornography

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:59 GMT

COOK COUNTY, Ill. — Almost a dozen arrests have been made in connection with sex trafficking, prostitution and child pornography according to the Cook County Sheriff's Department. Now authorities say they are hoping that several websites will begin working with the department to help curb the problem."The past two weeks has been, in one respect, very successful for the sheriff's office in our arrest of a lot of different people," Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said during a press conference on Monday. Man shot, critically injured near Chicago’s Magnificent Mile Dart announced the successful stretch for the department during the press conference adding that 10 arrests have been made in the last two weeks."Just in the last two weeks, on the 6th we arrested four individuals for operating a brothel and trafficking in persons," Dart said.Counseling services have been made available to all of the victims involved."Also on the 6th, we arrested one individual for involuntary servitude and p...

Four migrants staying at Chicago police district hospitalized

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:59 GMT

CHICAGO — Three children and an adult, who are migrants and were staying at Chicago's 1st police district, were taken to hospitals on Monday.The Chicago Fire Department responded and said they were suffering from heavy coughing and sneezing and taken to local emergency rooms. 2 Israeli women held hostage in Gaza released by Hamas Everybody is stable, as of Monday afternoon, according to the fire department."New arrivals receive health screenings and have access to medical care via a clinic operated by Cook County Health," the Chicago Department of Public Health said in a statement. "The Chicago Department of Public Health provides complimentary support by funding onsite clinical providers in Department of Family and Support Services-run shelters and by coordinating mobile healthcare providers and Medical Reserve Corps volunteers to perform screenings in Police Districts so that new arrivals can be connected to care. Separate from clinical care, CDPH has a dedicated team that provi...

6 hospitalized after CTA bus veers off road, avoiding car on Near West Side

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:59 GMT

CHICAGO — Six people were taken to the hospital following a crash involving a Chicago Transit Authority on the city's Near West Side. According to a witness, a car cut off the CTA bus near Ashland and Ogden, causing the city vehicle to crash into a large traffic control box.  ‘People are sad, & people are angry:’ Police, community searching for answers after 12-year-old killed in Englewood The vehicle that allegedly cut off the CTA bus did not stop at the scene, said Mark Balentine, who called 911."We were sitting there smoking a cigarette and I did see a car jot out around the bus," Balentine said. "As she jotted out around the bus, [the CTA bus] hit the curb and then hit the utility [box] and trash can."CTA personnel responded to WGN News' request for comment, saying, in part, that the bus operator "made contact with a traffic control box while attempting to avoid making contact with an auto[mobile]."There is no suspect vehicle description available at this time. Read mor...

Residents near Amundsen Park continue speaking out against proposal to house migrants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:59 GMT

CHICAGO — Residents on Chicago's West Side and near Amundsen Park are still speaking against turning the field house into a shelter for migrants.Residents said as long as they are paying tax dollars in the community, they will voice their opposition to the city's proposal. West Side residents demand return of programs to Amundsen Park On Monday, a number of long-time residents protests outside of the field house and hope Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson will take their concerns seriously and sit down with them face-to-face.Community members say most of the programs that take place in the field house, like fitness classes and activities for seniors and children, are now moved to nearby park districts.The group filed a temporary restraining order in an effort to stop the city from moving migrants into the field house. Alderwoman, staffer assaulted during migrant site construction protest in Brighton Park, statement says "We pay taxes over here," Thomas Simmons said. "If you want to ...

Pritzker, Illinois bar associations condemn anti-Arab hate and antisemitic violence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:59 GMT

CHICAGO — Governor JB Pritzker, state officials and lawyers took a stand on Monday against the rise in anti-Arab and antisemitic feelings sparked by the conflict in the Middle East. Pritzker joined the Arab American Bar Association to share concerns about the rise in hate crimes and discrimination within Illinois communities, workplaces and educational institutions."In the last two weeks since the Israel-Hamas war began, here in Illinois, we’ve seen an alarming increase in anti-Arabism, in Islamophobia, in antisemitism; but not just here but throughout the nation and across the globe." 2 Israeli women held hostage in Gaza released by Hamas Among the incidents mentioned were the killing of a 6-year-old Palestinian boy in Plainfield and the injuring of his mother. Prosecutors allege that the stabbing was a hate crime.William Haddad, the founder of the Arab American Bar Association of Illinois, is among the many still lamenting the events unfolding in the Middle East and locally."Nin...