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Human remains found in search for Australian army helicopter that crashed at sea with 4 crew aboard

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:48:52 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The search for an Australian army helicopter that crashed at sea killing four people during a military exercise with the United States last week found human remains but not the black box crucial to explaining the tragedy, an officer said on Thursday.Retrieving the bodies of the four air crew and the black box flight data recorder have been the main priorities since an MRH-90 Taipan helicopter crashed on July 28 during a nighttime operation in the Whitsunday Islands off the northeast Australian coast.An underwater drone spotted the human remains and part of the cockpit at a depth of 40 meters (131 feet) on Wednesday, said Army Lt.-Gen. Greg Bilton, who is coordinating the operation.“The debris field is consistent with a catastrophic, high impact” with the ocean surface, Bilton told reporters.The Australian navy would soon deploy specialized equipment to retrieve the wreckage and remains, he said.The search and recovery operation, which has involved the U.S....

Hurricane Dora intenstifies far from Mexico’s Pacific coast, poses no threat to land, officials say

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:48:52 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Dora grew into a major Category 3 hurricane Wednesday far off Mexico’s western Pacific coast but will not be a threat to land, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.Officials said Dora was located 700 miles (1,130 kilometers) southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, packing winds of 125 mph (205 kph). It was moving west, away from land, at 16 mph (26 kph).Forecasters say that while the storm is expected to grow even stronger with winds as high as 145 mph (235 kph), it will probably weaken by later in the week.The Associated Press

Gunman and police dog killed in confrontation at community college campus in San Diego

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:48:52 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — San Diego police shot and killed a gunman who fatally wounded a police dog Wednesday in a confrontation at a community college campus, authorities said.The 33-year-old man was pronounced dead at a hospital after the confrontation at San Diego Mesa College, according to a statement from San Diego County sheriff’s homicide Lt. Joseph Jarjura. His name wasn’t immediately released.Police were investigating a report that the driver of a white Tesla had shot at another driver at around 1:30 a.m., Jarjura said.The Tesla was being driven erratically and the other motorist heard a gunshot as he drove around the vehicle, according to Jarjura.The Tesla then followed the motorist to a location where he parked and more shots were fired. The motorist wasn’t struck but one bullet went into a nearby home, although nobody inside was injured, Jarjura said.Officers searched the area and located the Tesla. They saw the suspect, a 33-year-old male, in the driver’s seat with ...

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to appear in Houston court hearing for his securities fraud trial

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:48:52 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — Embattled Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, awaiting the start of a separate impeachment trial, is set to appear in a Houston courtroom Thursday to discuss his nearly decade-long delayed trial on securities fraud charges.It’s unclear if any decision will be made during the court hearing on when Paxton might finally go to trial on felony charges of defrauding investors in a tech startup. He was indicted in 2015.The case is back in a Houston courtroom after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld a decision last month by a judge who originally oversaw the case to move the proceedings out of Paxton’s hometown near Dallas. Paxton has spent years fighting to keep the trial in Collin County, where he maintains wide support among GOP activists and his wife, Angela Paxton, is a state senator.Paxton was scheduled to appear in court during the hearing, said Philip Hilder, one of Paxton’s lawyers. Paxton has rarely appeared in court for hearings in the securities fraud case....

Reenactment of Florida school massacre will bring gunfire back to Parkland campus

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:48:52 GMT

PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — Gunfire will again ring out at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Friday as a reenactment of the 2018 massacre that left 17 dead, 17 wounded and hundreds emotionally traumatized is conducted as part of lawsuits filed by the victims’ families and the injured. Ballistics experts for the families will conduct the test, firing up to 139 shots inside a three-story classroom building as part of the lawsuit against the families’ primary targets: the school’s then-assigned deputy, Scot Peterson, and his employer, the Broward Sheriff’s Office. They will fire live ammunition from the sames spots gunman Nikolas Cruz did on Feb. 14, 2018, with an identical AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle. The bullets will be caught by a safety device. Outside, technicians will record the shots, seeking to show what Peterson heard during the six-minute attack. The school is closed for summer break and students and teachers are not on campus. Pet...

2 members of expelled ‘Tennessee Three’ vie to win back their legislative seats

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:48:52 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones, who became Democratic heroes as members of the so-called “Tennessee Three,” are hoping to once again reclaim their legislative seats Thursday after they were expelled for involvement in a gun control protest on the House floor. The young Black lawmakers were both reinstated by local officials, but only on an interim basis. To fully take back their positions, they must advance through a special election. Both easily cleared their primary election in June, and now face general election opponents for districts that heavily favor Democrats.Jones, who lives in Nashville, is up against Republican candidate Laura Nelson. Meanwhile, Pearson, from Memphis, faces independent candidate Jeff Johnston. “Let’s send a clear message to everyone who thought they could silence the voice of District 86,” Pearson tweeted earlier this month. “You can’t expel a movement!” Jones and Pearson were elected to the GOP-dominat...

Singapore executes third prisoner in 2 weeks for drug trafficking

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:48:52 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Singapore hanged a third prisoner in two weeks on Thursday for drug trafficking despite calls for the city-state to halt capital punishment for drug-related crimes. The Central Narcotics Bureau said Mohamed Shalleh Abdul Latiff, a 39-year-old Singaporean, was executed at Singapore’s Changi Prison after being accorded due process under the law. He was sentenced to death for trafficking 54 grams (1.9 ounces) of heroin, an amount “sufficient to feed the addiction of about 640 abusers for a week,” it said in a statement.Transformative Justice Collective, an anti-death penalty advocate in Singapore, said Shalleh, an ethnic Malay, worked as a delivery driver before his arrest in 2016. He was sentenced in 2019 but his appeal was dismissed last year. The group said Shalleh had maintained in his trial that he believed he was delivering contraband cigarettes for a friend to whom he owed money, and he didn’t verify the contents of the bag as he trusted his f...

The US wants Kenya to lead a force in Haiti with 1,000 police. Watchdogs say they’ll export abuse

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:48:52 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — As the U.S. government was considering Kenya to lead a multinational force in Haiti, it was also openly warning Kenyan police officers against violent abuses. Now 1,000 of those officers might head to Haiti to take on gang warfare.It’s a challenging turn for a police force long accused by rights watchdogs of killings and torture, including gunning down civilians during Kenya’s COVID-19 curfew. One local group confirmed that officers fatally shot more than 30 people in July, all of them in Kenya’s poorest neighborhoods, during opposition-called protests over the rising cost of living.“We are saddened by the loss of life and concerned by high levels of violence, including the use of live rounds” during those protests, the U.S. said in a joint statement with 11 other nations in mid-July.Now the U.S., as this month’s president of the United Nations Security Council, is preparing to put forward a resolution to authorize a mission in Haiti led by Kenyan police, who h...

EU and the Philippines to start scoping exercise for a free trade agreement

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:48:52 GMT

The EU and the Philippines have announced their intention to explore the relaunch of negotiations for an ambitious, modern, and balanced free trade agreement (FTA) – with sustainability at its core. The EU and the Philippines will shortly kick off a bilateral ‘scoping process' to assess to which extent they share a mutual understanding on the future FTA. If this process concludes successfully, and after consultations with the member states, the EU and the Philippines would be in a position to resume FTA negotiations.Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “The Philippines is a key partner for us in the Indo-Pacific region, and with the launch of this scoping process we are paving the way to taking our partnership to the next level. Together, we will realise the full potential of our relationship, creating new opportunities for our companies and consumers while also supporting the green transition and fostering a just economy.”Following the resumption of FTA talks with Thaila...

Sunnyvale attempted murder suspect arrested while trying to board flight to Turkey

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:48:52 GMT

SUNNYVALE – A second suspect wanted in connection with an attempted murder in Sunnyvale was arrested Wednesday as he tried to hop a plane out of the country, authorities said.Gunfire was reported around 2:45 a.m. Sunday in the 300 block of East Washington Avenue, the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety said in a news release.Officers arrived to find two adult male victims, one of whom had multiple gunshot wounds, in a nearby vehicle. The man was treated at the scene and taken to a hospital for further care. An update on his condition was not immediately available.Authorities said one suspect, identified as Gregory Law, was arrested following a foot pursuit. Officers recovered a semiautomatic handgun Law reportedly tossed during the chase.Detectives identified the second suspect as Filmon Kifle. He was arrested Wednesday at San Francisco International Airport while attempting to board a flight to Istanbul, Turkey, authorities said.Law and Kifle were booked into Santa Clara County j...