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Belgium plans security boost at Gare du Midi after drugs and crime spike

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:32:10 GMT

Belgium’s government on Friday announced an action plan to improve security in and around Brussels’ Gare du Midi, following a public outcry over increasing crime and drug abuse at the country’s largest international train station.The government has asked the national crisis center to coordinate between the many levels of government and services that are involved in securing the station area, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden said. The action plan is important “for the safety of travelers coming to Brussels, for the residents of neighborhoods around the station, and for the image we’re projecting of our capital and the capital of Europe,” De Croo said.The ministers said they wanted to take steps to address the “sense of insecurity” at the station “in the very short term,” while federal and local police, the security department of railway operator SNCB, and the immigration services draw...

17-year-old taken into custody in connection with shooting of 14-year-old in Fall River

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:32:10 GMT

A 17-year-old male has been taken into custody in connection with a shooting Thursday night that sent a 14-year-old boy to the hospital, Fall River police said. Fall River Detective Sergeant Moses Pereira said officers first responded to the Maple Gardens housing complex around 8 p.m. Thursday after receiving a report of shots fired. Pereira said the 14-year-old was found on scene with an apparent gunshot wound to the face. He was later taken to HASBRO Children’s Hospital with “potentially life-threatening injuries,” according to Pereira.Pereira in an email late Thursday night described the investigation into this incident as “extremely fluid.” In an update Friday morning, Pereira said the 14-year-old remained at HASBRO Children’s Hospital where he is now in stable condition.The 17-year-old has been charged with assault and battery with a firearm, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, carrying a loaded firearm without a license to carry, receiving stolen pro...

Maui releases names of 388 people still missing after deadly wildfire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:32:10 GMT

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Maui County released the names of 388 people still missing Thursday more than two weeks after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, and officials asked anyone who knows a person on the list to be safe to contact authorities.The FBI compiled the list of names. The number of confirmed dead after fires on Maui that destroyed the historic seaside community of Lahaina stands at 115, a number the county said is expected to rise.“We also know that once those names come out, it can and will cause pain for folks whose loved ones are listed,” Police Chief John Pelletier said in a statement. “This is not an easy thing to do, but we want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to make this investigation as complete and thorough as possible.”Names on the list were deemed validated if officials had a person’s first and last name and a verified contact for the person who reported them missing, officials said.An additional 1,73...

Police investigate shooting in Oceanside

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:32:10 GMT

OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- Police are investigating an overnight shooting in Oceanside.According to the Oceanside Police Department, officers responded to a call reporting shots fired around 11:54 p.m. Thursday on the 1200 block of Center Street.OPD says officers located shell casings in the area.Two Hispanic men and one Hispanic juvenile were located with non-life threatening injuries. The nature of those injuries have not yet been confirmed.Investigators are asking anyone with information to contact OPD Detective Division at (760) 435-4580 or to report information anonymously please contact (760) 435-4264.This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Jet crashes near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:32:10 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A jet crashed near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS ) Thursday night.Officials from the base confirmed F/A-18 Hornet went down around 11:54 p.m. in a remote area east of Interstate 15. The crash site is reported to be on government property.The aircraft is not part of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing but was operating out of MCAS Miramar, according to a news release from MCAS.It's not yet confirmed if anyone was injured in the crash. At this time, officials say search-and-rescue operations are ongoing. San Diego Fire-Rescue crews responded to the crash and worked the downed plane fire until around 6 a.m. Friday, said Mónica Muñoz, media services manager for SDFD.An investigation into the incident in ongoing.This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Trump mug shot makes history after surrender at Fulton County jail

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:32:10 GMT

Former President Trump became the first U.S. president in history, past or present, known to have his mug shot taken – a stipulation of his surrender at the Fulton County, Ga., jail Thursday evening following a fourth criminal indictment this year.The indictments were also a first as Trump became the only American president to face criminal charges, which have now reached 91 counts altogether.Fulton County officials released Trump’s mug shot after he surrendered to the local jail, joining a handful of other defendants also named in the case. Despite it being his fourth indictment, it was the first time Trump had his mug shot taken, which was released publicly. He was not required to take mug shots the three other times he surrendered to authorities in other cases he faces, two of which are federal.The state case in Georgia involves 19 defendants total, who have been charged with a criminal conspiracy to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss to then-candidate Joe Biden.The mug shot of ...

Stock market today: Wall Street is higher ahead of speech by Federal Reserve’s head

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:32:10 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are rising in early trading Friday ahead of a speech by the head of the Federal Reserve.The S&P 500 was up 0.4%, coming off its worst loss in three weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 163 points, or 0.5%, at 34,362, as of 9:40 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% higher.The day’s headliner is Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who is giving a speech at an annual Fed event that’s been the site of big policy announcements in the past. The hope is that he’ll say the fall in inflation over the last year is encouraging and that the Fed may be done with hiking interest rates.But such hopes have been diminishing following a string of stronger-than-expected reports on the economy. They could be putting upward pressure on inflation, and the worry is that Powell at the least will say no cuts to rates are coming early next year, as some traders have bet. He is scheduled to speak at 10:05 a.m. Eastern time.The Fed has already hiked its main interest r...

Canada to join U.S. trade fight with Mexico over genetically modified corn products

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:32:10 GMT

WASHINGTON — Canada is siding with the United States in a burgeoning trade dispute over Mexico’s restrictions on products made with genetically modified corn. Trade Minister Mary Ng and Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay say Canada will take part in dispute resolution proceedings as a third party. Mexico imposed a ban in February on importing tortillas or dough made with biotech corn — a move its trading partners say is contrary to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. A dispute settlement panel under the terms of the deal, known in Canada as CUSMA, was announced last week by U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai. Tai and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack say the ban is not based on science and ignores clear evidence that genetically modified corn is safe. The U.S., where biotech varieties of corn and soy have been produced for decades, exports some 17 million tonnes of corn to Mexico each year. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says he fears contaminating n...

West Virginia can restrict abortion pill sales, judge rules, despite FDA approval that it’s safe

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:32:10 GMT

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia can restrict the sale of the abortion pill, despite federal regulators’ approval of it as a safe and effective medication, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Court Judge Robert C. Chambers determined Thursday that the near-total abortion ban signed by Republican Gov. Jim Justice in September 2022 takes precedence over approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “The Supreme Court has made it clear that regulating abortion is a matter of health and safety upon which States may appropriately exercise their police power,” Chambers wrote in a decision dismissing most challenges brought against the state by abortion pill manufacturer GenBioPro, Inc. in a January lawsuit filed in the state southern district’s Huntington division.Since the U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that provided nationwide access to abortion, most GOP-controlled states have enacted or adopted abortion bans of some kind, ...

Ontario adds $160M to skills training funding

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:32:10 GMT

Ontario is set to put $160 million toward skills training programs, prioritizing help for people on social assistance and people with criminal records.Labour Minister Monte McNaughton is set to announce the fourth round of funding through the Skills Development Fund on Friday.He says it’s aimed at giving at least 100,000 people free training in health care, auto manufacturing, IT, hospitality and skilled trades.The announcement brings the total for Skills Development Fund training to more than $860 million, with 596 projects in a variety of sectors supported so far.McNaughton says one million people in Ontario have a criminal record, with the majority for non-violent and petty crimes, and half of them are on social assistance even 15 years after being released.He says around 40 per cent of people with a criminal record can’t get a second interview when job hunting, so he is calling on organizations to submit proposals to help them find meaningful work while also addressi...