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NY seeks more in penalties in Trump’s civil fraud trial. His defense says no gains were ill-gotten

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:36:59 GMT

By JENNIFER PELTZ (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — New York state lawyers increased their request for penalties Friday in Donald Trump’s civil business fraud trial, while his defense argued that 10-plus weeks of testimony produced no evidence of fraudulent intentions or ill-gotten gains. Both sides highlighted their takeaways from the trial in court filings ahead of closing arguments, set for Thursday. Trump is expected to attend, though plans could change. It will be the final chance for state and defense lawyers to make their case in a lawsuit that is consequential for the leading Republican presidential hopeful even while he fights four criminal cases in various courts. The New York civil case could end up barring him from doing business in the state where he built his real estate empire, and state Attorney General Letitia James is now seeking over $370 million in penalties. The figure emerged in her office’s filing Friday; the state had sought $250 million bef...

Actor Christian Oliver, 2 daughters die after plane crashes into ocean

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:36:59 GMT

(KTLA) – Actor Christian Oliver has died in a tragic plane crash in the Caribbean alongside his two daughters. Oliver, known for his roles in "Speed Racer" and "Valkyrie," was 51 years old. Deadline reports that Oliver and his daughters were in a small plane that crashed into the ocean off a Caribbean island Thursday. The plane's owner and pilot, Robert Sachs, also died in the accident. Oliver, whose real name is Christian Klepser, and his daughters, Madita, 10, and Annik, 12, were the only passengers on the flight, according to TMZ. Christian Oliver attends the WanderLuxxe Celebrates Diversity in Television Honoring 2018 Emmy Nominees with Variety at Craig's in West Hollywood, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision for WanderLuxxe/AP Images)Authorities say the flight took off from the J.F. Mitchelle Airport, known as the Bequia Airport, which serves St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and was headed to St. Lucia."Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft experienced difficulties and nose-...

Magnitude 4.2 earthquake rattles Southern California

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:36:59 GMT

An earthquake measuring 4.2 in magnitude shook the Los Angeles area Friday morning and was felt by potentially millions of people across Southern California. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake struck at 10:55 a.m. Pacific time with an epicenter 5.5 miles underground, just north of Rancho Cucamonga in the San Gabriel Mountains. The temblor, now dubbed the Lytle Creek Earthquake, had a preliminary magnitude of 4.6, was downgraded to 4.1 and eventually the Geological Survey determined it was a 4.2. Interactive California Earthquake Map There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. "The Los Angeles Fire Department remains in a normal operating mode. There have been NO reports of injury, structure or infrastructure damage within our @LACity jurisdiction related to the M4.1," LAFD posted on X, formerly Twitter. Dr. Lucy Jones, a seismologist and founder of the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society, said the earthquake occurred along two fault lines. "The...

Multiple injuries in tour bus rollover on upstate New York highway

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:36:59 GMT

WARRENSBURG, N.Y. (AP) — Multiple people were injured when a tour bus carrying passengers rolled over Friday on a highway in the southern Adirondacks, state police said.The crash occurred just before 1 p.m. on the Adirondack Northway, north of Lake George Village, according to state police. A video posted from a car traveling in the other direction shows a bus resting on its side by the roadway.Gov. Kathy Hochul said police and Department of Transportation workers were at the site performing rescue operations. The southbound highway was closed between exits 23 and 22.Police spokesperson Deanna Cohen said the scene was still being assessed and had no further details.“I join the people of New York in praying for the well-being of all involved in this horrific incident and am deeply grateful for the heroic efforts of our first responders,” Hochul said in a prepared release.The Associated Press

Some TTC surface routes to return following construction, ‘increasing capacity’ on other buses

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:36:59 GMT

TTC riders can breathe a sigh of relief as some bus routes are slated to return Sunday following the completion of some major construction projects in the city.Starting on Sunday, bus and streetcar service will return to the Dufferin Gate Loop. Road crews were doing watermain and streetcar track work on Springhurst Avenue.“The 29/929 Dufferin will return to routing between Wilson Station and Dufferin Gate Loop, and no longer run to Exhibition Place,” the TTC states in a release.At Broadview Station, regular bus service on the 87 Cosburn and 100 Flemingdon Park routes will resume now that the new streetcar track installation has been finished. The two routes join 8 Broadview, 62 Mortimer, and 504/505 King/Dundas replacement buses that have already resumed service to Broadview.As some construction comes to an end, another project is slated to start on King Street West in February. Starting on Feb. 19, riders will have to take the 501A Queen streetcar to go to and from the ...

Massachusetts voters become latest to try and keep Trump off ballot over Jan. 6 attack

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:36:59 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Five Republican and Democratic voters in Massachusetts have become the latest to challenge former President Donald Trump’s eligibility to appear on the Republican primary election ballot, claiming he is ineligible to hold office because he encouraged and did little to stop the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The challenge was filed late Thursday to Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin’s office ahead of the March 5 presidential primary. The State Ballot Commission must rule on the challenge by Jan. 29.The challenge, similar to those filed in more than a dozen other states, relies on the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits anyone from holding office who previously has taken an oath to defend the Constitution and then later “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the country or given “aid or comfort” to its enemies. In its 91-page objection, the voters made the case that Trump should be disqualified from the presiden...

What role will terrorism play in Nathaniel Veltman’s sentencing?

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:36:59 GMT

Nathaniel Veltman’s trial was the first time Canada’s terrorism laws were put before a jury in a first-degree murder court case.He was ultimately found guilty in November of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder for hitting the Afzaal family with his truck while they were out for a walk in London, Ont. on June 6, 2021.His sentencing is currently unfolding in London, with gripping victim impact statements.Since juries don’t explain how they reach their verdict, it’s unclear what role – if any – the terror allegations played in their decision.But according to Veltman’s defence team, terrorism will likely factor in when it comes to his sentence.“Later this month we will come back and make submissions on sentencing, that’s when terrorism will be an issue,” said attorney Christopher Hicks, who called it a precedent-setting case.“There’s very little law surrounding the issue of terrorism,” he ...

Texas father and son arrested in the killings of a pregnant woman and her boyfriend face new charges

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:36:59 GMT

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A Texas father and son arrested in the killings of an 18-year-old pregnant woman and her boyfriend are facing new evidence tampering charges, authorities said Friday as they announced that investigators have recovered the gun used to shoot the couple who disappeared before Christmas.The new charges in the killings of Savanah Nicole Soto, 18, and Matthew Guerra, 22, were announced two days after the father and son were interviewed by detectives and “made enough statements to implicate them in the murder,” San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said at a news conference. He’d earlier described the scene where the couple were found dead in a car as “very, very perplexing.”Christopher Preciado, 19, was arrested Wednesdays on a charge of capital murder and his 53-year-old father, Ramon Preciado, was accused of helping to move the bodies and charged with abuse of a corpse. On Thursday, police added charges of altering, destroying or concealing evidence against b...

Military members provide more details about the night group was rescued from crash

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:36:59 GMT

YELLOWKNIFE — A Royal Canadian Air Force search-and-rescue team was met with high winds, blowing snow and low visibility the night members were parachuted to a plane crash site in a remote area of the Northwest Territories last month. A military crew of eight from Winnipeg was sent to the site 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife on Dec. 27 to rescue 10 people who were heading to a camp to begin construction of a winter road. Three from the team parachuted more than 600 metres to reach the stranded passengers, some of whom were injured. Sgt. Vincent C-Benoit, who was one of the three Air Force members helping on the ground, says when they arrived, some passengers had already begun to make a shelter while others were huddled in the plane. The team was able to airdrop supplies, military food rations and heated tents to stay warm. A group of 17 remained at the site for roughly 14 hours until helicopters were able to pick them up the following morning. This report by The Canadian Pre...

People taking Wegovy and Ozempic have lower risk of suicidal thoughts vs. older drugs, study finds

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:36:59 GMT

People taking the popular diabetes and obesity drugs Ozempic and Wegovy had a lower risk of suicidal thoughts than those taking other medications to treat the same conditions, a new federal study finds. The research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, was published Friday and comes as European and U.S. regulators look into anecdotal reports that people taking the drug, semaglutide, had thoughts of self-harm. NIH and Case Western Reserve University researchers analyzed electronic medical records from more than 1.8 million patients prescribed semaglutide or another drug to treat obesity or diabetes between 2017 and 2022. They included about 240,000 patients treated for obesity or being overweight and nearly 1.6 million patients treated for diabetes. They found that people taking semaglutide had a 49% to 73% lower risk of first-time or recurring suicidal thoughts than those taking another drug for those conditions during a six-month follow-up period. The researchers called fo...