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MCAS, legislative audit ballot questions advance toward November ballot

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:10:55 GMT

Ballot questions nixing the MCAS as a high school graduation requirement and granting the state auditor the ability to open up the books of the Legislature advanced towards the November ballot Wednesday.Secretary of State William Galvin certified that the two questions, and five others, had enough signatures from Massachusetts voters to clear the 74,574 threshold and move on to the Legislature, which now has the option to act on each proposal.Three additional ballot questions related to the relationship between app-based drivers and network companies are expected to head to the Legislature later in January after Galvin’s staff finishes certifying signatures, though two different versions were cleared Wednesday.In an email to members slated to go out later Wednesday, Massachusetts Teachers Association President Max Page and Vice President Deb McCarthy said they first received word of Galvin certifying the MCAS question’s 101,511 signatures on Dec. 22.“This means we exceeded the requi...

Chicago basketball report: Bulls could get some injury relief soon — and a sizable challenge awaits Illinois

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:10:55 GMT

The Chicago Bulls enter the new year juggling injuries to three players who have started this season.Aneesah Morrow continues to pile up double-doubles in her new role for LSU.And the Illinois men could knock off the top team in the country Friday.Every Wednesday throughout the season, Tribune writers will provide an update on what happened — and what’s ahead — for the Bulls, Sky and local basketball.Bulls keep injured trio home to expedite recoveryThe Bulls are getting by with their shortest and youngest rotations of the season as they manage injuries to Zach LaVine (right foot), Torrey Craig (right foot) and Nikola Vučević (left groin). Coach Billy Donovan is hopeful for some relief in the coming weeks.The Bulls kept all three players home from this week’s trip to Philadelphia and New York to continue their recovery. The team typically prefers injured players to travel to maintain cohesion within the team, but Donovan said the medical staff felt t...

Russia and Ukraine exchange hundreds of prisoners of war in biggest release so far

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:10:55 GMT

By The Associated PressRussia and Ukraine on Wednesday exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war in the biggest single release of captives since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukrainian authorities said that 230 Ukrainian prisoners of war returned home in the first exchange in almost five months. Russia’s Defense Ministry said that 248 Russian servicemen have been freed under the deal sponsored by the United Arab Emirates. There was no immediate acknowledgment from the UAE, which has maintained close business ties to Moscow throughout Russia’s war on Ukraine.Ukraine’s Human Rights Ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, said it was the 49th prisoner exchange during the war. Some of the Ukrainians had been held since 2022. Among them were some of those who fought in milestone battles for Ukraine’s Snake Island and the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.Russian officials offered no other details of the exchange.Also Wednesday, Russia said it shot down 12 missile...

2 injured, 1 critically, after multi-vehicle crash in Brampton

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:10:55 GMT

Two people are injured, including one person in critical condition, following a crash in Brampton on Wednesday morning.Emergency crews were called to the intersection of Dixie Road and Queen Street around 11:30 a.m. for reports of a collision.Peel Regional Police say two vehicles were involved.Two people were rushed to hospital — one with critical injuries and the other with non-life-threatening injuries.Southbound Dixie Road is closed north of Queen for the investigation.COLLISION:– Dixie Rd/Queen St #Brampton– Dixie Rd closed for southbound traffic b/w Hazelwood and Queen– 2 vehicles– 2 injured occupants transported to hospital; 1 with critical injuries, 1 with non-life threatening– Use alternate routes– C/R at 11:31 am– PR24-0002559— Peel Regional Police (@PeelPolice) January 3, 2024

Court records related to Jeffrey Epstein are set to be released, but they aren’t a client list

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:10:55 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Social media has been rife in recent weeks with posts speculating that a judge is about to release a list of clients or co-conspirators of Jeffrey Epstein, the jet-setting financier who killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.The truth is less scandalous: There is no such list.Some previously sealed court records are indeed going to be made public, but the great majority of the people whose names appear in those documents are not accused of any wrongdoing.Here’s what we know about the documents, at least some of which are expected to be released Wednesday:WHO IS JEFFREY EPSTEIN?A millionaire known for associating with celebrities, politicians, billionaires and academic stars, Epstein was initially arrested in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2005 after he was accused of paying a 14-year-old girl for sex.Dozens of other underage girls described similar sexual abuse, but prosecutors ultimately allowed the financier to plead guilty in 2008 to a cha...

Canada’s clean-tech revolution will be limited without more clean power: Champagne

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:10:55 GMT

OTTAWA — Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne spent most of last year doling out big bucks for massive new electric-vehicle battery plants as Canada made some major moves to solidify its green industrial strategy.But he is warning that the country is reaching the limits of its abundant renewable energy capacity, and making more electricity is going to be key to keeping the wins coming.He says Canada needs to focus heavily in the coming months and years on developing small nuclear reactors and expanding other renewable energy sources.Volkswagen is among the companies that made clear it chose Canada for its first North American EV battery plant last year in part because of the access to renewable power. But Champagne says some project locations are already being adjusted because some regions are already hitting the peak of that power supply.Quebec’s energy minister warned last May that tough decisions were coming in his province as major projects can’t all proceed...

Mexican authorities search for 31 migrants abducted near the Texas border

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:10:55 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican authorities said Wednesday they are searching for 31 migrants from five countries who were abducted over the weekend from a bus near the Texas border.The National Guard, Army and Navy are participating in the search, but there have been few advances, Federal Security Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez said.On Dec. 30, armed and masked men stopped the bus on the highway that connects the border cities of Reynosa and Matamoros, Rodríguez said. They made all 36 people aboard get off and then took 31 of them away in five vehicles.The abducted migrants were from Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Honduras and Mexico, she said.Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Tuesday that four Colombians were among the abducted.Rodríguez said authorities had tried to track the migrants’ cell phones, reviewed surveillance video from the bus and scanned the area by helicopter for signs of the missing.The bus had left the northern city of Monterrey and had a final destination of Matam...

Sierra Leone’s former president charged with treason for alleged involvement in failed coup attempt

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:10:55 GMT

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Former President Ernest Bai Koroma has been charged with treason for his alleged involvement in a failed coup attempt in November, Sierra Leone’s government said Wednesday.Koroma has also been charged with misprision of treason, which is the crime of concealing knowledge of treasonable acts, according to a statement from the ministry of information and civic education.On Nov. 26, dozens of gunmen launched an attack in the West African nation’s capital of Freetown during which they broke into Sierra Leone’s key armory and into a prison where the majority of the more than 2,000 inmates were freed.At least 18 members of the security forces were killed during the clashes. More than 50 suspects, including military officers, have been arrested so far.The charges against Koroma were announced a day after a dozen people were charged with similar offenses in connection with the failed coup. Although he has officially retired from politics, Koroma remains a...

What’s known, and what remains unclear, about the deadly explosions in Iran

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:10:55 GMT

Here’s what’s known — and what remains unclear — about Wednesday’s deadly explosions in Iran:• Authorities say the twin bombings killed at least 103 people and wounded 211 others.• The attack is the deadliest to strike Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution.• The second explosion occurred about 20 minutes after the first, which is often a technique used by militants to harm both civilians and emergency responders after an initial assault.• The attack came during commemorations for the fourth anniversary of the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, in a U.S. drone strike in neighboring Iraq. The explosions occurred near his grave site as long lines of people gathered for the event.• No group has claimed responsibility for the attack in Kerman.• Iran has faced targeted killings and sabotage attacks suspected to have been carried out by Israel. However, those assaults did not include mass casualty bombings like Wednesday’s attack.• Su...

Speaker Johnson leads House GOP on a trip to a Texas border city as Ukraine aid hangs in the balance

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:10:55 GMT

EAGLE PASS, Texas (AP) — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson is leading about 60 fellow Republicans in Congress on a visit Wednesday to the Mexican border as they demand hard-line immigration policies in exchange for backing President Joe Biden’s emergency wartime funding request for Ukraine. The trip to Eagle Pass, Texas, comes as Senate negotiators keep plugging away in hopes of a bipartisan deal.With the number of illegal crossings into the United States topping 10,000 on several days last month, the border city has been at the center of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, his nearly $10 billion initiative that has tested the federal government’s authority over immigration and elevated the political fight over the issue.An agreement in the lengthy talks in Washington would unlock GOP support for Biden’s $110 billion package for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. security priorities. In meetings, Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz, James Lankford, R-Okla., and Chris M...