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Philippine volcano eruption that displaced thousands may last for months, officials warn

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:41 GMT

LEGAZPI, Philippines (AP) — A gentle eruption of the Philippines’ most active volcano that has forced nearly 18,000 people to flee to emergency shelters could last for months and create a protracted crisis, officials said Wednesday.President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. flew to northeastern Albay province to reassure villagers who were forced to evacuate from mostly poor farming communities within a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) radius of the Mayon volcano’s crater since volcanic activity spiked last week.Marcos distributed food packs and other aid to displaced villagers, and met Albay town mayors later Wednesday to discuss the unfolding crisis.The eruption is the latest natural calamity to test the administration of Marcos, who took office in June 2022 in a Southeast Asian nation regarded as one of the most disaster-prone in the world. About 20 typhoons and storms a year lash the Philippines, and the poor archipelago with 23 active volcanoes wrestles with frequent earthquakes.Marcos told displace...

Barbara Kingsolver wins Women’s Prize for fiction with ‘Demon Copperhead’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:41 GMT

LONDON (AP) — American novelist Barbara Kingsolver won the prestigious Women’s Prize for Fiction Wednesday with “Demon Copperhead,” the Dickens-inspired tale of a boy’s struggle against the odds in a corner of America scarred by opioid addiction. Kingsolver’s Appalachian coming-of-age tale was announced as winner of the 30,000 pounds ($38,000) award at a ceremony in London.Kingsolver, 68, also won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for the novel, which transplants Charles Dickens’ “David Copperfield” to modern-day southwest Virginia, where the author lives.It was a second victory for Kingsolver, who previously won the Women’s Prize in 2010 for “The Lacuna.”“Lightning strikes twice,” she said as she accepted the award.Kingsolver said she wrote the book to tell stories from a part of the United States — the mountainous Appalachia region — that is often overlooked or regarded as “just a joke.”“We’re the last demographic in the U.S. that progressive people are allowed...

B.C. mom slams ‘transphobic hate train’, hails outpouring of love for girl athlete, 9

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:41 GMT

KELOWNA, B.C. — The mother of a nine-year-old girl says her daughter has received an outpouring of love and support after a man wrongly suggested the girl was transgender and demanded proof she was born biologically female at a Kelowna, B.C., track meet.The confrontation, which has received international news coverage, has resulted in the man being banned from school premises and events, was condemned by B.C. Premier David Eby, and is being investigated by police.Heidi Starr said the man pointed to two girls, including her daughter, who were competing in the girl’s Grade 4 shot put event last Thursday. He questioned their right to compete, she said. “They did not fit his picture of what a little girl should look like, and he completely jumped to conclusions and then rode his transphobic hate train,” she said in an interview Wednesday.Her daughter, who she asked not to be identified, was born female, uses she/her pronouns and has a pixie cut hairstyle, Starr said.St...

Stove wars: Republican-controlled House approves bills to protect gas stoves

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:41 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Venturing back into the nation’s culture wars, the Republican-controlled House has approved legislation that GOP lawmakers say would protect gas stoves from overzealous government regulators.A bill passed Tuesday would prohibit use of federal money to regulate gas stoves as a hazardous product, while a separate measure endorsed on Wednesday would block an Energy Department rule setting stricter energy efficiency standards for stovetops and ovens.The White House said the administration “has been clear that it does not support any attempt to ban the use of gas stoves,″ but GOP lawmakers say rules on gas stoves represent classic government overreach. “It’s not a petty concern to the hard-working Americans who will be impacted,″ said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla. “The last thing they need is to have the Biden administration’s Green New Deal regulatory assault reach their kitchen appliances.”Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey called the bills a political stunt. ...

Bell cuts 1,300 positions, radio stations and foreign bureaus in restructuring

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:41 GMT

TORONTO — BCE Inc. is cutting 1,300 positions, shutting or selling nine radio stations and closing two foreign bureaus as the company plans to “significantly adapt” how it delivers the news in the face of rising financial pressure.The plan entails “moving to a single newsroom approach across brands, allowing for greater collaboration and efficiency,” said Richard Gray, vice-president of news at Bell Media, in an internal memo distributed to staff Wednesday morning and provided to The Canadian Press.The company’s media branch “can’t afford” to continue operating with its various brands — such as CTV National News, BNN, CP24, its local TV news stations and radio channels — independently of one another, said Bell chief legal and regulatory officer Robert Malcolmson in an interview.“It’s a consolidation of news gathering, news delivery,” he said.The layoffs include a six per cent cut at Bell Media, but Malcolmson said cut...

Man convicted in shootout at Minnesota bar that killed 1, injured 15

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:41 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A second man has been found guilty in a shootout at a bar in St. Paul, Minnesota, that left one person dead and more than a dozen people injured.Terry Lorenzo Brown was convicted Wednesday of second-degree murder, four counts of attempted second-degree murder and illegally possessing a firearm, KARE-TV reported.Prosecutors said Brown and Devondre Phillips began shooting at each other at the Seventh Street Truck Park Bar near downtown St. Paul on Oct. 10, 2021.Marquisha Wiley, a 27-year-old bystander from St. Paul, was killed, and at least 15 others including Brown and Phillips were wounded, as bar patrons fled in panic. Phillips was found guilty of eight counts of attempted second-degree murder earlier this year. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 23.Brown’s attorney, Stephen Grigsby, said during closing arguments that Brown fired in self-defense after Devondre Phillips shot at him, although it was only a fraction of a second before Brown returned fire.P...

US Army soldier pleads guilty to trying to contact terrorists to ambush Army soldiers in Middle East

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:41 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. Army soldier duped into thinking he was communicating online with a terrorist when it was really an FBI employee pleaded guilty Wednesday to seeking to tell terrorists how to ambush U.S. soldiers in the Middle East.Cole Bridges, 22, entered pleas in Manhattan federal court to trying to provide material support to terrorists and trying to murder U.S. military service members. He could face up to 20 years in prison on each of the two charges at a Nov. 2 sentencing.Bridges, of Stow, Ohio, has been incarcerated since his January 2021 arrest, which occurred while he was based in Fort Stewart, Georgia, with the Third Infantry Division, where the private was a cavalry scout. He joined the Army in September 2019.According to court documents, Bridges was 19 when he began researching and consuming online propaganda promoting jihadists in 2019.Authorities said he expressed support on social media for the Islamic State militant group and for jihad before he began communic...

Penguins hire Jason Spezza as assistant GM, reunites with Kyle Dubas in Pittsburgh

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:41 GMT

A familiar face is joining Kyle Dubas in Pittsburgh.The Penguins have hired Jason Spezza as an assistant general manager, the hockey team announced Wednesday.Spezza was special assistant to the general manager under Dubas this past season with the Toronto Maple Leafs after retiring as a player following the 2021-22 season with Toronto.Spezza resigned in Toronto the same day the Leafs fired Dubas last month.The Penguins say Spezza will report directly to Dubas and assist club management in all hockey operations departments.The Penguins currently do not have a general manager, and Dubas is expected to operate as the GM on an interim basis.“After a decorated playing career, Jason fully immersed himself on the management side of the game learning all facets of hockey operations this past season while with Toronto,” Dubas said in a statement.“He showed tremendous work ethic, curiosity, and ability to build relationships throughout all departments at the team facility. H...

Trump’s GOP rivals grapple with their response as his legal woes dominate the presidential contest

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:41 GMT

BEDMINSTER, N.J. (AP) — Just last week, former Vice President Mike Pence said he hoped federal prosecutors would not bring charges against former President Donald Trump. On Wednesday, a day after Trump was arraigned on dozens of felony counts related to classified documents, Pence described the allegations as “a very serious matter.”“I cannot defend what is alleged,” Pence, who is now challenging Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, said on CNBC. Later in the day, the former vice president faced pointed questions from a conservative radio host after refusing to say whether he would pardon Trump if given the chance.Pence’s evolving message highlights the high-stakes dilemma for Trump’s Republican rivals, who are struggling to find a clear and consistent strategy to take on the frontrunner as Trump’s unprecedented legal troubles threaten to dominate all other issues in the 2024 presidential contest.Some Republican leaders this week have demonstrated a ne...

Wisconsin governor vows to veto state budget if GOP cuts diversity dollars from university system

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:41 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said Wednesday in a newspaper report that he won’t sign the state budget if Republican lawmakers follow through on their plan to cut funding for the state university system’s diversity officers, escalating a bitter fight over dollars for the state campuses.Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he wants to cut $32 million from the UW System in the state’s 2023-25 budget, an amount he said is equal to what the system spends on diversity officers. He said during a news conference Wednesday that diversity efforts have become liberals’ “new religion” and tax dollars shouldn’t be used to help them.“For people on the left, (efforts to promote diversity have) become their new religion,” Vos said. “They no longer go to church on Sunday, but boy, are they trying to make sure everybody is evangelized on campus, that’s there only one acceptable viewpoint. That’s not what I thi...