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Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin challenged the Kremlin in a brief mutiny

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:11:53 GMT

Yevgeny Prigozhin made his name as the profane and brutal mercenary boss who in June mounted an armed rebellion that was the most severe and shocking challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule.Prigozhin was aboard a plane that crashed north of Moscow on Wednesday, killing all 10 people on board, according to Russia’s civil aviation agency.The 62-year-old’s extraordinary journey took him from prisoner and hot dog vendor to elegant St. Petersburg restaurateur, and then from propaganda wars to the grisly battlefields in Ukraine.As an instrument to project Russian power globally, his soldiers-for-hire were deployed to Africa to provide security for warlords and fought in Syria to shore up the regime of President Bashar Assad.In May, they seized the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in a rare victory for Russia in the war, but Prigozhin complained bitterly about the Defense Ministry’s conduct of the fight, saying it had denied ammunition to his forces.As the war slogg...

Trans Mountain pipeline project runs into fresh construction-related hurdle

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:11:53 GMT

CALGARY — The Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion project has run into another construction-related hurdle that could delay its completion.The crown corporation that owns the pipeline has filed for regulatory approval to modify the route of one of the remaining stretches of pipe yet to be completed.In its regulatory filing, Trans Mountain Corp. said it has run into engineering difficulties related to the drilling of a tunnel in B.C. and wants to alter the route slightly for a 1.3-kilometre stretch of pipe, as well as the construction method.But the filing documents illustrate how the company is facing opposition from the Stk’emlúpsemc te Secwépemc Nation, whose traditional territory the pipeline crosses and who had agreed to the originally proposed route and construction method.The documents state that between May and July 2023, Trans Mountain Corp. met and corresponded several times with the First Nation’s leadership, who continued to express concern that the pipeline proje...

Suspect pepper sprayed, assaulted victim with baton: Toronto police

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:11:53 GMT

Toronto police are searching for a male suspect following a random assault with pepper spray and a baton northeast of the city.Investigators responded to a call for an assault in the Wakunda Place and O’Connor Drive area at around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.It’s alleged the suspect approached a man in the hallway of an apartment building and sprayed them with a substance believed to be pepper spray. He then hit the man with a collapsible baton.The suspect then fled the scene.Police said 46-year-old Marco Cordeiro is wanted for two counts of assault with a weapon.Cordeiro is described as five-foot-eight, around 165 pounds, balding, and has tattoos on his neck.He was last seen wearing a light blue tank top, dark shorts and black running shoes.

Nicaraguan government bans Jesuit order, confiscates all property

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:11:53 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nicaragua’s government on Wednesday declared the Jesuit religious order illegal and ordered the confiscation of all its property.The move comes one week after the government of President Daniel Ortega confiscated the Jesuit-run University of Central America in Nicaragua, arguing it was a “center of terrorism.” The confiscation order published Wednesday claimed the Roman Catholic order had failed to comply with tax reporting.It was the latest in a series of increasingly authoritarian actions by the Nicaraguan government against the Catholic Church and opposition figures. The Jesuit order, known as the Society of Jesus, has condemned the measures.The University of Central America in Nicaragua was a hub for 2018 protests against the Ortega regime.After last week’s announcement, the Society of Jesus of Central America said in a statement that “This is a government policy that systematically violates human rights and appears to be aimed at consolidating a totalit...

Wagner mercenary leader, Russian mutineer, Putin’s chef: The many sides of Yevgeny Prigozhin

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:11:53 GMT

Yevgeny Prigozhin’s fate has been entwined with the Kremlin for decades — as a trusted government contractor, and the head of the Wagner mercenary army that fought in Ukraine and has been blamed for doing Russia’s dirty work in Syria and Africa. But when he turned his men toward Moscow two months ago, many inside Russia and beyond started wondering just how long he could last after drawing the fury of Russian President Vladimir Putin.Prigozhin cut a deal with Putin and the leader of Belarus for a safe haven for himself and the men involved in the rebellion. He was reported to pop up periodically in Russia, and appeared in a recruitment video earlier this week.But then on Wednesday Russia’s civil aviation agency said he was aboard a plane that crashed north of Moscow, killing all 10 people on board.Prigozhin’s BackgroundPrigozhin was convicted of robbery and assault in 1981, and sentenced to 12 years in prison. When he got out, he opened a restaurant business ...

Warholm wins, pole vaulters tie on a ‘Best of Track and Field’ sort of night at worlds

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:11:53 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — For the world’s fastest hurdler and a pair of pole-vaulting buddies, this felt like a fun repeat of track and field’s greatest hits.Norway’s Karsten Warholm powered to victory in the 400-meter hurdles Wednesday night, then put on his trademark Viking horns to celebrate his third gold medal at the world championships.His win came only moments after pole vaulters Katie Moon of America and Nina Kennedy of Australia, in a scene similar to one that played out two years ago at the Tokyo Olympics, chose to share two gold medals instead of jump in a tiebreaker for one.“We’ve been friends for so long,” Kennedy said. “So, super special.”Warholm’s story goes back to six years ago at worlds, where he became a meme when he crossed the line first and reacted with a look of pure shock (think Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” ). He celebrated a gold medal he didn’t fully expect by donning Viking horns for his post-race celebration.Two years ago at the Olympics, ...

Ambulance dispatcher dies after being shot in parking lot over weekend; estranged husband charged

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:11:53 GMT

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A dispatcher died Wednesday after being shot at a Little Rock-area ambulance service’s parking lot over the weekend, and her estranged husband was charged in her death.Cassandra Pena-Romero, 27, who was shot at the Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services parking lot in downtown Little Rock on Saturday, died on Wednesday from her injuries, the agency announced. Omar Pena-Romero, who was arrested by police near Texarkana, Arkansas, Saturday night, was being held in the Pulaski County jail without bond and was charged Wednesday with capital murder. Pena-Romero, 23, had been charged over the weekend with first degree domestic battery, violation of a no-contact order and unauthorized use of another person’s property to facilitate a felony.“Dispatchers are the first step of the life-saving work of emergency services, and Casandra was a true community hero,” said Greg Thompson, executive director of Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services. “We appreciat...

Mom gets life for stabbing newborn and throwing the baby in a river in 1992. DNA cracked the case

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:11:53 GMT

YORK, S.C. (AP) — A 50-year-old woman was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison for killing her newborn daughter, whose stabbed body was found in a plastic bag in a South Carolina river in 1992.A York County jury convicted Stacy Michelle Rabon of homicide by child abuse earlier this month. She was charged with her baby’s death two years ago when her DNA sample taken in a 2019 drug arrest matched the DNA from the infant.Rabon will be eligible for parole starting in 2031 because she was sentenced under the law in 1992 which allowed for shorter sentences for serious convictions.Rabon told investigators she delivered the baby in a van by the Catawba River near Rock Hill, but then gave it up to a couple because she didn’t want to keep her and never saw the child again.Prosecutors said she made up that story after she was arrested. They said the infant was found wrapped in sheets inside a plastic bag in the river in August 1992 and was stabbed at least 50 times. Investigators ...

VIDEO: COPA releases footage of officer-involved shooting in Englewood

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:11:53 GMT

CHICAGO -- The Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) released bodycam footage on Wednesday of an officer-involved shooting in Englewood last month.According to COPA, Chicago police officers responded near 300 West 56th Place after police received a complaint for a trespassing incident on July 24. University Park workers go unpaid CPD officers reportedly monitored the area through a Police Observation Device (POD) and observed a group of individuals in a cul-de-sac. Several CPD officers arrived in the area in four unmarked police vehicles.Upon their arrival, officers exited their vehicles to engage the group of individuals on foot as well as an individual driving a black sedan.While on foot, multiple officers attempted to engage the driver of the black sedan, as the vehicle attempted to leave the area, striking a police vehicle, and ultimately fleeing the scene.During this altercation, two officers discharged their firearms at the moving sedan. A CPD officer was hit in th...

Looking for a job? CTA hosting career fair for bus operators, mechanics

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:11:53 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicagoland residents seeking jobs are invited to attend a Chicago Transit Authority career fair this Friday on the city's Near West Side. CTA is looking to hire bus operators and bus mechanics – with a starting hourly wage of $28.65 for bus operators and $41.90 for bus mechanics – at their career fair at Malcolm X College.New hires will receive paid training, benefits, and a $1,000 bonus. Search for jobs on our job board Applicants with excellent customer service skills and a willingness to earn a commercial driver’s license are encouraged to visit the Malcolm X College conference center, in the 1900 block of W. Jackson Blvd., from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Aug. 25.Click here to register."We’re making tremendous progress in strengthening our workforce having hired more than 600 new bus operators and welcoming more than 1,200 total new hires so far this year, but we’re not finished yet and need more dedicated workers committed to keeping the City of Chicago moving,” said CTA ...