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Biden and Mexico’s leader will meet in California. Fentanyl, migrants and Cuba are on the agenda

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:26:32 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, two strong allies who don’t always get along personally, will talk migration, fentanyl trafficking and Cuba relations on Friday. The two leaders are in San Francisco for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, where Biden has held a series of face-to-face meetings with other leaders, including China’s President Xi Jinping and the leaders of Japan and South Korea, as he seeks to reassure the region that the U.S. and China are competitors, not zero-sum rivals. Biden’s relationship with López Obrador is at times tense, in part because of Biden’s willingness to criticize Mexico on topics such as fentanyl production and the killing of journalists. And López Obrador isn’t afraid to snub the U.S. leader. He skipped a Los Angeles summit last year where leaders tackled the issue of migration because the U.S. didn’t invite Cuba, Nicaragua or Venezuel...

Turkey’s Erdogan to visit Germany as differences over the Israel-Hamas war widen

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:26:32 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected in Berlin on Friday on a short visit to Germany as the two countries’ stances on the war between Israel and Hamas are poles apart.Erdogan is due to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Germany’s largely ceremonial president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Scholz invited Erdogan to visit in May following his re-election.Turkey is viewed as an awkward but essential partner in Germany, which is home to more than 3 million people with Turkish roots. It’s a NATO ally that also is important in efforts to control the flow of refugees and migrants to Europe, but there have been tensions in recent years over a variety of issues.This visit is overshadowed by a growing chasm between the two countries’ stance on events following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.Germany is a staunch ally of Israel and has opposed calls for a cease-fire, while pushing for aid to civilians in Gaza, advocating “humanitarian pauses” an...

DeSantis, Haley and Ramaswamy will meet in Iowa for a ‘family discussion’ on politics

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:26:32 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Republicans battling to be the alternative to former President Donald Trump will come together for what an influential Christian organization in Iowa is billing as a friendly conversation on politics and their world views. Three candidates — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy — will appear at the roundtable “family discussion” in Des Moines Friday. Trump is not expected to attend, though he was invited. The field around Trump is winnowing with less than two months before the Iowa caucuses kick off the GOP nominating calendar. In a sign of the urgency the field faces, many of his rivals are going after each other more frequently with jabs that have often turned personal. This week, DeSantis and Ramaswamy both criticized Haley after she said Tuesday that social media companies should ban people from posting anonymously online.DeSantis posted on social media that the proposal was “dangerou...

Missouri’s voter ID law is back in court. Here’s a look at what it does

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:26:32 GMT

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A trial for a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Missouri’s new photo identification requirement for voters is scheduled to begin Friday. Here is a look at the function of the law and why voting rights groups are suing:WHAT THE LAW DOESMissouri’s GOP-led Legislature last year capped off a nearly two-decade-long push by Republicans and passed a law requiring voters to show photo identification to cast a regular ballot. People without a government-issued photo ID can cast provisional ballots to be counted if they return later that day with a photo ID or if election officials verify their signatures. The law requires the state to provide a free photo identification card to those lacking one to vote.LEGAL CHALLENGESThe Missouri League of Women Voters, NAACP and two voters sued to overturn the law last year, arguing the change makes casting ballots unconstitutionally difficult for some voters.Cole County Presiding Judge Jon Beetem, who also will...

Texas woman convicted and facing up to life in prison for killing pro cyclist Mo Wilson

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:26:32 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A woman convicted of murder in the shooting death of rising professional cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson faces up to life in prison in Texas when sentenced in a case that led investigators on a 43-day international search to find her.Kaitlin Armstrong, 35, was convicted Thursday. The jurors also will recommend a sentence and are expected to resume deliberating on Friday. Prosecutors said Armstrong gunned down the 25-year-old Wilson in a jealous rage in May 2022. Wilson, also known as “Mo,” had briefly dated Armstrong’s boyfriend several months earlier. Wilson went swimming and to a meal with him the day she was killed.Jurors deliberated for about two hours after two weeks of testimony before delivering their verdict.“From the day she was born, she had a force in her,” Wilson’s mother, Karen Wilson, told jurors Thursday at the start of the punishment phase of the trial. “She lived as if every day was her last day. And she lived it so fully. She never wasted any ...

Climate change in Texas science textbooks causes divisions on state’s education board

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:26:32 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — How science textbooks in Texas address climate change is at the center of a key vote expected Friday after some Republican education officials criticized books for being too negative toward fossil fuels in America’s biggest oil and gas state. The issue of which textbooks to approve has led to new divisions on the Texas State Board of Education, which over the years has faced other heated curriculum battles surrounding how evolution and U.S. history is taught to the more than 5 million students.Science standards adopted by the board’s conservative majority in 2021 do not mention creationism as an alternative to evolution. Those standards also describe human factors as contributors to climate change.But some Republicans on the 15-member board this week waved off current textbook options as too negative toward fossil fuels and for failing to include alternatives to evolution. One of Texas’ regulators of the oil and gas industry, Republican Wayne C...

Suspect wanted and charged in fatal Clayton shooting, victim identified

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:26:32 GMT

CLAYTON, Mo. - A manhunt is underway in the St. Louis area. A suspect wanted in connection with a deadly shooting in Clayton earlier this week has been on the run for several days.The Major Case Squad identified 18-year-old Trennell J. Johnson as a suspect in the shooting death of 41-year-old Joshua D. Harris. The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office has charged Johnson with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of Harris. The Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis is investigating the case. Authorities say Johnson remains at large, and should be considered "armed and dangerous." According to court documents obtained by FOX 2, Harris was shot after he confronted Johnson while he was allegedly breaking into cars. Johnson had been out on bond for other car theft charges out of St. Louis County from last March. The Major Case Squad reports that a warrant has been issued for Trennell Johnson, wanted in connection with a deadly shooting Monday in Clayton, M...

Double fatal shooting inside San Fernando Valley home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:26:32 GMT

Police are investigating a double fatal shooting in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Sylmar Thursday night, authorities confirmed to KTLA.  Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a call about the shooting in the 13800 block of Tucker Avenue at around 7:40 p.m. Details are limited and it’s unclear what led to the shooting in the Sylmar subdivision, but LAPD said officers made entry into the home and then requested ambulances for two victims suffering from gunshot wounds.  Medical personnel with the Los Angeles Fire Department responded and were cleared to enter the residence at 8:40 p.m. A male and a female were both dead at the scene, fire officials said. L.A. police and firefighters on the scene of a double fatal shooting inside a Sylmar home on Nov. 16, 2023. (KTLA)L.A. police and firefighters on the scene of a double fatal shooting inside a Sylmar home on Nov. 16, 2023. (KTLA)Areial footage captured by Sky5 showed several police cruiser...

Suspects arrested after Riverside grandfather murdered on front lawn

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:26:32 GMT

Two suspects were arrested after a Riverside grandfather was shot and killed on his front lawn.The suspects were identified as Gabriel Molina, 29, and Mark Anthony Valdez, 28, according to the Riverside Police Department.The shooting happened on Oct. 28 in broad daylight when Michael Rangel, 68, and his family had just returned home from lunch. Rangel decided to step out and water the front lawn of his home on the 8500 block of Harmony Lane around 3:26 p.m. when suddenly, multiple gunshots were fired from a passing vehicle.Officers responded to the home where Rangel was found unconscious. He was transported to a local hospital where he died from his injuries, police said.The victim’s garage door and front door were left riddled with bullet holes and his loved ones believed the suspects used a high-powered rifle during the shooting.Loved ones are devastated after Michael Rangel, a Riverside grandfather and veteran, was shot and killed on his front lawn on Oct. 28, 2023. (Rangel Famil...

Warriors drop fifth straight against Oklahoma City Thunder

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:26:32 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors dropped their fifth straight game with a 128-109 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday. Playing without stars Steph Curry and Draymond Green, Golden State didn’t find any offensive rhythm and could not contain a hot shooting night for the Thunder. The Warriors drop to 6-7 and are 1-5 at home.Oklahoma City shot 59.4% from 3. The Warriors, looking for someone to gain traction on the scoring end outside of Curry, had six players in double-digit scoring and Jonathan Kuminga was the leading scorer with 21 points and six rebounds. Andrew Wiggins missed all four of his 3-point attempts, but was a more efficient 6-for-13 from the field for 12 points with six rebounds. Dario Saric had 12 points, scoring in double-figures for three consecutive games.Chris Paul’s shot is coming around — he went 4-for-6 from 3, all four of his makes were from 3, for 15 points. Brandin Podziemski went 3-for-3 from 3.Thompson struggled in particular, ma...