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German woman convicted of keeping Yazidi woman as a slave in Iraq

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:44 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A German woman was convicted Wednesday of keeping a Yazidi woman as a slave during her time with the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, and sentenced to nine years and three months in prison.The state court in the western city of Koblenz convicted the 37-year-old of crimes against humanity, membership in a foreign terrorist organization and being an accessory to genocide, German news agency dpa reported. Authorities have identified her only as Nadine K. in line with German privacy rules.The court found that the defendant for three years abused a young Yazidi woman “in her own interests as a household slave.” It said that her husband brought the woman to their home and regularly raped her, and that the defendant enabled those assaults and should have intervened.Prosecutors have said that the defendant traveled to Syria with her husband in 2014 and joined IS. In 2015, the couple moved to the Iraqi town of Mosul, where they allegedly kept the Yazidi woman.The defendan...

Pentagon documents leak suspect Guardsman Jack Teixeira is due back in court on federal charges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:44 GMT

The Massachusetts Air National Guard member accused of leaking highly classified military documents is due back in court on Wednesday after being indicted on federal felony charges. Jack Teixeira is scheduled to be arraigned in the Worcester federal court on six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information. Teixeira, of North Dighton, has been behind bars since his April arrest on charges stemming from the most consequential intelligence leak in years. He was indicted by a grand jury last week.Teixeira is accused of sharing classified military documents about Russia’s war in Ukraine and other national security issues on Discord, a social media platform popular with people playing online games. The stunning breach exposing closely held intelligence has sparked international concern and raised fresh questions about America’s ability to safeguard its secrets.The Pentagon has called the security breach a “very serious risk to national security.”A magistra...

Eastern Caribbean islands prepare for heavy flooding as Tropical Storm Bret grows stronger

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:44 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Tropical Storm Bret grew stronger on Wednesday as it moved toward islands in the eastern Caribbean that braced for torrential rainfall, landslides and flooding.Bret had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph) early Wednesday morning and was moving westward across the Atlantic Ocean at 16 mph (26 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.The storm was located some 645 miles (1,040 kilometers) east of the Windward Islands and is expected to grow stronger before lashing several eastern Caribbean islands on Thursday at near hurricane strength. A tropical storm watch was in effect for Barbados, St. Lucia, Martinique and Dominica, as officials in the region urged people to prepare for Bret.“We all know the uncertainty with forecasting intensity, movement and impact of weather systems,” Fitzroy Pascal at Dominica’s office of disaster management said.The hurricane center said it was too soon to know where Bret’s center would pass through...

Warning of storms, intense rainfall and possible tornadoes in Germany

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:44 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Authorities in Germany warned Wednesday that the country could experience severe storms with significant amounts of rainfall in the coming days after a suspected tornado struck the western town of Ruesselsheim overnight.Germany’s national weather service, DWD, said strong winds and hail are expected in the southwest, slowly moving eastward throughout the day.Further storms are forecast to sweep in from neighboring France going into Thursday, with “intense or extremely intense rainfall” in some areas, it said.The weather agency warned that locally confined tornadoes are possible.Police said a suspected twister uprooted numerous trees in Ruesselsheim, west of Frankfurt, late Tuesday. The Associated Press

From zero to NIL: How student-athletes can manage name, image, likeness income

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:44 GMT

When University of Notre Dame sophomore Calyn “KK” Bransford takes the court this upcoming basketball season, she’ll do so with a touch of glam thanks to her false lashes. She wants to look good while hooping, but wearing the lashes is also her job.Bransford is under contract as a brand ambassador for Opulence Lashes and earns money by promoting the company’s products. That’s possible thanks to a sea change in NCAA rules governing college athletes, who can now make money from their “ NIL ” — name, image and likeness.Prompted by a Supreme Court decision that invalidated restrictions on certain payments to student-athletes, the NCAA changed its rules on NIL income in 2021. While student-athletes still can’t be paid to play their sport or attend a specific school, they can receive money for things like ad deals, endorsements and appearances. Student-athletes’ NIL earning opportunities are governed by a patchwork of state laws and school and conference rules.Before Bransford went to col...

Allied Properties selling Toronto data centre portfolio for $1.35 billion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:44 GMT

TORONTO — Allied Properties Real Estate Investment Trust says it has signed a deal to sell its urban data centre portfolio in downtown Toronto to Japanese telecommunications company KDDI Corp. for $1.35 billion.The portfolio includes freehold interests in 151 Front St. West and 905 King St. West and a leasehold interest in 250 Front St. West.KDDI owns and operates data centres in Asia, Europe and the United States through its subsidiary, Telehouse. The sale is expected to close before the end of the third quarter this year.It is subject to Competition Act approval and customary closing conditions. Allied says it will use about $1 billion of the sale proceeds to retire debt and the rest to pay for upgrade and development activity over the rest of 2023 and into 2024.This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 21, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:AP.UN)The Canadian Press

4 pedestrians in hospital after hit-and-run near Guaranteed Rate Field; man in custody

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:44 GMT

CHICAGO — Four people are in the hospital after being struck in a hit-and-run crash near Guaranteed Rate Field Tuesday evening.According to the Chicago Police Department, two men and two women were walking to Guaranteed Rate Field just outside the stadium near West 35th Street and South Shields Avenue around 6:22 p.m. when they were hit by a silver sedan travelling at a high rate of speed.As the incident unfolded near 35th Street, one of the victims hit by the vehicle flipped on top of the car and fell through the sun roof. The sedan fled the scene, with the one victim now in the car.Police officers responding to 35th Street administered first aid to the three victims remaining on scene. One of the victims, a 51-year-old woman, was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition. Another victim, a 25 year-old man, was taken to Stroger Hospital also in critical condition. The third victim, a 24-year-old man, was also taken to Stroger Hospital in fair condition...

Wednesday Forecast: First day of summer kicks off with temps in mid 80s, cooler lakeside

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:44 GMT

CHICAGO — It officially becomes summer at 9:58 a.m. Wednesday in Chicago.Most sunny and clear conditions with temperatures in the mid 80s, cooler lakeside. High: 86. Lakeside: 70. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here Mostly clear tonight. Low: 66.Thursday Forecast: Increasing clouds with temperatures in the mid 80s. High: 85. Lakeside: 70.Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog

What is the summer solstice? An astronomer explains

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:44 GMT

(The Conversation) - The summer solstice marks the official start of summer. It brings the longest day and shortest night of the year for the 88% of Earth’s people who live in the Northern Hemisphere. People around the world traditionally observe the change of seasons with bonfires and festivals and Fête de la Musique celebrations.Astronomers can calculate an exact moment for the solstice, when Earth reaches the point in its orbit where the North Pole is angled closest to the sun. That moment will be at 10:58 a.m. Eastern Time on June 21 this year. From Earth, the sun will appear farthest north relative to the stars. People living on the Tropic of Cancer, 23.5 degrees north of the Equator, will see the sun pass straight overhead at noon.Six months from now the sun will reach its southern extreme and pass overhead for people on the Tropic of Capricorn, and northerners will experience their shortest days of the year, at the winter solstice.(Getty Images)The sun’s angle ...

Recipe: Meatballs in tomato sauce get a little lighter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:44 GMT

Meatballs in tomato sauce are a comforting thing, a ruddy, garlicky Italian American classic meant to be nestled on a pile of spaghetti and showered in cheese.This dish is not that.True, it has meatballs, assertively flavored with garlic and browned in hot oil. And yes, they finish cooking in a savory, brick-red tomato sauce. But that’s where the similarities end. Because these are summer meatballs.The traditional dish, to my mind, is an ideal winter companion. A cozy mix of canned tomatoes and olive oil bubbling leisurely on the stove, it’s perfect to sit close by when it’s chilly out, as warming as a woolly turtleneck.Think of this version as meatballs all decked out in their resort wear. Made from fresh summer tomatoes that are only briefly cooked, the sauce stays juicy and bright — and making it won’t heat up your kitchen. What the dish loses in long-cooked marinara richness, it more than makes up for in sweetness, tang and a fragrant touch of spice.The sweetness comes from seas...