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House Republicans are trying to nominate a new speaker after ousting McCarthy but it could be a wait

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:39 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stalemated over a new House speaker, the Republican majority is meeting behind closed doors Wednesday to try to choose a new leader, but lawmakers warn it could take hours, if not days, to unite behind a nominee after Kevin McCarthy’s ouster.The two leading contenders, Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, appear to be splitting the vote among their Republican colleagues. McCarthy, who had openly positioned himself to reclaim the job he just lost, told fellow GOP lawmakers not to nominate him this time. “I don’t know how the hell you get to 218,” said Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, referring to the majority vote typically needed in the 435-member House to become speaker. “It could be a long week.”It’s an extraordinary moment of political chaos that has brought the House to a standstill at a time of uncertainty at home and crisis abroad, just 10 months after Republicans swept to power. Aspiring t...

Lidia dissipates after killing 1, injuring 2 near Mexico resort, Atlantic sees Tropical Storm Sean

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:39 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Lidia dissipated Wednesday after hitting land as a Category 4 hurricane near the resort of Puerta Vallarta, where one person was killed by a falling tree and two others injured The hurricane knocked over trees and blew roofs off houses with winds as high as 140 mph (220 kph) before moving inland. Laura Velázquez, the head of Mexico’s civil defense system, said one person died on the northern outskirts of Puerto Vallarta after being hit by a falling tree, and two others were injured elsewhere in the area.The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Wednesday that Lidia’s winds were down to 35 mph as it dissipated about 145 miles (235 kilometers) north-northeast of the city of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city and the capital of the western state of Jalisco.Lidia made landfall Tuesday on Cabo Corrientes, a sparsely populated peninsula, and then moved inland south of Puerto Vallarta with winds of 105 mph (165 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center. The h...

Wisconsin GOP leader reveals names of former justices he asked to look at impeachment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:39 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s Republican Assembly speaker revealed the names of the three former state Supreme Court justices he asked to investigate possible impeachment of a sitting justice for the first time in a court filing made public Wednesday.Assembly Speaker Robin Vos floated impeaching liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz if she did not recuse from a redistricting lawsuit seeking to toss GOP-drawn legislative district boundary maps. On Friday, she declined to recuse herself, and the court voted 4-3 along partisan lines to hear the redistricting challenge. Vos asked three former justices to review the possibility of impeachment, but he refused to name them. David Prosser told The Associated Press that he was on the panel, but other justices either said they weren’t on it or did not comment. In a court filing, Vos identified the other two as former Chief Justice Patience Roggensack and former Justice Jon Wilcox. All three of those picked by Vos are conservatives...

Stock market today: Wall Street drifts after the first of two big updates on inflation this week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:39 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting Wednesday as yields are mixed in the bond market, which has been Wall Street’s main driver recently.The S&P 500 was 0.1% higher in morning trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 40 points, or 0.1%, as of 10:45 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% higher.Wall Street has been mostly struggling since the summer as longer-term yields shoot higher in the bond market, weighing on prices for all kinds of investments. Some relief has come this week, and yields have regressed after officials at the Federal Reserve suggested they may be done raising their main overnight interest rate.The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.59% from 4.66% late Tuesday and from more than 4.80% last week, when it reached its highest level since 2007. Besides hurting prices for investments, high yields have jacked up rates for mortgages and other loans, which saps momentum from the economy.But the two-year Treasury yield, which moves...

Conservationists say Cyprus police are lax in stopping gangs that poach songbirds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:39 GMT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A conservation group in Cyprus said Wednesday that police have been lax in cracking down on remaining criminal gangs who illegally trap songbirds to supply restaurants, although the poaching overall has declined.Tassos Shialis, spokesman for conservation group BirdLife Cyprus, said that although the war on songbird poaching generally is being won, criminal gangs continue to make “serious money by trapping on an industrial scale” and are doing so “with impunity.”According to the group’s 2022 report, trapping last year dropped by as much as a half in the survey area, down to about 345,000 birds killed. But Shialis told The Associated Press that there are still up to 15 major trapping sites that use mist nets — fine mesh suspended between two poles — to catch the birds.Restaurant patrons consider the birds a delicacy. A dozen of the birds go for as much as 150 euros ($159), Shialis said.Fines of 2000 euros ( $2120 ) for using mist nets have deterred many tr...

Source: Former NFL player Sergio Brown in custody related to mother's death

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:39 GMT

SAN DIEGO — Former NFL player and Maywood native Sergio Brown is in custody in connection to his mother's homicide last month, according to a source.Myrtle Simmons-Brown, 73, was discovered dead in a creek behind her home, in Maywood's 1000 block of Nichols Lane on Sept. 16.Last month, Maywood police have stopped short of naming her son Sergio Brown as a person of interest, but stated they’d like to talk to him.A photo of Myrtle Simmons-Brown (Courtesy: Christian A. Conway)Brown is a former safety for Notre Dame who played seven seasons in the NFL.He has been in U.S. custody since Monday in San Diego and was originally arrested in Mexico, according to a source.A few days after Simmons-Brown’s body was found, videos of Brown surfaced on social media, where he appeared to be outside of the United States.In one of the videos, Brown claimed to have been kidnapped twice, while in another he appeared to be laughing, while surrounded by messages from the movie "Finding Nemo." Previous: F...

LIVE: Mayor Johnson delivers first budget address

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:39 GMT

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson will deliver his first budget address Wednesday. It is expected to cover everything from filling the more than nearly $540 million budget shortfall to the growing cost of the migrant crisis.The mayor has been warning for weeks this was going to be a challenging budget.Johnson came into office with progressive goals — opening mental health clinics and pouring millions into programs for the homeless, and his treatment not trauma plan.Johnson wants to do this without raising property taxes and with some federal relief dollars ending.While campaigning for mayor, Johnson proposed a number of revenue generating ideas, most included fees and taxes aimed at the wealthy.The Chicago Sun-Times reports Johnson recently hinted the elimination of 1,700 police vacancies. The nearly $540 million gap for next year, according to the Chicago Tribune report, is attributed to revenues dropping and expenditures growing by about 9% over this year's budget.The migrant crisis...

2 hospitalized following fire at North Side senior living facility

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:39 GMT

CHICAGO — Two people have been hospitalized at a North Side senior living facility following a fire and elevated CO levels.The Chicago Fire Department responded just after 8 a.m. to the Swartzberg House, located in the 3100 block of West Touhy, on the report of a fire in one unit on the sixth floor.One resident was transported in good condition and another was transported initially in serious condition. However, CFD later said they are going to be fine and elevated CO levels played a factor.A firefighter suffered a minor nose injury.CFD said residents from floors one to five can return to their apartments

Photos: Best moments from Connor Bedard's Blackhawks debut

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:39 GMT

PITTSBURGH — If all goes as many expect, Tuesday was the start of something special for the Blackhawks and Connor Bedard.The top overall pick in this June's draft made his NHL debut in front of a national television audience against the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. The spotlight of the league was on Bedard, who is one of the most heralded prospects over the past decade in the NHL.Over the course of Tuesday, there were a few memorable moments for the center as he got his first taste of big-time professional hockey.(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)Bedard had the spotlight on him the entire day, from his post-morning skate news conference that was jammed with Chicago, Pittsburgh, and national media in a hallway at PPG Paints Arena. The rookie then arrived with the rest of the team in a full suit later in the day as he got ready for his first NHL game. ‘It gives you goosebumps watching him:’ Young hockey fans excited for Bedard’s debut (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Im...

Sole Gaza power plant out of fuel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:39 GMT

(The Hill) -- The sole power plant in Gaza officially ran out of fuel on Wednesday amid fighting between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas and was shut down.Israel cut off supplies — including food, water, fuel and medicine — to the area after Hamas, who controls the Gaza Strip, launched a surprise attack over the weekend. The access point into Egypt was also closed on Tuesday as a result of airstrikes.Counterattacks from Israel have destroyed neighborhoods in Gaza — home to more than 2.3 million Palestinians. At least 2,200 have been killed on both sides, officials said.“There is no safe place in Gaza right now,” journalist Hasan Jabar said after three Palestinian reporters were killed in the bombardment of a downtown neighborhood, per the Associated Press. “I am genuinely afraid for my life.” Large-scale ground assault in Gaza ‘expected soon,’ former US ambassador says As of Wednesday morning, the region is being powered by generators — but they also run on fuel,...