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Tensions between Congo and Rwanda heighten the risk of military confrontation, UN envoy says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:06 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Tensions between Congo and Rwanda have escalated, heightening the risk of a military confrontation that could draw in Burundi, the top U.N. official in Congo warned the Security Council on Monday.Special representative Bintou Keita’s warning came shortly before the ambassadors from Congo and Rwanda traded accusations in the council, and nine days ahead of Congo’s Dec. 20 presidential election, in which President Felix Tshisekedi is seeking a second term against two dozen candidates.As voting nears, Congo’s government is also doubling down on a push to have regional and international peacekeeping forces withdraw, including the U.N.’s more than 17,700-member force. A regional force of officers from East African countries began leaving eastern Congo’s largest city, Goma, last week.Tshisekedi has long accused Rwanda and its president, Paul Kagame, of providing military support to M23 rebels, the latest iteration of Congolese Tutsi fighters to seize towns in p...

Boeing promotes insider to chief operating officer, putting her in the discussion about the next CEO

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:06 GMT

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Boeing has promoted the head of its services business to chief operating officer, putting the female executive in discussion as a potential heir apparent to CEO David Calhoun in a male-dominated industry.Boeing said Monday that Stephanie Pope’s elevation to the job, which includes the title of executive vice president, takes effect Jan. 1.Pope has spent nearly 30 years at Boeing, holding down key financial jobs in the company’s defense, commercial airplanes and services divisions. She became CEO of the services unit last year.Some industry observers were quick to tap Pope, 51, as a contender to become the aerospace company’s next CEO. Richard Aboulafia, managing director of aerospace consultant AeroDynamic Advisory, named Pope and Chief Financial Officer Brian West as potential successors to Calhoun.Calhoun, 66, has held the top job since January 2020, when he replaced Dennis Muilenburg, who was fired during the fallout from two fatal crashes involv...

George Santos is in plea negotiations with federal prosecutors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:06 GMT

Former U.S. Rep. George Santos is in negotiations to resolve his federal criminal fraud case, prosecutors said in a court filing Monday.“The parties are presently engaged in plea negotiations with the goal of resolving this matter without the need for a trial,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace’s office wrote in the filing.Santos is scheduled to appear in court on Long Island for a hearing in the case Tuesday. He acknowledged in an interview that aired Sunday that he hadn’t ruled out pleading guilty.“The trial is not until September and a plea is not off the table. So there’s obviously conversations taking place, especially after what happened in Congress, and we’ll see,” he said in the interview with CBS 2, referring to his expulsion from Congress earlier this month.Asked if he is afraid of going to jail, Santos responded: “I think everybody should be afraid of going to jail, it’s not a pretty place and uh, I definitely want to work very hard to avoid th...

The AP All-America team is loaded with 5th- and 6th-year players, including LSU’s Heisman-winning QB

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:06 GMT

Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels from LSU was one of seven players in either their fifth or sixth season of college football selected to The Associated Press All-America team announced Monday.Daniels, a fifth-year quarterback, won the Heisman and AP player of the year honors last week after accounting for 50 touchdowns and nearly 5,000 yards of offense this season.He was joined in the backfield by Missouri’s Cody Schrader, a sixth-year running back and former Division II player who leads the nation at 124.9 rushing yards per game.The other sixth-year player of the AP first team was North Carolina State linebacker Payton Wilson, who won the Chuck Bednarik Award as national defensive player of the year. Kansas State guard Cooper Beebe, edge rushers Laiatu Latu from UCLA and Jalen Green from James Madison, and Texas defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat were the other fifth-year players to make the first team.College players who were in school during the 2020 pandemic season ...

What food banks need from you

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:06 GMT

The Daily Bread Food Bank’s annual report says 1-in-10 Torontonians now rely on their food banks – double the number from 2022.With more than 2.5 million food bank visits in 2023, Daily Bread has seen a 154 per cent increase in new clients.CEO Neil Hetherington calls the increase “absolutely absurd.”“Every single month, if you fill the Rogers Centre seven times, that’s how many people are having to make use of the food bank … we are serving a meal once every 10 seconds, somewhere around the city,” he says.“This is going to be the most difficult holiday season in a generation.”For those looking to donate, Hetherington says Daily Bread’s clients are as diverse as the city itself. Along with staples like pasta, beans and rice, he says people should feel free to donate culturally specific items as well.“We’re hopeful that people will donate food that they would love to see on their own tables,” he says.“...

China’s president will visit Vietnam weeks after it strengthened ties with the US and Japan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:06 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping will arrive in Vietnam on Tuesday seeking to further deepen ties with its neighbor that is deepening diplomatic relations with Western-aligned countries.In his first visit since 2017, Xi will meet with Communist Party general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President Vo Van Thuong and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Vietnam’s foreign ministry said.“This reflects Beijing’s concerns about Hanoi’s advances with the West,” said Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow with the ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. “Concerns that Vietnam may join an anti-China alliance and gang up against China.”Xi’s visit marks 15 years of China being a “comprehensive strategic partner” of Vietnam, the highest official designation for a diplomatic relationship.Vietnam has an increasingly important strategic role in security and economy in southeast Asia.Ideologically, Vietnam is closer to Beijing. It is run by a Communist Party with strong ties to Chin...

Charges filed against 2 men allegedly caught stealing from Oak Brook Macy's

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:06 GMT

OAK BROOK, Ill. — Charges have been filed against two men accused in two separate retail thefts at a department store in Oak Brook, according to DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin.In a press release sent out on Monday afternoon, Berlin announced the charges against the two men, both migrants from Venezuela, for their alleged roles in two separate retail thefts at a Macy’s at 1 Oakbrook Center. Missing Carpentersville teen’s car pulled from pond in Vernon Hills Berlin said both men involved are facing one felony count of retail theft.According to Berlin, the first man, 30-year-old Jainer Efrain Guttierrez Quintero, was allegedly caught attempting to steal a backpack and two coats, worth about $459, just before 4:30 on Sunday afternoon.In an unrelated incident, another man, 28-year-old Martinez Artigas, was allegedly caught attempting to steal eight items from the store, worth about $1,173, only 30 minutes later. Berlin said Artigas is also facing an additional charge of m...

'We're searching for life': Residential building partially collapses in the Bronx

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:06 GMT

NEW YORK (WPIX) – A multi-story building in the Bronx partially collapsed Monday afternoon, and firefighters are now combing through the debris in search of potential victims, New York City fire officials said.The six-story structure at 1915 Billingsly Terrace in Morris Heights partially collapsed around 3:30 p.m., according to the FDNY.Citizen App video showed several stories of the building exposed with what appeared to be a home appliance, possibly a washing machine or dryer, visible on one of the floors. A pile of a debris could be seen around the base of the building after the partial collapse. So far, no injuries have been reported. FDNY members are searching for possible victims in the rubble. The FDNY is also using drones, K-9 units and tower ladders as part of its search.“This is an ongoing operation. Our members are still conducting search and rescue and will do so until we either find someone or confirm that there is no one under that rubble,” FDNY Commissioner Laura Kava...

George Santos ‘presently engaged in plea negotiations,’ US attorney says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:06 GMT

Former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) is “presently engaged in plea negotiations,” the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York revealed Monday.The announcement came one day before Santos is scheduled to appear in court on Long Island for a status conference. And it follows days of speculation regarding whether the New York Republican would take a plea deal after he was expelled from Congress in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote.“The parties are presently engaged in plea negotiations with the goal of resolving this matter without the need for a trial. The parties wish to continue those negotiations over the next thirty days and respectfully submit that the ends of justice served by such an excludable delay outweigh the best interests of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial,” the agenda for Tuesday’s status conference reads.Santos himself hinted at a potential plea deal over the weekend, telling CBS New York’s “The Point” in an interview that a plea deal with federal...

Texas Supreme Court issues ruling in Dallas woman's abortion case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:06 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- The 31-year-old Dallas woman at the center of a challenge to Texas abortion ban was forced to leave the state for an abortion as she awaited action on her case in the state Supreme Court, the Center for Reproductive Rights said. On Monday evening, the Texas Supreme Court issued an opinion blocking the lower court's ruling the woman could get an abortion in Texas.Last week, a Travis County court ruled Kate Cox could receive an abortion under the medical exceptions in Texas' ban. Cox received a fatal fetal diagnosis at 20 weeks of pregnancy called trisomy 18. The fetus is unable to sustain life, and Cox argued her health and future fertility would be at risk if she gave birth."The exception requires a doctor to decide whether Ms. Cox’s difficulties pose such risks. Dr. [Damla] Karsan asked a court to pre-authorize the abortion yet she could not, or at least did not, attest to the court that Ms. Cox’s condition poses the risks the exception requires," the ruling sta...