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GOP donor Anton Lazzaro sentenced to 21 years for sex trafficking minors in Minnesota

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:45 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A formerly well-connected GOP donor convicted of giving teenage girls gifts, alcohol and money in exchange for sex was sentenced Wednesday to 21 years in prison on sex trafficking charges.Anton “Tony” Lazzaro was found guilty in March by a federal jury of seven counts involving “commercial sex acts” with five girls ages 15 and 16 in 2020, when Lazzaro was 30. The charges carried mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years with a maximum of life in prison.Prosecutors had requested a 30-year sentence for Lazzaro. They likened Lazzaro to financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was arrested in 2019 on federal charges accusing him of paying underage girls for massages and then abusing them at his homes in Florida and New York. The defense asked for no more than 10 years. U.S. District judge Patrick Schiltz came down in the middle. Lazzaro, who maintains his own innocence and has said the charges against him were politically motivated, plans to appeal.“It went as expected,” defense ...

The Perseid meteor shower peaks this weekend and it’s even better this year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:45 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The annual Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak this weekend, sending bright trails of light streaking across the night sky. With only a sliver of moon in the sky, conditions this year will be ideal for seeing lots of meteors.“If you’ve got nice clear weather and a good dark sky, you go out just before dawn and you’ll see a Perseid per minute or so,” said NASA meteor scientist Bill Cooke. “That’s a pretty good show.”Here’s how to watch the meteor shower:WHAT ARE THE PERSEIDS? The Perseids — one of the biggest meteor showers we can see — occur every year in the late summer. Meteor showers happen when the Earth moves through fields of debris floating around in space. The Perseids come from comet Swift-Tuttle, a big ball of ice and rock that sheds pieces of dusty debris as it orbits around the sun. When the Earth passes by, those bits get caught in our atmosphere and burn up, creating the streaking lights. The Perseids get their name from the constellation Perse...

Iran summons British envoy over his social media post calling for release of detained journalists

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:45 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s foreign ministry on Wednesday summoned Britain’s envoy to Tehran to protest his posts on social media calling for the government to release all people ”arbitrarily detained” in Iran, including journalists, the state-run news agency reported. The IRNA news agency said British Ambassador Simon Shercliff was summoned for posting on Tuesday what the ministry described as “interfering remarks” on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter. The posting came as Iran marked Journalists Day, commemorating the death of Mohammad Saremi, an Iranian journalist who worked for IRNA, and eight other Iranians killed by the Taliban on Aug. 8, 1998 in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan. Shercliff noted the commemoration and said: “We pay tribute to all journalists prevented from doing their jobs and facing threats to their safety.”“We reiterate our call for Iran to release all arbitrarily detained individuals, including journalist...

Quebec court says it can hear challenge to governor general’s lack of French

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:45 GMT

MONTREAL — The Quebec Superior Court has ruled that it can hear a challenge to the appointment of Gov. Gen. Mary Simon, who isn’t fluent in French.Several groups are seeking to have Simon’s appointment declared null and void because they say the governor general is constitutionally required to communicate in both official languages.The attorney general of Canada had argued that only the Federal Court could hear the case.But Justice Catherine Piché said in her June ruling that the appointment of the governor general doesn’t fall within one of the specific circumstances that would require the case be heard by the Federal Court.François Boulianne, the lawyer for the groups challenging Simon’s appointment, says he expects the case to return to court in the fall. Justice pour le Québec, which is taking part in the case, says it will pursue the challenge despite the death in May of its president, Frédéric Bastien, a historian and former Parti Québécois leadership c...

OPP reports 8 deaths, more than 7,700 charges over Civic Day holiday weekend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:45 GMT

Ontario Provincial Police say eight people died on roads, waterways and trails, over the Civic Day holiday weekend.The eight fatalities mark the highest number of traffic or marine-related deaths to occur over a long weekend this year.Six people who died were involved in road collisions, one person was killed in an off-road vehicle collision and one person was killed in a boating incident.The OPP says it laid more than 7,700 charges as part of its provincial traffic safety campaign, including 4,341 speeding charges, 182 impaired driving charges, and 43 distracted driving charges.The OPP also laid 131 charges against drivers who failed to comply with Ontario’s Move Over Law, which requires drivers to slow down or move over for emergency vehicles or tow trucks that are stopped with sirens or lights flashing. Failing to do so can result in fines of up to $2,000, loss of three demerit points and a possible two-year licence suspension.

Iraq water crisis could have regional consequences, UN human rights chief warns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:45 GMT

BAGHDAD (AP) — The United Nations’ human rights chief on Wednesday warned that Iraq’s water crisis could affect other countries in the region.Severe water shortages in Iraq because of climate change and government mismanagement have destroyed wheat and fruit harvests, and killed off fish and livestock. Humanitarian organizations have warned for years that drought and mismanagement could deprive millions of people of water from the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, which also run through neighboring war-torn Syria.U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk made the comments at a news conference in Baghdad following a four-day visit to the Iraqi capital, the oil-rich southern city of Basra and Irbil in the northern semi-autonomous Kurdish region. Basra, where the mouth of the two rivers meet, has been hit hardest by the water crisis, turning areas once fertile into desert and forcing water purification systems to shut down because of rising salinity.“Just yesterday (Tu...

Swift’s T.O. stops create opportunities, risks for brands tied to show: marketers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:45 GMT

TORONTO — Companies marketing themselves in connection with Taylor Swift’s future swing through Toronto might see an afterglow that outlives the pop star’s handful of shows in the city.Marketing experts say Swift’s brand and fan base are so strong that Canadian companies which have links to the singer will reap the rewards of her Eras Tour too.Rogers Communications Inc. has been marketing itself as the presenter of Swift’s six nights in Toronto next November, which will see her grace the Rogers Centre stage.Royal Bank of Canada is listed as an official partner of the Canadian stops and will offer an exclusive allocation of tickets to its Avion members.Richard Powers of the Rotman School of Management says being connected to Swift creates a feel-good story for Rogers, which is trying to rebuild goodwill after a massive daylong outage last summer. He says for RBC, Swift creates a chance to reach a younger demographic and expand the Avion membership base beyond ...

Ohio vote shows enduring power of abortion rights at ballot box, giving Democrats a path in 2024

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:45 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Abortion wasn’t technically on the ballot in Ohio’s special election. But the overwhelming defeat of a measure that would have made it tougher to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution this fall was the latest indicator that the issue remains a powerful force at the ballot box.The election saw record turnout for what’s typically a sleepy August election date and sets up another battle in November, when Ohio will be the only state this year to have reproductive rights on the ballot. It also gives hope to Democrats and other abortion rights supporters who say the matter could sway voters their way again in 2024. That’s when it could affect races for president, Congress and statewide offices, and when places such as the battleground of Arizona may put abortion questions on their ballots as well. Democrats described the victory in Ohio, a one-time battleground state that has shifted markedly to the right, as a “major warning sign” for t...

Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith says he’ll retire in summer 2024

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:45 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith, who has spent the past 18 years at Ohio State leading one of the largest and most successful athletic programs in the country, announced Wednesday he will retire at the end of June next year.“I’ve always believed that a leader seeks to be the right person at the right time in the life of an institution,” Smith, 67, said at a news conference Wednesday. “I just think July of 2024 is the right time to welcome in new leadership to build on what we’ve already achieved.”The search for his successor will begin after the university selects a new president in November. Kristina Johnson resigned as Ohio State president last year.Smith, seen as one of the most influential ADs in the country, will step down as USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington join the Big Ten amid a rapidly changing landscape in college football in which Smith has been heavily involved.“I’ve always embraced change,” Smith said. “Those changes were ...

Utah man saves paralyzed woman from drowning in lake, officials say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:45 GMT

TOOELE COUNTY, Utah (KTVX/KUCW) – A Utah resident saved a paralyzed woman's life in a near-drowning after she rolled into a lake while belted into her wheelchair. Tooele resident Kelly Roundtree was playing darts with his daughter on the balcony of his lakeside home on Aug. 1 when he heard calls for help coming from the other side of Stansbury Lake. At first, Roundtree said he thought it might be children playing, but after another cry — this time one of panic — he knew something was wrong. VIDEO: Utah dog owner recounts ‘hawk attack’ He then saw something black in the water and a woman on the phone across the lake. She was talking to emergency responders. Within seconds, Roundtree was out the door and in his car. Officials say he left "without hesitation" and drove the few blocks around the lake. His daughter then stood on the shore and directed him to the woman in the water.Kelly Roundtree saved a paralyzed woman's life after her wheelchair rolled into Stansbury Lake in Tooele...