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Rishi Sunak comes to Washington with Ukraine, economy and AI on agenda for Biden meeting

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:17 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The war in Ukraine was top of U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s agenda Wednesday as he started a two-day trip to Washington carrying the message that post-Brexit Britain remains an essential American ally in a world of emboldened authoritarian states. The U.S. and U.K. are the two biggest military donors to Ukraine, and the war will be the focus of Sunak’s meeting Thursday at the White House with President Joe Biden. The breaching of a major dam in southern Ukraine, which sent floodwaters gushing through towns and over farmland, has given the subject added urgency. Neither Washington nor London has officially accused Russia of blowing up the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam.Sunak said Wednesday that U.K. intelligence services are still assessing the evidence, but “if it does prove to be intentional, it will represent a new low … an appalling barbarism on Russia’s part.”“Russia throughout this war has used as a deliberate active strategy to target civilian infrastru...

Prosecutors urge Minnesota Supreme Court to reject appeal by ex-officer in George Floyd’s murder

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:17 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — State prosecutors have urged the Minnesota Supreme Court to reject former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin’s request to reconsider his conviction for murdering George Floyd, saying lower courts already got it right.Chauvin’s attorney asked the state’s highest court last month to hear the case after the Minnesota Court of Appeals rejected his arguments that he had been denied a fair trial. A three-judge panel in April affirmed his conviction for second-degree murder and his 22 1/2-year sentence. In a response filed Tuesday, the attorney general’s office asked the Supreme Court to let that ruling stand.“Petitioner received a fair trial, and received the benefit of a fulsome appellate review,” prosecutors wrote. “It is time to bring this case to a close.”Floyd died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, kneeled on the unarmed Black man’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes. A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe....

Family of Texas woman killed says shooting was a hate crime

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:17 GMT

CEDAR PARK, Texas (AP) — A man police say gunned down a woman outside an Austin-area gas station last week has been charged with murder, and the woman’s family says the killing should be investigated as a hate crime as she was targeted because she was gay.Akira Ross, 24, was fatally shot Friday night while she pumped gas in Cedar Park, 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Austin, according to the Cedar Park police. She died at the gas station, and the shooter fled in a vehicle.Cedar Park police identified Bradley Stanford, 23, as the suspected shooter. He was arrested Sunday in Inglewood, Texas, near Corpus Christi, more than 200 miles (322 kilometers) away from where the shooting happened. Stanford was being held in the San Patricio County Jail on one count of murder before he was transferred Wednesday to Williamson County, officials confirmed. The San Patricio County Sheriff’s Office said an attorney is not yet listed for Stanford.Police have not said what might have led ...

Texas’ Ken Paxton hires prominent attorney for impeachment trial

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:17 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A new lawyer for Ken Paxton on Wednesday raised skepticism that the embattled Texas attorney general’s impeachment trial could be done quickly and attacked the case that could lead to the Republican’s permanent removal from office as a sham.Tony Buzbee is a prominent Houston attorney whose high-profile client list includes former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and women who accused NFL quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual harassment and assault. His hiring sets up a clash between some of the state’s most well-known lawyers over Paxton’s political future.“The impeachment articles that have been laid out by the House are baloney,” Buzbee said during a news conference at the Republican Party of Texas’ Austin headquarters. “The allegations are untrue.”The impeachment trial in the Texas Senate is set to begin no later than Aug. 28. “If we’re really going to have a trial, it’s going to take a lot longer than that,” Buzbee said.Buzbee joins several...

Black workers at California Tesla factory allege rampant racism, seek class-action status

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:17 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tesla may face a class-action lawsuit after 240 Black factory workers in California described rampant racism and discrimination at the electric automaker’s San Francisco Bay Area plant, including frequent use of racial slurs and references to the manufacturing site as a plantation or slave ship. The testimonies filed Monday in Alameda County Superior Court comes from contractors and employees who worked on the production floor of the factory in Fremont, roughly 40 miles (65 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco. The vast majority worked at the site between 2016 to the present. Lawyers suing Tesla, Inc. estimate at least 6,000 workers could be part of the class. The individual testimonies are part of a 2017 lawsuit brought by Marcus Vaughn, who complained in writing to human resources and to Tesla CEO Elon Musk of a hostile work environment in which he was called slurs by co-workers and supervisors. No investigation was conducted and he was fired for “not having...

Cancer centers say US chemotherapy shortage is leading to treatment complications

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:17 GMT

A growing shortage of common cancer treatments is forcing doctors to switch medications and delaying some care, prominent U.S. cancer centers say.The National Comprehensive Cancer Network said Wednesday that nearly all the centers it surveyed late last month were dealing with shortages of carboplatin and cisplatin, a pair of drugs used to treat a range of cancers. Some are no longer able to treat patients receiving carboplatin at the intended dose or schedule. Dr. Kari Wisinski has had to turn to other treatments for some patients or switch the order in which people receive their drug combinations. She said she’s done that “hoping that within three months there will be a better carboplatin supply.”“It’s really difficult as a physician to have these conversations with a family or a patient about not having a medication you’d like to prescribe to them,” she said.Wisinski is a breast cancer specialist with the UW Health Carbone Cancer Center in Madison, Wisconsin, a member of the netwo...

Bears CEO Kevin Warren, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson release statement after meeting

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:17 GMT

CHICAGO — As the Bears continue to look at the suburbs to find a new home, one of the top people in the organization met with the leader of the place they currently play their home game on Wednesday. It was the first meeting between the team's new president and CEO and Chicago's newly elected mayor. Today Chicago Bears president and CEO Kevin Warren and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson met for the first time since each have been in their current positions..They had a joint statement below..@WGNNews pic.twitter.com/glomV27k7x— Larry Hawley (@HawleySports) June 7, 2023Kevin Warren met with Mayor Brandon Johnson on Wednesday, the Bears announced, with both releasing a statement following their discussion. “Today we met and discussed our shared values and commitment to the City of Chicago, the importance of deep roots and the need for equitable community investment throughout the city," read the statement, which was credited to both Johnson and Warren. "We are both committed to the i...

Pope Francis's operation: More on what's involve in hernia repair

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:17 GMT

Pope Francis was admitted to the hospital for surgery Wednesday to repair a hernia in his intestine.Doctors in rime put the 86-year old pontiff under general anesthesia for the operation. This operation follows a partial colon removal two years ago. More: Pope Francis to be hospitalized for several days following intestinal surgery There were no complications in the 3-hour surgery and his physicians said he was awake later in the day and in recovery. More Coverage: WGN's Medical Watch Dr. Scott Schimpke is a general surgeon at Rush University Medical Center and he joined the WGN Evening News to talk about the type of operation, why it's necessary, the risks and the recovery.

Taco Bell launches vegan option of an iconic item at select locations

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:17 GMT

(KTLA) - The Crunchwrap at Taco Bell will soon have a fully vegan counterpart. The Orange County-based fast food company announced Wednesday that the Vegan Crunchwrap will be the chain’s first fully vegan entrée item on the menu, but will only be at select locations. Taco Bell opens its newest cantina restaurant in Hollywood The Vegan Crunchwrap features seasoned vegan beef, which is “proprietary, boldly seasoned plant-based protein that has been in the works for years” and is topped with two vegan sauces: blanco and nacho cheese.Craveable and convenient, the Vegan Crunchwrap features vegan seasoned beef, cool vegan blanco sauce and warm vegan nacho sauce. (Taco Bell) Like the traditional Crunchwrap, its vegan counterpart will also have shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and a tostada shell.“Such a large part of our fandom is vegan or vegetarian, and we're as committed to them as they are to us and our menu," Liz Matthews, global chief food innovation officer at Taco Bell, said in ...

Conservatives call on Senate to pass trans athlete ban

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:17 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Conservatives in the house are calling on the Senate to pass legislation that would ban trans athletes from participating in school sports.The national effort targeting trans kids is prompting LGBTQ+ advocates to declare a state of emergency. Republicans are demanding a national ban on trans athletes in school sports."I’m horrified,” said Illinois Republican Rep. Mary Miller. "Our girls deserve safe locker rooms and fair opportunities in athletics.”The group was joined by women athletes, who say they were wronged after being forced to compete against trans women. Taylor Silverman, a competitive skateboarder, said Congress must act to protect women."I was bumped from first place to second, and it was a different male each time," said Silverman. "Going through this was mentally tormenting."Although house Republicans already passed the bill in April, it stands little chance in the Democrat-led Senate. But that's not stopping Republicans in state legislatures acro...