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New Zealand’s new government promises tax cuts, more police and less bureaucracy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:59:30 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealanders can expect tax cuts, more police on the streets and less government bureaucracy, according to the three leaders who signed an agreement Friday to form a new government.The coalition deal ended nearly six weeks of intense negotiations after New Zealand held a general election on Oct. 14.The deal will see Christopher Luxon serve as prime minister after his conservative National Party won 38% of the vote, the largest proportion of any party.Luxon thanked New Zealanders for their patience during the negotiations and said each party had made policy compromises to close the deal.“Our government will rebuild the economy to ease the cost of living, and deliver tax relief to increase the prosperity of all New Zealanders,” Luxon said. “Our government will restore law and order, and personal responsibility, so that Kiwis are safer in their own communities.”The leaders agreed to make cuts to the public service and train 500 more police within ...

Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius up for parole Friday, 10 years after a killing that shocked the world

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:59:30 GMT

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Oscar Pistorius could be granted parole on Friday after spending nearly 10 years in prison for murder. It’s the latest turn in the story of the double-amputee Olympic runner who was one of the world’s most admired athletes before he killed his girlfriend by shooting her multiple times through a toilet door at his home.Pistorius, who had his 37th birthday this week, was sent to prison in late 2014 and has been given a second chance at parole in the space of eight months after he was wrongly ruled ineligible for early release at a first hearing in March. That was due to an error made by an appeals court over when Pistorius’ jail sentence officially started and if he’d served the required time.He was initially convicted of culpable homicide — a charge comparable to manslaughter — for killing Reeva Steenkamp in the predawn hours of Valentine’s Day 2013. That conviction was overturned and he was convicted of murder after an app...

3 men charged in Midlothian liquor store armed robbery

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:59:30 GMT

MIDLOTHIAN, Ill. — Three men were charged Thursday after being taken into custody following an armed robbery of a southwest suburban liquor store Wednesday, according to the Midlothian Police Department (MPD).From left-to-right, 52-year-old Lourenzie Conner, 53-year-old Gentree Mcelroy, and 35-year-old Michael D. Lewis. (Courtesy: Midlothian Police Department)MPD said Gentree Mcelroy, Lourenzie Conner and Michael D. Lewis were all charged with aggravated kidnapping and armed robbery, while Mcelroy was also charged with possession of a controlled substance and violation of his parole with the Illinois Department of Corrections.According to MPD, the armed robbery took place around 11 a.m. Wednesday at Emporium Liquors near the intersection of 147th Street and Springfield Avenue. A SWAT team arrived and helped resolve a situation where two of the three suspects barricaded themselves inside the liquor store before eventually being taken into police custody. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 3 in cus...

Letters: Gondola answer | Doing her job | Clean energy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:59:30 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Gondola could beanswer over estuaryRegarding the drawbridge over the Oakland Estuary (“Boaters, bicyclists at odds over Alameda’s plan for drawbridge to get in to Oakland,” Page A1, Nov. 20), I’d like to suggest considering a gondola with an elevator at each end. Besides getting pedestrians and byciclists across the estuary, it may even become a tourist destination attraction on its own right.Olive Lee-DeaconOaklandPrice is doing herjob, and doing it wellRe: “DA Price delivers firey rebuke as she launches anti-recall campaign” (Page A1, Nov. 18).I am so thankful for Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. She has taken on an enormous job and she is doing it well.Price inherited the problems we are facing, she didn’t create them, although I wish she would engage the media and remind us why we were so eager to elect her and what she has accomplished in such ...

3 people found dead at BART stations in San Francisco, Oakland

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:59:30 GMT

Three people died at BART stations on Wednesday night, authorities reported Thursday. Two of the cases were suspected to have been related to fentanyl/other drugs, given that Narcan — a medicine given to help people who are overdosing on an opioid — was deployed in the case of both individuals.The first death occurred at the Fruitvale Station in Oakland, after BART Police Officers and medical personnel responded around 6:19 p.m. to an alert about an unresponsive male. A dose of Narcan was administered to the subject and medical personnel began doing life-saving measures, before ultimately declaring the individual dead. The Alameda County Coroner’s Office arrived and took custody of the body.There were no signs of foul play, according BART police, and the case is still under investigation.The second death occurred at the Powell Street Station in San Francisco, where BART police and medical personnel responded around 11:34 p.m. to the alert about another unresponsive...

¿Quién es Patricia Bullrich, la elegida por Milei para ser ministra de Seguridad de Argentina?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:59:30 GMT

(CNN Español) —  Patricia Bullrich será la ministra de Seguridad de Argentina a partir del 10 de diciembre, según confirmó a CNN una fuente del equipo del presidente electo Javier Milei.Bullrich fue candidata a presidenta en la primera vuelta de estas elecciones y ya estuvo al frente del Ministerio de Seguridad, durante la presidencia de Mauricio Macri (de 2015 a 2019).Elecciones en Argentina 2023, en vivo: resultados, noticias, votaciones y másSu pasado en la Juventud Peronista (JP), su paso por el gobierno de Fernando De la Rúa y la muerte de Santiago Maldonado en su gestión en el Ministerio de Seguridad, son algunos de los temas más polémicos que rodean su imagen.Esto es lo que debes saber de la próxima ministra de Seguridad de Argentina.Sus inicios en el peronismo y su supuesta vinculación con MontonerosPatricia Bullrich nació en 1956 en Buenos Aires. Hija de Alejandro Bullrich y Julieta Luro Pueyrredón, forma parte de una de las familias con más tradición política del paí...

Vladislav Goldin scores points 19 as No. 19 Florida Atlantic defeats Butler 91-86

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:59:30 GMT

KISSIMMEE. Fla. (AP) — Vladislav Goldin scored 19 points and Johnell Davis added 15 as No.19 Florida Atlantic beat Butler 91-86 in a first-round matchup at the ESPN Events Invitational on Thursday.Jalen Gaffney added 14 points as six FAU players scored in double figures. The Owls (3-1) rebounded from a 60-51 home loss to Bryant last Saturday.“Anytime you face adversity, we have this week, you learn and grow from it,” FAU coach Dusty May said. “If it causes you to splinter at all, then it’s catastrophic.”Butler (3-2) got 19 points from Jahmyl Telfort. The Bulldogs had five player in double figures.“When you play a team like Florida Atlantic, that is an unbelievable basketball team, when you deviated and you make mistakes they make you pay,” Butler coach Thad Matta said. “I thought that was the difference in the game.”After Posh Alexander’s 4-point play got Butler within 78-77 with 4:40 remaining, Gaffney’s long-range jumper then keyed an 8-1 run for FAU.FAU trailed ...

Inmates at a Maryland prison reflect on their educational progress

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:59:30 GMT

Heading into the holiday season often leads people to take stock of where they are in life.And that’s the case for several students in the Bowie State University degree program at Maryland’s Jessup Correctional Institution.WTOP first met some of the members of the class in August, and caught up with them as they got ready to share a Thanksgiving meal and focus on midterms.The men have adapted to the student life — and it shows.Jermain Williams talks about his progress in the four-year degree program offered by Bowie State University. On Thanksgiving Day, he said he was grateful for the chance to further his education. (WTOP/Kate Ryan)When Jermain Williams sat down at the prison library’s table for an interview, he got a pad and paper and jotted down some notes before answering questions.Williams’ favorite class so far is the philosophy class. It has challenged him to think more deeply about things, he said.Timothy Hawkins, whose habit of journaling sometimes ...

Bronny James mostly watches warmups with his No. 23 Southern California teammates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:59:30 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Bronny James was on the court with his No. 23 Southern California teammates for pregame warmups Thursday for the second straight game, although he mostly watched from under the basket, did some rebounding and then took three shots from the corner.James went through warmups with his teammates before Sunday night’s home game against Brown for the first time this season after suffering a cardiac arrest in July.The Trojans faced Seton Hall in the second game of the inaugural Rady Children’s Invitational at UC San Diego.The son of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has yet to make his collegiate debut after it was determined he had a congenital heart defect that was treatable and the team has not given a timetable.Bronny James appeared to be in a jovial mood, speaking and laughing with teammates and occasionally passing them a ball. Wearing gray sweats, he ate a snack and drank from a bottle of water.A young fan wearing a Seton Hall jersey approached J...

Un estudiante herido y cuatro detenidos en México tras la irrupción de un grupo de encapuchados a una facultad de la UNAM

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:59:30 GMT

(CNN Español) — Un estudiante resultó herido en la cabeza y cuatro personas quedaron detenidas este jueves tras la irrupción de un grupo de encapuchados a la Facultad de Contaduría y Administración de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), según informó la institución educativa.De acuerdo con un comunicado difundido por la UNAM, el grupo —conformado por una docena de personas— entró al lugar “de manera violenta” y “con palos, varillas y artefactos explosivos” buscó impedir el informe del director, Tomás Humberto Rubio Pérez.Según la UNAM, los encapuchados “arremetieron contra el inmueble y agredieron a un grupo de estudiantes”. Tras ese enfrentamiento, un alumno resultó herido.Los alumnos sometieron a dos agresores y otros dos fueron contenidos por personal de seguridad de la universidad, que llevó a los cuatro atacantes a la sede de la Fiscalía General de Justicia de la Ciudad de México en la alcaldía Coyoacán, demarcación donde se ubica el principal campus de la ...