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Here’s what’s in, what’s out of the debt limit bill to avert US default

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:36:20 GMT

By KEVIN FREKING, FARNOUSH AMIRI and STEPHEN GROVES (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have been working the phones in an intense push to sell Congress on the 99-page bill that would suspend the nation’s debt limit through 2025 to avoid a federal default while limiting government spending.The Democratic president and Republican speaker have to win their respective parties’ support for the plan in time to avert a default that would shake the global economy. On Tuesday, lawmakers will begin scrutinizing and debating the legislation, which also includes provisions to fund medical care for veterans, change work requirements for some recipients of government aid and streamline environmental reviews for controversial pipelines and other energy projects.The modest deal gives both men wins to tout, with Biden protecting major parts of his agenda from Republican cuts and McCarthy scoring several conservative spending cap...

Kosovo’s NATO-led peacekeepers beef up positions after clashes with ethnic Serbs in north injure 30

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:36:20 GMT

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Troops from the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo on Tuesday used metal fences and barbed wire barriers to beef up positions in a northern town following clashes with ethnic Serbs there that left 30 international soldiers wounded. The peacekeepers sealed off the municipality building in Zvecan where unrest on Monday sent tensions soaring, raising fears of instability and flareup in the Balkan hotspot amid increased Western efforts to resolve a long-simmering dispute.Kosovo is a former province of Serbia whose 2008 declaration of independence Belgrade does not recognize. Ethnic Albanians make up most of the population, but Kosovo has a restive Serb minority in the north of the country bordering Serbia.The United States and most European Union nations have recognized Kosovo’s independence from Serbia while Russia and China have sided with Belgrade. China on Tuesday expressed its support for Serbia’s efforts to “safeguard its sovereignty and territoria...

Notre Dame’s fire-ravaged roof rebuilt using medieval techniques

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:36:20 GMT

SAINT-LAURENT-DE-LA-PLAINE, France (AP) — If time travel was possible, medieval carpenters would surely be amazed to see how woodworking techniques they pioneered in building Notre Dame Cathedral more than 800 years ago are being used again today to rebuild the world-famous monument’s fire-ravaged roof.Certainly the reverse is true for the modern-day carpenters using medieval-era skills. Working with hand axes to fashion hundreds of tons of oak beams for the framework of Notre Dame’s new roof has, for them, been like rewinding time. It’s given them a new appreciation of their predecessors’ handiwork that pushed the architectural envelope back in the 13th century.“It’s a little mind-bending sometimes,” says Peter Henrikson, one of the carpenters. He says there are times when he’s whacking mallet on chisel that he finds himself thinking about medieval counterparts who were cutting “basically the same joint 900 years ago.”“It’s fascinating,” he...

Woman rescued after city pushed to demolish partially collapsed Iowa apartment building

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:36:20 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A woman was rescued more than a day after a six-story apartment building partially collapsed in Davenport, Iowa, and after city officials ordered that it be demolished, saying there were no known people left inside and it was in “imminent danger” of coming down. Protesters urged a delay, concerned that people could still be trapped.Protesters carried signs Tuesday morning near the building site, saying “Find Them First” and “Who is in the Rubble?” Some used a megaphone to shout out names of building residents. City officials said rescue crews escorted 12 people from the building shortly after a middle section collapsed at about 5 p.m. Sunday, and rescued several others, including one person who was taken to safety overnight Sunday. No fatalities have been reported. By Monday morning, Fire Chief Michael Carlsten told reporters: “No known individuals are trapped in that facility.” Authorities said they would soon shift from a rescue operation to a r...

Gunman in Pittsburgh synagogue massacre harbored ‘malice and hate’ for Jews, prosecutor says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:36:20 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Prosecutors on Tuesday described how a heavily armed suspect barged into a Pittsburgh synagogue and shot every worshipper he could find in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history.Robert Bowers’ federal trial got underway more than four years after the shooting deaths of 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue.Twelve jurors and six alternates — chosen Thursday after more than 200 candidates were questioned over a month — are hearing the case. They include 11 women and seven men.“The depths of the defendant’s malice and hate can only be proven in the broken bodies” of the victims and “his hateful words,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Soo C. Song said during her opening statement. Some of the survivors dabbed tears, while Bowers, seated at the defense table, showed no reaction.The defense was expected to present its opening statement before the prosecution began calling witnesses.Bowers, 50, could face the death penalty if convicted of some of the 63 cou...

One justice explained absence from case. Another didn’t. Ethics questions vexing Supreme Court

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:36:20 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — One Supreme Court justice explained her absence from a case. One justice didn’t.The difference shows how difficult forging consensus over even small steps on ethics can be at the Supreme Court, which is facing new calls to adopt an ethics code following revelations about undisclosed gifts from a Republican megadonor to Justice Clarence Thomas.Last week, Chief Justice John Roberts acknowledged the court needs to do more to reassure a skeptical public that the justices take their ethical obligations seriously.Though the justices have been resistant to a binding code of ethical standards, all nine signed a “statement on ethics principles and practices” issued in late April that promised at least some small additional disclosure when one or more among them opts not to take part in a case.A justice “may provide a summary explanation of a recusal decision,” the statement reads, a change from the standard practice of saying nothing at all. A week ago, Justice Elena ...

Handcuffed inmate sheds medical boot, escapes from deputy at Ohio hospital

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:36:20 GMT

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — A handcuffed county jail inmate wearing a medical boot ran away Tuesday from an officer who had driven him to a hospital for a doctor’s appointment, authorities said.The Summit County Sheriff’s Office said Jason Lyle Conrad was being removed from a transport van at Summa Health White Pond Medical Center in Akron when he somehow removed the boot and ran off around 8 a.m. Conrad was wearing the boot for an undisclosed previous injury.Conrad was being held in the county jail on charges of drug possession and trafficking, willful fleeing and a parole violation, authorities said.Numerous local law enforcement agencies and Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers were searching for Conrad.The Associated Press

S&P/TSX composite down nearly 200 points as price of oil falls

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:36:20 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index was down nearly 200 points as the price of oil fell and losses in the energy and base metal stocks helped lead the way lower.The S&P/TSX composite index was down 187.10 points at 19,780.85.In New York, where markets had been closed Monday for Memorial Day, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 183.06 points at 32,910.28. The S&P 500 index was down 2.62 points at 4,202.83, while the Nasdaq composite was up 56.90 points at 13,032.59. The Canadian dollar traded for 73.54 cents US compared with 73.57 cents US on Monday.The July crude contract was down US$2.62 from Friday at US$70.05 per barrel and the July natural gas contract was down 11 cents from Friday at US$2.31 per mmBTU.The August gold contract was up US$13.20 from Friday at US$1,976.30 an ounce and the July copper contract was down two cents from Friday at US$3.66 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 30, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, ...

Drivers line up for gasoline across Nigeria after new president scraps fuel subsidy

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:36:20 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has scrapped a decadeslong government-funded subsidy that has helped reduce the price of gasoline, leading to long lines at fuel stations Tuesday as drivers scrambled to stock up before costs rise.As people rushed to buy gas in major cities like Abuja and Lagos, marketers have more than doubled the price at the pump from the usual 40 cents per liter, resulting in a surge in the price of transport.Tinubu announced the removal of the subsidy moments after his inauguration as president on Monday, signaling his administration’s plan to finally end an initiative that officials said cost the Nigerian government an estimated 18.39 billion naira ($39.8 million) daily in 2022. He did not say when it would take effect, but the immediate past government had planned to end the initiative by June 30.Nigeria’s oil refineries are struggling, with production sinking to multidecade lows amid massive oil theft, meaning Africa’s top oil producer dep...

US agency identifies remains of Indiana soldier killed in France during WWII

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:36:20 GMT

DANA, Ind. (AP) — The remains of an Indiana soldier who was killed in France during World War II have been identified by U.S. military scientists more than 75 years after his death.The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Tuesday that the remains of U.S. Army Pfc. Leonard E. Adams, 25, of Dana, Indiana, were identified in July 2022, although his family only recently received a full briefing on his identification.Adams died in January 1945 when he and other members of Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division were surrounded by German forces and pounded by artillery and mortar fire while helping secure terrain near Reipertswiller, France.Only two U.S. soldiers made it through the German lines, and the rest were either killed or captured, DPAA said. Adams was among those killed, but his body could not be recovered because of the fighting.Starting in 1946, military personnel searched the area around Reipertswiller and eventually found 3...