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US to spend $700M on new embassy in Ireland, breaks ground on new embassy in Saudi Arabia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:36:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has notified Congress that it intends to spend nearly $700 million to buy a former Dublin hotel, demolish it and construct new buildings to turn the site into the new U.S. Embassy in Ireland. The State Department also announced that it had broken ground on a new embassy complex in Saudi Arabia as part of a revamp of its diplomatic facilities in the Gulf.The department informed lawmakers late Monday that it plans to buy the former Jury’s Hotel in Dublin’s upscale Ballsbridge neighborhood for $171 million. Associated costs, including the design and construction of the new chancery and furnishing it, will bring the total to $688.8 million, according to a notice sent to Congress.The 4.2 acre (1.7 hectare) property is located just a block from the existing U.S. embassy in the Irish capital, which dates to the 1960s and the State Department said “is well beyond its useful life, is too small for our operational needs, and is not functional in its ...

Bank regulator maintains uninsured mortgage stress test rate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:36:53 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s banking regulator says it has left the stress test rate for uninsured mortgages unchanged.The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions says the minimum qualifying rate for uninsured residential mortgages will remain the greater of 5.25 per cent, or the mortgage contract rate plus two per cent.Uninsured mortgages are generally residential mortgages with a down payment of 20 per cent or more.Superintendent Peter Routledge says holding the minimum rate helps ensure lenders and borrowers manage risk associated with residential mortgages.He says the stress test has produced a more resilient residential mortgage financing system.OSFI sets the stress test for uninsured mortgages, while the finance department sets the rate for insured mortgages.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2023.The Canadian Press

Man wanted for spraying anti-Semitic graffiti at TTC subway stations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:36:53 GMT

Toronto police are searching for a suspect believed to be behind two acts of hate-motivated graffiti at TTC subway stations.Officers were called to Finch Subway Station just after 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 28 for reports of mischief. Police determined that a man had spray-painted anti-Semitic graffiti on a wall near the bus loop.Minutes later, police were notified of a similar mischief incident at York Mills Subway Station. It’s alleged a man spray-painted anti-Semitic graffiti on a wall at the TTC station.No injuries were reported.The male suspect is described as 20-25 years old. He was last seen wearing glasses, a black face mask, a black Carhartt hooded sweater with white lettering on the left sleeve, a black baseball hat, black pants, black shoes, and a grey backpack.Police said the investigation is being treated as a suspected hate-motivated offence. Photos of the man have been released.

Man arrested in Washington state after detective made false statements gets $225,000 settlement

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:36:53 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — King County will pay $225,000 to settle a civil rights lawsuit brought by a Black man who was arrested on drug charges after a veteran detective made false statements to obtain a search warrant, including misidentifying him in a photo.Detective Kathleen Decker, a now-retired 33-year veteran of the King County Sheriff’s Office, was looking for a murder weapon when she asked a Washington state judge for a warrant to search the car and apartment of Seattle resident Gizachew Wondie in 2018. At the time, federal agents were separately looking into Wondie’s possible involvement in selling drugs.Wondie was not a suspect in the homicide, but Decker’s search warrant application said a gun he owned was the same weapon that had been used to kill a 22-year-old woman a few months earlier.In reality, the gun was only a potential match and further testing was required to prove it. Further, Decker, who is white, falsely claimed that a different Black man pictured in an Instagram phot...

Former Iowa deputy pleads guilty in hot-vehicle death of police dog

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:36:53 GMT

AMES, Iowa (AP) — A former Iowa deputy has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge after a police dog under his care died inside a hot police truck.Dallas Wingate was a sergeant for the Boone County Sheriff’s Department in September 2022 when investigators said the police dog named Bear was left inside Wingate’s truck for 22 hours. In an agreement with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor animal neglect with serious injury or death, the Des Moines Register reported Monday. A felony charge was dropped.The plea agreement recommends 18 months of probation and an $855 fine.Wingate found Bear dead on the evening of Sept. 2, 2022. He told investigators he had put the dog in his truck around 10 p.m. Sept. 1 because the dog was barking at a deer, according to documents related to a search warrant.Wingate said he only remembered doing so after he went outside to feed his other dogs around 8 p.m. the next night and didn’t see Bear among them.The high temperature on Sept. 2...

Three gun dealers sued by New Jersey attorney general, who says they violated state law

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:36:53 GMT

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey’s attorney general sued three firearms dealers Tuesday, alleging one illegally stored firearms that were visible from outside a store and that the two others tried to sell “ghost guns.” The suits mark the first complaints filed under a 2022 law passed last year.Attorney General Matt Platkin said he filed the lawsuits in state court to send a message to firearms dealers that run afoul of state law.“We’re going to hold these folks accountable, but they won’t be the last,” Platkin said during a news conference held with state firearms enforcement director Ravi Ramanathan. “I think others in the industry should take notice that if you’re violating our laws, we’re going to come for you. We’re going to hold you accountable, too.”The suits seek unspecified monetary and punitive damages as well as an injunction against the companies: FSS Armory, of Pine Brook, New Jersey; gun show operator Eagle Shows of western Pennsylvania; and gun vendor JSD Supply, ...

DeSantis’ campaign and allied super PAC face new concerns about legal conflicts, AP sources say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:36:53 GMT

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Ron DeSantis has visited each of Iowa’s 99 counties. He has the endorsement of the governor and boasts the largest get-out-the-vote operation in the state. And he has predicted victory in Iowa’s Jan. 15 caucuses.But as the Florida governor works to project strength in the Republican primary and cut into former President Donald Trump’s huge lead, DeSantis’ expansive political machine is facing a churn of leadership, stagnant polling numbers and new concerns about potential legal conflicts.Specifically, there has been concern in recent weeks among some within DeSantis’ operation that interactions between his campaign and his network of outside groups are blurring the lines of what’s legally permissible.Multiple people familiar with DeSantis’ political network said that he and his wife had expressed concerns about the messaging of Never Back Down, the largest super PAC supporting the governor’s campaign, in recent months as ...

Chicago Bulls launch Ring of Honor, announce inaugural class

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:36:53 GMT

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls announced their inaugural "Ring of Honor" class Tuesday, which will recognize and celebrate past players, coaches and front office staff who made outstanding contributions to help define the organization throughout it's history, according to a press release from the team.The Bulls' inaugural Ring of Honor class will include 13 individuals — Artis Gilmore, Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, Johnny “Red” Kerr, Dick Klein, Jerry Krause, Toni Kukoc, Bob Love, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Jerry Sloan, Chet Walker and Tex Winter — and one team, the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.The Bulls will honor the following players, coaches and staff from the 1995-96 team:  Players: Randy Brown, Jud Buechler Jason Caffey, James Edwards, Jack Haley, Ron Harper, Michael Jordan, Steve Kerr, Toni Kukoc, Luc Longley, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, John Salley, Dickey Simpkins and Bill Wennington Coaches: Jim Cleamons, Phil Jackson, Erik Helland, John Paxson, Jimmy Rodgers and Te...

When is SantaCon coming to Chicagoland?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:36:53 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – The Santa Clauses are coming to town — and possibly looking for a place to urinate!SantaCon, an annual event that takes place around Christmastime, is essentially a huge, festive pub crawl populated almost entirely by revelers dressed as Santa Claus or other holiday characters. The event has been growing in popularity for decades too, with hundreds of cities in the U.S. (and many abroad) playing host to their own SantaCons in recent years. Holiday crowds at airports, on highways expected to be even bigger than last year In December 2023, over 100 different SantaCon events were scheduled to take place throughout the country, with many still to come. But that’s only the events listed on the SantaCon.info database; it’s possible there are even more being organized under different names.Where are SantaCon events taking place in the coming weeks?According to SantaCon.info, there are still more than 40 SantaCon events scheduled for cities in 17 states: Arizona, Californ...

President Gay to stay at Harvard, despite calls for resignation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:36:53 GMT

Harvard President Claudine Gay will stay in her position, despite Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) demanding her resignation."This is a moral failure of Harvard's leadership," Stefanik said.Last week, Gay, the president of MIT, and the former president of the University of Pennsylvania deflected questions from Stefanik about whether calling for the genocide of Jews breaks their colleges' codes of conduct."Those university presidents made history by putting the most morally bankrupt testimony into the Congressional record and the world saw it," Stefanik said.On Tuesday, Harvard's board released a statement saying Gay is "the right leader to help our community heal and to address the very serious societal issues we are facing.""Have failed to stand up for Jewish students on campus. It is unacceptable and it's untenable," Stefanik said.House Republican Leader Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) says his party is leading the fight against antisemitism."We've exposed antisemitism, called it out for what...