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Odd spiral appears amid northern lights in Alaska night sky

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:47:58 GMT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Northern light enthusiasts got a surprise mixed in with the green bands of light dancing in the Alaska skies: A light baby blue spiral resembling a galaxy appeared amid the aurora for a few minutes. The cause early Saturday morning was a little more mundane than an alien invasion or the appearance of a portal to the far reaches of the universe. It was simply excess fuel that had been released from a SpaceX rocket that launched from California about three hours before the spiral appeared.Sometimes rockets have fuel that needs to be jettisoned, said space physicist Don Hampton, a research associate professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute.“When they do that at high altitudes, that fuel turns into ice,” he said. “And if it happens to be in the sunlight, when you’re in the darkness on the ground, you can see it as a sort of big cloud, and sometimes it’s swirly.”While not a common sight, Hampton said he’s seen such occurrences about t...

Brazil’s welcome of Russian minister prompts U.S. blowback

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:47:58 GMT

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday expressed gratitude to Brazil for its approach in pushing for an end to hostilities in Ukraine — an effort that has irked both Kyiv and the West, and by afternoon prompted an unusually sharp rebuke from the White House.Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has refused to provide weapons to Ukraine while proposing a club of nations including Brazil and China to mediate peace.On Sunday, Lula told reporters in Abu Dhabi that two nations – both Russia and Ukraine – had decided to go to war, and a day earlier in Beijing said the U.S. must stop “stimulating” the continued fighting and start discussing peace. Earlier this month, he suggested Ukraine could cede Crimea to end the war, which the spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign ministry, Oleg Nikolenko, and others rejected.After meeting Brazil’s foreign minister on Monday, Lavrov told reporters in a short press conference that the West has engaged in “a rather ...

Media question restrictions apply only to Alberta premier, cabinet ministers say

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:47:58 GMT

EDMONTON — Three Alberta cabinet ministers say the government’s new question restriction policy for media applies only to Premier Danielle Smith.Kaycee Madu, Adriana LaGrange and Demetrios Nicolaides took multiple questions at news conferences Monday and said the limits apply only to queries made of the premier.The trio defended Smith’s decision to begin limiting questions from reporters and news outlets from now through the May election campaign. They said they agree with Smith that it’s a busy period and they want to make sure more news outlets get a chance to ask the premier questions.They said it’s not about Smith trying to evade accountability.“I don’t believe that to be true at all,” said LaGrange, the education minister, speaking to reporters in Calgary. “I’ve seen the premier answer many questions and very difficult questions.“The premier simply is wanting to reach as many outlets and as many reporters and interviewers.“As the election ramps up, that’s going to b...

Vancouver officers involved in beating death should be fired, victim’s sister says

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:47:58 GMT

BURNABY, B.C. — The family of a man beaten to death during a confrontation with Vancouver police says the officers involved should lose their jobs, while others should be better trained to respond to people experiencing mental health challenges.Melissa Gray said the death of her only sibling, Myles, has devastated their family and they’ve been waiting for accountability from police for more than seven years.Myles Gray, 33, died on Aug. 13, 2015, following a beating involving seven officers that sent him into cardiac arrest and left him with a broken eye socket, a crushed voice box, a ruptured testicle and other injuries. His sister told media on Monday before the start of the coroner’s inquest into his death that the officers stole her brother’s life and don’t deserve to continue their jobs in policing.The British Columbia Prosecution Service declined to approve criminal charges against the officers in 2020, saying there were no civilian witnesses, or any vid...

Federal judge halts Colorado ban on ‘abortion pill reversal’

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:47:58 GMT

DENVER (AP) — A judge has temporarily halted enforcement of a Colorado ban on what experts consider unproven treatments to reverse medical abortions at a religious clinic that alleged in a lawsuit that the newly signed law violated its Constitutional rights.Judge Daniel Domenico, who noted that Colorado is the only state to ban the treatment, issued the temporary restraining order over the weekend after Bella Health and Wellness argued that barring them from prescribing the so-called “abortion pill reversal” treatment violates their First Amendment right to free speech and religious exercise.The idea of reversing a medical abortion has become a flashpoint in the clash over reproductive rights nationwide after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, leaving abortion up to the states. Roughly a dozen states have passed laws in the preceding years compelling abortion providers to inform their patients about the “reversal” treatment.A Republican proposal to do that in Colorado t...

Lawsuit seeking to revoke West Virginia abortion ban dropped

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:47:58 GMT

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — An abortion provider on Monday dropped a two-month-old federal lawsuit seeking to overturn West Virginia’s near-total ban.The Women’s Health Center of West Virginia said in a court filing that its primary physician determined he will be unable to resume providing abortion care in the state “due to intervening professional obligations.” Another physician who provided abortion care at West Virginia’s only abortion clinic prior to the passage of a law last year is no longer available, the filing said.While the developments have not necessarily rendered the case moot, the plaintiffs “have determined that it is in their best interests and the interests of judicial economy to voluntarily dismiss this case without prejudice at this time,” according to the filing in federal court in Charleston.The lawsuit filed Feb. 1 named the West Virginia Board of Medicine’s president and secretary as defendants. It claimed the law was unconstitutional, irrational and...

Man on trial denies charges of kidnapping woman, her son

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:47:58 GMT

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — The Vermont man on trial for kidnapping a New Hampshire woman and her 4-year-old child more than four years ago testified Monday in his federal court trial that he took the two vehicles he is accused of stealing and taking across state lines, but he denied kidnapping the woman or her son.Everett Simpson, who is representing himself in the trial, wrote the questions that were asked by his standby attorney. U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions told the jury that Simpson had provided the questions that were being asked of him.After the day’s testimony, Sessions said closing arguments would be held on Tuesday, after which the case would be given to the jury. If convicted of the kidnapping charges, Simpson could be sentenced to life in prison. Simpson answered “I do,” several times after Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Lasher asked questions, including whether he had taken the alleged victim and her son from New Hampshire to Vermont and whether...

Police shooting of Jayland Walker might face more scrutiny

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:47:58 GMT

The deadly police shooting of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man, by eight officers last summer sparked protests in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, and led to calls for a federal investigation. Ohio’s attorney general announced Monday that a grand jury had declined to indict the officers and said that Walker fired at least one shot at police during a pursuit.Walker’s family called it a brutal and senseless shooting. A police union official said the officers thought there was an immediate threat and that their actions were in line with their training.WHY DID POLICE CHASE WALKER?Police said the chase began when they tried to pull Walker over for minor equipment violations on June 27 and he failed to stop. They said he then fired a shot from his car 40 seconds into the pursuit. The chase began on a city street, continued onto a freeway and ended on a street where police had set up a roadblock.Less than 24 hours before the pursuit, an officer in a nearby township had tried...

Rep. George Santos announces reelection bid

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:47:58 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Rep. George Santos, the New York Republican whose lies about his background and wealth helped propel him into office, announced Monday that he’s running for reelection.More than perhaps any incumbent, Santos enters the race as an underdog — abandoned by many fellow Republicans while facing investigations over a myriad of allegations about falsehoods during his last campaign.During that race, Santos portrayed himself as a graduate of prestigious colleges who had gone on to have a successful career on Wall Street while amassing a real estate investment portfolio. In reality, he didn’t go to college, didn’t work for the Wall Street firms where he claimed to have made big deals and had struggled in recent years to pay his rent.In his campaign announcement, Santos didn’t mention any of that and instead highlighted his zeal in fighting for conservative principals in Washington and his background as “a poor boy of immigrant parents in Queens.”“W...

South Elgin man charged after allegedly stabbing mother to death in front of shared home

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:47:58 GMT

SOUTH ELGIN, Ill. — A South Elgin man appeared in Kane County bond court Monday, and was charged in the stabbing death of his mother.Michal Wybraniec, 30.Michal Wybraniec, 30, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of armed violence, all of which are Class X felonies in the state of Illinois.According to the Kane County State's Attorney's Office, Wybraniec allegedly stabbed his 53-year-old mother, Beata Wybraniec, multiple times inside the South Elgin residence they shared Sunday.The state's attorney's office said Beata Wybraniec then attempted to flee from her son, but he caught her outside and resumed stabbing her, leading to her death.Home security footage obtained by WGN captured a black truck stopping in the road as the incident happened, shortly before the driver of the black truck hits the suspect to stop him from getting away.The home security footage then shows the driver get out of the truck with his own knife, telling the suspect to wait there un...