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US condemns arrest of former US consulate employee in Russia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:21:28 GMT

The U.S. State Department on Tuesday condemned the arrest of a former employee of a U.S. consulate in Russia, the latest example of the country’s crackdown against its own citizens and foreigners.Russia’s Tass news agency said Robert Shonov was detained in the Russian city of Vladivostok on suspicion of “cooperation on a confidential basis with a foreign state, international or foreign organization.” Tass didn’t say when the detention occurred or provide any details of the allegation. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Shonov is a Russian national worked at the now-closed U.S. consulate in Vladivostok for more than 25 years. He said that after a Russian government order in April 2021 required dismissing all local employees from U.S. diplomatic outposts in Russia, Shonov worked at a company the U.S. contracted with to support its embassy in Moscow.“Mr. Shonov’s only role at the time of his arrest was to compile media summaries of press items from p...

Jurors hear closing statements at trial over fatal upstate NY limo crash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:21:28 GMT

SCHOHARIE, N.Y. (AP) — The operator of a limousine company who has been accused of acting recklessly and causing the deaths of 20 people, is not to blame for the 2018 upstate New York crash, because he tried his best to repair and maintain the stretch limo, his lawyer argued during closing statements Tuesday. Special prosecutor Frederick Rench said Nauman Hussain, who ran Prestige Limousine, intentionally failed to follow the maintenance regulations for the 2001 Ford Excursion. Rench said that if Hussain had done routine state vehicle inspections, as required, it would’ve revealed brake defects and prevented the wreck in Schoharie, a village west of Albany. Hussain is charged with criminally negligent homicide and second-degree manslaughter in connection with the 2018 wreck of the stretch SUV limousine. Jurors will be asked to decide whether Hussain is guilty of one of the charges. Prosecutors say the brakes failed to stop the heavy limo, which was packed with birthday reveler...

Confidence keeps carrying Jimmy Butler, and the Miami Heat hope it continues

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:21:28 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Jimmy Butler was the last Miami player on the practice floor Tuesday, getting shot after shot after shot into the air.Everyone else was long gone, getting ready for the flight to Boston for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals — a series that starts Wednesday night. But Butler remained, not leaving until he determined he had done enough.And nobody was surprised.“It’s the most competitive time of the year,” Heat guard Kyle Lowry said as he watched Butler keep firing on the far end of the court. “And as a competitor, he’s one of those guys who competes at literally everything. Cards, UNO games … he’s just the ultimate competitor.”Butler will now try to keep writing the ultimate playoff story. Miami is the second No. 8 seed ever to make the conference finals, the first to do so in a full 82-game season. New York did it in 1999 after labor strife shortened the regular season to 50 games.He’s averaging 31.1 points in the playoffs — no player left i...

Preview capsule for the Heat-Celtics Eastern Conference finals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:21:28 GMT

Preview capsule for the Boston-Miami Eastern Conference finals series that starts Wednesday:No. 2 BOSTON CELTICS (57-25, 8-5) vs. No. 8 MIAMI HEAT (44-38, 8-3)Season series: Tied, 2-2Schedule: Wednesday and Friday at Boston, Sunday and Tuesday at Miami, May 25 at Boston if necessary, May 27 at Miami if necessary, May 29 at Boston if necessary.How they got here: Celtics — beat No. 7 Atlanta 4-2; beat No. 3 Philadelphia 4-3. Heat — beat No. 1 Milwaukee 4-1; beat No. 5 New York 4-2.Storyline: The Celtics and Heat meet in the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year and the third time in the last four. Boston edged the top-seeded Heat in Game 7 in Miami last season to secure its trip to the NBA Finals. This time, the Celtics have the home-court edge against a Heat team that is just the second No. 8 seed to reach the conference finals in the current format that began in 1984. The only other one, the New York Knicks, went all the way to the NBA Finals in 1999. Miami earned i...

Over 30% of Denver is considered 'house poor'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:21:28 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — One in three Denver households is house poor.A study from the Chamber of Commerce analyzed home costs and income levels in 155 U.S. cities to see which have the deepest gaps. According to common budgeting wisdom, homeowners should spend no more than 30% of their income on household expenses. Those that do are termed "cost-burdened," or in this study, "house poor." In an age of ballooning housing prices and high interest rates, desirable markets such as Denver are especially prone to high house poor concentrations - even with their relatively high income levels. In Denver, 30.2% of households are house poor, according to the study's analysis of American Community Survey data. This is the 63rd-highest share among 155 cities. Nationally, 27.4% of households are house poor. Best places to live in the US: 3 cities in Colorado Even though Denver's household income is about 20% higher than the national average, so are housing costs. The median yearly housing cost for a De...

Your iPhone will soon be able to replicate your voice after 15 minutes of training

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:21:28 GMT

(CNN) — Apple announced a series of new accessibility tools for the iPhone and iPad, including a feature that promises to replicate a user’s voice for phone calls after only 15 minutes of training.With an upcoming tool called Personal Voice, users will be able to read text prompts to record audio and have the technology learn their voice. A related feature called Live Speech will then use the “synthesized voice” to read the user’s typed text aloud during phone calls, FaceTime conversations and in-person conversations. People will also be able to save commonly used phrases to use during live conversations.The feature is one of several aimed at making Apple’s devices more inclusive for people with cognitive, vision, hearing and mobility disabilities. Apple said people who may have conditions where they lose their voice over time, such as ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) could benefit most from the tools.“Accessibility is part of everything we do at Apple,” said Sarah Herrlinge...

Man traveling from Puerto Rico to New Orleans denied rental car he paid for

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:21:28 GMT

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (WDSU) — A large rental car company has apologized to a Puerto Rican man after denying him a car he paid for at the New Orleans International Airport.Humberto Marchand traveled to the city and paid for a rental car through Hertz ahead of his trip.When he arrived, he was denied the car after the employee demanded to see a passport.Marchand is a United States citizen and did not have his passport on him because his flight was domestic. Puerto Rico is also a United States territory.Marchand said the Hertz employee called the police and was advised to file a report with the Kenner Police Department by the responding officer.He says he was hoping the responding officer would confirm with the staff that his identification was valid, but instead, he says he was asked to leave the premises and, while doing so, says he overheard the officer suggest calling border authorities.In a statement, the Kenner Police Department said in part, “The body camera footage...

Crews put out house fire in Miramar

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:21:28 GMT

Miramar Fire Rescue responded to a house fire, Tuesday afternoon.7Skyforce hovered over the scene, located at 2420 SW 80th Terrace in Miramar, where heavy smoke and flames coming from the home were visible. According to officials, the fire started in a bedroom and spread throughout the residence from there. The house was occupied when the fire broke out, but everyone made it out safely. No injuries were reported.

UK MP faces sexual assault investigation by police

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:21:28 GMT

LONDON — A senior MP is being investigated by police over an allegation of serious sexual assault.Julian Knight was elected as a Conservative MP but he was stripped of the party whip last December after being reported to the Metropolitan Police over the allegations. The Met said in April they were no longer investigating, but Essex Police confirmed Tuesday they are now investigating an allegation of serious sexual assault, referred to them by the Metropolitan Police.The Conservatives refused to restore the whip to Knight after the Met dropped the case, with the party saying at the time that it had received further complaints.Knight has denied what he described as a “false and malicious accusation.”Essex Police said in a statement: “We have agreed to take on an investigation which has been referred to us from the Metropolitan Police Service.“We are investigating an allegation of serious sexual assault. Detectives who specialise in cases of this ...

Virginia man charged in baseball bat attacks on three women, including congressional staffers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:21:28 GMT

By MATTHEW BARAKAT and DENISE LAVOIE (Associated Press)FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A man with untreated schizophrenia, according to his father, was arraigned Tuesday on charges involving baseball-bat attacks on three women, including two staffers for U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly.Xuan-Kha Tran Pham, 49, of Fairfax heard the charges by video hookup from the Fairfax County jail. A judge ordered him held without bond pending a preliminary hearing in July.The four counts include aggravated wounding and malicious aggravated wounding in the attack at Connolly’s district office in Fairfax, and counts of felony destroying property and misdemeanor hate crime for an episode less than an hour earlier, when police say he hit a car windshield with the bat and chased a woman after asking if she was white.Capitol Police and Fairfax City Police said they are jointly investigating the case, and the suspect’s motivations aren’t clear.Pham’s father, Hy Pham, told The Washington Post h...