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Joran van der Sloot admits to killing Alabama teen Natalee Holloway, judge says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:39 GMT

Birmingham, Alabama (CNN) — Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba, has admitted to killing the Alabama teen, a US federal judge said Wednesday.“I have considered your confession to the brutal murder of Natalee Holloway,” Judge Anna Manasco said after reading van der Sloot’s proffer.You have brutally murdered in separate incidents years apart two beautiful women who refused your sexual advances,” the judge said, referring to a separate killing in Peru in 2010.Van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Holloway, pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of extortion and wire fraud in connection with the Alabama teen’s remains.He was accused of trying to sell information about the location of Holloway’s remains to her family in exchange for $250,000.Holloway’s body has never been found. In 2012, an Alabama judge signed an order declaring her legally dead.Van der Sloot had been arrested multiple times in connectio...

Biden nominates acting US Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua Levy for full-time job

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:39 GMT

The acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts who took office after Rachael Rollins resigned in disgrace in May has been nominated for the full-time job.Joshua Levy has held the position of acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts since Rollins resigned on May 19. That means he’s held the position for a total of 152 days before President Biden’s nomination Wednesday for the permanent job. A person can hold the acting post for a total of 210 days under the Vacancy Reform Act, a Department of Justice spokesman told the Herald.Levy served as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney under Rollins starting in January 2022 before stepping up to the acting top role.Levy has gone back and forth between the private and public sectors during his career.Courtesy / DOJActing U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy. (Courtesy / DOJ)He graduated from Brown University with a bachelor’s degree in 1987 and received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1992, after which he clerked for Judge Harold H. Green ...

How Patriots could replace struggling offensive starter

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:39 GMT

FOXBORO — One change on the depth chart isn’t going to suddenly turn the Patriots’ season around, but Bill Belichick should look into making at least one switch this week.Vederian Lowe has started the last four games at right tackle following a Week 2 start at left tackle and ranks 62nd of 64 qualified tackles in overall PFF grade, 45th in run blocking grade and dead last in pass blocking grade. He’s allowed the most pressures and has the second-lowest pass-block efficiency rate.Lowe allowed Sunday’s game-clinching safety in the 21-17 loss to the Raiders.And the Patriots do have other options on their offensive line beyond Lowe, who was acquired in a trade with the Vikings before the season. Calvin Anderson was benched after starting the Patriots’ first two games at right tackle.Belichick said Anderson is “very close” to regaining his strength from the spring after dealing with an undisclosed ailment that landed him on the non-football...

The US sanctions 10 Hamas members and its financial network over the surprise Israel attack

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:39 GMT

By FATIMA HUSSEIN (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Wednesday sanctioned a group of 10 Hamas members and the Palestinian militant organization’s financial network across Gaza, Sudan, Turkey, Algeria and Qatar in response to the surprise attack on Israel that left more than 1,000 people dead or kidnapped. Targeted for sanctions by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control are members who manage a Hamas investment portfolio, a Qatar-based financial facilitator with close ties to the Iranian regime, a Hamas commander and a Gaza-based virtual currency exchange.Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. “is taking swift and decisive action to target Hamas’s financiers and facilitators following its brutal and unconscionable massacre of Israeli civilians, including children.”“The U.S. Treasury has a long history of effectively disrupting terror finance and we will not hesitate to use our tools agains...

Israel will let Egypt deliver some badly needed aid to Gaza, as it reels from hospital blast

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:39 GMT

By NAJIB JOBAIN, ISABEL DEBRE, RAVI NESSMAN and MATTHEW LEE (Associated Press)KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel said Wednesday that it will allow Egypt to deliver limited quantities of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, the first crack in a 10-day siege on the territory. Palestinians reeled from a massive blast at a Gaza City hospital that killed hundreds the day before and grew increasingly desperate as food and water supplies ran out.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the decision was approved after a request from visiting U.S. President Joe Biden. It said Israel “will not thwart” deliveries of food, water or medicine, as long as they are limited to civilians in the south of the Gaza Strip and don’t go to Hamas militants. The statement made no mention of badly needed fuel.It was not clear when the aid would start flowing. At Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only connection to Egypt, truckloads of aid have been waiting for days to ent...

GOP’s Jim Jordan tries again to become House speaker, while his detractors consider options

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:39 GMT

By LISA MASCARO, FARNOUSH AMIRI and STEPHEN GROVES (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Having lost the first vote to become House speaker, Rep. Jim Jordan will try again Wednesday on a decisive second ballot that will test whether the hard-edged ally of Donald Trump can win over detractors or if his bid for the gavel is collapsing.The House gaveled in with angry, frustrated GOP lawmakers looking at other options. Ahead of the morning vote, Jordan made an unexpected plea for party unity, the combative Judiciary Committee chairman telling his colleagues on social media, “We must stop attacking each other and come together.”A surprisingly large and politically diverse group of 20 Republicans had rejected Jordan’s nomination the day before, many resenting the hardball tactics seeking to enforce support, and viewing the Ohio congressman as too extreme for the powerful position of House speaker, second in line to the presidency.Some predicted the number of disse...

Bomb threat prompts 'remote learning day' for students at Lincoln Acres School

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:39 GMT

NATIONAL CITY, Calif. -- A bomb threat directed towards Lincoln Acres Elementary School in National City prompted the school district to cancel in-person classes Wednesday. In a letter sent out to parents on Friday, Oct. 13, Superintendent Leighangela Brady explained that precautionary measures would be taken to protect the safety of students and staff.The threat, which was directed towards the school for the date of Wednesday, Oct. 18, is currently under investigation by the National City Police Department (NCPD). Body found as crews respond to vegetation fire off Interstate 5 Brady says the school district decided to hold a "remote learning day" out a abundance of caution. Law enforcement is expected to sweep the school campus Wednesday to make sure it is secure ahead of classes Thursday. "Please be assured that the safety of our students and staff is our highest priority, and we are taking all necessary precaution to safeguard their well-being," Brady stated. "We greatly apprec...

Former Austrian Chancellor Kurz stands trial for allegedly making false statements to an inquiry

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:39 GMT

VIENNA (AP) — Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz went on trial Wednesday on a charge of having made false statements to a parliamentary inquiry into alleged corruption in his first government.Once a rising star among conservatives in Europe, Kurz resigned in 2021 amid a separate corruption probe and has since left politics. Kurz, who denies the charge, could face up to three years in prison if convicted. The case, which opened in Vienna’s criminal court, centers on his testimony to an inquiry that focused on the coalition he led from 2017, when his conservative People’s Party formed a government with the far-right Freedom Party, until its collapse in 2019. Prosecutors accuse Kurz of having given false evidence in June 2020 regarding his role in the setting up of a holding company, OeBAG, which administers the state’s role in some companies, and the appointment of his former close confidant Thomas Schmid to its leadership.In their indictment, which wasn’t released ...

Criminal trial of ‘Freedom Convoy’ organizers rewinds to discuss start of protest

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:39 GMT

OTTAWA — A police liaison officer who communicated with “Freedom Convoy” organizers says she was working with organizers of several convoys before the protest rolled into the capital last year.Const. Isabelle Cyr had begun her testimony on the second day of the trial of Tamara Lich and Chris Barber in September, but the cross-examination was halted after the defence requested a copy of police chat messages and emails.She is on the stand again today, and says she was the police point-person for another organizer associated with Lich and Barber’s group. She says the organizer told her that truckers with their group were expected to register in order to receive funds, and that they had to sign a code of conduct, though she never saw a copy of it. About a week before the convoy arrived in Ottawa, Cyr says she was told at a police intelligence meeting that there was some concern that various additional groups had joined the cause, and that the crowds could be difficult ...

RFK Jr. spent years stoking fear and mistrust of vaccines. Here’s who gets hurt by Kennedy’s work

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:39 GMT

When 12-year-old Braden Fahey collapsed during football practice and died, it was just the beginning of his parents’ nightmare.Deep in their grief a few months later, Gina and Padrig Fahey received news that shocked them to their core: A favorite photo of their beloved son was plastered on the cover of a book that falsely argues COVID-19 vaccines caused a spike of sudden deaths among healthy young people.The book, called “Cause Unknown,” was co-published by an anti-vaccine group led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President John F. Kennedy’s nephew, who is now running for president. Kennedy wrote the foreword and promoted the book, tweeting that it details data showing “ COVID shots are a crime against humanity.”The Faheys couldn’t understand how Braden’s face appeared on the book’s cover, or why his name appeared inside it. Braden never received the vaccine. His death in August 2022 was due to a malformed blood vessel in his brain. No one ever contacted them to ask about their son’s deat...