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Senators push overhaul of classification rules after Trump, Biden cases

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:18:04 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Responding to a series of intelligence breaches over the last year, senators on Wednesday introduced legislation that would require the National Archives to screen documents leaving the White House for classified material. Classified material was found at the homes of President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump, and former Vice President Mike Pence. And a 21-year-old Air National Guard member is accused of leaking hundreds of Pentagon assessments in an online chatroom. Under two bills unveiled Wednesday, anytime a president seeks to classify a mix of official and unofficial papers as personal records, the archivist would first have to conduct a security review to ensure nothing is classified. In the cases of Biden, Trump, and Pence, classified material was found commingled with personal records. “The notion that there was no checking process by the archivist so that that becomes a formal step rather than a ‘nice to do,’ I think, is terribly important,” said ...

GTA police forces review deaths for links to man charged in sale of sodium nitrite

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:18:04 GMT

Several police forces say they are reviewing sudden deaths in their regions that could be linked to an Ontario man accused of selling a lethal substance to people at risk of self-harm.Peel Regional Police arrested Kenneth Law last week and charged the 57-year-old with two counts of counselling or aiding suicide after investigating two recent deaths in the area.Law, who is in custody awaiting a bail hearing, appeared briefly at a Brampton courthouse by video link on Wednesday before his case was put over until Monday.Peel Region police allege the Mississauga man used a series of websites to market and sell sodium nitrite, a substance that is commonly used to cure meats but can be deadly.The force has said one person died in Peel Region at the end of March after consuming sodium nitrate allegedly bought from an online company owned by Law. Investigators said they later learned of a second death.Three other police forces said that they were reviewing past deaths in light of the allegat...

West Virginia’s Huggins agrees to pay cut, suspension for homophobic slur, AP source says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:18:04 GMT

Bob Huggins will remain basketball coach at West Virginia after agreeing to a suspension and pay cut for using a homophobic slur during a radio show, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Wednesday.The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the university had not finalized its decision. The person could not give details on the suspension or amount of salary reduction.ESPN first reported Huggins would remain coach, but with conditions.In a blunder that will leave a lasting mark on his Hall of Fame career, Huggins used the slur to refer to Xavier fans on Monday while also denigrating Catholics during an appearance on Cincinnati radio station WLW. He later apologized in a statement. The West Virginia athletic department called the comments “offensive” and said it was reviewing the matter.During the radio show, Huggins was asked about the transfer portal and whether he had a chance of landing a player at West Virginia from Xavier, a Jesuit school.“...

Vermont governor signs 1st-in-nation shield bills that include medicated abortion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:18:04 GMT

Vermont’s Republican governor signed abortion and gender affirming shield bills into law Wednesday that are the first in the country to include protecting access to a medication widely used in abortions even if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration withdraws its approval of the pill, mifepristone.Vermont is the first state to protect access to medication abortion in a shield law, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which describes itself as a research and policy organization committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights. The bills protect providers from discipline for providing legally protected reproductive and gender affirming health care services.“Today, we reaffirm once again that Vermont stands on the side of privacy, personal autonomy and reproductive liberty, and that providers are free to practice without fear,” Republican Gov. Phil Scott said in a statement.In the identical bills passed by the House and Senate, “reproductive health care services”...

India’s Modi to visit White House in June as Biden seeks stronger ties amid competition with China

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:18:04 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will host Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House next month, courting an Indo-Pacific leader with whom he has sought stronger ties as the United States looks to blunt China’s growing assertiveness in the region. Modi’s visit June 22 “will affirm the deep and close partnership between the United States and India and the warm bonds of family and friendship that link Americans and Indians together,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday in announcing the Indian leader’s official state visit. Biden and Modi will focus on their countries’ commitment to a free and secure Indo-Pacific region, as well as on their technology partnerships, including in defense, clean energy and space, she said. They will also discuss common challenges, including climate change, health security and developing the workforce.India’s Ministry of External Affairs said the visit will “underscore the gro...

Defying the state, Kansas City would be a sanctuary for people seeking gender-affirming health care

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:18:04 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Officials in Missouri’s largest city are moving to declare it a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care, defying state officials who are intent on banning it for minors and restricting it for adults.A Kansas City Council committee approved such a resolution Wednesday. The full council will now consider it Thursday. The council members acted as the Republican-controlled Missouri Legislature gave final approval to a bill banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors, sending it to GOP Gov. Mike Parson, who is expected to sign it into law. At least 16 other states have enacted laws restricting or banning such care for minors. The resolution also comes as a judge considers a proposed emergency rule from Republican state Attorney General Andrew Bailey that would require adults and children to undergo more than a year of therapy and fulfill other requirements before they could receive gender-affirming treatment.“This resolution ...

Wildfire evacuation order over for hamlet of Evansburg in west-central Alberta

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:18:04 GMT

Officials have lifted an evacuation order for the hamlet of Evansburg, Alta., about 120 kilometres west of Edmonton.Residents were told to leave on May 1 as dry and windy conditions fuelled wildfires that put the hamlet and surrounding rural area at risk.Some nearby communities remain under a mandatory evacuation order, including Wildwood, Lobstick Resort and Hansonville.Alberta’s wildfire status dashboard is reporting 76 active wildfires today, 26 of which are out of control.Firefighters from Yukon, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec have arrived in Alberta to help, and the government said late Tuesday that crews were also expected from New Brunswick, Oregon and Alaska.Some areas in central Alberta have experienced cooler temperatures and rain, but the government says a return to hot and windy conditions is expected in the coming days.This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2023.The Canadian Press

MPs to vote on House probe into Chinese envoy’s alleged targeting of Michael Chong

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:18:04 GMT

OTTAWA — The House of Commons is set to vote this afternoon on whether a committee should probe allegations of an intimidation campaign by the Chinese government against Conservative MP Michael Chong. Debate on the motion has taken priority in the chamber since it was tabled on Monday, and a vote has been scheduled to take place after today’s question period. Canada expelled a Chinese diplomat this week over a newly surfaced 2021 report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, which alleged that the Toronto consular officer sought to intimidate Chong and his relatives in Hong Kong because of the MP’s criticism of China’s human-rights record. China responded by expelling a Canadian diplomat from its territory, with the Liberals warning that the move could also inspire economic retaliation — leaving industries bracing for blowback. Yet Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a China expert at the University of Ottawa, says the government should instead assume that Beijing i...

FDA panel backs over-the-counter birth control pill

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:18:04 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health advisers said Wednesday that a decades-old birth control pill should be sold without a prescription, paving the way for a likely U.S. approval of the first over-the-counter contraceptive medication. The panel of FDA advisers voted unanimously in favor of drugmaker Perrigo’s request to sell its once-a-day medication over the counter. The recommendation came at the close of a two-day meeting focused on company research into whether women could safely and effectively take the pill without professional supervision. A final FDA decision is expected this summer.If the FDA follows the nonbinding recommendation, Perrigo’s drug, Opill, would become the first contraceptive pill to be moved out from behind the pharmacy counter onto store shelves. Currently, a prescription is required in the U.S.The outside experts said they were confident that women of all ages could use the drug appropriately without seeing a health provider first. “I do believe th...

Quebec government rejects Trudeau’s immigration plan, fears decline of French

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:18:04 GMT

MONTREAL — Canada’s plan to increase immigration is stoking fears among Quebec’s political class, who say the changes would reduce the province’s influence in the country and make it harder to protect French.Provincial legislature members today adopted a motion declaring Canada’s plan incompatible with the protection of French in Quebec and that the province must have complete control over its immigration. Premier François Legault said Tuesday that Quebec would not accept a big rise in immigration because of the need to properly integrate, house and educate newcomers.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, meanwhile, has maintained that his government’s plan to take in 500,000 permanent immigrants a year by 2025 — up from 437,000 in 2022 — is necessary to ease labour shortages and create growth.But while Legault is tangling with Ottawa over immigration powers, the premier is facing criticism at home over soaring numbers of temporary immigrants who aren’t i...