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Officer convicted in Iraq killing of frequent militia critic

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:14 GMT

BAGHDAD (AP) — An Iraqi police officer was convicted and sentenced to death Sunday in the killing of a prominent security analyst and frequent critic of powerful militias. The ruling came nearly three years after the analyst was gunned down outside his Baghdad home following militia threats.The family of the victim, Hisham al-Hashimi, said it supported the verdict, but expressed concern it could be overturned on appeal. A relative of al-Hashimi, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, alleged that those who ordered the killing remain at large.The defendant, Ahmed Hamdawi al-Kinani, was convicted on a terrorism charge and sentenced to death by a criminal court, according to Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council. The case was referred to an appeals court. A video of his purported confession was released after his arrest two years ago.Al-Hashimi, 47, was gunned down in July 2020 in front of his home in Baghdad by two attackers on a motorcycle after receiving threats f...

Police: 7 dead, 6 hurt in border city of Brownsville, Texas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:14 GMT

Seven people are dead and at least six are injured after they were struck by a vehicle while waiting at a city bus stop, police in Brownsville, Texas, said Sunday.Brownsville police investigator Martin Sandoval said the crash happened about 8:30 a.m. Sunday at a bus stop near a shelter for migrants in the border city. It’s unclear what led to the crash.More to come

Oregon GOP walkout marks 5th day, delays Democrat-led bills

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:14 GMT

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A walkout by most Republicans in the Oregon Senate aimed at delaying action on gun safety, abortion rights and gender-affirming health care bills extended to a fifth day Sunday.Senate President Rob Wagner adjourned the body until Monday morning because a quorum could not be reached.Republicans have staged walkouts before, but this year legislators with 10 unexcused absences are disqualified for reelection, thanks to a new constitutional amendment overwhelmingly approved by voters in November.The boycott comes as several statehouses, including in Montana and Tennessee, have become battlegrounds between conservatives and liberals. Oregon has increasingly been divided between liberal population centers like Portland and Eugene and its mostly conservative rural areas.The Associated Press

Peanut butter is a liquid – the physics of this and other unexpected fluids

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:14 GMT

(The Conversation) - Those Transportation Security Administration requirements are drilled into every frequent flyer’s head: You can carry on liquids that are only less than 3.4 ounces (100 milliliters) in volume each.But when the TSA recently confiscated a jar of Jif under this rule, peanut butter lovers were up in arms. Some skeptics of security may suspect hungry officers just wanted to make their own PB&Js. TSA, however, contends that peanut butter is a liquid – and a full-size jar of Jif is over the 3.4-ounce limit.Just like Americans’ favorite legume-based sandwich ingredient, the story – and the outrage it inspired – began to spread. However, I’m a mechanical engineer who studies fluid flows, and the TSA action made sense to me. By the scientific definition, peanut butter is indeed a liquid.First consider fluidsTo define a liquid, we must first define a fluid. Any material that flows continuously when a shearing force is applied is a fluid. Think ...

Business People: Donahue to lead state Small Business Development Center

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:14 GMT

OF NOTEAndy DonahueThe Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development announced Andy Donahue as Small Business Development Center director. The center offers no-cost technical assistance and support to businesses at any point in their life cycle. Donahue previously served in a similar role at the University of Wisconsin-Superior for eight years.ARCHITECTURE/ENGINEERINGLHB, Duluth, announced that Stacee Demmer has been named to lead the firm’s Integrative Design Team, succeeding Michael Fischer, who will remain with the firm with an increased focus on city and county government clients. Both are based in Minneapolis.DEVELOPMENTThe Opus Group, a Minneapolis-based multi-disciplined commercial real estate developer, announced the promotion of Nick Murnane to vice president and general manager, overseeing its Minneapolis development team. Murnane has been with Opus since 2010, most recently as vice president, real estate development.FINANCIAL SERVICESTopLine Financial Credit...

Best high schools for sports in Missouri

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:14 GMT

More than 7.6 million high school students played sports across the U.S. during the 2021-22 academic year, according to data from the National Federation of State High School Associations. Those athletes participated in a slew of sports: from football—the most popular sport for high school boys with 1 million players nationwide—to track and field, which is the most popular sport amongst high school girls in the U.S. with more than 488,000 athletes.The dynamic landscape of high school sports has created competition not only between athletes but the institutions they represent. With more than 23,500 public and private secondary and high schools across the country, determining the best options for athletes is an arduous process.High schools across the country are vying to be crowned the best institution for athletes in America and not only has the battle become personal but regional as well. States like California and Florida, which have high-profile high-school athletic programs, also...

Worries grow about Ukraine nuke plant amid evacuations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:14 GMT

By DAVID RISING (Associated Press)KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Anxiety about the safety of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant grew Sunday after the Moscow-installed governor of the Ukrainian region where it is located ordered civilian evacuations, including from the city where most plant workers live.International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi has spent months trying to persuade Russian and Ukrainian officials to establish a security zone around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to prevent the war from causing a radiation leak. The evacuations ordered by the Russia-backed governor of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia province, Yegeny Balitsky, raised fears that fighting in the area would intensify. Balitsky on Friday ordered civilians to leave 18 Russian-occupied communities, including Enerhodar, home to most of the plant staff.More than 1,500 people had been evacuated from two unspecified cities in the region as of Sunday, Balitsky said. The Ukrainian Gene...

Small plane crashes in Teller County, sheriff’s office says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:14 GMT

A small plane crashed in a remote area of Teller County Sunday, according to the sheriff’s office.The crash happened in the area of Phantom Canyon Road, according to a statement the sheriff’s office published at 9 a.m. A search and rescue operation was underway Sunday, the sheriff’s office said.It was not immediately clear how many people were onboard the plane or their conditions.A spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office did not return a request for more information.Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | Colorado poised to restrict county jail contracts with ICE, prohibit new private immigration detention centers Crashes and Disasters | Rampart fire burns 20 acres in El Paso County Crashes and Disasters | ACLU appeals ruling allowing Colorado sheriff to continue operating federal immigration program in county jail Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter.

Bangladesh looks to the future with confidence, as it marks the glory and the sacrifice of its birth

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:14 GMT

The Independence and National Day of Bangladesh have been celebrated at the Cercle Gaulois in Brussels, marking the 52nd anniversary of the country’s Declaration of Independence. Ambassador Mahbub Hassan Saleh said the diplomats, politicians and other guests were marking a glorious moment, not just in his nation’s history but in the history of the world, writes Political Editor Nick Powell.Bangladesh is now an important member of the international community, its nearly half a trillion-dollar economy is already the 33rd largest in the world and such is its pace of growth that it’s set to be the 24th largest by 2030. But as well as taking pride in the country’s achievements under its Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s National Day is an occasion to recall how the long struggle for freedom by its Father of the Nation and her father, B...

Sowing the seeds of death in the Caucasus

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:14 GMT

Ukraine will need at least a decade to clear the mines planted by the Russian occupational army in its territory. 30% of its land is dangerous to step on - writes James Wilson"Ukraine is the largest mined area in the world," the international think tank GLOBSEC said in a report published on 26 April. "Ukraine has become one of the world's largest minefields," the UN agency UNDP reported on 4 April. The report explained that "more than 14 million people" are at risk of being blown up by mines.But before Ukraine, this horrible record belonged to another country friendly to Ukraine, the soil of which is filled with hundreds of thousands, if not millions of exactly the same Russian-made mines. Moreover, their number continues to grow even today, again thanks to Russia.The country is Azerbaijan, which liberated its occupied territories of Karabakh in 2020. The separatist enclave that remains in this region, inhabited only by Armenians (after the ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijanis in the la...