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California woman gets 25 years to life for slaying ex-foster mother of her 2 kids

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:47:15 GMT

A woman was sentenced Thursday to 25 years to life in prison for killing a 75-year-old Pasadena resident who was the former foster mother to two of her children, authorities said.A jury on Nov. 1 found 46-year-old  Mary Jean O’Connor guilty of first-degree murder.She didn’t speak at her sentencing Thursday, according to Deputy District Attorney Ryan Erlich, who said: “Anyone who is involved in the case or heard about the case can agree it is incomprehensibly tragic.”O’Connor’s lawyer couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday.O’Connor’s five children were taken from her by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, police said. Jeri Douglas had been the foster mother of the two oldest children, a boy in 2010 and a girl in 2011, Erlich said in an earlier interview. The boy later was adopted by one of Douglas’ daughters and O’Connor’s parents got custody of the girl, he addedWhile only two of the children were placed with Douglas, O’Connor blamed her for the loss...

Banned for a game, Arsenal manager Arteta says it’s hard to curb celebrations in big moments

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:47:15 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Mikel Arteta says managers deserve some leeway when it comes to goal celebrations.Like when your team scores a 97th-minute winner that keeps you atop the Premier League.The Arsenal coach will be banned from the touchline at Aston Villa on Saturday after he received his third yellow card of the season on Tuesday for his excessive celebrations following Declan Rice’s winner in a 4-3 victory at Luton.“When you get those moments in sport, you should be able to do that, but I understand as well there are certain boundaries and you have to respect them, such as when you are in an away ground,” he said Friday at a news conference. “But if I was given the chance, I would be there jumping.”It’s “very difficult to demand” that coaches shelve their emotions, he added.“I don’t know how to stop (it). It was a really emotional moment. You have everybody bouncing around and you lose sense of where you are, and the space that you have to be in,” Arteta said. “It was unfortunate ...

Soccer fans launch legal challenge to stop French authorities from banning away supporters at games

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:47:15 GMT

PARIS (AP) — An umbrella organization for soccer fan groups has taken legal action aimed at stopping French authorities from banning away supporters attending some games this weekend.The National Supporters’ Association said Friday it has referred the matter to France’s highest administrative court as it seeks to challenge bans targeting four matches, including two in the top-tier of the French league.The bans ordered by the French government and local authorities followed the death of a supporter in Nantes last weekend.Sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said this week that preventing supporters from traveling to rival clubs could help restore calm following a series of incidents this season. “These appeals are in no way intended to minimize the seriousness of last Saturday’s tragedy,” the group said. “No one can doubt the immense sadness in the French stands. Nor can anyone doubt our sense of responsibility.”The group argued that it’s essential to let away fans ...

Polis unveils roadmap to make Colorado more affordable

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:47:15 GMT

LAKEWOOD, Colo. (KDVR) — Colorado is in the middle of a housing crisis and Gov. Jared Polis wants the state to get cracking on development. He wants to start with creating more affordable housing across the state.The governor said a key part of making the state more affordable is making housing more affordable and accessible to get to."Whether you are in Grand Junction at a town hall with 85 people or Pueblo or the Denver metro area, the number one issue is affordability, affordability, affordability, right? And people are frustrated because while the job market is strong and people have jobs, costs have gone up more than salaries, the biggest part of that is housing," Polis said about why he's starting with housing when it comes to making Colorado more affordable. Denver man searching for missing emotional support dog The governor wants housing in the Centennial State to become more affordable and easier to get to by the time the state turns 150 in 2026. The governor said the top...

Gov. Polis weighs in on Colorado’s migrant crisis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:47:15 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Denver has been in the spotlight recently as thousands of migrants have made their way to the area. In the last year, the Mile High City has supported more than 30,000 migrants. The influx has cost the city more than $36 million. Gov. Jared Polis weighed in on the issue on “Colorado Point of View.”He highlighted that it’s mostly a municipal issue, primarily in Denver. Polis shares 2024 legislative priorities But the Democratic governor also focused on the need for migrants to work. He hopes those who come here “have legal work permits because frankly, we need people across the economy.”Polis also said his administration will work with Colorado cities that are dealing with new arrivals, adding, “The state always tries to be helpful to our cities, however we can… It’s up to cities how they address it.”Watch the full conversation with Polis on “Colorado Point of View” on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7:30 a.m. on Colorado’s Very Own Channel 2.

Court backs UK government’s veto of Scotland’s gender self-ID plan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:47:15 GMT

LONDON — The U.K. government acted lawfully in moving to block Scotland’s plans to make it easier to legally change gender, a top Edinburgh court ruled Friday.The Scottish and U.K. governments have been locked in a court battle over the reforms, which were comfortably passed by the Scottish parliament last year. The Scottish government wanted to introduce a self-identification system to make it easier for people to change their legally recognized sex.But the U.K. government stepped in to block the legislation, arguing it conflicted U.K.-wide equalities law. It teed up a major fight between Holyrood and Westminster, and saw the governing SNP in Scotland deeply divided on how to proceed. An initial appeal by the SNP-led Scottish government against the veto has now failed — after Edinburgh’s Court of Session ruled against their case Friday.The losing side has 21 days to decide whether to further appeal by taking the case all the way up to the U.K.’s Supreme Court. The...

Macron faces backlash after Jewish ceremony at presidential palace

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:47:15 GMT

Emmanuel Macron is facing widespread pushback, even from within his own ranks, from critics who say the president breached France’s long-standing history of secularism after he attended a Jewish ceremony in the Élysée Palace on Thursday.Macron had been invited to receive an award for fighting antisemitism and safeguarding religious freedoms at an annual event from the Conference of European Rabbis.During the event, France’s chief rabbi Haïm Korsia lit a ceremonial candle as members of the audience sang traditional Hanukkah songs in Hebrew. Lighting candles on a multi-branched chandelier, called a menorah, is a Jewish ritual that is part of the Hanukkah celebrations, which this year began on Thursday and will last until next Friday.Macron said Friday, during a visit to the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, that he didn’t regret what happened “at all.” “I think that on this point we need to keep our heads,” the French president told reporters. &#...

Orbán calls Ukraine ‘one of the most corrupt countries in the world’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:47:15 GMT

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stood firm in his staunch opposition to Ukraine being admitted to the EU, calling it “corrupt” a week before EU leaders are set to make a decision on starting talks with Kyiv on joining the bloc. “Hungary is a neighbour of Ukraine … we know exactly what is happening,” Orbán told French news outlet Le Point in an interview published Friday. “Ukraine is known to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world. It’s a joke!” he said. “We cannot take the decision to start a process of accession negotiations,” Orbán said.EU leaders are set to gather in Brussels next week for two historic decisions on Ukraine: approving a plan to begin discussions on Kyiv joining the 27-nation bloc and the release of €50 billion in aid for Ukraine.Yet Orbán’s shadow looms over the summit, as the Hungarian leader has adamantly opposed the opening of accession negotiations for Ukraine — despite the European Commission ...

Fears grow that fossil fuel firms will capture booming hydrogen industry

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:47:15 GMT

The EU is polishing off legislation to accelerate an emerging multibillion-euro green energy industry — hydrogen gas. Yet experts warn new rules under development may put the new sector in the hands of oil and gas giants.Negotiators are meeting Friday in Brussels for what could be the final round of talks on one of the bloc’s flagship green energy policies, the hydrogen and decarbonized gas package. If EU capitals, the European Parliament and the EU’s executive can strike a deal, the initiative would kickstart as soon as next spring an EU-wide web of hydrogen producers, which harness solar and wind power to split water molecules and generate the gas.Backers say the legislation would be a boon for Europe’s renewable aspirations as it seeks to zero out carbon emissions by 2050.Jerzy Buzek, the Polish MEP leading the Parliament’s work on the initiative, called it “great news for our energy security — especially in circumstances of the brutal war which...

Officials credit good Samaritans with helping stop attempted arson at Martin Luther King’s birth home in Atlanta

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:47:15 GMT

(CNN) — Good Samaritans helped thwart a woman’s attempt to set a fire at the birth home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta, police said.Police were called to the historic home in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood around 5:45 p.m. Thursday on a vandalism report, the Atlanta Police Department said in a statement. When officers arrived, they found multiple people had stopped the 26-year-old woman after she poured gasoline on the property, the statement said.“It was a little scary there for a minute because we didn’t know who she was, we didn’t know if she had weapons on her, we didn’t know anything,” Zach Kempf told CNN affiliate WSB of seeing the woman throwing gas on the home.Kempf, who was visiting the area from Utah, stepped in to block the woman after she picked up a lighter, he said.Two off-duty officers visiting from New York then helped restrain the woman until police arrived, WSB reported.The woman was arrested and charged with attempted arson and interfere...