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McCarthy out as speaker

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:07 GMT

For the first time in history, the House has deposed its speaker.Democrats joined with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and his small group of conservative allies to vote to strip Kevin McCarthy of his gavel Tuesday. It’s unclear who would succeed McCarthy long term, though his allies expect he will try to run for speaker again and members pledged to continue supporting him.“We’re perfectly happy to drag this out as long as it takes,” said Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.), a McCarthy ally. “We’re all going to be there for the speaker as long as he wants us to be.”“I’ll continue to support Kevin McCarthy as long as he’s running,” echoed Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.)The House clerk announced Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) would act as a temporary speaker immediately after the vote concluded. McHenry was selected from a secret list of McCarthy’s hand-picked successors. The Californian’s ally will have all the authority of a regularly el...

More than 20 people dead after bus crash in Italy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:07 GMT

(CNN) — At least 21 people were killed when a passenger bus plunged from a bridge in Mestre, Italy, near Venice on Tuesday, according to Italian authorities speaking to local media, in what has been described as an “apocalyptic scene.”The bus was traveling from Venice to nearby Marghera and was “full of people returning home from work,” Venice mayor Luigi Brugnaro told state media RAI.“It completely went off the road, it flew off the bridge. It was a bus; it was a highway. We are in mourning,” he added. Brugnaro described the scene as “apocalyptic” in a post on Facebook.Morris Ceron, general director of the municipality of Venice, told the Italian public broadcaster RAI that children are among the victims of the crash.Foreigners are also believed to have been aboard the vehicle, which was headed towards a campsite, he added.“The identification of the bodies is underway,” Ceron told RAI.Luca Zaia, president of Italy’s Veneto region, called the bus crash in northern Ita...

Teen arrested in connection with alleged assault, attempted robbery on Red Line train

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:07 GMT

A teenager has been arrested in connection with an incident aboard a MBTA Red Line train where police said several juvenile males harassed, threatened to rob and taunted passengers allegedly based on their ethnicity, the MBTA Transit Police announced. The incident happened around 11 p.m. on Sept. 21 on a train near JFK/UMass station. Police said the juveniles eventually smashed out a train window and fled the scene. Police last month said detectives were actively investigating the incident and said charges would be sought. A matter of weeks later, transit police said detectives and officers arrested a 16-year-old at Forest Hills station on Monday on charges of assault to rob-unarmed, and assault for the purpose of intimidation. Police said their investigation was ongoing as of Tuesday.

Ticker: Woman claims ‘injurious wedgie’ in lawsuit; Trio of ferries extended

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:07 GMT

A woman has sued Disney, claiming that a trip down a waterslide at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon four years ago caused an “injurious wedgie” that left her with severe gynecological trauma.In a lawsuit filed last week in Florida’s Orange County Circuit Court, Emma and Edward McGuinness said they were seeking at least $50,000 in damages from Walt Disney World stemming from what happened on the Humunga Kowabunga slide in October 2019.The lawsuit, filed by attorney Alan Wagner of Tampa, claims that Emma McGuinness suffered the injuries when she slid down the 214-foot-high, five-story slide while on a visit with her family celebrating her 30th birthday.A Disney spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Trio of ferries extendedExpanded MBTA ferry service has proven “so positive” in recent months that agency officials will keep a trio of routes running into the fall, officials announced Tuesday.The Lynn ferry route connecting the Blossom Street Pier with ...

Source: Patriots signing veteran defensive tackle after successful workout

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:07 GMT

The Patriots are signing defensive tackle Trysten Hill to their practice squad, according to a source.Hill, a 2019 second-round pick out of Central Florida, worked out for the team on Tuesday. Hill began his career with the Cowboys and has also spent time with the Cardinals and Browns. He was released from the Browns’ practice squad on Sept. 26.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots OLB Matt Judon facing season-threatening timeline with torn bicep New England Patriots | Patriots-Cowboys film review: Bill Belichick’s fingerprints all over latest blowout loss New England Patriots | Mac Jones brings up ‘job security’ while addressing Patriots turnovers New England Patriots | Patriots rookie Christian Gonzalez reportedly suffers separated shoulder in loss to Cowboys New England Patriots | Bill Belichick has ‘doubts’ Patriots will give Bailey Zappe first-team practice r...

McCarthy becomes the first speaker ever to be ousted from the job in a House vote

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:07 GMT

By LISA MASCARO and FARNOUSH AMIRI (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Kevin McCarthy was voted out of the job Tuesday in an extraordinary showdown, a first in U.S. history that was forced by a contingent of hard-right conservatives and threw the House and its Republican leadership into chaos.McCarthy’s chief rival, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, forced the vote on the “motion to vacate,” drawing together more than a handful of conservative Republican critics of the speaker and many Democrats who say he is unworthy of leadership.Next steps are uncertain, but there is no obvious successor to lead the House Republican majority.Stillness fell as the presiding officer gaveled the vote closed, 216-210, saying the office of the speaker “is hereby declared vacant.”Moments later, a top McCarthy ally, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., took the gavel and, according to House rules, was named speaker pro tempore, to serve in the office until a new speak...

Crown says former RCMP intelligence official improperly disclosed secrets

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:07 GMT

OTTAWA — Former intelligence official Cameron Jay Ortis violated Canada’s secrets law by sending sensitive information to several individuals who were investigative targets of the police, a federal lawyer said Tuesday.In an opening statement, Crown prosecutor Judy Kliewer sketched out the case against Ortis as a multi-week judge and jury trial got underway Tuesday in Ontario Superior Court.As a senior RCMP intelligence official, Ortis had access to some of the country’s most closely held information.He is charged with violating the Security of Information Act by allegedly revealing secrets to three individuals in 2015 and trying to do so in a fourth instance, as well as breach of trust and a computer-related offence.Ortis, 51, has pleaded not guilty to all charges.He was taken into custody in Ottawa in September 2019 — an arrest that deeply shocked the national police force.Kliewer gave the jury a sense of how the case began, noting an RCMP effort known as Project Satura...

Alberta mountain town to allow two major developments to go ahead after losing appeal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:07 GMT

CALGARY — Two major developments that could almost double the population of an Alberta mountain community will go ahead after Alberta’s highest court dismissed an appeal by the town.Canmore town council had rejected the proposed Three Sisters Village and Smith Creek projects, but the Land and Property Rights Tribunal of Alberta ruled in May 2022 that both developments could go ahead.The town, west of Calgary, had applied for permission to appeal that decision to the Court of Appeal of Alberta and it was allowed to proceed on questions of law and jurisdiction.“The town has not established a basis upon which we can interfere with the tribunal’s decisions,” said the decision by three justices released Tuesday. “The appeals are dismissed.”The two proposals on Canmore’s eastern edge include about 80 per cent of the town’s remaining developable land and raised concerns about affordable housing and wildlife.The decisions by the tribunal, howe...

GO Transit trains, UP Express slowly resume service after CN system outage

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:07 GMT

Commuters across the Greater Toronto Area saw their afternoon rush-hour travel thrown into chaos Tuesday after a network-wide system failure at CN Rail halted all GO Transit trains, as well as a rail link to Toronto’s main airport. At around 4:30 p.m. — three-and-a-half hours after the problems began — GO Transit said “limited service” from downtown Toronto’s Union Station was resuming, with outbound trains every 30 minutes.“There is an ongoing CN networkwide system failure that is affecting all of our rail corridors. We are beginning to slowly resume service,” Metrolinx, which operates GO Transit, wrote in a statement. “As we work with our rail partner on this issue and restore full service, there will be continued cancellations and potentially delays this evening.”The regional transit operator warned commuters that available trains were expected to be “very busy” and suggested exploring alternatives. At Toronto’s Un...

Class-action claims foreign workers exploited by Quebec recruiter, airline caterer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:07 GMT

MONTREAL — An international aviation catering company and a Quebec recruitment firm allegedly lured foreign workers to Canada under false pretences and exploited them, according to a proposed class-action lawsuit. The Immigrant Workers Centre in Montreal is seeking authorization to launch the suit against Laval, Que.-based placement firm Trésor and inflight catering company Newrest, along with several affiliated companies. The workers centre is acting on behalf of more than 400 people since 2021 who it says were falsely promised they would be given work permits and legitimate jobs in Canada by Trésor — but were instead encouraged to work illegally.“The defendants treated the members of the class like objects: controllable, disposable, replaceable and exploitable. These experiences were profoundly degrading and dehumanizing for the members of the class and undermined their dignity, their psychological security and their self-esteem,” says the request for authorization fil...