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Biden issues order to strengthen gun background checks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:49 GMT

By ZEKE MILLER and COLLEEN LONG (Associated Press)SAN DIEGO (AP) — President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Tuesday aiming to increase the number of background checks to buy guns, promote more secure firearms storage and ensure U.S. law enforcement agencies are getting the most out of a bipartisan gun control law enacted last summer. The Democratic president was set to address his latest efforts to curb gun violence in a speech from Monterey Park, California. In January, a gunman stormed a dance hall in the community near Los Angeles and shot 20 people, killing 11, following a Lunar New Year celebration. He’s also scheduled to meet with families of the victims and first responders from that day. Biden’s rhetoric has only grown stronger around guns — he routinely calls for banning so-called assault weapons in his speeches — and Democrats didn’t push such a vocal gun-control platform even during the Obama administration, when Biden was vice ...

What regular people need to know about SVB’s sudden closure

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:49 GMT

Silicon Valley Bank — a California-based bank that largely catered to technology, venture capital and startup-focused customers — made news as it swiftly collapsed, creating great concern over the billions of dollars it held in deposits.The bank was insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and on Monday, the FDIC took over SVB’s operations so customers wouldn’t lose their funds, even those above the insurable limit. These customers, some of which were businesses that needed to be able to pay their employees, have likely been spared from financial catastrophe.The FDIC is working to resolve things for SVB’s customers, but you may still be wondering what you should do if your bank fails in the future. Another bank, New York-based Signature Bank, also recently collapsed and was bailed out by the FDIC, so banks failing in the future could be a reality, though generally unlikely. Here are some common questions that have come out of SVB’s collapse.How does FDIC insurance work?FDIC i...

New atmospheric river pushes into swamped California

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:49 GMT

WATSONVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Steady rain fell Tuesday from California’s latest atmospheric river storm fell as truckloads of rocks were brought to a broken river levee that unleashed floodwaters into central coast farmland and small agricultural communities.At one end of the rupture on the muddy Pajaro River, a heavy earth-moving machine used its excavator bucket to press the rocks into the levee before big boulders were brought in to fill the gap that opened last weekend.The new storm initially spread light to moderate rain over northern and central regions of the state. But the National Weather Service said it was moving more quickly than expected and most of the precipitation would shift southward.Along the Southern California coast, evacuation orders took effect at 8 a.m. in Santa Barbara County for several areas that were burned by wildfires in recent years, creating increased risk of flash floods and debris flowsSo far this winter, the state has been battered by 10 previou...

Sanders signs Arkansas trans care malpractice bill into law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:49 GMT

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has signed legislation making it easier to sue providers of gender-affirming care for children, a move that could effectively reinstate a blocked ban on such care.Sanders on Monday signed the new law, which won’t take effect until this summer. It would allow anyone who received gender-affirming care as a minor to file a malpractice lawsuit against their doctor for up to 15 years after they turn 18. Under current Arkansas law, medical malpractice claims must be filed within two years of an injury.Legal experts have said the change could close access to gender-affirming care for children by making it nearly impossible for providers to get malpractice insurance.“Arkansas infamously passed the first law in the nation to try to ban gender affirming care for trans youth and after hearing extensive evidence, the courts have blocked that ban,” Holly Dickson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Uni...

A look at notable vehicle-ramming cases in Canada

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:49 GMT

Two people are dead and nine others are injured after a pickup truck ran into multiple pedestrians in the eastern Quebec community of Amqui on Monday, with police alleging the driver acted deliberately and with premeditation. Here’s a look at some other vehicle-ramming cases in Canada in recent years: Laval daycare bus crashIn early February, two young children were killed after a bus crashed into their daycare in Laval, Que. Six other children from Garderie Éducative Ste-Rose were taken to hospital with injuries. Witnesses said they saw a city bus barrelling down the driveway of the daycare before it smashed into the front of the building. Jacob Gauthier, 4, and Maeva David, 4, were identified as the two young children who died. Pierre Ny St-Amand, a 51-year-old driver with the Laval transit corporation, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and seven other offences, including attempted murder and aggravated assault.London truck-ramming Five members of a Mus...

CP NewsAlert: Quebec man to face charges of dangerous driving causing death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:49 GMT

AMQUI, Que. — The driver of a pickup truck that killed two people and injured nine others Monday in the Quebec town of Amqui is facing two charges of dangerous driving causing death.Court documents signed today by a justice of the peace identify the accused as 38-year-old Steeve Gagnon of Amqui.Gagnon is set to appear in court this afternoon.More coming.The Canadian Press

WATCH LIVE | Never-before-seen James Webb Space Telescope image released during SXSW

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:49 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas — NASA's James Webb Space Telescope team will unveil a never-before-seen Webb image during their South by Southwest (SXSW) keynote panel: Unfold the Universe.According to NASA, the panel will feature experts from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and the European Space Agency who will discuss the Webb team's "latest scientific discoveries and how this observatory will continue to explore the uncharted territories of our cosmos." Chicago man files class action suit against Buffalo Wild Wings, says boneless wings are just nuggets The image is set to be released on NASA’s website while the SXSW panel is running. It is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Tuesday.WGN plans to livestream the SXSW panel in its entirety within this story.Panel participants include: Laura Betz, NASA Goddard Communications Team Lead for the James Webb Space TelescopeDr. Knicole Colón, Astrophysicist and James Webb Space Telescope Deputy Project Scientist for Exoplanet ScienceDr. Stefanie Milam,...

Lindsay Lohan reveals she's expecting her 1st child

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:49 GMT

(KTLA) -- Lindsay Lohan has caught herself in a "Parent Trap" of sorts.The actress revealed she and her husband, Bader Shammas, are expecting their first child together.Lohan announced the news via Instagram with a photo of a baby onesie with the words "coming soon..." written over it."We are blessed and excited," the "Mean Girls" star wrote in the caption. The post was up for only minutes before some big names left congratulatory comments."OMG congrats Lindsay!" commented Quinta Brunson of "Abbott Elementary" fame.Garcelle Beauvais wrote, "amazing!!!!"Ayesha Curry left a handful of celebratory emojis to honor the baby news. King Charles knights Queen’s Brian May In July 2022, Lohan confirmed rumors that she married the Credit Suisse financier Shammas. She made it official on Instagram."I am the luckiest woman in the world. You found me and knew that I wanted to find happiness and grace, all at the same time. I am stunned that you are my husband," she wrote in the caption. "My ...

Russian jet intercepts US drone over Black Sea, forcing it down

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:49 GMT

A Russian fighter jet intercepted a U.S. Air Force drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday, U.S. officials confirmed, bringing down the U.S. aircraft.President Biden was briefed Tuesday morning on the incident, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, calling it “unprofessional” and “unsafe.”“It is not uncommon for there to be intercepts by Russian aircraft of U.S. aircraft over the Black Sea,” Kirby said. “And there have been, even in just recent weeks, there have been other intercepts. But this one obviously is noteworthy because of how unsafe and unprofessional it was … in causing the downing of one of our aircraft.”Multiple outlets reported that the unmanned U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone was operating over international waters in the Black Sea when a Russian fighter jet damaged the propeller of the drone, forcing it to land in the sea.The incident takes place amid heightened tensions between Russia and the U.S., with the Biden administration...

What is the giant seaweed blob that is heading towards Florida?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:49 GMT

It's feared a bumper crop of seaweed is headed for Florida.Known as "Sargassum Algae," it's already showing up on some Caribbean beaches in Eastern Mexico near Cancun and on some beaches near Key West, Florida.This is going to be an interesting story to follow. It's started showing up in articles. It comes as reports of Red Tide's reappearance has been making news on some stretches of Florida's Gulf Coast. LEARN MORE: Giant seaweed blob twice the width of the US takes aim at Florida Scientists have been following a large mass of what's known as Sargassum Algae in the Atlantic, which in large quantities can lend the waters in which it floats a brownish color.Gismodo reports such seaweed "blooms" have clogged beaches with tons of matted algae which, when decomposing, emit hydrogen sulfide gas which smells like rotten eggs. Gizmodo adds, "The thick flotillas of organic matter can also end up clogging power plant intakes, desalination water plants, and stymying boat traffic".Concern a...