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DEA’s failure to punish distributor blamed in opioid crisis raises revolving door questions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:20 GMT

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has allowed one of the nation’s largest wholesale drug distributors to keep shipping highly addictive painkillers for nearly four years after a judge recommended it be stripped of its license for its “cavalier disregard” of thousands of suspicious orders fueling the opioid crisis.The DEA did not respond to repeated questions from The Associated Press about its handling of the case against Morris & Dickson Co. or the involvement of a high-profile consultant the company had hired to stave off punishment and who is now DEA Administrator Anne Milgram’s top deputy.But the delay has raised concerns about how the revolving door between government and industry may be impacting the DEA’s mission to police drug companies blamed for tens of thousands of American overdose deaths.“If the DEA had issued its order in a timely manner, one could then credibly believe that its second-in-command was not involved despite an obvious con...

95-year-old Australian woman dies after police shoot her with stun gun; officer faces charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:20 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A 95-year-old Australian woman died Wednesday, a week after a police officer shot her with a stun gun in a nursing home as she moved toward him using a walker and carrying a steak knife, in a tragedy that has outraged many Australians.Clare Nowland, who had dementia, had been hospitalized in Cooma in New South Wales state since her skull was fractured when she fell on May 17 after Constable Kristian White shocked her with a stun gun.Police announced Nowland’s death hours after reporting that White has been ordered to appear in court on July 5 on charges of recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and common assault. The charges are likely to be upgraded following her death. White and another police officer had gone to Yallambee Lodge, a nursing home in Cooma that specializes in residents with higher care needs including dementia, after staff reported that Nowland had taken a serrated steak knife from the kitchen.The ...

Toronto man charged in historical sexual assault at Ontario deaf camp

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:20 GMT

A Toronto man is facing charges after an alleged historical sexual assault dating back to 2003 at an Ontario deaf camp near Parry Sound.Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) confirmed that investigators with West Parry Sound OPP began looking into the allegations in February 2023.Authorities noted that the sexual assault occurred in August 2003 at The Bob Rumball Camp of the Deaf in Seguin Township.Police identified 54-year-old Steve Burrows of Toronto as the accused, who would have been 34 years old at the time of the alleged sexual assault at the camp.It’s unclear if the Toronto man was working at the camp.Burrows is facing multiple charges, including sexual assault and sexual exploitation. The accused will appear in an Ontario court at a later date.To assist the ongoing investigation, OPP issued a media release in American Sign Language (ASL).

Prosecutors in Guyana mull charges for teen suspect in deadly blaze at girl’s dorm

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:20 GMT

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Police in Guyana conferred Wednesday with prosecutors on what charges to bring against the main teenage suspect in this week’s fire that destroyed a girl’s dormitory at a school, killing 18 students and a young boy.Investigators believe that a 14-year-old student who was injured in the blaze ignited the fire late Sunday in anger over having her mobile phone confiscated by an administrator at the government boarding school serving Indigenous villages in southwestern Guyana.There were 57 female students in the wooden, concrete and iron-grilled dorm when the fire tore through the building in Mahdia township. The victims were mostly aged 12 to 18. The fire killed 18 female students and the five-year-old son of the administrator — or dorm mother. Twenty-eight injured female students were treated in hospitals, police said.Investigations so far “reveal that a female student is suspected of having set the devastating fire because her cellular phone was taken ...

Stock market today: Wall Street drops as markets tumble worldwide

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:20 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A worldwide swoon for financial markets is carrying over to Wall Street, and stocks are falling further on Wednesday.The S&P 500 was 0.8% lower in early trading, a day after dropping 1.1% as the U.S. government creeps closer to a possibly disastrous default on its debt. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 222 points, or 0.7%, at 32,832, as of 10:10 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.8% lower.Other markets around the world were hit even harder as discouraging figures piled up on the economy. Stock indexes tumbled 2.2% in London, 2.1% in Frankfurt and 1.6% in Hong Kong.Inflation in the United Kingdom remains worse than expected, raising worries that the Bank of England may keep hiking interest rates and squeezing its economy. In Germany, business confidence fell in Europe’s largest economy. And in China, worries remain about a weaker-than-hoped reopening from COVID restrictions as tensions rise with the United States over technology and secur...

‘Embodiment of a sunbeam’: Canadian actor, musician Samantha Weinstein dies at 28

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:20 GMT

TORONTO — A Canadian actor and musician who won accolades from an early age is being remembered as an inspiring artist who lived “the best life” and continued to work even in her final days.  Samantha Weinstein, 28, died on May 14 at Toronto’s Princess Margaret Hospital after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer 2 1/2 years ago. Weinstein had been acting since the age of six, with multiple credits to her name, including for voicing various characters in animated television series. “Sam was actually a living embodiment of a sunbeam,” said her father, David Weinstein. “She was so full of positive energy, anyone who ever met her would say that she just lit up every room she walked into.”Weinstein played high school student Heather in the 2013 remake of “Carrie,” starring Chloe Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore, and was cast as Audrey in the 2011 comedy “Jesus Henry Christ,” starring Toni Collette.As a child, she had a starring role in “Big Girl,” which won the Best Canadian Short Film awa...

School board investigating letter alleging violence, disorder at Mississauga school

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:20 GMT

The Peel District School Board (PDSB) is investigating an anonymous letter that alleges out-of-control violence and “disorderly conduct” at a Mississauga middle school.The letter, making the rounds on social media, appears to be written by a Tomken Road Middle School staff member. It claims that students, teachers, and staff have faced countless unsafe interactions and that the school climate is one of “violence” and “fear.”“It has become impossible to maintain any sense of dignity at our school,” reads the letter. “Students will ignore any boundaries or structure remaining at our school.”“We write this letter as a desperate call for help to make changes to our learning environment to make it the safe place it once was.”This morning I received this letter from a teacher at a Mississauga school. I have verified the existence and identity of its author and its authenticity. @trusteemcdonald @peelschools @pdsbdirec...

What to know about Ron DeSantis, Florida’s governor set to seek presidency

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:20 GMT

After months of anticipation, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to formally enter the Republican presidential primary contest on Wednesday. As of now, he is considered former President Donald Trump’s strongest GOP rival in the crowded 2024 contest, but many voters are only just starting to get to know the 44-year-old governor.Here are five things to know about DeSantis, the Republican Party’s newest presidential contender:DESANTIS’ EARLY LIFEA Florida native with family roots in the Midwest, DeSantis was a standout baseball player in his younger years. He represented the Dunedin, Florida, squad in the 1991 Little League World Series before becoming the captain of Yale University’s team.After a short stint teaching high school, he went on to Harvard Law School. He then became a Navy Judge Advocate General officer, a position that took him to Iraq and the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.DeSantis ran for Congress in 2012, won his Orlando-area district and became a f...

UN: Sudan conflict displaces over 1.3 million, including some 320K to neighboring countries

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:20 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — The fighting between Sudan’s military and a powerful paramilitary force has displaced more than 1.3 million people, the U.N. migration agency said Wednesday.The International Organization for Migration said the clashes have forced over 1 million people to leave their homes to safer areas inside Sudan. Some 320,000 others have fled to the neighboring countries of Egypt, South Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, the Central African Republic and Libya.The fighting erupted on April 15 after months of escalating tensions between the military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces commanded by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. The conflict derailed Sudanese hopes of restoring the country’s fragile transition to democracy, which was disrupted by a military coup led by the two generals in October 2021.The conflict has killed at least 863 civilians, including at least 190 children, and wounded more than 3,530 others, according to the most recent numbers from the Sudan...

Islamic scholar acquitted of rape by Swiss court, but potential trial awaits Tariq Ramadan in France

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:20 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — A Swiss court on Wednesday acquitted noted Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan on charges of rape and “sexual constraint,” citing lack of material evidence more than a decade after the alleged actions, contradictory witness statements and what resembled love messages to the accused.The court said it would pay Ramadan’s lawyers’ fees.It was a first victory for the former Oxford scholar with a worldwide reputation who had a brutal fall from grace with similar accusations still pending in France.Ramadan faces potential trial in France over allegations by several other women that emerged more than five years ago. Ramadan, a Swiss citizen, was jailed in February 2018 in France and handed preliminary rape charges over two alleged assaults in France, one in 2009 and another in 2012. A third woman filed a rape complaint against him in March. He was released on bail nine months later.The outspoken scholar has consistently denied any wrongdoing and filed a lawsuit sa...