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Joran van der Sloot pleads not guilty to extorting and defrauding Natalee Holloway’s mom

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:28 GMT

(CNN) — A not guilty plea was entered in US federal court on Friday on behalf of Joran van der Sloot, the Dutch national accused in the alleged extortion of the mother of Natalee Holloway, the American teenager whose disappearance during a high school graduation trip to Aruba in 2005 became an international mystery.In the less than five-minute-long hearing in Birmingham, Alabama, US Magistrate Judge Gray Borden said he would only accept a not guilty plea at this time, and if van der Sloot were to enter any other plea it would be before a different judge at a different time.Borden also advised him of his US Constitutional rights and appointed the Federal Public Defender’s office to represent him. An interpreter was provided for van der Sloot, 35, but he told the court he did not need one.“My English is actually perfect,” he said shortly before the start of the proceeding.US Public Defender for the Northern District of Alabama Kevin Butler was in court with van der Sloot, wh...

‘Based on a True Story’ review: My podcast host, the serial killer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:28 GMT

Nina Metz | Chicago TribuneAmerica’s fascination with true crime is played for satire in the dark comedy “Based on a True Story,” a Peacock series starring Kaley Cuoco and Chris Messina as a married couple who, dollar signs in their eyes and bad judgment in their hearts, seize upon the opportunity to make a podcast with a serial killer.Tonally, the eight-episode series teeters between slasher territory and the humor of domestic ennui. Ava and Nate’s marriage has grown stale, their professional ambitions thwarted. She’s a real estate agent who struggles to land high-end clients; he’s a tennis pro at the Beverly Club who has recently been demoted. To be clear, this is a very upper-middle-class kind of frustration, and while the show hints at some class issues, it doesn’t go far enough. Ava and Nate are not rich compared to their friends, but there’s an unspoken reality the show is sidestepping: In the Los Angeles housing market, that cozy home of theirs is worth millions. They’re also...

Afternoon Briefing: Bears’ stadium move remains at an impasse

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:28 GMT

Good afternoon, Chicago.The head of special education at Chicago Public Schools has stepped down following pressure for her ouster over the use of physical restraint in schools and other criticism of how the district has treated students with disabilities.Last week, the Chicago Teachers Union demanded Jones resign for “dismal failures to protect the district’s most vulnerable students,” alleging violation of special education laws, a “toxic workplace that has left the department in shambles” and failure to fulfill the legal requirements on supporting students with disabilities.Here’s what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit chicagotribune.com/breaking and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices.Subscribe to more newsletters | Puzzles & Games | Daily horoscope | Ask AmyIn the wake of rooftop standoff on West Side, more questions than answers remainJohn Litsiardakis died last weekend just a...

Gary Zerola found not guilty on both charges of rape

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:28 GMT

Gary Zerola, who was charged with raping a 23-year-old woman in 2016, has been found not guilty by a jury in Suffolk Superior Court on Friday.The verdict was delivered by a jury composed of seven women and five men at around 3:15 p.m., about three hours after being handed the case. Subtracting an hour break from lunch, the decision was reached after about two hours of deliberation.Zerola, 51, was charged with two counts of rape, which the prosecution has said occurred at around 7 a.m. on Nov. 10, 2016, on a couch in an apartment on Myrtle Street in Beacon Hill, which is owned by a friend of Zerola’s who did not testify in the trial.Defense attorney Joseph Krowski Jr. made his thunderous closing argument first on Friday, the last day of the trial which began on Tuesday, in which he repeatedly said that his client’s accuser is a “liar” and called the allegations of rape “effing absurd.”“You know she’s lying when you see her lips moving,” Krowski said of the alleged victim in the case....

Here are 5 things to do in San Diego’s desert areas to escape ‘June Gloom’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:28 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- If you're looking for warmer weather this weekend, head out to San Diego's deserts where temperatures are expected to remain in the 90s.According to the National Weather Service, a few degrees of cooling is expected Friday in areas west of the mountains with even further cooling into Saturday.As the week reaches its end and you're weighing options on how to spend your days off, there are several desert activities to be enjoyed in the sunshine. From Oceanside to Valle de Guadalupe: This private jet wine-tasting day trip is luxury Here's are five things to do in San Diego County's desert areas that can help you escape "June gloom."San Diego Dune Tours in Ocotillo WellsFor a thrilling adventure, hop on an ATV, dirt bike or a sport side-by-side to hit the desert lands and take in all the sights. There are several options to choose from with tours being offered for groups up to 70 or for single riders. Take the abandoned train tour for Instagram-worthy photo-ops or trek t...

Package of ammunition goes missing for over a week in downtown Toronto

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:28 GMT

A registered gun owner is sounding the alarm after 1,000 rounds of ammunition he ordered went missing for over a week.Aiden, who lives in downtown Toronto, ordered the ammunition which was then marked delivered last Wednesday to his building by UPS.CityNews is not using his last name to protect his identity.He immediately became suspicious because he never received an email to pick it up and the name of the person who supposedly received the package was not someone who works in his building.There was also no signature available to view for the delivery by him or the store he purchased it from, which is required under federal firearms laws.“I called UPS, and I was very explicit telling him like, ‘Hey, this is a big deal. You guys have to get on this right now’,” shared Aiden. He called another five times throughout the week.“When it was like two, three, four days [that] I hadn’t heard back from UPS and the package hadn’t shown up, that’...

Indiana ACLU challenges provision barring instruction to young students about ‘human sexuality’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:28 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A new Indiana law’s provision barring teachers from providing instruction on “human sexuality” to students from pre-K through the third grade is unconstitutional and so vaguely written that teachers wouldn’t know whether they are complying with it, a federal lawsuit filed Friday argues.The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana’s lawsuit targets a portion of a new law that also requires schools to notify a parent if a student requests a name or pronoun change at school, but it does not challenge the pronoun and name change notification provision.Republican lawmakers approved the law this year during a session that targeted LGBTQ+ people in the state. It is due to take effect July 1 after Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb signed it into law in May.The ACLU’s lawsuit names Indiana’s secretary of education, Katie Jenner, as the defendant and seeks an injunction preventing the “human sexuality” instruction provision from taking effect July 1.The Indiana attorney ...

Small leftist parties in Spain unite before July election in pact that could help Sánchez

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:28 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s chances of getting reelected after a July election have received a potentially important boost following an agreement between more than a dozen small leftist parties to run on a joint ticket, a deal that is expected to provide key support for Sánchez’s Socialists in any post-election negotiations to form government.The deal signed late Friday ended days of intense negotiations and was sealed at the last moment with an agreement between Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz’s newly formed alliance, Sumar, and the Socialists’ small but influential far-left coalition partner, United We Can, or Podemos.Podemos and 14 other groups would form part of the Sumar alliance for the election, Sumar said.Sumar, which means to add or unite in Spanish, was to be officially registered later Friday as a political group to compete in the election. Sánchez called an early general election for July 23 last week after the Socialist party and United...

Putin asserts Ukrainian counteroffensive has begun, while drones strike within Russia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:28 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted Friday that Ukrainian troops have started a long-expected counteroffensive and were suffering “significant” losses. His comments came just hours after a string of drone strikes inside Russian territory.It was Putin’s latest effort to shape the gut-wrenching narrative of the invasion he ordered more than 15 months ago, sparking widespread international condemnation and reviving Cold War-style tensions.The conflict entered a complex new phase this week with the rupture of a Dnieper River dam that sent floodwaters gushing through a large swath of the front in southern Ukraine. Tens of thousands of civilians already facing the misery of regular shelling fled for higher ground on both sides of the swollen and sprawling waterway.Kyiv has played down talk of a counteroffensive, reasoning that the less said about its military moves the better. Speaking after he visited flood zones on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr...

Air quality improves in Toronto, but smoky skies linger in parts of Ontario, Alberta

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:28 GMT

Wildfire smoke that hung over Toronto for several days cleared Friday, resulting in a notable improvement in air quality, while communities in northern Ontario and western Quebec saw pollution warnings and hazy skies. Environment Canada had no air quality statements in place for Toronto on Friday but issued several for parts of northeastern Ontario, including North Bay, Sudbury and Timmins, as well as parts of western Quebec.“Those places are still under smoke from the forest fires,” said Gerald Cheng, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. “For places in the south, like Montreal, Ottawa and even much of southern Ontario, the conditions have improved.”Cheng predicted that some smoke would move back over southern Ontario and Quebec on the weekend but at lower concentration levels. Higher intensity concentrations of smoke are expected north of the St. Lawrence River, he said.“We are looking at some showery conditi...