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Russia names new air force head, replacing rebellion-tied general

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:22:51 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has named a replacement for the former head of the country’s Aerospace Forces, who was dismissed in the wake of this summer’s brief rebellion against the military establishment, according to information on the Defense Ministry website.The website on Friday showed Col. Gen. Viktor Afzalov, who reportedly had been acting head of the air force since mid-August, was given the full post. He replaces Gen. Sergei Surovikin.The ministry’s intent to make the appointment was reported last week by state news agencies .Surovikin was believed to have had close ties with Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, who mounted a rebellion in June seeking the dismissal of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and military chief of staff Valery Gerasimov. Prigozhin accused both of undermining Wagner forces who were key fighters in eastern Ukraine. After the uprising disintegrated, Surovikin was not seen in public for months. Reports of his dismissal came one day before...

Ivanka Trump must testify in father's New York fraud trial, judge rules

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:22:51 GMT

Ivanka Trump, the daughter of former President Trump, must testify in her father's civil fraud trial in New York, a judge ruled Friday morning.The sweeping fraud case, brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), accuses Trump, the Trump Organization, Trump's adult sons and several executives of decades of fraud, suggesting they falsely inflated and deflated the value of their assets to receive lower taxes and better insurance coverage. Trump and his sons have denied any wrongdoing, calling the case a "witch hunt."Ivanka Trump was once a party in the lawsuit, but a New York appeals court in June dismissed her from the case, ruling that the claims against her were barred by the state’s statute of limitations.However, New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron decided Friday that her dismissal from the case doesn't absolve her of taking the stand after being subpoenaed by the attorney general's office. Her testimony won't be scheduled before Nov. 1, to give her l...

Watch: Rat shares doughnut with fellow rodent on subway tracks in Manhattan

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:22:51 GMT

MANHATTAN, N.Y. (WPIX) – Who says chivalry is dead? A rat was seen bringing a doughnut to a fellow rodent on subway tracks in Manhattan, New York, in a recent video shared to TikTok.Carly Hittner, who uploaded the video to the social media platform, wrote in the caption, "donut rat treats his woman better than half you other rats in the city." ‘It’s huge’: Florida man finds iguana hiding in his toilet The video shows the courageous little critter carrying a doughnut — over half the size of its own body — underneath the tracks to another rat who is revealed at the end.“Some of the men in this city need lessons in chivalry,” Hittner wrote in the video.The video has nearly 450,000 likes. Many of the viewers also shared Hittner's feelings about the rodent."He’s treating her better than any man has ever treated me," one commenter wrote, while another cited the rat as an example of a "high value man."The official TikTok account for Tinder — a company that specializes in online matc...

Austin Film Festival celebrates its 30th year

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:22:51 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Film Festival announced its entire slate of programming for its 30th anniversary. The film festival began Thursday and will run through Nov. 2.“For 30 years, AFF has been a platform for open discussion, a place where the screenwriting community comes together to pass on experience, craft, and the writers’ journey from script to screen,” organizers said.According to a statement, highlights from the program included a screening of Jeff Nichols’ acclaimed new film “The Bikeriders,” and the Closing Night film will be Jack Huston’s “Day of the Fight.”The film program also includes the world premieres of the drama “Re: Uniting,” “ImPossible,” and “The Problem with People.”Austin Film Festival said it would celebrate the launch of its new Writer’s Writer Award, which honors established storytellers as well as emerging storytellers. This year, the award was presented to Cord Jefferson, an Emmy-winning writer who worked on shows including Watchmen, Succession, The ...

Cruise suspends operations. What’s next for AVs in Austin?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:22:51 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The largest operator of autonomous vehicles (AVs) in Austin announced via social media that it would be suspending all operations to “rebuild public trust.” Cruise’s fleet makes up roughly 80% of the AVs roaming across Austin’s streets. Austinites will likely observe fewer of these vehicles with the Cruise pause, but there are still three other AV operators in the city, according to a city backup presentation.  MORE: Cruise to pause all driverless operations as a way to ‘rebuild public trust The presence of these vehicles is still very new – Cruise only started operating the vehicles in Austin in 2022. In order to reckon with this new frontier, the city formed a working group in July to prepare for incidents, collect better data and facilitate better communication with AV companies to create remedies to issues, according to the city. The city points out in the backup presentation that it is the federal government that regulates vehicles and the state...

New bike lanes on Barton Springs Road gets warm welcome from drivers, cyclists

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:22:51 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — In late August, the Austin Transportation and Public Works Department reduced Barton Springs Rd from two lanes to one between South Lamar Blvd and Azie Morton Rd. That created a dedicated and protected bike lane for cyclists on the right lane of Barton Springs Rd both eastbound and westbound."It's a much safer experience and much more calm experience for such a dense pedestrian-heavy zone within our city," Lewis Leff, with the Austin Transportation and Public Works Department, said.Leff has been watching the flow of traffic on Barton Springs Road since the change went into place."What we were aiming for was a reduction in high-end speeding, and we've seen over an 80% reduction of high-end speeds, which is 10 miles an hour or above the speed limit. So what we've seen is a real significant reduction in high-end speeds and with really minimal impacts to travel time through the corridor," Leff said.Austin Resident, and transportation expert, Meg Merritt does her best to ...

'Spellbinding experience' at downtown Austin power plant for Halloween season

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:22:51 GMT

Editor’s note: The above video shows KXAN Live’s top morning headlines for Friday, Oct. 27, 2023.AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Art Deco building left standing from the old Seaholm Power Plant in downtown Austin will be turned into a “spellbinding experience" this weekend.The park around what was the pump house for the old power plant, the Seaholm intake facility, will host a spooky family-friendly experience with its first-ever "Trail or Treat" Halloween party.“We just like bringing more and more opportunities for the community to come out and really come together, that kind of magic potion for community bonding,” Trail Conservancy Chief Operating Officer Hanna Cofer said.On Saturday, from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., more than a dozen local vendors will take over the space with candy and games for trick-or-treaters.There is a costume contest for kids and pets along with tarot card readings, just for the pets.Cofer hopes the event serves as a reminder of how the Trail Conservancy is hoping to bri...

Our annual guide: 4 cult burgers

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:22:51 GMT

These are the burgers for which people are willing to wait — sometimes as long as an hour or two. And these four places are worth the hype.New or updated entries are marked with an asterisk.If you have other suggestions, please email them to us at [email protected] categories from our 2023 guide:Burgers for beer (and cocktail) hounds‘Cheffy’ burgersCult burgersDestination burgersDive bar burgersNeighborhood burgers1. * Private Sector ProvisionsThe guys behind this buzzy pop-up make a truly unbelievable burger. A big bad ball of beef, topped with raw onions, is smashed directly into the flat top and hit with seasoning, letting everything commingle as it cooks. (“I’m trying to be vulnerable with the beef,” co-owner Brett Splinter joked as he manned the grill. “You have to give it love!”) Two of those, each with its own slice of American cheese, go onto a soft toasted bun with delightfully dilly house pickles and sauce. For $10! An extra dollar for a bag of chips. ...

Gophers football: After sweet taste of bourbon, P.J. Fleck and Co. need to avoid another sobering letdown

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:22:51 GMT

The bottle’s label says it’s a 20-year-old Pappy Van Winkle, but it really had Iowa’s name on it.For seven years, that bourbon sat untouched in a cabinet at P.J. Fleck’s home. Visitors would ask: “Let’s open that!” And Fleck would slightly kill the party by saying, “no.”As the losses to Iowa stacked up since 2017, Fleck would see the bottle in the cabinet from time to time and his mouth would water. He knew how to savor it because the collector had cracked into a similar 15-year Pappy after Minnesota ended its long losing streak to Wisconsin in 2018.But after Fleck and the Gophers beat the Hawkeyes for the first time in seven attempts and captured Floyd of Rosedale last Saturday, he and wife Heather poured themselves each a finger of expensive Kentucky bourbon.“It tasted just as good as I thought,” Fleck shared Monday. “It was worth the wait.”But soon after that late-night sip, Fleck was off to bed. He and his team needed to hydrate with a trap game coming Saturday. Minnesota’s newf...

Our annual guide to the best neighborhood burgers in the Twin Cities

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:22:51 GMT

These eight spots close to home serve a crave-worthy burger.New or updated entries are marked with an asterisk.If you have other suggestions, please email them to us at [email protected] categories from our 2023 guide:Burgers for beer (and cocktail) hounds‘Cheffy’ burgersCult burgersDestination burgersDive bar burgersNeighborhood burgers1. * MyBurgerAlthough this local chain is dangerously close to fast food, the burgers themselves are a big step up from what you can get in a drive-through. Properly seasoned, smashed on a griddle but still juicy enough, with quality toppings and reasonable prices, it’s a family-friendly option for busy nights. The fact that the St. Paul location is on a busy corner without much parking kept us from trying these burgers for too long.My Burger: Multiple locations, including 1580 Grand Ave., St. Paul; 651-330-7816; myburgerusa.comThe burger at MyBurger on St. Paul’s Grand Avenue. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)2. * Tiffany Spo...