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North Carolina legislature pushes limits on transgender youth rights in final days of session

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:55 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Transgender rights are taking center stage Tuesday in North Carolina as the GOP-controlled General Assembly considers legislation to restrict gender-affirming health care and trans participation in sports.The legislative push comes in the dwindling days of the North Carolina session and as many Republican-led state legislatures round out a record year of legislation targeting transgender residents.Hours after the House Health Committee advanced a bill banning state facilities from treating trans minors with hormones and gender-affirming surgeries, the Senate will vote later Tuesday on whether to ban trans girls from playing on school sports teams that align with their gender identity.Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has little power to block legislation now that Republicans hold veto-proof majorities in both chambers.If it passes the Senate on Tuesday, the bill prohibiting trans girls from playing on girls’ middle school, high school and college sports teams cou...

Police raid Iranian opposition camp in Albania, seize computers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:55 GMT

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian authorities on Tuesday raided a camp for members of the exiled Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq to seize 150 computer devices allegedly linked to prohibited political activities, and several people were injured.Albanian Interior Minister Bledi Cuci and the head of the national police, Muhamet Rrumbullaku, said both police officers and Iranian dissidents were injured during the raid at the Ashraf-3 camp near Manze, a small hill town 30 kilometers (about 20 miles) west of Albania’s capital. Representatives of the Mujahedeen group said one person was killed; Albanian authorities disputed that the raid caused the man’s death.The Special Structure Against Corruption and Organized Crime’s office has opened investigations into suspected political activities by Mujahedeen members. Cuci and Rrumbullaku referred questions about the nature of the alleged violations to prosecutors, saying police were only carrying out a court order to seize evide...

A list of mass killings in the United States since January

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:55 GMT

The latest mass killing in the United States happened Sunday in Kellogg, Idaho, where a 31-year-old man was detained at the scene of a shooting that left four people dead inside a residence. The mass shooting was part of a spate of gun violence over the weekend that killed and wounded people across the U.S., including at least 60 shot in the Chicago area alone.The Idaho shooting is the country’s 27th mass killing of 2023 in which four or more people died, not including the assailant, within a 24-hour period, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. So far this year, the nation has witnessed the highest number on record of mass killings and deaths to this point in a single year. There have been more than 550 mass killing incidents since 2006, according to the database, in which at least 2,900 people have died and at least 2,000 people have been injured.Here’s what happened in each U.S. mass killing this year...

Montreal archdiocese ombudswoman sees improvement in handling of abuse complaints

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:55 GMT

MONTREAL — The ombudswoman of Montreal’s Roman Catholic archdiocese says she’s seen an improvement in the handling of abuse complaints since raising concerns about it last year.Marie Christine Kirouack today issued her latest report on complaints received by the archdiocese of Montreal since her post was created two years ago.In December, Kirouack said that delays in certain files had become “interminable” and had caused some complainants to lose faith in the process.She spoke out against a lag in the implementation of the archbishop’s decisions in cases involving her office.But in her latest update — the sixth since she took the post in May 2021 — she says the situation has improved somewhat.Kirouack has received has received 212 complaints to date, including 76 complaints involving abuse, of which 45 were sexual in nature.This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2023.The Canadian Press

Graphic designer Art Irizawa became an unlikely TV celebrity as Fuji on ‘Super Dave’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:55 GMT

TORONTO — Graphic designer Arthur Irizawa never aspired to be a celebrity before he landed a role on the television comedy “Super Dave” as Japanese stunt co-ordinator Fuji Hakayito.By middle age, Irizawa already had a successful career bringing life to some of Canada’s most prominent brands with his artwork. And yet none of that work resonated quite like playing second banana on the hit 1980s show, a role he landed by happenstance.Irizawa, who died last fall at age 86, wasn’t a man who sought attention despite being notable to a generation of viewers. His family said that’s one reason why his passing at a Toronto long-term care facility on Sept. 29, 2022 was kept mostly among those closest to him. A memorial was held last December.“Dad was a very private person in many respects, although anyone who really knew him wouldn’t say that,” said his daughter Rayna Nishidera.“He was so outgoing, a joy to be around.”Born on Vancouver Isla...

Uber driver pistol-whipped, carjacked in New Lenox

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:55 GMT

NEW LENOX, Ill. — An Uber driver was pistol-whipped and carjacked Tuesday morning in New Lenox.At around 6:15 a.m., police said the Uber driver arrived in New Lenox to pick up a customer. While he was waiting, a white Hyundai Accent approached.Police said two men, one wearing a mask with a white hoodie, and one wearing a mask with a red hoodie, exited the Hyundai and approached the driver.The Uber driver was removed from the vehicle and struck in the head with a firearm. His wallet and cell phone were also stolen, police said.The two suspects attempted to flee in the Toyota Venza, with the Hyundai following behind, but it was abandoned a few houses down after police believe the pair had difficulty operating it.The two then got into the Hyundai, which was later determined to be stolen in Chicago, and fled. 67-year-old man critical after Southwest Side shooting The Uber driver's cell phone was later recovered along Route 30. He is being treated at Silver Cross Hospital for a head in...

US sanctions South Sudanese officials over conflict-related rapes of hundreds of women and girls

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:55 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Tuesday imposed sanctions on a South Sudanese military officer and governor accused in connection with the rapes of hundreds of women and girls. They are the first U.S. sanctions issued with a dedicated focus on conflict-related sexual violence, the Treasury Department said. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated James Nando, a major general in the South Sudanese army, who is accused of overseeing forces that raped hundreds of women and girls between 2018 and 2021. Treasury said Nando was aware of the abuses and did not prevent or punish fighters responsible for sexual violence when it happened under his watch.Alfred Futuyo, governor of Western Equatoria, is also named in the sanctions documents. Affiliated with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army, an opposition group, Futuyo is accused of carrying out numerous attacks in his state that resulted in abductions and gang rapes of hundreds of civilians.Among other things, the sanctio...

Watermelon snow turns Utah mountains red

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:55 GMT

CACHE COUNTY, Utah (KTVX) — Summer will officially be here this week, and many Utah mountain peaks are still holding onto some snow. If you’re lucky enough to get out there before it’s gone, you may see a natural phenomenon called watermelon snow. In Cache County, watermelon snow has turned the mountains into different shades of pink, red and orange. “I thought that was pretty cool,” Wallace Salle told ABC4. The young boy and his family were visiting Tony Grove Lake all the way from Minnesota. They were amused and confused by the bright pink splotches of snow that surrounded the lake. Wallace added: “At first, I was like, ‘Is someone painting it or something?’”  Scott Hotaling, an assistant professor at Utah State University’s Department of Watershed Sciences, has been studying watermelon snow, and the algae that cause it, for a few years.  “It’s actually a green algal bloom that’s occurring on the snow’s surface,” he said.“The snow algae produce a pigment that b...

Aid vessel for Titanic-bound submersible search leaves Buffalo airport

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:55 GMT

CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. (WIVB) – Three C-17 military aircraft were set to take off from the Buffalo Niagara International Airport on Tuesday, with one carrying a submersible capable of diving 6,000 meters in an effort to find a vessel that went missing Sunday morning near the site of the Titanic sinking.The submersible coming from Western New York to help in the search was made by Pelagic Research Services, a company with offices in East Aurora. They've collaborated with entities like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, among others. What we know about the missing Titanic-bound submersible Titan, the missing submersible, lost contact with its support vessel about an hour and 45 minutes after submerging into the northern Atlantic Ocean, the U.S. Coast Guard said. Five people were onboard. The people on board include British businessman and world-record holding adventurer Hamish Harding; Titanic ...

A quiet, though hot, last day of spring

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:55 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Another unwanted record was set this morning when the low at Camp Mabry dropped to 80°. That set a new record warm low, breaking the previous record of 79° set in 1998.The Excessive Heat Warning remains in effect all day today. It will continue until 9 Wednesday evening. This afternoon's heat index reading are again expected to top 110° up to 120°. More excessive heat today and WednesdayYesterday, Camp Mabry had the highest heat index reading at 116° which, unofficially, ties a record set in August, 2016. Tuesday afternoon's forecast maximum heat index readingsToday will be a relatively quiet day, outside of the heat. There are no late-afternoon/early-evening thunderstorms for the Hill Country. Our Future Clouds and Radar does show a little rain this evening for Mason and Gillespie Counties between 6 and 8:30.Tomorrow's forecast could get active for much of the area with an increasing chance of showers and thunderstorms starting in the Hill Country between 5 and 6 t...