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Ohio’s GOP governor vetoes ban on gender-affirming care, transgender athletes in girls sports

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:04:02 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republican Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a measure Friday that would have banned gender-affirming care for minors and transgender athletes’ participation in girls and women’s sports, in a break from members of his party who championed the legislation.GOP lawmakers hold enough seats to override DeWine’s veto, but if or when they would do so was not immediately clear. Both within and between chambers, Republican legislators have not been in lockstep this year.Hundreds of opponents testified against Ohio’s multifaceted measure when it was moving through the Legislature, including medical and mental health providers, education professionals, faith leaders, parents of transgender children and transgender individuals themselves.They decried the legislation as cruel, life threatening to transgender youth and based on fearmongering rather than science.The measure, which passed the Legislature earlier this month with only Republican support, would have prohibited Ohio minors ...

Once Canada’s most popular premier, Quebec’s Legault trails in polls after bad year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:04:02 GMT

QUEBEC — For more than four years, Quebec’s governing Coalition Avenir Québec enjoyed a political honeymoon that lasted through the COVID-19 pandemic and helped the party get re-elected in 2022 with 90 of the province’s 125 ridings.But after a year marked by a series of self-inflicted wounds, the CAQ, which came to power for the first time in 2018, is sinking in the polls. “This was a horrible year for the CAQ and, especially, for (Premier) François Legault,” said Daniel Béland, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada.The most recent Léger poll, in early December, indicates that support for the party dropped 16 percentage points since December 2022, with the Parti Québécois — with four members in the legislature — now in first place. “That’s a dramatic drop in terms of public support,” Béland said in an interview Thursday, adding that the personal popularity of Legault, whose image is deeply intertwined with the party he fou...

A look at Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian targets since the war began in February 2022

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:04:02 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian military has repeatedly used missiles to blast civilian targets across the country, with devastating consequences.One of the biggest attacks occurred on Friday when Russia launched more than 100 missiles and dozens of drones. The attack killed at least 24 civilians, injured another 130 and left an unknown number buried under rubble. Western officials and analysts recently warned that Russia had limited its cruise missile strikes in recent months in an apparent effort to build up stockpiles for massive attacks during the winter, hoping to break Ukrainians’ spirit.___MARCH 9, 2022 — An apartment building in Izium in eastern Ukraine was hit in an attack that Human Rights Watch later said killed at least 44 people. Russian forces took control of the city and surrounding area beginning in late March and occupied it for six months. At the time of the strike, HRW said the area was under...

Students launch 24-hour traffic blockade in Serbia’s capital ahead of weekend election protest

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:04:02 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A group of university students on Friday launched a 24-hour blockade of a main street in Serbia’s capital during New Year’s holiday rush as protests continued in the troubled Balkan country after reports of irregularities that marred a recent election.The students set up small tents, tables and chairs, brought food and blankets and played loud music at their makeshift camp near the government headquarters in Belgrade, saying they will stay put until the start of another opposition gathering planned for Saturday. The student actions triggered a huge traffic gridlock in the capital on Friday. The rally on Saturday is expected to draw thousands of people as political tensions are running high over the Dec. 17 ballot and subsequent incidents and arrests of opposition supporters at a protest last weekend. Populist President Aleksandar Vucic has accused the opposition of inciting violence with an aim to overthrow the government under instructions from a...

25 stolen vehicles valued at $2.2M recovered by York police, CBSA

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:04:02 GMT

Authorities managed to put another dent in the burgeoning auto theft industry, with York Regional Police announcing on Friday the seizure of 25 stolen vehicles valued at more than $2.2 million.The vehicles had all been reported stolen from across the Greater Toronto Area.The probe began in November 2023, when members of the York police’s Auto Cargo Theft Unit became aware of a parking lot in Mississauga in which several stolen vehicles were parked.An investigation was launched and police say they were able to identify several suspects and discover other locations where stolen vehicles were being stored.On December 14, officers executed a search warrant at a warehouse in Mississauga where police say stolen vehicles were found inside shipping containers.Police say they recovered 25 stolen vehicles, as well as a number of stolen licence plates, master car keys and a key re-programming device. The total estimated value of vehicles exceeds $2.2 million, a release states.Five suspec...

Canadian men’s basketball squad wins CP team of the year after historic 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:04:02 GMT

The Canadian men’s basketball team took its place on the international stage in 2023.Led by NBA star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Canadians won their first-ever FIBA World Cup medal, defeating the United States for bronze in September, and qualified for next year’s Summer Olympics in the process.The squad, which has climbed to No. 6 in the FIBA world rankings from 15th, capped the season by being voted The Canadian Press team of the year.“I think that it speaks to the commitment of our players and the excellence of our players,” general manager Rowan Barrett said. “We’re a player-centric program, ? everything starts with them and I think you don’t achieve something like this without players that are brought in that love their country and that are going to lay it all on the line for their country.“I think what it ultimately says is that there’s a system in place with everybody doing their jobs to help these players to go out and be brilliant on the court...

South Carolina nuclear plant’s cracked pipes get downgraded warning from nuclear officials

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:04:02 GMT

JENKINSVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Federal regulators have lessened the severity of their warning about cracks discovered in a backup emergency fuel line at a South Carolina nuclear plant northwest of the state capital.The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission downgraded its preliminary “yellow” warning for V.C. Summer Nuclear Station issued this October to a final “white” one after owner and operator Dominion Energy showed its generator could still run for six hours in an emergency, the agency announced Thursday.That demonstration calmed officials’ concerns that Dominion Energy’s failure to maintain cracks and leaks — discovered at least five times over two decades — had neutralized the plant’s ability to cool down its reactors if electricity failed.The new rating means that the generator is underperforming but still meeting its key targets.“While not indicative of immediate risk, this finding underscores the need for continuous vigilance and improvement in the plant’s ...

Texas police release new footage in murder investigation of pregnant woman, boyfriend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:04:02 GMT

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A Texas police chief says investigators hope surveillance video will lead to answers in the killings of an 18-year-old pregnant woman who disappeared before Christmas and her boyfriend, both of whom were found with gunshot wounds in a car and may have been dead for days.Police on Friday had not named a possible motive or suspects as family and friends mourned the deaths of Savanah Nicole Soto, 18, and Matthew Guerra, 22. Soto’s family has said she was overdue to deliver her baby and had been scheduled to have an induced labor when she went missing last week.The couple were found Tuesday in Guerra’s car outside a San Antonio apartment complex, a crime scene that San Antonio Police Chief William McManus originally described as “very, very perplexing.” On Thursday, police asked the public for help identifying two people seen in surveillance video that included the car and was recorded before the bodies were found. McManus would not say whether inves...

At least 20 killed in Congo flooding and landslides, bringing this week’s fatalities to over 60

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:04:02 GMT

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — At least 20 people have died following landslides caused by torrential rains which hit the South Kivu region in eastern Congo, officials announced on Friday.That brings to more than 60 the number of deaths caused by flooding and landslides in Congo in the past week alone.Officials said the landslides swallowed up houses and dwellings on Thursday in the locality of Burhiny, in the Mwenga territory.“The 20 deaths are the direct result of landslides that buried houses,” said territory administrator Walubila Ishikitilo.The government said on Friday that it was deploying emergency assistance to those affected and evacuating residents from the area. Flooding also affected other parts of the country on Friday, including the capital, Kinshasa, on the banks of the Congo River, and parts of Kasai province.The latest come just about 48 hours after landslides claimed the lives of more than 20 artisanal miners in Kamituga, also in the Mwenga territory, on Tuesday, ac...

Residents rescued during North Side high-rise fire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:04:02 GMT

CHICAGO — A rescue mission took place Friday morning to help get residents out of a high-rise fire on the North Side.The two-alarm fire had a heavy blaze located on the sixth floor of a building in the 1000 block of West Foster, located on the border of Uptown and Edgewater. Parts of the fire extended to the seventh floor.Multiple people were rescued and two people were transported. Their conditions are not available at this time.Residents were at windows looking to get out during the fire, CFD said.Courtesy Lance JonesCourtesy Lance JonesCourtesy Lance JonesIt has been put out.WGN News has a crew headed to the scene and will update this story once more information becomes available.