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Democrats retain narrow control of Pennsylvania House after special election

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:42 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democrats will retain their one-vote majority in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives after voters in Pittsburgh on Tuesday elected former congressional aide Lindsay Powell.Powell’s victory gives Democrats a 102-101 majority in the House. Republicans have a 28-22 majority in the Senate, creating a divided Legislature that has kept Democrats from passing priorities such as broadened protections for LGBTQ+ people and gun control measures and Republicans from wins on issues including school vouchers.The divided Legislature has also meant Republican senators have been unable to take to voters proposed constitutional amendments limiting the governor’s power and implementing voter ID.Most recently the division has mired the state in a two-month budget stalemate after negotiations soured over education funding, in part because of the voucher debate.Powell identified affordable and dignified housing, a strong local economy and community assets such as robust recr...

Mexican railway operator halts trains because so many migrants are climbing aboard and getting hurt

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:42 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican railway operator announced Tuesday it is temporarily suspending train runs in the northern part of the country because so many migrants are climbing aboard freight cars and getting hurt in the process.Ferromex said it has temporarily ordered a halt to 60 trains carrying cargo that would fill 1,800 tractor trailers. It said some international trade would be affected by the stoppage.In recent days, there have been about a “half-dozen regrettable cases of injuries or deaths” among migrants hopping freight cars, the company said in a statement.The company, owned by conglomerate Grupo Mexico, said some migrants even hopped on moving freight cars “despite the grave danger that represents.”“There has been a significant increase in the number of migrants in recent days,” Ferromex said in the statement, adding that it was stopping the trains “to protect the physical safety of the migrants,” while it awaited action by authorities to solve the problem.It said...

El Salvador’s leader, criticized internationally for gang crackdown, tells UN it was the right thing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:42 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — El Salvador President Nayib Bukele trumpeted the success of his gang crackdown during his speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, crediting his administration’s will against international criticism over human rights violations.Bukele said that if El Salvador had listened to external critics — including some at the United Nations — the tiny Central American country would again be the murder capital of the world.“Today, I come to tell you that that debate is over,” Bukele said. “The decisions we took were correct. We are no longer the world death capital and we achieved it in record time. Today we are a model of security and no one can doubt it. There are the results. They are irrefutable.”More than 72,000 people have been arrested under a state of emergency Bukele requested in March 2022 after a surge in gang violence. The special powers that Congress granted Bukele suspended some fundamental rights such as access to a lawyer and being told the reason fo...

UNGA Briefing: Security Council, climate summit and what else is going on at the United Nations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:42 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — It’s Day 2 of the U.N. General Assembly high-level meeting that brings world leaders together at U.N. headquarters in New York. Here are the highlights of what happened Tuesday at the U.N. and what to keep an eye on Wednesday. Follow our live updates to keep up with developments all week.WHAT HAPPENED AT THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON TUESDAY— Motorcades and barricades choked midtown Manhattan as the world’s top dignitaries convened for the first day of the U.N. General Assembly’s annual meeting, which kicked off with a stern speech from U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres.— The first day saw speeches from high-profile leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.— While speeches have likely been in the works for a while, the addresses Tuesday still referenced very recent events — from last week’s floods in Libya to renewed...

Blinded by a Russian shell, a Ukrainian soldier couldn’t see his wedding. But he cried at new love

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:42 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Blinded by a Russian mortar shell, Ukrainian veteran Ivan Soroka couldn’t see his bride when she walked into his family home in a shoulderless white dress, a bouquet of white flowers in her right hand. But when Vladislava Ryabets, 25, stepped toward him, Soroka wept with joy at the new chapter of life starting months after enemy artillery stole his sight. “The first thing I said after I was wounded was, who will want me now?” said Soroka, 27, sitting inside his family home in a village in the outskirts of Kyiv.“I succeeded in rebuilding myself,” he said. “I am seeing with my feelings, with my emotions.”Dozens sat around a garden table in Bortnychi village under a tent decorated with balloons and garlands for a day of festivity steeped in Ukrainian rural tradition. Folk songs and laughter filled the air as neighbors and friends poured into the humble pastoral home, gulped drinks and toasted the young newlyweds. A round loaf decorated with viburnum ber...

Prince William, billionaires Gates and Bloomberg say innovation provides climate hope

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:42 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — With deadly extreme weather hitting all over the globe, rising temperatures peaking during the hottest summer on record and carbon pollution levels that keep climbing, Britain’s Prince William and wealthy entrepreneurs Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg promised a warming world a degree of hope.That comes in the form of innovation, creativity and technology, the trio and others said at a summit Tuesday in the posh Plaza Hotel. They announced finalists for William’s third annual Earthshot Prize that offers five awards of 1 million pounds ($1.2 million) to companies and groups that come up with new ways to save the planet.“We’ve got to hang onto optimism and hope because it is the biggest driver of change, the biggest driver of innovation,” William told the crowd of movers and shakers, after mentioning that he’d slipped away for a morning jog in New York’s Central Park.While a healthy dose of realistic pessimism about Earth’s climate is important, the heir to the B...

New Mexico official orders insurance companies to expand timely access to behavioral health services

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:42 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s top insurance regulator on Tuesday ordered health insurance companies to expand timely access to behavioral health services in response to the governor recently declaring a public health emergency over gun violence in the state’s largest metropolitan area.Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham initially sought to ban people from the open and concealed carry of firearms in Albuquerque and surrounding Bernalillo County, but a federal judge put that effort on hold pending the outcome of multiple legal challenges. Still, other provisions of the order remain in place, including mandates by the governor for public health officials to address substance abuse and mental health problems.Superintendent of Insurance Alice Kane’s emergency order mandates that major medical health insurers cover out-of-network behavioral health services at in-network rates.“My office is committed to reducing barriers to vital care and doing everything we can t...

Second teenager arrested in video recorded hit-run crash of ex-California police chief in Las Vegas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:42 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas police on Tuesday announced a second teenager has been arrested in a series of hit-and-run crashes, including the death of a former California police chief who was riding a bicycle last month.Deputy Chief Nick Farese said in an afternoon news conference that the arrest was made earlier Tuesday at the teenager’s home. Farese did not identify the teenager.Family members of the cyclist, Andreas Rene Probst, 64, a retired former police chief from the small Southern California city of Bell, also attended the police briefing.The briefing by police came a day after the elected district attorney in Las Vegas said he would charge the 17-year-old alleged driver of the car as an adult with murder and possibly other charges. Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said in a statement that the investigation to identify and arrest a “second perpetrator” was continuing.“I am confident that justice will be served in this matter once the investigation is complet...

Danny Masterson's wife, Bijou Phillips, files for divorce after rape convictions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:42 GMT

(KTLA) — Danny Masterson's wife, Bijou Phillips, has filed for divorce less than two weeks after the former “That ’70s Show” actor was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women in 2003.The filing was submitted on Monday in Santa Barbara, with Philips citing “irreconcilable differences" as the reason behind their split, People Magazine reported. The two got married in 2011 and have a 9-year-old daughter together.News of the divorce filing was first reported by TMZ.“Ms. Phillips has decided to file for divorce from her husband during this unfortunate time. Her priority remains with her daughter. This period has been unimaginably hard on the marriage and the family. Mr. Masterson was always present for Ms. Phillips during her most difficult times of her life," Peter Lauzon, Phillips’ lawyer, told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement."Ms. Phillips acknowledges that Mr. Masterson is a wonderful father to their daughter." After her husband’s sentencing, a source told P...

New technology allows those with hearing loss to feel the sounds of Chicago opera

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:42 GMT

CHICAGO — A new audience is getting to experience some of the most beautiful music ever created for the first time. And it's all thanks to a new groundbreaking piece of technology.SoundShirt is designed to allow audience members who are deaf or hearing impaired to enjoy the Lyric Opera of Chicago by using real-time vibrations to convey a performance. Lyric's senior director of digital initiatives, Brad Dunn, was introduced to the technology in February 2020. Chicago Symphony Orchestra, musicians union agree to 3-year contract "I was familiar with the company CuteCircuit. They are based in London," Dunn said. "I had been in London on other business in February 2020 and I visited their studio. They showed me the shirt. They were like, 'This is our newest thing.' I tried it and it was amazing. And then the pandemic happened and they really couldn't launch it."With the pandemic now over, The Lyric will be the first in the world to apply the innovation in live opera.Lyric Opera general...