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On Ukraine-Russia trip, South African leader’s delegation stuck at Polish airport over arms permits

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:42 GMT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A delegation of security officials, diplomats and journalists accompanying the South African president to Ukraine and Russia was stranded on a separately chartered plane at Warsaw’s airport for more than 24 hours. Polish authorities said on Friday that the problem was over permissions for firearms. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is among a group of African leaders visiting Kyiv and Moscow on a mission to encourage a resolution to Russia’s war on Ukraine. According to the Poland Border Guard agency, Ramaphosa’s security detail did not have permission for the weapons they were carrying, which resulted in a standoff. The president’s office described the incident as “very unfortunate and deeply regrettable” but said his security was not compromised.“Members of the delegation had weapons which they did not have permission to bring, but they could leave the plane themselves,” the Polish agency tweeted Friday.“Our officials remain engaged with their...

Jury resumes deliberating in trial of gunman who killed 11 at Pittsburgh synagogue

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:42 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A jury resumed deliberating Friday in the federal trial of a truck driver who shot and killed 11 worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue in the nation’s deadliest attack on Jewish people.There is no dispute that 50-year-old Robert Bowers was the man who burst into Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018, and opened fire with an AR-15 rifle and other guns, although prosecutors and the defense sparred at trial over his motive. Seven people were wounded, including five police officers.After 11 days of testimony, jurors got the case Thursday afternoon and spent more than two hours reviewing the mountain of evidence against Bowers before going home. Bowers is charged with 63 criminal counts, including hate crimes resulting in death and obstruction of the free exercise of religion resulting in death. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.In closing arguments Thursday, a prosecutor told the jury that Bowers targeted his victims because of their religion, noting hi...

AP Election Brief | What to expect in Virginia’s primaries for state legislature

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:42 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Virginia voters will select candidates in a primary election Tuesday in which redistricting has forced a record number of retirements and created several high-profile contests between incumbents of the same party.The winners will face off in a November general election that will decide control of the closely divided state legislature.In 2021, Republicans won a narrow 52-48 majority in the House of Delegates and swept every statewide constitutional office. This year, they aim for a complete lock on the commonwealth’s legislative agenda by winning back the state Senate, which Democrats now control by a 22-18 majority.One of the top races to watch is the Democratic primary in the 13th Senate District, where the candidates’ positions on abortion have played a key role. First-term incumbent Joe Morrissey, a former independent, opposes abortion rights and has backed some Republican efforts to restrict the procedure in the commonwealth. His opponent is Lashrecse Aird, a f...

Family separations at the US border inspired Isabel Allende’s newest novel

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:42 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — The separation of migrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border has always caused Isabel Allende pain: When she saw it during the Trump administration, her first impulse was to help reunify children and parents through her foundation. Then, the legendary Chilean author thought, she had to write a book.“The Wind Knows My Name,” which grapples with immigration, violence, solidarity, and love, is the latest novel by the award-winning writer who — with more than 77 million books sold — is considered the world’s most widely read Spanish-language author. Released earlier this month, it is available at bookstores in the U.S., Spain, and Latin America.For Allende, 80, the separation of children from their parents at the border evoked similarly wrenching historical moments, such as when children of enslaved or Indigenous families were wrest from their parents.“I thought about this awful tragedy, that is not the first time that it happens,” Allende said during a video interview with...

Cyclone Biparjoy weakens as it churns toward Pakistan after killing 2 in India and causing damage

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:42 GMT

MANDVI, India (AP) — Cyclone Biparjoy knocked out power and threw shipping containers into the sea in western India on Friday before weakening as it headed toward Pakistan, officials said.More than 180,000 people took shelter in the two countries, but later Friday, Pakistan’s evacuees prepared to return home. Indian officials said electricity has been restored in some villages, while many others were still without power. Still, the storm took a toll especially where it made landfall in India. A man and his son died when they tried to save their livestock in Gujarat state. The storm packed windspeeds of 85 kph (53 mph) and gusting up to 105 kph (65 mph) through the coastal regions of western Gujarat. The full extent of the damage in western India wasn’t immediately known. In addition to the two deaths, 23 people were injured in various areas, officials said. About 100,000 people who were evacuated in western India have been temporarily relocated to relief camps, authoriti...

Powerful illegal drugs are inundating Europe and sending corruption and violence soaring, EU says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:42 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — New harmful illicit drugs are inundating a flourishing market for traffickers amid violence and corruption hurting local communities across Europe, the EU’s agency monitoring drugs and addiction said Friday.The grim finding was part of the agency’s annual report. It also said that drug users in Europe are now exposed to a wider range of substances of high purity as drug trafficking and use across the region have quickly returned to pre-COVID 19 pandemic levels.Cannabis remains the most-used illicit substance in Europe, the agency found, with some 22.6 million Europeans over the age of 15 having used it in the last year. Cocaine seizures are “historically high” and new synthetic drugs whose effects on health are not well documented are worrying officials.In 2022, 41 new drugs were reported for the first time by the agency.“I summarize this with the phrase: ‘everywhere, everything, everyone,’” said European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction Dir...

‘The Full Monty’ returns 25 years on, with its politics laid bare

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:42 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The Sheffield strippers of “The Full Monty” return 25 years on, in a new TV series that wears its politics on its sleeve.In the much-loved original movie, a group of unemployed men from the north of England decide to form a striptease act in a desperate attempt to raise money after the local steelworks closed down. A new comedy-drama TV series from the same writer, Simon Beaufoy, and producer, Uberto Pasolini, returns to those characters more than two decades later in a compelling portrait of contemporary Britain. After the dismantling of heavy industry, the area has been subjected to an erosion of public services and the welfare safety net.“The politics are in there,” actor Steve Huison told The Associated Press recently. “You don’t have to be slammed in the face with them but hopefully people will see it and realize, ‘Oh, you know, that’s where I’m at at the moment.’”The original movie was a surprise international hit, earning nearly $260 million and even spawning a ...

'Jeopardy!' fans stunned after Lord's Prayer question stumps all 3 contestants

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:42 GMT

(WFLA) – Fans of the game show "Jeopardy!" were left reeling after a seemingly easy question about the most commonly recited Christian prayer stumped all three contestants. The perturbing puzzle popped up during Tuesday night's episode. The $200 clue — typically considered the easiest in its category — read, “Matthew 6:9 says, ‘Our Father, which art in heaven,’ This ‘be thy name.’”The three contestants — Suresh Krishnan, Laura Blyler and Joe Seibert — did not attempt to solve the puzzle. Host Mayim Bialik revealed the answer was “hallowed" and it didn't take long for the clip to go viral. ‘It was worth it’: Florida man who blocked Trump motorcade speaks after release from jail “None of them even took a guess," one Twitter user wrote. "I’m really surprised — I thought that would be an easy one!”Some fans of the quiz show found the unanswered question distressing. “Not one contestant on Jeopardy last night knew the answer to this. Are you waking up yet?" read one Twitter post...

Juneteenth: The story behind the federal holiday

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:42 GMT

Americans will soon celebrate Juneteenth, marking the day when the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free.For generations, Black Americans have recognized the end of one of the darkest chapters in U.S. history with joy, in the form of parades, street festivals, musical performances or cookouts.The U.S. government was slow to embrace the occasion — it was only in 2021 that President Joe Biden signed a bill passed by Congress to set aside Juneteenth, or June 19th, as a federal holiday.And just as many people learn what Juneteenth is all about, the holiday’s traditions are facing new pressures — political rhetoric condemning efforts to teach Americans about the nation's racial history, companies using the holiday as a marketing event, people partying without understanding why.Here is a look at the origins of Juneteenth, how it became a federal holiday and more about its history.HOW DID JUNETEENTH START?The celebrations began with enslaved people in Galveston, ...

Here are the top allegations that led to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:42 GMT

AUSTIN (Texas Tribune) — On a late-September Wednesday in 2020, several of Attorney General Ken Paxton’s highest-ranking deputies walked into the FBI’s Austin office to make an explosive accusation: Their boss, one of the state’s most influential Republicans, appeared to be dirty.Paxton, they said, had personally directed his powerful agency to take unusual and probably illegal actions to help a friend and campaign donor, Austin real estate investor Nate Paul, who was under federal investigation for fraud.Paxton’s interest in Paul’s plight was bizarre, obsessive and so far beyond normal operations at the attorney general’s office that the agency’s top officials struggled to convey their concerns during the hourslong meeting with two FBI agents.In addition to obstruction of justice, harassment and abuse of office, they added, Paxton had apparently accepted bribes from Paul.Back in the office the next day, seven of the agency’s top-ranking officials sent Paxton a text message saying t...