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Belarus journalist jailed for “facilitating extremism” after collecting data for human rights group

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:39 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A court in Belarus has sentenced a high-profile journalist to 3 1/2 years for “facilitating extremist activities” and “discrediting Belarus” after she provided data for a renowned human rights group, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) said Thursday.Larysa Shchyrakova, 50 — sentenced during a closed trial in the city of Gomel — will serve her sentence in a high-security penal colony and must pay a fine of 3,500 Belarusian rubles (about $1,100).Belarusian authorities detained Shchyrakova in December 2022. Officials initially placed her son in a state orphanage before transferring custody to her ex-husband.Shchyrakova is the latest in a string of journalists jailed in Belarus after covering the large-scale political repression that has rocked the country since its last presidential elections three years ago.Large-scale protests erupted in Belarus in August 2020, when President Alexander Lukashenko was re-elected in a vote that both the opposition an...

Housing minister Steve Clark apologizes, won’t resign amid Greenbelt scandal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:39 GMT

Beleaguered Housing Minister Steve Clark addressed Ontarians hat in hand on Thursday to “accept responsibility” for his lack of oversight over the province’s scandalous Greenbelt land swap.More notable was what he didn’t have in his hands — his resignation.Clark maintained he would stay on in his role with a firm mandate to build 1.5 million homes over the next decade.It was no surprise that Clark didn’t resign amidst calls for him to step down. At an earlier news conference in Etobicoke on Thursday morning, Premier Doug Ford made it clear that Clark would remain in his current position.“We’re going to work with Minister Clark as we work with the other ministers to fulfil our mandate,” Ford said. “Our mandate is to build homes.”While Ford angrily clashed with reporters who grilled him about the integrity commissioner’s damning Greenbelt report, Clark was comparatively contrite.RELATED: ‘You don’t att...

B.C. officer who assaulted UBC nursing student receives conditional discharge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:39 GMT

KELOWNA, B.C. — The BC Prosecution Service has confirmed a Mountie who pleaded guilty to assaulting a University of British Columbia student during a wellness check in Kelowna has received a conditional discharge and was placed on probation for two years.It says Const. Lacy Browning must also complete 160 hours of community service over the first year, and a $200 “victim fine surcharge” was also imposed.The service says if she completes all the terms of the discharge, she will not have a conviction or a criminal record.Browning was accused of punching Mona Wang and dragging the student from her apartment in January 2020 after Wang’s boyfriend called police asking them to check on her.Surveillance video taken from inside an apartment building, which was disclosed as part of a civil lawsuit filed by Wang, shows the RCMP officer dragging Wang by the arms face down along a carpeted hallway, then stepping on her head in the lobby.Browning pleaded guilty to one count of ...

Lincoln Park Zoo offers memory enrichment program for people with dementia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:39 GMT

CHICAGO — The Lincoln Park Zoo is starting its first ever Memory Enrichment program to allow individuals with Dementia to connect with nature in a safe and welcoming environment.The Memory Enrichment program is free, monthly, and allows people with dementia to connect with wildlife and build community through socialization at a set time each month, the zoo said.Trained staff members will implement practices used in memory cafes and dementia-friendly sites like administering multi-sensory experiences and low-impact physical activity. Chris Getz named White Sox general manager Sensory-Friendly Hours is also a quarterly program inviting guests with sensory disabilities to experience the zoo with less environmental stimulations and less crowds.For more information, visit: Wildlife Experience in the Heart of Chicago | Lincoln Park Zoo (lpzoo.org)ASL interpretation is also offered through partnership with Columbia College's ASL department. The Memory Enrichment Program will take place ...

Thursday Forecast: Temps in mid 70s with abundant sun

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:39 GMT

CHICAGO — Temperatures in the mid 70s Thursday with sunny conditions and cooler lakeside. Winds: SE 5-10 G15. High: 76/70. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here Clear tonight. Winds: SSE 5-10. Low: 56.Friday Forecast: Sunny, cooler lakeside. Winds: S 5-10. High: 85/80.Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog

Idalia heads out to sea as Florida and Georgia begin tough cleanup process

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:39 GMT

PERRY, Fla. (AP) — Tropical Storm Idalia headed out to sea Thursday after thrashing parts of Florida and Georgia with punishing rains and destructive winds, leaving residents to begin the arduous process of clearing fallen trees, restoring power and picking through the debris of devastated homes.Thus far, authorities have only confirmed only one death, that of a man hit by a falling tree in Georgia. But the storm’s ferocious winds shredded homes in Florida's Big Bend area, where Idalia roared ashore as a major hurricane. As many as a half-million customers were without power at one point in Florida and Georgia as the storm ripped down power poles. Tropical Storm Jose forms in Atlantic, NHC monitoring 2 other disturbances After pounding Florida, Idalia swung east, flooding many of South Carolina’s beaches and leaving some in the state and North Carolina without power before heading back into the Atlantic Ocean. Forecasters said the weakened storm should continue heading a...

Nebraska governor signs executive order narrowing definition of male and female

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:39 GMT

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) signed an executive order Wednesday narrowly defining a person’s sex, a move that LGBTQ rights advocates have said will write transgender and gender-nonconforming people out of state law.The executive order signed Wednesday by Pillen legally defines females as individuals “whose biological reproductive system is designed to produce ova” and males as individuals “whose biological reproductive system is developed to fertilize the ova of a female.” It charges state agencies to define a person’s sex as that with which they were assigned at birth.Pillen in Wednesday’s order wrote that biological differences between cisgender males and females are “immutable” and “enduring” and “there are legitimate reasons to distinguish between the sexes” in areas where “biology, safety, and/or privacy are implicated.”“It is common sense that men do not belong in women’s only spaces,” Pillen said Wednesday in a statement. “As Governor, it is my duty to protect our ...

New Texas law punishes students caught vaping in school

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:39 GMT

Editor's Note: The video in this story shows KXAN Live's top headlines for Aug. 31, 2023AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) --- A new Texas law will increase punishments for students vaping on school campuses. House Bill 114 will go into effect Sept. 1. These new Texas laws take effect on Sept. 1 It requires students caught with vapes at the school to be placed in an alternative schooling environment, or Disciplinary Alternative Education Program (DAEP).Dripping Springs Independent School District is one of the districts that recently updated its 2023-24 student code of conduct to reflect this change. According to the DSISD student code of conduct, a student must be placed in a DAEP if they: Sell, give or deliver an e-cigarette to another person Possess or use an e-cigarette themselvesIf the DAEP is full, a student can be placed in in-school suspension until space is available to transfer them. That rule also applies to students with marijuana, THC or alcohol. 'It's a lot'Previously, Hays Conso...

Drug safety activists rally outside Governor's Mansion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:39 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- Activists rallied in front of the Governor’s Mansion Thursday in protest of Gov. Abbott’s policies regarding harm reduction and drug overdose prevention. August 31 marks International Overdose Awareness Day. The day comes after an increase in Fentanyl related deaths in recent years. In Texas, preliminary data shows a near 30% increase in Fentanyl related deaths from 2021 to 2022. One of the measures to combat this statistic increasing was HB 362; legislation to legalize Fentanyl testing strips — a small strip of paper that detects the existence of fentanyl in various drugs. HB 362, despite having overwhelming support in the Texas House, ultimately failed in the Senate. The bill’s failure to get passed shares disappointment with Sen. John Cornyn.  Fentanyl testing strip legalization overwhelmingly approved by Texas House “I don’t really understand why legalizing the fentanyl testing strips would be controversial,” said Sen. John Cornyn. “I think it will save liv...

Vikings place Kene Nwangwu on IR with back injury

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:39 GMT

The Vikings have placed running back/kick returner Kene Nwangwu on injured reserve with a lower back injury, head coach Kevin O’Connell said Thursday.Nwangwu has rushed for only 75 yards on 22 carries in two seasons since being drafted in 2021 out of Iowa State in the fourth round, but has found a role as the Vikings’ kick returner. In 17 games, Nwangwu has returned 53 kicks for 1,499 yards and three touchdowns.He is eligible to return this season but O’Connell would not put a timeline on Nwangwu’s recovery.“In conversations with Kene, he’s feeling better and better, and we’ll continue to work through that with him and try to get him back at some point this year,” the head coach said.Running back Ty Chandler is the front-runner to return kicks in the Vikings’ Sept. 10 opener against Tampa Bay at U.S. Bank Stadium.“I think Ty did some really good things in training camp any time, really, he had the ball in his hand,” O’Connell said.The Vikings will look at others leading up to next S...