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Civil rights groups issue travel advisory about Florida in wake of ‘hostile’ laws

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:56 GMT

By MIKE SCHNEIDER (Associated Press)ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The NAACP over the weekend issued a travel advisory for Florida, joining two other civil rights groups in warning potential tourists that recent laws and policies championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers are “openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.”The NAACP, long an advocate for Black Americans, joined the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), a Latino civil rights organization, and Equality Florida, a gay rights advocacy group, in issuing travel advisories for the Sunshine State, where tourism is one of the state’s largest job sectors.The warning approved Saturday by the NAACP’s board of directors tells tourists that, before traveling to Florida, they should understand the state of Florida “devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color.”An email was sent Sunday morning to DeSantis’ ...

Woman found dead, man arrested in west end

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:56 GMT

Toronto police are investigating the death of a woman in the west end of the city. Police say they were called to the area of Harbord Street and Ossington Avenue around 11:45 a.m. for reports of unknown trouble. When they arrived they found a woman suffering from serious injuries. She was later pronounced dead at the scene. Police say a man is in custody but provided no further details as to the circumstances leading up to the woman’s death.

Driver arrested after injuring two people in road rage incident near Montreal: police

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:56 GMT

MONTREAL — Quebec provincial police allege a pickup truck driver intentionally struck a three-wheeled motorcycle in the Montreal suburb of St-Eustache, Que. this morning, seriously injuring two people.Police are describing the crash, which took place shortly before 10 a.m., as a road rage incident.Police spokesman Sgt. Eric Cadotte says the driver of the van was arrested for dangerous driving causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon.He says the van is being considered a weapon. Police say the two victims have been taken to hospital, but did not provide information about their condition or their ages.Cadotte says a collision investigator is being dispatched to the scene. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2023. The Canadian Press

Greek elections: Conservative party in lead but unlikely to form government outright

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:56 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Exit polls in Greece’s parliamentary elections show Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ conservative party is in the lead but is unlikely to win enough seats in parliament to form a government outright.If confirmed by official results, Mitsotakis will have to seek coalition partners to secure a majority in the 300-seat parliament. If coalition talks fail, a second election could be held in late June or early July. Exit polls showed Mitsotakis’ main rival, former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, 48, and his left-wing Syriza party, in second place. The polls projected New Democracy winning between 121 and 125 parliamentary seats, with Syriza at between 86 and 89 seats, with a total of either six or seven parties making it past the threshold of 3% of the vote to enter parliament. Sunday’s election is Greece’s first since its economy ceased being under strict supervision by international lenders who had provided bailout funds during the country’s nearly decade-long f...

New trial ordered for man who spent 15 years on death row in death of 3-year-old boy

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:56 GMT

CINCINNATI (AP) — A new trial has been ordered for a man who spent more than a decade and a half on Ohio’s death row in the 2006 death of the 3-year-old son of his former live-in girlfriend.Lamont Hunter, 54, was convicted of aggravated murder, child endangering and rape in the death of Trustin Blue, who authorities said was sexually assaulted and died from blunt impact and shaking injuries to his head. Hunter said he was doing laundry in the basement when the boy fell down the stairs and landed on the concrete floor.Prosecutors agreed to a new trial after the deputy coroner who initially ruled the boy’s death a homicide changed that opinion two years ago after reviewing evidence she hadn’t previously been given. She said the cause of death was undetermined and also said injuries she had attributed to sexual assault were accidentally inflicted at the hospital.A hearing Friday on whether Hunter could be freed on bond while awaiting a new trial ended with no decision...

France pension protest held on outskirts of Cannes Film Festival

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:56 GMT

CANNES, France (AP) — Protests over pension reforms have roiled France in recent months, but demonstrations have been kept largely at bay at one of the country’s glitziest events, the Cannes Film Festival.On Sunday, dozens of protesters gathered in Cannes to oppose the raising of the reforms pushed through parliament by President Emmanuel Macron’s government. Those protests, however, were far removed from the central hub of the festival, the Palais des Festivals, or Cannes’ seaside boulevard, the Croisette. Instead, they gathered on the edge of the city, on the Boulevard Carnot. “We are against the retirement reforms which will make many people die at work.,” said Tomas Ghestem, one of the demonstrators. Ahead of the festival, local authorities in Cannes ordered a ban on rallies throughout much of Cannes. That move was part of increasing attempts throughout France to prohibit demonstrations in some high-profile locations. Unions have called for a new round of...

African leaders to broach thorny issue of paying Russia for fertilizers in Kyiv and Moscow talks

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:56 GMT

A delegation of six African leaders set to hold talks with Kyiv and Moscow aim to “initiate a peace process,” but also broach the thorny issue of how a heavily-sanctioned Russia can be paid for the fertilizer exports Africa desperately needs, a key mediator who helped broker the talks said in an interview with The Associated Press.Jean-Yves Ollivier, an international negotiator who has been working for six months to put the talks together, said the African leaders would also discuss the related issue of easing the passage of more grain shipments out of Ukraine amid the war and the possibility of more prisoner swaps when they travel to both countries on what they’ve characterized as a peace mission.The talks will likely be next month, Ollivier said. He arrived in Moscow on Sunday and will also go to Kyiv for meetings with high-level officials to work out “logistics” for the upcoming talks. For one, the six African presidents would likely have to travel to Kyiv by ni...

Police allege man cut own throat after stealing, crashing two cars north of Montreal

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:56 GMT

SAINTE-JULIENNE, Que. — Quebec’s police watchdog is investigating the death of a man who allegedly slit his own throat as police confronted him after he stole and crashed two cars in less than half an hour.The agency, known as the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, issued a news release saying the man appeared to have injured himself with an exacto knife at his workplace late Friday morning.It says the man then fled in a stolen vehicle, which he then drove off the road and abandoned, before stealing another vehicle which he also drove off the road near Ste-Julienne, Que., about 70 kilometres north of Montreal. He was then confronted by two police officers who tried to get him to put down the knife.The BEI says that’s when he moved the knife to his throat. It says police tried to revive him and he was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2023.The Canadian Press

Sinn Fein wins in Northern Ireland local elections, urges return of government

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:56 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein made sweeping gains in Northern Ireland’s local elections, repeating its success from last year’s assembly elections, when it became the largest party for the first time. With counting completed late Saturday, Sinn Fein, which seeks unification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland, took 144 of 462 local government seats — an increase of 39 from the last local government elections in 2019. Its main rival, the Democratic Unionist Party, captured 122 seats, while the centrist Alliance Party had 67. Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Fein’s vice president, said the results were “momentous.” She added that her party’s success was a message from voters that Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government, which has been paralyzed for over a year, must get back to business. “This election was an opportunity to send a clear signal … to support the positive leadership and a party that wants to get the Assembly up and running...

Martina Navratilova says she’s doing ‘OK’ after being diagnosed with cancer

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:56 GMT

ROME (AP) — Martina Navratilova is doing “OK” after being diagnosed with throat cancer and breast cancer.“I’ve gone through a very difficult year but now I’m OK,” the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion and member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame said at the Italian Open on Sunday after receiving the “Racchetta d’Oro” (Golden Racket) award for her contributions to the sport.The 66-year-old Navratilova said in January that her prognosis was good and that she was going to start treatment that month. She said then that she noticed an enlarged lymph node in her neck while attending the season-ending WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, in November, and a biopsy showed early stage throat cancer.While Navratilova was undergoing tests on her throat, she said, the unrelated, early stage breast cancer was discovered.Navratilova returned to her work as a TV analyst at Tennis Channel in March, when in an interview with TalkTV’s Piers Morgan, she said she was told by doctors that, “as far a...