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Michigan judge to decide whether Oxford High School shooter gets life in prison or chance at parole

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:35:43 GMT

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A teenager who killed four students at Michigan’s Oxford High School will learn Friday whether he will spend his life in prison or get a chance for parole in the decades ahead.Judge Kwame Rowe will announce his decision over video conference, weeks after hearing from experts who clashed over Ethan Crumbley’s mental health and witnesses who described the tragic day in 2021 in sharp detail.First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence for adults in Michigan. But the shooter was 15 at the time, and the judge has the option of choosing a shorter term that would mean an eventual opportunity for freedom.The actual sentence won’t be formally imposed in Oakland County court until Dec. 8, a day when survivors and families can tell the judge about how the shooting affected their lives.“Even if the defendant changes, and he finds some peace and some meaning in his life beyond torturing and killing, does not mean that he ever gets the right to li...

As China censors homegrown feminism, a feminist scholar from Japan is on its bestseller lists

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:35:43 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — In the last few years, China’s government has promoted increasingly conservative social values, encouraging women to focus on raising children. It has cracked down on civil society movements and made laws to drive out foreign influence.So a 75-year-old Japanese feminist scholar who’s not married and does not have children is an unlikely celebrity on the country’s tightly censored internet.But Chizuko Ueno, a professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, is a phenomenon. She leapt to fame in China in 2019 with a speech that criticized social expectations for women to act cute and the pressure they face to hide their success.Ueno’s popularity reflects a surge in interest in women’s rights, said Leta Hong Fincher, a research associate at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute who has written about gender discrimination and feminism in China.About a decade ago, China had a rambunctious feminist movement that staged protests like occupying a men’s restroom to demand...

Democratic rising stars rally around Biden’s reelection. They’re also eyeing 2028 bids of their own

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:35:43 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro is set to address presidential primary voters in New Hampshire on Saturday.Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is working to strengthen Democratic parties across the Midwest. And California Gov. Gavin Newsom was the Biden campaign’s surrogate during the second Republican presidential debate this week — and he’s agreed to a one-on-one debate against a top GOP presidential contender. As Biden faces concerns, including from voters in his own party, about his prospects in a grueling reelection campaign, a new generation of high-profile Democrats are fanning out for the 80-year-old president. Those close to the ambitious Democrats insist they are focused squarely on the 2024 campaign when Biden may face a tough rematch against Donald Trump. But in building their national profiles, they’re also positioning themselves for what could be a contentious 2028 primary — and giving the party something of an insurance...

What’s streaming now: Ed Sheeran, ‘The Voice,’ ‘The Golden Bachelor’ and Wes Anderson returns

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:35:43 GMT

An Ed Sheeran album and a spinoff of “The Bachelor” starring a 72-year-old widower are some of the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near youAmong the offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are Wes Anderson’s movie “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” starring Benedict Cumberbatch, and Jesse L. Martin returns to NBC in “The Irrational,” playing a behavioral science expert.NEW MOVIES TO STREAM— John Carney, the director of “Sing Street” and “Begin Again,” has a new musically inclined charmer in “Flora and Son,” arrives on Apple TV+ Friday. Eve Hewson stars as a single mother to a 14-year-old boy in Ireland who are both having a rough time of it. In an attempt to “change the narrative” she signs up for remote guitar lessons, with a California based instructor played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. AP Film Writer Jake Coyle wrote that it’s a star-making turn for Hewson. “Hewson’s confident, charismatic leading pe...

Traveling with Milley: A reporter recalls how America’s top soldier was most at home with his troops

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:35:43 GMT

STE MERE EGLISE, France (AP) — The soldier had target fixation. He had three beers in hand, a full day of leave and a group of young women waiting. But a crowd of Army uniforms also gathered for this French village’s D-Day celebrations stood in the way. The soldier navigated another step and realized he was pushing his beers right into the uniform of Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.“Palomino, what are you doing?” Milley said, reading the captain’s name tag. Palomino’s eyes went wide.“Whoaaa!” he said, backing away from the big guy.“Whoaaa!” Milley said right back, grinning and taking a step toward him. While the captain may have been surprised to find Milley mixing it up with soldiers, it didn’t surprise me. For those of us who have covered him, there’s the Milley who has been defined by the deeply controversial moments of his chairmanship under former President Donald Trump, who branded him a traitor. And then there’s Milley wit...

The fall of an enclave in Azerbaijan stuns the Armenian diaspora, extinguishing a dream

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:35:43 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — The swift fall of the Armenian-majority enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani troops and exodus of much of its population has stunned the large Armenian diaspora around the world. Traumatized by genocide a century ago, they now fear the erasure of what they consider a central and beloved part of their historic homeland.The separatist ethnic Armenian government in Nagorno-Karabakh on Thursday announced that it was dissolving and that the unrecognized republic will cease to exist by year’s end – a seeming death knell for its 30-year de-facto independence.Azerbaijan, which routed the region’s Armenian forces in a lightning offensive last week, has pledged to respect the rights of the territory’s Armenian community. But by Thursday morning, 74,400 people – over 60% of Nagorno-Karabakh’s population — had fled to Armenia, and the influx continues, according to Armenian officials.Many in Armenia and the diaspora fear a centuries-long community in the territory they call ...

Algeria expands English-language learning as France’s influence ebbs

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:35:43 GMT

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — More than a year after Algeria launched a pilot program to teach English in elementary schools, the country is hailing it as a success and expanding it in a move that reflects a widening linguistic shift underway in former French colonies throughout Africa.Students returning to third and fourth grade classrooms this fall will participate in two 45-minute English classes each week as the country creates new teacher training programs at universities and eyes more transformational changes in the years ahead.“Teaching English is a strategic choice in the country’s new education policy,” Education Minister Abdelkrim Belabed said last week, lauding the move as an immense success.English is the world’s most widely spoken language, accounts for the majority of content on the internet and remains a common language in business and science. And as France’s economic and political influence wanes throughout Africa, Algeria is among a longer list of countries gradual...

Brazil’s President Lula set to undergo hip replacement surgery

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:35:43 GMT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is scheduled to undergo hip replacement surgery Friday, a procedure likely to put a temporary halt to his frequent international trips but otherwise not disrupt his activities.The 77-year-old leader should spend a few days in the Hospital Sirio-Libanes in the capital, Brasilia, before heading back to the presidential palace early next week, said Andrea Cordeiro of the president’s press office.“The impact of Lula’s surgery will probably be small and should not affect the decision-making process or negotiations in a significant way,” said Paulo Calmon, a political science professor at the University of Brasilia. “It is very likely that Lula, even in recovery, will continue to influence main decisions and will certainly demand to be informed of everything that is happening,” Calmon added.Hip replacement surgery is a common procedure, which usually takes one to two hours, according to the American Academy of Orthopedic ...

Ex-Detroit police chief James Craig will join GOP primary for US Senate in Michigan, sources tell AP

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:35:43 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, who was a leading GOP candidate for governor last year before fraudulent signatures on his paperwork derailed his campaign, is planning to enter the race for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat, according to two people familiar with the matter. Craig will join a growing field of GOP candidates trying to flip a seat that’s remained in Democratic control for over two decades. Former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers announced a bid less than a month ago and several others, including former U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer, are still considering campaigns. The people familiar with the matter spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement scheduled for next week.Craig is positioning himself to win the support of former President Donald Trump, who has often swung Republican primaries with his endorsement. He has supported Trump for president in 2024 and wrote in a column this month for the conservative Dail...

Smash-and-grab robbers storm Palmdale jewelry store

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:35:43 GMT

Security cameras captured the moment a group of smash-and-grab robbers escaped with over $15,000 worth of merchandise in Palmdale on Thursday.The owners of Kimberly’s Jewelry located on the 440 block of E Palmdale Boulevard said the theft happened around 12:06 p.m. when three masked thieves stormed into the shop.Video shows one suspect immediately spraying the security guard with bear spray before directing the spray toward two other employees.A second suspect wielding a hammer focused on smashing the store’s glass display cases.A third suspect followed closely behind and was seen grabbing all the jewelry and merchandise from the shattered display cases and throwing them into a large plastic bin.Security cameras captured a group of smash-and-grab robbers escaping with over $15,000 worth of merchandise in Palmdale on Sept. 28, 2023. (Kimberly's Jewelry)Security cameras captured a group of smash-and-grab robbers escaping with over $15,000 worth of merchandise in Palmdale on Sept. 28, ...