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Russian lawmakers move to further restrict transgender rights in new legislation

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:42 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Russian lawmakers on Thursday approved a toughened version of a bill that outlaws gender transitioning procedures, with added clauses that annul marriages in which one person has “changed gender” and bar transgender people from becoming foster or adoptive parents.The bill received swift, unanimous approval of Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, in its key second reading, and lawmakers scheduled the third and final reading for Friday. There is little doubt that the bill, a crippling blow to Russia’s oppressed LGBTQ+ community, will be adopted amid the Kremlin’s crusade to protect what it views as the country’s “traditional values.” The bill bans any “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person,” as well as changing one’s gender in official documents and public records. New clauses added to the bill also amend Russia’s Family Code by listing gender change as a reason to annul a marriage and adding th...

Jury reaches verdict on Pittsburgh synagogue shooter’s eligibility for federal death penalty

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:42 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A jury reached a verdict Thursday on whether the gunman who killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 is eligible for the death penalty.The government is seeking capital punishment for Robert Bowers, who raged against Jewish people online before storming the Tree of Life synagogue with an AR-15 rifle and other weapons in the nation’s deadliest antisemitic attack. Prosecutors argued that Bowers — who spent six months planning the attack and has since expressed regret that he didn’t kill more people — had formed the requisite legal intent to kill.Bowers’ lawyers argued that his ability to form intent was impaired by mental illness and a delusional belief that he could stop a genocide of white people by killing Jews.The jurors indicated they have reached a verdict on whether the federal death penalty applies to Bower’s crimes. It will be announced Thursday morning.If the jurors decide Bowers is eligible for the death penalty, that would set the stage for furt...

In ‘Oppenheimer,’ Christopher Nolan builds a thrilling, serious blockbuster for adults

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:42 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Christopher Nolan has never been one to take the easy or straightforward route. He shoots on large-format film with cumbersome cameras. He prefers practical effects and real locations — even when that means recreating an atomic explosion in the harsh winds of the New Mexico desert for “Oppenheimer,” out July 21. Though, despite internet rumors, they did not detonate an actual nuclear weapon. And as for the biography that inspired his newest film, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin’s “American Prometheus” was simply the starting point from which Nolan crafted a beguiling labyrinth of suspense and drama.It’s why Nolan has become a franchise unto himself — the rare auteur writer-director who makes films that are both intellectually stimulating and commercial, accounting for more than $5 billion in box office receipts. That’s part of the reason why he’s able to attract Oscar winners and movie stars not just to headline his films, but also to turn out for just a scene o...

In ‘Oppenheimer,’ Cillian Murphy finally gets to lead a Christopher Nolan film

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:42 GMT

The day Christopher Nolan called Cillian Murphy about his new film, “Oppenheimer,” Murphy hung up the phone in disbelief.The Irish actor, though a regular presence in Nolan films going back almost two decades, had always been a supporting player. This time, Nolan wanted him to lead.“He’s so understated and self-deprecating and, in his very English manner, just said, ‘Listen, I’ve written this script, it’s about Oppenheimer. I’d like you to be my Oppenheimer,’” Murphy, 46, told The Associated Press earlier this year. “It was a great day.”For Murphy, it is never not exciting to get a call from Nolan. It’s just hard to predict if he’s going to. He knows there are some movies he’s right for and some movies he isn’t.“I have always said publicly and privately, to Chris, that if I’m available and you want me to be in a movie, I’m there. I don’t really care about the size of the part,” he said. “But deep down, secretly, I was desperate to play a lead for him.”Murphy first met Nolan in 2003....

Religious freedom vs. ‘gray water.’ AP explains ruling favoring Amish families who shun septic tanks

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:42 GMT

A long-running religious freedom case has come full circle, with court ruling this week that a deeply conservative Amish community in Minnesota cannot be threatened with the loss of homes if its members don’t install septic systems to dispose of their bath, laundry and dish water.The state Court of Appeals on Monday found that the Swartzentruber Amish community in southeastern Minnesota doesn’t need to install septic systems to dispose of “gray water,” which is dirty water left from dishwashing, laundry, bathing, and other tasks not involving toilet waste. Two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed court rulings that had required the group to install septic tanks.Here’s a look at the legal dispute and the traditionalist religious community at the root of it.Who are the Swartzentruber Amish? The Amish are a Christian religious group that, based on its religious beliefs, shuns many modern technologies like electric and gas-powered machinery. Members are likely most recogniza...

Record monsoon rains have killed more than 100 people in northern India over two weeks

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:42 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Schools and colleges were closed after record monsoon rains led to massive waterlogging, road caves-in, collapsed homes and gridlocked traffic in large parts of northern India, killing more than 100 people over two weeks, officials said Thursday.At least 88 people died, 42 of them in the past five days, and more than 100 were injured in the worst hit-mountainous Himachal Pradesh state where cars, buses, bridges and houses were swept away by swirling flood waters, a state government statement said. The region is nearly 500 kilometers (310 miles) north of New Delhi.Twelve people have died of rain-related incidents since Wednesday in Uttar Pradesh state, said Shishir Singh, a state government spokesman.Nine of them drowned, two died after being struck by lightning and one was killed by a snake bite, Singh said.One person died in New Delhi and four were killed in the Indian-controlled section of Kashmir, officials said.Authorities used helicopters to rescue nearly 300 p...

Stock market today: Wall Street adds to gains as company profit reports come in strong

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:42 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is adding to its winning week following encouraging profit reports from big companies and more signs that inflation is continuing to slow. The S&P 500 was 0.5% higher in early trading Thursday and on pace for its seventh winning week in the last nine. The Dow rose 116 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.8%. Delta Air Lines rose 2.3% after reporting record profit and revenue for the latest quarter. The earnings reporting season is just getting underway. JPMorgan Chase and a big group of other banks will report their results on Friday. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.This week’s Wall Street rally appears ready to extend into Thursday with bellwether companies putting up impressive numbers for the second quarter despite fears of a pullback in spending by Americans. Futures for the Dow Jones industrials rose 0.2% the S&P 500 ticked 0.3% higher before the bell.Delta Air Lines jumped 4.6% after it re...

Royal LePage says average home price down 0.7% year-over-year in second quarter

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:42 GMT

TORONTO — A report by Royal LePage says the average home price in Canada in the second quarter edged lower compared with a year ago.The firm’s house price survey says the aggregate price of a home in Canada was down 0.7 per cent year-over-year at $809,200 in the second quarter of this year.On a quarter-over-quarter basis, the report says the aggregate price, which averages out median values of all housing types, was up 4.0 per cent.Royal LePage says the real estate market is close to the point where it will have recovered fully from the drop in home prices last year when interest rates began to rise.The aggregate price in the second quarter was down 5.6 per cent from the peak reached in the first quarter of 2022.The firm says prices in the fourth quarter this year are now expected to be up 8.5 per cent compared with the fourth quarter of 2022.This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 13, 2023.The Canadian Press

A heat wave named Cerberus has southern Europe in its jaws, and it’s only going to get worse

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:42 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Tourists in central Athens huddled under mist machines, and zoo animals in Madrid were fed fruit popsicles and chunks of frozen food, as southern Europeans braced for a heat wave Thursday, with a warning of severe conditions coming from the European Union’s space agency.Emergency measures – including staffing changes, cellphone alerts, and intensified forest fire patrols – were readied or put into effect in several countries as temperatures in parts of Mediterranean Europe were set to reach 45 degrees Celsius (113F) Friday and into the weekend.In Athens and other Greek cities, working hours were changed for the public sector and many businesses to avoid the midday heat, while air-conditioned areas were opened to the public.“It’s like being in Africa,” 24-year-old tourist Balint Jolan, from Hungary, told the AP. “It’s not that much hotter than it is currently at home, but yes, it is difficult.”The high-pressure system, which crossed the Mediterranean from north ...

IOC declines to give Russia and Belarus formal invitations to Paris Olympics 1 year out

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:42 GMT

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Russia and Belarus will not get a formal invitation to the 2024 Paris Olympics when more than 200 national teams receive their traditional invites later this month, the IOC said Thursday.It is an International Olympic Committee tradition exactly one year before a Summer Games or Winter Games opens to invite all the national teams worldwide to the event. Despite the protocol move, some Russian and Belarusian athletes could still compete in Paris despite their countries’ war on Ukraine. Their national teams will not yet be asked to come. The IOC said Thursday that 203 eligible national Olympic committees (NOCs) will be sent their invitations to Paris on July 26.“For the reasons given, this will exclude the NOCs of Russia and Belarus, plus the NOC of Guatemala, which is currently suspended,” the Olympic body said in a statement.The president of the Belarus NOC is Viktor Lukashenko, the son of state leader Alexander Lukashenko. He followed his father i...