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Pro-Imran Khan Pakistani TV journalist returns home after being freed

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:54 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A prominent Pakistani television journalist who went missing last week, apparently because of his public support to former Prime Minister Imran Khan, returned home early Tuesday after being released by his captors, his family and his employer said.Sami Abrahim’s brother, Ali Raza, took to Twitter to confirm his release. BOL TV confirmed his release in a news announcement.Abrahim went missing Thursday when eight people in four vehicles intercepted his car on his way back home from work in the capital, Islamabad, and took him away, according to his family and BOL TV where Abrahim works.No one had claimed responsibility for Abrahim’s abduction, but it is widely believed that he was being held by the country’s security agencies, which are notorious for abducting, harassing and torturing journalists.Abrahim has long publicly opposed the government of Khan’s successor, Premier Shahbaz Sharif. Khan, a former cricket star who became an Islamist politician, was i...

Prosecutors say Sam Bankman-Fried’s arguments to dismiss cryptocurrency charges are meritless

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:54 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyers made meritless arguments in a bid to convince a judge to toss out criminal charges alleging that the FTX founder stole from investors in his multibillion dollar cryptocurrency fund, federal prosecutors said Monday.In papers filed in Manhattan federal court, prosecutors responded to early May filings in which Bankman-Fried’s lawyers insisted that the United States overreached in its case against Bankman-Fried, making federal crimes out of regulatory issues.“These motions are meritless,” prosecutors wrote in a nearly 100-page filing. “The charges track the relevant statutes and the defendant’s alleged misconduct falls within the heartland of what these statutes prohibit.”Bankman-Fried, 31, has been living with his parents in Palo Alto, California, after posting a $250 million personal recognizance bond after his December extradition from the Bahamas.Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to charges that he cheated investors and looted customer...

Stock market today: Asia shares mixed as investors await debt ceiling vote, eye China economy

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:54 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mixed in directionless trading Tuesday following a U.S. holiday, as optimism about a deal on the U.S. debt was dented by worries about the regional economy. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.4% in morning trading to 31,119.27. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed, inching up less than 0.1% to 7,218.60. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.9% to 2,581.89. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dipped 0.5% to 18,458.25, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.6% to 3,202.41. Analysts say investors remain concerned about the a possible “second wave” of COVID-19 cases in China, although the economic impact is expected to be more limited than from the earlier pandemic wave. China’s recovery from virus-related disruptions during the past several years appears to be faltering, adding to worries over the regional economy. “To say China’s economic opening has been a disappointment could be an understatement, especially as reflected in local stocks t...

DeSantis kicks off presidential campaign in Iowa as he steps up criticism of Trump

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ron DeSantis plans to kick off his presidential campaign in Iowa on Tuesday, the start of a busy week that will take him to 12 cities in three states as he tests his pitch as the most formidable Republican challenger to former President Donald Trump.The Florida governor’s two-day trip to the leadoff caucus state — starting at a suburban Des Moines megachurch and ending at a Cedar Rapids racetrack — comes after a stumbling online announcement last week that formalized his long-anticipated entry into the growing Republican field. It will be followed by stops in early primary states New Hampshire and South Carolina. DeSantis’ scheduled Tuesday evening stop at Eternity Church in Clive is a conspicuous nod to the evangelical Christians who wield outsize influence in Iowa’s Republican presidential caucuses. His visit will give voters an opportunity to meet the new candidate just as he has been stepping up his criticism of Trump.“He’s got a big hil...

Crucial days ahead as debt ceiling deal goes for vote and Biden calls lawmakers for support

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says he “feels good” about the debt ceiling and budget deal negotiated with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as the White House and congressional leaders work to ensure its passage this week in time to lift the nation’s borrowing limit and prevent a disastrous U.S. default.Biden spent part of the Memorial Day holiday working the phones, calling lawmakers in both parties, as the president does his part to deliver the votes. A number of hard right conservatives are criticizing the deal as falling short of the deep spending cuts they wanted, while liberals decry policy changes such as new work requirements for older Americans in the food aid program.A key test will come Tuesday afternoon when the House Rules Committee is scheduled to consider the package and vote on sending it to the full House for a vote expected Wednesday. “I feel very good about it,” Biden told reporters Monday as he left Washington for his home in Delaware.“I’ve spoken ...

Most in U.S. say don’t ban race in college admissions but that role should be small: AP-NORC poll

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the Supreme Court decides the fate of affirmative action, most U.S. adults say the court should allow colleges to consider race as part of the admissions process, yet few believe students’ race should ultimately play a major role in decisions, according to a new poll.The May poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 63% say the Supreme Court should not block colleges from considering race or ethnicity in their admission systems. The poll found little divide along political or racial lines.But those polled were more likely to say factors including grades and standardized test scores should be important, while 68% of adults said race and ethnicity should not be a significant factor.The poll reflects general support for affirmative action even as the future of the practice remains in doubt. The Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on lawsuits challenging admissions systems at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. Wi...

LGBTQ+ activists call for new strategies to promote equality after Target backlash

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:54 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Following Target’s announcement last week that it removed products and relocated Pride displays to the back of certain stores in the South, activists in the LGBTQ+ community are calling for new campaigns to convince corporate leaders not to cave to anti-LGBTQ+ groups.“We need a strategy on how to deal with corporations that are experiencing enormous pressure to throw LGBTQ people under the bus,” said California state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, a member of the LGBTQ legislative caucus.“We need to send a clear message to corporate America that if you’re our ally — if you are truly our ally — you need to be our ally, not just when it’s easy but also when it’s hard,” he said.While the retailer said its actions were aimed at ensuring the safety and well-being of its employees after protesters knocked over Pride signs and confronted workers in stores, the controversy comes at a time when conflict over LGBTQ+ rights is simmering.Nearly 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills ha...

The day has arrived for Elizabeth Holmes to report to a Texas prison

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:54 GMT

Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes is scheduled to move to her new home —-a federal prison where she has been sentenced to spend the next 11 years for overseeing a blood-testing hoax that became a parable about greed and hubris in Silicon Valley.The federal judge who sentenced Holmes, 39, in November recommended that she be incarcerated in a women’s prison camp located in Bryan, Texas, located about 100 miles from Houston, where she grew up aspiring to become a technology visionary along the lines of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Once she enters prison, Holmes will be leaving behind two young children — a son born in July 2021 a few weeks before the start of her trial and a 3-month old daughter who was conceived after a jury c onvicted her on four felony counts of fraud and conspiracy in January 2022. Holmes has been free on bail since then, most recently living in the San Diego area with the children’s father, William “Billy” Evans. The couple met in 2017 around the...

New Hampshire town recognized for historic role in racially integrating baseball in the 1940s

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:54 GMT

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — The conversation around racial integration in baseball often revolves around Jackie Robinson, who broke the major league color barrier in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. But a year earlier, history was being made in the small town of Nashua, New Hampshire. It was here that Hall of Fame catcher Roy Campanella and Cy Young Award-winning pitcher Don Newcombe would join the Nashua Dodgers, making the minor league club the first racially integrated baseball team in the United States. They played at the 86-year-old Holman Stadium, which will celebrate their achievements Tuesday night by adding the venue to a stop on the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire. Already, the 2,825-seat stadium serves as a shrine of sorts to the players. Visitors are greeted with banners of the players at the entrance, and access streets leading to the venue have been named in their honor. Their Dodgers numbers — 36 for Newcombe, 39 for Campanella and 42 for Robinson — adorn the outfield br...

Trial for accused gunman in Pittsburgh synagogue massacre slated to start

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:54 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The federal jury trial of the suspect in the nation’s deadliest antisemitic attack is scheduled to get underway Tuesday morning, four and a half years after the shooting deaths of 11 worshipers at a Pittsburgh synagogue.Twelve jurors and six alternates — chosen Thursday after a month of questioning of more than 200 jury candidates — will hear the case against Robert Bowers. The jurors include 11 women and seven men.Bowers, 50, could face the death penalty if convicted of some of the 63 counts he faces in the Oct. 27, 2018, attack at the Tree of Life synagogue building. The attack claimed the lives of 11 worshipers from three congregations sharing the building, Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life. Charges include 11 counts each of obstruction of free exercise of religion resulting in death and hate crimes resulting in death. Prosecutors have said Bowers made antisemitic comments at the scene of the attack and online. In proceedings before and during juror q...