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Illinois highway reopens after dust storm crashes kill 6

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:51 GMT

DIVERNON, Ill. (AP) — An interstate highway in Illinois reopened Tuesday after a windstorm that kicked up clouds of blinding dust from farm fields and led to crashes that killed at least six people and injured dozens more, police said.More than 70 vehicles, including dozens of commercial vehicles and passenger cars, were involved in crashes late Monday morning along a 2-mile stretch of Interstate 55 in Montgomery County, 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of St. Louis. The highway was closed in both directions after the crashes, but northbound and southbound lanes reopened around 6 a.m. Tuesday, Illinois State Police said.The crashes involved 40 to 60 cars, along with tractor-trailers, two of which caught fire, Maj. Ryan Starrick said. The six people who died were all in northbound lanes, while 37 people on both sides of I-55 were taken to hospitals.Those hurt in the crash range in age from 2 to 80 and have injuries from minor to life-threatening, police said. One of the six people kil...

UN summit in Qatar on Afghanistan ends, another planned

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:51 GMT

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — A closed-door summit on Afghanistan ended Tuesday in Qatar without any formal acknowledgment of the Taliban-controlled government there, though the United Nations’ chief said they would hold another meeting in the future.U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres attended the summit, which the world body described as nations and organizations trying to reach unified stances on human rights, governance, counterterrorism and anti-drug efforts. No recognition had been anticipated to come out of the meeting, though activists in recent days criticized the possibility. “To achieve our objectives, we cannot disengage,” Guterres said. “And many called for engagement to be more effective and based on lessons we have learned from the past.” He did not elaborate, though the Taliban previously controlled Afghanistan from 1994 to 2001.Asked by a journalist if there would be any circumstance under which he’d be wiling to directly meet with the Taliban, Guterres said: “...

Canadian writer David West Read nabs Tony nomination for ‘& Juliet’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:51 GMT

Canadian writer David West Read has been nominated for a Tony Award for “& Juliet.”He’s up for best book for “& Juliet,” a jukebox musical that reimagines the end of Romeo and Juliet.The show, which spotlights Swedish songwriter Max Martin’s megahits, is also nominated for best musical.In the comedy musical, Juliet not only survives, but she quickly rebounds from the loss of Romeo and takes off to Paris for a fresh start. The journey is set to 30 familiar tunes, including six from the Backstreet Boys and five from Britney Spears.The Tony Awards will air live on June 11 this year.This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2023.The Canadian Press

‘Some Like It Hot’ leads Tony Award nominations with 13 nods

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:51 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — “Some Like It Hot,” a musical adaptation of the cross-dressing movie comedy that starred Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, waltzed away Tuesday with a leading 13 Tony Award nominations.With songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, the show follows two musician friends who disguise themselves as women and join an all-girl band to flee Chicago after witnessing a mob hit. It has been turned into a sweet, full-hearted embrace of trans rights starring Christian Borle and J. Harrison Ghee, both who earned nominations.Three shows tied with nine nominations each: “& Juliet,” which reimagines “Romeo and Juliet” and adds some of the biggest pop hits of the past few decades, “New York, New York,” which combined two generations of Broadway royalty in John Kander and Lin-Manuel Miranda, and “Shucked,” a surprise lightweight musical comedy studded with corn puns. The critical musical darling “Kimberly Akimbo,” with Victoria Clark playing a teen who ages four times faster than the a...

Bill C-11 is law now. But we still don’t know what it does

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:51 GMT

On today’s Big Story Podcast, the passing of Bill C-11 is the biggest piece of broadcast or media legislation this country has seen in decades. You would think we’d have a clear picture of its implications. But despite receiving royal assent and becoming law, not even leading experts in the field can say what the bill’s many changes will look like in practice.Dr. Michael Geist is a law professor at the University of Ottawa and holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law. He says this is a bill with profound implications both for creators and consumers of basically any kind of digital media.“Rather incredibly, there are no thresholds in this legislation. And in fact, it applies to all audio-visual content anywhere.”What counts as a streaming service? What counts as digital Canadian content? Will user-created content be subject to the same regulations as corporate-made media?You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google and S...

Global operation takes down dark web drug marketplace

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:51 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Law enforcement agencies around the world seized an online marketplace and arrested nearly 300 people allegedly involved in buying and selling drugs, European Union law enforcement agency Europol said Tuesday.The worldwide operation targeting the “Monopoly Market,” coordinated by Europol, is the latest major takedown of sales platforms for drugs and other illicit goods on the so-called dark web, a part of the internet hosted within an encrypted network and accessible only through specialized anonymity-providing tools.“Our coalition of law enforcement authorities across three continents proves that we all do better when we work together,” Europol’s Executive Director, Catherine De Bolle, said in a statement. “This operation sends a strong message to criminals on the dark web: International law enforcement has the means and the ability to identify and hold you accountable for your illegal activities, even on the dark web.” Europol said that 288 suspects w...

Emirates suggest more airline alliances possible for carrier

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:51 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The president of long-haul carrier Emirates suggested on Tuesday that it could reach deals with more firms to share routes after the start of a similar arrangement with U.S.-based United Airlines. Tim Clark, who joined the airline in 1985 when it was first launched, also suggests Emirates remains ready for expansion as the carrier again takes flight following the grounding during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking to journalists at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, Clark said that the United deal — as well as one with Air Canada — showed that carriers were no longer just looking at Emirates as a “dastardly competitor.” U.S. airlines had complained for years about unequal competition from Mideast carriers, describing them as receiving unfair government subsidies to operate. Emirates, though owned by Dubai’s hereditarily ruled government, always denied having an unfair advantage. United had been one of the American firms challen...

Russian fashion designer Valentin Yudashkin dies at age 59

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:51 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian couturier Valentin Yudashkin, whose designs drew eyes at international fashion shows, sports events and military ceremonies, has died at age 59, Russian news reports said Tuesday.The reports cited his wife, Marina, as confirming his death but did not state a cause. Yudashkin was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2016 and reportedly was hospitalized last week.News of his death came two days after Russian media reported that Yudashkin’s mentor and the Soviet Union’s most renowned fashion designer, Vyacheslav Zaitsev, had died. Yudashkin attracted attention with highly dramatic fashions and began showing at events in Paris and elsewhere. His intricate, embellished designs were a sharp departure from the dull, Soviet monoliths of Odintsovo, the city on the outskirts of Moscow where he was born. As acclaim for his work grew, Yudashkin was commissioned to design the Russian Olympic team’s uniforms for the 1994 Winter Games and 1996 Summer Games. He la...

Crowds of those seeking rescue swell at Sudan’s main seaport

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:51 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Exhausted Sudanese and foreigners joined growing crowds at Sudan’s main seaport Tuesday, waiting to be evacuated from the chaos-stricken nation after more than two weeks of fighting increasingly turned the capital of Khartoum into a ghost town.Others packed buses and trucks heading to Sudan’s northern border with Egypt.Since fighting erupted April 15, fierce clashes have taken place in residential areas of Khartoum and the neighboring city of Omdurman, just across the Nile. The sounds of gunfire and explosions were heard again Tuesday.“Much of the capital has become empty,” said Abdalla al-Fatih, a Khartoum resident. He said everyone in his street has left.The battle for control of Sudan erupted after months of escalating tensions between the military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and a rival paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.Al-Fatih’s family managed to get out of Khartoum over the weekend after ...

HBCUs get donations 178 times lower than Ivy League: study

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:51 GMT

The average historically Black college and university received 178 times less funding from foundations than the average Ivy League school in 2019, according to a new report on the underfunding of HBCUs released Tuesday.The study — conducted by the philanthropic research group Candid and ABFE, a nonprofit that advocates for investments in Black communities – found that the eight Ivy League schools received $5.5 billion from foundations compared to $45 million for the 99 HBCUs in 2019. Between 2002 and 2019, foundation support of HBCUs declined 30%, even before inflation is taken into account.“We were not surprised by the findings because philanthropy generally funds Black-led nonprofit organizations disproportionately less than other similarly situated organizations,” said Susan Taylor Batten, ABFE’s president and CEO. “However, we were surprised by the data that indicated the enormity of the disparate funding between Ivy League colleges and HBCUs.”Some study participants blame...