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UN is seeking to verify that Afghanistan’s Taliban are letting girls study at religious schools

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:01:08 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations is seeking to verify reports that Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers are allowing girls of all ages to study at Islamic religious schools that are traditionally boys-only, the U.N.’s top official in the country said Wednesday.U.N. special envoy Roza Otunbayeva told the U.N. Security Council and elaborated to reporters afterward that the United Nations is receiving “more and more anecdotal evidence” that girls can study at the schools, known as madrassas.“It is not entirely clear, however, what constitutes a madrassa, if there is a standardized curriculum that allows modern education subjects, and how many girls are able to study in madrassas,” she said.The Taliban have been globally condemned for banning girls and women from secondary school and university, and allowing girls to study only through the sixth grade.Taliban education authorities “continue to tell us that they are working on creating conditions to allow girls to return to school. But t...

Electric scooter Bird Global steers into bankruptcy protection in bid to repair its finances

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:01:08 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Electric scooter company Bird Global announced Wednesday that it has filed for bankruptcy protection in an attempt to stabilize its wobbly finances.The move marks a sobering comedown for a formerly high-flying startup that was trying to make it easier to get around big cities in an environmentally friendly way with its fleet of electric scooters. The concept attracted about $500 million in investments from prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firms such as Sequoia Capital and Accel Partners before becoming a publicly traded company in 2021.Now, the Miami-based company finds itself struggling to survive after losing more than $430 million since the end of 2021.Bird has lined up $25 million in financing from MidCap Financial, a division of Apollo Global Management, as it tries to reorganize under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Florida.Michael Washinushi, Bird’s interim CEO, predicted the company will be able to bounce back and continue its “mission to make ...

A white couple who burned a cross in their yard facing Black neighbors’ home are investigated by FBI

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:01:08 GMT

The FBI is investigating a white South Carolina couple for racial discrimination after they set a cross on fire in their yard last month facing toward their Black neighbors’ home.Federal civil rights investigators searched the white couple’s home in Conway on Wednesday, according to FBI spokesperson Kevin Wheeler. The retired Black couple also recorded video of the cross being burned on Thanksgiving weekend and described days of repeated threats from their neighbors. The next week, Worden Evander Butler, 28, and Alexis Paige Hartnett, 27, were arrested on state charges of harassment and later released on bond.Cross burnings in the U.S. are “symbols of hate” that are “inextricably intertwined with the history of the Ku Klux Klan,” according to a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision written by the late Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. The justices ruled that the First Amendment allows bans on cross burnings only when they are intended to intimidate because the action “is a particu...

Ad campaign calls out Northwestern University over antisemitism concerns

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:01:08 GMT

EVANSTON — A Jewish advocacy group will air an advertisement during this weekend's Northwestern-Utah bowl game following claims that Northwestern University has not been proactive about speaking out against antisemitism. Northwestern University graduate Richard Goldberg, a senior advisor for Defense of Democracies, spoke out about his alma mater concerning campus fairness. "I’ve heard from some of the religious leaders on the campus, the rabbis, some of the Jewish students as well that there is a fear of the climate there," Goldberg said.SEE ALSO: Former NU athletes share experience with racism, hazing for first timeThe group created print, TV, and social media ads calling out Northwestern University and its president, Michael Schill, over concerns of hostility on campus aimed at Jewish students in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. "When you have chants, intimidation and disruption of classrooms saying, 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,' which is a ca...

Sheriff: Revenge after fight led to deadly Glenview apartment complex shooting

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:01:08 GMT

GLENVIEW, Ill. — Four individuals face first-degree murder charges for their involvement in a deadly Glenview apartment complex shooting in August.According to the Cook County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to the 14000 block of Michael Todd Terrace in Glenview on reports of shots fired just after 9 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 19.Upon arrival, authorities discovered 16-year-old Jose Guzman-Ezquivel and 19-year-old Carlos Guzman-Ezquivel, who had been shot multiple times.Jose was pronounced dead at the scene, while Carlos was transported to a local hospital, where he later died. A third victim, a 16-year-old, reportedly suffered a graze wound to his back.Further investigations showed that Jose Guzman-Ezquivel and Carlos Miranda, 22, of Prospect Heights, were involved in a physical altercation in July. Following the fight, a 15-year-old offender obtained a picture of Jose in order to allegedly identify him and seek revenge for the fight.On Aug. 19, Miranda and the 15-year-old offende...

'Heartbroken, empty': Ohio woman criminally charged after miscarriage speaks out

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:01:08 GMT

WARREN, Ohio (WJW) — A 33-year-old Ohio woman arrested on a felony charge after having a miscarriage at her home in September is working to clear her name and deal with the tragic outcome of her pregnancy.“I was distraught, heartbroken, empty — literally and figuratively, so to speak,” Brittany Watts said in a text message to the I-Team at Nexstar's WJW Monday night. She was describing how she felt after she miscarried her pregnancy.Watts sought medical treatment at Mercy Health St. Joseph Warren Hospital, located about 60 miles east of Cleveland, during the third week of September. She was having severe cramping and bleeding.“She was told very clearly the fetus was not viable and could not and would not survive,” said attorney Traci Timko, who represents Watts.Watts was admitted to the hospital twice that week but left after waiting in a room for several hours. Friday of that week, Watts miscarried in the bathroom of her Warren home. She was 22 weeks and one day pregnant....

Stunning image shows cosmic 'Christmas tree' glowing in space

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:01:08 GMT

(WJET/WFXP) — A space phenomenon is spreading some holiday cheer with what looks like a Christmas tree in the stars.NASA said that a telescope captured an image of NGC 2264, which is a cluster of young stars aged between one and five million years old. NGC 2264 — also known as the "Christmas Tree Cluster" since it looks like a cosmic tree with strings of glowing lights — can be found in the Milk Way, about 2,500 light-years from Earth. NASA streams first-ever high-definition video from deep space According to NASA, the stars in NGC 2264 are both smaller and larger than the Sun.The image below shows the cluster that has been rotated about 160 degrees from the astronomer’s standard of North pointing upwards. This puts the peak of the conical tree shape near the top.In this composite image, the cluster’s resemblance to a Christmas tree has been enhanced through image rotation and color choices. Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare & J.MajorAs for the green gas in the cluste...

Toyota recalls 1 million vehicles over possible airbag failure

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:01:08 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – Toyota is recalling roughly 1 million vehicles equipped with airbags that may not deploy, the carmaker announced Wednesday.The affected models include the popular Sienna, RAV4, Corolla and Camry. All vehicles involved in the recall were made between 2020 and 2022. The reason why you have that lingering cough The Toyota and Lexus vehicles included in the recall have passenger seat sensors that could have been improperly manufactured. If the sensor malfunctions and fails to register the weight of the passenger, a crash might not trigger the airbag.See the full list of affected vehicles:ToyotaAvalon, Avalon Hybrid (2020-2021)Camry, Camry Hybrid(2020-2022)Corolla(2020-2021)Highlander, Highlander Hybrid(2020-2021)RAV4, RAV4 Hybrid(2020-2021)Sienna Hybrid(2021)LexusES250(2021)ES300H(2020-2022)ES350(2020-2021)RX350(2020-2021)RX450h(2020-2021)(Toyota)Toyota is reaching out to owners of the recalled vehicles and will be notifying them by mid-February, 2024. Anyone with a vehicl...

Judge revokes sex offender’s probation after lewd conduct at Rosedale Center

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:01:08 GMT

A St. Paul man with a history of sex-related offenses was sentenced to two years in prison by a judge who found he violated his probation in November by drinking alcohol, masturbating at a store at Rosedale Center in Roseville and getting booted out of sex-offender treatment.In February, Phillip Jeffrey Ethen was put on five years of probation after pleading guilty to attempted second-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a 14-year-old girl in St. Paul in July 2022, court documents show.Phillip Jeffrey Ethen (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)It was a guideline sentence handed down by Ramsey County District Judge Jacob Kraus, who stayed a two-year prison sentence and gave Ethen no additional jail time beyond the 206 days he already served.Last week, Ethen, 42, was back in front of the judge for a contested probation revocation hearing on the November allegations.Ethen admitted that he was drunk on Nov. 6 at Rosedale Center and that he was kicked out of sex-offender t...

St. Paul approves $380K settlement to fiancée of man fatally shot by police

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:01:08 GMT

The St. Paul City Council approved a $380,000 settlement Wednesday to the fiancée of a man fatally shot by police officers outside her Dayton’s Bluff apartment building in 2017.Markeeta Johnson-Blakney said in her lawsuit against officers and the city of St. Paul that she’d been held in a squad car for hours after Cordale Handy was killed, violating her constitutional right to be free from unlawful imprisonment.Attorney Paul Bosman, who is representing Johnson-Blakney and her neighbor, said they were “just witnesses to the police killing of Cordale Handy.”“They were put in the back of police cars” and Johnson-Blakney was “in agony” and asked repeatedly to be released, Bosman said.The city agreed to settle Johnson-Blakney’s claim “to avoid the costs and uncertainty of continued litigation,” City Attorney Lyndsey Olson said in a statement. “The city remains committed to protecting the rights of all persons through respectful service.”Kim...