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Iraqis are furious over their government’s demolition of a minaret that stood for nearly 300 years

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:44:56 GMT

BASRA, Iraq (AP) — For three centuries, the al-Siraji Mosque, with its minaret fashioned from weathered bricks and its pinnacle inlaid with blue ceramic tiles, was a distinctive feature of the city of Basra in southern Iraq. In recent years, it was one of the few tourist attractions in the oil-rich but neglected city, although locals complained that the minaret jutted out into the street, snarling traffic.In the early hours Friday morning, the 11-meter-high (33-foot-high) minaret was razed to the ground, with the governor of Basra attending the demolition, igniting a wave of social media backlash among advocates for the preservation of Iraq’s cultural heritage.Heritage sites in Iraq, home to multiple civilizations going back more than six millennia, have been hard hit by looting and damage over the decades of conflict before and after the U.S. invasion of 2003. Most notoriously, the militant Islamic State group demolished numerous ancient sites in northern Iraq, including Islamic sh...

Northwestern hazing scandal included multiple sports, men and women, according to attorneys

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:44:56 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Allegations of hazing in Northwestern’s athletic programs broadened Wednesday as attorneys said male and female athletes reported misconduct within two other sports and suggested sexual abuse and racial discrimination within the football program was so rampant that coaches knew it was happening.Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said he and other attorneys have received disturbing details from former baseball and softball players at the university, in addition to growing complaints of abuse in the football program, which players described as rampant and devastating.“This is a civil rights issue for me,” said Crump, who said 50 former Northwestern athletes — male and female — and one cheerleader have spoken to the Levin & Perconti law firm. “I think these players have the right to be respected and valued and not hazed, intimidated and retaliated.”Black football players appeared to have faced an additional layer of abuse.A lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses fired foot...

Jan. 6 charges against Trump would add to his mounting legal peril as he campaigns for 2024

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:44:56 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hush-money payments. Classified records. And now, his efforts to overturn the 2020 election that led to the Capitol attack. Already facing criminal cases in New York and Florida, Donald Trump faces increasing legal peril as investigations into his struggle to cling to power after his election loss appear to be coming to a head. A target letter sent to Trump by special counsel Jack Smith suggests he may soon be indicted on new federal charges, adding to the remarkable situation of a former president up against possible prison time while vying to reclaim the White House as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. Smith’s wide-ranging probe into the chaotic weeks between Trump’s election loss and his supporters’ attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, seems to be nearing an end just as another case could be on the horizon. A grand jury that was sworn in this month in Georgia will likely consider whether to charge Trump and his Republican allies ...

Stanford University president announces resignation over concerns about his research

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:44:56 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The president of Stanford University said Wednesday he would resign, citing an independent review that cleared him of research misconduct but found flaws in some papers he authored.Marc Tessier-Lavigne said in a statement to students and staff that he would step down August 31.The resignation comes after the board of trustees launched a review in December following allegations he engaged in fraud and other unethical conduct related to his research and papers.He says he “never submitted a scientific paper without firmly believing that the data were correct and accurately presented.” But he says he should have been more diligent in seeking corrections regarding his work.The review assessed 12 papers that Tessier-Lavigne worked on, five of them in which he was the principal author. He said he was aware of issues with four of the five papers but acknowledged taking “insufficient” steps to deal with the issues. He said he’ll retract three of the papers and correct tw...

Masks are out at In-N-Out after burger chain bans employees from wearing them in 5 states

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:44:56 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The In-N-Out burger chain will bar employees in five states from wearing masks unless they have a doctor’s note, according to internal company emails leaked on social media.In the memo announcing new guidelines for Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Texas and Utah workers, the fast food chain pointed to “the importance of customer service and the ability to show our Associates’ smiles and other facial features while considering the health and well-being of all individuals.”The policy, which goes into effect Aug. 14, applies to all In-N-Out employees in those states, except for those who need to wear masks or other protective gear for job duties that require it, like painting. Employees could face disciplinary action, including being fired, if they do not comply, the memo says.California and Oregon both have laws in place preventing employers from banning masks.It is not the first time that the chain, based in California, has clashed with health experts over safet...

US approves $1.3 billion package of long-term military aid for Ukraine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:44:56 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon announced a new $1.3 billion package of long-term military aid to Ukraine on Wednesday, including four air defense systems and an undisclosed number of drones.The new assistance comes on the heels of a meeting Tuesday by defense and military leaders from around the globe to discuss ongoing efforts to give Ukraine the weapons it needs in its battle to retake territory seized by Russian forces.Included in the aid, which is being provided under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, will be funding for four National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, or NASAMS, and munitions for them, as well as Phoenix Ghost and Switchblade drones. Unlike the presidential drawdown authority that the Pentagon has used repeatedly over the past 17 months to pull weapons from its own stocks and quickly ship them to Ukraine, the USAI-funded equipment could take a year or two to get to the battlefront. As a result, this new package will do little to help Ukraine in i...

Ex-officer Derek Chauvin to ask US Supreme Court to review his conviction in murder of George Floyd

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:44:56 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review his conviction for second-degree murder in the killing of George Floyd, now that the Minnesota Supreme Court has declined to hear the case, his attorney said Wednesday.The state’s highest court without comment denied Chauvin’s petition in a one-page order dated Tuesday, letting Chauvin’s conviction and 22 1/2-year sentence stand. Chauvin faces long odds at the U.S. Supreme Court, which hears only about 100 to 150 appeals of the more than 7,000 cases it is asked to review every year.Floyd, who was Black, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, pressed a knee on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s death touched off protests worldwide, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police b...

A powerful storm sweeps Croatia and Slovenia after days of heat, killing at least 4 people

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:44:56 GMT

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — A powerful storm with strong winds and heavy rain hit Croatia and Slovenia on Wednesday, killing at least four people and injuring several others, police and local media outlets said. The storm was the second in two days to sweep over the two countries following a string of extremely hot and dry days. Elsewhere in Europe, a heat wave caused wildfires and public health warnings. Two men died in Croatia’s capital, Zagreb, after they were hit by falling trees, Croatian police said. A 50-year-old man was struck while outside in the street, and a 48-year-old man was in his car, a police statement said. Earlier, emergency doctor Ljupka Hitrova told the official Hina news agency that the two victims had multiple head injuries. The civil protection service in eastern Croatia reported that one person died when a tree fell on their car in the town of Cernik.Elsewhere in Zagreb, a 36-year-old man was severely injured when a construction crane collapsed, the police ...

Researchers hope undersea work yields new information on 1994 Baltic Sea ferry disaster

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:44:56 GMT

HELSINKI (AP) — A research vessel carrying investigators from Sweden and Estonia was scheduled to arrive Wednesday at the Baltic Sea site where a passenger ferry sank almost 30 years ago to conduct underwater studies that might produce new information about one of Europe’s deadliest maritime disasters.Representatives of the Estonian Safety Investigation Bureau and the Swedish Accident Investigation Authority plan to study the wreckage of the M/S Estonia in cooperation with Finnish authorities over the next eight days.The ferry sank in heavy seas on Sept. 28, 1994, killing 852 people, most of them Swedes and Estonians. The ferry was traveling from Estonia’s capital, Tallinn, to Stockholm when it sank about 30 minutes after an initial distress call. Only 137 people survived. Among other activities, the investigators plan to collect bedrock samples from the bottom of the sea near the wreckage site, film the ferry’s car deck and retrieve the vessel’s bow ramp from the seabed. They...

Israeli president tells Congress his country is committed to democracy but concedes ‘painful debate’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:44:56 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog sought to reassure Congress on Wednesday about the state of Israel’s democracy and the strength of the U.S.-Israel relationship, acknowledging “heated and painful debate” at home and criticism abroad over actions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government.Herzog, whose post in Israel is largely symbolic, became the second Israeli president, after his father, Chaim Herzog, to address Congress. While his speech officially marked modern Israel’s celebration of its 75th year, he also indirectly addressed unease in the Biden administration and among Democratic lawmakers over the Netanyahu government’s planned sweeping overhaul of Israel’s judicial system, expanded Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank and other matters.The divide was reflected in his audience. While lawmakers repeatedly rose to their feet in thundering applause of Herzog’s recounting of Israel’s founding, a handful ...