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Taliban free Afghan activist arrested 7 months ago after campaigning for girls’ education

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:01 GMT

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban have freed an Afghan activist who campaigned for the education of girls, a local nonprofit organization said Thursday. Matiullah Wesa was arrested seven months ago and spent 215 days in prison, according to the group, Pen Path.Wesa has been outspoken in his demands for girls to have the right to go to school and repeatedly called on the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan to reverse its bans on female education.Since their takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban have barred girls from school beyond the sixth grade. Last December, they banned women from going to universities. Afghanistan is the only country in the world with restrictions on female education.Pen Path gave no further details on Wesa’s release or his condition.The U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, welcomed the news about Wesa. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Bennett also called for the “immediate and unconditional relea...

What we know about the mass shooting in Maine so far

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:01 GMT

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — A man fatally shot at least 16 people at a restaurant and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday night sparking a massive search for a person of interest who is a trained firearms instructor. Meanwhile, authorities urged residents to lock themselves in their homes and schools announced closures on Thursday.The shooting in the state’s second-largest city is the 36th mass killing in the United States this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.Here’s what we know about the suspect and where the shooting happened:WHO IS THE SUSPECT?A police bulletin identified Robert Card, 40, as a person of interest in the attack. Card was described as a firearms instructor believed to be in the Army Reserve and assigned to a training facility in Saco, Maine. The document, circulated to law enforcement officials, said Card had been committed to a mental health facility for two wee...

Priest kicked out of Jesuits for alleged abuse of women welcomed into Slovenia diocese

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:01 GMT

ROME (AP) — A famous priest-artist who was thrown out of the Jesuits after being accused of sexual, spiritual and psychological abuse of women has been accepted into a diocese in his native Slovenia, the latest twist in a case that has implicated the pope and laid bare the limits of the Vatican’s in-house legal system.The Diocese of Koper confirmed in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Thursday that the Rev. Marko Ivan Rupnik was accepted as a priest there in August.Rupnik was taken in because he had been expelled from the Jesuits and because the diocese hadn’t received any documents showing that Rupnik had “been found guilty of the alleged abuses before either an ecclesiastical tribunal or civil court,” it said.The statement cited the Universal Declaration on Human Rights’ provision on the presumption of innocence and right to a defense for anyone accused of a crime.Rupnik, whose mosaics decorate churches and basilicas around the globe, was declared excommunica...

How Doug Ford’s Ontario government mastered the art of the flip-flop

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:01 GMT

In today’s Big Story Podcast, this week, Ontario Housing Minister Paul Calandra (new to the job after his predecessor resigned amid scandal in September) announced another reversal of a key government policy. This time, it was massive changes to urban boundaries outside several Ontario cities — changes most of the cities themselves fought against.Richard Southern is a Queen’s Park reporter for CityNews. “I think this is a government obviously hurt badly by the Greenbelt scandal, and very actively trying to prevent any future scandals, and as a result we’re seeing a lot of flip-flopping going on at Queens Park,” said Southern. Coming a week after the government introduced legislation to officially reverse its actions on Ontario’s Greenbelt, and on the heels of reversals of everything from pandemic policy to licence plates, is it a positive thing that this government can admit when it’s wrong and change? Or a worrisome sign that so many of its major initia...

Norwegian police investigate claim by Ingebrigtsen brothers that their father and coach was violent

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:01 GMT

Norwegian police launched an investigation Thursday into allegations by the three Ingebrigtsen brothers that their father, who had been their track coach at the Olympics and other events, was violent and abusive when they were growing up.On Oct. 19, the three brothers — Jakob, Henrik and Filip — published an op-ed in Norwegian newspaper VG saying their father, Gjert Ingebrigtsen, “had been very aggressive and controlling” and “used physical violence and threats as part of our upbringing.”Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the Olympic gold medal in the 1,500-meter race at the Tokyo Games in 2021.“Somehow, we have accepted this. We have lived with it, and in adulthood we have moved on. At least we thought so,” the brothers wrote. “In retrospect, we realize that it was naive. But two years ago, the same aggression and physical punishment struck again.“It was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”Gjert Ingebrigtsen has denied any wrongdoing.On Thursday, police in Norway opened a probe ...

The number of military suicides dipped in 2022 as the Pentagon works on new prevention programs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:01 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of suicides among U.S. military members and their families dipped slightly in 2022, compared with the previous year, as the Defense Department tries to build prevention and treatment programs to address what has been a steadily growing problem over the past decade, The Associated Press has learned.While the total number of deaths decreased overall, suicides among active-duty troops went up slightly, fueled by significant spikes in the Marine Corps and the Air Force. And because the active-duty force is smaller now, the rate of suicides per 100,000 service members inched up, according to U.S. officials.The officials said the suicide rate for the National Guard and the Reserve decreased a bit. The relatively stable numbers across the force come on the heels of a sharp drop in suicides in the Air Force, the Marines and the Navy from 2020 to 2021, and a similar decline for Army soldiers in the first six months of 2022.Officials spoke on the condition of anon...

UK PM Sunak warns against rush to regulate AI before understanding its risks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:01 GMT

LONDON (AP) — As authorities around the world scramble to draw up guardrails for artificial intelligence, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned Thursday against moving too fast on regulating the rapidly developing technology before it’s fully understood. Sunak warned about acting too quickly even as he outlined a host of risks that AI could bring, from making it easier to build chemical or biological weapons to its use by terrorist groups to spread fear, or by criminals to carry out cyberattacks or fraud. He said AI has the potential to transform life but it should be a global priority to mitigate the risks of human extinction it could bring, similar to pandemics and nuclear war. Governments are the only ones able to keep people safe from AI’s risks, and it shouldn’t be left up to the tech companies developing it, he said in a speech ahead of a summit he’s hosting next week on AI safety. AI developers, who “don’t always fully understand what their models could ...

India ‘exploring all legal options’ after Qatari court sentences 8 Indians to death for spying

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:01 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — The Indian government on Thursday vowed to explore “all legal options” after a Qatari court handed death sentences to eight Indian employees of a Qatari company on spying charges.According to Indian media reports, the eight men are retired Indian navy officers who worked for the consulting company Al Dahra, advising the Qatari government on the acquisition of submarines.India’s External Affairs Ministry said in a statement it was awaiting the detailed judgment in the case. “We are in touch with the family members and the legal team, and we are exploring all legal options,” it said. “We attach high importance to this case and have been following it closely. We will continue to extend all consular and legal assistance. We will also take up the verdict with Qatari authorities.”The statement did not provide further details.Qatar’s government declined to immediately comment on the sentences.Qatari authorities provided New Delhi consular access to the eight Indian n...

Israeli troops carry out an hourslong ground raid into Gaza before an expected wider incursion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:01 GMT

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli troops and tanks launched an hourslong ground raid into northern Gaza overnight into Thursday, the military said, striking several militant targets in order to "prepare the battlefield" before a widely expected ground invasion after more than two weeks of devastating airstrikes.The raid came after the U.N. warned that's it's on the verge of running out of fuel in the Gaza Strip, forcing it to sharply curtail relief efforts in the territory, which has also been under a complete siege since Hamas' bloody rampage across southern Israel ignited the war earlier this month.The rising death toll in Gaza, which soared past 7,000 on Thursday, according to Palestinian officials, is unprecedented in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Even greater loss of life could come if Israel launches an expected ground offensive aimed at crushing Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007 and survived four previous wars with Israel.The Health Ministry in Hamas-rule...

LIVE: Llano ISD delays start by 2 hours Thursday due to weather

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:01 GMT

LLANO, Texas (KXAN) – Due to the rain moving through Llano County Thursday morning, the Llano Independent School District is delaying the start of classes by two hours, according to a Facebook post by the Llano County Office of Emergency Management. Flash flood risk continues The OEM said buses will run two hours later than normal. The county's Facebook page is also providing updates on flooded roads and other weather conditions in the area. This is a developing story.