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Activists condemn violence against LGBTQ community in St. Vincent, where gay sex is illegal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:37 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Advocacy group Human Rights Watch released an in-depth report Thursday that details the abuse and discrimination the LGBTQ community says it faces in the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, where gay sex is still criminalized.From homelessness to ongoing physical and verbal abuse, the gay community in the small nation of some 100,000 people says it is under constant threat.“Every LGBT person interviewed by Human Rights Watch said they wished to leave the country immediately or had envisioned their future abroad,” the report stated.In St. Vincent, anal sex is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, while “gross indecency” with another person of the same sex is punishable by up to five years, according to colonial-era laws that are common in the socially conservative Caribbean region.While rarely invoked, the rights group and a local activist said the laws help legitimize hostility and abuse against gay people.“These laws still have...

10 children in Rwanda drowned after their boat sank in a river, an official says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:37 GMT

KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Ten students in Rwanda drowned after their boat sank in a river, a provincial governor says. Alice Kayitesi, the governor of Southern province, told The Associated Press the students drowned on Monday while the boat was trying to cross the Nyabarongo River. The students had just returned from school for the summer holidays.The bodies of the children, ages 11 to 15, were recovered on Tuesday and Wednesday. Three students and one man survived.A man who hired the boat has been detained for questioning.Kayitesi said authorities were investigating reports that the students were being taken across the river to offload building materials.Ignatius Ssuuna, The Associated Press

The US and North Korea have no diplomatic ties – but they still have ways to talk about US soldier

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:37 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A pink phone. A New York mission. Swedish diplomats. A North-South Korean hotline.The United States and reclusive North Korea have no diplomatic ties — but they still have ways to contact each other. An American official said Wednesday that the U.S. government had reached out to the North as it tries to discuss a U.S. soldier who dashed into North Korea during a tour of a border area this week. The North has not yet responded, according to the U.S. Here’s a look at possible channels the rivals could use to discuss Pvt. Travis King, the first American held in North Korea in nearly five years.___PINK PHONEOne of the most reliable ways for the U.S. to reach North Korea is via a light pink-colored, touch-tone phone at the U.S.-led U.N. Command at the Korean border village of Panmunjom, the place where King bolted into the North on Tuesday. The telephone line connects the liaison officers from each side — whose offices are reportedly only 40 meters (130 fe...

Trucking and logistics firm Mullen Group reports Q2 profit and revenue down

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:37 GMT

OKOTOKS, Alta. — Mullen Group Ltd. reported its second-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago as the trucking and logistics company saw lower freight volumes.The company says it earned $36.5 million or 39 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended June 30.The result was down from a profit of $42.7 million or 43 cents per diluted share in the same quarter last year.Revenue totalled $494.3 million, down from $521.5 million a year earlier.On an adjusted basis, Mullen Group says it earned 38 cents per share in its latest quarter, down from an adjusted profit of 47 cents in the same quarter last year.Analysts on average had expected an adjusted profit of 32 cents per share, according to estimates compiled by financial markets data firm Refinitiv.This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 20, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:MTL)The Canadian Press

Kenya police are told not to report deaths during protests. A watchdog says they killed 6 this week

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:37 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Police in Kenya say they have been ordered not to report deaths amid demonstrations against the rising cost of living, but an independent watchdog says at least six people were shot dead by police on Wednesday and 27 were shot dead in such protests earlier this year.A police official told The Associated Press they were told this week not to report any deaths in the demonstrations that the political opposition has called through Friday. It wasn’t immediately clear who issued the order. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. Police in the previous demonstration last week confirmed officers killed at least six.While police in Kenya have long been accused by rights groups of using excessive force, there is growing concern about tactics used under the government of President William Ruto, elected last year. One police officer also was seen posing as a journalist in Wednesday’s protest, which the Me...

Turkey raises its key interest rate to 17.5% as orthodox economics return after May’s election

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:37 GMT

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s central bank raised its key interest rate to 17.5% Thursday in a further sign of commitment to orthodox economic policy following elections in May.The 2.5 percentage point hike came a month after the bank raised rates from 8.5% to 15% following more than a year of rate-cutting prompted by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.The bank started cutting rates in late 2021 in line with Erdogan’s belief that lowering interest rates fights inflation, contradicting traditional economic theory.The Associated Press

Thursday Forecast: Temps in upper 80s with spotty storms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:37 GMT

CHICAGO — Humid Thursday and becoming quite warm as well with highs in the upper 80s. Spotty showers and thunderstorms are possible. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here Tonight will be partly cloudy, mild and dry would lose in the lower 60s. Friday Forecast: Partly cloudy Friday with highs and lower 80s inland mid 70s at the lakefront.Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog

Netflix subscriptions surge after password crackdown

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:37 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Netflix enjoyed its biggest springtime spurt in subscribers since the early days of the pandemic three years ago, providing the latest sign that a recent crackdown on password sharing and the rollout of a cheaper subscription option are paying off.The video streaming service added 5.9 million subscribers during the April-June period, according to numbers released Wednesday along with its latest quarterly financial results. The gains easily surpassed the roughly 2.2 million additional subscribers that analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had anticipated. Netflix ended June with 238.4 million worldwide subscribers.Investors seemed unsatisfied, perhaps rattled by management commentary in a shareholder letter warning that “quite a competitive battle” continues to unfold against the backdrop of ongoing strikes by both the writers and actors union in the U.S. that threaten to clog the pipelines feeding entertainment to streaming services. Netflix's stock price fell 8...

Special counsel Jack Smith gets his own bobblehead

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:37 GMT

(The Hill) - He’s the stern-looking special counsel leading the Department of Justice’s investigations into former President Trump, and now Jack Smith’s stony-faced image is being slapped on a line of bobbleheads.The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum announced Wednesday that it was launching a presale for its new Smith bobbleheads.An artistic rendering of the $30 figures shows an unsmiling Smith, dressed in a black suit and tie with his arms at his side. The individually numbered bobbleheads are expected to ship in November, the museum said.National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum co-founder Phil Sklar said the Smith-inspired products were created following a “growing number of requests.”“The Special Counsel’s investigations are unprecedented and a bobblehead is one fun and unique way for people to commemorate these unique historic events,” Sklar said in a statement.The debut of the Smith bobbleheads came a day after Trump said he had been notified t...

Historic Rainey Street home gets new life in Dripping Springs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:37 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Dripping Springs has a new shop for its bookworms, and the bookshop itself has a storied history.Sunday Bookshop opened in June in a historic home that used to sit on Austin's historic Rainey Street. Lost your car keys? How an Austin library membership key tag can help Sunday Bookshop owner Dixie Frechette said the house was built in 1907 on Rainey Street. A previous owner moved the home to Dripping Springs in 2016 to where it stands today. They renovated it for retail space and sold the building to Frechette and her family.Frechette previously had a boutique in the historic house with her mom and sister. It closed in January, making way for the home's next chapter: a bookstore. Sunday Bookshop in Dripping Springs opened in a former Rainey Street home. (Courtesy Sunday Bookshop)Sunday Bookshop in Dripping Springs opened in a former Rainey Street home. (Courtesy Sunday Bookshop)Sunday Bookshop in Dripping Springs opened in a former Rainey Street home. (Courtesy Sund...