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Madonna says she’s ‘on the road to recovery’ following ICU stay, postpones North American tour dates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:12 GMT

By MARIA SHERMAN (AP Music Writer)LOS ANGELES (AP) — Madonna says she is focused on her health and getting back on stage after a “serious bacterial infection” that led to her hospitalization in an an intensive care unit for several days last month.“I’m on the road to recovery and incredibly grateful for all the blessings in my life,” the pop superstar wrote on Instagram. “My first thought when I woke up in the hospital was my children. My second thought was that I did not want to disappoint anyone who bought tickets for my tour. I also didn’t want to let down the people who worked tirelessly with me over the last few months to create my show.”“My focus now is on my health and getting stronger and I assure you, I’ll be back with you as soon as I can,” she continued.The North American leg of her career-spanning Celebration Tour, originally scheduled to kick off July 15 in Vancouver and run through October 8 in Las...

Judge refuses to put hold on order limiting Biden administration contact with social media companies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:12 GMT

By KEVIN McGILL (Associated Press)NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge in Louisiana refused Monday to put a temporary hold on his own order limiting Biden administration officials contacts with social media companies. Biden administration attorneys had asked U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty in Monroe to stay his own order, which was issued last Tuesday, while they pursue an appeal. That order came in a lawsuit filed by Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, as well as a conservative website owner and four individual critics of government COVID-19 policies.The lawsuit claimed the administration, in effect, censored free speech by using threats of regulatory action or protection while pressuring companies to remove what it deemed misinformation. COVID-19 vaccines, legal issues involving President Joe Biden’s son Hunter and election fraud allegations were among the topics spotlighted in the lawsuit.Doughty was nominated to the federal bench by former Preside...

Jury seated in trial over singer Aretha Franklin’s handwritten wills

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:12 GMT

By ED WHITE (Associated Press)PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan judge narrowed the issues Monday in a dispute over Aretha Franklin’s estate, saying the only task for jurors is to decide whether a 2014 document handwritten by the Queen of Soul and found in couch cushions can be accepted as a valid will.The stipulation was made by attorneys for Franklin’s sons before a jury was seated in Oakland County Probate Court.Franklin died in 2018 at age 76. But five years later, the music superstar’s estate remains unsettled. A son, Ted White II, believes a 2010 handwritten will should mainly control the estate, but two other sons, Kecalf Franklin and Edward Franklin, are in favor of a 2014 document.Both were found in 2019, months after Franklin died. The 2014 document was under cushions at Franklin’s home in suburban Detroit.The brothers sat shoulder to shoulder behind their lawyers in Judge Jennifer Callaghan’s courtroom. Another brother, Clarence Franklin,...

Russia’s first transgender politician drops her run for governor due to anti-LGBTQ+ bill

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:12 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Russia’s first openly transgender politician has abandoned plans to run in a gubernatorial election, saying that the country’s latest anti-LGBTQ+ bill has eroded the support needed to register her candidacy.Yulia Alyoshina had planned to represent the opposition Civil Initiative party at the polls in southern Siberia’s Altai region in September, when it will elect a new governor. Alyoshina had intended to fight for LGBTQ+ rights in the course of her campaign and opposed a new bill outlawing gender-affirming procedures in Russia. The legislation was initially approved by Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, on June 14.But on Monday, Alyoshina said she had been unable to gather the minimum number of signatures — 502 — needed from members of local municipal councils and village heads to take part. Alyoshina wrote in a Telegram post Monday that 19 council members “were unequivocally ready to put their signatures in support of my nomination,&#...

Las Vegas police officer accused of stealing nearly $165k in a trio of casino heists to face jurors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:12 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jury selection is under way in the trial for a Las Vegas police officer accused of stealing nearly $165,000 in a series of casino heists. Prosecutors have painted Caleb Rogers as a gambling addict who grew increasingly desperate under a crush of debt. Prosecutors claim Rogers, 35, carried out three robberies over four months while armed with a weapon issued by the police department. Rogers’ attorney, Richard Pocker, said the government’s evidence allegedly tying Rogers to two of the robberies is weak. He accused the FBI and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department detectives of pressuring two people, including Rogers’ brother, into identifying him as the suspect in the robberies to close out the cases. Opening statements could begin later Monday in a trial expected to last through the end of the week.Rogers made off with more than $85,000 in the first two robberies between November 2021 and January 2022 at casinos off the Las Vegas Strip while his ...

Armed group kills peacekeeper in Central African Republic, UN says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:12 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — An unidentified armed group attacked a U.N. peacekeeping patrol Monday in the Central African Republic, killing a peacekeeper from Rwanda, the United Nations said.U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said initial reports indicated the U.N. patrol returned fire and killed three of the assailants.The attack happened as the peacekeepers were providing a protective presence around the town of Sam-Ouandja, in the Haute Kotto prefecture in the Central African Republic’s east, Dujarric said.Peacekeepers were deployed to Sam-Ouandja last week in response to an attack on the town by an armed group, which fled after the peacekeepers intervened, he said. He said the U.N. mission had expanded the security perimeter around the town over the past five days to protect the community and support aid deliveries.Valentine Rugwabiza, head of the U.N. mission, strongly condemned the attack. She said the peacekeepers will remain in Sam-Ouandja and the mission is engaging with auth...

Girl, 6, dies after she was hit by SUV in Junction last week

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:12 GMT

A six-year-old girl has died in hospital after she was struck by an SUV in The Junction last week, Toronto police say.Emergency crews were called to the area near High Park Avenue and Dundas Street West around 4:30 p.m. on July 5.Police say the child was walking with her mother on a sidewalk on Dundas approaching the intersection at High Park Avenue, when she ran onto the roadway and was struck by a Honda CRV that was travelling west on Dundas.The girl was rushed to hospital in life-threatening condition but has since died of her injuries.Investigators say the driver remained at the scene but is not expected to face charges.“Police continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding this tragic event, but do not expect any charges to be laid,” Toronto police said in a release.

A Libyan court jails 38 human traffickers over the deaths of 11 Europe-bound migrants at sea

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:12 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — A court in eastern Libya sentenced five people to life in prison after they were convicted of human trafficking over the deaths of 11 migrants who were on a rickety boat trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, the office of Libya’s chief prosecutor said Monday.The court in the city of Bayda also sentenced nine other defendants to 15 years in prison each, the office of General Prosecutor al-Sediq al-Sourr said in a statement. Another 24 others were jailed for a year, the statement added.The defendants were part of a network smuggling migrants from Libya to Europe, it said. The statement did not say when the deadly shipwreck took place or provide further details.The court ruling was the latest in the conflict-wracked North African nation to target traffickers. On Friday, the chief prosecutor’s office said another court in the capital, Tripoli, sentenced one defendant to life in prison and two others to 20 years each for human trafficking. In recent years, Libya...

Democrat challenges Rep. Van Orden in Wisconsin battleground as her party seeks to flip House

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:12 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democrat Rebecca Cooke, a former small business owner and past member of the state’s economic development board, announced her run for Congress on Monday in a battleground western Wisconsin district Republicans flipped last time.Cooke, 35, is running for a chance to take on first-term Rep. Derrick Van Orden, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump. Democrats are targeting the seat in their effort to regain control of the U.S. House in 2024.“Our rural communities face unique challenges,” said Cooke, who was raised on a dairy farm, in a statement announcing her candidacy. “It’s clear that Washington isn’t working for us, and Derrick Van Orden is part of the problem.”Cooke finished second in the 2022 primary to state Sen. Brad Pfaff who was then defeated by Van Orden. Pfaff, among other Democrats, also may try again for the seat, which Democrat Ron Kind held for more than 24 years before retiring in 2022. Pfaff beat Cooke by about 8 points last time.N...

Lawyer for young adult at center of BBC scandal says claims presenter broke law are ‘rubbish’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:12 GMT

LONDON (AP) — British detectives met with representatives of the BBC on Monday over allegations that a leading presenter paid a teenager for sexually explicit photos. But police said they had not opened a criminal investigation, and a lawyer for the young person denied anything inappropriate had happened.The U.K.’s publicly funded national broadcaster has suspended the male star, who has not been named, over allegations he gave a youth 35,000 pounds ($45,000) starting in 2020 when the young person was 17.Though the age of sexual consent in Britain is 16, it is a crime to make or possess indecent images of anyone under 18.London’s Metropolitan Police force said detectives were “assessing the information discussed at the meeting and further enquiries are taking place to establish whether there is evidence of a criminal offence being committed.”“There is no investigation at this time,” the force said.The Sun newspaper, which first reported the allegations, said that the you...