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Kansas looses legal fight over voting law passed in 2021

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:46:00 GMT

MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Kansas has lost a legal fight over one of the voting laws that its Republican-led Legislature passed in the wake of the 2020 election. U.S. District Judge Kathryn Vratil ruled Thursday that it was unconstitutional to make it a crime for groups to include voter’s name, address and other information on advance ballot applications.Two national nonprofit groups, VoteAmerica and the Voter Participation Center, sued after two voting laws were passed in 2021 over the veto of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. One of them included the restriction on prefilling ballots, even if the voter provided the information and requested an advance mail ballot application. The groups, whose mission is to promote voting among traditionally underserved groups, including young and minority voters, argued that there is a higher response rate when the group prefills the applications. Nearly 70,000 Kansas voters submitted an advance mail voting application provided by the Voter Participation Ce...

Biden marks Cinco de Mayo by going to taqueria in Washington

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:46:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden celebrated Cinco de Mayo on Friday by stepping out for tacos at a Washington food hall. His stop prompted one onlooker to remark, “This is the most D.C. thing that’s ever happened to me.”Biden was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris at Taqueria Habanero. The president paid in cash for his order of and posed with staff for pictures. To the people peering over a wall to see him, he joked, “Don’t jump.”Cinco de Mayo is a yearly celebration on May 5 that commemorates Mexico’s 1862 victory over France in the Battle of Puebla. The holiday has become increasingly popular in the United States.Last year, Biden and his wife, Jill, celebrated Cinco de Mayo at the White House. In 2021, the president visited Las Gemelas, a Mexican restaurant in Washington and told workers there that the company would be receiving financial aid from his COVID relief package.The Associated Press

School dean who shot student sentenced for racketeering

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:46:00 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — A former Boston high school dean serving a 26-year sentence in state prison for shooting a student he had recruited to deal drugs has received an additional 18 years or more on a federal gang-related charge. Prosecutors said that Shaun Harrison, 63, lived a double life, portraying himself as an anti-violence activist and mentor for troubled teens while hiding his own gang ties, and luring students into drugs and violence.In 2022, Harrison pleaded guilty to a count of racketeering conspiracy, also referred to as a RICO conspiracy. Harrison is serving time after his 2018 conviction for attempting to kill a student who was selling marijuana in the high school at Harrison’s direction, authorities said. The 17-year-old was shot in the back of the head after a dispute over declining drug sales, prosecutors said. The student survived but suffered partial face paralysis, permanent hearing loss and other injuries. Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins said Harrison ...

It’s Cornell for New Orleans student with $10M in offers

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:46:00 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A 16-year-old high school senior in New Orleans who received scholarship offers from 149 colleges and universities totaling $10 million said Friday that he has chosen to attend Cornell University.Dennis “Maliq” Barnes will graduate on May 24 from the International High School of New Orleans, where he earned a 4.98 grade point average. He also has 27 college credits through a dual enrollment program with Southern University of New Orleans.He plans to study computer science at Cornell, an Ivy League school in Ithaca, New York. He has also said he is considering law school.“Today is an exciting day for me and my family, and I look forward to working with Cornell’s College of Engineering over the course of my undergraduate education,” Barnes said.In an interview las week, Barnes said that a major reason he cranked out applications to close to 200 schools was his desire to have numerous educational and financial options. He ultimately was accepted at 186 colleges and u...

Russia jails theater director amid crackdown on dissent

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:46:00 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Russian court on Friday ordered pretrial detention for a theater director facing charges of justifying terrorism, the latest move in a relentless crackdown on dissent in Russia that spiked to unprecedented levels since the start of the war in Ukraine. The Zamoskvoretsky District Court in Moscow jailed Zhenya Berkovich, a prominent independent theater director and playwright, for two months pending investigation and trial. Berkovich was detained in the Russian capital on Thursday because of the play she staged, “Finist, the Brave Falcon.” Police also raided the apartments of her parents and her grandmother in St. Petersburg. The play, named after a Russian fairy tale, depicts Russian women who faced prosecution after being lured into marriage and life in Syria by representatives of radical Islam. It was written by playwright Svetlana Petriychuk, who was also detained on Thursday and appeared in the same court on Friday right after Berkovich. The authorities ...

New Hampshire history marker for communist draws GOP anger

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:46:00 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A historical marker dedicated to a New Hampshire labor activist who championed women’s rights and was a founder of the American Civil Liberties Union — but who also joined the Communist Party and was sent to prison — has draw objections from Republican officials and scrutiny from the governor.Known as “The Rebel Girl” for her fiery speeches, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was born in Concord in 1890. A green and white Historical Highway Marker dedicated to her, one of 278 across the state, was unveiled Monday near her birthplace. In addition to her rights activism, the marker also says she joined the Communist Party in 1936 and was sent to prison in 1951. She was one of many party members prosecuted “under the notorious Smith Act,” the marker says, which forbade any attempts to advocate, abet or teach the violent destruction of the U.S. government. Flynn later chaired the Communist Party of the United States and she died in Moscow during a visit in 1964, at age 74. She ...

Toronto police officer charged with sexual assault: SIU

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:46:00 GMT

A 14-year member of the Toronto police force has been charged with sexual assault in connection to an alleged attack last spring.The Special Investigations Unit says they were notified on June 29, 2022, by Toronto police of an incident that took place involving one of their officers and a woman on May 19, 2022.Following an investigation, the police watchdog has charged Const. Ramdial Lokenath with one count of sexual assault and one count of breach of trust. He will appear in court to answer the charges at the end of the month.The SIU did not provide any further details of the incident as the matter is now before the courts.In a statement to CityNews, Toronto police say Lokenath – who works out of 41 Division – has been suspended with pay, as per the Police Services Act.The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of officials that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person.

Murder charges filed against California ex-college student

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:46:00 GMT

DAVIS, Calif. (AP) — Northern California prosecutors on Friday charged a 21-year-old former university student with two counts of murder and one of attempted murder in connection with a series of stabbings in the college community of Davis.Carlos Dominguez is scheduled to be arraigned on charges Friday afternoon in the Superior Court of California, County of Yolo. He was picked up for questioning Wednesday near the city park where he was alleged to have killed his second victim and has been in jail since early Thursday.Yolo County prosecutors said Dominguez is eligible for a life prison term without the possibility of parole or the death penalty, given the multiple murders. He is accused of fatally stabbing two people, including a fellow student, and stabbing a third victim who is now recovering.It was not immediately clear if Dominguez had retained an attorney who could speak on his behalf. He could be appointed a public defender at his arraignment. News of his arrest Thursday was ...

Group led by China, Russia criticizes global institutions

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:46:00 GMT

PANAJI, India (AP) — Foreign ministers from a group of nations led by China and Russia criticized on Friday the ability of world institutions to resolve geopolitical problems, including the coronavirus pandemic, and said their organization should do more to address such challenges. Indian Foreign Minister Subhramanyam Jaishankar said in remarks at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization that the crises have disrupted global supply chains and have hit developing nations the hardest.They have “exposed a credibility and trust deficit in the ability of global institutions to manage challenges in a timely and efficient manner,” he said, adding that alternative organizations like the SCO can help address such challenges.“With more than 40% of the world’s population within the SCO, our collective decisions will surely have a global impact,” he said. Russia and China founded the SCO in 2001 as a counterweight to U.S. alliances across East Asia to the Indian Ocean. The group inclu...

Germany: Man rescued from woods after sex game goes awry

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:46:00 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — German police say a 51-year-old man who was left tied up in the woods when a sex game went awry had a lucky escape after a cyclist and a hunter heard his screams for help.Police said the man was discovered fully dressed but firmly bound with ropes and a pantyhose over his head atop a deer-hunting platform near the town of Bueckburg late Wednesday.In a statement Friday, police said the man appeared to have been tied up by a woman he met online. After she had done so, the woman received a phone call and fled the woods suddenly, leaving the man behind in a helpless state. “The 51-year-old told officers that that he had a box cutter on him ‘for such situations’ but seemed to have underestimated the (woman’s) bondage skills because he was unable to reach the knife,” police said.The man was unharmed and refused to provide information about the woman’s identity. Police have opened an investigation of her on suspicion of failure to render assistance and possible de...