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Cuban boy castaway Elián González becomes a lawmaker

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:18 GMT

By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ (Associated Press)HAVANA (AP) — Elián González has the same big, expressive eyes he did 23 years ago when an international custody battle transformed him into the face of the long-strained relations between Cuba and the United States.Now 29, González is stepping into Cuban politics. He recently entered his country’s congress with hopes of helping his people at a time of record emigration and heightened tension between the two seaside neighbors.“From Cuba, we can do a lot so that we have a more solid country, and I owe it to Cubans,” he said during an exclusive interview with The Associated Press. “That is what I’m going to try to do from my position, from this place in congress — to contribute to making Cuba a better country.”González has given only a handful of interviews since he was unwittingly thrust into the geopolitical spotlight as a boy. In 1999, at just 5 years old, he and his mothe...

In student loan and affirmative action rulings, advocates fear losses for racial equality

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:18 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — As a Black student who was raised by a single mother, Makia Green believes she benefited from a program that gave preference to students of color from economically disadvantaged backgrounds when she was admitted over a decade ago to the University of Rochester.As a borrower who still owes just over $20,000 on her undergraduate student loans, she had been counting on President Joe Biden’s promised debt relief to wipe nearly all of that away.Now, the student loan cancellation plan has been dismantled by the U.S. Supreme Court, which on Thursday struck down affirmative action in college admissions. Both policies disproportionately help Black students. To Green and many other people of color, the efforts to roll them back reflect a larger backlash to racial progress in higher education.“I feel like working people have been through enough — I have been through enough,” said Green, a community organizer. “From a pandemic, an uprising, a recession, the cost of livin...

Prosecutors in Rep. George Santos’ case say they have given his defense over 80K pages of material

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:18 GMT

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — Prosecutors said Friday that they have turned over more than 80,000 pages of materials to U.S. Rep. George Santos ’ lawyers in the federal fraud and money laundering case against him. The documents weren’t publicly released, as is common during this stage of a case. The barely five-minute hearing at a Long Island courthouse focused on the case schedule, with the next court date set for Sept. 7. Santos didn’t speak in court, nor to journalists waiting outside. The New York Republican, known for fabricating key parts his life story, is free awaiting trial. Santos pleaded not guilty last month to charges that he duped donors, stole from his campaign, collected fraudulent unemployment benefits and lied to Congress about being a millionaire.Prosecutors have charged Santos with 13 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Taken together, the a...

Mourning begins for anti-gang community defense activist slain in Mexico

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:18 GMT

LA RUANA, Mexico (AP) — On the dirt road where Hipólito Mora, leader of an armed civilian defense movement, was killed only a large, charred spot on the ground remained Friday where his armored vehicle had burned.There was no visible presence of the National Guard, soldiers or police.At his home, a short distance away, about 15 people sat in chairs before Mora’s flower-covered casket on a patio. Dozens of additional chairs awaited others expected to come pay their respects.Mora was one of the last surviving leaders of Michoacan’s armed vigilante movement, in which farmers and ranchers banded together to expel the Knights Templar cartel from the state between 2013 and 2014.The Michoacan state prosecutors’ office on Thursday said unidentified gunmen cut off Mora’s vehicle and his bodyguards’ pickup on a street in his hometown La Ruana. They opened fire, riddling Mora’s vehicle with bullets, and then set it afire, the office said.Three other men, believed to be members of his sec...

Don Valley East MPP Adil Shamji to seek Ontario Liberal Party leadership: sources

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:18 GMT

A fifth candidate is set to join the leadership race for the Ontario Liberal Party. Sources tell CityNews Don Valley East MPP Adil Shamji is expected to make a formal announcement next week. Shamji, an emergency room physician at Michael Garron Hospital, became an MPP in last June’s provincial election. He currently serves as the Liberal critic for health, northern development, Indigenous affairs, and colleges and universities.Shamji will join a field that includes Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, former Ottawa Centre MP Yasir Naqvi, Kingston and the Islands MPP Ted Hsu, and Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, MP for the Beaches-East York.The deadline to register for the leadership contest is Sept. 5.Party members will cast their votes by ranked ballot on Nov. 25 and Nov. 26, with round-by-round results and a new leader announced the following weekend on Dec. 2.The new leader will replace Steven Del Duca, who resigned after the party failed to win enough seats in last year’s election to...

50 shades of ballet? Melanie Hamrick on her steamy novel that makes ‘Black Swan’ seem tame

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:18 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Melanie Hamrick, who knows her way around a quick pirouette, had to move fast when her 6-year-old son Deveraux recently picked up a copy of her new novel, “First Position,” as she was signing books.“I didn’t realize how well he was reading,” the former ballerina and first-time author says of her first-grader, whom she shares with partner Mick Jagger. “He opened it and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, give me that book!’” She suggested an alternative: “The Cat in the Hat.”Wise move. “First Position” (get the pun?) is what they call a romance novel but might easily have been called “Fifty Shades of Ballet.” Hamrick, who spent 16 years at American Ballet Theatre before leaving to raise Deveraux, writes about a young dancer, Sylvie, who joins a prestigious national ballet company and tries to make her mark.As the dancers move vertically up the workplace ladder, there’s also a lot of, er, horizontal action. Hamrick says she wanted to give readers a good time, but also a view of w...

Ex-Ohio GOP chair, lobbyist Matt Borges gets 5 years for role in $60M bribery scheme; vows appeal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:18 GMT

CINCINNATI (AP) — Ohio lobbyist Matt Borges was sentenced Friday to five years in prison and three years of probation for his part in the largest corruption scandal in Ohio history, a sentence the former Ohio Republican Party chair vowed to appeal. The punishment by U.S. District Judge Timothy Black came just a day after former Republican Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, who was convicted of racketeering alongside Borges earlier this year, was sentenced to 20 years and escorted from the courtroom in handcuffs. Householder also plans to fight his sentence.Borges had asked to be sentenced to 12 months, while prosecutors recommended 5 to 8 years.Following sentencing, Borges was immediately taken into custody and escorted from the courtroom in handcuffs.A jury found the pair guilty in March, determining that Householder orchestrated and Borges participated in a $60 million bribery scheme secretly funded by Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. to secure Householder’s power, elect his allie...

Tajik man fatally shoots two officers at a Moldova airport after he was denied entry, officials say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:18 GMT

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — A Tajikistan national who was denied entry into Moldova at its main international airport grabbed a guard’s weapon and fatally shot two security officers Friday, officials said. One traveler also was wounded.The suspect was being escorted by officials at Chisinau International Airport when he “took the gun of a border guard” and opened fire, authorities said. The individual was then neutralized and handcuffed by special forces who intervened. All passengers were evacuated from the airport.Moldova’s Prime Minister Doren Recean said in statement that the suspect was from Tajikistan. He said a wounded passenger was being treated by doctors.Moldova’s President Maia Sandu said that the two people killed were a border police officer and an airport security employee.“We send our sincere condolences to the bereaved families and relatives, the loss of loved ones is a great pain for the families,” Sandu wrote in a statement on Facebook. “It’s a sad d...

Map shows which internet provider is fastest where you live

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:18 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – Before you sign a contract and set up your wifi, you probably want to know what your options are. A map maintained by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lets you examine which internet provider offers the fastest speed where you live. You start by typing in your address on the FCC's website. Then, a list of provider options pops up, plus the types of technology they have (like copper or fiber, for example), as well as their maximum advertised upload and download speeds for that address. If you're lucky enough to have multiple options, that last part is where you'll want to pay extra attention, as internet speeds can vary greatly between providers at the same address. You need a download speed of around 10 Mbps to download files, between 5 and 8 Mbps to stream HD video, and 25 Mbps to stream Ultra HD 4K video, the FCC says. Popular Android app reportedly started spying on users, making recordings Each listed number is for one person doing one activity. So if y...

DeSantis signs bill allowing new roads to be built with mining waste linked to cancer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:18 GMT

(The Hill) - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill on Thursday that will allow new roads in the state to be built with "radioactive" mining waste that has been linked to cancer.HB 1191 adds phosphogypsum to a list of “recyclable materials” that can be used for the construction of roads. The list also includes ground rubber from car tires, ash residue from coal combustion byproducts, recycled mixed-plastic, glass and construction steel.Phosphogypsum, a waste product from manufacturing fertilizer, emits radon — a radioactive gas, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The material also contains radioactive elements such as uranium, thorium and radium.Radon is second to smoking as a leading cause of lung cancer. The gas has been linked to 21,000 lung cancer deaths every year in the U.S, according to the EPA. The agency previously confirmed to CBS News that the mining waste — leftover material from phosphate rock — is potentially cancer-causing. The material ...