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UN draft urges Afghan rulers to reverse bans on women, girls

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:43 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A U.N. resolution that calls on Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to swiftly reverse their increasingly harsh restrictions on women and girls and condemns their ban on Afghan women working for the United Nations is set to be voted on Thursday by the Security Council.The draft resolution, obtained late Wednesday by The Associated Press, expresses “deep concern at the increasing erosion of respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls in Afghanistan by the Taliban” and reaffirms their “indispensable role” in Afghan society. It calls on the Taliban to swiftly restore their access to education, employment, freedom of movement and equal participation in public life.The resolution, drafted by the United Arab Emirates and Japan, is scheduled to be voted on by the 15-member council on Thursday afternoon. Diplomats said it is almost certain to be approved, though Russia and China might abstain. The Taliban seized power in August 2021 as U.S. and NA...

Judge puts Missouri rule limiting transgender care on hold

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:43 GMT

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri judge on Wednesday temporarily halted enforcement of a first-of-its-kind rule that restricts access to gender-affirming health care for transgender kids and adults, just hours before it was set to take effect.The rule enstated by Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey places requirements on both minors and adults before they would be allowed to receive gender-affirming treatments, such as puberty blockers or hormones. It was set to take effect Thursday, but transgender Missourians and health care providers sued to stop it from being enforced. St. Louis County Circuit Judge Ellen Ribaudo said Wednesday that she would like more time to review the matter before deciding whether to issue a temporary restraining order. She delayed implementation of the rule until 5 p.m. Monday, saying she anticipates she will issue a ruling before then.Bailey has touted the rule as a way to shield minors from what he describes as experimental medical treatments, though p...

Excitement builds for Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ at CinemaCon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:43 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Universal started out its CinemaCon presentation with the big one: New footage from Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.”“I know of no more dramatic tale, with higher stakes, twists and turns, paradoxes,” Nolan told a room full of theater owners Wednesday in Las Vegas. “In learning about that story, I wanted to be in that room and see what that must have been like.”“Oppenheimer,” due in cinemas on July 21, is about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the brilliant, charismatic physicist who, along with his peers at Los Alamos, developed the atomic bomb and changed the world. Cillian Murphy, a frequent Nolan collaborator going back to “Batman Begins,” plays the title role in a starry cast that includes Matt Damon, Emily Blunt and many more. “Like it or not, he is the most important person who ever lived. He made the world we live in for better or worse. His story has to be seen to be believed,” Nolan said. “His story is both dream and nightmare.”Nolan shot the movie on l...

Danny Masterson lawyer challenges new details in rape story

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:43 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An attorney for Danny Masterson challenged his former longtime girlfriend during cross-examination Wednesday on why her trial testimony alleging the actor raped her in 2001 included several new details that were missing from the accounts she gave authorities at the beginning of the investigation. “Is your testimony today that you can now remember things in 2023 that you didn’t remember in 2017?” Masterson’s lawyer Shawn Holley asked the model and actor who is the first witness to take the stand in the Los Angeles courtroom at Masterson’s trial on three rape charges. The woman responded that her memory had not improved, but that she “opened up more than I have before” a day earlier when she described an attack from Masterson, then her boyfriend of five years, in their Hollywood-area home.She testified Tuesday that she woke to find Masterson on top of her and raping her, that she shouted for him to stop, that he put his full weight on her and pinned her ...

Wendy's iconic chili coming to grocery stores soon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:43 GMT

ST. LOUIS (KTVI) - Wendy’s chili, which has had a cult following since it was introduced in November 1969, will soon reach grocery stores. The chili will now be canned and available for purchase outside the restaurant. In February, Conagra Brands, a packaged food company that owns dozens of popular brands, revealed the news during a Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference. Highest-rated Chinese restaurants in Chicago, according to Tripadvisor Wendy's Chil with Beans will be available at nationwide retailers this summer. (Wendy's)"When the Wendy's chili craving hits, you now have two delicious ways to get your fix: at retail stores or in our restaurants," Wendy's Global Chief Marketing Officer Carl Loredo said in a Wednesday press release. McDonald’s making these 4 changes to its burgers by 2024, company says Wendy's began offering chili over 50 years ago as a way to use leftover hamburger meat and cut down waste, founder Dave Thomas explained in his memoir "Dave's Way...

BLOG: Severe storms bring hail in Dripping Springs, Central Texas under Tornado Watch

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:43 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Reports of hail began Wednesday evening in Travis County, and a tornado watch is in effect for much of the area, including Austin, until 1 a.m. Thursday for the potential of tornadoes, according to the KXAN First Warning Weather Team.Severe thunderstorms were still possible, even outside the Tornado Watch, the weather team said. Severe weather potential remains through Thursday morning Weather ResourcesHow to talk to your kids about severe weatherWatches vs Warnings: Understanding how a storm is madeTraffic mapLive Central Texas radarCentral Texas rainfall totalsDownload KXAN Weather AppSign up for KXAN daily forecast newsletter and severe weather alerts newsletterRead the details in our weather recap and live blog below.Weather live blog8:40 p.m.Storm clouds began rolling into north Austin Wednesday.Photo of storm arriving in northwest Austin Wednesday | KXAN Viewer PhotoPhoto of storm arriving in northwest Austin Wednesday | KXAN Viewer Photo8 p.m.KXAN viewers b...

On party-line vote, Minnesota House approves new gun control measures

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:43 GMT

The Minnesota Legislature moved one step closer to passing new gun control laws when the House advanced a bill Wednesday evening with expanded background checks and a red flag law to take weapons from people deemed dangerous.The new restrictions are a top priority for Democrats, who have narrow control of both chambers of the Legislature. They passed the House as part of a sprawling public safety funding and policy bill that was approved on a 69-60 party-line vote.But the real question is whether Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party members can hold together their one-seat majority in the Senate and pass the new gun controls. DFL leaders have repeatedly said they have the votes to approve the measures.“Political capital is not something you bank away,” Gov. Tim Walz said during a Tuesday rally in front of the Capitol with Moms Demand Action. “Political capital is what you burn to improve lives.”Nevertheless, opponents of the gun control laws say it will be a tough v...

“More people will die”: Colorado lawmakers won’t allow drug-use sites in Denver, elsewhere

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:43 GMT

Hours after Denver officials announced that more than 450 residents fatally overdosed here last year, Colorado lawmakers voted Wednesday to shelve a bill that would have allowed a safe-drug use site to open in the city.A bipartisan group of state senators on the Health and Human Services Committee voted to indefinitely postpone HB23-1202, six days after the bill’s sponsors scrambled to save it at an initial committee hearing that showed the measure didn’t have enough support to pass. The proposal, which would have given Denver — or any other willing city — the OK to allow a safe-use site to open, passed the House comfortably in March. But its fate was sealed last week, when a key Democratic vote on the Senate committee indicated he opposed the bill.“We are in a public health crisis that has led to thousands of Coloradans losing their lives, thousands of families suffering,” Sen. Julie Gonzales, the Denver Democrat who co-sponsored the bill in the ...

WATCH: Tucker Carlson emerges on Twitter, doesn’t mention Fox News

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:43 GMT

NEW YORK — Tucker Carlson emerged Wednesday, two days after Fox News fired him, with a two-minute, campaign-style monologue that didn’t address why he suddenly became unemployed.Good evening pic.twitter.com/SPrsYKWKCE— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 27, 2023He posted a two-minute video on Twitter shortly after 8 p.m. Eastern, the time his Fox show used to begin, that talked about a lack of honest political debate in the media.Carlson said one of the things he noticed, “when you step away from the noise for a few days,” is how nice some people are, and how hilarious some are.“The other thing you notice when you take a little time off is how unbelievably stupid most of the debates you see on television are,” he said. “They’re completely irrelevant. They mean nothing. In five years we won’t even remember we heard them. Trust me, as somebody who participated.”He said debates on big topics like war, civil liberties, emerging science, demographic change and corporate power ar...

Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards cited for assault in alleged Denver chair-swinging incident

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:43 GMT

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards has been cited in Denver for third-degree assault after allegedly swinging a folding chair that struck two women after the deciding Tuesday night playoff game against the Nuggets.“It was reported to Denver Police that while Edwards was walking from the court to the locker room at the conclusion of the game, he swung a folding chair and struck two women who were working at the time,” Denver police said in a statement.Both women were injured, police said, and the injuries were described as “not serious.”Edwards took the final shot of the game, a 112-109 Denver Nuggets win, and he missed what would have been a tying three-point basket to send the game into overtime. Edwards immediately ran off the court and into a locker room passageway after the failed shot.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Musician Neil Hagerty, of Royal Trux, charged with 3 felonies in alleged assault of Denver police officer ...