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US soldier who fled to North Korea was facing disciplinary action after time in South Korean prison

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:27 GMT

By HYUNG-JIN KIM, KIM TONG-HYUNG, TARA COPP and LOLITA C. BALDOR (Associated Press)SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An American soldier facing military disciplinary actions fled across the heavily armed border from South Korea into North Korea, U.S. officials said Tuesday, becoming the first American detained in the North in nearly five years.Two U.S. officials said the soldier detained was Pvt. 2nd Class Travis King, who had just been released from a South Korean prison where he’d been held on assault charges and was facing additional military disciplinary actions in the United States.King, who’s in his early 20s, was escorted to the airport to be returned to Fort Bliss, Texas, but instead of getting on the plane he left and joined a tour of the Korean border village of Panmunjom, where he ran across the border. At a Pentagon press conference Tuesday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin did not name King, but confirmed that a U.S. service member was likely now in North Korean...

Damian Lillard trade to Miami is complicated, even for third-party Nets

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:27 GMT

The Miami Heat alone do not have the assets to pull off a Damian Lillard trade.No matter how many times you try in the NBA Trade Machine, there’s no straight-up deal that sends Lillard from Portland to Miami that results in an acceptable haul for the Trail Blazers.It’s not because Tyler Herro isn’t a talented basketball player. The former Sixth Man of the Year is coming off a respectable second consecutive season averaging 20 or more points per game.Portland’s backcourt, however, is already accounted for in No. 3 overall pick Scoot Henderson and emerging scoring guard Anfernee Simons.The Trail Blazers simply do not need Herro, even more so considering Shaedon Sharpe’s emergence as a legitimate NBA starter.Portland is not trading the most important player in its franchise’s history in a deal that doesn’t make basketball sense — even more so when you consider Miami only owns two tradable first-round picks, and their next-most attractive ...

Virginia finalizes guidance on transgender students, including rolling back some accommodations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:27 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration said Tuesday that it has finalized new policies on the treatment of transgender students, guidance that will direct school districts to roll back some current accommodations and increase parental notification requirements about certain discussions involving gender identity. Youngkin said the guidelines, which have been sharply criticized by LGBTQ+ advocacy groups since they were first unveiled last year, will empower parents while prohibiting discrimination and creating a safe learning environment. “This is about doing what’s best for the child,” Youngkin said in an interview with The Associated Press. “And oh, by the way, also recognizing that we need to ensure the privacy and dignity and respect of all children and all parents in the school system. And that’s what I think we have … very carefully constructed here.” The Republican governor’s administration first advanced the proposed changes in Sep...

Louisiana lawmakers overturn governor’s veto on gender-affirming care ban for transgender minors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:27 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana’s Republican-dominated Legislature overturned Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ recent veto of a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors on Tuesday.Louisiana, where the ban is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1, 2024, will join 20 other states that have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care, which includes puberty-blockers, hormone treatment and gender-reassignment surgery. Most of those states face now lawsuits, and in some places the bans have been temporarily blocked by federal judges. Like statehouses across the country, for the last three months Louisiana lawmakers have heard and held debates over gender-affirming care — something that has been available in the United States for more than a decade and is endorsed by major medical associations. Discussions over the ban were marred by misinformation, swarmed with religious arguments and saw hours of emotional testimony from the LGBTQ+ communityAt one point,...

B.C. port strike back on after union rejects deal, saying four-year term is too long

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:27 GMT

VANCOUVER — The union representing British Columbia’s port workers has rejected a mediator’s tentative agreement that had ended strike action last week.  Rob Ashton, the president of the International Longshore Workers Union Canada, says in a statement that its caucus does not believe the deal can protect jobs “now or into the future.”Ashton also says the four-year agreement is “far too long” given the uncertainties in the industry and the economy overall.He says workers were going back on picket lines at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.The BC Maritime Employers Association says ILWU Canada rejected the deal without sending it to a full membership vote. The 13-day strike that ended last Thursday involved about 7,400 port workers at more than 30 port terminals and other sites across the province.The employers group says the rejected deal was “fair and comprehensive,” with hikes in wages and benefits above the 10 per cent increases workers had receive...

Exec tells first UN council meeting that big tech can’t be trusted to guarantee AI safety

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:27 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The handful of big tech companies leading the race to commercialize AI can’t be trusted to guarantee the safety of systems we don’t yet understand and that are prone to “chaotic or unpredictable behavior,” an artificial intelligence company executive told the first U.N. Security Council meeting on AI’s threats to global peace on Tuesday.Jack Clark, co-founder of the AI company Anthropic, said that’s why the world must come together to prevent the technology’s misuse.Clark, who says his company bends over backwards to train its AI chatbot to emphasize safety and caution, said the most useful things that can be done now “are to work on developing ways to test for capabilities, misuses and potential safety flaws of these systems.” Clark left OpenAI, creator of the best-known ChatGPT chatbot, to form Anthropic, whose competing AI product is called Claude. He traced the growth of AI over the past decade to 2023 where new AI systems can beat military pilots in air fi...

California GOP mayor announces US House campaign, setting up another competitive congressional race

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:27 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Another competitive U.S. House fight is shaping up in California’s Central Valley farm belt, where Republican Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln announced Tuesday he will try to oust Democratic U.S. Rep. Josh Harder next year. Republican and Democratic leaders agree that the outcome in a string of contested California districts will be critical in determining the balance of power in the House, where only a handful of seats separate the two parties. The nation’s most populous state played a pivotal role in 2022 in securing the gavel for Republicans and installing Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield as speaker.Lincoln surprised California’s political establishment in 2020 when he ousted Democratic Mayor Michael Tubbs, who had become a darling of the party’s progressive wing for starting a privately funded program to give financially struggling residents $500 a month in guaranteed income. Tubbs, one of the youngest mayors in the country and the city&...

Judge denies Michigan school shooter’s request to take life without parole off the table

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:27 GMT

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A judge Tuesday denied a request by 17-year-old school shooter Ethan Crumbley to dismiss a prosecutors’ motion to seek a sentence of life without parole for killing four fellow students.Crumbley has pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including one count of terrorism and four counts of first-degree murder, for the November 2021 attack at Oxford High School, roughly 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Detroit. Four students were killed, and six more students and a teacher were injured. Crumbley was 15 at the time.A first-degree murder conviction typically brings an automatic no-parole sentence in Michigan. But teenagers are entitled to a hearing where their lawyer can raise immaturity, mental condition, family life and other issues while arguing for a shorter term.Oakland County Circuit Judge Kwame Rowe denied Crumbley’s request to take the life-without-parole condition off the table as he awaits sentencing, news outlets reported.“The Court finds that defendant’s ...

Cicero holds public meeting on flooding issues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:27 GMT

CICERO, Ill. — On the heels of recent flooding and residents demanding solutions to the problems caused, the town of Cicero is holding a public hearing tonight where officials have said they will provide an update.Cicero was one of the hardest hit suburbs when it came to flooding from severe thunderstorms and rain showers earlier this month, leaving residents cleaning up their homes for days. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Cicero braces as more heavy rain rolls through City officials did not clarify further details that will be coming in the update, but WGN has learned that the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago will be in attendance, and others invited include representatives from ComEd and the Cook County Assessor's Office.Cicero residents have questioned why nearby communities didn't have flooding problems to the same extent as they did, leading to calls for better sewer infrastructure and green spaces around the town.Town leaders said last week they were working to...

Democrats push for censure of Rep. George Santos; some Republicans support resolution

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:27 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) -- Reps. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) say it's time for the House to censure Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.)."The time has come for Congress to speak with a single voice," Torres said.They say his misleading comments about his past deserve an official reprimand from Congress."It is sad that George Santos continues to walk the halls of this hallowed institution, given that he is only here based on lies and deceit," Goldman said."The breath and depth of his deception is so staggering that it cries out for Congressional punishment," Torres said.Torres says they are taking action because the House Ethics committee investigation isn't moving fast enough. "60 days have passed and yet there continues to be no accountability when it comes to George Santos," Torres said.Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.) thinks Republican leadership is stalling."It is clear that Kevin McCarthy wants George Santos to be here because he's doing everything he can to keep him ...