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US lawmakers push for federal holiday honoring Rosa Parks on the anniversary of her arrest

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:55 GMT

(CNN) — On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks boarded a city bus after work in Montgomery, Alabama, and sat down.As the bus filled with passengers, the driver demanded the 42-year-old seamstress move further back into the segregated Black section of the bus so a White man could have her seat.Parks famously refused.She was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. But that bold decision is widely credited with launching the Montgomery Bus Boycott and ultimately the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.This week, members of the Congressional Black Caucus marked the 68th anniversary of Rosa Parks’ arrest by urging Congress to support a bill that would declare December 1, “Rosa Parks Day,” a federal holiday.“This is not just about Black history. It’s about American history,” said Alabama Rep. Terri Sewell at a news conference Wednesday.Sewell, a Democrat, introduced H.R. 308 which would establish the federal holiday, in January. The bill is backed by 31 co-s...

Stanley Cup champion Corey Perry ‘deeply sorry’ for his ‘inappropriate’ behavior after Chicago Blackhawks release

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:55 GMT

(CNN) — Veteran NHL forward Corey Perry apologized on Thursday for the “inappropriate behavior” which saw him waived by the Chicago Blackhawks.The Blackhawks said on Tuesday that Perry “engaged in conduct that is unacceptable” and was “in violation both of the terms of his Standard Player’s Contract and the Blackhawks’ internal policies intended to promote professional and safe work environments.”In a statement released on Thursday, Perry said: “I would like to sincerely apologize to the entire Chicago Blackhawks organization, including ownership, management, coaches, trainers, employees, and my teammates.“As a result of my actions, there has been speculation and rumors. I am sickened by the impact this has had on others, and I want to make it clear that in no way did this situation involve any of my teammates or their families.“Most importantly, I want to directly apologize to those who have been negatively affected and I am sorry for the additional impact ...

Patriots mailbag: Will Malik Cunningham get another shot in Week 13?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:55 GMT

It’s easy to argue that the decision was made nine weeks too late, but it appears the Patriots are mercifully making a quarterback change this week.Backup Bailey Zappe has taken the bulk of top quarterback snaps in practice in a season that Mac Jones has been benched four times starting way back in Week 4.So, what will that look like? And will he have to share snaps with another QB?Let’s answer those questions in this week’s mailbag.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots QB Bailey Zappe will apply these lessons to likely start Sunday New England Patriots | Callahan: Bill Belichick made the right — and only — QB call he could New England Patriots | Patriots-Chargers injury report: Keenan Allen, Demario Douglas miss practice again Thursday New England Patriots | Callahan: The Patriots’ season is now hurry up and wait New England Patriots | Here’s the latest on PatriotsR...

New US rules, aimed at curbing China, could limit tax credits for electric vehicles

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:55 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration proposed new rules Friday that could make it harder for electric vehicles to qualify for a full $7,500 federal tax credit, complicating efforts to meet President Joe Biden’s goal that half of new passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. run on electricity by 2030.Plans outlined by the Treasury and Energy departments would limit EV buyers from claiming the full tax credit if they purchase cars containing battery materials from China and other countries that are considered hostile to the United States. The new rules — required under Biden’s signature climate law approved last year — are likely to slow consumer acceptance of electric vehicles just as Biden is trying to ramp up sales to help meet his goal to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. EV sales have tripled since Biden took office, but the U.S. still depends on foreign sources — especially China — for many of critical minerals needed to produce EV batteries. Th...

70-year-old Ugandan woman gives birth to twins after fertility treatment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:55 GMT

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — A 70-year-old woman in Uganda has given birth to twins after receiving fertility treatment, making her one of the world’s oldest new mothers. Safina Namukwaya gave birth to a boy and a girl on Wednesday via cesarean section at the hospital in the capital Kampala where she had been receiving in vitro fertilization treatment, said Arthur Matsiko, spokesman for the Women’s Hospital International Facility Center. “She’s healthy. She’s talking. She’s walking around if they tell her to walk around the hospital,” Matsiko said Friday, speaking of Namukwaya, who had a daughter at the same facility in 2020 following IVF treatment. Namukwaya is the oldest woman to deliver a baby at the hospital, whose proprietor is a prominent gynecologist in the East African region. The hospital specializes in helping couples who struggle to have children. Breakthroughs in research are improving success rates in IVF treatment. Notably, media reported that a...

India-US ties could face their biggest test in years after a foiled assassination attempt on a Sikh

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:55 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Ties between India and the U.S. had never looked better than they did in June, when President Joe Biden honored Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a pomp-filled state visit. The relationship was among the most consequential in the world and “more dynamic than at any time in history,” Biden declared as he stood next to Modi at a press conference.Those ties could now face their biggest test in recent years, after U.S. prosecutors this week accused an Indian official of directing a plot to assassinate a prominent Sikh separatist leader living in New York City. As the case unfolds in a New York court, rather than behind closed doors, the two governments may struggle to control the narrative and the fallout, even though it was unlikely to cause more serious long-term damage, experts said.“They are going to try people (in court). That will pose problems … Quite obviously, things are not going to be the same,” said G Parthasarthy, a retired Indian diplomat.But more damningl...

Harris heads to Dubai to tackle delicate tasks of talking climate and Israel-Hamas war

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:55 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will tackle two delicate tasks this weekend in Dubai: She’ll try to demonstrate U.S. environmental leadership despite President Joe Biden ‘s notable absence from an annual summit on climate change and she’ll work to nudge forward fragile efforts to shape the next phase of the war between Israel and Hamas. Harris has only a brief opportunity to accomplish either goal while she’s in the United Arab Emirates. She leaves Washington on Friday and is scheduled to appear only briefly at the United Nations conference known as COP28. Like most vice presidents, Harris is expected to hew tightly to administration talking points on controversial issues where any divergence could ricochet around the globe. Her public remarks, however limited, will be closely scrutinized. Activists are eager for any boost in the fight against climate change, which experts warn is lagging behind what’s needed to prevent damaging global wa...

Pilgrims yearn to visit isolated peninsula where Catholic saints cared for Hawaii’s leprosy patients

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:55 GMT

KALAUPAPA, Hawaii (AP) — Kalaupapa beckoned to Kyong Son Toyofuku. She had long prayed to visit the hard-to-reach Hawaiian peninsula, trapped by its deep-green, sheer sea cliffs and rugged, black rock shores that glisten under the Pacific’s pristine waters. As a daily Mass-going Catholic devoted to Saint Damien of Molokai, she wanted to walk where he walked, pray where he prayed, and witness for herself the place — both stunning and haunting — where the late priest spent a pivotal part of his life caring for banished people sick with leprosy. The pilgrimage to Kalaupapa, defined by its natural isolation in northern Molokai, is logistically challenging and restricted under normal circumstances. It is even more so today because of lingering COVID-19 pandemic restrictions that canceled all pilgrimages and tours of the national historical park to protect the peninsula’s eight remaining former patients. Park and state health department officials are considering when to resume organized p...

Barricaded person firing at officers in Ohsweken, residents asked to shelter: OPP

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:55 GMT

Residents are being asked to shelter in place near Ohsweken, Ont. as officers responded to a barricaded person who is allegedly firing at officers.Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and Six Nations Police responded to a weapons call at a home in the area of 6th Line and Chiefswood Road on Six Nations of the Grand River around 10:30 p.m. Thursday.In an update posted to X on Friday morning, OPP say a barricaded male at the house is discharging their firearm at officers.No injuries have been reported.UPDATE – Barricaded person discharging firearm at police officers on Sixth Line. Residents requested to continue to shelter in place. The motoring public is asked to avoid the area. No injuries were reported. Updates to follow. @SixNationsGR ^es https://t.co/EHcfdgZgT9— OPP West Region (@OPP_WR) December 1, 2023Residents in the nearby area are being asked to continue to shelter in place. Police are also asking motorists to avoid the area.“We have an active shooter firing a...

The Taliban’s new ambassador arrives in China as Afghanistan’s rulers court foreign investment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:55 GMT

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban government’s new ambassador to China arrived in Beijing on Friday — the first time Afghanistan’s rulers have officially sent an ambassador to another country since returning to power more than two years ago.No country recognizes the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, but some, including China, have embassies in Kabul. Many other diplomatic missions were shuttered and their staff evacuated as Taliban fighters bore down on Afghanistan’s capital in August 2021. China is of particular importance to the Taliban, who are courting foreign investment and regional alliances amid their continued isolation on the international stage because of their restrictions on Afghan women and girls.The new ambassador, Bilal Karimi, who has no diplomatic experience and is in his late 20s or early 30s, was welcomed in Beijing by China’s special envoy for Afghan affairs, Yue Xiaoyong, according to a Taliban statement. Karimi presented...