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Lawsuit alleges Wisconsin Bar Association minority program is unconstitutional

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A conservative law firm filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday alleging that the State Bar of Wisconsin’s “diversity clerkship program” unconstitutionally discriminates based on race. The program offers summer internships for first-year law school students at top law firms, private companies and government offices. Past participants have included Alliant Energy, Froedrert Health, the Kohler Co., the city of Madison, the Wisconsin Department of Justice and the state Department of Corrections. The lawsuit is the latest of its kind to be filed across the country targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the private and public sectors after the U.S. Supreme Court in June struck down affirmative action in college admissions, declaring that race cannot be a factor.The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty filed the latest lawsuit targeting the bar association’s internship program. It argues that the bar is violating the equal protection rights of ...

AP photos reveal intensity, insecurity and inequality in 2023 as world altered by climate change

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Punishing heat that hovered and hung on much longer than usual. Flash floods that washed away large swaths of land and life. And wildfires that burned much of the year, leaving a wake of smoke and charred earth.The toll of disasters propelled by climate change in 2023 can be tallied with numbers — thousands of people dead, millions of others who lost jobs, homes and hope, and tens of billions of dollars sheared off economies.But numbers can’t reflect the way climate change is experienced — the intensity, the insecurity and the inequality that people on Earth are living. Associated Press photographers around the world captured moments in 2023 that collectively tell that story, one of a changing world.INTENSITYIn so many skies, there was smoke, seen in the distance and breathed up close. From Canada to Greece to Hawaii, wildfires raged, consuming land while the flames fanned a thick haze that traveled around the globe. So intense were the wildfires in Canada that they released several...

AP’s top music documentaries of 2023: Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, WHAM! and more – and where to watch

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Looking for something to watch this holiday season? While Barbenheimer is enticing, 2023 was a great year for documentaries — particularly music documentaries, with titles that span the biggest names in the biz to considered studies of small, independent music communities. So, hand us the remote: Here are some of The Associated Press’ favorite music documentaries of the year — in no particular order — along with where to find them.“Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé”Was there ever a question of this film’s placement on this list? “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé” chronicles the superstar’s 39-city world tour and the blood, sweat and tears required to make the larger-than-life production happen. It’s a welcome peek behind the curtain, spearheaded by one of music’s great perfectionists. And while Bey has been largely mysterious over the last decade — interviews are a rarity — here, she is a master of giving her audience just enough access, including a f...

Orlando Magic rename arena Kia Center, ending 13-year run as Amway Center

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The Orlando Magic rebranded their arena as Kia Center on Wednesday, a change that ends the building’s 13-year run of being known as Amway Center.The transition to the new name has been underway for some time; by the unveiling Wednesday morning, the Kia logo was already in place on one of the banners that hangs over the court, plus on the basket stanchions. Security workers had new vests with the logo and employees were being given new swipe access cards with the building’s new name.Terms of the new naming rights deal were not disclosed; the deal with Amway, when originally announced, was worth about $4 million per year. The first event under the new name is a game between the Magic and Miami Heat on Wednesday night.“The Orlando Magic and Kia America have been proud partners for several years and we share in the excitement of Kia’s success and growth,” Magic CEO Alex Martins said. “We look forward to our expanded partnership which allows Kia to drive its brand fo...

Parents of children sickened by lead linked to tainted fruit pouches fear for kids’ future

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

When Cora Dibert went for a routine blood test in October, the toddler brought along her favorite new snack: a squeeze pouch of WanaBana cinnamon-flavored apple puree.“She sucked them dry,” recalls her 26-year-old mother, Morgan Shurtleff, of Elgin, Oklahoma.Within a week, the family got an alarming call. The test showed that the 1-year-old had lead poisoning, with nearly four times as much lead as the level that raises concern. Only later did Shurtleff learn that that the fruit puree Cora’s grandmother bought at a Dollar Tree store may have been the cause.“That was the scariest thing that ever happened to me,” Shurtleff says.Cora is among dozens of young kids across the U.S. poisoned by lead linked to tainted pouches of the cinnamon-and-fruit puree. The exact number of affected children is unclear. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports at least 205 confirmed, probable or suspected cases from 33 states. Using a different reporting method, the Food and Drug Administr...

1 dead, 1 seriously injured in Caledon crash

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

One person is dead and another person has serious injuries following a two-vehicle crash in Caledon.Ontario Provincial Police officers were called to Mayfield Road near Creditview Road just before 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday.Paramedics say one person was pronounced dead at the scene.A second person was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.Their ages are not yet known.Mayfield is closed between Creditview and Mississauga roads.Developing story. More to come.

Rite Aid banned from facial recognition tech use for 5 years after faulty theft targeting in stores

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Rite Aid has been banned from using facial recognition technology for five years over allegations that its surveillance system was used incorrectly to identify potential shoplifters, especially Black, Latino, Asian or female shoppers.The settlement with the Federal Trade Commission addresses charges that the struggling drugstore chain didn’t do enough to prevent harm to its customers and implement “reasonable procedures,” the government agency said.Rite Aid said late Tuesday that it disagrees with the allegations, but that it’s glad it reached an agreement to resolve the issue.The FTC said in a federal court complaint that Rite Aid used facial recognition technology in hundreds of stores from October 2012 to July 2020 to identify shoppers “it had previously deemed likely to engage in shoplifting or other criminal behavior.”The technology sent alerts to Rite Aid employees either by email or phone when it identified people entering the store on its watchlist.The FTC said in its ...

Nature groups go to court in Greece over a strategic gas terminal backed by the European Union

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Five Greek and international environmental campaign agencies have launched legal action against a major natural gas project supported by the European Union as a regional alternative to Russian energy.Greenpeace and the World Wide Fund for Nature led the request at Greece’s highest administrative court, the Council of State, against a planned offshore natural gas storage and conversion plant, outside the northeastern port of Alexandroupolis.The action was filed on Tuesday, the groups said in a joint statement. The terminal, due to go online early next year, will operate on a modified tanker — also named the “Alexandroupolis” — to store liquefied natural gas and convert it into gas form, supplying the national distribution network.The 288-meter (945-foot) long vessel arrived at its destination on Sunday, following a 10-month-long conversion at the Keppel shipyards in Singapore.In their court challenge, the nature groups described the plant as “accident-prone” and...

Two teens arrested after assaulting off-duty cop in Durham Region

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Two teenage boys are facing charges after they allegedly assaulted an off-duty police officer in Durham Region last week.Durham Regional Police officers were called to the area of Mill Street and Millson Hill Drive in Clarington around 2:40 a.m. on Friday for reports of an assault.It is alleged an off-duty officer from another police service saw two males causing damage to a vehicle. The off-duty officer confronted the pair and identified himself as an officer before telling the suspects they were under arrest.Police say the two suspects resisted arrest and then assaulted the officer. The pair ran away before Durham officers arrived.Officers were able to located both with the help of the police K9 unit. They were arrested at a nearby home where they were found hiding inside a trailer.Two 15-year-old boys from Clarington are each charged with assaulting an officer and mischief under $5000.The suspects cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Israel’s top diplomat wants to fast-track humanitarian aid to Gaza via maritime corridor from Cyprus

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

LARNACA, Cyprus (AP) — Israel wants to fast-track the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza through a maritime corridor from Cyprus, bolstering stability in the region, the country’s foreign minister said Wednesday.Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said Israeli and Cypriot technical teams would spend Wednesday and Thursday hammering out the details of the initiative so that aid shipments from Cyprus’ port of Larnaca, some 240 miles (385 kilometers) from Gaza, can begin as soon as possible.“Cyprus and Israel, together with other partners in the region are promoting the initiative for a secure maritime corridor to facilitate the transfer of humanitarian assistance to Gaza in an organized and well inspected manner,” Cohen said after talks with his Cypriot counterpart Constantinos Kombos.Cohen was briefed on the initiative’s details during a visit to the Zenon Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Larnaca, which will act as the operational center for the aid shipments. H...