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As South bans abortion, thousands turn to Illinois clinics

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:34 GMT

FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, Ill. (AP) — Dr. Colleen McNicholas is fresh off performing two abortions when a ringing phone quickly stops her.“Oh, ugh,” she said, eyes widened, before she darted off to another room. Just the day before, 58 women had abortions at the Fairview Heights’ Planned Parenthood clinic, 15 miles east of St. Louis. But the new day is still stacked with appointments; as many as 100 abortion and family planning patients might walk through the doors.Every day is busy now. Hundreds of women travel each week to the southern tip of Illinois to secure an abortion, something that is no longer available to millions living in a 1,800 mile stretch of 11 Southern states that have mostly banned pregnancy terminations since the Supreme Court stripped away constitutional protections for women to end pregnancies.But another barrier awaits them once they reach the clinic in one of the country’s most abortion-friendly states. Anti-abortion advocates in neon hazard vests frantically t...

Iran-backed fighters on alert in east Syria after US strikes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:34 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Iran-backed fighters were on alert in eastern Syria on Saturday, a day afte r U.S. forces launched retaliatory airstrikes on sites in the war-torn country, opposition activists said. The airstrikes came after a suspected Iran-made drone killed a U.S. contractor and wounded six other Americans on Thursday.The situation was calm following a day in which rockets were fired at bases housing U.S. troops in eastern Syria. The rockets came after U.S. airstrikes on three different areas in Syria’s eastern province of Deir el-Zour, which borders Iraq, opposition activists said. While it’s not the first time the U.S. and Iran have traded strikes in Syria, the attack and the U.S. response threaten to upend recent efforts to deescalate tensions across the wider Middle East, whose rival powers have made steps toward détente in recent days after years of turmoil.“The calm continues as Iran-backed militiamen are on alert out of concern of possible new airstrikes,” said Rami Abdurrahm...

Judge rules online archive’s book service violated copyright

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:34 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has sided with four publishers who sued an online archive over its unauthorized scanning of millions of copyrighted works and offering them for free to the public. Judge John G. Koeltl of U.S. District Court in Manhattan ruled that the Internet Archive was producing “derivative” works that required permission of the copyright holder.The Archive was not transforming the books in question into something new, but simply scanning them and lending them as ebooks from its web site.“An ebook recast from a print book is a paradigmatic example of a derivative work,” Koeltl wrote. The Archive, which announced it would appeal Friday’s decision, has said its actions were protected by fair use laws and has long had a broader mission of making information widely available, a common factor in legal cases involving online copyright.“Libraries are more than the customer service departments for corporate database products,” Internet Archive founder Brewster...

Winter storm warning until 1 p.m., heavy snow and winds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:34 GMT

Saturday morning consists of heavy snow at times (N/NW Chicagoland), AM rain to snow elsewhere. NW 15-25, G35 mph. High: 38Saturday night: Mostly cloudy & not as cold. Much less wind. W 5-10 mph. Low: 30Sunday's forecast is looking partly cloudy and milder, except near the lake. NNE 5-10 mph. High: 47 Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here Full forecast details at the WGN Weather CenterExtended outlook calls for rain/snow mix on Monday with highs near 40. Chilly weather continues Tuesday with some early showers and highs in the mid to low 40s. Dry for most of Tue and Wed with some showers returning late Wed night. Soggy but milder for the end of the week with highs in the mid to upper 50s. 

Explosion at Pennsylvania chocolate plant kills 2, leaves 9 missing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:34 GMT

WEST READING, Pa. (AP) — An explosion at a chocolate factory in Pennsylvania Friday killed two people and left nine people missing, authorities said.Several other people were injured by the explosion at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant, said West Reading Borough Police Department Chief of Police Wayne Holben, who did not confirm the exact number of injured. 2 Illinois teens die in Colorado sledding accident The explosion, just before 5 p.m., sent a plume of black smoke into the air, destroying one building and damaging a neighboring building that included apartments.“It’s pretty leveled,” West Reading Borough Mayor Samantha Kaag said of the explosion site. “The building in the front, with the church and the apartments, the explosion was so big that it moved that building four feet forward."The cause of the blast in the community about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia was under investigation, Holden told reporters.Eight people were taken to Reading Hospital Friday evenin...

Mississippi tornadoes kill 23, injures dozens overnight

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:34 GMT

ROLLING FORK, Miss. (AP) — Emergency officials in Mississippi said 23 people have been killed by tornadoes that tore through the state on Friday night, destroying buildings and knocking out power as severe weather that produced hail the size of golf balls moved through several southern states.The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency confirmed there had been 23 deaths as of 6:20 a.m. Saturday with dozens of injuries and four people missing throughout the state. The agency said in a Twitter post that search and rescue teams from numerous local and state agencies were deployed along with personnel to assist those impacted by the tornadoes.The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado caused damage about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northeast of Jackson, Mississippi. The rural towns of Silver City and Rolling Fork reported destruction as the tornado swept northeast at 70 mph (113 kph) without weakening, racing towards Alabama through towns including Winona and Amory into the night.The...

Trump to rally in Waco Saturday with possible indictment, arrest looming

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:34 GMT

WACO (Nexstar) — Months after announcing his third bid for the White House, former President Donald Trump will hold his first major rally of the presidential cycle in Waco on Saturday. The timing of the rally comes on the heels of a tumultuous news cycle for the former president, as he faces a series of investigations, including one in New York that appears to be nearing its conclusion. On Truth Social, Trump claimed he would be arrested this past Tuesday, which has not happened. Trump's indictment and Stormy Daniels paymentA Manhattan grand jury has been privately hearing evidence for weeks over hush-money payments that Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen, made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign cycle. The $130,000 payment was to silence her from going public about her claim of having an affair with then-candidate Trump before the election. That evidence will be used in the jury's consideration about whether the Trump Organization violated c...

A balmy weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:34 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Central Texas enjoyed a quiet overnight under a clear sky. Low humidity and gentle winds contributed to the pleasant weather.Today will be sunny. A few high clouds will arrive later this afternoon. Most highs will peak in the upper 70s to low 80s. Today's normal high is 76°The cold front that left dry air for Friday afternoon and night will return tomorrow. It brings back enough moisture to our eastern counties for a low rain chance Sunday afternoon.Sunday afternoon showers east of I-35Low rain chances are in the forecast each day next week. There will be another chance for showers and thunderstorms Thursday and Friday. Forecast rain totals Monday to FridayA cold front slides across the area Monday morning leading to cooler temperatures Tuesday and Wednesday. The week ends with warmer air as most highs return to the lower 80s. Wednesday will be the coolest morning when lows fall to the upper 40s to low 50s.Highs the next 7 days BLOG: April showers: Here's the outl...

Farhad Manjoo: This column is dedicated to Silicon Valley venture capitalists

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:34 GMT

Bust out your tiniest violin, because I’m about to stand up for Silicon Valley venture capitalists. The industry is not nearly as insufferable and out of touch as some of its blustering online influencers might lead you to believe. And despite its recent troubles, the world continues to need places like Silicon Valley and its financiers of risky ideas.When Silicon Valley Bank was taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., some of the startup world’s best-known voices — or, at least, its most aggressively online voices, several of them venture capitalists — swarmed Twitter with shrill demands for a full federal bailout of SVB customers.Whatever the economic merit to making the bank’s depositors whole, the VCs’ sky-is-falling rhetoric did seem a bit rich. Some of those most clamorous for government intervention in SVB, like David Sacks of Craft Ventures, have often aligned themselves with Peter Thiel’s brand of fair-weather libertarianism. When it was THEIR industry’s money at...

Disabled Wisconsin voters say election clerks not following federal law, nullifying their votes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:34 GMT

MADISON, Wis. — Disabled voters say local election administrators across Wisconsin are not following federal law during early voting in the high-stakes race for state Supreme Court, incorrectly telling them they can’t have another person return their absentee ballot for them.Absentee ballots, and who can return them, has been a political flashpoint in battleground Wisconsin, known for razor-thin margins in statewide races. The April 4 election will determine majority control of the state Supreme Court, with abortion access and the fate of Republican-drawn legislative maps on the line.Challenges to laws and practices in at least eight states that make it difficult or impossible for people with certain disabilities to vote have also arisen in the past two years. At the same time, there has been a push in many states to restrict rules affecting who can return absentee ballots.Wisconsin Republicans successfully sued last year to ban absentee ballot drop boxes, and the conservative...