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The Supreme Court will decide if state laws limiting social media platforms violate the Constitution

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:31:35 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether state laws that seek to regulate Facebook, TikTok, X and other social media platforms violate the Constitution.The justices will review laws enacted by Republican-dominated legislatures and signed by Republican governors in Florida and Texas. While the details vary, both laws aim to prevent the social media companies from censoring users based on their viewpoints.The court’s announcement, three days before the start of its new term, comes as the justices continue to grapple with how laws written at the dawn of the digital age, or earlier, apply to the online world. The justices had already agreed to decide whether public officials can block critics from commenting on their social media accounts, an issue that previously came up in a case involving then-President Donald Trump. The court dismissed the Trump case when his presidential term ended in January 2021.Separately, the high court also could consider a low...

Trump looks to set up a California primary win with a speech to Republican activists

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:31:35 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Donald Trump will make a personal pitch Friday to California Republicans in a bid to solidify his support in a GOP presidential contest he has dominated for months, while Ron DeSantis and other rivals get another chance to break the front-runner’s momentum with time fast vanishing to reorder the race.Trump’s afternoon speech at a state Republican Party convention in Anaheim comes two days after he bypassed the second GOP debate held at Ronald Reagan’s presidential library northwest of Los Angeles, signaling again that he sees no need to appear side-by-side with lesser-known contenders.At stake in the state’s March 5 primary will be 169 delegates, making it the biggest prize in the Republican contest. Any candidate who collects more than 50% of the votes in the primary would win all the delegates up for grabs.The kickoff Iowa caucuses that mark the start of the nominating season are less than four months away, and the trajectory of the race could shift....

Spain’s Socialist leader gets a shot at becoming prime minister despite his election defeat

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:31:35 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s acting center-left Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez lost July’s national election but now has a shot at returning to power after the leader of the country’s conservatives failed for a second time Friday to get parliament’s support for a new government.In a vote in the Congress of Deputies in Madrid, the Spanish parliament’s lower chamber, Popular Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo collected 172 lawmakers’ votes in his favor to 177 against him, with one vote declared null and void. That was roughly the same tally that he received two days earlier, in the first round of voting, and the defeat exhausted his chances of taking power, bar an exceptional turn of events. The Popular Party holds 137 seats in the Congress of Deputies, the most of any party, following the election. But even with backing from the far-right Vox party’s 33 lawmakers and two from small conservative rivals, it was not enough for Feijóo to win a simple parliament majority.The outcome extended the po...

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein dies at age 90: AP sources

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:31:35 GMT

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, a centrist Democrat who was elected to the Senate in 1992 in the “Year of the Woman” and broke gender barriers throughout her long career in local and national politics, has died. She was 90.Three people familiar with the situation confirmed her death to The Associated Press on Friday.Feinstein, the oldest sitting U.S. senator, was a passionate advocate for liberal priorities important to her state — including environmental protection, reproductive rights and gun control — but was also known as a pragmatic lawmaker who reached out to Republicans and sought middle ground.She was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1969 and became its first female president in 1978, the same year Mayor George Moscone was gunned down alongside Supervisor Harvey Milk at City Hall by Dan White, a disgruntled former supervisor. Feinstein found Milk’s body.After Moscone’s death, Feinstein became San Francisco’s first female mayor. In th...

16-year-old male arrested on suspicion of felling a landmark tree in England released on bail

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:31:35 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The 16-year-old male arrested for felling a 300-year-old sycamore tree near the Roman landmark of Hadrian’s Wall in the north of England has been released on bail, police said Friday.The boy was arrested Thursday on suspicion of criminal damage, after the tree was felled overnight.Why anyone would want to cut down one of England’s most iconic trees has left people across the U.K. baffled and angry.Robert Macfarlane, a renowned nature writer, said he was “sick to the core” to hear the news about the tree, which was “known and loved by millions.”“I just see this as part of a piece with a much broader hostile environment towards the living world in this country,” he told BBC radio. “It was a tree that ashes were scattered under, marriages were made under, and it was a shelter for tired walkers.”Macfarlane said he was buoyed by the widespread disgust that followed news of the tree’s felling and suggested that a new forest be planted in its honor.The tree was on...

Russia hosts the Taliban for talks on regional threats and says it will keep funding Afghanistan

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:31:35 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Moscow will keep helping Afghanistan on its own and through the U.N. food agency, Russian officials said Friday as they hosted Taliban representatives for talks on regional threats. The talks in the Russian city of Kazan came as Moscow is trying to maintain its influence in Central Asia even as it wages war on Ukraine. The discussions focused on regional threats and creating inclusive government, Russian state news agency Tass reported. President Vladimir Putin’s special representative for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov attended the gathering and said Russia is inclined to keep helping Afghanistan independently and through the World Food Program. A letter from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was read at the talks, accusing Western countries of “complete failure” in Afghanistan, saying they should “bear the primary burden of rebuilding the country.”The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in mid-August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops were in the final weeks of t...

14-year-old boy shot in South Shore

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:31:35 GMT

CHICAGO — A 14-year-old boy was shot early Friday morning in South Shore.At around 3:05 a.m., police said the boy was walking on a sidewalk with another male in the 2100 block of East 75th Street. Shots were fired by an unknown male suspect and the 14-year-old was shot in the back.He was transported to Comer Children's Hospital in fair condition.No one is in custody.

16-year-old boy accused of cutting down landmark tree 'loved by millions' in England

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:31:35 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The 16-year-old boy arrested for felling a 300-year-old sycamore tree near the Roman landmark of Hadrian's Wall in the north of England has been released on bail, police said Friday.The boy was arrested Thursday on suspicion of criminal damage after the tree was felled overnight.Why anyone would want to cut down one of England’s most iconic trees has left people across the U.K. baffled and angry.Robert Macfarlane, a renowned nature writer, said he was “sick to the core” to hear the news about the tree, which was “known and loved by millions.”“I just see this as part of a piece with a much broader hostile environment towards the living world in this country,” he told BBC radio. “It was a tree that ashes were scattered under, marriages were made under, and it was a shelter for tired walkers.”Macfarlane said he was buoyed by the widespread disgust that followed news of the tree's felling and suggested that a new forest be planted in its honor. How would a government sh...

Travis County resident dies from West Nile virus

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:31:35 GMT

Note: The above video shows KXAN News Today's top headlines for Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. AUSTIN (KXAN) — A Travis County resident has died after getting sick from West Nile virus. It marks 2023's first reported death from the virus in the county, according to Austin Public Health. APH said the Environmental Health Services Division has identified 26 positive pools of mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus this year in 12 zip codes: 78702, 78703, 78704, 78721, 78722, 78723, 78727, 78741, 78751, 78754, 78757 and 78759. “We are sad to report the first death of the year from West Nile virus in Travis County,” said APH Health Authority Dr. Desmar Walkes. “This death is a stark reminder that West Nile virus poses a serious risk, especially to older people and those with weakened immune systems. We’re seeing an uptick in mosquito breeding due to the recent rains and cooler weather in Texas, we should all take precautions to ‘Fight the Bite.’" Human case of West Nile Virus found in ...

Texas law targeting 'sexually explicit' books set to take effect soon, after appeals court overturns ruling

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:31:35 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A Texas law meant to keep some books out of public school libraries is once again set to take effect. The law, House Bill 900, targets books with content deemed "sexually explicit." The law was supposed to go into effect this month, but a lower court judge ruled it unconstitutionally vague and said it couldn't be enforced criminally or civilly. Judge rules on Texas law restricting books However, an appeals court overturned that ruling this week. The decision is temporary until the full court can take up the case, which will likely be next month. An Austin bookstore, BookPeople, along with the Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston and other national organizations sued over the law. BookPeople in Austin joins lawsuit challenging new Texas law about ‘sexually explicit’ books They say the law requires vendors to rate the books they sell to school libraries. Books found on school shelves without a rating would be removed. Texas Representative Jared Patterson, R-...