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Prominent Egyptian political activist and acclaimed academic dies at 85

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:47:09 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Saad Eddin Ibrahim, a prominent Egyptian-American academic and pro-democracy activist during the reign of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, died on Friday. He was 85.Ibrahim’s death was announced by Egyptian state media on Friday although few further details were given. The acclaimed academic was a leading critic of Mubarak’s autocratic government and an advocate for the rights of minority groups in Egypt, such as Coptic Christians. He spent most of the 2000s either detained or in self-imposed exile. It remains unclear where he died and what the cause of death was. Ibrahim was born in 1938 near the northern delta city of Mansoura and turned to a career in academia after finishing school.In the 1980s he founded two Cairo-based rights organizations: The Arab Organization for Human Rights, and later, The Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies. Both were critical of Mubarak’s government and other Arab states.In 2000, while a university professor...

Another suit to disqualify Trump under the Constitution’s ‘insurrection’ clause is filed in Michigan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:47:09 GMT

A liberal group on Friday filed a lawsuit in Michigan contending that former president Donald Trump is disqualified from regaining his old job based on a rarely used, post-Civil War provision in the U.S. Constitution. This is the first time an organization with significant legal resources has sought to block the GOP frontrunner’s campaign in a swing state.Free Speech For People argued that Trump’s attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss and encouragement of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol violated section three of the 14th Amendment, which holds that anyone who swore an oath to uphold the constitution and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against it is barred from holding office. The case is the second the organization has filed to block the GOP presidential frontrunner’s bid, following one in Minnesota. Dozens of cases have been filed nationally but the Free Speech For People cases and one filed in Colorado by another liberal group are the first...

Navy to start randomly testing SEALs, special warfare troops for steroids

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:47:09 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Navy will begin randomly testing its special operations forces for steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs beginning in November, taking a groundbreaking step that military leaders have long resisted.Rear Adm. Keith Davids, commander of Naval Special Warfare Command, announced the new program Friday in a message to his force, calling it necessary to protect their health, safety and military readiness. The Navy will be the first to begin random testing, but Army Special Operations Command said it will soon follow suit, although no start date has been set.The Army and Navy have the largest and most well known special operations forces, including the Navy SEALs and Army’s Delta Force, Green Berets and Ranger Regiment. They are often called on to do the military’s most sensitive and dangerous missions. The physical and mental challenges of getting through their selection and training programs and the pressures of the risky missions can lead to some to use pe...

NBA suspends former Spurs guard Joshua Primo for 4 games for exposing himself to women

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:47:09 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA suspended former San Antonio Spurs guard Joshua Primo on Friday for four games without pay for conduct detrimental to the league.League investigators said that Primo engaged in inappropriate behavior by exposing himself to women. Primo insists his conduct was not intentional, the league said, and investigators found no evidence that he engaged in any misconduct apart from the brief exposures.Nonetheless, the NBA said his behavior does not conform to league standards and warrants discipline.Primo, a 20-year-old Canadian who spent one college season at Alabama, has not played in the NBA since the Spurs terminated his contract last October. The Spurs chose him with the 12th overall pick in the 2021 draft.___AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nbaThe Associated Press

New York City area under state of emergency after storms flood subways, strand people in cars

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:47:09 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A potent rush-hour rainstorm swamped the New York metropolitan area on Friday, shutting down parts of the city’s subway system, flooding streets and highways, and delaying flights into LaGuardia Airport.Up to 5 inches (13 centimeters) of rain fell in some areas overnight, and as much as 7 inches (18 centimeters) more was expected throughout the day, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday morning. By midday, although there was a break in the clouds, Mayor Eric Adams urged people to stay put if possible. “It is not over, and I don’t want these gaps in heavy rain to give the appearance that it is over,” he said at a news briefing. He and Hochul, both Democrats, declared states of emergency. No storm-related deaths or critical injuries had been reported as of midday, city officials said. But residents struggled to get around the waterlogged metropolis.Traffic hit a standstill, with water above cars’ tires, on a stretch of the FDR Drive — a major artery ...

Angels star Shohei Ohtani finishes with the best-selling jersey in MLB this season

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:47:09 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Shohei Ohtani’s soaring popularity was even more evident when it came to jersey sales.Ohtani had the best-selling jersey in Major League Baseball this season, the first time a Japanese player finished in the top spot. The league and the Players Association released its top-20 list Friday, with rankings based on sales of Nike jerseys since Opening Day on MLBShop.com.The Los Angeles Angels’ two-way star beat out Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr., Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. and Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers.Houston’s Jose Altuve, Seattle’s Julio Rodríguez, Atlanta’s Matt Olson, Houston’s Alex Bregman and Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels rounded out the top 10. Trout has finished in the top 10 every year since his rookie season in 2012.Ohtani finished in the top 10 twice before (2018, 2021), but hadn’t come close to being No. 1.He’s the favorite to earn American League MVP honors after hitting .304, with 44 homers, 95 RBIs,...

Stock market today: Most of Wall Street rises after inflation report helps soften its sore September

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:47:09 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Most of Wall Street is ticking higher on Friday following some encouraging signals on inflation, as it limps to the end of what’s been a miserable September.The S&P 500 was 0.1% higher in midday trading, with the majority of its stocks rising. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 65 points, or 0.2%, to 33,600, as of 12:15 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% higher.Nike jumped 6.1% after reporting better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Strength overseas helped it make up for some declines in North America.Stocks broadly got some relief after yields in the Treasury market eased further off their highest levels in more than a decade. Yields fell after a report showed the measure of inflation that the Federal Reserve prefers to use was a smidgen cooler last month than economists expected.The 10-year Treasury yield pulled back to 4.55% from 4.58% late Thursday. It charged this week to its highest level since 2007, up fr...

FDA wants to regulate thousands of lab tests that have long skirted oversight

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:47:09 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration on Friday laid out a proposal to begin regulating laboratory medical tests, a multibillion-dollar industry that the agency says poses a growing risk to patients because of potentially inaccurate results.The proposed rule would end decades of regulatory ambiguity and formally bring thousands of tests performed in large laboratories under FDA oversight. FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said the change will help ensure tests used to diagnose cancer, heart disease and many other conditions are safe, accurate and reliable.“A growing number of clinical diagnostic tests are being offered as laboratory-developed tests without assurance that they work,” Califf said in a statement. He added that the agency has long worried that many tests offered by laboratories are not as accurate or reliable as those that undergo FDA review.Here’s a look at the history and background of the testing issue:What are laboratory-developed tests?Most Am...

Judge greenlights class action against Bausch Health on Cold-FX products

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:47:09 GMT

TORONTO — An Ontario Superior Court judge has certified a class-action lawsuit against Bausch Health Companies Inc. that alleges false advertising for some of the pharmaceutical firm’s cold remedies.The lawsuit states that Bausch, formerly known as Valeant Pharmaceuticals, made false or misleading ad claims to consumers around five of its Cold-FX products.Filed in 2019, the suit notes that packaging and social media profiles for the products include statements such as “clinically proven” and “proven by science” to help reduce cold and flu symptoms.Toronto-based law firm Tyr LLP says those claims form the basis of allegations that Bausch breached provincial consumer protection laws as well as the federal Competition Act and the Food and Drugs Act.The class action includes anyone in Canada who bought one of the five Cold-FX products in the nearly seven years between 2017 and this week.Bausch denies it has broken the law or made any false or deceptive stat...

At the New York Film Festival, a sluggish fall movie season seeks a higher gear

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:47:09 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Momentum has lately been hard to come by at the movies. The big trio of fall film festivals — Venice, Telluride, Toronto — came and went without the usual amount of buzz. With actors on strike, red carpets have been mostly bare. It’s almost like since the heady highs of “Barbenheimer,” the movies have been sleeping off a hangover. When the 61st New York Film Festival opens Friday night, things may finally be stirring once again. There is movement on the labor stoppage. Screenwriters are poised to ratify a new contract after nearly five months of striking. The actors union, SAG-AFTRA, is to recommence talks with the studios next week. At the same time, the New York Film Festival will play host to easily the best assemblage of movies this year. Each major festival has had their highlights, but for the next two weeks, a large share of the fall’s best films will screen at Lincoln Center. “The unsettled state of the industry is an unavoidable talking point the...