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Maine governor expected to sign bill easing restrictions on abortions later in pregnancy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:58 GMT

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — The Maine Legislature gave final approval Thursday to a proposal to expand access to abortions later in pregnancy, sending the bill to the governor for her signature.Once signed into law by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, as expected, Maine will have one of the least restrictive abortion laws in the country.Current state law bans abortions after a fetus becomes viable outside the womb, at roughly 24 weeks, but allows an exception if the patient’s life is at risk. The bill would allow abortions at any time if deemed medically necessary by a doctor.The Senate enacted the bill 20-11 on Thursday, sending it to the governor’s desk.Democrats control both chambers of the Maine Legislature but that didn’t prevent emotional debate over the proposal, with opponents regularly appearing in the State House to make their voices heard.Some Democratic opponents said the bill goes too far, allowing a major expansion of abortions and putting too much trust in doctors to...

REVIEW: Something You Said Last Night, a quiet revelation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:58 GMT

For the entire history of cinema, there hasn’t really been a trans genre. There have been films with trans characters, from the Christine Jorgensen Story, Monty Python’s Life of Brian, and the Academy Award-winning the Silence of the Lambs. But all of these films are very concerned with depicting the more sensational aspects of being transgender (or in the case of Life of Brian, making a joke out of it). None of these films show what it’s like to live your average everyday life from the perspective of a trans person.Carmen Madonia in Something You Said Last Night, courtesy of Elevation Pictures.Something You Said Last Night, which premiered at TIFF in 2022, is a film that shows what it’s like to be an average person who happens to be trans. But it’s not about showing the transition or the prejudice trans people face. It’s about a few days in the life of Renata (played by newcomer Carmen Madonia). She’s a young trans woman who takes a vacatio...

Attacker ‘has limited memory’ of deadly B.C. mass stabbing, can’t give motive: lawyer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:58 GMT

NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. — The lawyer representing a man who stabbed a woman to death and injured several other victims at a library in North Vancouver, B.C., two years ago says his client has “limited memory” of the attack and cannot offer a motive for his crimes.Defence lawyer Georges Rivard told a B.C. Supreme Court sentencing hearing that Yannick Bandaogo accepts responsibility and “the intention was there” during the attack, but the 30-year-old cannot explain what led to it.Rivard told the hearing in New Westminster that his client had personality traits that may have been “augmented” by drug use, and two psychiatric tests done after the attack determined Bandaogo to have anti-social and aggressive tendencies.Bandaogo pleaded guilty to murder, several charges of attempted murder and one count of aggravated assault over the March 2021 mass stabbing.Crown and defence lawyers have jointly proposed that Bandaogo receive a sentence of life in prison ...

Transgender woman, bookstore, teacher sue over Montana law banning drag reading events

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:58 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A transgender woman, the owners of an independent bookstore and an educator who teaches in costume are among those challenging Montana’s first-in-the-nation law that bans people dressed in drag from reading to children in public schools or libraries.The federal lawsuit filed Thursday in Butte argues the law violates the free speech and equal protection guarantees in the U.S. Constitution. The plaintiffs seek an injunction to temporarily block the law, a ruling that the law is unconstitutional and damages for Adria Jawort, whose planned talk on LGBTQ+ history at the Butte-Silver Bow Public Library was canceled in early June by county officials who cited the new legislation.Similar laws in other states have been temporarily blocked while legal challenges play out in court.The complaint calls the Montana law, sponsored by Republican Rep. Braxton Mitchell, “a breathtakingly ambiguous and overbroad bill, motivated by anti-LGBTQ+ animus.”Like many Republican-led...

Greece pledges more high defense spending, seeks F-35 fleet

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:58 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s conservative government promised late Thursday to continue a multi-billion euro defense modernization program during its second term in office, setting its sights on acquiring F-35 fighter jets in five years.“Our priority is to safeguard the country,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament at the start of a debate to approve a new government after his conservative New Democracy party won a general election last month.Athens is acquiring 24 advanced French-built Rafale jets, and upgrading 58 F-16 fighters from its aging fleet. It wants to add 20 F-35s with an option to buy as many as 28 more at a later date – requests that still require final approval from the Unites States. Greece has long-standing disputes with neighbor and fellow-NATO member Turkey and is modernizing its military after emerging from a severe financial crisis in 2018. It currently has the largest defense budget in the alliance relative to the size of its economy, at 3.54% ...

Why the US is willing to send Ukraine cluster munitions now

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:58 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has decided to send cluster munitions to Ukraine to help its military push back Russian forces entrenched along the front lines.The Biden administration is expected to announce on Friday that it will send thousands of them as part of a new military aid package worth $800 million, according to people familiar with the decision who were not authorized to discuss it publicly before the official announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity.The move will likely trigger outrage from some allies and humanitarian groups that have long opposed the use of cluster bombs. Proponents argue that Russia has already been using the controversial weapon in Ukraine and that the munitions the U.S. will provide have a reduced dud rate, meaning there will be far fewer unexploded rounds that can result in unintended civilian deaths. Here is a look at what cluster munitions are, where they have been used and why the U.S. plans to provide them to Ukraine now. WHAT IS ...

Cook County's newly unveiled Narcan mobile unit a lifesaver on wheels

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:58 GMT

COOK COUNTY, Ill. — The Mobile Overdose Prevention Outreach Unit aims to save more than lives. Cook County commissioner Monica Gordan on Thursday helped celebrate the launch of what she called "a unique program that has the power to save lives and bring hope to our communities."Taxpayer-funded through the Cook County Department of Health, by way of a federal grant, the mobile unit will hand out the opioid-reversing drug Narcan and other FDA-approved supplies in what are called overdose prevention kits."A significant percentage of opioid overdose deaths reported in Cook County are from the south suburbs, so more resources and efforts to focus attention on the south suburbs are needed," said Ron Vlasaty with the Family Guidance Center. FDA approves Narcan as first over-the-counter opioid overdose-reversal drug FGC will handle the day-to-day operation of the mobile unit and will focus on some of the hardest hit and economically challenged areas of southern Cook County. With overdose...

One Bulls player won't be back next season

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:58 GMT

CHICAGO — In an offseason where the team has welcomed back a number of players, there is one that won't be returning for the 2023-2024 season.In fact, he's the second draft pick ever taken by the current front office.The Bulls confirmed on Thursday that they've waived forward Marko Simonovic, ending his run as a member of the franchise. He would have had his $1.8 million salary for the upcoming season guaranteed if he was on the roster on Friday, and since he hasn't played much the past two seasons, it wasn't a surprise that he was let go.He joins Derrick Jones Jr., who didn't sign his player option, and Patrick Beverly, who signed with the Sixers, as departures from last year's team. Simonovic was the second pick made by executive VP Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley in the second round of the 2020 NBA Draft. Forward Patrick Williams was the other selection for the duo as he was taken fourth overall by the Bulls. Arriving with the team for the 2021-2022 season, S...

Illinois now allows trans residents to change gender on birth certificates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:58 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — Transgender residents of Illinois will now be able to change the gender listed on their birth certificates without documentation from a doctor.The new law effectively allows a person to self-determine their own gender.Previously, a doctor could only give the certification if the individual had undergone gender reassignment surgery or other clinical treatment.Gov. JB Prtizker signed HB0009 in February. Bravo to debut show that takes place in small-town Illinois "Following this year’s Pride Month, I couldn’t be happier that we are making it easier for Illinoisans to change the gender listed on their birth certificate,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Our trans, nonbinary, gender non-conforming, and intersex neighbors deserve to have documentation that affirms their identity without having to jump over dozens of bureaucratic hurdles. After all, this is the Land of Lincoln and Obama—and here, we welcome members of the LGBTQ+ community as they are.”For informatio...

Missing Illinois man's bones found in forest over 10 years later

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:58 GMT

JOLIET, Ill. (WTVO) — The remains of an Illinois man have been found after he was reported missing over a decade ago.Investigators reported that they had found two bones inside of the Will County Forest Preserve back on March 24, according to the Miami Herald, almost to the day of when Marcus Wright, 24, was reported missing out of Joliet back on March 21, 2013.The county coroner said that the bones “were found to be consistent with originating from a tall male subject." Wright had stood at 6-foot-2. Glen Ellyn woman faces 132 counts of animal cruelty charges A bone and DNA sample from Wright's mother was compared to the bones found. They were found to have a close genetic relationship. The coroner said on Monday that this indicates that the bones found belonged to Wright.“This part is a painful one,” Kimberly Perdue, Wright’s cousin, said. “I feel both like a wound has been reopened (and) I’m grateful that this MAY bring just a little bit of closure to my Auntie. I don’t understa...