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Supreme Court lets stand Washington state law barring conversion therapy for minors

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:52 GMT

(CNN) — The Supreme Court on Monday let stand a Washington state law prohibiting licensed health care professionals from practicing “conversion therapy” – a scientifically discredited practice intended to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity – as it applies to minors.Critics say the practice – which attempts to convert people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning – into straight or cisgender people, causes serious emotional harm and can have deadly results.The practice ranges from psychotherapy to medical and faith-based methods that can include talk therapy, hormone or steroid treatment or faith-based consultation.The vote was 6-3, with Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas publicly saying they would have taken up the case.Thomas wrote in a five-page dissent that he would have taken up the case to consider a First Amendment challenge to the law.Under the state law, Thomas wrote, “licensed cou...

San Diego opens first 'all-inclusive' park in Mission Bay after $4M makeover

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:52 GMT

SAN DIEGO — The first "all-inclusive" playground in the city of San Diego was opened to the public earlier this week, bringing the city one step closer towards its massive redevelopment of Mission Bay Park.Elected officials held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new playground, known as Tecolote Shores South, on Thursday. The new $4.1 million play and fitness area features modern equipment and practical upgrades to help accommodate park-goers with disabilities. The local firm behind the design of the space, the Schmidt Design Group, describes it as the "most accessible playground in the City of San Diego park system." City of San Diego moves forward with plan for De Anza Cove "Today it's a wonderful day, because we were able to open this park, which is a playground specially made for children of all abilities," District 2 San Diego City Councilmember Jennifer Campbell told FOX 5 during Thursday's ribbon cutting. "I want everyone to come and enjoy (it)."The playground is the second...

Zelenskyy will address the US military in Washington on Monday as funding for weapons runs out

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address U.S. military officers at the National Defense University on Monday as part of a last-minute push to convince Congress to provide more money for weapons before funding runs out. President Joe Biden has asked Congress for $61.4 billion for wartime funding for Ukraine as part of a $110 billion package that also includes money for Israel and other national security priorities. But the request is caught up in a debate over U.S. immigration policy and border security. The U.S. has already provided Ukraine $111 billion for its fight against Russia’s 2022 invasion. On Tuesday, Zelenskyy is expected to go to Capitol Hill and to meet with Biden at the White House.With Congress in its final work week before leaving for the holidays, questions remain as to whether Republicans will be able to come to an agreement on any rounds of future funding for Ukraine or Israel without White House concessions on additional border securi...

Leaders of Guyana and Venezuela to meet this week as region worries over their territorial dispute

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:52 GMT

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — As the leaders of Guyana and Venezuela prepare to meet this week to address an escalating dispute over a region rich in oil and minerals, Guyana’s president said he is coming with “goodwill’ but insisted that his country be respected and the case be heard at the International Court of Justice.President Irfaan Ali spoke to reporters late Sunday, while his security detail wore shirts reading “ESSEQUIBO BELONGS TO GUYANA.”The dispute over Essequibo, which represents two-thirds of Guyana and borders Venezuela, worsened after Venezuela held a referendum earlier this month on whether to claim sovereignty over the region located near massive oil deposits.Venezuela maintains that Essequibo was within its boundaries during the Spanish colonial period, and it rejects the border drawn by international arbitrators in 1899 when Guyana was under British rule.Guyana’s president is scheduled to meet Thursday with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro behind close...

Man charged with terrorism over a fire at South African Parliament is declared unfit to stand trial

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:52 GMT

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A man charged with terrorism and other offenses over a 2022 fire that badly damaged South Africa’s historic Parliament complex in Cape Town was declared unfit to stand trial by a court on Monday.Zandile Mafe was diagnosed with schizophrenia by an expert panel in a report, and a judge in the Western Cape High Court ruled that he agreed with the assessment. Judge Nathan Erasmus said that Mafe wasn’t able to understand the charges against him.Mafe has said he’s fit to stand trial and has admitted in previous court hearings to starting the blaze in January 2022. He said he did it in protest against Parliament, the local government in Cape Town and the national government. He said all of them have failed South Africa’s people.In a previous court outburst, he threatened to burn the Parliament building again and challenged the court to send him to prison, saying he wasn’t afraid of a life sentence.Mafe’s lawyer said at Mond...

Wisconsin secretary of state calls for removal of fake Trump elector from elections commission

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:52 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s Democratic secretary of state on Monday called for a Republican who served as a fake elector for former President Donald Trump and admitted trying to overturn the 2020 election results to be removed from his position on the Wisconsin Elections Commission.Bob Spindell was one of 10 Republicans who signed certificates in 2020 falsely stating that Trump had won Wisconsin. President Joe Biden won the battleground state. Spindell and other nine fake electors conceded in a legal settlement last week that Biden had won the state and agreed to not serve as electors in next year’s election or in any in which Trump is running. They also agreed that their actions were “part of an attempt to improperly overturn the 2020 presidential election results.”But they also avoided paying any damages and didn’t accept any liability or admit any wrongdoing for their actions.Spindell, who didn’t respond to voicemails or text messages left last week a...

The Supreme Court rejects an appeal over bans on conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ children

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up a case about whether state and local governments can enforce laws banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ children.Over the dissent of three conservative justices, the court turned away an appeal from Washington, where the law has been upheld. An appellate panel struck down local bans in Florida as an unconstitutional restriction on counselors’ speech.The high court often steps in when appellate courts disagree, and in separate opinions Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas said that standard was easily met in the controversy over conversion therapy bans.Thomas wrote that his colleague should have taken up the Washington case because “licensed counselors cannot voice anything other than the state-approved opinion on minors with gender dysphoria without facing punishment.”Justice Brett Kavanaugh also voted to hear the case. It takes four of the nine justices to set a case for arguments.The court’s decision...

Speaker Greg Fergus apologizes to committee for video shown at political convention

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:52 GMT

OTTAWA — House Speaker Greg Fergus apologized to a committee of MPs this morning for a video he made that was shown at a recent Ontario Liberal Party convention. Fergus was called to speak to the committee on procedure and House affairs, which is examining whether the non-partisan Speaker should be punished for appearing in the video in his ceremonial robes.The committee has scheduled five hours of hearings on this today, with witnesses that also include House clerks and John Fraser, the Ontario member of the provincial parliament who was the subject of Fergus’s video. Fergus says a member of Fraser’s family asked him to send a video message to commemorate his time in a senior position in the provincial Liberal party.The Speaker says he believed it would be shown at a private event and not a partisan event — but he also says he should not have made the video in the first place. Fergus says a protocol is being put in place to ensure he gets advice from the House clerk and...

Indigenous advisory council for CN resigns, says railway won’t take responsibility

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:52 GMT

A council of prominent Indigenous leaders tasked with advising Canadian National Railway Co. says all 12 members have submitted resignations over what they say is the company’s failure to acknowledge past wrongs and to follow its recommendations for reconciliation.The resignations take effect Dec. 31.Its co-chairs, Murray Sinclair, a former senator and head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and Roberta Jamieson, the first female Indigenous lawyer in Canada, say in a statement that they tried to foster understanding, connections and transparency in outlining steps for the railway’s reconciliation efforts. But they say the 104-year-old company has “missed the mark” on reconciliation and that in order to have a better relationship with Indigenous Peoples, it must accept its past, take action and commit to change led by Indigenous business leaders.“Regardless of who was in charge, CN played a role in the oppression of Indigenous peoples and there is no path forward...

Work to resume at Tahiti’s legendary Olympic surfing site after uproar over damage to coral reef

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:52 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Organizers of the Paris Olympics say work will resume this week to prepare the surfing venue in Tahiti, after an uproar over damage to a coral reef put efforts on hold.Teahupo’o is famed on the surfing circuit for its big waves, but fierce concerns in Tahiti for marine life have proven to be a challenge for Olympics organizers as they head into 2024, less than 230 days out from the Summer Games.Tony Estanguet, head of the Paris Olympics organizing committee, said Monday that preparations at Teahupo’o will start again this week. The resumption comes after the president of French Polynesia, Moetai Brotherson, held talks with groups on the island that are concerned about plans to build a tower for surfing judges and television cameras in the Teahupo’o lagoon, fearing it will damage the coral reefs.Work stopped earlier this month at the site after coral was damaged during a test of a barge meant to transport the aluminum judging tower into the lagoon so it...