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Federal judge hearing arguments over Indiana’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:26 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge is scheduled Wednesday to hear arguments in a lawsuit seeking to block an Indiana law banning doctors from providing puberty blockers, hormones and gender-affirming surgeries to minors.The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana has asked the judge in Indianapolis for a preliminary injunction that would stop the law from taking effect July 1. The group filed its lawsuit on behalf of four transgender youth and an Indiana doctor who provides transgender medical treatment just hours after Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the bill April 5.The organization argues the ban violates the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection guarantees, federal laws regarding essential medical services and wrongly prohibits Indiana doctors from communicating with out-of-state doctors about gender-affirming care for their patients younger than 18.Indiana’s ban was enacted amid a national push by Republican-led legislatures continue to curb LGBTQ+ rights. At least 20 sta...

Kansas doctor dies saving his daughter from drowning on Colorado raft trip

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:26 GMT

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas doctor saved his daughter when she became trapped by their overturned raft in a rushing Colorado river, but was unable to save himself.Dustin Harker, 47, a neurologist from Hutchinson, was on a whitewater rafting trip Friday with friends from church and four of his 13 children when the accident happened in the Sunshine Falls area on the Arkansas River.The family had rafted the same river in previous years but the rapids were more turbulent than usual due to high amounts of rainfall, Harker’s sister-in-law, Sharon Neu Young, said in an email to the Hutchinson News.A raft carrying Harker and three of his children capsized.“Everyone struggled to get above water,” Young wrote. “In the tumult, Dustin threw the capsized raft off his youngest daughter who was trapped underneath.” She did not disclose the girl’s age.Everyone made it to shore and Harker was even able to speak, but he “had already taken on too much water” and soon became unresponsi...

Southern Baptists refuse to take back megachurch because it has women pastors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:26 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Southern Baptist Convention has refused to welcome Saddleback Church back into its fold, rejecting an appeal by the California megachurch over its February ouster for having women pastors.Southern Baptist church representatives at their annual meeting here also rejected a similar appeal by a smaller church, Fern Creek Baptist of Louisville, Kentucky, which is led by a woman pastor.The results of the Tuesday votes were announced Wednesday morning on the concluding day of the the two-day annual meeting here of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, whose statement of faith asserts that only qualified men can serve as pastors.The convention hall packed with about 12,000 Southern Baptists was quiet after the announcement, appearing to have listened to the earlier urging by SBC President Bart Barber for them to show restraint.“I know sometimes there are churches where people wind up in biblical divorce,” he said. “But we don’t throw divorce parties at church...

Agribusiness giant Cargill not doing enough to fight deforestation, protect human rights, group says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:26 GMT

An activist group and researchers tried to increase pressure on agribusiness giant Cargill on Wednesday to do more to fight deforestation and human rights abuse, releasing a report that accuses the company of not following through on commitments to help end such practices.The report argues that the family-owned company has been misled by its managers and now should take the lead in ensuring it carries out its promises to fight forced child labor in the cocoa industry and protect forests and other natural resources. As one of the world’s largest privately held companies and by far the largest grain distributor, Cargill is in a unique position to force positive changes, especially in ending deforestation, the groups said in the report.“The destruction of the natural world is driven by agribusiness and agribusiness is driven by Cargill,” said Todd Paglia, executive director of the environmental group Stand.Earth, at a news conference in Wayzata, Minnesota, a Minneapol...

Stock market today: Wall Street drifts higher ahead of Fed decision on rates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:26 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting higher Wednesday, as Wall Street waits to hear what the Federal Reserve’s latest economy-moving decision will be on interest rates.The S&P 500 was 0.4% higher in midday trading after riding a winning streak to its best level since April 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 85 points, or 0.2%, at 34,126, as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% higher.Some stocks were making sharp moves, including drops for several health insurers after UnitedHealth Group flagged how many customers were getting knee procedures and other outpatient services done. That’s something that could raise costs for insurers, and UnitedHealth fell 7.2%. Humana dropped 13.7%.Stocks of companies that make products used in hip replacements and other health procedures, meanwhile, were at the front of the market. Stryker rose 5.8%, and Edwards Lifesciences gained 5.3%.But the majority of Wall Street was quiet, with the main event coming lat...

Detroit-area city bans LGBTQ+ Pride flags on public property

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:26 GMT

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. (AP) — A Detroit-area community has banned LGBTQ+ flags from publicly owned poles after a tense hourslong meeting that raised questions about discrimination, religion and the city’s reputation for welcoming newcomers.In protest, a woman speaking during the public comment portion of the Hamtramck City Council meeting kissed a woman standing next to her Tuesday night.“You guys are welcome,” council member Nayeem Choudhury said. “(But) why do you have to have the flag shown on government property to be represented? You’re already represented. We already know who you are.”Some members of the all-Muslim council said the Pride flag clashes with the beliefs of some members of their faith. Businesses and residents aren’t prohibited from displaying a Pride flag on their own property.“We want to respect the religious rights of our citizens,” Choudhury said.Hamtramck, population 27,000, is an enclave surrounded by Detroit. More than 40% of residents were born in ot...

Turkey’s Erdogan says Sweden shouldn’t expect to join NATO any time soon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:26 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that NATO should not bet on his country approving Sweden’s application to join the Western military alliance before a July summit because the Nordic nation has not fully addressed his security concerns. Sweden and Finland applied for membership together following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. Finland became NATO’s 31st member in April after the Turkish parliament ratified its request, but Turkey has held off approving Sweden’s bid.NATO wants to bring Sweden into the fold by the time the leaders of member nations meet for a summit in Lithuania’s capital on July 11-12. Speaking to journalists on his way back from a state visit to Azerbaijan on Tuesday, Erdogan said Turkey’s attitude to the accession was not “positive.”Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency and other media reported Erdogan’s comments as senior officials from NATO, Sweden, Finland and Turkey met in Ankara on Wednesday. The...

Ian Happ's streak-snapping performance has a tough end Tuesday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:26 GMT

CHICAGO — It was one of the best nights for one of the longest-tenured Cubs at a misty Wrigley Field on Tuesday night. But the ending to the game wasn't what Ian Happ or the team might have hoped for despite the great night from the outfielder at the plate.For the first time since May, Ian Happ hit a homer and drove in a season-high four RBI in an 11-3 Cubs win over the Pirates to start a three-game series. It ended his 118-at-bat homerless streak that dated back to May 5 as his three-run shot in the first inning got the Cubs off on the right foot. It had been the longest stretch for Happ without a home run since he made his major league debut in 2017. He'd drive in four runs on the evening, which is a season-high and the fourth time this year he's driven in at least three runs in a game. Happ also scored three runs on the evening, but it was on his last one in the seventh inning that his night came to an early end.Rounding third and coming into score on a Yan Gomes single, Happ's ...

Chicago police searching for 'high-risk' missing teen last seen at her home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:26 GMT

CHICAGO — The Chicago Police Department is searching for a "high-risk" missing teen who was last seen at her home early Monday morning.Heaven Hernandez, 16, is described as being about 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighing about 120 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Missing man last seen at Salt Shed concert; Police seek public’s help According to information from the Chicago Police Department, she was last seen around 5 a.m. at her home in the 2200 block of North Keeler Avenue. This is in the city's Hermosa neighborhood.She was last seen wearing a long-sleeved black hoodie, black jogging pants and black Nike gym shoes.Chicago police said she is often near Avers Avenue and Fullerton Avenue.

Missing NOLA chef, feared dead, reappears while local news crews are reporting on his disappearance

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:26 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — It's the twist no one saw coming: 48-year-old Demietriek Scott, known in his New Orleans community as "Chef Scott," returned to the site of his food truck on Monday after being declared missing — and feared dead.It had been a rollercoaster of emotions for Scott's family. He had been reported missing on June 10, after his loved ones said they hadn't seen or heard from him in weeks.Earlier on Monday, Scott's family had also been called to the Orleans Parish Coroner's Office to identify a body that had been discovered in the Florida Area neighborhood of NOLA. It was ultimately determined the body wasn't Scott's, so they held out hope he was still alive. How a Netflix true crime show helped find a missing teenager They were right. Scott appeared at the site of his food truck in the 7th Ward on Monday afternoon to find news crews, letting his loved ones know he had returned home.Scott didn't say where he had been, though he told Nexstar's WGNO he didn't leave New O...