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Why London’s mayor can’t just scrap his clean air plan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:59 GMT

LONDON — Sadiq Khan is under pressure to ditch a controversial plan to clean up London’s air after a bruising by-election for the mayor’s Labour colleagues. But scrapping the plan is no panacea — and critics will have to explain what replaces it.London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) aims to reduce the U.K. capital’s emissions of nitrogen dioxide and nitrogen oxide (referred to together as NOx) by imposing a charge on polluting vehicles when they enter the zone. It’s set to expand to cover the whole of London from the end of August.Excess NOx emissions are incredibly dangerous for human health. They can cause inflammation of the airways, asthma, reduced lung function, and increase the rate of hospital admissions. In fact, poor air quality is considered by the British government to be “the largest environmental risk to public health in the U.K.” Khan is standing behind the scheme, and on Friday announced extra funding for businesses and individuals who ...

Crowd overwhelms New York City’s Union Square, tosses chairs, climbs on vehicles

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:59 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Police in New York City are struggling to control a crowd of thousands of people who gathered in Manhattan’s Union Square for an Internet personality’s videogame console giveaway that turned into a riot.Aerial TV news footage Friday showed a surging, tightly packed crowd climbing on vehicles, hurling chairs, throwing punches and scaling structures in the park.Traffic was blocked by the crowd on several streets. A growing number of police officers could be seen trying to control the gathering. Some people climbed on top of a moving vehicle and pounded on the side of a city bus.The NYPD didn’t immediately have information on injuries or arrests.On his Instagram feed, the streamer known as Kai Cenat, who has millions of social media followers, had an image promoting a giveaway at 4 p.m. Friday in the park.

Watch live: Sun Orioles journalists field subscribers’ questions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:59 GMT

Since spring the Orioles have essentially flipped the probability that models give them of playing in the postseason. With new additions and increasing local and national attention, how deep could they go? Your subscription is your pass to a virtual Q&A with Baltimore Sun Orioles reporters Nathan Ruiz and Jacob Calvin Meyer, moderated by Sun sports content editor C.J. Doon.Ask a question: ()

Mark Margolis, ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Better Call Saul’ actor, dies at 83

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:59 GMT

Muri Assunção | New York Daily NewsMark Margolis, an Emmy-nominated actor best known for his role as Hector Salamanca on the hit television shows “Breaking Bad” and its prequel “Better Call Saul,” died Thursday night at the age of 83, his family confirmed.The actor died at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City after a short unspecified illness, his son, Morgan Margolis, said in a statement.Born in Philadelphia in 1939, Margolis studied acting with famed teacher Stella Adler in New York City and focused his early career on the New York stage, appearing in several off-Broadway productions — including at Manhattan’s prestigious Public Theater.Margolis was also part of the main cast of the 1962 Broadway show “Infidel Caesar,” a modern-day take on Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” set in Cuba. However, the show closed after its first preview, according to the Internet Broadway Database.Margolis went on to have a prolific career on the big screen that spanned five decades and included roles i...

How 6 Mississippi officers tried to cover up their torture of 2 Black men

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:59 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Men who had sworn an oath to protect and serve were huddled on the back porch of a Mississippi home as Michael Corey Jenkins lay on the floor, blood gushing from his mutilated tongue where one of the police officers shoved a gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger.As Jenkins writhed in pain, the six white officers devised a scheme to cover up dozens of stunning acts of brutality that they had just carried out during a 90-minute period of terror against Jenkins and a second Black victim. The officers planted drugs. They stole surveillance footage from the house. They tried to dispose of other evidence. They agreed on a set of lies that would further upend their victims’ lives.And that was just the cover-up.Careful to avoid security cameras at the house, they burst in without a warrant, starting the torture session of physical, sexual and psychological abuse. They handcuffed Jenkins and his friend Eddie Terrell Parker and poured milk, alcohol and chocolate syrup ...

Court blocks Mississippi ban on voting after some crimes, but GOP official will appeal ruling

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:59 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi is violating the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment by permanently stripping voting rights from people convicted of some felonies, a federal appeals court panel ruled in a split decision Friday.Two judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ordered the Mississippi secretary of state to stop enforcing a provision in the state constitution that disenfranchises people convicted of specific crimes, including murder, forgery and bigamy.If the ruling stands, thousands of people could regain voting rights, possibly in time for the Nov. 7 general election for governor and other statewide offices.Mississippi Republican Attorney General Lynn Fitch expects to ask the full appeals court to reconsider the panel’s 2-1 ruling, her spokesperson, Debbee Hancock, said Friday.The 5th Circuit is one of the most conservative appeals courts in the U.S., and in 2022 it declined to overturn Mississippi’s felony disenfranchisement...

No college psychology credit for Florida high schoolers after clash over teaching about gender

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:59 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — The first time the College Board bumped up against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s efforts to inject conservative ideals into education standards, it ultimately revamped the Advanced Placement course for African American studies, watering down curriculum on slavery reparations and the Black Lives Matter movement — and a nationwide backlash ensued.Now, faced with altering its AP Psychology course to comply with Florida’s limits on teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity, the nonprofit College Board is pushing back. It advised the state’s school districts Thursday to not offer the college-level course to Florida’s high school students unless it can be taught in full.The announcement sent shock waves across the state as students in many school districts prepare to return to school in less than a week. “I am actually very upset,” said John Carlos Alvarez, who was hoping to take AP Psychology his senior year of high school in Coral Springs, Florida. “There we...

US judge blocks new Illinois law allowing state to penalize anti-abortion counseling centers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:59 GMT

ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — A federal judge has blocked a new Illinois law that allows the state to penalize anti-abortion counseling centers if they use deception to interfere with patients seeking the procedure.U.S. District Judge Iain Johnston said Thursday the new law “is painfully and blatantly a violation of the First Amendment.” The law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker last week bans anti-abortion counseling centers, often referred to as “crisis pregnancy centers,” from using “misinformation, deceptive practices, or misrepresentation” to interfere with access to abortion services or emergency contraception. Violators faced fines of up to $50,000.The bill was championed by Attorney General Kwame Raoul. The law allows the state Office of the Attorney General to investigate complaints against anti-abortion centers using questionable tactics and strengthens the attorney general’s authority to prosecute incidences of consumer fraud in such cases.Pritzker said he’s confident the law wi...

Federal appeals court upholds Connecticut law that eliminated religious vaccination exemption

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:59 GMT

A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a 2021 Connecticut law that eliminated the state’s longstanding religious exemption from childhood immunization requirements for schools, colleges and day care facilities.The decision comes about a year and a half after a lower court judge dismissed the lawsuit challenging the contentious law, which drew protests at the state Capitol.“This decision is a full and resounding affirmation of the constitutionality and legality of Connecticut’s vaccine requirements. Vaccines save lives — this is a fact beyond dispute,” Democratic Attorney General William Tong said in a statement. “The legislature acted responsibly and well within its authority to protect the health of Connecticut families and stop the spread of preventable disease.”The plaintiffs, We the Patriots USA Inc. and others, had argued that Connecticut violated religious freedom protections by removing the exemption. The 2021 law, they said, demonstrates a hostility to religious beli...

Man arrested in fatal Greektown shooting of Shamar Powell-Flowers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:59 GMT

A 34-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the shooting death of Shamar Powell-Flowers in Greektown last month. Police say there was a fight involving multiple people in the area of Danforth and Carlaw avenues around 3:30 a.m. on July 23 and someone fired a gun. Powell-Flowers was rushed to the hospital in life-threatening condition where he was later pronounced dead.The shooting occurred hours after an informal gathering was held a few blocks away marking five years since a man went on a shooting rampage along the bustling thoroughfare, killing two people and injuring 13 others.Mohamud Farah of Toronto was arrested on Friday and charged with second-degree murder.