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Japan’s top court to rule on law that requires reproductive organ removal for official gender change

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Supreme Court will rule Wednesday whether a law forcing transgender people to have their reproductive organs removed in order to officially change their gender is constitutional.Currently, transgender people who want to have their biologically assigned gender changed on family registries and other official documents must be diagnosed as having Gender Identity Disorder and undergo an operation to remove their gonads.International rights and medical groups have criticized the 2003 law as inhumane and outdated.On Wednesday, the top court’s 15-judge Grand Bench will decide if the much-criticized surgical requirement is constitutional. The case was filed by a plaintiff whose request for a gender change in her family registry — to female from her biologically assigned male — was turned down by lower courts.The plaintiff, who is only identified as a resident in western Japan, originally filed the request in 2000, saying the surgery requirement forces a huge...

Snow hits northern Cascades and Rockies in the first major storm of the season after a warm fall

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Snow has started falling in the northern Cascades and Rockies in the first major snowstorm of the season, prompting people to search out their winter coats, gloves, boots and ice scrapers after a warm fall in many places.The National Weather Service warned of hazardous travel on snowy mountain passes and ice on some highways when snow initially melts and then freezes as road temperatures drop. The storm was forecast to come in waves, beginning with precipitation that fell Tuesday as rain at lower elevations in Washington state and as snow in the mountains. The snow was then forecast to spread across northern Idaho, Montana, northwestern Wyoming and North Dakota into Friday.Cold air moving down from northwestern Canada has combined with a moist Pacific weather system, leading to freezing temperatures and expected snowfall amounts up 14 inches (35.5 centimeters) in Washington’s northern Cascade Mountains and 18 inches (46 centimeters) in the mountains of Mon...

LA police commission says officers violated lethal force policy in struggle with man who later died

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A teacher who died after a struggle in which he was repeatedly shocked with a Taser by Los Angeles police didn’t pose a deadly threat, and two officers who subdued him violated departmental policy on the use of lethal force, the police chief said in a report made public Tuesday.The 33-page report presented to the city’s civilian Board of Police Commissioners said the Jan. 3 arrest of Keenan Darnell Anderson was mishandled because the officers applied force to his windpipe and because the stun gun was used six times.In the September report, Police Chief Michel Moore also said five officers deviated from tactical training by, among other things, failing to properly search Anderson and failing to quickly put him in a “recovery position” after he had been handcuffed.In a closed-door session, the police commissioners adopted the chief’s findings of “administrative disapproval,” opening the way to disciplining some officers.An email seeking comment fro...

‘Shaft’ star Richard Roundtree, considered the first Black action movie hero, has died at 81

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Richard Roundtree, the trailblazing actor who starred as the ultra-smooth private detective in several “Shaft” films beginning in the early 1970s, has died. He was 81.Roundtree’s longtime manager, Patrick McMinn, said the actor had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday. He was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993 and underwent a double mastectomy.“Richard’s work and career served as a turning point for African American leading men,” McMinn said. “The impact he had on the industry cannot be overstated.”Roundtree, who was born in New Rochelle, New York, was considered as the first Black action hero and became one of the leading actors in the blaxploitation genre through his New York street smart John Shaft character in the Gordon Parks-directed film in 1971. At age 28, it was Roundtree’s first feature film appearance after starting his career as a model.Roundtree’s “Shaft” was part of a change in how Black movies were v...

City offers $50K reward for information related to crosses burned at Sylmar church

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

Months after three crosses were set on fire at a church in Sylmar, the Los Angeles City Council has approved a $50,000 reward for anyone with information that leads to the arrest of those responsible. The fires happened on July 6 at Christian Fellowship Church on the 1300 block of Polk Street, some time between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m.A neighbor spotted the burning crosses and used the church's garden hose to douse the flames before crews arrived on scene.The fires were immediately investigated as arson, with special consideration that they were set as an act of hate.Burned crosses stand outside the Sylmar Christian Fellowship Church, Thursday, July 6, 2023, in the Sylmar section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)On Tuesday, months after the fires shocked the neighboring community, the Los Angeles Police Department issued a news release, calling the crime a "malicious act" and announcing the reward.The church is predominantly Black and Latino, and the LAPD release again identifies th...

1 killed, 1 injured after shooting in Inglewood

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

Police in Inglewood are searching for a suspect or suspects involved in deadly shooting that killed one person and sent another to the hospital Tuesday, authorities confirmed to KTLA.  Officers with the Inglewood Police Department responded to multiple reports of a shooting in the area of Venice Way and Victor Avenue.  At the scene, police found two male adults suffering from gunshot wounds.  Inglewood PD on the scene of a fatal shooting on Oct. 24, 2023. (Citizen)Paramedics with the Los Angeles County Fire Department took one of the victims to a nearby trauma center. The other man was declared dead at the scene, authorities said.  Police have set up a large perimeter near Glenway Drive and Beach Avenue as they search for the shooter.  So far, authorities have not established a motive or released any descriptions of those who might have been involved in the fatal shooting.  

The 10 most expensive reported home sales in Oakland the week of Oct. 16

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

A house that sold for $4.3 million tops the list of the most expensive residential real estate sales in Oakland in the past week.In total, 11 residential real estate sales were recorded in the area during the past week, with an average price of $2 million. The average price per square foot ended up at $778.The prices in the list below concern real estate sales where the title was recorded during the week of Oct. 16 even if the property may have been sold earlier.10. $1.2 million, single-family home in the 800 block of Paloma Ave.A sale has been finalized for the single-family residence in the 800 block of Paloma Ave. in Oakland. The price was $1,245,000 and the new owners took over the house in September. The house was built in 1925 and the living area totals 1,352 square feet. The price per square foot ended up at $921. The house features three bedrooms and two bathrooms.Paloma Avenue9. $1.6 million, single-family house in the 5800 block of Balmoral DriveThe sale of the detached ho...

Recovering from attack that killed Illinois boy, Palestinian American mother urges prayers for peace

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — A Palestinian American woman whose 6-year-old son was killed in what police are calling a hate crime in a Chicago suburb has asked the public to “pray for peace” as she recuperates from her injuries. Hanaan Shahin issued a statement Tuesday through the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations after meeting with the group’s executive director a day earlier. The written statement marked her first public comments since the brutal Oct. 14 attack that left her with more than a dozen stab wounds and stitches on her face. Authorities said the family’s suburban Chicago landlord singled them out because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the escalating Israel-Hamas war. “Pray for peace,” Shahin said, thanking authorities, doctors and others. She was released from the hospital last week and has declined interviews with reporters. Shahin, who works as a caregiver to seniors, lost her son, Wadea Al-Fayoume, in the attack that has contribut...

Ryan Hartman has hat trick on 5-point night, Wild beat McDavid-less Oilers 7-4

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Ryan Hartman scored three goals as part of a career-high-tying five-point game, and the Minnesota Wild scored five times in the final period to beat the Edmonton Oilers 7-4 on Tuesday night.It was Edmonton’s first game without captain and three-time MVP Connor McDavid, who suffered an upper-body injury Saturday and is expected to miss a week or two.Hartman recorded his first hat trick since Jan. 8, 2017, converting a feed from Jake Middleton for a short-handed tally and a 6-4 lead with 4:10 left. He got his second goal 38 seconds into the third period.Joel Eriksson Ek and Mats Zuccarello also scored in third for the Wild before Marcus Foligno added an empty-netter. Marco Rossi and Hartman scored in the first period for Minnesota, and Filip Gustavsson finished with 25 saves.Warren Foegele scored twice, and Evan Bouchard and Evander Kane also scored for the Oilers.Hartman’s goal early in the third tied the game at 3-all. Zuccarello scored from the slot at ...

Stock market today: Asian shares mostly gain as corporate profits top forecasts and oil prices fall

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares advanced Wednesday, tracking gains on Wall Street after Verizon and other big companies reported fatter profits for the summer than expected. Benchmarks rose in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Shanghai but fell in Seoul and Sydney. U.S. futures were mixed and oil prices declined.As the pace of profit reports picks up, the hope is that companies will report their first growth in a year. Such strength is crucial for stock markets, which have slumped under the weight of higher bond yields. The 10-year Treasury yield has been rising rapidly from less than 3.50% in the spring and catching up with the Federal Reserve’s main overnight interest rate, which is at its highest level since 2001, above 5.25%. High yields hurt prices for stocks, cryptocurrencies and other investments. They also slow the economy bluntly and add stress for the entire financial system.The 10-year Treasury yield was steady at 4.84% early Wednesday.In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index gained 1.3% to 31,466....