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Saudi Arabia issues death sentence over critical tweets

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:51 GMT

By Hande Atay Alam and Celine Alkhaldi | CNNA Saudi court has sentenced a retired teacher to death over his comments online, say his brother and advocacy group Human Rights Watch.Muhammad al-Ghamdi, a 54-year-old retired Saudi teacher, was sentenced “following 5 tweets criticizing corruption and human rights violations,” his brother Saeed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi tweeted last week.According to Human Rights Watch, Muhammad al-Ghamdi was arrested last year and given little access to a lawyer before his conviction in July “under article 30 of Saudi Arabia’s counterterrorism law for ‘describing the King or the Crown Prince in a way that undermines religion or justice,’ article 34 for ‘supporting a terrorist ideology,’ article 43 for ‘communication with a terrorist entity,’ and article 44 for publishing false news ‘with the intention of executing a terrorist crime.’”“Repression in Saudi Arabia has reached a terrifying new stage when a court can hand down the death penalty for nothing more th...

Hong Kong hunkers down as Typhoon Saola approaches

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:51 GMT

By Tara Subramanian, Taylor Ward and Shirin Zia Faqiri | CNNSchools closed and flights were canceled as Hong Kong hoisted its third highest storm warning early Friday morning in anticipation of Typhoon Saola, which is expected to brush the city later in the day and could be its worst storm in five years.Saola lost super typhoon status as winds dropped from 240 kilometers per hour (150 miles per hour) to 220 kph (140 mph), though still remains the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane. The storm previously impacted parts of northeastern Philippines.The Joint Typhoon Warning Center projects that the storm will get closest to Hong Kong and China’s southern Guangdong Province Friday night but the center of the storm will remain offshore. The storm is expected to weaken as it approaches to become the equivalent of Category 2 hurricane.The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) issued a T8 storm warning signal at 2:40am local time Friday morning, escalating from the lower category T3 on Thursday afte...

US regulators might change how they classify marijuana

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:51 GMT

By Jennifer Peltz | Associated PressNEW YORK — The news lit up the world of weed: U.S. health regulators are suggesting that the federal government loosen restrictions on marijuana.Specifically, the federal Health and Human Services Department has recommended taking marijuana out of a category of drugs deemed to have “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” The agency advised moving pot from that “Schedule I” group to the less tightly regulated “Schedule III.”So what does that mean, and what are the implications? Read on.FIRST OF ALL, WHAT HAS ACTUALLY CHANGED? WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?Technically, nothing yet. Any decision on reclassifying — or “rescheduling,” in government lingo — is up to the Drug Enforcement Administration, which says it will take up the issue. The review process is lengthy and involves taking public comment.Still, the HHS recommendation is “paradigm-shifting, and it’s very exciting,...

Oakland police have a year to speed up 911 response times — and a lot to lose if they don’t

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:51 GMT

OAKLAND — The Oakland Police Department has one year to speed up its notoriously slow emergency response times, California officials have warned, or the city risks losing important state funding — and even the authority to answer 911 calls at all.The department’s slow 911 response has been the subject of public scrutiny for the past several years, including in two recent civil grand jury reports and a 2017 city audit.“The situation is at a crisis point given the volume of calls and the level of crime that’s reported,” Barry Donelan, the head of the city’s police union, said in an interview. “It just seems to be us pedaling like mad on a stationary bicycle.”Now the critiques have caught the attention of the California Office of Emergency Services, which provides funding to the city’s police and formally recognizes the department as a “public safety answering point” that dispatches 911 calls.Every agency receiving state...

As Republicans Thirst for War With Mexico, Democrats Push to Make Them Vote on It

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:51 GMT

As invading Mexico becomes a mainstream Republican Party position, a group of Democratic lawmakers introduced a measure on Thursday that would bar a U.S. president from unilaterally taking military action against the country.The response to the war powers resolution from the office of Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. — who has led recent efforts to reduce the U.S. military’s foreign entanglements — highlights populist Republicans’ growing pains in their emerging anti-war coalition with progressive Democrats.At first, Gaetz’s office told The Intercept that he would oppose the amendment. In a follow-up statement attributed to the lawmaker, a spokesperson wrote: “Mexico is a captive narco state. I support the amendment and support passing an Authorized Use of Military Force against Mexico.”The measure was introduced by Democratic Reps. Jesús “Chuy” García of Illinois; Joaquin Castro of Texas; and Nydia Velázquez of New York as an amendment to the 2024 Department of Defense appropriations ...

Strike zone at Triple-A to get slightly bigger starting Tuesday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:51 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The robot strike zone will be getting slightly bigger at Triple-A starting Tuesday in an attempt to make it better reflect individual batters rather than averages, and the pitch clock will be altered, too.The robots this season were programmed to call a two-dimensional zone based on where the ball crosses the midpoint of the plate, 8 1/2 inches from the front and the back. MLB reduced the top of the zone to 51% of a batter’s height from 56%. The system averaged batter heights, rather than accounting for body shapes and stances.Starting Tuesday, data for each player from the Hawk-Eye pose-tracking system of cameras installed at each ballpark will be used to set the bottom of the strike zone at an individual’s back knee for the automated ball-strike system. The top will be 5 1/2 inches above above the midpoint of the measurements of a player’s left and right hips. MLB projects that top to be one baseball above the bottom of a batter’s belt.The change, first...

Patriots place receiver Tyquan Thornton on injured reserve with shoulder injury

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:51 GMT

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Patriots receiver Tyquan Thornton will be sidelined to start his second straight NFL season. New England placed Thornton on injured reserve Thursday with a shoulder injury. Thornton was injured early in training camp and dressed for only one exhibition game. He will miss at least the first four games.His first opportunity to play will be Oct. 8 when the Patriots host the New Orleans Saints.Despite his injury, the 2022 second-around pick earned a spot on the initial 53-man roster, joining an improved group of receivers that includes free agent signee JuJu Smith-Schuster, veterans DeVante Parker and Kendrick Bourne, and rookie sixth-round picks Demario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte.Thornton sat out the first four games last season after he broke his collarbone during training camp. He returned to appear in 13 games, including nine starts, and finished with 22 catches for 247 yards and two touchdowns. He also had one rushing TD.The Patriots open the regular season...

La leyenda de ABBA Agnetha Fältskog lanza nuevo sencillo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:51 GMT

(CNN) — Agnetha Fältskog, del legendario grupo pop sueco ABBA, relanzó su carrera en solitario con un nuevo sencillo.“¿Entonces, a dónde vamos desde aquí? Estreno mundial de ‘Where Do We Go From Here?’ en @bbcradio2 con @zoetheball – Sintonízalo el jueves 31 de agosto a partir de las 8:30 a.m. (BST)”, escribió la cantante en una publicación en una página de Instagram recién creada.Hablando con la presentadora de BBC Radio 2, Zoe Ball, antes de que se reprodujera la canción el jueves, Fältskog dijo que el sencillo se hizo con “un buen sentimiento”.Benny Andersson (izquierda), Agnetha Fältskog (centro-izquierda), Anni-Frid Lyngstad (centro-derecha) y Bjorn Ulvaeus (derecha) de ABBA. Crédito: Dave J Hogan/Getty ImagesLa canción es una versión reinventada de su álbum “A” de 2013.Hablando de cómo surgió la idea de lanzar el nuevo álbum “A+”, Fältskog dijo: “Surgió como una idea de repente”.Fältskog, de 73 años, dijo que habló con el compositor y productor Jörgen E...

Reporte final: concluyen que la muerte de la soldado hispana en Texas fue por un suicidio

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:51 GMT

La División de Investigación Criminal del Ejército ha concluido que la muerte el 13 de marzo de 2023 de la soldado hispana Ana Basaldua Ruiz en la base militar texana de Fort Hood (renombrada posteriormente Fort Cavazos) fue un suicidio, según su reporte final, al que tuvo acceso en exclusiva Noticias Telemundo. La investigación deja ver la cultura tóxica permisiva con el acoso a las mujeres, que Basaldua dijo haber sufrido antes de su muerte, e incidentes como la agresión de un sargento – que intentó asfixiarla – o el haber sido forzada a cambiar de unidad tras una “relación inapropiada” que tuvo con ella un mando, quien no fue castigado.Los documentos a los que tuvo acceso Noticias Telemundo arrojan luz sobre el tortuoso paso de Basaldua por el Ejército. Hermana de Vanessa Guillén se pronuncia tras muerte de joven soldado en base Fort Hood Realizan en California el funeral de la soldado hispana que m...

Disparos cerca de un centro comercial de Austin, Texas, dejan al menos 2 personas muertas y otra herida

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:51 GMT

(CNN) –– Dos personas murieron y una más resultó herida luego de que se reportaran disparos cerca del centro comercial Arboretum en Austin, Texas, este jueves.“Tenemos una gran presencia policial que actualmente trabaja para asegurar el lugar”, dijo a CNN el funcionario de Información Pública de la Policía de Austin, Michael Bullock, en una llamada telefónica.Según Bullock, nadie ha sido detenido en este momento y las autoridades recopilan información de los testigos en el lugar.Según una publicación de los Servicios Médicos de Emergencia del condado de Austin-Travis, los socorristas estaban en el lugar en la calle 1000 de Research Blvd y pidieron evitar el área.“No parece haber ninguna amenaza para el público en general”, decía el comunicado.Una segunda publicación indicó que la información preliminar es que cinco pacientes en total estuvieron involucrados y que un individuo transportado al hospital tenía lesiones potencialmente mortales.Sharif Paget y Amand...