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Iowa’s new abortion ban is challenged in court, a day after it was passed by GOP lawmakers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:37 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A legal challenge was filed Wednesday to block Iowa’s new legislation banning most abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy, launching what will likely be a lengthy and emotional court battle just hours after the Legislature’s late-night vote.The bill was passed with exclusively Republican support in a rare, one-day legislative burst lasting more than 14 hours. That’s despite the vocal — and sometimes tense — objections from Democratic lawmakers and abortion advocates protesting at the Capitol. Gov. Kim Reynolds says she will sign the bill, which would take immediate effect, on Friday. The challenge, filed by the ACLU of Iowa, Planned Parenthood North Central States and the Emma Goldman Clinic, requests that a district court temporarily put the soon-to-be law on hold as the courts assess its constitutionality.Abortion is currently legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy, but that would change with the stroke of Reynolds’ pen Fr...

3 badly decomposing bodies found in remote Colorado campsite

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:37 GMT

DENVER (AP) — The badly decomposing bodies of three people were found in a remote Rocky Mountains camp in Colorado, and they may have been lying there since late last year, authorities said.A hiker discovered one of the bodies late Sunday and notified the authorities, who found the other two after arriving at the campsite Monday, Gunnison County Sheriff Adam Murdie said.Two of the bodies were inside a small, zipped-up tent and the other was outside in the camp, which was in a remote wooded area where hikers typically wouldn't pass by, he said. There were personal belongings and tarps at the scene, and a lean-to built from local logs over a firepit."This is not a typical occurrence anywhere, by any means," said Murdie, noting that his department doesn't think the discovery implies any risk to hikers or campers in the area.The sheriff's department is looking for missing persons reports that might shed light on the situation, but they haven't found any yet, he said. The coroner won’t r...

YouTuber charged people to see autopsy photos of Gannon Stauch

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:37 GMT

(NewsNation) — A YouTuber obtained gruesome autopsy photos of a murdered 11-year-old boy and then charged money for people to view them, NewsNation has learned.The YouTuber, going by the name “Zav Girl,” sent in a Freedom of Information Act request for the autopsy photos of 11-year-old Gannon Stauch, who was fatally stabbed and shot by his stepmother in 2020.Once the pictures were released to the person running the YouTube account, she charged her followers $3 on Patreon to view them.Prosecutors said Gannon's stepmother Letecia Stauch killed him in January 2020 because she hated him and wanted to hurt his father, Al Stauch, whom she planned to leave and who was away on a National Guard deployment at the time. She stabbed him 18 times while he fought back, then hit him in the head and shot him. From there, she stuffed the 11-year-old’s body in a suitcase and drove to Florida to dump it over a bridge. 3 teens charged with murder after plan to egg home turns deadly, deputies say Mich...

Denver-area inflation among nation's highest

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:37 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Denver-area inflation is some of the nation's highest, according to a breakdown of consumer price index data from financial adviser site WalletHub.WalletHub compared both long- and short-term inflation in 23 metro areas to find which has had the highest overall. It looked at inflation from two months ago and from one year ago. The Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metro area has the seventh-highest inflation among these 23 metros. Inflation slowed to 3% in June, hits lowest rate in 2 years U.S. inflation rose 3% since June a year ago, according to June 2023 consumer price index data released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It has risen 0.2% since last month.This is the smallest annual increase since March 2021 as inflation fell from a 4% annual rate in May 2023. Core inflation, which does not include food and energy prices, rose 4.8% in the last 12 months and 0.2% in June, the smallest one-month increase since August 2021.Denver-area inflation has been hig...

12 escape from house fire in Miami Gardens

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:37 GMT

Twelve people, including children, escaped a house after it went up in flames. One person was transported to the hospital.Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units were called to the house in the area of Northwest 26th Court and 205th Street, Tuesday night.It took almost an hour for crews to put out the flames.On Wednesday morning, the home in Miami Gardens was left damaged and charred. The home’s windows were boarded up. The cause of the fire is now under investigation.

Qatargate suspects say they back stronger ethics cop

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:37 GMT

STRASBOURG — MEPs Eva Kaili and Marc Tarabella want the Commission to take a tougher approach to enforcing ethics across the EU institutions.Both stand accused of accepting cash in return for political favors in what has been dubbed Qatargate. And they are among the 365 MEPs who backed a resolution on Wednesday calling the Commission’s proposal for an interinstitutional ethics body “unsatisfactory and not ambitious enough.”It was the political scandal of Qatargate that moved the moribund idea of an independent ethics minder back onto the front burner. Yet ethics hawks in the Parliament were disappointed last month when the Commission proposed a panel that would not have the power to start its own investigations or impose sanctions.Instead, the Commission plans would set baseline requirements for EU politicians on declaring assets, disclosing third-party travel, and restrictions on side jobs. Then each institution, including the Parliament, would make commitments on how to enforce ru...

Russia’s ‘General Armageddon’ is ‘resting,’ says top lawmaker

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:37 GMT

Russian General Sergei Surovikin, considered an ally of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and who has not been seen in public since the mercenary group’s uprising three weeks ago, is “resting,” a Russian lawmaker said Wednesday. Sergei Surovikin, known as “General Armageddon” for his aggressive military strategies in Chechnya and Syria, had “advanced knowledge” of the rebellion, according to U.S. officials, the New York Times first reported days after the attempted mutiny.Surovikin — a deputy commander of Russia’s military operations in Ukraine — is “resting” and “currently not available,” Andrei Kartapolov, head of the State Duma’s Defense Committee, told a reporter who asked about the missing-in-action general. The Kremlin has not made an official public statement about Surovikin’s knowledge of the Wagner mutiny or his whereabouts.

Severe Maternal Morbidity Rate Nearly Doubled In Mass.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:37 GMT

The volume of people experiencing complications from pregnancy or delivery in Massachusetts nearly doubled from 2011 to 2020, according to new data released Wednesday by the Department of Public Health.Episodes of several maternal morbidity (SMM) can lead to short- or long-term health problems — including eclampsia, acute kidney failure and heart attacks — and they might trigger live-saving procedures like hysterectomies, according to the data brief.The report examined 678,382 deliveries, including both live births and fetal deaths, among 483,699 Massachusetts residents from 2011 to 2020. The SMM rate rose from 52 per 10,000 deliveries to 100 per 10,000 deliveries in that time frame, said Dana Bernson, director of special analytic projects at DPH’s Office of Population Health.“Black non-Hispanic birthing people consistently have the highest SMM rates over the 10-year period, and the inequities are increasing,” Bernson said during a virtual Public H...

‘Succession’ tops Emmy nominations with 27 as ‘Last of Us’ and ‘White Lotus’ give HBO top 3 spots

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:37 GMT

By ANDREW DALTON (AP Entertainment Writer)LOS ANGELES (AP) — HBO dominated Wednesday morning’s Emmy nominations, with the elite trio of “ Succession,” “The White Lotus” and “The Last of Us” combining for a whopping 74, but the dominant theme darkening the scene is the ongoing writers strike and the looming possibility that actors may join them in as little as a day.“Succession” and its deeply dysfunctional dynasty of one-percenters led all Emmy nominees in its fourth and final season with 27, including best drama, which it has won two of the past three years. It got three nominations for best actor in a drama, with Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin all getting nods for playing men of the Roy clan, and Sarah Snook getting a best actress nomination. It also got four nominations for best supporting actor in a drama.The cursed vacationers at a Sicilian resort from the second season of “The White Lotus” trul...

Iowa Republicans passed a strict abortion bill last night. A legal challenge was filed by morning

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:37 GMT

By HANNAH FINGERHUT (Associated Press)DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s new ban on most abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy was challenged in court on Wednesday, launching what will likely be a lengthy and emotional legal battle just hours after the Legislature approved it in a late-night vote.Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds says she’ll sign the bill into law on Friday. It would take effect immediately. The bill was passed with exclusively Republican support in a rare, one-day legislative session lasting more than 14 hours. There were vocal — and sometimes tense — objections from Democratic lawmakers and abortion advocates protesting at the Capitol. The challenge, brought by the ACLU of Iowa, Planned Parenthood North Central States and the Emma Goldman Clinic, requests that a district court temporarily put the soon-to-be law on hold as the courts assess its constitutionality.Abortion is currently legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy, but that ...