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Debby Friday wins Polaris Music Prize for ‘Good Luck’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:55:50 GMT

TORONTO — Debby Friday has won the 2023 Polaris Music Prize for her album “Good Luck.”The debut full-length release from the Nigerian-born Canadian was selected on Tuesday for the $50,000 prize by an 11-member grand jury. They named it the best Canadian album of the year based on its artistic merit.The stunned musician took the stage at Massey Hall in Toronto to accept the cash award from last year’s winner, Pierre Kwenders.After regaining her composure, the 29-year-old thanked many of the people who helped her career and reflected on her upbringing. She was born in Nigeria before she immigrated to Canada when she was around two years old, she said.“This is something that I didn’t realize was a possibility,” she said from the stage.“Now, I’m here today and it just feels like a miracle.”The Polaris Music Prize is considered one of the country’s most prestigious music awards with previous winners who include Haviah Mighty, Jeremy Dutcher and Kaytran...

Iran’s president urges US to demonstrate it wants to return to the 2015 nuclear deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:55:50 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi said Tuesday that his country will never give up its right “to have peaceful nuclear energy” and urged the United States “to demonstrate in a verifiable fashion” that it wants to return to the 2015 nuclear deal. Addressing the annual high-level meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, Raisi said the American withdrawal from the deal trampled on U.S. commitments and was “an inappropriate response” to Iran’s fulfillment of its commitments.Then-President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the U.S. out of the accord in 2018, restoring crippling sanctions. Iran began breaking the terms a year later and formal talks in Vienna to try to restart the deal collapsed in August 2022.Iran has long denied ever seeking nuclear weapons and continues to insist that its program is entirely for peaceful purposes – points Raisi reiterated Tuesday telling the high-level meeting that “nuclear weapons have no place in the defensive doctrine and the military ...

2 teens in Las Vegas face murder charges for fatal hit-and-run they captured on video, police say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:55:50 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Two teenagers face murder charges for targeting a bicyclist in Las Vegas and capturing on video the moment they drove into the man as he pedaled along the side of a road, authorities said Tuesday.Las Vegas police said they have tied the teens to at least three hit-and-run incidents on the morning of Aug. 14. They believe the death of 64-year-old Andreas Rene Probst, a former police chief in Bell, California, was the final one.Video shot from the front passenger seat shows the vehicle approaching Probst from behind while he was riding near the curb on an otherwise traffic-free road. As those in the car laugh, the vehicle steers toward Probst and then rams the bicycle, sending Probst hurtling onto the hood and into the windshield.A final image from the moving car shows Probst on the ground next to the curb. Deputy Police Chief Nick Farese called the recording from inside a stolen vehicle appalling and a “cowardly act.” Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfso...

3 fake electors want Georgia election subversion charges against them to be moved to federal court

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:55:50 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Lawyers for three Georgia Republicans, who falsely claimed that Donald Trump won the state and they were “duly elected and qualified” electors, are set to argue Wednesday that criminal charges against them should be moved from state to federal court.David Shafer, Shawn Still and Cathy Latham were among the 18 people indicted last month along with Trump on charges they participated in a wide-ranging scheme to keep the Republican president in power after his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. All 19 defendants have pleaded not guilty.U.S. District Judge Steve Jones is set to hear arguments Wednesday on why Shafer, Still and Latham believe the case against them should be tried in federal court rather than in Fulton County Superior Court. Jones already rejected a similar effort from Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who has appealed that ruling. He held a hearing Monday on a similar bid by former U.S. Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark and has y...

Virginia is the next big battleground for abortion rights and may send a signal for 2024

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:55:50 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democrat Russet Perry has knocked on thousands of doors in a swing district outside the nation’s capital as she campaigns for a seat that could decide control of the Virginia state Senate in November. The issue that comes up the most — particularly among women and even from some Republicans and independents, she says — is protecting abortion rights. The topic has motivated voters and upended traditional political wisdom in election after election since a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the federal right to the procedure last year. But it may be especially front of mind in Virginia, the only state in the South that has not imposed new abortion restrictions since Roe v. Wade fell. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin — whose push to ban the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy was blocked by the Democratic-controlled Senate — has pledged to try again if the GOP wins full control in the state.“I see this fight and this race as being pivo...

Japanese crown prince to visit Vietnam to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:55:50 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Crown Prince Akishino, the younger brother of Emperor Naruhito, was on his way to Vietnam on Wednesday to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, as Tokyo pushes to deepen ties with Southeast Asia and other developing and emerging nations to tackle regional and global challenges.Akishino, at a news conference last week ahead of the trip, stressed the importance of deepening relations between Japan and Vietnam, noting their long history of cultural and economic exchanges dating back to the 16th century.“Japan and Vietnam have a very close relationship,” Akishino said. “I hope we can contribute as part of an effort to promote friendly relations between the two countries.” He said it is particularly important for younger people to develop mutual understanding and respect for each other’s cultures through exchanges.During the Sept. 20-25 trip, Akishino and his wife, Crown Princess Kiko, will visit Hanoi, where they will see the ...

Israel’s Netanyahu to meet with Biden in New York. The location is seen as a sign of US displeasure

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:55:50 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to have his long-coveted meeting with President Joe Biden on Wednesday — bringing together the two leaders for the first time since the Israeli leader took office at the helm of his country’s far-right government late last year.Netanyahu has been a frequent visitor to the White House over the years, and Israeli leaders are typically invited within weeks of taking office. The lengthy delay in setting up the meeting with Biden, and the White House decision to hold the meeting in New York rather than Washington, have been widely interpreted in Israel as signs of U.S. displeasure with Netanyahu’s new government.“Meeting at the White House symbolizes close relations and friendship and honor, and the denial of that shows exactly the opposite,” said Eytan Gilboa, an expert on U.S.-Israeli relations at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University. “This is not going to be a pleasant meeting,” Gilboa said. “It is going to be a sour meeting.”The White ...

Biden’s Democratic allies intensify pressure for asylum-seekers to get work permits

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:55:50 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — As more than 100,000 migrants arrived in New York City over the past year after crossing the border from Mexico, Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul have begged President Joe Biden for one thing, above all others, to ease the crisis:“Let them work,” both Democrats have said repeatedly in speeches and interviews.Increasingly impatient leaders of Biden’s party in other cities and states have hammered the same message over the last month, saying the administration must make it easier for migrants to get work authorization quickly, which would allow them to pay for food and housing.But expediting work permits isn’t so easy, either legally or bureaucratically, experts in the process say. Politically, it may be impossible.It would take an act of Congress to shorten a mandatory, six-month waiting period before asylum-seekers can apply for work permits. Some Democratic leaders say the Biden administration could take steps that wouldn’t require congressional approval. ...

In the wake of Chile’s Catholic abuse crisis, victims struggle to find justice

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:55:50 GMT

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — After she learned what happened, Helmut Kramer’s mother cut the priest out of photographs from her son’s baptism.“She kept the photos after that,” said Kramer, who was sexually abused at age 12 in a Jesuit school in Antofagasta, a city in northern Chile. “My mom is still Catholic, but she never attended Mass again. She says that she will never set foot in a church, and she does not trust the pope or any priest,” the 53-year-old Chilean said.His mother’s feelings echo Chileans who have distanced themselves from the Catholic Church since 2010, when victims of another priest, Fernando Karadima, raised awareness about clergy sex abuse in the country.According to polling firm Latinobarómetro, the decline in confidence in the Chilean Catholic Church is one of the largest in Latin America. It fell from 77% in 1996 to 31% in 2020. Currently half of Chile’s 18 million population identify as Catholic and the number of religiously unaffiliated rose from 18% in 2010 to 35...

In Chile, justice eludes victims of Catholic clergy sex abuse years after the crisis exploded

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:55:50 GMT

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Soon after she learned what happened, Helmut Kramer’s mother grabbed a pair of scissors and cut the priest out of photographs from her son’s baptism.“She kept the photos after that,” said Kramer, who was sexually abused at age 12 in a Jesuit school in Antofagasta, a city in northern Chile. “My mom is still Catholic, but she never attended Mass again. She says that she will never set foot in a church, and she does not trust the pope or any priest,” the 53-year-old Chilean said.His mother’s feelings echo hundreds of Chileans who have distanced themselves from the Catholic Church since 2010, when victims of another priest, Fernando Karadima, raised awareness about clergy sex abuse in the South American country.The Karadima case shook the Vatican itself and marred Pope Francis’ trip to Chile in 2018. Instead of applause, he was greeted with unprecedented protests against a papal visit. The scenario worsened when Francis accused Karadima’s victims of slander. He la...