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Italians pursuing parenthood via surrogates abroad could face prosecution under proposed law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:03:31 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italy’s lawmakers are debating a bill that would make it a crime for Italian citizens to try to become parents through a surrogate’s pregnancy abroad, even in countries where the practice is legal. A 2004 law already banned surrogacy within Italy. The proposed law, which would make it illegal in Italy for citizens to engage a surrogate mother in another country, would authorize prison terms of up to three years and fines of up to 1 million euros ($1.15 million) for convictions. “We strenuously say no to the sale of children. Surrogate maternity is the most extreme form of commercialization of the body,″ lawmaker Maurizo Lupi, who heads a tiny centrist party that is a partner in Italy’s coalition government, said. Protests erupted inside the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Italian Parliament, and outside in a square during the debate that began Monday and continued Tuesday. A vote on the bill has not been scheduled. Lawmakers opposed to the l...

Utah school district returns the Bible to shelves after appeals and outcry

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:03:31 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Bible will return to the shelves in a northern Utah school district that provoked an outcry after it banned them from middle and elementary schools last month.The Davis School District, which educates 72,000 students north of Salt Lake City, said in a statement on Tuesday that its board had determined the sacred text was age-appropriate for all district libraries. In allowing the Bible to be accessible to students regardless of their grade level, the board sided with 70 people who filed appeals after it was banned last month.“Based on their assessment of community standards, the appeal committee determined that The Bible has significant, serious value for minors which outweighs the violent or vulgar content it contains,” the committee wrote in a decision published along with school board materials on Tuesday.The committee’s reversal is the latest development in the debate over a Utah law allowing parents to challenge “sensitive materials” available to...

State legislator defeats incumbent senator in Virginia race centered on abortion rights

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:03:31 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Former state legislator Lashrecse Aird defeated incumbent and self-described “pro-life” Democrat Sen. Joe Morrissey on Tuesday in a closely watched primary election nomination contest in Virginia that centered on abortion rights.Aird, a former member of the state House of Delegates, ran a campaign heavily focused on Morrissey’s position on abortion. A veteran lawmaker and one of the most controversial figures in Virginia politics, Morrissey has expressed a willingness to vote with Republicans to enact stricter limits on abortion in Virginia sought by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.Morrissey was just one of many incumbents facing spirited challenges Tuesday in an election season that’s been upended by redrawn political maps legislative candidates are running in for the first time this year. In a contentious Republican contest for a southwest Virginia House seat, freshman Del. Wren Williams defeated fellow Del. Marie March. In northern Virginia, former CIA officer...

3 suspects sought after victim hit, stabbed on TTC bus at Castle Frank station: police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:03:31 GMT

Toronto police officers say they’re looking for three suspects after a person was hit and stabbed on a TTC bus at Castle Frank subway station on Tuesday. According to a statement issued by the service Tuesday evening, the incident happened at the downtown TTC station’s bus boarding area at around 1 a.m.Investigators said the victim was on the bus when three suspects got on board. They alleged one of the suspects hit the victim in the face “without provocation.”After the victim asked for help from the bus driver, officers said a second suspect pulled out a knife, hit the victim twice and then stabbed them. The victim, according to investigators, was left with minor physical injuries.The statement said the three suspects then took off from the TTC station before Toronto police officers got to the station.RELATED: TTC says safety measures working, data shows passenger satisfaction downOfficers said they are looking for two males and a female as well as further i...

Manitoba community prepares to say goodbye to 15 seniors killed in bus crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:03:31 GMT

DAUPHIN, Man. — Joe Coffey is preparing for something that doesn’t normally happen in his small community.He owns Sneath-Strilchuk Funeral Services, one of two funeral homes in Dauphin, Man., a city of 8,600 that is preparing to say goodbye to 15 seniors killed last week in a fiery bus crash.“This isn’t something that happens to funeral directors very often,” Coffey said Tuesday.The minibus was carrying the group of seniors from Dauphin and the surrounding area to a casino Thursday, when it went into the path of a semi-trailer truck on the Trans-Canada Highway near the town of Carberry, some 190 kilometres to the south.Health officials have said 10 others on the bus, including the driver, remained in hospital. Five were in critical condition.Staff at the funeral home knew everyone who was on the bus, Coffey said. They saw them at church and at funerals. Some are related to the victims.“It’s an intimate connection,” Coffey said.When word of the crash spread, he said, his ...

Ottawa aims to shed more light on how well airports are working as travel ramps up

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:03:31 GMT

The federal government moved this week to bolster accountability at airports, introducing new legislation that would compel them and other operators to cough up more information on their performance.Tabled in the House of Commons on Tuesday, the bill paves the way for new rules on service standards, with airports and an array of industry players required to publish data that can be compared against those benchmarks.The standards could track outcomes ranging from security screening wait times to how long it takes luggage to reach the carousel. They would apply to parties including Canada’s air transport security agency, its air navigation service, airlines and baggage handling firms.“As we’ve seen over the last few years, a disruption in one part of the system can have wide effects across the entire network,” Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said at a news conference in Ottawa.“The idea is that once you set a service standard, then airports will be accou...

Prosecutor Biberaj wins reelection nomination in Virginia Democratic primary

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:03:31 GMT

LEESBURG, Va. (AP) — Incumbent Buta Biberaj, one of three prosecutors in northern Virginia who faced tough challenges after being elected four years ago on a reform agenda, has won her Democratic primary over challenger Elizabeth Lancaster. Biberaj, the commonwealth’s attorney in Loudoun County, raised significantly more money, but Lancaster had earned the endorsement of The Washington Post. Biberaj faced criticism, including some within her own party, over her day-to-day management of the office and as Loudoun found itself in the national spotlight over issues like school safety and her handling of two sex assaults at two different high schools in 2021. Biberaj will face Republican Bob Anderson, who held the commonwealth attorney’s post in Loudoun more than 20 years ago, in November.Biberaj’s race was one of three in northern Virginia where candidates elected as reformers in 2019 faced primary challenges. In Arlington County, incumbent Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, a for...

Idaho man charged with 4 counts of murder in shooting deaths of his neighbors, including two teens

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:03:31 GMT

KELLOGG, Idaho (AP) — A northern Idaho man has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and burglary after prosecutors said he went to a neighbor’s home and shot and killed the family there, including two teens.Majorjon Kaylor, 31, of Kellogg, was arrested Sunday night shortly after the shooting in the small mining community.Killed were Kenneth Guardipee, 65; his daughter Kenna Guardipee, 41; and her sons 18-year-old Kenneth Guardipee and 16-year-old Aiken Smith. The family lived in the same multi-home building as Kaylor. If convicted, Kaylor could face the death penalty. He is being held without bond and has not yet entered a plea.Few details have been released about the shooting, and authorities have not said what they believe Kaylor’s motive may have been. But there had been a recent conflict between the families, police said: A week before the shootings, Kaylor’s family called police to complain that 18-year-old Devin Smith was standing in front of his be...

8 in hospital after crashes involving same vehicle near Guaranteed Rate Field

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:03:31 GMT

CHICAGO — At least eight people are in the hospital after two car crashes near Guaranteed Rate Field Tuesday evening.According to the Chicago Fire Department, one person is in critical condition, a second person is in serious-to-stable condition, and a third person is in stable condition after a hit-and-run car crash that happened near West 35th Street and South Shields Avenue near Guaranteed Rate Field.CFD also said five more people were taken to the hospital after a crash in the 4500 block of the Dan Ryan Expressway that involved the same vehicle from near Guaranteed rate Field. According to CFD and Illinois State Police, a person was clinging to the side of the vehicle involved after the 35th street hit-and-run crash and taken to the hospital in serious-to-critical condition from the scene of the crash on the Dan Ryan.As it pertains to the 35th Street hit-and-run crash, fire officials said the person in critical condition and the person in serious-to-stable condition were taken t...

Is it normal for submarines to use video game controllers?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:03:31 GMT

(NewsNation) — A one-of-a-kind submersible that went missing while carrying five people to the Titanic shipwreck on Sunday was reportedly outfitted with "off-the-shelf" parts and piloted using a video game controller. Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions — the company that owns the submersible called Titan — showed CBS correspondent David Pogue the unique components in a November CBS TV segment. "We run the whole thing with this game controller," Rush told Pogue as he held up a modified Logitech gamepad controller inside the sub. Missing Titanic Sub: Who is on board? Rush also highlighted the vessel's one and only button."It should be like an elevator, it shouldn't take a lot of skill," Rush said. When Pogue asked about the "MacGyvered" equipment, Rush pushed back and pointed out that the most important part — the pressure vessel — was built with help from experts at Boeing, NASA, and the University of Washington. "Everything else can fail," Rush said. "Your thrusters ...