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Bill banning gender-affirming care for youth to be heard on Texas House floor again after protest, delay

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Texas House lawmakers are expected on Friday to again take up Senate Bill 14, which would ban gender-affirming care for minors, after a vote was delayed earlier in the week when opponents filled the chamber's gallery to protest it. The bill was set for a vote Monday but the protests and a parliamentary move changed the plan. LGBTQ advocates booted from Texas Capitol; vote delayed for bill banning gender care for kids As the debate started on Senate Bill 14, Rep. Mary González (D-El Paso) raised a point of order as a procedural move in an attempt to block the bill.While lawmakers were sorting through the move, protesters in the gallery started chanting in opposition to the legislation. Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan asked the Sergeant at Arms to clear the House gallery.The issue of transgender rights brings new conflict at the Texas Capitol. A protester against Senate Bill 14 was apprehended by Texas Department of Public Safety officers May 2, 2023. (Nexstar phot...

TxDOT launches motorcycle safety campaign before ROT Rally

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Republic of Texas Motorcycle Rally started Friday at the Austin Speed Shop.Event organizers say they’re hosting a more intimate ROT Rally after experiencing some challenges in recent years.Prior to 2020, the ROT Rally was at the Travis County Expo Center before it was moved due to negotiation troubles.In 2020, the event was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The following year, it returned to Circuit of the Americas, drawing thousands of motorcyclists from all over the country.In 2022, the event took place in Bastrop with a 2,500-person capacity limit. This year, ROT Rally is back in Austin.This comes at the same time the Texas Department of Transportation has launched a campaign for Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month in May.With this in mind, TxDOT is urging drivers to look twice and be considerate on the road around motorcycle riders.In 2022, 562 motorcycle riders were killed in crashes in the Lone Star State, an 8% increase over the previous year.Amy Jo...

WHO downgrades COVID pandemic, says it’s no longer emergency

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:00 GMT

By MARIA CHENG and JAMEY KEATEN (Associated Press)GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization said Friday that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies worldwide and killed at least 7 million people worldwide.WHO said that even though the emergency phase was over, the pandemic hasn’t come to an end, noting recent spikes in cases in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The U.N. health agency says that thousands of people are still dying from the virus every week.“It’s with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.“That does not mean COVID-19 is over as a global health threat,” he said, adding he wouldn’t hesitate to reconvene experts to reassess the situation should COVID-19 “put our world in peril.”Tedros said the pandemic had been on a downward trend for more than a ye...

Coronation watch party starts at 4:30 a.m. at Brit’s Pub on Saturday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:00 GMT

King Charles III’s coronation Saturday will mix of a thousand-year tradition with the streaming age.The pomp and ceremony will be unmissable for U.K. residents, but what about royal watchers across the Atlantic?In Minnesota, Anglophiles can join in on the fun by attending a watch party at Brit’s Pub in Minneapolis. Tickets — which are limited — cost $5 and doors open at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday,“Ticket will include a N/A (non-alcoholic) Bucks Fizz – that’s a UK mimosa,” the pub explains on its website at britspub.com. “There will be a special breakfast menu as well as tea, coffee and non-alcoholic drinks available for purchase.”(In Minneapolis, alcohol can’t be served until 8 a.m.)The coronation watch party at the pub, located at 1110 Nicollet Mall, wraps up at 9 a.m.Will Americans tune in?Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, carrying the orb and the scepter, enters Buckingham Palace after her Coronation ceremony in London̵...

Live In Your Neighborhood – Waterloo, Ill

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:00 GMT

WATERLOO, Ill. – FOX 2 brings you a snapshot of St. Louis area neighborhoods on Fridays.This week we introduce you to the city of Waterloo.See more clips from Bean Tree Cafe, Gallagher's Restaurant, Former Mayor Tom Smith, Shorty's Smokehouse, Outsider Pub, and more from Friday morning’s show on our YouTube channel

Busch Stadium give-away: Cardinals belt bag

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:00 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- Tonight, and new for the 2023 Cardinals fans, a belt bag is the first give-away. Thanks to mercy, the first 25,000 fans age 16 and older will win a Busch Stadium Cardinals' belt bag. The bag meets the stadium's bag size requirements, so you can bring it back all season long. The game starts at 7:15 p.m. On Saturday, a Ryan Helsley bobblehead will be given out to the first 25,000 fans, ages 16 and older. Purina presents its 18th annual Purina Pooches in the Ballpark event as well. The game starts at 1:15 p.m. The pasta house company will give long-sleeve hooded pullovers to the first 10,000 kids who are 15 years of age and under on Saturday. The game starts at 1:15 p.m.

10-year-old boy missing in Aurora; police asking for help

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:00 GMT

A 10-year-old boy has gone missing in Aurora, and police on Friday morning appealed for help.The boy identified as Hezekiah Pope — about 4’7″ tall with short, black hair, weighing about 80 pounds — has been missing since 3:50 p.m. Thursday when he left a friend’s house in the 2900 block of South Granby Street in Aurora, the Aurora police said in a Twitter post.#APDAlert: APD is asking for information about 10-year-old Hezekiah Pope, who went missing at 3:50 p.m. after leaving a friend's house in the 2900 block of S. Granby Street. Hezekiah stands about 4'7" and weighs about 80 pounds. He has short black hair. He was last seen wearing… pic.twitter.com/Z9GmCODE0m— Aurora Police Dept (@AuroraPD) May 5, 2023He was last seen wearing a multi-colored Army-style jacket, black shirt with red writing, blue pants and black shoes, police said. Anybody who has seen Pope or who has information is asked to call 911.

The world needs a new Churchill - What kind of victory should end the Russian war against Ukraine?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:00 GMT

Slowing down our victory is the escalation of the war. The new year, 2023, has begun. What it will be like, is currently discussed by all the world's leading politicians and experts, without exception, writes Yuriy Kostenko.For Ukrainians, the coming year is the year of their victory over the Russian aggressor and the liberation of all occupied territories. For world leaders, 2023 will be a defining test of their ability to counter large-scale challenges and make forward-looking decisions.The key topic of current political discussions is the question of what Ukraine's victory could be like and what the global consequences of Russia's defeat would be.Historical analogies are very well visible in this perspective. Such an example is the end of the Second World War. Then, after the joy of victory, leading politicians categorically refused to admit that Hitler was replaced by Stalin, yesterday's ally, but today's fierce enemy.In this context, the reaction of the then political elite to ...

By all standards, Christian communities are thriving in Israel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:00 GMT

Despite a recent statement by the Latin Patriarch suggesting the contrary, it seems that such claims are misguided at best, write Lord Simon Isaacs, Des Starritt and Pastor Brian Greenaway. Last week, the Latin Patriarch, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, alleged that Israel’s current government has emboldened perpetrators to carry out greater amounts of attacks on Christians. Pizzaballa argued that extremists have been increasingly harassing clergy and vandalising religious property since the current government came to power. He argued that the prevalence of settler leaders in key roles has made extremists feel that they are protected and that the cultural and political atmosphere tolerates such attacks.The reality on the ground in Israel could not be more different. The declaration of independence describes the country as a Jewish state but clearly extends religious freedom to all of its inhabitants. The Central Bureau of Statistics reports that 84% of Israel’s Christian community say they...

Bank Trust sues major traders in BVI for over $1 bln in fraudulent scheme

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:00 GMT

Russia’s Bank Trust has filed a lawsuit in a British Virgin Islands court against several major international commodity traders, including Cargill, Louis Dreyfus, Bunge, Quadra, Xangbo, and Liberty Commodities, alleging that they participated in a fraudulent scheme resulting in financial damages of over $1 billion.Bank Trust's decision to file the lawsuit in a foreign court emphasizes Russia's continued pursuit of recovering funds after a banking crisis that occurred several years ago. Acting as an umbrella for the non-performing loans of Binbank, Otkritie, and Promsvyazbank – lenders rescued by the Russian central bank in 2017 – Trust seeks to capitalize on the credibility of an international judicial system to bolster its case and enhance the prospects of recuperating the significant amounts at stake.In the lawsuit filed to the court, Bank Trust accused the major traders of conspiring with Russian businessman Mikail Shishkhanov, former owner of large private lenders Binbank and Ro...