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Track bans transgender athletes, tightens rules for Semenya

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:28 GMT

Track and field banned transgender athletes from international competition Thursday, while adopting new regulations that could keep Caster Semenya and other athletes with differences in sex development from competing.In a pair of decisions expected to stoke outrage, the World Athletics Council adopted the same rules as swimming did last year in deciding to bar athletes who have transitioned from male to female and have gone through male puberty. No such athletes currently compete at the highest elite levels of track.Another set of updates, for athletes with differences in sex development (DSD), will impact 13 athletes, WA President Sebastian Coe said. They include Semenya, a two-time Olympic champion at 800 meters who has been barred from that event since 2019.Semenya and others had been able to compete in events outside the restricted range of 400 meters through one mile, but will now have to undergo hormone-suppressing treatment for six months before competing to be eligible.Semen...

Police chief fires officer, releases video of shooting death

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:28 GMT

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A northern Virginia police officer has been fired after fatally shooting a shoplifting suspect last month following a foot chase at a busy shopping mall.Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis announced the dismissal Thursday at a press conference in which he also released body camera footage showing the shooting of Timothy McCree Johnson outside Tysons Corner Center on Feb. 22.Two officers who chased Johnson that night fired their weapons, Davis said. The one who fired the fatal round has been dismissed from the department, and the other officer remains on restricted duty as the investigation continues.The officer who was fired, Sgt. Wesley Shifflett, exhibited “a failure to live up to the expectations of our agency, in particular use of force policies,” Davis said.The video itself shows a nighttime chase that lasted less than two minutes, concluding with what sounds like three gunshots. An officer can be heard saying “stop reaching” but the video it...

Investigation underway after shooting on SR 826 entrance ramp leaves 1 hospitalized

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:28 GMT

A driver has been hospitalized in serious condition after being shot while driving onto the Palmetto Expressway, just after 2 a.m., Thursday.The Florida Highway Patrol reported that someone inside a silver vehicle opened fire on the driver of a white BMW SUV, as he was heading southbound on State Road 826. Detectives investigating the incident said that two drivers were heading east on Northwest 36th Street onto the southbound entrance ramp of the Palmetto when a silver vehicle pulled up alongside the white BMW and began firing shots.The man behind the wheel of the SUV was shot several times and was rushed to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital as a trauma alert.7SkyForce showed an aerial view of the scene, revealing the bullet-riddled BMW. Meanwhile, the silver vehicle fled the scene and continued south on 826.The driver who was shot called 911, leading police to close the entrance onto the Palmetto Expressway south.Officials have stated that it was not the driver of the silver vehicle bu...

JMH medical team saves baby from rare condition, celebrates her recovery before 1-year birthday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:28 GMT

River Joe Riley, a little girl born with a rare condition that could have killed her, celebrates her first birthday on Friday. A year ago, her mother, Julieanna Goddard, and father, Miami Dolphins linebacker Duke Riley, received the news that their baby had gastroschisis, a birth defect where a hole in the abdominal wall allows the baby’s intestines to extend outside the body.“It was hard for me to understand at first. I had never heard of anything like this. I didn’t even know how to say gastroschisis, let alone what it meant,” said Goddard.River was born on March 24, 2022, and immediately underwent emergency surgery to treat her condition. She spent a month in the neonatal intensive care unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital (JMH), where a team of specialists, including pediatric surgeon Dr. Chad Thorson and maternal-fetal medicine specialist Dr. Carmen Tudela, cared for her.“In these cases, we place a plastic bag essentially over the baby’s abdomen...

Miami Seaquarium performs successful cataract surgery on harbor seal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:28 GMT

A Pacific harbor seal is now on the road to recovery after she underwent surgery to remove cataracts that were impeding her vision. A board-certified anesthesiologist and ophthalmologist were part of the successful surgery alongside Miami Seaquarium’s veterinary team. Ocean the seal is now regaining her vision under the care of the training staff as they continue to monitor her and provide mental and physical stimulation through enrichment.

Economic jitters, French upheaval, arms for Ukraine — what’s occupying EU leaders

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:28 GMT

Listen on Spotify Apple Music Stitcher .st0{fill:#EB8A23;} .st1{fill:#FAC617;} .st2{fill:#612368;} .st3{fill:#3792C4;} .st4{fill:#C33727;} Acast Coming to you from this week’s European Council summit in Brussels, competitiveness and the economy are high on the agenda, alongside a historic EU agreement for joint arms procurement. We also discuss French President Emanuel Macron’s plummeting popularity ratings at home, and Franco-German wrangling over nuclear energy and e-fuels. Taking us through all this and more is host Suzanne Lynch, along with POLITICO’s Jacopo Barigazzi, Clea Caulcutt and Barbara Moens. We then hear from the CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU, Susan Danger, on European competitiveness,...

State Fire Marshal: Fire at Medford home belonging to son of Sen. Elizabeth Warren likely caused by oily rags

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:28 GMT

A fire that burned through a Medford home belonging to the son of Senator Elizabeth Warren was likely caused by oily rags, according to officials.Following an investigation involving the Medford fire and police departments as well as Massachusetts State Police and the State Fire Marshal’s office, authorities said the Tuesday morning fire was accidental in nature and “most likely caused by the combustion of oily rags that had been used in ongoing renovations.”Firefighters responded to the home on Terrace Road around 1 a.m. where crews had to deal with both water pressure challenges as well as issues created by the home’s elevation.No injuries were reported after the fire was put out, with authorities noting at the time that the home belonging to Alexander Warren had been under construction and vacant.In a joint statement put out on Thursday by Medford Fire Chief John Freedman, Medford Police Chief Jack Buckley, and State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey, officials said ...

TikTok CEO in the hot seat: 5 takeaways from his first appearance before Congress

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:28 GMT

(CNN) — In his first appearance before Congress on Thursday, TikTok CEO Shou Chew was grilled by lawmakers who expressed deep skepticism about his company’s attempts to protect US user data and ease concerns about its ties to China.The hearing, which lasted for more than five hours, kicked off with calls from a lawmaker to ban the app in the United States and remained combative throughout. It offered a vivid display of the bipartisan push to crack down on the popular short-form video app and the company’s uphill battle to improve relations with Washington.Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, opened Thursday’s hearing by telling Shou: “Your platform should be banned.”“I expect today you’ll say anything to avoid this outcome,” she continued. “We aren’t buying it. In fact, when you celebrate the 150 million American users on TikTok, it emphasizes the urgency for Con...

Wall Street swings as big questions about banks, rates hang

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:28 GMT

By STAN CHOE (AP Business Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are wobbling on Wall Street Thursday after a big show of strength in the morning vanished and worries continued to rise about the banking industry.The S&P 500 was 0.5% higher in late trading after veering all the way from a 1.8% gain earlier in the day to a 0.4% loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 64 points, or 0.2%, at 32,094, as of 3 p.m. Eastern time, after giving up an early gain of 480 points. The Nasdaq composite was leading the market with a 1% gain. Two big questions have been causing big swings for Wall Street this month, and investors still don’t have a final answer for either. On one, investors are worried about whether another bank will suffer a debilitating exodus of customers following the second- and third-largest U.S. bank failures in history. On the other, all the turmoil is clouding the outlook for what the Federal Reserve will do with interest rates after raising them to market-ratt...

MIAA official: Power rating system working as planned

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:28 GMT

Not everyone is sold on the MIAA power rating system, but the numbers are telling a different story.At Thursday’s MIAA Tournament Management Committee, the founding father of the current system spent 10 minutes explaining the process which went into creating a formula used to seed tournament teams. MIAA assistant director for communications, media and tournaments Jim Clark said that simplicity, transparency and accuracy were important factors from the get-go.From there, Clark displayed statistics from the most recent tournament seasons which showed that the system is working. In the fall season of 2022, higher seeds won games at least 78 percent of the time (football) and went as high as 88.17 (girls volleyball). Many of the top seeds were getting through into the latter stages of the tournament, which provided some top-notch competition.In the recently concluded winter season, just like the fall, higher seeds achieved a success ratio of at least 78 percent (boys hockey) and r...