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Opinion: Banning TikTok won’t save the kids

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:24:38 GMT

In the face of social and political division, it’s comforting to know something that can bring our nation together: TikTok.While the world’s most popular app has managed to captivate 150 million actively (read: endlessly) scrolling U.S. users, it has also managed to unify both parents and Washington in concern and outrage.On Thursday, Congressional leaders on the House Energy and Commerce Committee leaned across the aisle to join arms in grilling TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, on national security, privacy, and youth mental health.“Your platform should be banned,” said the Committee Chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. In a particularly sobering moment, Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., told Chew, “Your technology is literally leading to death.” He was referencing the death of a 16-year-old boy after extensive exposure to suicide-related content on the social platform.A palpable frustration has been growing over tech and social media for years now, and TikTok is the latest target. In a...

Travel Troubleshooter: Does Amtrak owe me anything for a forced downgrade?

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:24:38 GMT

DEAR TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER: I had a business class ticket on Amtrak’s Coast Starlight train from Seattle to Los Angeles. I booked business class because of my low vision and the ability to have access to Amtrak’s business class lounge. I also get 25 percent more Amtrak points for food and beverage purchases.Christopher Elliott, the Travel Troubleshooter Just before my trip, Amtrak removed the business class car and downgraded my seats. I lost my lounge access in Los Angeles and my 25 percent Amtrak Guest Relations points after it changed my tickets from “value” to “standard” category.I think Amtrak can do better. I’d like an upgrade to a roomette or access to the business class lounge at the train station and meal vouchers with drinks. Can you please help me fix this?— Daniel Onn, SaratogaANSWER: Amtrak routinely reconfigures its trains, but when it does, it needs to ensure the passengers who paid for a higher level of service get...

‘Who did the research on his character?’: Basketball players recount instances of alleged misconduct by Cal Poly Humboldt coach

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:24:38 GMT

“Coach (Tae) Norwood should not be qualified to be in a leading position at a state-regulated university.”Those words, originally written in all caps, were the opening sentence of a five-page letter drafted by a player on the Cal Poly Humboldt basketball team who had not previously been interviewed by the Times-Standard. That player, who will be identified as Player F due to a fear of retaliation, reaffirmed the claims of the first article detailing alleged misconduct within the men’s basketball program. In an interview with the Times-Standard, that player also added additional details about the scope of alleged misconduct and the effect it had on the team.“He bamboozled me to come out here,” said Player F. “He was the one that was causing all the problems. He was the one that had us in mental funks, in depression, in suicidal thoughts.”The statements from Player F, in addition to comments made by players in previous interviews, will be detailed throughout this article. Given the wi...

One iguana’s taste for cake leaves a young San Jose girl with a mysterious malady

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:24:38 GMT

By Jen Christensen | CNNThe bump on a young Bay Area girl’s hand was mysterious — and growing. It wasn’t until she had seen two doctors and undergone a biopsy that her family realized the cause: The child had gotten in the way of a hungry iguana with a sweet tooth, resulting in what may be the first documented infection of a rare bacterial infection in a human from an iguana bite.The girl, Lena Mars, is featured in a scientific presentation on the case that will be given at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in April. She is still recovering at her family’s home in San Jose, California after the unexpected ordeal, which started on a vacation in March 2022.Mars and her parents, Julian and Luisa, had taken a trip to Costa Rica. While enjoying one of the country’s many beautiful beaches, the girl’s parents gave her a snack. But it turns out that she wasn’t the only one who was hungry: A wild iguana popped up ...

Donald Trump plans Tuesday rally as New York City arraignment looms

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:24:38 GMT

Former President Donald Trump has scheduled a rally at his Florida golf course and residence to be held just hours after he is expected to be arrested and processed by authorities in New York City, according to his campaign.Trump, “will deliver remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, at 8:15 p.m.” his campaign announced Sunday, setting the 76-year-old up for a rather long day.Last Thursday, a grand jury called by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office indicted the former commander in chief on as yet unsealed charges related to an alleged hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the days leading up to the  2016 general election.Trump is expected to travel to New York on Monday ahead of his arrest and subsequent processing at the Manhattan Criminal Courts building on Tuesday.U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch told WCVB hosts Sharman Sacchetti and Ed Harding during their Sunday politics show On the Record that indictment of a former pr...

Philippines names 4 new bases for US forces amid China fury

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:24:38 GMT

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine government on Monday identified four new local military areas where rotational batches of American forces with their weapons will be allowed to stay indefinitely despite strong objections from China.President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved an expanded U.S. military presence in the country by allowing American forces to station in the four additional Philippine military bases under the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between the longtime treaty allies. He said the move would boost his country’s coastal defense.The new sites identified by Marcos’ office include a Philippine navy base in Santa Ana town and an international airport in Lal-lo town, both in northern Cagayan province. Those two locations have infuriated Chinese officials because they would provide U.S. forces with a staging ground close to southern China and Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing claims as its own. The two other military areas are in north...

Russian athletes set to return in taekwondo at world champs

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:24:38 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Russian athletes are set to compete again in taekwondo at next month’s world championships, the sport’s governing body said Monday.The decision by World Taekwondo’s ruling council could see Ukraine fulfil a threat by its government to boycott sporting events where athletes from Russia or Belarus are involved.Russia is strong in taekwondo. All four of its athletes won medals at the Tokyo Olympics, including two gold. Ukraine did not have any athletes qualify.World Taekwondo leaders met remotely Monday to discuss the International Olympic Committee’s advice from last week to sports bodies to let neutral athletes and officials from Russia and Belarus return to competitions ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.Conditions of neutrality should include, the IOC suggested, no active support for the war in Ukraine and not be “contracted to the military or national security agencies.”The taekwondo world championships are scheduled to start on May 29 in Baku, where Russians and...

Passover Seders offer a time to talk about Israel protests

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:24:38 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Marc Slutsky has been leading Passover Seders for 40 years, taking on troubling issues that have included Soviet Jewry, racism in the United States, and war after war after war.This year, when the slavery-to-freedom story unfolds at his table in Highland Park, Illinois, the Israel of today will be top of mind after tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed judicial overhaul.The plan, on pause after repeated mass demonstrations, unleashed the most intense social unrest in Israel in decades, just ahead of this week’s observance of Passover.Slutsky, president of the independent synagogue Aitz Hayim Center for Jewish Living, in Glencoe, has Seder tweaks in mind for his 18 guests when they sit down for ritual readings, blessings and discussion. One big change will come at the end, he said, when “Next year in Jerusalem” is traditionally recited.“We’re going to read from the Israeli Declaration of Ind...

Germany women’s team coach Voss-Tecklenburg extends contract

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:24:38 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The German soccer federation has given national women’s team coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg a contract extension before this summer’s World Cup.Voss-Tecklenburg and her assistant, Britta Carlson, signed new deals on Monday keeping them in charge until after the 2025 European Championship, the federation said in a statement. Voss-Tecklenburg, who made 125 appearances as a player for Germany, took over as interim coach from Horst Hrubesch in 2018. At the World Cup the following year, her team lost in the quarterfinals against Sweden, thus missing out on qualification for the Olympic Games.Last year, Voss-Tecklenburg led Germany to the European Championship final against England, where it lost 2-1 in extra time. Germany captain Alexandra Popp, who had scored in every game up to the final, picked up an injury in the warmup. “I’d like to thank the federation for the trust they have placed in us,” Voss-Tecklenburg said. “We have big plans for this year’s World Cu...

AP Month in Pictures: Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:24:38 GMT

MARCH 2023This photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images made or published by Associated Press photographers in Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan in March 2023.This selection shows scenes from across the region, including images of continued violence in the occupied West Bank, political upheaval in Israel and Pakistan and social protests in Lebanon.The gallery was curated by Oded Balilty, AP Chief photographer for Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, and Dusan Vranic, Deputy News Director for Photography for the Middle East, Afghanistan & Pakistan. Follow AP visual journalism: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apnews AP Images on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP_Images AP Images blog: http://apimagesblog.comFrom protests in Kenya, France, India and Israel, to the visit of US Vice President Kamala Harris to Africa, to the China Fashion Week in Beijing, to Ukrainian soldiers meeting their beloved ones at the station close to the frontline in Kramatorsk, this gall...