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Chinese government sentences a famed Uyghur scholar to life in prison, foundation says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:11 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — A prominent Uyghur scholar specializing in the study of her people’s folklore and traditions has been sentenced to life in prison, according to a U.S.-based foundation that works on human rights cases in China.Rahile Dawut was convicted on charges of endangering state security in December 2018 in a secret trial, the San Francisco-based Dui Hua Foundation said in a statement Thursday. Dawut appealed but her conviction was upheld, the foundation said.“The sentencing of Professor Rahile Dawut to life in prison is a cruel tragedy, a great loss for the Uyghur people, and for all who treasure academic freedom,” John Kamm, executive director of the Dui Hua Foundation, said in a statement.Dawut was a professor at Xinjiang University and founder of the school’s Ethnic Minorities Folklore Research Center. She disappeared in late 2017 amid a brutal government crackdown aimed at the Uyghurs, a Turkic, predominately Muslim ethnicity native to China’s northwest Xinjiang regio...

Ophelia touches down: Tropical storm rolls through DC region over the weekend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:11 GMT

Beach-goers brave the weather and walk along the sand at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023, as Tropical Storm Ophelia approaches in Virginia Beach, Va. The storm was gaining strength as it churned toward the North Carolina coast on Friday, promising a weekend of heavy rain and windy conditions throughout the mid-Atlantic. (Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)(AP/Kendall Warner) Beach-goers brave the weather and walk along the sand at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023, as Tropical Storm Ophelia approaches in Virginia Beach, Va. The storm was gaining strength as it churned toward the North Carolina coast on Friday, promising a weekend of heavy rain and windy conditions throughout the mid-Atlantic. (Kendall Warner/The...

Por segunda vez en la historia se transplanta un corazón de cerdo a un hombre vivo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:11 GMT

(CNN) — Por segunda vez en la historia, se ha trasplantado un corazón de cerdo a un receptor humano vivo, anunció el viernes el Centro Médico de la Universidad de Maryland.La innovadora operación fue realizada el 20 de septiembre en el UMMC por el mismo equipo de trasplantes que llevó a cabo la primera operación experimental de este tipo en 2022.En un comunicado de prensa, el hospital dijo que el receptor, Lawrence Faucette, de 58 años, “actualmente respira por sí mismo y su corazón funciona bien sin asistencia de dispositivos de apoyo”.Faucette padecía una cardiopatía terminal. Tenía una enfermedad vascular periférica preexistente y complicaciones con hemorragias internas que le hacían inelegible para un trasplante de corazón tradicional, dijo el hospital en el comunicado. Ingresó en el UMMC el 14 de septiembre tras experimentar síntomas de insuficiencia cardiaca.“La única esperanza que me queda es el corazón de cerdo, el xenotrasplante”, declaró Fauce...

F1 leader Verstappen has pole position at Japan GP after record winning streak ended in Singapore

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:11 GMT

SUZUKA, Japan (AP) — Formula One series leader Max Verstappen claimed pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix in Saturday’s qualifying, finishing .581 seconds ahead of McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri.Highly motivated after missing out on the podium in Singapore, Verstappen has topped every session since arriving in Japan. The Red Bull driver clocked the fastest time of 1 minute, 28.877 seconds at the Suzuka circuit.Australian Piastri will be on the front row for the first time in his F1 career. His teammate Lando Norris was third-fastest. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was fourth-fastest while Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez rounded out the top five.A front-row start is key at Suzuka. The winner has only come from behind the front row once in the past 12 races when Valtteri Bottas won from third in 2019.Verstappen saw his record streak of 10 consecutive wins end in Singapore last weekend when he finished fifth. Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz won at Marina Bay, knocking Red B...

Wings to visit Aces Sunday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:11 GMT

Dallas Wings (22-18, 11-9 Western Conference) at Las Vegas Aces (34-6, 18-2 Western Conference)Las Vegas; Sunday, 5 p.m. EDTFANDUEL SPORTSBOOK WNBA LINE: Aces -10.5; over/under is 174.5WNBA PLAYOFFS SEMIFINALS:BOTTOM LINE: The Las Vegas Aces play the Dallas Wings.The Aces’ record in Western Conference play is 18-2. Las Vegas leads the Western Conference averaging 92.8 points and is shooting 48.6%.The Wings have gone 11-9 against Western Conference opponents. Dallas ranks 12th in the WNBA averaging 6.8 made 3-pointers per game while shooting 31.7% from deep. Arike Ogunbowale leads the team averaging 2.9 makes while shooting 34.3% from 3-point range.TOP PERFORMERS: A’ja Wilson is shooting 55.8% and averaging 22.9 points for the Aces. Kelsey Plum is averaging 17.4 points over the last 10 games for Las Vegas.Ogunbowale is averaging 21.2 points, 4.5 assists and 1.7 steals for the Wings. Satou Sabally is averaging 18.5 points over the last 10 games for Dallas.LAST 10 GAMES: Ac...

Giorgio Napolitano, twice elected Italian president, dies at 98

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:11 GMT

Giorgio Napolitano, a former president of Italy who served in that post for an unprecedented two mandates, passed away on Friday evening at the age of 98. Napolitano was first elected president in 2006 and then again in 2013. In Italy, the position of president is an institutional and not a governmental role, but it still carries with it significant political weight, particularly in delicate moments like when a government is being formed, or when one falls. Napolitano saw the country through a period of political turbulence in the aftermath of the financial crisis and the resignation of Silvio Berlusconi’s government. The politician was elected to the Italian parliament’s lower house in 1953 in the ranks of the Italian Communist Party (PCI). After the dissolution of the PCI in the early 1990s in the wake of fall of the Soviet Union and the Tangentopoli corruption scandal, Napolitano joined Italy’s center-left, and held ministerial positions in Romano Prodi’s ...

Tropical Storm Ophelia close to landfall on the North Carolina coast, weather agency says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:11 GMT

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Tropical Storm Ophelia was nearing landfall on the North Carolina coast early Saturday with the potential for damaging winds and dangerous surges of water, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Ophelia was about 25 miles (45 kilometers) southwest of Cape Lookout and about 70 miles (110 kilometers) east-northeast of Cape Fear. The system was moving at 9 mph (15 kph) with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph), the hurricane center said in an update at 5 a.m. Saturday. Life-threatening flooding caused by the weather system was forecast for parts of eastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, but the system was forecast to weaken after landfall, the hurricane center reported.Ophelia was expected to turn north Saturday and then shift northeast on Sunday. The storm promised a weekend of windy conditions and heavy rain up to 7 inches (18 centimeters) in parts of North Carolina and Virginia and 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) in the rest of the mid-A...

Pope Francis insists Europe doesn’t have a migrant emergency and challenges countries to open ports

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:11 GMT

MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Pope Francis challenged French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders to open their ports to people fleeing hardship and poverty, insisting Saturday that the continent does not face a migration “emergency” but rather a long-term reality that governments must deal with humanely.For a second straight day in the French port city of Marseille, Francis took aim at European countries that have tried to close their doors to migrants and tried to shame them into responding with charity instead. “May we let ourselves be moved by the stories of so many of our unfortunate brothers and sisters who have the right both to emigrate and not to emigrate, and not become closed in indifference,” Francis told Macron and others at a Marseille conference center where Mediterranean region Catholic bishops are meeting. “In the face of the terrible scourge of the exploitation of human beings, the solution is not to reject but to ensure, according to the possibilities o...

A court in China sentences a famed Uyghur scholar to life in prison, foundation says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:11 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — A prominent Uyghur scholar specializing in the study of her people’s folklore and traditions has been sentenced to life in prison, according to a U.S.-based foundation that works on human rights cases in China.Rahile Dawut was convicted on charges of endangering state security in December 2018 in a secret trial, the San Francisco-based Dui Hua Foundation said in a statement Thursday. Dawut appealed but her conviction was upheld, the foundation said.“The sentencing of Professor Rahile Dawut to life in prison is a cruel tragedy, a great loss for the Uyghur people, and for all who treasure academic freedom,” John Kamm, executive director of the Dui Hua Foundation, said in a statement.Dawut was a professor at Xinjiang University and founder of the school’s Ethnic Minorities Folklore Research Center. She disappeared in late 2017 amid a brutal government crackdown aimed at the Uyghurs, a Turkic, predominately Muslim ethnicity native to China’s northwest Xinjiang regio...

New Jersey house explosion hospitalizes 5 people, police say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:11 GMT

WEST MILFORD, N.J. (AP) — Five people were transported to hospitals after an explosion at a New Jersey home on Friday night, police said.The house in West Milford was heavily damaged by the explosion around 9 p.m., the West Milford Police Department said in a statement.A sixth person at the scene refused additional medical treatment, police said.West Milford Deputy Fire Chief Rich Poplaski said the structure collapsed as a result of an “unknown cause,” northjersey.com reported.West Milford is located about 33 miles (53 kilometers) north of Morristown, New Jersey, and 48 miles (77 kilometers) northwest of New York City.Police said the victims were transported by helicopter, including two to Morristown Medical Center, one to St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson, New Jersey, one to Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey, and one to Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, New Jersey.The explosion is under investigation by West Milford...