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25 years after Matthew Shepard’s death, LGBTQ+ activists say equal-rights progress is at risk

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:56 GMT

It’s been 25 years since Matthew Shepard, a gay 21-year-old University of Wyoming student, died six days after he was savagely beaten by two young men and tied to a remote fence to meet his fate. His death has been memorialized as an egregious hate crime that helped fuel the LGBTQ+ rights movement over the ensuing years.From the perspective of the movement’s activists — some of them on the front lines since the 1960s — progress was often agonizingly slow, but it was steady.Vermont allowed same-sex civil unions in 2000. A Texas law criminalizing consensual gay sex was struck down in 2003. In 2011, the military scrapped the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that kept gay, lesbian and bisexual service members in the closet. And in 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriages were legal nationwide.But any perception back then that the long struggle for equality had been won has been belied by events over the past two years.Five people were killed last year in a mass sho...

Live updates | Day 6 of the latest Israel-Palestinian war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:56 GMT

The Israeli government is under intense public pressure Thursday to topple Hamas after its militants stormed through a border fence Saturday and killed hundreds of Israelis in their homes, on the streets and at an outdoor music festival.Hamas said it launched its attack Saturday because Palestinians’ suffering had become intolerable under unending Israeli military occupation and increasing settlements in the West Bank and a 16-year-long blockade in Gaza.Militants in Gaza are holding an estimated 150 people taken hostage from Israel and have fired thousands of rockets into Israel over the past five days. In the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, residents are facing ever-growing uncertainty after the territory’s only power plant ran out of fuel and shut down Wednesday. The U.S. announced it is working with Egypt and Israel to open up safe corridors to get civilians out of Gaza.The war, which has claimed more than 2,300 lives on both sides, is expected to escalate. Here’s what’s...

CIA publicly acknowledges 1953 coup it backed in Iran was undemocratic as it revisits ‘Argo’ rescue

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:56 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — While revealing new details about one of the most famed CIA operations of all times — the spiriting out of six American diplomats who escaped the 1979 U.S. Embassy seizure in Iran — the intelligence agency for the first time has acknowledged something else as well.The CIA now officially describes the 1953 coup it backed in Iran that overthrew its prime minister and cemented the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as undemocratic.Other American officials have made similar remarks in the past, but the CIA’s acknowledgment in a podcast about the agency’s history comes as much of its official history of the coup remains classified 70 years after the putsch. That complicates the public’s understanding of an event that still resonates, as tensions remain high between Tehran and Washington over the Islamic Republic’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, its aiding of militia groups across the Mideast and as it cracks down on dissent. ...

An Oklahoma man used pandemic relief funds to have his name cleared of murder

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:56 GMT

GREENWOOD, Ark. (AP) — Ricky Dority spends most of his days playing with his grandchildren, feeding chickens and working in the yard where he lives with his son’s family.It’s a jarring change from where he was just several months ago, locked in a cell serving a life prison sentence at Oklahoma’s Joseph Harp Correctional Center in a killing he said he didn’t commit. After more than two decades behind bars, Dority had no chance at being released — until he used his pandemic relief funds to hire a dogged private investigator. The investigator and students at the Oklahoma Innocence Project at Oklahoma City University, which is dedicated to exonerating wrongful convictions in the state, found inconsistencies in the state’s account of a 1997 cold-case killing, and Dority’s conviction was vacated in June by a Sequoyah County judge.Now, the 65-year-old says he’s enjoying the 5-acre property in a quiet neighborhood of well-to-do homes in the rolling, fores...

Stock market today: Asian shares rise with eyes on prices, war in Middle East

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:56 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly rose Thursday as investors awaited the release of U.S. consumer price data and kept a cautious watch on the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 1.6% to 32,442.08. Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.1% to 7,097.50. South Korea’s Kospi added 1% to 2,474.32. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 1.9% to 18,228.96, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.7% to 3,099.21. “Recent remarks from FOMC members have leaned dovish, suggesting that the Fed might maintain current short-term rates,” Anderson Alves at ActivTrades said in a report, referring to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s action on interest rates.Tensions in the Middle East are under the spotlight, with a possible escalation if nations like Lebanon or Iran are drawn in, which would set off significant movement in U.S. Treasuries, he said. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 4,376.95 for its fourth straight gain. The D...

Who witnessed Tupac Shakur’s 1996 killing in Las Vegas? Here’s what we know

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:56 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Duane “Keffe D” Davis is the last living suspect in one of hip-hop’s most enduring mysteries — the 1996 killing of rap icon Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas.Davis, 60, is accused of orchestrating the drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip that also wounded rap music mogul Marion “Suge” Knight. Davis was arrested and indicted Sept. 29 — more than two months after police raided his home outside Las Vegas. He remains jailed on a murder charge and is due back in court Oct. 19.On the night of Sept. 7, 1996, Shakur was in the passenger seat of a black BMW that Knight was driving when a white Cadillac pulled up on their right side and gunfire erupted. Knight was wounded but survived. Shakur died a week later at the age of 25.Police and prosecutors say the shooting stemmed from a fierce competition for dominance in a musical genre that pitted East Coast members of a Bloods gang sect against West Coast members of a Crips sect that Davis has said he led in Compton, Califor...

Inside the East vs. West rap rivalry that led to the murders of Tupac and Notorious B.I.G. in 1990s

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:56 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — As the investigation into the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur ramped up, prosecutors dug into the past and took the grand jury back to some of the most pivotal moments in the East-West Coast rap rivalry.The animosity began when Shakur was ambushed and wounded at a New York City recording studio in 1994 and culminated with his death in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, according to grand jury testimony reviewed by The Associated Press. Six months later, his friend-turned-rival Notorious B.I.G, whose legal name is Christopher Wallace, was gunned down.Shakur, 25, and Wallace, 24, died nearly three decades ago, but now there’s a new wave of intrigue in their killings with the recent arrest of longtime suspect Duane “Keffe D” Davis. The indictment of Davis is the first in Shakur’s slaying and raises questions about the unsolved murder of Wallace.Davis has only briefly appeared in court and has another hearing Oct. 19. Hundreds of pages of grand jury testimony detail how h...

The US is moving quickly to boost Israel’s military. A look at what assistance it is providing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:56 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Within hours of the horrific attack by Hamas, the U.S. began moving warships and aircraft to the region to be ready to provide Israel with whatever it needs to respond. A second U.S. carrier strike group departs from Norfolk, Virginia, on Friday. Scores of aircraft are heading to U.S. military bases around the Middle East. And special operations forces are now assisting Israel’s military in planning and intelligence. The buildup reflects U.S. concern that the deadly fighting between Hamas and Israel could escalate into a more dangerous regional conflict. So the primary mission for those ships and warplanes for now is to establish a force presence that deters Hezbollah, Iran or others from taking advantage of the situation. But the forces the U.S. sent are capable of more than that.The U.S. is also expediting the shipment of munitions and interceptors for Israel’s fight against Hamas.A look at what weapons and options the U.S. military could provide: WEA...

Republican Steve Scalise is seen as a fighter, but becoming House speaker might require a brawl

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:56 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — With his walker positioned on the mound, Rep. Steve Scalise threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Washington Nationals ballpark, a breathtaking comeback for the Republican congressman who just months earlier was fighting for his life after a gunman had opened fire on lawmakers at their own charity baseball game practice.An “American hero,” is how Republican colleagues describe Scalise after the 2017 shooting and on Wednesday, a narrow majority of them nominated him as their next House speaker following the unprecedented ouster of the former speaker, Rep. Kevin McCarthy.Scalise, 58, and recently diagnosed with blood cancer, spent the rest of the day holed up in the stately Speaker’s office at the Capitol, vigorously working to secure the support he will need from his detractors to lead the divided Republican majority ahead of a full House vote to take the gavel.“As we’ve all witnessed, he is a fighter,” said Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky. “He has proven against all o...

To reach their goals, Twins know they’ll need to vanquish the Astros

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:56 GMT

When he stood up to address his teammates after the Twins were eliminated from the playoffs on Wednesday night, Carlos Correa had multiple messages he wanted to get across to the assembled group.Remember this feeling, he told his teammates, because you don’t want to feel this again. And also show up to spring training ready — they’ll be seeing more of the Houston Astros, and they need to be prepared to beat them.“We’re going to compete against those guys again,” Correa said. “If you want to get to a World Series, you’ve got to beat that team. We’re going to prepare for that.”With the 3-2 win over the Twins on Wednesday night at Target Field, the Astros advanced to the American League Championship Series for the seventh straight season. They’ve been to the World Series in four of those seasons and have won two rings. Simply put: The road to the World Series in the American League runs through Houston, as it has for the better part of a decade.“We’re not that far from playing in...