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Kentucky Derby’s operators suspend trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. after ‘highly unusual’ racehorse deaths

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:01:36 GMT

(CNN) — The company operating the famed Kentucky Derby has indefinitely suspended racehorse trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. following what it calls two “highly unusual” horse deaths — meaning one of his other horses cannot run as planned in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.Churchill Downs Inc.’s decision Thursday comes after two horses, both trained by Joseph, died suddenly from what officials have said are unknown causes at the company’s namesake racetrack in Louisville on Saturday and Tuesday.Joseph’s suspension means Lord Miles, another horse that he trains, has been scratched from Saturday’s Kentucky Derby — the first leg of the coveted Triple Crown — the company said.“The suspension prohibits Joseph, or any trainer directly or indirectly employed by Joseph, from entering horses in races or applying for stall occupancy at all CDI-owned racetracks,” Churchill Downs Inc. said Thursday.“CDI’s deci...

Strong earthquake hits Japan, killing one, injuring 13

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:01:36 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — A strong, shallow earthquake hit central Japan on Friday afternoon, killing at least one person and injuring 13 others, but no tsunami warning was issued.The magnitude 6.2 quake struck Ishikawa prefecture on the west coast of Japan’s main island of Honshu, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The Japan Meteorological Agency measured the quake at 6.5 and said it was centered at a depth of about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles).One person was reported dead and at least 13 were injured in Suzu city at the northern tip of Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture, a city official said. He said six homes were damaged and rain could trigger mudslides, causing further damage. He did not say how the person died, but the Fire and Disaster Management Agency reported that a person was found without vital signs after falling from a ladder. It said another person was injured when a cabinet fell on them, and two people were rescued from damaged buildings in the city.A video broadcast by NHK p...

Pope seeks to encourage abuse prevention board amid turmoil

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:01:36 GMT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis sought to encourage his embattled child protection advisory board Friday, following weeks of turmoil sparked by the latest resignation of a founding member and fresh questions about its direction.Francis urged his Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors to pursue a “spirituality of reparation” with abuse survivors and build a culture of safeguarding to prevent priests from raping and molesting children. In particular, he praised the commission’s efforts to establish church child protection programs in Asia, Africa and Latin America, where there is less funding than in the U.S. and Europe.“It is not right that the most prosperous areas of the world should have well-trained and well-funded safeguarding programs, where victims and their families are respected, while in other parts of the world they suffer in silence, perhaps rejected or stigmatized when they try to come forward to tell of the abuse they have suffered,” Francis said.Francis anno...

Mourners attend funerals of 7 Shiite teachers in NW Pakistan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:01:36 GMT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Thousands of mourners on Friday attended the mass funeral of seven minority Shiite teachers who were shot and killed at a school in northwestern Pakistan, drawing nationwide condemnation, officials said.The mourners also rallied against Thursday’s killings. The teachers were gunned down by unidentified assailants who stormed a school in Kurram, a district in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The slain teachers were members of Pakistan’s minority Shiite community, which extremist Sunni militant groups frequently target. The attack happened when the teachers were supervising exams at the school, and just hours after a separate attack killed another teacher — a Sunni Muslim — from the same school.It was unclear who was behind the killings and no one has claimed responsibility.On Friday, Inayat Hussain Toori, a senior Shiite leader, condemned the killings.“We want justice and we don’t know who is behind it,” Toori said, adding that about...

DeSantis celebrates wins at end of busy legislative session

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:01:36 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — On the day he took office, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed to pursue an agenda that would heal the state’s political divisions.In an op-ed, he vowed to prioritize environmental protection, the economy and education. And he highlighted the “diverse, bipartisan group of qualified individuals” he hired for his administration.“It is time for our state to come together,” he declared in the January 2019 piece.On Friday, more than four years later, DeSantis is set to conclude a legislative session that establishes him as perhaps the most aggressive and accomplished conservative governor in the nation’s bitter culture wars just as he prepares to enter the 2024 presidential contest as a top rival to former President Donald Trump. Intensifying a hard-right shift that began during the pandemic, the 44-year-old Republican governor in recent weeks pushed the limits of divisive cultural battles over abortion, LGBTQ rights, sex education, guns, immigration and ...

Magna International reports Q1 profit down from year ago, sales up 11%

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:01:36 GMT

TORONTO — Magna International Inc. upgraded its outlook for its sales and profit for the year as it reported its first-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago and its sales rose 11 per cent.The auto parts company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit attributable to the company amounted to US$209 million or 73 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, down from US$364 million or $1.22 per diluted share a year earlier.Sales totalled US$10.67 billion, up from US$9.64 billion in the first three months of 2022.The company says the increase in sales came as global light vehicle production gained three per cent, including an eight per cent gain in North America and seven per cent in Europe.On an adjusted basis, Magna says it earned US$1.11 per diluted share, down from an adjusted profit of US$1.28 per diluted share a year ago.In its outlook for the full year, the company says it now expects total sales between US$40.2 billion and US$41.8 billion up fro...

Liverpool to mark coronation, notes ‘strong views’ of fans

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:01:36 GMT

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool will play the national anthem before the start of its Premier League game on Saturday to mark the coronation of King Charles III and acknowledged Friday that “some supporters have strong views on it.”The team said it would play “God Save the King” after the league had contacted clubs playing home games and “strongly suggested” they note the historic occasion.Liverpool supporters booed the national anthem — which was formerly “God Save the Queen” — when it was played ahead of the FA Cup final a year ago and the Community Shield in July because of what is perceived to be a long-held opposition toward the establishment.Queen Elizabeth II held the throne for seven decades until her death in September at the age of 96.Liverpool fans booed the national anthem in the 1980s and during what some refer to as the “managed decline” of the city during the tenure of the Conservative Party-led government. Deepening those feelings were the actions of the governme...

Gun discharges during robbery attempt on CTA train

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:01:36 GMT

CHICAGO — A 21-year-old man was injured during an attempted robbery on a CTA train.The incident happened around 11 p.m. Thursday at the Roosevelt "L" stop. According to a police investigation, an armed man attempted to rob the 21-year-old at gunpoint while riding the CTA train.An altercation between the two men turned physical and the offender began to struggle over the gun, causing it to discharge, police said. 2 men accused of taking $1.1M during armored truck robbery tracked down using Apple AirTag The 21-year-old was transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in fair condition, but police said he was not shot during the altercation.The offender was arrested and charges are pending. Area Three Detectives are investigating.

King Charles III's coronation: How and when to watch in the US

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:01:36 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? There are plenty of options to watch the regalia-heavy event that serves as a formal confirmation of King Charles' dual role as head of state and titular leader of the Church of England — for those willing to wake up early enough.While it might seem odd that Americans might want to tune in, there have been large audiences for previous royal milestones, such as the wedding of Charles and Diana in 1981 and the weddings of their children, William and Harry. Biden sends wife Jill to King Charles’ coronation Saturday The longevity of the king's mother, Queen Elizabeth II, means that many people alive have never seen a coronation.WHAT TIME DOES THE CORONATION START?Well, first King Charles and his wife Camilla have to get to the ceremony. That begins with a...

Friday Forecast: Temps in upper 70s with mostly sunny conditions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:01:36 GMT

Friday: Mostly sunny, cooler lakeside, S 10-15 G25. High: 77, low: 69Friday night's is mostly cloudy, 20% chance for showers, SSE 5-10. Low: 55Chicago Weather | Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center's Forecast (wgntv.com)Saturday: Mostly cloudy, 10% AM rain chance, cooler lakeside, SSE 10-15 G25. High: 76, low: 59Weather Blog | Chicago | WGN TV