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British writer A.S. Byatt, author of the novel ‘Possession,’ dies at 87

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:29 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Author A.S. Byatt, whose books include the Booker Prize-winning novel “Possession,” has died at the age of 87.Byatt’s publisher, Chatto & Windus, said Friday that the author died “peacefully at home surrounded by close family.”Byatt wrote two dozen books, starting with her first novel, “The Shadow of the Sun” in 1964.“Possession,” published in 1990, follows two modern-day academics investigating the lives of a pair of Victorian poets. It won the prestigious Booker Prize that year and was adapted as a 2002 film starring Gwyneth Paltrow.Her other books include four novels exploring Britain in the 1950s and 60s, known as the Frederica Quartet — “The Virgin in the Garden,” “Still Life,” “Babel Tower” and “A Whistling Woman” – and “The Children’s Book” (2009). A book of short stories, “Medusa’s Ankles,” was published in 2021.Clara Farmer, Byatt’s publisher at Chatto & Windus, said the author’s books — translated into 38 languages — were “the most wonderf...

Former Nigerian central bank chief arraigned and remanded in prison for alleged fraud

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:29 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, who was removed from office in June, was on Friday charged with procurement fraud at a local court, which remanded him in prison pending his bail ruling.In amended charges, the Nigerian goverment said Godwin Emefiele illegally awarded contracts for dozens of vehicles during his time as the governor of the apex bank in Africa’s largest economy, according to court documents.The charge sheet alleged that Emefiele used his position as the bank’s governor to “confer a corrupt advantage” on another member of staff by awarding the contracts to a company with links to that staff member, thereby breaching Nigeria’s procurement laws.Appearing in court in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, Emefiele pleaded not guilty to the charges, which could land him in jail for at least five years if convicted. He has been in custody for most of the time since he was removed from office.Regarded as one of the most powerful government of...

French commission wants to remove statute of limitations for sexual violence against children

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:29 GMT

PARIS (AP) — A French commission examining sexual violence against children called Friday for the removal of all time limits on prosecuting people suspected of rape and sexual assault against minors.The Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence against Children, known as Ciivise, also said in a report released Friday that when sexual abuse of children happens within families it should be defined as a separate offense under the law.The statue of limitation for sexual crimes against children is 30 years from the time the victim turns 18 and becomes an adult under French law. The commission says that removing the time limit is necessary because it can take decades for victims to be able to speak out.The commission of independent experts was established two years ago after child abuse accusations involving a prominent French political expert unleashed a massive social media campaign of hundreds of people sharing appalling accounts about how they were sexually abused when they...

IBM pulls ads from Elon Musk’s X after report says they appeared next to antisemitic posts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:29 GMT

IBM has stopped advertising on social media platform X after a report said its ads were appearing alongside material praising Adolf Hitler and Nazis — a fresh setback as the site formerly known as Twitter tries to win back big brands and their ad dollars. The U.S. tech company made the decision after a report Thursday by the liberal advocacy group Media Matters said ads from IBM, Apple, Oracle, NBCUniversal’s Bravo network and Comcast were placed next to antisemitic material on X. “IBM has zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination and we have immediately suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this entirely unacceptable situation,” the company said in a terse statement. Billionaire owner Elon Musk sparked outcry this week with his own tweets responding to a user who accused Jews of hating white people and professing indifference to antisemitism. “You have said the actual truth,” Musk tweeted in a reply Wednesday. Musk has faced accusations of tolerati...

AP Election Brief | What to expect in Utah’s special congressional election

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:29 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in Utah’s second congressional district will cast ballots Tuesday in a Thanksgiving-week special election to fill the last remaining vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.Republican Celeste Maloy and Democrat Kathleen Riebe are the nominees to replace former GOP U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart, who stepped down in September after six terms citing his wife’s illness. Maloy is an attorney and served as Stewart’s chief legal counsel in Congress. Riebe is a second-term state senator and the chamber’s minority whip. She previously served on the state school board.Maloy won the September GOP primary with 39% of the vote over former state representative Becky Edwards and former state party chairman Bruce Hough. Riebe won the Democratic nomination at a district convention in June.Riebe stayed competitive in fundraising in October and outspent Maloy for the month, spending $148,000 to Maloy’s $63,000. But the Republican has significantly outraised the Democrat for...

More than a million Afghans will go back after Pakistan begins expelling foreigners without papers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:29 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — About 1.3 million Afghans are expected to return to their country of origin from Pakistan, the U.N. health agency warned, weeks after authorities began expelling foreigners living in the country illegally. Thursday’s warning by the World Health Organization came amid such expulsions, despite the onset of cold weather and widespread criticism from international and domestic human rights groups. Since Nov. 1, police in Pakistan have been going door-to-door to check migrants’ documentation after a deadline for migrants without papers to leave or face arrest. Most of those affected are Afghan nationals. Pakistan hosts millions of Afghans who fled their country during the 1979-1989 Soviet occupation. The numbers swelled after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021. Pakistan says the 1.4 million Afghans who are registered as refugees need not worry, as their status has been extended until December. The crackdown has forced about 340,000 Afghans in recent w...

Elton John’s musical about Tammy Faye Bakker to land on Broadway next season

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:29 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Elton John’s musical about televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker is coming to Broadway from London.“Tammy Faye” will land in New York City during the 2024-25 season, producers said Friday. John wrote the music, while Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears penned the lyrics. The musical was nominated for four 2023 Olivier Awards, including best musical, but lost the musical crown to “Standing at the Sky’s Edge.” The story is by James Graham with direction by Rupert Goold.Bakker, who died of cancer in 2007 at age 65, has captivated popular culture. Her story was told in the RuPaul-narrated documentary “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” and that was turned into a Hollywood movie that snagged Jessica Chastain her first Oscar for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” opposite Andrew Garfield.In England, Olivier Award-winner Katie Brayben played Bakker, with Tony Award-nominee Andrew Rannells as her first husband, Jim Bakker. Casting for the Broadway version was not announced.John, who just...

He was told his 9-year-old daughter was dead. Now she’s believed to be alive and a hostage in Gaza

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:29 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Emily Tony Korenberg Hand celebrated her eighth birthday last year romping with friends and family among the jugglers, acrobats and stilt walkers for her circus-themed party at Kibbutz Be’eri, not far from the Gaza Strip.On Friday, when she turned 9, there was no party. Emily is believed to be somewhere in Gaza among the hostages taken by Hamas militants who swarmed her kibbutz Oct. 7 during the incursion into Israel that left some 1,200 dead and 240 abducted.“She won’t even know it’s her birthday. She won’t know what day it is,” her tearful father, Thomas Hand, 63, said via Zoom. “Can you imagine the fear?”Soon after the Hamas attacks, Hand had been told by leaders of Be’eri that Emily was among the dead after she had spent the night at a friend’s house on the kibbutz. His shock and grief at the news was tinged with comfort.“I was sort of relieved because I’d rather that than have her taken hostage,” he recalled thinking. “The way...

Chinese court to consider compensation for people on missing Malaysia Airlines flight, relative says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:29 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A Chinese court will hold hearings on claims for compensation for the Chinese relatives of people who died on a Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared in 2014 on a flight to Beijing, a representative of the families said Friday.Jiang Hui, whose mother was on flight MH370, wrote on his Weibo social media account that he had received a notice that court hearings would begin Nov. 27. The hearings are expected to continue until mid-December, Jiang said.“I hope China’s laws can bring justice to the families who have not received a penny of compensation or an apology in the past 10 years,” Jiang wrote. “The disappearance of 239 lives, including 154 Chinese people, is a shame.” After almost a decade, the fate of the plane and its passengers remains a mystery. Various theories have emerged, but scant evidence has been found to show why the plane diverted from its original route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The plane is believed to have plunged into the Souther...

Hong Kong’s Roman Catholic cardinal says he dreams of bishops from greater China praying together

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:29 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s newly appointed Roman Catholic cardinal said he dreamed of bishops and faithfuls from different parts of greater China praying together one day during a historic visit by the head of the Chinese Catholic church, a publication affiliated with the city’s diocese reported Friday. Joseph Li, who was installed by China’s state-controlled Catholic church as an archbishop, arrived in Hong Kong on Monday at the invitation of cardinal Stephen Chow, marking the first-ever official visit by a Beijing bishop to the city.His five-day tour was a reciprocal visit following Chow’s landmark trip to Beijing in April — the first visit to the Chinese capital by the city’s bishop in nearly three decades. Experts said Chow’s invitation was a symbolic gesture that could strengthen the fragile relationship between China and the Vatican.Beijing and the Vatican severed diplomatic ties in 1951 following the Communist Party’s rise to power and the expulsion of foreign p...