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Thousands of Reddit communities go dark to protest company’s controversial new policy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

By Brian Fung | CNNThousands of Reddit forums are going dark Monday in one of the largest user-driven protests ever to hit the social media platform.The voluntary blackouts, which restrict groups’ content from being publicly visible, affect Reddit’s largest online communities, including popular groups devoted to music, history, sports, and video games. The protests include more than two dozen subreddits with at least 10 million subscribers, as well as thousands of smaller networks.Monday’s protests reflect widespread outrage over a Reddit plan to charge millions of dollars in fees for some third-party apps to continue accessing the platform. The plan has already forced several of Reddit’s top app-makers to announce they are shutting down because they cannot afford the new costs, which are set to begin as soon as next month.The confrontation between Reddit’s corporate management and its users and developers marks a turning point for the platform as it reportedly looks to go public la...

Children Are Dying Because Companies Are Too Scared to Sell Medicine to Iran

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

Amir Hossein Naroi, an Iranian boy, was only 10 years old when he died from thalassemia, an inherited blood disease. The condition is highly prevalent in the southern Iranian province of Sistan-Balochistan, where Naroi’s family lives; tens of thousands of people in the region are believed suffer from the disease. It is not an inevitably fatal condition: Thalassemia can be treated with regular blood transfusions and oral medications designed to remove the excess of iron built up in the bodies of patients. For much of his short life, Naroi was able to get treatment. His fate, however, was decided when access to the necessary medicines inside Iran began to dry up in recent years. In the earliest years of his life, Naroi was taking a specialized drug known as Desferal, which is manufactured by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis. Starting in 2018, however, around the time that President Donald Trump launched a “maximum pressure” campaign of economic sanctions against Iran, supplie...

The Right-Wing War on Clean Air

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

Steve Milloy, a longtime lobbyist for polluting industries from tobacco to coal to oil and gas, is back in the news thanks to the wildfire smoke that recently blanketed the U.S. East Coast. Milloy appeared on Fox News to tell people that there are “no negative health impacts” from breathing in wildfire smoke. It’s the latest salvo in a war he’s been waging against air pollution regulation since the 1980s.For industry operatives like Milloy, air pollution, especially the regulation of particulate matter, has long been a greater concern than climate policy. Regulations on PM2.5 —fine inhalable particles generally smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter — would require many of the same reductions in the combustion of fossil fuels that climate policy would, but without any of the politicization that has obstructed climate action for decades. It’s never been easy for politicians to publicly fight against clean air and water, and it’s doubly hard when the country’s largest city is wrappe...

Correction: Biden-Juneteenth story

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a story published June 7, 2023, about President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden hosting a Juneteenth concert at the White House, The Associated Press erroneously reported the year the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free. It was 1865, not 1885.Source

Nick Taylor sinks 72-foot putt to win Canadian Open, countrymate Hadwin tackled in celebration

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

TORONTO (AP) — Nick Taylor tossed his putter into the air and jumped into the arms of caddie Dave Markle after he made a 72-foot eagle putt to become the first Canadian in 69 years to win his national open, and he doesn’t remember any of it.“I blacked out when that ball went in with Dave. So I’m curious to watch that, what we did,” Taylor said.Few who witnessed it will ever forget.Taylor delivered a signature moment in Canadian sports when his uphill, left-to-right-breaking putt — the longest made putt of his PGA Tour career — hit the flagstick and dropped on the fourth hole of a playoff against Tommy Fleetwood for the RBC Canadian Open title.“It’s a tournament that we’ve circled on our calendar since probably junior golf,” Taylor said. “To kind of break that curse, if you want to call it, is — I’m pretty speechless. I don’t think it’s going to sink in for quite some time what happened today.”Fellow Canadian players Mike Weir, Corey Conners and Adam Hadwin were among tho...

Teen shot and killed on Metro train may have taken video of suspect

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

Photos of the man suspected of shooting and killing a Maryland teen on a moving Metro train on May, 28, 2023. (Courtesy Superior Court of the District of Columbia) Photos of the man suspected of shooting and killing a Maryland teen on a moving Metro train on May, 28, 2023. (Courtesy Superior Court of the District of Columbia) A 17-year-old who was chased through a moving Metro Green Line train last month may have recorded Snapchat video of the suspect, who also tried to rob him, according to court documents.Keith Nathaniel Williams, 23, of D.C., was charged with first degree murder while armed in the May 28 shooting of 17-year-old Brendan Ofori, of Fort Washington, Maryland. The shooting happened just before noon,...

Spanish court again denies Dani Alves’ appeal to be freed while sexual assault probe continues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Brazilian soccer player Dani Alves will remain in jail after a Spanish court on Monday denied another one of his requests to be freed on bail while an investigation into a sexual assault accusation against him continues.The Barcelona court said Alves remains a flight risk and should stay detained until the investigation concludes. The court previously denied a similar request by Alves’ defense team in May. Alves was provisionally detained in January after being accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a nightclub in Barcelona on Dec. 30. He has denied wrongdoing and said sex with the accuser was consensual.A judge ordered the former Barcelona defender to be jailed without bail after analyzing the initial probe by authorities and hearing testimony from Alves, the alleged victim and witnesses. A trial date has not been set.Alves’ lawyers had tried to discredit testimony by the alleged victim and other witnesses by presenting security camera footage showing that Alves an...

Prayers and tears — Berlusconi in death draws tributes even from his critics

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

ROME (AP) — Adored, scorned, impossible to ignore in life, Silvio Berlusconi in death drew tributes even from critics, and ever more lush praise from admirers, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pope Francis. Following word of Berlusconi’s death on Monday in a Milan hospital, where he was being treated for chronic leukemia, reaction poured in from around the world, from national leaders to Pope Francis to announcers who burst into tears on one of his TV networks, for the populist three-time premier and media mogul.Here are some of the reactions:— Russian President Vladimir Putin in a condolence telegram hailed Berlusconi as a “patriarch” of Italian politics and a true patriot who has improved Italy’s standing on the world stage. “I have always sincerely admired his wisdom, his ability to make balanced, far-sighted decisions even in the most difficult situations,” Putin said in the telegram released by the Kremlin. “During each of our meetings, I was literally...

What to expect if your pet visits the emergency room

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

This content is provided by Rocky Gorge Animal Hospital.A pet emergency can be a scary experience. To help prepare pet parents for the possible event, here’s what to expect and how your local emergency room veterinarians will care for your furry friend.First things first, make sure you are aware of the closest emergency hospital to your home. Save the contact details and address to your phone so you can quickly call for advice and find directions.When you arrive at the hospital, it’s important for the staff to quickly determine how serious your pet’s condition is. Most of the time, a brief description of why your pet needs to be seen, along with their vital signs will allow them to determine if your pet’s condition is not an emergency, stable to wait for treatment, or needs immediate care. This preliminary evaluation is called triage, and it allows the most critical patients to get a chance at life-saving care.After the hospital staff triage your pet’s condition, the veterinarian ex...

7-year-old girl with Down Syndrome rushed to hospital after drowning in pool

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

Lauderhill Fire Rescue received a 911 call reporting a child drowning in a swimming pool of a home.A 7-year-old girl, who according to police has Down Syndrome, was found unresponsive just before 9 a.m., at 5240 NW 14th Place.Officers started CPR when they arrived until paramedics got to the home and took over. The girl was rushed to Broward Health Medical Center.Police believe this is an accidental drowning.Officials said that the child regained a pulse and is recovering at the hospital.