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Kristof: Legalizing the sex trade will only increase trafficking of children

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:50:42 GMT

More than a decade ago, I met a scared 15-year-old who was trying to recover her life after having been kidnapped by a pimp and sold for sex.Melanie Thompson recalled the day her life changed: She and two other girls in New York City ran into some older boys who invited them to hang out. The girls did so, the boys provided alcohol, Melanie blacked out — and she says she woke up to being raped. She told me how a pimp then locked her with another girl in an abandoned house, and she had a new job: having sex with strangers against her will.She was 13.When we spoke two years later, she was in a residential program for formerly trafficked girls. She was thoughtful, charming and fond of poetry, but I wondered if she would be able to rebuild her life. Then I lost track of her, until a message arrived from her this spring. We met, and she filled me in on her bumpy journey — and her campaign against what she sees as misguided liberalism that would legalize pimping.Melanie spent years in fost...

From extreme heat to deadly storms, Europe has no rest from ‘summer of hell’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:50:42 GMT

Europe is grappling with extreme weather from soaring temperatures in southern Italy to powerful storms in Croatia and Italy, piling pressure on emergency services and residents, and challenging tourists seeking some summer recuperation.Temperatures have consistently topped 40 degrees Celsius this week across southern and eastern European countries, and for some areas like Sicily there remains no respite. The Italian island was baking in 46 degrees Celsius on Saturday, according to the Met Office, with night temperatures of 29 degrees offering little in the way of comfort.The heat in parts of Greece was also pushing the mercury into the 40s on Saturday; the island of Kefalonia and the western coast of the mainland are continuing to see 40 degrees Celsius.On the island of Rhodes, firefighters entered their fifth day in a battle to bring difficult wildfires, under control, according to local media reports. And fires continue to burn in areas around Athens.In Malta, residents have been...

Crews searching for missing swimmer at Sandy Beach in Hopkinton

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:50:42 GMT

Officials in Hopkinton are searching for a 22-year-old who went missing Friday night while swimming at Sandy Beach.Officers said a friend swimming with the missing man called 911 around 8 p.m. when he returned to shore alone from a swim in Lake Maspenock. Police said the swimmers went beyond the safe-swimming zone at the beach. In a statement, officials said this is “now considered a recovery operation,” and Hopkinon and other area fire responders are searching the waters with sonar-equipped rescue boats.Hopkinton police and fire crews searched until midnight Friday, and then resumed Saturday morning. The beach is closed until further notice.

Missing 17-year-old found dead after boat crash in Sesuit Harbor

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:50:42 GMT

A 17-year-old girl has been found dead after a boat crashed into a jetty in Sesuit Harbor in Dennis, officials said.Massachusetts State Police said the victim was recovered from the water around 11:30 p.m. late Friday night after a search and rescue operation around Cold Storage Beach. Other occupants of the boat were also injured, officials said.The Dennis Fire Department, the US Coast Guard, the Barnstable County Dive Team, the Sandwich Fire Department and the Massachusetts State Police were all assisting in the search Friday night.The death is under investigation by state police detectives.

Yemeni police say they’ve arrested 2 suspects in the killing of a senior World Food Program official

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:50:42 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Yemeni police on Saturday arrested two suspects in the killing of a senior World Food Program official the previous day, authorities said. Ten others were also detained for their alleged involvement in the killing of Moayad Hameidi, who had recently arrived in the country to take the post of the head of the World Food Program in the southwestern province of Taiz. Taiz police did not provide further details.On Friday, two gunmen riding on a motorbike shot Hameidi in the town of Turbah. He died shortly after reaching a hospital. The attackers fled the scene.Hameidi, a Jordanian, was the latest aid worker to be killed in Yemen, which has been embroiled in a civil war since 2014. He had just arrived in Taiz a few days ago to assume his role as head of the WFP office in the province.“The loss of our colleague is a profound tragedy for our organization and the humanitarian community,” said Richard Ragan, WFP’s director in Yemen. “Any loss of life in humanitarian service is an...

Massive protests take place against mob assaults on women in India’s remote northeastern state

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:50:42 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Thousands of people, mostly women, held a massive sit-in in India’s violence-wracked northeastern state of Manipur on Saturday demanding the immediate arrest of those involved in the harrowing mob assaults on two women who were paraded naked. Religious and women organization leaders addressed nearly 15,000 protesters who also called for the sacking of Biren Singh, the top elected official in the state where more than 130 people have been killed since violence between two dominant ethnic groups erupted in early May. The protest was held in Churachandpur, a town 65 kilometers (40 miles) south of Imphal, the state capital.A video showing the assaults on women triggered massive outrage and was widely shared on social media late Wednesday despite the internet being largely blocked and journalists locked out of the remote state. The footage shows the two naked women surrounded by scores of young men who grope their genitals and drag them to a field.Police said the assault...

Man dead, four others injured after North Lawndale shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:50:42 GMT

CHICAGO -- A man is dead, and four others are injured after two men opened fire on a group in in North Lawndale overnight. According to police, the men were standing in the 1600 block of North Spaulding Avenue around 12:19 a.m. when two men approached and fired shots at them.Police said a 40-year-old man sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the body and was pronounced dead. 1 in grave condition after being pulled from water at North Avenue Beach in Chicago Another 40-year-old man sustained a gunshot wound to the face and is in good condition. Another man was transported to Stroger Hospital in critical condition with gunshot wounds to the neck and head. A 44-year-old man was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital with gunshot wounds to the body. He is listed in good condition. A 50-year-old man sustained a graze wound to the right arm and refused medical attention.There is currently no one in custody and police are investigating the incident.In another incident, a 16-year-old boy was...

When is the best time to plant pumpkins?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:50:42 GMT

While we're making our way through summer, ever wondered when it was the best time to plant pumpkins? Join Weekend Gardening with Tim Joyce to learn more. Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.

Low rain chances for the weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:50:42 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The last time rain was measured in Central Texas was July 6th. Camp Mabry measured .03" that day. Austin-Bergstrom recorded .16". There is a 20% chance of afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms with about .01" to .10" expected but a few isolated totals will exceed .10".A few areas will see rain this afternoon and eveningFriday's high of 104° was the 30th day this summer of a high that reached or exceeded 100°. There will be more to come as our 7-Day Forecast has much of the area with triple-digit highs going out to Friday.Day #31 of a high in triple digitsMaximum heat index readings Friday ranged from 100° to 103°. The outlook is for these numbers to go up by a degree or two by the middle of Saturday afternoon.Today's Heat Advisory covers Llano, Burnet, and Blanco Counties eastward. Much of the area continues under the Heat AdvisoryThe center of the heat dome continues to be the biggest influence on our weather. It will hang out in the southwest United Stat...

Readers and writers: Minnesota broadcast royalty make a memorable Mystery Night

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:50:42 GMT

You know a program is going to be fun when people line up to have their pictures taken with the guest speakers.Ron Handberg, left, and Don Shelby, retired WCCO-TV colleagues and friends, talk about television and writing books Monday during a sold-out Monday Mystery Night reading series at Axel’s restaurant in Mendota. (Mary Ann Grossman / Pioneer Press)That’s what happened last week at the monthly Monday Night Mystery reading series at Axel’s Restaurant in Mendota, when WCCO alums and longtime friends Ron Handberg and Don Shelby presented a mostly light-hearted program about writing, television and the emotional price reporters pay for doing their jobs.“I’m in the position of introducing men who need no introduction,” said host Rob Younghans, handing the mic to the two men who helped shape WCCO-TV into a winner of Peabody Awards and national Emmys.Looking relaxed and comfortable with one another, Handberg and Shelby together represent nearly a ce...