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Grand Canyon, nation’s largest Christian university, says it’s appealing ‘ridiculous’ federal fine

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:25:07 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s largest Christian university says it’s fighting a $37.7 million fine brought by the federal government over allegations that it lied to students about the cost of its programs.Grand Canyon University, which enrolls more than 100,000 students mostly in online programs, said it’s filing an appeal with the U.S. Education Department on Thursday. If it fails, the Phoenix-based school said it’s prepared to file a federal lawsuit.In a 40-minute speech, university President Brian Mueller called the fine “ridiculous” and questioned whether the school is being targeted because of its faith affiliation. He noted that the nation’s second-largest Christian university, Liberty University, is reportedly being threatened with a $37 million fine over alleged underreporting of crimes.“It’s interesting, isn’t it, that the two largest Christian universities in the country, this one and Liberty University, are both being fined almost the ident...

5 European nations and Canada seek to join genocide case against Myanmar at top UN court

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:25:07 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Five European countries and Canada are seeking to join a case brought by Gambia at the United Nations’ highest court that accuses Myanmar of committing genocide against its Rohingya minority.The International Court of Justice said Thursday that Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK had joined with Canada in filing a “declaration of intervention in the case.” The Maldives filed a separate declaration.Under the court’s rules, the declarations mean those countries will be able to make legal arguments in the case brought in 2019 following international outrage at the treatment of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority. Hundreds of thousands fled to neighboring Bangladesh amid a brutal crackdown by Myanmar forces.Gambia argued that it and Myanmar are both parties to the 1948 convention outlawing genocide and that all signatories have a duty to ensure it is enforced. It asked the court to declare Myanmar in breach of the convention.The cou...

Syria’s president grants amnesty, reduced sentences on anniversary of coup that put father in power

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:25:07 GMT

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria’s president issued a decree granting amnesty and reducing sentences for several categories of crime committed prior to Thursday, his office and state media reported.No reason was given for the amnesty but it came on the anniversary of the 1970 coup that brought the father and predecessor of President Bashar Assad to power.Assad has issued similar amnesties since the country’s deadly conflict that has killed half a million people began in March 2011.The decree grants a complete pardon for misdemeanor convictions and people serving prison sentences who have reached the age of 70, or those who have incurable diseases.It said that those who were sentenced to death will have their sentences commuted to life in prison and those who were sentenced to life in prison will end up serving 20 years.The decree did not include an amnesty for the crimes of weapons smuggling or crimes resulting in deaths.On Wednesday, French judicial authorities issued international arr...

Teacher, assistant principal charged in paddling of elementary school student

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:25:07 GMT

GAINESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — Two educators in Tennessee are facing criminal charges stemming from the paddling of an elementary school student.A Jackson County grand jury indicted a Dodson Branch Elementary School teacher last week on a charge of simple assault and an assistant principal on a charge of criminal responsibility of assault, news outlets reported. Both entered a plea of not guilty, a court clerk said.The charges stem from an Oct. 4 incident at the school involving a student who had been paddled twice by the teacher while the assistant principal was present, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a statement. The student later complained of pain and was examined at a medical facility, the statement said. No other details were released.Although many schools districts in Tennessee no longer use corporal punishment, there’s no state law banning it. State lawmakers passed new policies and procedures this year for schools still using it. The Jackson County School Board’s c...

Atlanta to host 2025 MLB All-Star Game after losing 2021 game over objections to voting law

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:25:07 GMT

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Major League Baseball will play its 2025 All-Star Game in Atlanta, four years after moving the game from Truist Park to Denver’s Coors Field over objections to changes in Georgia’s votings rights laws.Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred made the announcement Thursday following an owners’ meeting.Atlanta was awarded the 2021 All-Star Game in May 2019, but MLB moved it in April 2021, just three months before the game was played.Critics complained then that the voting rights changes were too restrictive. Manfred made the decision to move the All-Star events and the amateur draft from Atlanta after discussions with individual players and the Players Alliance, an organization of Black players formed after the death of George Floyd in 2020.Next year’s All-Star Game will be in Arlington and the 2026 game in Philadelphia to make the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.___AP News: https://apnews.com/hub/MLBThe Associated Press

Guatemala prosecutors pursue president-elect and student protesters over campus takeover

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:25:07 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemalan prosecutors said Thursday they will seek to strip President-elect Bernardo Arévalo and several members of his party of their immunity for allegedly making social media posts that encouraged students to take over a public university in 2022.Cultural Heritage prosecutor Ángel Saúl Sánchez announced the move aimed at Arévalo and members of his Seed Movement at a news conference while federal agents executed search warrants and sought to arrest more than 30 student members of the party.It was only the latest legal salvo against Arévalo, an anti-corruption crusader who shocked the nation by winning the presidential election in August. The United States government, Organization of American States and other outside observers have suggested the legal attacks are an attempt to keep Arévalo from taking power in January.Attorney General Consuelo Porras and outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei have denied political motivations.Since Arévalo won a spot in the ...

Judge allows Ja Morant’s lawyers to argue he acted in self-defense in lawsuit about fight with teen

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:25:07 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Lawyers for Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant are allowed to argue that he was acting in self-defense as part of a lawsuit accusing him of assaulting a teenager during a pickup basketball game at the NBA star’s house, a judge ruled Thursday.Circuit Court Judge Carol Chumney set a Dec. 11 hearing where lawyers for Morant and 18-year-old Joshua Holloway will discuss whether Morant is immune from liability under Tennessee law for hitting Holloway during a game at the All-Star player’s Memphis-area home in July 2022. Morant’s lawyers have acknowledged he punched Holloway one time after Holloway threw a basketball at Morant and the ball hit Morant in the chin. In a July 26 motion, the player’s lawyers said he should be immune from liability under the state’s “stand your ground” law, which allows people who feel threatened at their homes to act with force in certain situations. The law is used in criminal cases, but Chumney’s ruling clears the way for Mor...

Man who attacked Pelosi's husband convicted of federal assault and attempted kidnapping charges

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:25:07 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A jury on Thursday convicted the man who broke into former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco home seeking to hold her hostage and attacked her husband with a hammer of federal charges of attempted kidnapping and assault.The jury deliberated for about eight hours before finding David DePape guilty of attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official. DePape, who faces up to 50 years in prison, did not react as the verdict was read.The attack on then-82-year-old Paul Pelosi that was captured on police body camera video just days before last year’s midterm elections sent shockwaves through the political world.DePape, 43, admitted during trial testimony that he broke into the Pelosis’ home on Oct. 28, 2022, intending to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage and “break her kneecaps” if she lied to him. He also admitted to bludgeoning Paul Pelosi with a hammer after San Francisco poli...

Pandas could return to US, according to China's president

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:25:07 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Chinese President Xi Jinping says China will send new pandas to the United States. President Xi made the announcement during a speech with business leaders on Wednesday night following his face-to-face meeting with President Joe Biden in California.“We are ready to continue our cooperation with the United States on panda conservation and do our best to meet the wishes of the Californians so as to deepen the friendly ties between our two peoples,” Xi said.President Xi did not say exactly when or where in the U.S. pandas would be sent, but appeared to hint that the next pair of pandas could come to California.The announcement comes just over a week after three giant pandas were sent from Washington, D.C.’s National Zoo back to China. Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cub Xiao Qi Ji were loaded onto a Boeing 777, dubbed the FedEx “Panda Express,” at Dulles International Airport on November 8.Iconic giant pandas have been living at the National Zoo for more than 50 y...

Sound of GAF Energy's $100M factory operating north of Austin like 'music,' exec says

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:25:07 GMT

GEORGETOWN, Texas (Austin Business Journal) -- When Ralph Robinett stands inside the new 450,000-square-foot GAF Energy LLC manufacturing site in Georgetown, the sound of humans and machinery making parts for the solar roofing industry is "music to his ears."About 15 months ago, the site was a greenfield. But last month, GAF obtained a certificate of occupancy for what is now a $100 million facility at 110 SE Inner Loop. About 75 employees have been coming to work seven days a week, 12 hours a day as they prepare to start shipping the first solar shingles produced at the site by the end of the year."Every factory has a heartbeat. It has a little bit of an arrhythmia the first few days. But after a couple of weeks, you can start to feel it and see it," said Robinett, who is the company's senior vice president of manufacturing and supply chain. "It's feeling very real now, which is great to see after coming together over the last 14, 15 months."More than a year after federal...