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WTOP brings you the latest news, traffic, and weather information for the Washington, D.C. region. Catch up on the issues and topics important to you today.
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41m ago
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — State universities in Kansas would be banned from requiring prospective students, potential hires and staffers seeking promotion to disclose their views on diversity initiatives under a policy change being considered by the state’s higher education board.
The Kansas Board of Regents was set to discuss the policy change during a meeting Wednesday at Fort Hays University. The proposal would revise policy language that currently emphasizes “multiculturism and diversity” on campus and replace it with language barring universities from requiring statements “pledging allegiance t ..read more
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41m ago
FILE - Visitors mill around the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Va., Jan. 8, 2020. Lawmakers in the Virginia House of Delegates this week voted down a bill that would have instituted a near-total abortion ban. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, file)(AP/Steve Helber)
FILE - Visitors mill around the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Va., Jan. 8, 2020. Lawmakers in the Virginia House of Delegates this week voted down a bill that would have instituted a near-total abortion ban. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, file)(AP/Steve Helber)
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Leaders of the Democratic-controlled Virginia General Ass ..read more
WTOP
41m ago
GOMA, Congo (AP) — The world is forgetting the escalating violence in eastern Congo as conflicts continue in places like Ukraine and Gaza, the U.N. human rights chief said Wednesday while visiting the region and calling for peace and support for millions repeatedly displaced.
Eastern Congo has long been overrun by more than 120 armed groups seeking to control the region’s rich resources as they carry out mass killings. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced in recent months, worsening one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. About 7 million people are displaced, many beyond the reach ..read more
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41m ago
HOWELL, Mich. (AP) — Days after a routine injection to ease back pain, Donna Kruzich and a friend drove across the border to Canada in 2012 to see end-of-summer theater in Stratford, Ontario.
The 78-year-old Michigan woman suddenly became ill and returned home. By early October, she was dead.
“Most of the time she could not communicate with us. She was basically in a coma,” son Michael Kruzich recalled. “We knew she had meningitis — but we didn’t know how she got it.”
Evidence soon emerged: Donna Kruzich was one of at least 64 people in the U.S. who died because of tainted steroids made by a s ..read more
WTOP
41m ago
Sixteen teams, each one needing to win 16 games over four rounds of best-of-seven series to lift the Stanley Cup, has been the way the NHL decides its champion for nearly four decades. That isn’t changing any time soon.
The NHL is the only one of the major four North American professional sports leagues not to expand its playoffs in recent years. It is content with the current format and isn’t looking to add more teams, a play-in round or anything else amid plenty of discussion about doing so.
“We’re not giving any thought to expanding the playoffs,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said in advance o ..read more
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41m ago
Toronto Raptors two-way player Jontay Porter was banned for life from the NBA on Wednesday after a league probe found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors and wagered on games, even betting on the Raptors to lose.
Porter is the second person to be banned by Commissioner Adam Silver for violating league rules. The other was now-former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling in 2014, shortly after Silver took office.
In making the announcement, Silver called Porter’s actions “blatant.”
“There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA competition for our ..read more
WTOP
41m ago
Listen to WTOP for traffic updates on the 8s.
Traffic was at a near standstill throughout the D.C. region Wednesday morning after construction work closed lanes on the Capital Beltway. Commuters clogged alternatives routes and backups stretched for miles.
The construction Wednesday morning was spillover from roadwork scheduled to take place overnight that look longer than expected to complete.
Michelle Holland, a communications manager at the Virginia Department of Transportation, told WTOP workers were securing new steel girders that will support a future bridge over I-495 when the constructi ..read more
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41m ago
A man has been charged in federal court in Illinois in the transport of millions of dollars worth of Masters golf tournament merchandise and memorabilia stolen from Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.
A document filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois accuses Richard Globensky of transporting the items across state lines to Tampa, Florida, “knowing the same had been stolen, converted and taken by fraud.”
The items were taken from the famous golf club and other locations beginning in 2009 through 2022, according to the government.
Upon conviction, Globensky ..read more
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41m ago
(CNN) — Hace más de 5.500 años, dos mujeres fueron atadas y probablemente enterradas vivas en un sacrificio ritual, utilizando una forma de tortura asociada hoy con la mafia italiana, según un análisis de esqueletos descubiertos en un yacimiento arqueológico del suroeste de Francia.
Investigadores estudiaron la inusual posición de tres esqueletos femeninos hallados en 1985 en el yacimiento de la localidad de Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, y llegaron a la conclusión de que dos de las mujeres probablemente murieron a causa de una forma de tortura conocida como “incaprettamento”, que consiste en atar ..read more
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41m ago
HUY, Belgium (AP) — Stephen Williams became the first British winner of the Flèche Wallonne classic race on Wednesday after battling tough weather conditions including snow to cross first atop the Mur de Huy.
After nearly 200 kilometers (124 miles) of racing, Williams attacked in the Mur de Huy — a 1.3-kilometer (0.8-mile) ascent with an average gradient of 9.6% with sections as steep as 19% that generally decides the outcome of the race.
The 27-year-old Williams made his move with about 250 meters left to claim the biggest win of his career.
“I’m exhausted. I’m lost for words, quite emotional ..read more