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Northern Star

Northern Illinois University’s student media since 1899

 

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The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

Transgender felons seek to ease state rules on name changes

By MARK SCOLFORO | February 12, 2020

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania court this week will consider a legal challenge by three transgender women to a two-decade-old state law that prohibits people who have committed serious felonies from ever changing their names.Commonwealth Court...

NFL team’s deep Catholic ties behind role in abuse crisis

By JIM MUSTIAN, REESE DUNKLIN, and BRETT MARTEL | February 12, 2020

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Why would an NFL team, even one called the Saints, strike a behind-the-scenes alliance with the Roman Catholic Church on an issue as emotionally fraught as clergy sex abuse?It’s a question even die-hard Saints fans in this heavily...

Dutch police: Letter bomb contained extortion demand

February 12, 2020

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A letter bomb that detonated Wednesday in an Amsterdam mail sorting center was sent by an extortionist who is demanding payment in bitcoins, police said. Nobody was injured when the package went off in the mail sorting...

Ex-official kills himself in Moscow courtroom after verdict

February 12, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — A former Russian prison service official with cancer shot himself dead in a Moscow courtroom Wednesday after being handed a three-year prison sentence on corruption charges, officials said.Local court and investigative officials said Viktor...

Trial team quits Roger Stone case in dispute over sentence

By MICHAEL BALSAMO and ERIC TUCKER | February 12, 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — The four lawyers who prosecuted Roger Stone quit the case after the Justice Department overruled them and said it would take the extraordinary step of lowering the amount of prison time it would seek for President Donald Trump’s...

Suspect in migrant truck deaths can fight extradition to UK

February 12, 2020

LONDON (AP) — A truck driver wanted over the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants found in a refrigerated container near London won a delay Wednesday to his extradition from Ireland to the U.K.At Dublin's High Court, Judge Donald Binchy ruled that 23-year-old...

Cyprus urged to go after laundering of foreign illicit cash

February 12, 2020

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus needs to step up its fight against the laundering of illicit cash generated outside the east Mediterranean island nation, a leading European financial watchdog said Wednesday.Moneyval, which is part of the Council of Europe,...

Actor Jussie Smollett faces 6 new charges in Chicago

By DON BABWIN and HERB McCANN | February 11, 2020

CHICAGO (AP) — Actor Jussie Smollett was indicted Tuesday for a second time on charges of lying to police about a racist and anti-gay attack he allegedly staged on himself in downtown Chicago, renewing a divisive criminal case that drew worldwide attention...

Key moments since Jussie Smollett reported Chicago attack

February 11, 2020

CHICAGO (AP) — "Empire" actor and R&B singer Jussie Smollett told Chicago police in January 2019 that two men physically attacked him and yelled racial and homophobic slurs. Some key moments in the story:Jan. 22, 2019— Smollett receives a racist...

Drunken-driving count dropped against actor in Trivago ads

February 11, 2020

HOUSTON (AP) — Texas prosecutors have dropped a driving while intoxicated charge filed against the actor featured on commercials for the travel booking site Trivago with a perpetual five o'clock shadow.The case against Timothy William, 53, was dismissed...

Judge dismisses lieutenant governor’s libel suit against CBS

By MATTHEW BARAKAT | February 11, 2020

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A judge on Tuesday tossed out a libel lawsuit filed by Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax against a television network he accused of slanted reporting on sexual assault allegations against him.U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga...

Man accused of subway stabbing says victims were aliens

February 11, 2020

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The man accused of stabbing to death a woman and injuring her sister on a train platform in the San Francisco Bay Area testified in his trial Tuesday, saying he believed the women were aliens and part of a gang that had kidnapped...