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CLOSE Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy after a flood of sex abuse cases, reports of declining membership, & legal battles with insurance companies. USA TODAYThe Boy Scouts of America filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection early Tuesday as the organization faces 275 abuse lawsuits and potentially another 1,400 cases to come.Having already paid more than $150 million in settlements and legal costs between 2017 and 2019, the Boy Scouts hopes to contain the financial damage of the abuse scandal and emerge as a more sustainable organization.Bankruptcy was "the only viable option" for the Boy Scouts to consolidate numerous cases in one…

Cape Town - The Springboks have been celebrating as 2019 Rugby World Champions for well over four months now, and there was another accolade on Monday night in Berlin as they were crowned Team of the Year at the 2020 Laureus World Sports Awards. Led by skipper Siya Kolisi and new head coach Jacques Nienaber, the Boks in Berlin also included retired hooker Schalk Brits, loose forward Francois Louw, World Cup final hero Cheslin Kolbe and scrumhalf Faf de Klerk. READ | Kolisi relentless in efforts to spark change in SADe Klerk's long blonde hair and naughty smile combine to make him…

The statement released by the FW de Klerk Foundation, denying apartheid was a crime against humanity and only declared as such due to Soviet propaganda, is "unfortunate, insensitive and reckless", ANC deputy chief whip Doris Dlakude said.On Tuesday, she opened the debate on President Cyril Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address (SONA), which was disrupted on Thursday evening when the EFF wanted the former deputy president and final apartheid president FW de Klerk removed from the public gallery, where he sat as a guest of Parliament.The following day, the foundation released a much-maligned statement."The idea that apartheid was 'a crime…

CLOSE The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases discusses coronavirus. He says to skip the masks and take flu precautions. USA TODAYThe Food and Drug Administration has pulled inspectors from China amid the rapidly-spreading coronavirus and has warned Americans might face shortages of “critical medical products” if the outbreak persists.The federal agency halted inspections of drug and device factories due to the State Department warning against travel to China. The FDA has faced Congressional scrutiny for its oversight of overseas factories following high-profile recalls of blood pressure-lowering medications and reports revealing fewer overseas inspections in recent years.Although the coronavirus…

Doyle Rice, USA TODAY Published 1:03 p.m. ET Feb. 18, 2020 | Updated 1:17 p.m. ET Feb. 18, 2020CLOSE The swollen Pearl River flooded homes in Jackson, Mississippi with murky brown water. USA TODAYAnother round of heavy rain was forecast for the waterlogged South this week, adding to the misery for residents of swamped Mississippi and Tennessee."Rainfall totals for all of this week may be in the neighborhood of 1-5 inches," AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said. "The past 10 days have brought 5-7 inches of rain in the area."The National Weather Service said "these rains will be falling across areas of the…

EFF leader Julius Malema is gunning for a defence in his criminal trial by bringing an application to the Constitutional Court to declare sections of the Riotous Assembly Act unconstitutional.This according to the respondents in the application, the justice and correctional services minister and National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), which was heard on Tuesday.Michael Osborn, who represents the respondents, argued it appeared Malema and the EFF were arguing the party leader should escape punishment because "no underlying crime causally linked to his utterances can be proven".The case Osborn speaks of stems back to 2014 and 2016 when Malema called on people…

Ryan W. Miller, USA TODAY Published 12:05 p.m. ET Feb. 18, 2020 | Updated 12:50 p.m. ET Feb. 18, 2020CLOSE A vessel which had been drifting out a sea since September 2018, ran aground near Ballycotton, Ireland, on Feb. 16 because of Storm Dennis. AccuweatherA "ghost ship" abandoned for over a year and drifting in the Atlantic finally washed ashore in Ireland amid Storm Dennis' choppy water, the country's coast guard says.The MV Alta was found on the coast near Ballycotton, a small town in southern Ireland's County Cork, with no crew on board, the Irish Coast Guard said Sunday.The county's local council asked…