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3 years after Beirut port blast, intrigue foils an investigation and even the death toll is disputed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:36:11 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Three years after Beirut’s massive port blast, attempts to prosecute those responsible are mired in political intrigue, the final death toll remains disputed and many Lebanese have less faith than ever in their disintegrating state institutions.As the country marks the anniversary Friday, relatives of some of those killed are still struggling to get their loved ones recognized as blast victims, reflecting the ongoing chaos since the Aug. 4, 2020 explosion. The blast killed at least 218 people, according to an Associated Press count, wounded more than 6,000, devastated large swaths of Beirut and caused billions of dollars in damages.Among those not recognized as a blast victim is a five-month-old boy, Qusai Ramadan, a child of Syrian refugees. His parents say he was killed when the explosion toppled the ceiling and a cupboard in his hospital room, crushing him. The parents have been unable to get the infant added to the official death list, a move that could have made t...

Mutinous soldiers in Niger sever military ties with France while president says he’s a hostage

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:36:11 GMT

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Niger’s military junta says it is severing military agreements with France, its former colonial ruler, firing some of the previous government’s key ambassadors and warning citizens of the West African nation to watch for foreign armies and spies.The announcement on state television late Thursday deepens the post-coup isolation for what had been the United States’ and allies’ last major security partner in the Sahel, the vast region south of the Sahara Desert that various Islamic extremist groups have turned into the global center of terrorism.With two days remaining before a deadline set by the West African regional bloc to release and reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum or face possible force, Bazoum in a plea published in a Washington Post opinion piece said, “I write this as a hostage.”Niger’s mutinous soldiers face a Sunday deadline set by the regional bloc known as ECOWAS, whose envoys arrived at the airport in the capital, Niamey, on Thursday for talk...

China reopens trade in Australian barley in a new sign of improved relations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:36:11 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — China is lifting a stifling 3-year-old tariff on Australian barley starting Saturday — a sign of an improving bilateral trade relationship since Australia’s government changed.China effectively closed its door to Australian barley in May 2020 by imposing an 80.5% tariff after the previous Australian government angered Beijing by calling for an independent inquiry into the origins of, and responses to, the COVID-19 pandemic.On Friday, both governments confirmed the resumption of trade in the grain that was worth 916 million Australian dollars ($602 million) in the year before China blocked imports.Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed the breakthrough, which comes as he plans his first visit to Beijing as government leader before the end of the year.“This is a very positive decision,” Albanese told reporters.When Albanese’s government was elected in May 2022, he demanded Beijing drop a series of official and unofficial trade barriers against A...

Okinawa warned of high winds and rain this weekend as Typhoon Khanun makes its U-turn east

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:36:11 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Residents of Japan’s southwestern islands were warned of high winds and rain Friday through the weekend as Typhoon Khanun made a U-turn and is now moving back east.The Meteorological Agency said that Khanun is heading to Okinawa and nearby islands that were already lashed by its winds and rain earlier this week.Khanun had sustained surface winds of 126 kph (78 mph) with higher gusts Friday afternoon, the JMA said. Up to 15 centimeters (5.9 inches) of rain was expected in the Okinawa region by Saturday and up to 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) in the Amami region, an island group belonging to the southern main island of Kyushu, by Sunday, JMA said.Khanun had been stronger, with sustained winds of 180 kph (111 mph), when it crossed the islands Tuesday, damaging homes and knocking out power. The Okinawa prefectural government said 44 people were injured, three of them seriously. Two deaths were being investigated as typhoon-caused but are not in the official death toll....

Thailand train collision with pickup truck kills 8 people and injures 4, railway agency says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:36:11 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Eight people were killed when a freight train struck a pickup truck crossing the tracks in an eastern province of Thailand early Friday morning, authorities said.The accident at 2:20 a.m. (19:20 GMT) also injured four people in the Muang district of Chachoengsao province, according to the State Railway of Thailand.The 54-year-old driver, Wichai Yulek, told authorities he saw the approaching train and heard a warning horn. He slowed, but passengers in the vehicle urged him to keep going. When he realized the truck was headed for a collision, he could not stop in time, the railway agency said.The deceased include an 18 year old, two people in their 20s and five people over 55, while the injured victims included four men in their 20s, the railway said.The Associated Press

Police detain a suspect in South Korea’s 2nd stabbing attack in 2 days

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:36:11 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean police detained a man suspected of stabbing a high school teacher with a knife Friday in the city of Daejeon. The stabbing follows a separate, apparently random attack on Thursday in which 14 people were wounded near a busy subway station in Seongnam.Officials at the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency didn’t immediately release the personal details of the suspect in the Friday morning attack on the teacher at Songchon High School, describing him only as a man in his late 20s.According to police, the suspect waited for the teacher to step out of a classroom before stabbing him and fleeing the scene, which, according to officials, suggests they were acquaintances. Police and fire department authorities did not specify the teacher’s health condition.The attack in Daejeon, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Seongnam, came hours after President Yoon Suk Yeol called for “ultra-strong” law enforcement measures to restore faith in public safety a...

Stock market today: Asian stocks mixed ahead of US jobs update following British rate hike

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:36:11 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stocks markets were mixed Friday ahead of a U.S. jobs update that could influence interest rate plans after Britain’s central bank raised its key lending rate.Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul rose. Tokyo and Sydney declined. Oil prices advanced.Wall Street sank for a third day after the Bank of England on Thursday raised its benchmark lending rate to a 15-year high and indicated it could stay high for a while.Investors were rattled a day earlier after Fitch Ratings cut its credit rating on U.S. government debt, despite analyst comments that the change made little difference.“Wall Street is watching a global bond market selloff get uglier as U.S. stocks waver,” said Edward Moya of Oanda in a report.The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6% to 3,301.26 after China’s central bank governor told real estate developers Thursday they would be allowed to raise more money by selling bonds. That further eases debt controls imposed in 2020 that sent the industry into a tai...

Zimbabwe’s opposition leader tells AP intimidation is forcing voters to choose ruling party or death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:36:11 GMT

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa of violating the law and tearing apart independent institutions to cling to power. In an interview with The Associated Press, Nelson Chamisa also warned that any evidence of tampering by Mnangagwa’s ruling party in this month’s elections could lead to “total disaster” for a beleaguered nation that is in economic ruin and already under United States and European Union sanctions for its human rights record.Chamisa, who will challenge Mnangagwa and the ruling ZANU-PF party’s 43-year hold on power in an Aug. 23 vote, claimed widespread intimidation against his opposition party ahead of the elections.Chamisa said Mnangagwa has utilized institutions like the police and the courts to crack down on critical figures, ban opposition rallies and prevent candidates from standing. He laid out a series of concerns that indicate the country, with its history of violent and dispute...

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania agree to synchronise their electricity grids with the European Continental grid in early 2025

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:36:11 GMT

The Commission warmly welcomes the agreement by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to accelerate the integration of their electricity grids with the Continental Europe network (CEN) and their disconnection from Russia and Belarus.Under a joint declaration signed this morning by the three Prime Ministers, the deadline for synchronisation is brought forward from the end of 2025 (as initially established by political declarations in 2018 and 2019) to February 2025. Today's political declaration follows an agreement between the respective Transmission System Operators (TSOs) earlier this week on the steps for accomplishing the fully-fledged synchronisation in February 2025.The relevant grids reinforcements are a Project of Common Interest (PCI) on the Union's fifth PCI list under the TEN-E Regulation and have received record financial support from the Connecting Europe Facility for Energy of more than € 1.2 billion. The full integration of the Baltic States into the internal energy market wi...

Video captures terrifying moment driver runs man over in Torrance

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:36:11 GMT

Video captured the terrifying moment a Torrance man was violently slammed into by a driver in broad daylight.The victim, Ken Teshima, a 66-year-old grandfather, is releasing the video in hopes the suspect will be located and arrested.Video of the incident was captured on July 30 around noontime at an office complex parking lot in Torrance.The suspect is seen speeding up a gray sedan straight into Teshima and knocking him over onto the sidewalk.“I went flying and I fell here,” Teshima recalled. “He was out to kill me. He hit me so hard, as fast as his car could go. Fortunately, when I hit the sign here, his car hit the post and it stopped his car. But I kept going and fell over there.”The sudden impact knocked Teshsima over and he hit his head on the concrete below.Video captured the terrifying moment a Torrance man was hospitalized after being slammed into by a driver on July 30, 2023. (Ken Teshima)Video captured the terrifying moment a Torrance man was hospitalized after being slam...