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Foreign minister says Pakistan in `perfect storm’ of crises

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:17:25 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Pakistan’s foreign minister said Thursday his country is facing “a perfect storm” of troubles — an economic crisis, the consequences of catastrophic flooding, and terrorism “that is once again rearing its ugly head” as a result of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the 34-year-old son of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, said in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press that Pakistan, like other countries, is also beset by “hyper-partisan and hyper-polarized politics.”Discussing his cash-strapped country’s crushing need for financial help, he sharply criticized the International Monetary Fund, which last month delayed a $6 billion bailout over Pakistan failing to meet terms of a 2019 deal. The government blames that failure on former Prime Minister Imran Khan, now the opposition leader. The IMF gave new instructions to Pakistan to raise and collect taxes as well as slash subsidies without burdening poor p...

German police: 8 dead in Jehovah’s Witnesses hall shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:17:25 GMT

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — Eight people were killed in a shooting at a Jehovah’s Witnesses hall in Hamburg, German police said Friday, and an unspecified number of others were wounded.Police gave the figure on their website. There was still no word on a possible motive for the shooting on Thursday evening that stunned Germany’s second-biggest city.German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a former Hamburg mayor, described the shooting as “a brutal act of violence.”Police said during the night that they believe that there was only one shooter, and that that this could be a person who was found dead in the building.The Associated Press

Feds: Proud Boys deployed foot soldiers in sedition plot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:17:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors are employing an unusual strategy to prove leaders of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group orchestrated a violent plot to keep President Joe Biden out of the White House, even though some of the defendants didn’t carry out the violence themselves. As they wrap up their seditious conspiracy case, prosecutors are arguing that Proud Boys chief Enrique Tarrio and other leaders of the group handpicked and mobilized a loyal group of foot soldiers — or “tools” — to supply the force necessary to carry out their plot to stop the transfer of power from Donald Trump to President Joe Biden after the 2020 election. These “tools” helped Proud Boys leaders overwhelm police, breach barricades, force the evacuation of the House and Senate chambers and disrupt the certification of Biden’s victory, prosecutors allege. Defense attorneys have dismissed the “tools” theory as a novel, flawed concept with no legal foundation. They argue that the Justice...

Iraq’s crackdown on booze, social media posts raises alarm

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:17:25 GMT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Only a few months into its term, Iraq’s government is suddenly enforcing a long-dormant law banning alcohol imports and arresting people over social media content deemed morally offensive. The crackdown has raised alarm among religious minorities and rights activists. Some see the measures as an attempt by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to head off potential political challenges from religious conservatives and to distract from economic woes, such as rising prices and wild currency fluctuations. The ban on the import, sale and production of alcohol was adopted in 2016, but was only published in the official gazette last month, making it enforceable. On Saturday, Iraq’s customs authority ordered all border crossings to impose the prohibition.Although many liquor stores across Iraq continued business as usual — presumably using up their stocks — border crossings went dry overnight, with the exception of the northern, semi-autonomous Kurdish region which hasnR...

Xi awarded 3rd term as China’s president, extending rule

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:17:25 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping was awarded a third five-year term as the nation’s president Friday, putting him on track to stay in power for life at a time of severe economic challenges and rising tensions with the U.S. and others. The endorsement of Xi’s appointment by the ceremonial National People’s Congress was a foregone conclusion for a leader who has sidelined potential rivals and filled the top ranks of the ruling Communist Party with his supporters since taking power in 2012.The vote for Xi was 2,952 to 0 by the NPC, members of which are appointed by the ruling party.Xi, 69, had himself named to a third five-year term as party general secretary in October, breaking with a tradition under which Chinese leaders handed over power once a decade. A two-term limit on the figurehead presidency was deleted from the Chinese constitution earlier, prompting suggestions he might stay in power for life.No candidate lists were distributed, and Xi and those aw...

Man convicted of killing Kristin Smart set to be sentenced

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:17:25 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The man convicted of killing Kristin Smart, who vanished from a California college campus more than 25 years ago, was scheduled to be sentenced Friday for her murder.Paul Flores could face 25 years to life in state prison. However, the judge was first expected to consider defense motions to toss out Flores’ conviction, acquit him and order a new trial. Smart, 19, disappeared from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo on the state’s scenic central coast over Memorial Day weekend in 1996.Her remains have never been found, but she was declared legally dead in 2002.Prosecutors maintained that Flores, now 46, killed Smart during an attempted rape on May 25, 1996, in his dorm room at the university, where both were first-year students. He was the last person seen with Smart as he walked her home from an off-campus party.Flores was arrested in 2021 along with his father, who was accused of helping to hide Smart’s body.The trial was held i...

Erasmus+ 2023 Annual Work Programme: Commission increases annual budget to €4.43 billion, with a focus on learners and staff from Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:17:25 GMT

The Commission has adopted a revision of the Erasmus+ Annual Work Programme for 2023. The overall budget of the programme for this year has been revised upwards to €4.43 billion, the highest annual financial envelope ever reached by the Erasmus+ programme. The increased budget will reinforce the Erasmus+ priorities on inclusion, active citizenship and democratic participation, and on the green and digital transformations in the EU and abroad.The revised work programme includes a €100 million frontload from the 2027 Erasmus+ budget, to support projects that promote educational activities and facilitate the integration of people fleeing the war in Ukraine into their new learning environments, as well as activities supporting organisations, learners and staff in Ukraine. Funded activities may range from linguistic and cultural integration courses and language learning tools addressed to educators or learners, to scholarships or general financial support in all Erasmus+ sectors for lear...

Man arrested for allegedly drugging, sexually assaulting woman in West Hollywood bar

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:17:25 GMT

Los Angeles County detectives are urging those who attend clubs to be extra vigilant about their surroundings and what they drink after a woman was allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted in West Hollywood. Kent Okukporo, 42, is accused of spiking a woman’s drink before dragging her out of The Abbey Food & Bar to his car on February 25. The victim was able to get away and call 911. Okukporo returned to The Abbey the following day where security staff recognized him and called deputies to arrest him, authorities said. Kent Okukporo (Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department)When asked how unusual it is for suspects to return to the scene of alleged assaults so soon, West Hollywood Sheriff’s Department Captain Bill Moulder said he was not surprised. “I don’t know how unusual that is, but I can say it seems brazen,” Moulder said at a press conference on Thursday. Community members are keeping their guard up and taking extra precautions to make sure their nig...

Belgian strikes cut public services, snarl traffic

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:17:25 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — A nationwide strike by Belgium’s public sector is slowing rush-hour traffic and affecting everything from garbage collection to childcare. Trade unions are protesting investment and employment cuts and demand that pension reforms be cut back. “Not a single department escaped the cuts imposed by several governments. That’s why we sound the alarm bell. Because everyone should have a strong public sector,” the ACOD union said.Train service was paralyzed in large parts of the nations and buses and subways were running on a limited timetable in and around Brussels. Source

Miami police arrest 5 after officer wounded in shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:17:25 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Police in Miami said five suspects were taken into custody in connection with a shooting that wounded an officer on Wednesday.Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo Ramirez told WTVJ-TV that the officer was conducting a narcotics investigation around 4 p.m. near the 500 block of Northwest 42nd Street and was “ambushed” from behind while approaching another suspect he intended to arrest.The shot grazed the officer, who was treated and released from Jackson Memorial Hospital, Ramirez said.A 32-year-old man was accused of being the gunman and was expected to be charged with attempted murder of a law enforcement officer with a firearm. A 30-year-old was charged with solicitation to commit first-degree murder, police said.Three others were taken into custody and accused of harboring the alleged gunman after the shooting, Ramirez said.Ramirez did not identify the officer who was hurt, but said he was a department veteran of about 18 years including undercover work.“I did that job...