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Taiwan’s vice president accuses China of using trade curbs to influence elections

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:55 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s vice president and frontrunner in the presidential elections has accused China of using “unfair” trade practices to influence the elections.William Lai, in a meeting Friday with foreign press in Taipei, said China has targeted Taiwan’s “agricultural products potentially in an effort to undermine the coming elections.”His comments come after China on Monday announced it would suspend mango imports from Taiwan after import authorities detected “pests” on the fruit. The trade curb is largely believed to be politically motivated.Taiwan is due to hold presidential elections in January 2024. Over the weekend, Beijing launched war games around Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy that China claims as its own. China and Taiwan split in 1949 following a civil war that ended with the ruling Communist Party taking control over the mainland.Beijing has never renounced the use of force as a means of retaking Taiwan. China’s political leadership sees Lai and Taiwan’s incu...

Danish government to present draft law making it illegal to burn the Quran or other religious texts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:55 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Danish government on Friday said it will propose a law that would make it illegal to desecrate any holy book in Denmark, where a recent string of public desecrations of the Quran by a handful of anti-Islam activists has sparked angry demonstrations in Muslim countries.Denmark has been viewed as a country that facilitates insult and denigration of the cultures, religions, and traditions of other countries, the government said. The proposal by the center-right government is to extend Denmark’s existing ban on burning foreign flags by also “prohibiting improper treatment of objects of significant religious significance to a religious community,” Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said. “The bill will make it punishable, for example, to burn the Quran or the Bible in public. It will only aim at actions in a public place or with the intention of spreading in a wider circle,” Hummelgaard said, adding that it would be punishable by fines or up to ...

Biden and Harris will meet with the King family on the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:55 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will observe Monday’s 60th anniversary of the March on Washington by meeting with organizers of the 1963 gathering and relatives of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial. The Oval Office meeting will be held six decades after President John F. Kennedy and King met at the White House on the morning of the march on Aug. 28, 1963. Biden also will speak later Monday at a White House reception commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonpartisan, nonprofit legal organization that was established at Kennedy’s request to help advocate for racial justice. Two White House officials provided details of the Democratic president and vice president’s plans on the condition of anonymity because their schedules have not been officially announced. The 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and ...

Dutch Supreme Court confirms immunity of former Israeli officers over a deadly 2014 Gaza airstrike

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:55 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch Supreme Court on Friday upheld a ruling that a Palestinian man cannot sue Israel’s former defense minister and another former senior military officer over their roles in a deadly 2014 Gaza airstrike.The Highest Dutch court confirmed findings by judges in two lower courts that Benny Gantz and former Air Force Commander Amir Eshel are protected from civil proceedings in the Netherlands because they have “functional immunity.”The long-running case was brought by Ismail Ziada, who lost six members of his family in the airstrike that lawyers for the two Israelis argued was part of an Israeli military operation during the 2014 Gaza conflict. Ziada wanted the Dutch court to order Gantz and Eshel to pay damages. His legal team argued that the men didn’t have immunity because their actions amounted to war crimes.Israel’s Justice Ministry told a lower Dutch court that an internal Israeli military investigation determined the airstrike had killed f...

As temperatures climb across the globe, track and field athletes try to keep cool

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:55 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Before her first-round race, Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce climbed on a chair in the waiting area to momentarily feel the refreshing breeze from an air conditioning vent.In an era of rising temperatures and rising risk that comes with competing in them, everyone in track and field — from sprinters to race walkers, from high jumpers to pole vaulters — is constantly looking for ways to keep cool.It’s been baking in Budapest at the world championships, with temperatures pushing 34 degrees Celsius (94 degrees Fahrenheit) and humidity levels that make it feel hotter, all of which could be a glimpse of things to come at next year’s Paris Olympics and beyond.The planet just experienced its hottest July on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Athletes are dealing with weather conditions in unique ways to get them swiftly across the finish line.Some have worn ice vests before races and in training. Others have pr...

Zimbabweans anxiously wait for election results as armed police gather with water cannons

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:55 GMT

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabweans waited anxiously Friday for the outcome of general elections as dozens of armed police with water cannons guarded the national results center, the scene of deadly violence after the previous vote five years ago.The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said it was still verifying results from close to 12,500 polling stations across the country and could start releasing details Friday. Results in the presidential balloting are not expected for several days.Zimbabwe’s long history of disputed elections has left many wary of official results.Voting closed Thursday after delays in distributing ballot papers in the capital, Harare, and other urban areas prompted President Emmerson Mnangagwa to extend voting by a day. Many voters slept outside polling stations in urban areas that are opposition strongholds to cast their ballots.Mnangagwa, 80, is seeking a second and final five-year term but faces a major challenge from Nelson Chamisa, a 45-year-old lawyer and p...

List of NFL players suspended for violating gambling policies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:55 GMT

The NFL has been suspending players for gambling violations since the 1963 season. Paul Hornung and Alex Karras were suspended for the 1963 season but eventually ended up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But the league has suspended 10 players this year alone for either betting on NFL games or placing bets while on league property. The NFL ramped up efforts this offseason to better educate players and especially rookies on where and when they can bet and what they can bet on. ___1963Green Bay HB Paul Hornung: The 1986 inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame was suspended for the season for betting on league games. Detroit DT Alex Karras: The 2020 inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame also was suspended for the season for betting on league games. 1983Baltimore QB Art Schlichter: Suspended for the season for betting on at least 10 NFL games as a rookie. He returned in 1984 and played 10 games for Indianapolis before his career ended.2019Arizona CB Josh Shaw: Suspended Nov. ...

CDC, FDA gearing up for fall vaccine campaign with US in 'strongest position yet'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:55 GMT

(The Hill) - Federal health authorities are laying out plans for taking on this year's respiratory viral season, with officials emboldened by the new spate of preventive medications the U.S. has gathered heading into the fall and winter."We are in our strongest position yet to be able to fight COVID-19 as well as the other viruses that are responsible for the majority of fall and winter hospitalizations, namely flu, COVID as well as RSV," a CDC official said in a press call on Thursday.They cited the high rate of COVID-19 immunity — 97 percent — among U.S. individuals 16 and older for helping the country get into a stronger position. They acknowledged, however, that immunity is not a guarantee of protection and noted the new vaccines and antibodies at hand.Officials on Thursday reaffirmed the updated COVID-19 shots made by Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax are expected to rollout in mid-September. The new mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna will be fully licensed vaccines for individual...

Caution: Monkeys — Florida officials warn residents amid simian sightings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:55 GMT

(The Hill) - Wild monkeys have been spotted in Orange City, Fla., sparking warnings from local officials to stay away from the on-the-loose primates.Orange City police warned residents not to feed a wild rhesus monkey seen in the town, about 30 miles north of Orlando.The monkeys can cause outbreaks of E. coli and herpes and devastate quail and other bird populations by eating eggs, according to a publication from the University of Florida.It is unknown how many rhesus monkeys, native to Southeast Asia, roam wild in the state. There are also several populations of squirrel monkeys wild in Florida.“Rhesus macaques pose the greatest ecological and human health threats of the monkeys in Florida,” the university said. “Macaques accustomed to being fed lose their fear of humans and begin to see humans as a food source. As a result, the macaques may become aggressive, attacking humans when food is around.”It is illegal to feed wild monkeys in Florida, with the crime punishable by up to 2 m...

Suspect in murder, sexual assault of 11-year-old Texas girl has been arrested

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:55 GMT

PASADENA, Texas (KIAH/NEXSTAR) — Less than a day after police in Pasadena, Texas, identified a person of interest in connection with the murder of an 11-year-old girl, authorities in Louisiana arrested the suspect believed to be involved.Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez, 18, was arrested and charged with capital murder in connection to the death of Maria Gonzalez, who was found dead last Saturday in the apartment she shared with her father.Police in Louisiana have arrested a man in connection with the murder of Maria Gonzalez, who was found murdered last week in the Texas apartment she shared with her father. (Pasadena Police Department)Garcia-Rodriguez was identified as a person of interest on Friday. Police said he lived in the same apartment complex as Gonzalez and her father.In the time since, officials said they found evidence and "corroborating information" implicating Garcia-Rodriguez. He was apprehended in Shreveport, Louisiana, police said. Investigators have been trying to pie...