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South Africa’s Ramaphosa welcomes Belgium’s King Philippe

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:13 GMT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has welcomed Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilda to the capital Pretoria, lauded the European country for its assistance to Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic.Ramaphosa emphasized the role played by Belgium in backing the World Health Organization’s mRNA technology transfer hub initiative established in South Africa to improve Africa’s access to vaccines and therapeutics.“I wish to express our appreciation to the kingdom of Belgium for its role in the global fight against COVID-19. Belgium is an important donor to the vaccine alliance GAVI, for the operation of COVAX, the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access initiative,” said Ramaphosa at a press briefing with the Belgian king on Thursday.He added that Belgium had donated about 10 million doses of vaccines during the pandemic, with a significant proportion going to African countries in need of vaccines.Ramaphosa praised the collaboration between South Africa&...

Former Man United goalkeeper Ben Foster signs for Wrexham

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:13 GMT

WREXHAM, Wales (AP) — Former Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster has come out of retirement to sign for Wrexham, the soccer team owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.The 39-year-old Foster, who was also an England international, last played for Watford before stepping away from the game last year. He signed a deal until the end of the season.Foster had a loan spell at the Welsh club, which currently plays in the fifth tier of English soccer, in 2005.Wrexham has gained global recognition since being taken over by Reynolds and McElhenney and featuring in a television series that streams worldwide.“It’s changed a lot since I was last here, but it’s nice to be back and it’s nice to be back as a player, too,” Foster said Thursday. “It will be interesting to see how my body feels after training today.“The first time I was here, it was genuinely the springboard to the rest of my career.”Wrexham is aiming for promotion to England’s fourth division this season,...

Ride On – A look back at 48 years of innovation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:13 GMT

This content is provided by Montgomery County Department of Transportation.For the past 48 years, Ride On has been at the forefront of transit growth and opportunity in Montgomery County. The bus service has continued to learn and adapt to the growing needs of the community, economy, and environment. To fully grasp where Ride On is headed, it’s worth looking at where it has been.The Ride On system, the first county-run bus service in the Washington, DC area, debuted in 1975 with 20 buses and was designed to provide service in Takoma Park and Silver Spring where large buses could not travel. The service also included a dial-a-ride operation in Gaithersburg. Deemed to be more efficient economically than other public transportation options at the time, within weeks of its introduction, the bus service was transporting twice the number of riders originally projected – nearly 2,000 passengers each day.Three years after Ride On started service, in 1978, Montgomery County expanded the popu...

Grains mostly higher, Livestock mixed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:13 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Grain futures were mostly higher Thursday in early trading on the Chicago Board of Trade. Wheat for May was up 3.50 cents at $6.67 a bushel; May corn gained 9 cents at $6.3425 a bushel; May oats rose 7.75 cents at $3.6875 a bushel; while May soybeans fell 16 cents at 14.30 a bushel.Beef was mixed and pork higher on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.Apr. live cattle was up .12 cent at $1.6197 a pound; Mar. feeder cattle off .10 cent at $1.8867 a pound; Apr. lean hogs rose .60 cent at $.7775 a pound.Source

Aurora dentist formally charged with 1st-degree murder for death of wife

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:13 GMT

AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — The Aurora dentist accused of poisoning and killing his wife was formally charged on Thursday. James Toliver Craig, 45, was arrested on a count of first-degree murder Sunday in the death of his wife, Angela Craig. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by FOX31, the Aurora Police Department believes James went to great lengths to kill his wife by allegedly searching for ways to kill someone undetected, ordering multiple different types of poison, pouring them into her protein shakes, and then attempting to begin a new life with another woman. East High School shooting suspect found dead near car in Park County The 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office filed a formal charge of first-degree murder against James Thursday morning. James appeared in person at the court hearing. Angela first became sick on March 6 and died on March 19. One of the key elements in this case will be the autopsy which will reveal anything Angela had in her system at the time of ...

DeSantis walks back ‘territorial dispute’ remark on Ukraine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:13 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is walking back his characterization of Russia’s war in Ukraine as a “territorial dispute,” following criticism from a number of fellow Republicans who expressed concern about the potential 2024 presidential candidate’s dismissive description of the conflict.In excerpts of an interview with Piers Morgan set to air Thursday on Fox Nation, DeSantis said his earlier comments referenced ongoing fighting in the eastern Donbas region, as well as Russia’s 2014 seizure of Crimea. Ukraine’s borders are internationally recognized, including by the United Nations.“What I’m referring to is where the fighting is going on now, which is that eastern border region Donbas, and then Crimea, and you have a situation where Russia has had that. I don’t think legitimately, but they had,” DeSantis said, according to excerpts. “There’s a lot of ethnic Russians there. So, that’s some difficult fighting, and that’s what I was referring to, and...

Miami Seaquarium performs successful cataract surgery on sea lion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:13 GMT

A California sea lion is now on the road to recovery after she underwent surgery to remove cataracts that were impeding her vision. A board-certified anesthesiologist and ophthalmologist were part of the successful surgery alongside Miami Seaquarium’s veterinary team. Ocean the sea lion is now regaining her vision under the care of the training staff as they continue to monitor her and provide mental and physical stimulation through enrichment.

2 dead following shooting at apartment complex in Pompano Beach

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:13 GMT

Two people are dead after a shooting happened at a South Florida apartment complex. Broward Sheriff Deputies arrived to the scene near the 300 block of Southeast 11th Avenue, Thursday morning.7Skyforce hovered over the scene where a heavy police presence was seen at the complex. BSO SWAT were conducting an operation in the area.Officials do not believe that the two men who were shot are connected.Fire rescue crews were also at the scene. Deputies have detained two subjects for questioning.Please check back on WSVN.com and 7News for more details on this developing story.

No time for complacency, warn European regulators

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:13 GMT

PARIS — Europe may have dodged the worst of the banking crisis but regulators at the POLITICO Finance Summit warned now is not the time for complacency.One of the conference’s prominent speakers, Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras, cautioned against raising interest rates too quickly in the wake of the collapse of Credit Suisse and Californian lender Silicon Valley Bank.“A financial crisis can spread very quickly like a fire in the hole so we have to be careful — this makes me feel we should be more prudent than before,” he said at Thursday’s event in Paris. “Inflation still remains a problem and is much higher than the ECB target” of 2 percent, even if “it is falling.”He used a quotation from Aristotle to get his point across about the financial system: The whole is sometimes greater than the sum of the parts. Minutes before Stournaras took the stage, the Swiss National Bank raised interest rates by half a percentage point to 1.5 percent. Later in the day, ...

UK pitches for financial services cooperation with the EU

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:13 GMT

PARIS — The U.K. is pushing to work with the EU on financial services regulation now that an agreement on post-Brexit trade with Northern Ireland has been struck, Andrew Griffith, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, told the POLITICO Finance Summit in Paris today.The outreach opens the door to the signing “very quickly” of the Memorandum of Understanding agreed with the EU in principle in 2021 but never concluded, the minister said.“That will give us the framework to have the very closest dialogue with the partners who represent a very significant part of our U.K. financial markets,” Griffith said.Across Europe, some governments feared Britain would use Brexit as an excuse to dilute its regulatory framework in an effort to win more business, and open the door to a second “big bang” to charge its economy — a reference to the original deregulation regime put forward by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.But Griffith said he was comfortab...