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US tells China not to overread likely Taiwan president visit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:06 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is putting out the word in advance that an expected unofficial stopover in the United States by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen would fall in line with recent precedent and should not be used as a pretext by Beijing to step up aggressive activity in the Taiwan Strait.In recent weeks, senior U.S. officials in Washington and Beijing have underscored to their Chinese counterparts that transit visits through the United States during broader international travel by the Taiwanese president have been routine in recent years, according to a senior administration official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.In such visits in recent years, Tsai has met with members of Congress and the Taiwanese diaspora and has been welcomed by the chairperson of the American Institute in Taiwan, the U.S. government-run nonprofit that carries out unofficial relations with Taiwan. Tsai transited through the United States six...

Garbage: In Paris streets, heaps of it become protest symbol

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:06 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Garbage. Heaps, mounds and piles of it are growing daily — and in some places standing higher than a human being. A strike by Paris garbage collectors, which begins its 16th day on Tuesday, is taking a toll on the renowned aesthetics of the French capital, a veritable blight on the City of Light.“I prefer Chanel to the stink,” joked Vincent Salazar, a 62-year-old artistic consultant who lives in a tony Left Bank neighborhood. A pile of garbage sits at the corner of his building overlooking the Luxembourg Gardens.“I’ve seen rats,” he said.But like many nonchalant and strike-hardened Parisians, Salazar doesn’t mind.“I’m fortunate to live here, but I’m 200% behind these guys,” Salazar said. “They’re smelling it all day long,” he said, though “it” wasn’t precisely the word he used. “They should get early retirement.”He is among the majority of French who, polls show, oppose President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to raise the retirement age by two years, from...

Japan, China leaders visit rival capitals in Ukraine war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:06 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida began a surprise visit to Ukraine early Tuesday, hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping arriving in neighboring Russia for a three-day visit. The dueling summits come as the longtime rivals are on diplomatic offensives.Kishida will meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Ukrainian capital.He will “show respect to the courage and patience of the Ukrainian people who are standing up to defend their homeland under President Zelenskyy’s leadership, and show solidarity and unwavering support for Ukraine as head of Japan and chairman of G-7,” during his visit to Ukraine, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in announcing his trip to Kyiv.At the talks, Kishida will show his “absolute rejection of Russia’s one-sided change to the status quo by invasion and force, and to affirm his commitment to defend the rules-based international order,” the ministry’s statement said.Russian President Vladimir Putin warmly welcomed Xi to the Krem...

Gwyneth Paltrow to stand trial for Deer Valley ski crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:06 GMT

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Gwyneth Paltrow is scheduled to stand trial on Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by a retired optometrist who said that the actress-turned-lifestyle influencer violently crashed into him in 2016 while skiing in Utah at one of the most upscale ski resorts in the United States.Terry Sanderson, 76, said Paltrow was cruising down the slopes so recklessly that they collided, leaving him on the ground as she and her entourage continued their descent down Deer Valley Resort, a skiers-only mountain known for its groomed runs, après-ski champagne yurts and posh clientele.“Gwyneth Paltrow skied out of control,” Sanderson’s attorneys claim in the lawsuit, “knocking him down hard, knocking him out, and causing a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries. Paltrow got up, turned and skied away, leaving Sanderson stunned, lying in the snow, seriously injured.”In a case that has lasted years since the 2016 incident, Sanderson is suing Paltrow for $3...

Apaches get new chance to argue mine will harm sacred sites

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:06 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — An Apache group battling a foreign mining firm that wants to build one of the largest copper mines in the United States on what tribal members say is sacred land will get a new chance to make its point Tuesday when a full federal appeals court panel takes another look at the case. The panel of 11 judges on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to meet Tuesday morning at a Pasadena, California, courthouse to review the appeal by Apache Stronghold to save Oak Flat, a site east of Phoenix the group considers sacred. “This isn’t just about Oak Flat, but about all cases involving American Indian sacred site litigation,” said Luke Goodrich, the attorney who will be arguing for Apache Stronghold. Goodrich is vice president and senior counsel at the nonprofit legal institution Becket Law, which takes up cases involving religious freedom.Apache Stronghold sued the U.S. government under the 30-year-old Religious Freedom Restoration Act, saying that its ...

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates debate as voting begins

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:06 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin voters had a chance to cast ballots in person starting Tuesday in the state’s high-stakes Supreme Court race, the same day the two candidates were meeting for their first and only debate two weeks before election day.Both candidates were urging their supporters to vote early during the period that runs through April 2. Midday on Tuesday, Republican-backed Dan Kelly and Democratic-supported Janet Protasiewicz were debating in a race to decide majority control of the court with abortion access, legislative redistricting, voting rights and other issues at stake.The Wisconsin Supreme Court came within one vote of overturning Donald Trump’s defeat in 2020. Whoever wins the April 4 election for a seat vacated by the retirement of a conservative justice will determine majority control of the court for at least the next two years, including leading up to the 2024 presidential election.Protasiewicz, a Milwaukee County judge, is running as a staunch suppor...

Venezuela oil czar in surprise resignation amid graft probes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:06 GMT

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The man responsible for running Venezuela’s oil industry — the one that pays for virtually everything in the troubled country, from subsidized food to ridiculously cheap gas — has quit amid investigations into alleged corruption among officials in various parts of the government.Tareck El Aissami’s announcement Monday was shocking on multiple counts. He was seen as a loyal ruling party member and considered a key figure in the government’s efforts to evade punishing international economic sanctions. And he led the state oil company PDVSA in a Venezuelan business sector widely considered to be corrupt — in a country where embezzelment, bribery, money laundering and other wrongdoing are a lifestyle.“Obviously, they are giving it the patina of an anti-corruption probe,” said Ryan Berg, director of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank. “Rule of law is not being advanced here,...

Couple ambushed by armed robber in Koreatown: video

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:06 GMT

Surveillance video captured the moments a couple out on a date in Koreatown last week were robbed by a man with a semi-automatic handgun, and police believe the suspect may have committed at least one other armed robbery in the area. The incident happened on Mar. 15, at around 10 p.m. outside Jaragua, a Salvadoran restaurant in the 4400 block of Beverly Boulevard.  Video shows the couple complying and dropping to the ground, while the armed suspect takes their money, debit cards, cellphones and a designer handbag.  “Obviously they were scared, traumatized, can’t walk in the neighborhood,” the owner of Jaragua told KTLA.  The restaurant owner did not want to appear on camera out of concern for his safety.  “My employees this morning, I tried to get the word out to the employees because that's why I'm here. I'm going to walk them out when they get into their car. And this morning, they're kind of scared to walk by themselves, even in the parking lot,” he said.   ...

Reimer finishes with season-high in saves but Sharks lose to Oilers in OT

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:06 GMT

EDMONTON, Alberta — Darnell Nurse scored at 4:45 of overtime to give the Edmonton Oilers a 5-4 win over the struggling San Jose Sharks on Monday night for their fourth straight win.Mattias Ekholm had two goals, Kailer Yamamoto had a goal and an assist, and Nick Bjugstad also scored to help the Oilers win for the sixth time in seven games. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had two assists, and Jack Campbell had 28 saves.Erik Karlsson scored twice, Alexander Barabanov had a goal and an assist, and Steven Lorentz also scored for the Sharks, who lost their seventh straight (0-4-3) and fell to 2-11-4 in their last 17 games. James Reimer had a season-high 46 saves.With the clock winding down in the extra period, Nurse got a long pass from Yamamoto along the right side, skated in on Reimer on a breakaway, and beat him through the five-hole for his eighth of the season.Ekholm tied it 4-4 with 3:47 left in the third with his second of the night and eighth of the se...

UConn beats Baylor 77-58 for 29th straight trip to Sweet 16

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:06 GMT

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Azzi Fudd is still rounding back into form after missing 22 games with injuries this season. She’s only been back for five games and hadn’t looked like the player that was dominating the game before suffering two knee injuries. But after going 2 of 8 from the floor in the first half Monday night, the sophomore guard scored 16 of her game-high 22 points in a decisive third quarter, leading second-seeded UConn to a 77-58 win over No. 7 seed Baylor on Monday night. That put the Huskies in a 29th straight Sweet 16.Fudd said she just stayed confident and her shots began to fall.“I definitely wouldn’t say (I took) the team on my back, I think everyone played an incredible role tonight,” Fudd said. “But I think (I just kept) that mindset of being aggressive and having my teammates and coaches continue to remind me, ’Don’t stop shooting, keep shooting, keep looking for your shots.”Aaliyah Edwards added 19 points, Aubrey Griffin pulled down 12 rebounds and Ni...