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China’s state media take a new tone toward the US ahead of meeting between their leaders

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:57 GMT

Ahead of the highly anticipated meeting on Wednesday between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Chinese state media have taken a new tone toward the U.S. with less negative coverage, calls for a return to warmer ties and stories of Americans with positive connections to the country. The messaging follows several years of unprecedented tensions between the two countries over issues including trade and technology, the status of Taiwan and Hong Kong and the origins of COVID-19.Chinese media have focused on a recent visit by members of the Philadelphia Orchestra marking the 50th anniversary of its history-making trip to China that helped build then-fledgling U.S.-China ties, and on another visit by members of the Flying Tigers, a group of American military pilots who helped China fight Japan in World War II.“The Chinese people will never forget an old friend, and that’s an important message we want to send to the American people,” the official Communist Party newspa...

An ethnic resistance group in northern Myanmar says an entire army battalion surrendered to it

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:57 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — An entire Myanmar army battalion based near the Chinese border surrendered to an alliance of ethnic armed groups that launched a surprise offensive last month against the military, a spokesperson for one of the armed groups said Wednesday.The surrender of 261 people — 127 soldiers and 134 of their family members — from the infantry battalion in northeastern Shan state appears to be the biggest by regular army forces since widespread armed conflict in Myanmar broke out in 2021 after the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February that year.The alliance expects to soon capture Laukkaing, the area’s major city, the spokesperson said.The surrender — which has not been announced by the military government and could not be independently confirmed by The Associated Press — came two weeks after the Arakan Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, calling themselves the Three Brotherhood A...

European Commission lowers growth outlook and says economy has lost momentum during a difficult year

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:57 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Union’s executive commission lowered its growth forecast for this year and next, saying the economy “has lost momentum” in 2023 as inflation weighs on consumer spending and higher central bank interest rates deter borrowing for purchases and investment. The outlook for this year was lowered to 0.6% from 0.8% for the 20 countries that use the euro currency, and to 1.2% from 1.3% for next year, the commission said Wednesday in its autumn economic forecast, which revised figures from its previous forecast in September.Even that modest growth outlook is exposed to risk from Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. So far, the conflict has not interfered with oil supplies from Mideast producers such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, “but there is a risk of disruptions to energy supplies that could potentially have a significant impact” on prices and global growth.While growth remains weak, unempl...

Germany’s highest court annuls a decision to repurpose COVID relief funding for climate measures

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:57 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s highest court on Wednesday annulled a government decision to repurpose 60 billion euros ($65 billion) originally meant to cushion the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic for measures to help combat climate change and modernize the country. The ruling created a significant new problem for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s quarrelsome coalition.The money at stake was added retrospectively to the 2021 budget in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, under rules that allow new borrowing in emergencies despite Germany’s strict restrictions on running up debt. But it eventually wasn’t needed for that purpose, and the center-left Scholz’s three-party coalition decided in 2022 to put the money into the “climate and transformation fund,” arguing that investment in measures to protect the climate would help the economy recover from the pandemic. Lawmakers with the main conservative opposition bloc contended that it was a trick to get around Germany̵...

Spain leader defends amnesty deal for Catalan in parliament ahead of vote to form new government

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:57 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will defend his controversial amnesty deal for Catalonia’s separatists in parliament by midday Wednesday as part of a debate a day before the Socialist leader seeks the endorsement of the chamber to form a new government.Sánchez has tied up the public support of six smaller parties to ensure that he can reach the absolute majority of 176 deputies voting in favor of reestablishing his minority coalition government with the left-wing Sumar (Joining Forces) party. Controversy arose after deals were signed with two Catalan separatist parties which included a commitment to pass an amnesty law that would wipe the slate clean for hundreds of Catalan separatists who had run afoul of the law for their roles in the wealthy northeast region’s failed 2017 secession bid. The deals include former Catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont, who is a fugitive from Spanish law after he fled to Belgium six years ago.If, however, Sánchez, who...

Bus accident leaves at least 37 dead and 18 injured on Himalayan road in Indian-controlled Kashmir

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:57 GMT

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — A passenger bus slid off a Himalayan highway killing at least 37 people and injuring 18 others after rolling down a steep slope onto another road in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Wednesday, officials said.The 42-seater bus was on the way to southern Jammu city from Kishtwar town when it veered off the road and fell down about 660 feet (200 meters) on an older road in the mountainous region, said Harvinder Singh, a civil administrator.Residents and authorities rushed to the scene and a rescue operation was launched. Singh said the injured were taken to nearby health facilities while at least four in critical condition were transported to hospital in Jammu.The exact cause of the crash was not immediately known but police officer Sunil Gupta said the bus was overcrowded and speeding. He said a formal investigation has been ordered. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the accident “distressing,” on X, formerly known as Twitter, and offered condolences to the...

Cost of a Thanksgiving meal drops, but it's still expensive in these areas

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:57 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — With Thanksgiving just over a week away, you may be rushing to get the ingredients you'll need for the big feast. While we’re still seeing inflation in grocery stores, your meal may not be as expensive as it was last year. Throughout 2022, we were facing an outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), which led to lower production in the turkey industry. That, coupled with increased demand, kept turkey prices high around Thanksgiving.“Volunteer shoppers” with the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) reported that the average price for a 16-pound bird was $28.96, or about $1.81 per pound, up 21% compared to 2021. That contributed to a record-setting price of $64.05 to serve a feast for 10, the Farm Bureau reported.This year, the Farm Bureau reports the same-sized meal will set you back about $61.17, a 4.5% decrease over last year. While a drop, that price is still 25% higher than the price they projected for a Thanksgiving meal in 2019. There’s a ne...

Amber Alert issued for Dallas area 10-year-old

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:57 GMT

WILMER, Texas (KXAN) – The Texas Department of Public Safety issued an Amber Alert Tuesday night for a missing ten-year-old from the Dallas suburb of Wilmer. According to the alert, Ian Aguilar was last seen Tuesday morning at 7:30 in Wilmer. DPS said Aguilar is a Hispanic boy, 4 feet tall and has black hair and brown eyes. DPS said Juan Aguilar-Cano, 38, is the suspect in Ian Aguilar's abduction. The alert describes Aguilar-Cano as a white man, 5 feet, 7 inches tall, 160 pounds and has black hair. The alert said Aguilar-Cano is driving a tan, 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe with Texas license plate number KVZ1194.Ian Aguilar (Photo courtesy: Department of Public Safety)Juan Aguilar-Cano (Photo courtesy: Department of Public Safety)Law enforcement officials believe Ian Aguilar is in grave or immediate danger. DPS said anyone with information about the abduction should call the Wilmer police department at 972-441-6565.

PLL makes New York the home of the Atlas Lacrosse Club

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:57 GMT

ALBANY, NY (NEWS10) -- Tuesday was an historic day for the Premiere Lacrosse League. While they're continuing their tour based model, where every team plays in one place on a given weekend, each team now will have a home city or market. New York was one of the markets chosen, the new home of the Atlas Lacrosse Club. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! The Atlas Lacrosse Club will represent the greater New York area from New York City, to Long Island, to the Capital Region. The league will continue it's tour based model, with stops in 14 locations. Each home market gets a minimum of one homestand, and that team will play twice that weekend.Co-founder and CEO of the PLL, Michael Rabil, tells NEWS10 ABC Sports Director Griffin Haas that in New York, they will choose different parts of the state to activate their homestand weekends, allowing them to tap into the different in-state markets. While Rabil said they won't announce where ga...

EU’s circular material use rate slightly up in 2022

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:57 GMT

In 2022, the EU’s circular material use rate (referred to as the circularity rate; the share of used material resources which came from recycled waste materials) reached 11.5%, meaning that 11.5% of material resources used in the EU came from recycled waste materials. This information comes from data on circular material use rate published by Eurostat on 14 November. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article.Compared with 2021, the circularity rate increased by 0.1 percentage points (pp). Between 2010 and 2022, the rate increased by 0.8 pp from 10.7% to 11.5%, however, the highest shares were observed in 2018 and 2020: 11.6%. In 2022, the circularity rate was highest in the Netherlands (27.5%), followed by Belgium (22.2%) and France (19.3%). The lowest rate was recorded in Finland (0.6%), Romania (1.4%) and Ireland (1.8%). Differences in the circularity rate among EU countries are based not only on the amount of recycling in each ...