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Philippines military chief voices anger after latest confrontations with Beijing in South China Sea

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:19:43 GMT

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine military chief said Monday he was with Filipino forces aboard a supply boat when it was blasted with a water cannon, surrounded and bumped by Chinese coast guard ships over the weekend in the disputed South China Sea.Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that China was escalating its aggression in the contested waters but said it would not deter Filipino forces from defending the Philippines’ territorial interests in the busy waterway.More than 100 Chinese government and suspected militia ships have swarmed the high seas around the contested Second Thomas Shoal, where a long-marooned Philippine navy ship that Brawner visited has stood for decades. He said the swarm of Chinese ships was much bigger than in previous months.“It’s pure aggression,” Brawner said of China’s high-seas maneuvers. “I witnessed how many times the big Chinese coast guard and militia ships cut our path. They water-cannoned us, t...

Munoz’s 15 lead Hawaii past D-II Hawaii Pacific 78-53

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:19:43 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — Juan Munoz had 15 points in Hawaii’s 78-53 win over Division-II Hawaii Pacific on Sunday.Munoz shot 6 for 7, including 3 for 4 from beyond the arc for the Rainbow Warriors (7-1). Noel Coleman shot 6 for 10 (2 for 5 from 3-point range) and 0 of 3 from the free-throw line to add 14 points. Bernardo da Silva had 13 points and was 6-of-10 shooting and 1 of 3 from the free-throw line.Dominique Winbush finished with 18 points and five assists for the Sharks. Melo Sanchez added 10 points for Hawaii Pacific. In addition, Charlie Weber finished with eight points.___The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.Source

Pompeii archaeologists uncover bakery that doubled as a prison

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:19:43 GMT

Rome (CNN) — An ancient bakery operated by slaves has been discovered in the ruins of Pompeii, the Pompeii Archaeological Park said in a statement released Friday.Enslaved people and donkeys were locked up together and used to power a mill to grind grain for bread, according to details of the discovery provided by the park.The site consists of a narrow room with no external view but only small, high windows covered by bars through which minimal light passed. There were also indentations in the floor “to coordinate the movement of the animals, forced to walk around for hours, blindfolded,” the statement said.The discovery was made in the Regio IX section of the popular tourist site, which is also an ongoing archaeological dig. The area is currently being excavated as part of a larger project designed to secure and maintain previously excavated areas of the Roman city.Archaeologists discovered the bakery while excavating an ancient Pompeiian home that was being renovated when Mount Ve...

Zelenskyy will meet Biden at the White House amid a stepped-up push for Congress to approve more aid

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:19:43 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will meet at the White House on Tuesday as the U.S. administration steps up the pressure on Congress to provide billions more in aid to Kyiv in its war with Russia.The visit is intended “to underscore the United States’ unshakeable commitment to supporting the people of Ukraine as they defend themselves against Russia’s brutal invasion,” the White House said in a statement Sunday. “As Russia ramps up its missile and drone strikes against Ukraine, the leaders will discuss Ukraine’s urgent needs and the vital importance of the United States’ continued support at this critical moment.”Zelenskyy’s office confirmed that he had accepted Biden’s invitation. He also has been asked to speak to a meeting of all senators.Biden has asked Congress for a $110 billion package of wartime funding for Ukraine ($61.4 billion) and Israel, along with other national security priorities. But the request is c...

Pressure grows on Harvard President Claudine Gay after Penn’s Liz Magill resignation

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:19:43 GMT

New York (CNN) — Now that Liz Magill has stepped down as president of the University of Pennsylvania, the spotlight has turned to her counterpart from Harvard University, Claudine Gay.“One down. Two to go,” Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, with the “two” being a reference to Gay and MIT President Sally Kornbluth. “In the case of @Harvard, President Gay was asked by me 17x whether calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard’s code of conduct. She spoke her truth 17x. And the world heard.”Stefanik serves on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which called on Magill, Gay, and Kornbluth last Tuesday to testify about their responses to alleged incidents of antisemitism on their campuses in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.All three gave widely criticized testimony, in which they failed to condemn calls for the genocide of Jews as explicitly against campus harassment and bullying codes. On Friday, a...

Harvard boards meet amid calls for President Gay’s resignation over antisemitism hearing testimony

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:19:43 GMT

The Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers met Sunday for the first time amid the substantial blowback to President Claudine Gay’s controversial congressional testimony on antisemitism.Gay, along with leaders at the University of Pennsylvania and MIT, testified before Congress on Tuesday in a hearing on antisemitism on their college campuses following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in October.At the hearing, Gay spoke against “hateful” antisemitic speech but said the school is committed to protecting free speech, prompting a wave of backlash and calls for her resignation.The Harvard Crimson initially reported the meeting on Sunday — which was regularly scheduled — and stated Harvard did not comment on the meeting Sunday or provide information on the topics of the meeting.The university did not respond immediately to a Herald request for comment Sunday.Gay issued a statement on Wednesday clarifying her remarks and apologized for her...

2 people have been killed in a shooting in the southern Swiss town of Sion

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:19:43 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Two people were killed and one wounded as a gunman fired shots at two locations in a southern Swiss town on Monday, police said.The man, who hasn’t yet been identified, opened fire on several people in Sion shortly before 8 a.m. for reasons that aren’t yet clear, police in Valais canton (state) said in a statement.Police said they had deployed officers to arrest the shooter. They said that he appears to have known his victims, but didn’t give further details or specify where he opened fire.Local prosecutors opened a murder investigation. The Associated Press

In the news today: Details of new federal dental insurance plan to be released today

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:19:43 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…Federal government to announce dental-care planSeveral government ministers are expected to launch today a new federal dental insurance plan that will provide benefits directly to eligible Canadian residents, though the first claims won’t be processed until May. Government officials say the new program will be phased in slowly over 2024.The officials provided a briefing to The Canadian Press ahead of today’s announcement on the condition they not be named. The insurance plan is a key pillar of the Liberals’ supply-and-confidence deal with the New Democrats to secure the opposition party’s support on key votes.Israel battles militants in Gaza’s main citiesIsraeli forces were battling Palestinian militants in Gaza’s two largest cities on Monday with civilians still sheltering along the front lines even after massive waves of di...

Rescuers have recovered 11 bodies after landslides at a Zambia mine. More than 30 are feared dead

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:19:43 GMT

LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) — Eleven informal miners have been confirmed dead and their bodies retrieved from an open-pit copper mine in Zambia after landslides buried them in tunnels they were digging last month. One survivor has been found but up to 26 others remain missing and are feared dead nearly two weeks after the disaster.Rescuers announced the latest death toll late on Sunday. The survivor, a 49-year-old man, was pulled out from underneath the debris last week and is recovering in the hospital, said the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit, which is overseeing the rescue operation.Rescuers also retrieved the first two bodies last week. Nine more were recovered this weekend, the disaster management unit said.Government officials say as many as 38 miners might have been buried under the landslides at the mine near the city of Chingola, on Zambia’s copper belt, although they aren’t certain of the exact number.They have been relying on families to report missing relatives and...

Asia lags behind pre-pandemic levels of food security, UN food agency says

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:19:43 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Hunger remains a chronic problem in Asia, with 55 million more people undernourished in 2022 than before the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says in its latest assessment of food security in the region.Most of those living without enough to eat are in South Asia, and women tend to be less food secure than men, the report says.The FAO’s study focuses on food supply, consumption and dietary energy needs and is designed to capture a state of chronic energy deprivation that stunts growth and saps productivity and quality of life. The share of people in the region suffering from such undernourishment fell to 8.4% in 2022 from 8.8% the year before. But that’s higher than the 7.3% of people who were undernourished before the pandemic began, sending some economies into a tailspin and depriving millions of people of their livelihoods.Natural disasters and disruptions to food supplies, often linked to climate change, have added to those pressures. ...