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India’s opposition lawmakers protest their suspension from Parliament by the government

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:47 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Dozens of opposition lawmakers suspended from Parliament by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for obstructing proceedings held a street protest on Thursday accusing the government of throttling democracy in the country. They briefly marched outside the Parliament building in New Delhi behind a huge “Save Democracy” banner and carried placards reading “Democracy is in danger.” The suspensions came as legislators were due to debate a contentious criminal reform bill.More than 140 opposition lawmakers were suspended from the two houses of Parliament over the past week for demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah about a Dec. 13 security breach when two intruders stormed the chamber by jumping from the visitors’ gallery and releasing yellow smoke canisters. They created panic among lawmakers and disrupted parliamentary proceedings.One of the intruders jumped from seat to seat before he was overpowered by some lawmakers and security s...

China vows to keep up military pressure on the Philippines as territorial dispute grows tenser

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:47 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi says the country will maintain military pressure on the Philippines amid a dispute over sovereignty in the South China Sea that could involve U.S. forces defending their treaty partner.In a phone conversation Wednesday with his Philippine counterpart, Enrique A. Manalo, Wang “warned that if the Philippine side misjudges the situation, goes its own way, or even colludes with ill-intentioned external forces to continue to stir up troubles, China will defend its rights in accordance with law and respond resolutely,” the official Xinhua News Agency reported.Wang’s comments follow China’s mobilization of its coast guard and maritime militia to block Philippine supply missions to support its soldiers and fishermen. China claims sovereignty over virtually the entire South China Sea, one of the world’s most crucial waterways for shipping, putting it at odds with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei, who all maintain clai...

Coal mine cart runs off the tracks in northeastern China, killing 12 workers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:47 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — An accident in a coal mine in China’s northeastern Heilongjiang province left 12 people dead and 13 injured, state broadcaster CCTV reported Thursday.The coal workers were in a mining cart underground that ran off the tracks, according to state media reports. The accident occurred Wednesday afternoon in Jixi city in Heilongjiang province at the Kunyuan mine and was reported by Chinese media on Thursday.China has been working to improve mine safety to combat accidents, which happen with some frequency. Last Thursday, three people died in an accident in China’s coal-producing province Shanxi. A coal mine explosion killed 11 people in Shanxi in August, and a coal mine fire in southern China’s Guizhou province killed 16 people in September.Last month, a major fire at a coal mining company building in Shanxi killed 26 people and injured dozens of others, but the blaze was not in the mine itself.The Associated Press

Uvalde school shooting evidence won’t go before grand jury this year, prosecutor says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:47 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — A Texas prosecutor says a criminal investigation into police failures during the Uvalde school shooting will continue into 2024, pushing back expectations that a grand jury would convene before the end of the year. Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell said earlier this week that her staff are still examining the halting and haphazard police response to the May 2022 shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead. Investigators sent Mitchell their preliminary findings in January and she previously said prosecutors would present evidence related to the massacre to a grand jury this year.The possibility of criminal charges against some of the nearly 400 officers who rushed to Robb Elementary School but waited more than an hour to confront and kill the shooter has hung over Uvalde since state lawmakers faulted law enforcement at every level with failing “to prioritize saving innocent lives over their own safety.” The issue has divided the close-knit comm...

EU adopts 12th package of sanctions against Russia for its continued illegal war against Ukraine

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:47 GMT

The Commission welcomes the Council's adoption of a 12th package of sanctions against Russia. The focus of this package is to impose additional import and export bans on Russia, combat sanctions circumvention and close loopholes.In particular, this package includes additional listings of Russian individuals and companies and new import and export bans – such as banning the export of Russian diamonds to Europe – in very close cooperation with our G7 partners. Moreover, the package tightens the implementation of the oil price cap by monitoring more closely how tankers may be used to circumvent the cap. It also includes stricter asset tracing obligations and tough measures on third-country companies circumventing sanctions.  The 12th package has these key elements:ADDITIONAL LISTINGSOver 140 additional individuals and entities subject to asset freezes. This covers actors in the Russian military and defence, including military industry companies and Private Military Companies. This...

Taco truck worker attacked by armed robbers in Long Beach

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:47 GMT

A family is shaken after armed thieves stormed into their taco truck and attacked an employee in Long Beach.Surveillance video captured the masked thieves entering the Los Bros Tacos truck on Dec. 16 when Manuel Antonio was working in the kitchen.“I was chopping the produce when they got in the truck and I didn’t see them coming, only when they pulled out the gun,” Antonio recalled through a Spanish translator. Two men are seen walking in and surrounding Antonio while pointing a gun towards him.As Antonio turns around to gesture to the truck owner for cash from the register, a second thief quickly takes Antonio’s phone from his back pocket. Suddenly, the man sucker-punches Antonio as he collapses to the ground. The suspects escaped with an unknown amount of cash from the register.Surveillance video captured masked thieves storming into the Los Bros Tacos truck on Dec. 16, 2023 in Long Beach. (Los Bros Taco)Surveillance video captured masked thieves storming into the Los Br...

Biden camp posts graphic with Trump pictured next to Hitler

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:47 GMT

President Joe Biden’s campaign on Wednesday posted a graphic directly comparing former president Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler, replete with images of the two men on each side.The graphic, shared in a post on X, marks an even more aggressive turn in a highly charged attempt by the Biden campaign to link its likely Republican general election opponent with the Nazi leader. And it foreshadows how central the attack line is likely to be as part of the president’s efforts to win reelection.Under the banner “TRUMP PARROTS HITLER,” the graphic lists three quotes from the 45th president next to those from Nazi leader. “Immigrants are ‘poisoning the blood of our country,’” read one Trump quote. Below it read a partial quote from Hitler: “’Contamination of the blood’ by ‘an inferior race’ will lead to the fall of Germany.”“This is not a coincidence,” the Biden campaign tweeted.Comparing a political opponent to Hitler was once nearly verboten in political campaigns. But it has become routine ...

Were your package deliveries stolen? What to know about porch piracy and what you can do about it

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:47 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — You found the perfect holiday gift online. You ordered it. A notification arrived on your phone, showing the package had arrived. But when you open your doors, the parcel is nowhere to be found. If this has happened to you, then count yourself among the unlucky group of shoppers who fall victim to package thefts — or porch piracy, as its commonly known. Here’s what you should know about the issue, and what to do if it happens to you. How big of a problem is porch piracy?It’s hard to tell. Most police departments don’t track package theft in its own category, which means there’s a lack of national data. The FBI’s figures do show burglary offenses and larceny-theft — a category that includes shoplifting, pickpocketing, and instances of package theft — have decreased overall in the last 20-plus years. But since both categories are broad and the agency doesn’t keep tabs on specific incidents of package thefts, it’s challenging to know whether the proble...

Occupational cancers in the EU: A closer look

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:47 GMT

Occupational cancer is the term given to cancers caused by exposure to carcinogenic factors in the working environment, generally due to long-term exposure. Many cancer cases present themselves several years after the exposure took place, in some cases over 40 years. Between 2013 and 2021, a total of 33 712 cases of occupational cancers were officially recognised in the EU. However, numbers for 2020 (3 093) and 2021 (3 258) were lower than the 2013-2019 average (3 909 cases per year), due to the possible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on general public services and healthcare systems.Source dataset:  hsw_occ_cnrDelving deeper into the data reveals that the most common types of occupational cancer are lung cancer, mesothelioma (a type of cancer connected to asbestos exposure, which develops in the thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs, known as the mesothelium) and bladder cancer.Malignant neoplasms of the bronchus and lung had the highest number of cases, wit...

Dear Abby: Am I awful for living well while my daughter flounders?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:47 GMT

DEAR ABBY: How can I help my financially drowning, 57-year-old daughter without being pulled under myself?Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: My husband is desperate for women’s attention, and I don’t know what to do Advice | Dear Abby: I’m sure it’s the bride who made this hurtful decision Advice | Dear Abby: My sister doesn’t know it, but my husband’s demand is non-negotiable Advice | Dear Abby: I’m not sure I can spend the rest of my life with babyman in tow Advice | Dear Abby: I can’t believe my wife thinks it’s normal how she lives I live comfortably now, but that could change in an instant with a stroke or a fall and the need for assisted living.My daughter had been employed throughout her adult life but was recently part of a group layoff. She has failed to find another job in her field, and her benefits have run out. I don’t blame her fo...