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Niger’s civil society mobilizes the nation to fight for freedom from foreign interference

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:48 GMT

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Niger ‘s ruling junta and civil society groups called on the nation to mobilize in the capital on Thursday to fight for the country’s freedom and push back against foreign interference.“We are talking about the immediate departure of all foreign forces,” Mahaman Sanoussi, interim coordinator for the M62 civil society group that’s organizing the protest, told The Associated Press. “(We’ll mobilize) against all forms of threats to continue the struggle for the sovereignty of the people. The dignity of the Nigerian people will be respected by all without exception.”The march falls on the West African nation’s independence day from its former colonial ruler, France, and as anti-French sentiment spikes, more than one week after mutinous soldiers ousted the country’s democratically elected president. Protests are expected throughout the capital, Niamey, to push back against foreign meddling.The coup has been strongly condemned by We...

Israeli protesters are calling for democracy. But what about the occupation of Palestinians?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:48 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel is being rocked by a wave of mass protests calling for the country’s democracy to be upheld. But the pro-democracy movement lacks any clear message of opposition to Israel’s open-ended military rule over millions of Palestinians. This contradiction reflects a widely held belief among Jewish Israelis that the conflict with the Palestinians is both intractable and somehow separate from Israel’s internal strife.Critics of the protest movement, including Palestinians, say this is a significant blind spot and that such selective advocacy of democratic ideals shows how disconnected Israelis are from the harsh reality of those living under Israel’s occupation.“It’s so ironic that they’re talking and protesting for democracy while at the same time it’s been a dictatorship for Palestinians for 75 years,” said Diana Buttu, a Palestinian commentator. “They’re afraid that their own privileges and rights are going to somehow be affected, but they won’t make the connection...

Bank of England set to join Fed in raising interest rates again amid high UK inflation

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:48 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England is set to raise interest rates Thursday for the 14th time in a row to a fresh 15-year high and keep the door open for further increases in the months to come as it tries to tamp down persistently high inflation.Most economists think the U.K. central bank will increase its benchmark rate by a quarter of a percentage point, to 5.25%.There had been fears, certainly among hard-pressed households and businesses, that the bank would repeat its outsized half-point increase from June. But figures last month showing that inflation fell more than anticipated to 7.9% eased the pressure to act as aggressively again.“With inflation still four times the 2% target, the Bank of England has little choice but to raise the bank rate again and leave the door open to further hikes in upcoming meetings,” said Kallum Pickering, senior economist at Berenberg Bank.Though the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank raised rates last week, they are thought to be ne...

Pope Francis blasts scandal of clergy sex abuse in Portugal and meets with survivors

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:48 GMT

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Pope Francis met with survivors of clergy sexual abuse in Portugal on Wednesday and blasted members of the country’s Catholic hierarchy for their response to the long-ignored scandal, which he said had marred the Catholic Church and helped drive the faithful away.Francis dove head-on into the crisis roiling the Portuguese church on the first day of a five-day visit to Lisbon for the Catholic Church’s World Youth Day festival. His trip comes at a delicate moment for the Portuguese church; a panel of experts hired by Portugal’s bishops reported in February that priests and other church personnel may have abuse at least 4,815 boys and girls since 1950.The Vatican said Francis met with 13 abuse victims for more than an hour at the Vatican Embassy and characterized the pope’s role in the meeting as one of “intense listening.” The victims were accompanied by church personnel in charge of child protection programs.The encounter, which had been expe...

Stock market today: Asia mixed after the US government’s credit rating was cut

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:48 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mixed Thursday after Fitch Ratings cut the United States government’s credit rating.Tokyo’s market benchmark fell more than 1%. Shanghai and Hong Kong gained. Oil prices edged higher.Wall Street turned in its biggest one-day decline in months after Fitch Ratings cut the U.S. government credit rating Wednesday by one level. The agency cited rising debt and a “steady deterioration in standards of governance” after Congress pushed Washington close to defaulting before agreeing to raise the amount it can borrow.“This is largely irrelevant despite some initial shock,” said Kristina Hooper of Invesco in a report, noting that this makes the U.S. rating more consistent with other major economies. “The timing was odd, given that it occurred well after the debt ceiling issue was resolved.”The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo tumbled 1.3% to 32,293.33 while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.4% to 3,273.68. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.6% to 19,636...

North Hollywood residents outraged over alleged eviction, displacement by HGTV star

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:48 GMT

A group of North Hollywood renters is outraged at the threat of being evicted and displaced by HGTV reality star Tarek El Moussa for a new real estate project.El Moussa is best known for the hit HGTV renovation series, “Flip or Flop,” which he has co-hosted with his ex-wife Christina Hall since 2013. He launched a second show in 2020 called, “Flipping 101 with Tarek El Moussa.”Residents of the rent-controlled apartment property on Hartsook Street near the Arts District said El Moussa plans to transform the nearly 100-year-old complex into a state-of-the-art residential complex.According to El Moussa, the project, called NoHo 138, would mark the biggest real estate “flip” he’s ever attempted.In a video the reality star posted on social media, he shared plans to build 138 units with “super modern” decor. The building will also boast a rooftop pool.That’s when the eviction notices started showing up, tenants said. But the people who live in the building said they will fight for their h...

Lo ejecutan por matar e intentar violar niña de 6 años en fábrica abandonada

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:48 GMT

Un hombre que secuestró a una niña de 6 años y la golpeó hasta matarla en una fabrica abandonada de Missouri recibió la pena de muerte el martes por la noche, informó KSDK.Según las autoridades, el cuerpo de Casey Williamson fue encontrado el 26 de julio de 2002 en una fábrica de vidrio abandonada, ubicada a menos de una milla de la casa de los familiares de la pequeña. Johnny Johnson confesó haber golpeado a la niña con ladrillos hasta ocasionar su muerte después de intentar violarla. Ejecutan con inyección letal al asesino que mató a martillazos a una anciana Ejecutan a maestra por envenenar a 25 estudiantes y matar a uno de ellos La madre de Casey había sido la mejor amiga en la infancia de la hermana mayor de Johnson, así que este fue invitado a un asado la noche anterior del asesinato, la familia de Casey lo dejó dormir en un sofá de la casa donde ellos también dormían.Los defensores de la pena de muerte aseguran que Johnson ...

Recuperan segundo cuerpo cerca de las boyas que Texas instaló en el río Grande, dicen autoridades de México

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:48 GMT

(CNN) — Un segundo cuerpo fue encontrado en una barrera de boyas en el río Bravo en la frontera entre México y Estados Unidos, dijo este miércoles la Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores de México.Las autoridades mexicanas agregaron que el cuerpo fue encontrado por Piedras Negras Beta Group, un grupo de rescate del Instituto Nacional de Migración de México.El cuerpo fue ubicado a poco más de cuatro kilómetros de donde se encontró a otra persona fallecida más temprano ese día, según el comunicado.La causa de la muerte y la identidad de las dos personas fallecidas siguen sin estar claras.Recuperan un cuerpo entre las boyas que Texas instaló en el río Grande, dicen autoridades de MéxicoLa Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores de México protestó por la instalación de las boyas por parte de las autoridades de Texas, diciendo que “el Gobierno de México reitera que la instalación de las boyas de alambre viola nuestra soberanía y tiene un impacto en la seguridad, integridad y derechos hu...

Ursula von der Leyen is fighting for Europe’s conservative soul

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:48 GMT

BRUSSELS — They’re supposed to be political allies. But squaring off over dinner and wine at the center-right European People’s Party’s Brussels headquarters in early July, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and party leader Manfred Weber tussled over the future of the EU’s environmental policy. The prickly policy fight between the two Germans is central to what kind of Europe is liable to emerge on the international stage from EU elections next year, which their grouping of Europe’s conservative parties is on track to win.While the cautious von der Leyen has governed the Commission as a broad-based technocrat, an aggressive Weber is now seeking to drag the conservative family further to the right, and mop up votes from those frustrated with migration and new green laws.“Frosty, tense and no budging from either side,” is how one person with knowledge of the working dinner described it, backing up the accounts of two others who were in a room stuffed ...

A car-carrying ship that burned for a week on the North Sea will be towed to a Dutch port

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:48 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A freight ship carrying thousands of cars that burned for a week on the North Sea will be towed on Thursday to a Dutch port for salvage, the government said.The Fremantle Highway, carrying 3,784 new vehicles, including 498 electric ones, from the German port city of Bremerhaven to Singapore was to be towed to the northern port of Eemshaven, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management said.The nearly 200-meter (around 650-foot) vessel will be accompanied as a precaution by a boat that has special booms to clean up oil spills.Fire broke out on the Fremantle Highway on July 25 and burned out of control for a week as it floated near busy North Sea shipping lanes and the shallow Wadden Sea, a World Heritage-listed migratory bird habitat. Dutch authorities did not attempt to spray water onto the ship for fear of making it unstable.The ministry said that Eemshaven, 215 kilometers (134 miles) northeast of Amsterdam, was chosen because it is close to the...