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New Maldives president is sworn in and vows to remove Indian troops

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:15 GMT

MALE, Maldives (AP) — Mohamed Muizzu was sworn in Friday as the Maldives’ fifth democratically elected president and said he will ensure there is no foreign military presence in the archipelago.Muizzu, who is seen as pro-China, campaigned on a promise to evict Indian military personnel and balance trade, which he said was heavily in favor of India under his predecessor, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. “Lines of independence and sovereignty will be drawn clearly. The foreign military presence will be removed,” he said.“I will keep friendships with foreign countries. There won’t be any enmity, with countries close and far away,” Muizzu said.He said the right of the Maldives to lay down such limits should be respected.Muizzu was sworn in by Chief Justice Us Ahmed Muthasim Adnan after his surprise victory in September’s presidential election.The election was seen a virtual referendum on which regional power — China or India — should have the biggest influence on the Indian Ocea...

The harrowing Ukraine war doc ’20 Days in Mariupol’ is coming to TV. Here’s how to watch

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:15 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The visceral documentary “20 Days in Mariupol,” about Russia’s early assault on the Ukrainian city, will soon reach its widest audience yet.The 94-minute film, a joint production by The Associated Press and PBS “Frontline,” has been met with critical acclaim and an audience award at the Sundance Film Festival. AP journalist Mstyslav Chernov directed the movie from 30 hours of footage shot in Mariupol in the opening days of the war. Chernov and AP colleagues Evgeniy Maloletka, a photographer, and producer Vasilisa Stepanenko were the last international journalists in the city before escaping.“I thought I should do something more. I should do something more with that 30 hours of footage to tell a bigger story and more context to show the audience of the scale,” Chernov has said.After screenings in dozens of cities, “20 Days in Mariupol” will air on PBS stations in the U.S. beginning Tuesday. As it heads to home and streaming devices, here are details on how...

British writer A.S. Byatt, author of the novel ‘Possession,’ dies at 87

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:15 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Author A.S. Byatt, whose books include the Booker Prize-winning novel “Possession,” has died at the age of 87.Byatt’s publisher, Chatto & Windus, said Friday that the author died “peacefully at home surrounded by close family.”Byatt wrote two dozen books, starting with her first novel, “The Shadow of the Sun” in 1964.“Possession,” published in 1990, follows two modern-day academics investigating the lives of a pair of Victorian poets. It won the prestigious Booker Prize that year and was adapted as a 2002 film starring Gwyneth Paltrow.Her other books include four novels exploring Britain in the 1950s and 60s, known as the Frederica Quartet — “The Virgin in the Garden,” “Still Life,” “Babel Tower” and “A Whistling Woman” – and “The Children’s Book” (2009). A book of short stories, “Medusa’s Ankles,” was published in 2021.Clara Farmer, Byatt’s publisher at Chatto & Windus, said the author’s books — translated into 38 languages — were “the most wonderf...

Former Nigerian central bank chief arraigned and remanded in prison for alleged fraud

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:15 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, who was removed from office in June, was on Friday charged with procurement fraud at a local court, which remanded him in prison pending his bail ruling.In amended charges, the Nigerian goverment said Godwin Emefiele illegally awarded contracts for dozens of vehicles during his time as the governor of the apex bank in Africa’s largest economy, according to court documents.The charge sheet alleged that Emefiele used his position as the bank’s governor to “confer a corrupt advantage” on another member of staff by awarding the contracts to a company with links to that staff member, thereby breaching Nigeria’s procurement laws.Appearing in court in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, Emefiele pleaded not guilty to the charges, which could land him in jail for at least five years if convicted. He has been in custody for most of the time since he was removed from office.Regarded as one of the most powerful government of...

French commission wants to remove statute of limitations for sexual violence against children

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:15 GMT

PARIS (AP) — A French commission examining sexual violence against children called Friday for the removal of all time limits on prosecuting people suspected of rape and sexual assault against minors.The Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence against Children, known as Ciivise, also said in a report released Friday that when sexual abuse of children happens within families it should be defined as a separate offense under the law.The statue of limitation for sexual crimes against children is 30 years from the time the victim turns 18 and becomes an adult under French law. The commission says that removing the time limit is necessary because it can take decades for victims to be able to speak out.The commission of independent experts was established two years ago after child abuse accusations involving a prominent French political expert unleashed a massive social media campaign of hundreds of people sharing appalling accounts about how they were sexually abused when they...

IBM pulls ads from Elon Musk’s X after report says they appeared next to antisemitic posts

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:15 GMT

IBM has stopped advertising on social media platform X after a report said its ads were appearing alongside material praising Adolf Hitler and Nazis — a fresh setback as the site formerly known as Twitter tries to win back big brands and their ad dollars. The U.S. tech company made the decision after a report Thursday by the liberal advocacy group Media Matters said ads from IBM, Apple, Oracle, NBCUniversal’s Bravo network and Comcast were placed next to antisemitic material on X. “IBM has zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination and we have immediately suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this entirely unacceptable situation,” the company said in a terse statement. Billionaire owner Elon Musk sparked outcry this week with his own tweets responding to a user who accused Jews of hating white people and professing indifference to antisemitism. “You have said the actual truth,” Musk tweeted in a reply Wednesday. Musk has faced accusations of tolerati...

AP Election Brief | What to expect in Utah’s special congressional election

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:15 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in Utah’s second congressional district will cast ballots Tuesday in a Thanksgiving-week special election to fill the last remaining vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.Republican Celeste Maloy and Democrat Kathleen Riebe are the nominees to replace former GOP U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart, who stepped down in September after six terms citing his wife’s illness. Maloy is an attorney and served as Stewart’s chief legal counsel in Congress. Riebe is a second-term state senator and the chamber’s minority whip. She previously served on the state school board.Maloy won the September GOP primary with 39% of the vote over former state representative Becky Edwards and former state party chairman Bruce Hough. Riebe won the Democratic nomination at a district convention in June.Riebe stayed competitive in fundraising in October and outspent Maloy for the month, spending $148,000 to Maloy’s $63,000. But the Republican has significantly outraised the Democrat for...

More than a million Afghans will go back after Pakistan begins expelling foreigners without papers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:15 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — About 1.3 million Afghans are expected to return to their country of origin from Pakistan, the U.N. health agency warned, weeks after authorities began expelling foreigners living in the country illegally. Thursday’s warning by the World Health Organization came amid such expulsions, despite the onset of cold weather and widespread criticism from international and domestic human rights groups. Since Nov. 1, police in Pakistan have been going door-to-door to check migrants’ documentation after a deadline for migrants without papers to leave or face arrest. Most of those affected are Afghan nationals. Pakistan hosts millions of Afghans who fled their country during the 1979-1989 Soviet occupation. The numbers swelled after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021. Pakistan says the 1.4 million Afghans who are registered as refugees need not worry, as their status has been extended until December. The crackdown has forced about 340,000 Afghans in recent w...

Elton John’s musical about Tammy Faye Bakker to land on Broadway next season

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:15 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Elton John’s musical about televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker is coming to Broadway from London.“Tammy Faye” will land in New York City during the 2024-25 season, producers said Friday. John wrote the music, while Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears penned the lyrics. The musical was nominated for four 2023 Olivier Awards, including best musical, but lost the musical crown to “Standing at the Sky’s Edge.” The story is by James Graham with direction by Rupert Goold.Bakker, who died of cancer in 2007 at age 65, has captivated popular culture. Her story was told in the RuPaul-narrated documentary “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” and that was turned into a Hollywood movie that snagged Jessica Chastain her first Oscar for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” opposite Andrew Garfield.In England, Olivier Award-winner Katie Brayben played Bakker, with Tony Award-nominee Andrew Rannells as her first husband, Jim Bakker. Casting for the Broadway version was not announced.John, who just...

He was told his 9-year-old daughter was dead. Now she’s believed to be alive and a hostage in Gaza

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:15 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Emily Tony Korenberg Hand celebrated her eighth birthday last year romping with friends and family among the jugglers, acrobats and stilt walkers for her circus-themed party at Kibbutz Be’eri, not far from the Gaza Strip.On Friday, when she turned 9, there was no party. Emily is believed to be somewhere in Gaza among the hostages taken by Hamas militants who swarmed her kibbutz Oct. 7 during the incursion into Israel that left some 1,200 dead and 240 abducted.“She won’t even know it’s her birthday. She won’t know what day it is,” her tearful father, Thomas Hand, 63, said via Zoom. “Can you imagine the fear?”Soon after the Hamas attacks, Hand had been told by leaders of Be’eri that Emily was among the dead after she had spent the night at a friend’s house on the kibbutz. His shock and grief at the news was tinged with comfort.“I was sort of relieved because I’d rather that than have her taken hostage,” he recalled thinking. “The way...