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Head of UN agency for Palestinian refugees warns of service cuts without more funding

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:36 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said Tuesday that without a new injection of funding, it is “likely or highly likely” that the agency will not be able to deliver some services or pay salaries by the fall.UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said at a press conference in Beirut that the agency responsible for services to Palestinian refugees has been facing a shortfall of $150 million to $200 million annually in recent years.Donors at a pledging conference earlier this month provided only $107 million in new funds, significantly less than the $300 million the agency had called for to keep its programs running through the end of the year.Those programs include health and education services and, in some cases, cash assistance to families in Syria, Lebanon, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and Jordan.While he acknowledged that the agency’s funding woes have become “almost a broken record,” Lazzarini warne...

Lawyer Eastman faces disciplinary hearing over plot to keep Trump in power after 2020 election loss

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:36 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An effort to disbar conservative attorney John Eastman, who devised ways to keep President Donald Trump in the White House after his defeat in the 2020 election, will begin Tuesday in Los Angeles.Eastman is expected to spend the day testifying before the State Bar of California in a proceeding that could result in him losing his license to practice law in the state. He faces 11 disciplinary charges stemming from his development of a dubious legal strategy that was aimed at helping Trump remain in power by disrupting the counting of state electoral votes.The State Bar’s counsel will seek Eastman’s disbarment during a hearing before the State Bar Court that’s expected to last at least eight days. If the court finds Eastman culpable of the alleged violations it can recommend a punishment such as suspending or revoking his law license. The California Supreme Court makes the final decision.Eastman is scheduled to testify in his own defense Tuesday. Th...

Build begins on Wyoming-to-California power line amid growing wind power concern

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:36 GMT

RAWLINS, Wyo. (AP) — Portrait photographer Anne Brande shoots graduation and wedding engagement photos at scenic spots throughout southeastern Wyoming’s granite mountains and sprawling sagebrush valleys, but worries what those views will look like in a few years. Wind energy is booming here.“Dandelions in my yard, you know, when there’s four or five, it’s OK,” Brande said. “When my whole yard is dandelions, I’m just not too excited.”In a state where being able to hunt, fish and camp in gorgeous and untrammeled nature is a way of life, worries about spoiled views, killed eagles and disturbed big-game animals such as elk and mule deer have grown with the spread of wind turbines.On Tuesday, state and federal officials will break ground on TransWest Express, a transmission line that will move electricity from the $5 billion, 3,000-megawatt, 600-turbine Chokecherry and Sierra Madre wind farm to southern California, a place legally mandated to switch to clean energ...

Vatican document highlights need for concrete steps for women, ‘radical inclusion’ of LGBTQ+

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:36 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — An unprecedented global canvassing of Catholics has called for the church to take concrete steps to promote women to decision-making roles, for a “radical inclusion” of the LGBTQ+ community and for new accountability measures to check how bishops exercise authority.The Vatican on Tuesday released the synthesis of a two-year consultation process, publishing a working document that will form the basis of discussion for a big meeting of bishops and laypeople in October. The synod, as it is known, is a key priority of Pope Francis, reflecting his vision of a church that is more about the faithful rank-and-file than its priests. Already Francis has made his mark on the synod, letting lay people and in particular women have a vote alongside bishops. That reform is a concrete step toward what he calls “synodality,” a new way of being a church that envisions more co-responsibility in the key mission of spreading the Catholic faith.The document highlights key concerns tha...

Germany prods China on Ukraine war as leaders pledge to work together on climate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:36 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s chancellor pressed China to lean harder on Russia over its war in Ukraine on Tuesday, while leaders from both countries pledged to work together to combat climate change as two of the world’s biggest carbon dioxide emitters.Chancellor Olaf Scholz and about half of his Cabinet hosted a delegation led by Chinese Premier Li Qiang, making his first foreign trip since becoming China’s No. 2 official in March, as the two nations held high-level government consultations for the seventh time. The meeting in Berlin comes a day after Chinese President Xi Jinping met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, indicating an effort by Beijing to reach out to the West and improve frosty relations.Germany is keen to maintain good ties with China, its biggest trading partner, despite wariness over Beijing’s growing assertiveness and refusal to criticize the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Germany’s recently published national security strategy describe...

Andrew Tate is charged with rape and human trafficking in Romania

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:36 GMT

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Divisive social media personality Andrew Tate and his brother, Tristan, have been charged with rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to exploit women, prosecutors in Romania said Tuesday.Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, said prosecutors filed the charges against the brothers, who are both British-U.S. dual citizens, along with two Romanian women.In a statement, the agency said that the four defendants formed a criminal group in 2021 “in order to commit the crime of human trafficking” in Romania as well as the United States and Britain. It alleged that seven female victims were misled and transported to Romania, where they were sexually exploited and subjected to physical violence by the gang.The Tate brothers and the two Romanian suspects were detained in late December in Romania’s capital Bucharest. The brothers won an appeal on March 31 to be moved from police custody to house arrest.Tate, 36, is a professional kickboxer ...

As far right party surges, Germany’s intelligence agency warns of growing extremism

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:36 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency warned on Tuesday of a growing threat of extremism, particularly from the far right, with the number of politically motivated crimes carried out by extremists reaching a record high last year.Thomas Haldenwang, who heads the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, or BfV, said that his agency had come to the “sad conclusion” that extremism of all shades is on the rise in Germany. His comments come as polls show growing support for the far-right Alternative for Germany party in recent weeks.The party has come under scrutiny from the BfV for its links to extremists and also its ties to Russia. Of the 38,800 far-right extremists counted by the agency last year, more than 10,000 are members of the party, known by its acronym AfD.“We see a very strong current of people within this party who are opposed to our constitution,” Haldenwang told The Associated Press. “We see a lot of hatred and agitation agai...

RCAF helicopter involved in incident near Ottawa River

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:36 GMT

The Royal Canadian Air Force says one of its military helicopters has been involved in an unspecified incident while operating in eastern Ontario early this morning. The Air Force says a CH-147 Chinook helicopter is involved. The incident took place just after midnight near the Ottawa River in the vicinity of a Canadian Armed Forces military base near Petawawa, Ont.It’s unclear how many people were on board.The Air Force says first responders have arrived and are working in the area.Petawawa is about 160 kilometres northwest of Ottawa.This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2023. The Canadian Press

How did Canadian airfare prices get so far out of control?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:36 GMT

In today’s Big Story podcast, it wasn’t that long ago that airlines were slashing prices and offering huge seat sales to lure timid customers back onto planes during the pandemic. Now, it seems like those days are over. For at least a year now, prices have been climbing and the summer travel season marks a new peak.John Gradek is a faculty lecturer in supply chain, logistics, operations and aviation management at McGill University, he says airlines are charging more per ticket to make up for revenue they lost during the pandemic.“The airlines are pushing the envelope as much as they possibly can to maximize revenue and profitability,” he says. How much of this is based on an airline’s increased costs, and how much is a profit grab? What can you do to try to find cheaper fares? And why might you and your friend see different prices for the same seat on the same plane?You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify.You can also find i...

Stock market today: US futures down slightly in first trading day after US-China talks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:36 GMT

TOKYO — Wall Street is stable Tuesday, the first trading day of the week, after a meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Secretary of State Antony Blinken yielded no signs of progress from either side on Taiwan, human rights, technology and other issues of contention. Futures for the Dow Jones industrial and the S&P 500 fell about 0.3% before the bell Tuesday.U.S. markets were closed for a holiday Monday. The Chinese government said the meeting between Xi and the top U.S. diplomat produced “candid and in-depth” talks. Bilateral relations are at their lowest point in decades. Both sides indicated a willingness to cooperate.“There is no doubt China and the U.S.A. need each other, and their relationship to be back on a more secure footing for mutually beneficial commercial reasons, as well as reducing the risk of actual conflict,” Clifford Bennett, chief economist at ACY Securities said in a commentary.The Chinese economy is recovering at a slower pace than expected from the...