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Cyprus prepares for a potential migrant influx due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:25 GMT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus is doubling the existing 1,153-person capacity of its main migrant reception camp as the island nation prepares for potentially a large influx of people if the crisis in neighboring Israel and Gaza escalates, authorities said Monday.The Pournara reception camp — on the outskirts of the capital Nicosia — will see an increase in staffing to adequately provide needed care to new arrivals and expedite asylum application processing, Cypriot Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said in a statement.Authorities have evaluated different venues where migrants could be accommodated if arrivals exceed the capacity of the center and would immediately ask the European Union to dispatch more personnel to help process asylum applications, the statement said. Nearly 200 migrants arrived in Cyprus aboard four separate boats on Saturday alone, likely setting sail from Lebanon which is 108 miles (174 kilometers) from the country’s eastern coastline – reported...

Death toll lowered to 7 in Louisiana super fog highway crashes involving 160 vehicles

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:25 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The death toll from last week’s series of highway crashes blamed on a “super fog” of smoke from marsh fires mixed with dense fog has been lowered from eight to seven people, according to Louisiana State Police.The Oct. 24 pileups involved about 160 vehicles on Interstate 55 near New Orleans. “Due to the intense fire and the extensive wreckage, the initial investigation led Troopers to believe that there were a total of eight victims,” state police said in a Friday news release. The final number was lowered to seven after further forensic investigation involving the St. John the Baptist Parish Coroner’s Office, the Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office, and the LSU Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services Laboratory. The cars crashed after smoke spreading through the region from a marsh fire east of New Orleans combined with thick fog and reduced visibility on highways to near nothing. The National Weather Service dubbed it a “super fog” — fog enhanced b...

New Slovakia’s government announces a massive deployment at the Hungarian border to curb migration

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:25 GMT

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — The new Slovak government announced a big deployment of police and armed forces Monday along the border with Hungary to prevent growing numbers of migrants entering the country.Prime Minister Robert Fico did not immediately give details of the deployment but said that illegal migration needs to be under control or else people linked to “terrorist” groups could enter the country. Fico, who spoke after meeting Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Esto, said the deployment would start later Monday and that he would personally inspect the situation at border.His new government was sworn in last Wednesday after his leftist Smer, or Direction, party won the Sept. 30 parliamentary election, opening the way for the populist leader to become the prime minister for the fourth time.The new government has not yet released its policy program, but Fico has suggested it will include a tough stance against migration.Sutaj Esto said that the situation in the world has been serio...

St. Louis County prosecutor drops U.S. Senate bid, will instead oppose Cori Bush in House race

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:25 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell announced Monday he will drop his bid to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley in 2024, and will instead make a run at a fellow Democrat — U.S. Rep. Cori Bush.Bell, 48, will oppose Bush in the 2024 Democratic primary for Missouri’s 1st Congressional District seat that covers St. Louis and part of St. Louis County. The decision comes as Bush has taken criticism for her response to the Hamas attack on Israel, including her call in a social media post to end “US government support for Israeli military occupation and apartheid.”Bell and Bush are both Black, and both emerged as political forces in the aftermath of the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, a death that helped spark the national Black Lives Matter movement. Bush was elected to the House in 2020, pulling a stunning upset of Democratic veteran William Lacy Clay.Two years earlier, Bell pulled an equally surprising...

A 5.4 magnitude earthquake has shaken Jamaica with no immediate reports of casualties or damage

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:25 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A 5.4 magnitude earthquake hit Jamaica on Monday, prompting people to flee buildings amid heavy shaking.The earthquake was located about 2 miles (4 kilometers) west-northwest of Hope Bay, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It occurred at a shallow depth of 6 miles (10 kilometers).There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.The earthquake prompted panic on the island. Members attending the International Seabed Authority meeting that began Monday could be seeing fleeing on camera before the broadcast cut off.While small earthquakes are common in and around Jamaica — some 200 a year — large ones are rare. The devastating Port Royal earthquake occurred in 1692, with a portion of the town sinking into the sea. Then in 1907, a quake struck the capital, Kingston, killing more than 1,000 people. Another big quake was reported in March 1957, affecting mostly western Jamaica, according to the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica.The islan...

Joly to plead for humanitarian pauses as she says time is running out to help in Gaza

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:25 GMT

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says time is running out to help people in Gaza.In a speech to the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto on Monday afternoon, Joly is expected to plead for humanitarian pauses in the Israel-Hamas conflict to allow more aid to get into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, which is home to more than two million Palestinians.Joly’s speech will also urge that the more than 200 Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza must be released.Her call comes as the Canadian Armed Forces confirms it has sent special forces to Canada’s embassy in Tel Aviv, after Global Affairs Canada requested military support to help prepare for the possible escalation of hostilities in the Middle East.The fears of a broader conflict have been exacerbated by clashes at the Israeli-Lebanese border, which officials say might lead to the need for an evacuation of Canadians from Lebanon.The latest conflict began when Hamas militants launched brazen attacks on Israeli civi...

EU chief says investment plan for Western Balkan candidate members will require reforms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:25 GMT

SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — The European Commission’s top official said Monday that a decade-long investment package for Western Balkan countries seeking to join the bloc could vastly improve the region’s economy but is conditioned on required reforms.EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen discussed details of the 6 billion euro ($6.37 billion) package during a visit to North Macedonia’s capital, Skopje, at the start of a four-day trip to the region. EU leaders presented the package at a Western Balkans meeting in Albania earlier this month. At a news conference Monday with North Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski, von der Leyen said the EU package had the potential to double North Macedonia’s economy within a decade. “That is the goal, and it will play an important role in your path towards the EU,” she said.She said the plan would allow Western Balkan companies access to key sectors of the block’s single market, while at the same time countries in t...

Nikki Haley formally enters her home-state primary as a new poll suggests she has momentum in Iowa

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:25 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Nikki Haley claimed new momentum in the race to supplant Donald Trump as her party’s front-runner during an appearance in her home state Monday, where she formally filed to appear on the South Carolina Republican presidential primary ballot.The former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador returned to the Statehouse where her political career took off for a signing ceremony. She suggested that by the time of South Carolina’s Feb. 24 primary, she might be able to beat Trump, who maintains huge leads nationally and in early primary states. A Des Moines Register poll released Monday shows Haley pulling even in Iowa with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, even as both lag far behind the former president. Haley and DeSantis are vying for second place in hopes of consolidating the support of people who want an alternative to Trump, with their campaigns and allied super PACs increasingly targeting each other in ads and messaging.A field that began w...

Sunday Night Fright: Bears struggle again in loss to Chargers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:25 GMT

INGLEWOOD, CA. — There would be no magic on the big stage for the Bears' rookie quarterback on Sunday evening. Tyson Bagent now got his chance to deal with the frustration that most fans of the team have dealt with the last decade - and maybe longer.In front of a national audience, the Bears endured another forgettable setback against the Chargers, who were in control from the start to the finish in a 30-13 victory. Once again, the team failed to win back-to-back games in the Matt Eberflus era, falling to 2-6 on the year in their seventh double-digit defeat in their last 11 games. It also continues their run of futility on Sunday night that now goes back nearly five years.The defeat to Los Angeles marked the seventh-straight defeat that the Bears have suffered on Sunday Night Football. Nov. 19, 2019 - Loss at Rams 17-7Dec. 22, 2019 - Loss vs. Chiefs 26-3Nov. 29, 2020 - Loss at Packers 41-25Sep. 12, 2021 - Loss at Rams 34-14Dec. 12, 2021 - Loss at Packers 40-35Sep. 18, 2022 - Loss at...

12 dead, scores injured in Halloween weekend mass shootings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:25 GMT

(The Hill) -- At least a dozen people are dead and many more are injured after numerous mass shootings took place across the United States over the Halloween weekend. There were 13 mass shootings — defined as when at least four victims are injured or killed — between Friday and Sunday, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The shootings left at least 12 people dead and 79 people injured, according to the nonprofit organization.They come just days after a gunman opened fire in Lewiston, Maine, killing 18 people and injuring another 13. In the days since, lawmakers and activists have reignited familiar calls for gun reform.The worst shooting of the weekend happened in Texarkana, Texas, leaving three people dead and three injured when gunfire broke out at a party Saturday night, according to police.“Apparently, this all started when a fistfight broke out between two men at the party. At some point during this fight, at least two men there pulled out rifles and started s...