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Biden heads to Florida to tour Idalia damage as presidential politics swirl

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:27:25 GMT

(CNN) — President Joe Biden is set to travel to storm-ravaged Florida on Saturday, where he will meet with Floridians impacted by Hurricane Idalia, tour damage and thank emergency responders.But in a stark departure from his previous visits to the Sunshine State in the wake of major disasters, Biden apparently won’t be joined by the state’s firebrand governor and GOP presidential candidate, Ron DeSantis. The moment represents one of the first times the two men have showed signs of their political rivalry while responding to a disaster. Biden and DeSantis have previously met under challenging circumstances – the two convened in response to the 2021 Surfside building collapse and again in 2022 following Hurricane Ian’s damage in southwestern Florida.On the visit, the president and first lady Dr. Jill Biden will receive an aerial tour of impacted areas, participate in a response and recovery briefing with federal personnel, local officials, and first responders, then tour an ...

Biden will get a firsthand look at hurricane’s toll in Florida. Gov. DeSantis has no plans to meet

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:27:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is heading to Florida on Saturday for a firsthand look at Hurricane Idalia’s destruction, but he won’t be seeing the state’s Republican governor and 2024 presidential hopeful, Ron DeSantis, who suggested such a meeting could hinder disaster response efforts.“We don’t have any plans for the governor to meet with the president,” DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern said in a statement. “In these rural communities, and so soon after impact, the security preparations alone that would go into setting up such a meeting would shut down ongoing recovery efforts.” Idalia made landfall Wednesday morning along Florida’s sparsely populated Big Bend region as a Category 3 storm, causing widespread flooding and damage before moving north to drench Georgia and the Carolinas. But Biden’s visit to see its effects threatened to be engulfed by political clashes since DeSantis’ statement came hours after the president himself earlie...

Nobel Foundation withdraws invitation to Russia, Belarus and Iran to attend ceremonies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:27:25 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Nobel Foundation on Saturday withdrew its invitation for representatives of Russia, Belarus and Iran to attend this year’s Nobel Prize award ceremonies after the decision announced a day earlier “provoked strong reactions.”Several Swedish lawmakers said Friday they would boycott this year’s Nobel Prize award ceremonies in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, after the private foundation that administers the prestigious awards changed its position from a year earlier and invited representatives of the three countries to attend, saying it “promotes opportunities to convey the important messages of the Nobel Prize to everyone.”Some of the lawmakers cited Russia’s war on Ukraine and the crackdown on human rights in Iran as reasons for their boycott. Belarusian opposition figure Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Friday called on the Swedish Nobel Foundation and the Norwegian Nobel Committee not to invite representatives of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s “ille...

One taken to hospital following collision involving TTC bus in Danforth area

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:27:25 GMT

One person was taken to hospital following a collision in the Danforth and Westlake Avenues area on Saturday morning.Police responded to reports of a collision at approximately 5:00 a.m. and arrived on scene to a truck and TTC bus involved.The truck driver, a man in his 30’s, was taken to the hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries and the TTC driver had minor injuries and was not transported. Danforth Avenue is closed in both directions.

Carlo Chatrian to step down as artistic director of the Berlin film festival

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:27:25 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The artistic director of the Berlin International Film Festival, Carlo Chatrian, said on Saturday that he will step down next year after Germany’s culture minister announced a new management structure for the event.Chatrian joined the “Berlinale,” which along with its peers in Cannes and Venice is one of Europe’s major annual film festivals, as one of two leaders in 2019 alongside executive director Mariette Rissenbeek. The duo replaced long-serving festival director Dieter Kosslick.Earlier this year, officials said that Rissenbeek had decided not to extend her contract and would leave when it expires in March 2024. On Thursday, Culture Minister Claudia Roth said that officials had decided that the festival “should in the future once again be led and represented by one person.” Her office said a commission was set up to look for a new leader, and Chatrian had declared himself ready to enter “constructive talks with the new directorship on a future role in t...

Former Italian premier claims French missile downed passenger jet in 1980, presses Paris for truth

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:27:25 GMT

ROME (AP) — A former Italian premier, in an interview published on Saturday, contended that a French air force missile accidentally brought down a passenger jet over the Mediterranean Sea in 1980 in a failed bid to assassinate Libya’s then-leader Moammar Gadhafi. Former two-time Premier Giuliano Amato appealed to French President Emmanuel Macron to either refute or confirm his assertion about the cause of the crash on June 27, 1980, which killed all 81 persons aboard the Italian domestic flight. In an interview with Rome daily La Repubblica, Amato said he is convinced that France hit the plane while targeting a Libyan military jet. While acknowledging he has no hard proof, Amato also contended that Italy tipped off Gadhafi, and so the Libyan, who was heading back to Tripoli from a meeting in Yugoslavia, didn’t board the Libyan military jet.What caused the crash is one of modern Italy’s most enduring mysteries. Some say a bomb exploded aboard the Itavia jetliner on a flig...

US-backed fighters push ahead in their offensive in east Syria against tribespeople

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:27:25 GMT

QAMISHLI, Syria (AP) — U.S.-backed fighters brought in reinforcements into eastern Syria and pushed ahead in their offensive Saturday against local tribespeople, saying that hundreds of pro-government gunmen have joined the worst battles in the region in years.The clashes that broke out Monday after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces detained a former ally who headed an Arab-led faction in the region have left more than 50 people dead and dozens wounded.The clashes are the most intense in areas where hundreds of U.S. troops have been deployed since 2015 to help in the fight against the Islamic State group. The extremists once controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq until their defeat in March 2019.The U.S. military on Thursday called for an end to days of fighting warning it may help the resurgence of the Islamic State group. On Saturday, the SDF and local tribesman clashed in an area between the village of Dhiban and al-Omar oil field, Syria’s largest oil facility and home t...

A 2nd Tommy John rehab could be tougher for Angels’ Shohei Ohtani. But it’s not a given

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:27:25 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — If Shohei Ohtani has a second Tommy John surgery, it’s possible his recovery might be more difficult than the first — but not a given.“My first one, my rehab was pretty tough and I never felt 100%,” Chicago Cubs pitcher Jameson Taillon said. “People would come up to me and ask me, ‘Hey, dude, what should I expect after getting Tommy John?’ I’d be like: To never feel good ever again.“My second one was just like a new arm.”Ohtani tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow while pitching against Cincinnati on Aug. 26. The unprecedented two-way star is continuing to bat as a designated hitter but won’t pitch again this year while considering his medical options.Now 29, Ohtani had Tommy John surgery on Oct. 1, 2018, performed by Los Angeles Dodgers head team physician Neal ElAttrache. He returned to the Angels as a batter the following May 7 and to the mound on July 26, 2020, in a season delayed by the pandemic. He didn’t retire a batter in hi...

Ohio votes on abortion rights this fall. Misinformation about the proposal is already spreading

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:27:25 GMT

An effort to guarantee access to abortion rights in Ohio, a November ballot measure, is already fueling misleading claims about how it could influence abortion care, gender-related health care and parental consent in the state.The proposed constitutional amendment would give Ohioans the right to make their own reproductive decisions. Backers say that since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year by the U.S. Supreme Court, the proposal would restore a commonsense abortion protection that most Ohio voters can support.But opponents argue would do far more than that. Ads portray the amendment as a gateway to children getting abortions and gender-related surgeries without their parents’ consent. Opponents also have falsely suggested the amendment would open doors to protecting abusers and legalizing infanticide.The Associated Press spoke to numerous medical and legal experts, who explained what the amendment, known as Issue 1, would mean for Ohioans if it were to pass in November.THE AMENDM...

Russian-made combat trainer aircraft joins Iran’s Air Force

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:27:25 GMT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s news agencies are reporting that a Russian-made YAK-130 combat trainer aircraft is in the country and has joined the Air Force.The report by ISNA said the advanced combat trainer aircraft is able to meet the training needs of pilots to learn to fly 4th-generation fighters.In April, Iran announced that it had finalized a deal to buy Su-35 fighter jets from Russia.Iran and Russia have a close relationship, especially in military equipment.Iranian drones have been a key element of Russia’s continued war on Ukraine. Tehran has offered a series of contradictory explanations about the drones, first denying it supplied them to Moscow and then claiming it sold drones only before the war began. However, the volume of drones used in the conflict shows a steady supply by Iran of the bomb-carrying weapons in the war.In June, the White House said Iran is providing Russia with materials to build a drone manufacturing plant east of Moscow as the Kremlin looks to lock in ...