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Blinken and Xi pledge to stabilize deteriorated US-China ties, but the main US request is rebuffed

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:30 GMT

By MATTHEW LEE (AP Diplomatic Writer)BEIJING (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met on Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and said they agreed to “stabilize” badly deteriorated U.S.-China ties, but America’s top diplomat left Beijing with his biggest ask rebuffed: better communications between their militaries.After meeting Xi, Blinken said China is not ready to resume military-to-military contacts, something the U.S. considers crucial to avoid miscalculation and conflict, particularly over Taiwan.Yet Blinken and Xi pronounced themselves satisfied with progress made during the two days of talks, without pointing to specific areas of agreement beyond a mutual decision to return to a broad agenda for cooperation and competition endorsed last year year by Xi and President Joe Biden at a summit in Bali.And, it remained unclear if those understandings can resolve their most important disagreements, many of which have international implications. St...

Shooting prompts SWAT standoff in Pacific Beach

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:30 GMT

SAN DIEGO — A shooting suspect is in custody after they barricaded themself inside a Pacific Beach apartment Monday, prompting a five-hour SWAT standoff, San Diego police confirmed.Around 12:51 a.m., SDPD received a call reporting a shooting from a neighboring home at a cluster of studio apartments located near the intersection of Grand Avenue and Gresham Street.Upon arrival, officers found a bullet hole and were able to determine where the shot was fired from. Police contacted the people to try and get them to come out, but they refused, prompting the standoff, SDPD Lt. Adam Sharki said. Two minors killed after struck by car on SR-78 Several nearby homes and units were evacuated by police due to the shooting and several surrounding roads were closed to drivers. There were no injuries reported from the incident."I just heard a bang. It didn’t sound like a gunshot to me. I thought it was someone smashing something really loud." said evacuated resident Andy DeJoseph.Around 4:30 a.m....

Greek court postpones hearing for smuggling suspects in deadly migrant boat sinking until Tuesday

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:30 GMT

MALAKASA, Greece (AP) — A court in southern Greece on Monday postponed a hearing for nine Egyptian men accused of being migrant smugglers in a case involving the sinking of a fishing trawler last week that killed at least 80 people and left hundreds more missing.Estimates have put the number of people packed on the dilapidated fishing trawler at around 700-750. A total of 104 people were rescued when the boat capsized and sank in international waters off the coast of Greece last Wednesday, while 78 bodies were recovered. A search and rescue operation continues, but the chances of finding more survivors are slim. Another two bodies were found Monday in the area of the search, Greece’s coast guard said. It added that they were being taken to the southern port of Kalamata ahead of identification efforts.The court in Kalamata postponed the Egyptians’ hearing until Tuesday to give them and their lawyers time to review the testimonies of nine Syrian and Pakistani survivors, gi...

Auto tycoon Ghosn denies payments to former French Cabinet minister

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:30 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — A Lebanese judge on Monday questioned auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn in Beirut over possible links to a former French Cabinet minister charged two years ago with “passive corruption” for work she did for him, officials familiar with the case said.The Lebanese officials said Ghosn denied any dealings with France’s former Justice Minister Rachida Dati who is accused of having done consulting work for Ghosn for two years starting in 2010 when she was a member of the European parliament.Dati was accused in 2021 of “passive corruption by a person who at the time was holding an elective mandate” and “benefiting from abuse of power.” She was suspected of lobbying which would have been illegal in her position.The former head of Nissan and Renault denied during the questioning in Beirut that Nissan had paid about $1 million for Dati in lawyer fees, added the officials speaking on condition of anonymity.The officials said Beirut recently received a new Red Notice from Inte...

Russian opposition leader Navalny urges anti-Kremlin campaign as his new trial begins

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:30 GMT

MELEKHOVO, Russia (AP) — Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny urged his supporters Monday to begin a broad campaign against Moscow’s actions in Ukraine as he went on trial on new charges of extremism that could keep him behind bars for decades.The trial began inside a maximum security penal colony in Melekhovo, 250 kilometers (150 miles) east of Moscow, where Navalny, 47, is serving a nine-year sentence for fraud and contempt of court — charges he says are politically motivated. Soon after it started, the judge closed the trial despite Navalny’s demand to keep it open.In a statement posted on social media by his allies, Navalny declared that the decision to close the trial was a sign of fear by President Vladimir Putin, and he announced the start of a campaign against Moscow’s decision to send troops to Ukraine.Navalny said the effort must reach out to millions to explain the disastrous impact of the fighting and “combat Putin’s lies and the Kr...

Ex-prime minister tells COVID inquiry that UK erred in focusing too much on threat of a flu pandemic

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:30 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Britain made a mistake in focusing too much on preparations for a flu pandemic rather than considering other types of pandemic in the years before the COVID-19 outbreak, former Prime Minister David Cameron told a public inquiry Monday. Cameron, who led Britain’s Conservative government from 2010 to 2016, was the first politician to be questioned by the wide-ranging inquiry into the U.K.’s preparedness for the coronavirus pandemic, how the government responded and what lessons can be learned for the future.The U.K. had one of the highest COVID-19 death tolls in Europe, with the virus recorded as a cause of death for almost 227,000 people.Giving evidence under oath, Cameron said that during his time in office, officials were too narrowly focused on the dangers of an influenza pandemic. Not enough questions were asked about the possibility of an outbreak of other highly infectious respiratory diseases, he said.“So much time was spent on a pandemic influenza an...

Egyptian family awaits word on son as village mourns dozens feared drowned trying to reach Europe

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:30 GMT

IBRASH, Egypt (AP) — The last time Sabah Abd Rabu Hussein heard from her son, Yahia Saleh, he was planning to board a migrant vessel from conflict-ridden Libya to Europe. That was two weeks ago. “I had begged him not to go,” the Egyptian housewife said Sunday, “but he had became fed up with our difficult (living) conditions.”The 18-year-old was onboard an old fishing trawler that sailed from the town of Tobruk in eastern Libya on June 9. He was heading to Italy, like many other young men from his village in Egypt’s Nile Delta.There were as many as 750 migrants including women and children on the boat that capsized and sank off Greece in one of deepest parts in the Mediterranean Sea.Only 104 survived. Greek authorities retrieved 78 bodies on June 14 and chances of finding anyone else alive have diminished. The shipwreck appears to be one of the worst tragedies in the Mediterranean in recent history, raising questions and outrage over how European authorities have dealt with the influ...

Man arrested, charged in fatal daylight stabbing near Yonge-Dundas Square

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:30 GMT

Toronto police have charged a man with second-degree murder in the fatal daylight stabbing of another man near Yonge-Dundas Square last month.Just before 2 p.m. on May 12, emergency crews rushed to the scene in front of The Works, a city-run supervised injection and harm reduction facility located at 277 Victoria St. near Yonge-Dundas Square.Paramedics could be seen administering chest compressions to the victim, who was rushed to hospital in an ambulance.Despite life-saving efforts, the victim was later pronounced dead at the hospital.The victim was identified as 40-year-old Richard Sasaki of Toronto.Police said a suspect fled the area on foot, and this person may have been in the area for some time before the altercation.Investigators later identified the male suspect as 29-year-old Danyal Khan of no fixed address.On June 18, police arrested Khan and charged him with second-degree murder. He was scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

Titanic tourist submarine goes missing off Atlantic coast

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:30 GMT

A submarine used to give tourists a view of the wreck of the Titanic has reportedly gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean.The Boston Coastguard says a search and rescue operation was launched on Monday to find the watercraft, according to the BBC.Few other details have been made available.Tourists are able to take paid trips in submarines to witness the sunken wreck of the Titanic. It’s unclear what company the submarine belonged to.The British passenger ship sank in 1912 after striking an iceberg, killing more than 1,500 people, in one of the deadliest shipwrecks ever.The wreckage sits at the bottom of the ocean approximately 600 kilometres off the coast of Newfoundland.This is a developing story. More to come.

Buttigieg says US ‘green corridors’ initiative is key to cutting shipping industry emissions

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:30 GMT

YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) — An American push to establish “green shipping corridors” is key to reducing carbon emissions from the shipping industry, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Monday while touring the port of Yokohama near Tokyo. Buttigieg was in Japan to attend a meeting over the weekend of transport ministers of the Group of Seven advanced economies, who reaffirmed a commitment to reducing emissions from the transport industry and to keeping navigation free and open in the Asia-Pacific region. The U.S. is seeking to develop and strengthen partnerships with “like-minded countries” to improve maritime security and keep shipping and aviation corridors open, he told The Associated Press in an interview. Emissions from maritime transport account for about 3% of total global emissions from human activities. Some 40% of Yokohama’s emissions come from its port. About 90% of all traded goods are moved by sea, and maritime trade volumes are expected to triple by 2050...