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Australian prime minister says he is working effectively to free WikiLeaks founder

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:54 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia: (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was working in the “most effective way possible” to secure the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, but declined an invitation Monday to meet the Australian citizen’s wife.Independent lawmaker Andrew Wilkie asked Albanese if he would meet Assange’s wife Stella Assange, who was watching Parliament from the public gallery. Albanese said a meeting with Stella Assange wouldn’t help her 51-year-old husband who is in a London prison fighting extradition to the United States.“A priority for us isn’t doing something that is a demonstration, it’s actually doing something that produces an outcome,” Albanese told Parliament. “And that’s my focus, not grandstanding.”Albanese was with U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Japan over the weekend for the Group of Seven leading industrial nations summit. Albanese did not say whether he had raised with either leader Australia’s positio...

European Union hits Facebook parent Meta with record $1.3 billion fine over transfers of user data to US

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:54 GMT

LONDON (AP) — European Union hits Facebook parent Meta with record $1.3 billion fine over transfers of user data to US.Source

Stock market today: Global shares mostly rise despite worries about US debt talks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:54 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Global shares mostly drifted higher Monday as investors fretted over whether the United States government will be able to reach a deal to avoid a federal default.France’s CAC 40 inched down less than 0.1% in early trading to 7,489.72, while Germany’s DAX slipped 0.1% to 16,261.45. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.3% to 7,780.30. U.S. shares drifted higher with Dow futures up less than 0.1% at 33,512.00. S&P 500 futures rose less than 0.1% to 4,206.00. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.9% to finish at 31,086.82. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.2% to 7,263.30. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.8% to 2,557.08. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.2% to 19,678.17, while the Shanghai Composite edged up 0.4% to 3,296.47. Markets are closely watching a pivotal meeting set for later in the day at the White House between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on the debt ceiling. A default on the U.S. debt would almost surely ca...

Wet & Unsettled Stretch

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:54 GMT

A typical day with morning sun and mainly dry conditions. By the afternoon, inland storms form. Late evening, some of that activity could build into the Metro areas of Miami-Dade and Broward.Today in the Tropics: We are watching a broad area low pressure (disturbance) located a couple of hundred miles Northeast of the Central Bahamas remains poorly organized. Conditions are expected to become hostile, preventing development while it moves North-Northeast 5-10 mph over the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean during the next few days. NHC giving it a low chance to form during the next 48 hours.  It is not coming to South Florida… It will merge with a slowly approaching front.So, what can we expect?On Tuesday, a turn of winds is expected out of the South-Southeast which will draw up moisture from the tropics. As for the broad low, it will have a merging effect with a slow-moving front to keep deeper moisture around causing a stretch of wet and unsettled days.Have a wonderful week South F...

Miami PD searching for missing 12-year-old giril

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:54 GMT

The Miami Police Department is asking for the public’s help in searching for a missing 12-year-old girl.According to detectives, Isabela V. Zea was last seen in a Wynwood neighborhood on Sunday.She stands at 4 feet, 5 inches and weighs 100 pounds. She has light brown eyes, and black hair and was last seen wearing a black shirt with a white Jordan logo on the front, black sweatpants, black socks, and black shoes.Anyone with information on her whereabouts is urged to call 305-603-6300 or 305-579-6111.

Denmark wants to host Ukraine peace summit in July

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:54 GMT

Denmark is willing to host peace talks between Ukraine and Russia next July, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said Monday according to media reports.“If Ukraine finds that the time has come to have such a meeting, that would be fantastic,” Rasmussen said upon arriving at the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, Reuters reported.“Then Denmark would obviously like to host the meeting” which would need engagement from “countries like India, Brazil and China,” the foreign minister said, adding that it was “hard for [him] to see” Russia attending.Although Moscow and Kyiv have said they were open to peace talks, they hold diverging views on what the starting point of negotiations should be.Ukraine has set the restoration of its territorial integrity, as well as “building security architecture in the Euro-Atlantic space, including guarantees for Ukraine” as preconditions for peace talks.Russia has said Ukraine needed t...

US pumps the brakes on EU clean car deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:54 GMT

Washington and Brussels are at odds over a deal to make European automakers eligible for U.S. electric vehicle tax credits.The European Union has been pressing for a more flexible agreement on the critical minerals used in electric car batteries that won’t require the time-consuming approval of its 27 member countries.But that doesn’t work for the Biden administration, which is under immense pressure from lawmakers to broker a binding pact. The U.S. wants Europe to make commitments that boost the supply of those minerals in exchange for the tax perks, which were part of the historic climate law Democrats passed last year.The impasse, described to POLITICO by a dozen officials on both sides of the Atlantic, is likely to drag out negotiations into the summer, leaving European automakers at a disadvantage in the U.S. car market in the meantime. And it threatens to exacerbate the rift over U.S. efforts to promote domestic EV manufacturing at a time when the longtime allies aim to presen...

Ireland signs law requiring cancer warnings on all alcoholic beverages

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:54 GMT

DUBLIN – Ireland will become the first country in the world to require alcoholic beverages to display health warnings that they could potentially cause cancer, a long-awaited decision welcomed by health advocates but vociferously opposed by drinks producers worldwide.Health Minister Stephen Donnelly on Monday signed into law the Public Health (Alcohol) (Labelling) Regulations 2023 and confirmed that the new rules would come into effect three years from now — May 22, 2026.Ireland moved once its plans cleared two key hurdles at the European Union and World Trade Organization, which fielded complaints from winemakers, brewers and distillers worldwide but declined to block the proposed measure on competition or other grounds.“I welcome that we are the first country in the world to take this step and introduce comprehensive health labelling of alcohol products,” Donnelly said in a written statement, noting that Ireland was also the first nation to ban smoking in enclosed public...

Rishi Sunak mulls ethics probe over top minister’s handling of speeding fine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:54 GMT

LONDON — Rishi Sunak is considering whether to launch an ethics probe amid pressure on Home Secretary Suella Braverman over her handling of a speeding offense.According to reports in the Sunday Times and Mail on Sunday this weekend, Braverman — while attorney general in 2022 — asked civil servants to try and arrange a one-on-one driving awareness course after she was caught speeding. In the U.K., people who have broken the speed limit can opt to attend a course rather than pay a fine — but these are usually run as group sessions. A private course could therefore have reduced the likelihood of other motorists recognizing the senior minister in a public session.The officials reportedly refused to pursue the idea on advice from the Cabinet Office, with Braverman instead accepting a fine and points on her license. In her first public comments on the row Monday, Braverman said she was “confident that nothing untoward happened” — but stressed that she regretted breaking the sp...

Get to know Noah Sewell: Q&A with the new Chicago Bears linebacker’s college coordinator

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:54 GMT

Rookie Noah Sewell joins the Chicago Bears at an intriguing time in the linebackers room.Before the Bears drafted Sewell out of Oregon in the fifth round, general manager Ryan Poles signed free agents Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards to join second-year linebacker Jack Sanborn. Now Sewell arrives to add depth to the position.Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi worked with Sewell for his final season with the Ducks as he wrapped up a three-year career that included 215 tackles, 20½ tackles for a loss, 7½ sacks, two interceptions, 11 passes defended and three forced fumbles.Lupoi spoke recently with the Tribune about Sewell’s strengths and potential. Here’s that interview, edited for clarity.Note: This is part of a series of conversations with the college coaches of this year’s Bears draft picks.What type of player are the Bears getting in Noah?He’s an extremely hard-working, committed player. He really has a unique skill set of versatility. A gu...