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China’s defense minister has been MIA for a month. His ministry isn’t making any comment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:06:24 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson said Thursday that he was “not aware of the situation” in the ministry’s first public comments on the disappearance of the defense minister from public view about one month ago.Senior Col. Wu Qian, the director of the ministry’s information office, gave only a one-sentence response when asked at a monthly news conference whether Li Shangfu is under investigation for corruption and if he is still the defense minister.“I’m not aware of the situation you mentioned,” Wu said in response to a question from a foreign news outlet. Li, who became defense minister when a new Cabinet was named in March, hasn’t been seen since giving a speech on Aug. 29. He is the second senior official to disappear this year, following former Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who was removed from office in July. The Chinese government has given no reason for his removal, or why both he and Li suddenly stopped making public appearances. There is...

Man wanted in killing of Baltimore tech entrepreneur arrested, police say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:06:24 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — A man wanted in the killing of a Baltimore tech entrepreneur has been arrested, police said early Thursday.Police didn’t release any details of the circumstances surrounding the arrest of Jason Billingsley, but planned a news conference later in the morning.Baltimore police found 26-year-old Pava LaPere dead with signs of blunt force trauma in her apartment complex after she was reported missing late Monday morning. The Johns Hopkins University graduate founded the tech startup EcoMap Technologies while she was still a college student.Police announced a suspect in the case Tuesday evening, saying local, state and federal law enforcement agencies were searching for Billingsley, 32, who was paroled last October in an earlier sexual assault case. Court records show he pleaded guilty to first-degree sex assault in 2015.The public defender’s office, which represented Billingsley in the past, told The Associated Press this week that it is too early for them to comment on ...

Biden makes defending democracy a touchstone in his reelection campaign – and a rejoinder to Trump

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:06:24 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — On the anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, President Joe Biden stood in early 2022 at the literal epicenter of the insurrection and accused Donald Trump of continuing to hold a “dagger” at democracy’s throat. Biden closed out the summer that year in the shadow of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, decrying Trumpism as a menace to democratic institutions.And that November, as voters were casting ballots in the midterm elections, Biden again sounded a clarion call to protect democratic institutions, warning that their underpinnings remained under threat. Biden on Thursday will make his fourth in a series of presidential addresses about the state of democracy, a cause that is a key motivator and a touchstone for him as he tries to remain in office even in the face of low approval ratings and widespread concern from voters about his age, 80. The location for this speech, as was the case for the others, was deliberately chosen: It will be near Arizona State Univer...

American soldier who crossed into North Korea arrives back in the US, video appears to show

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:06:24 GMT

The American soldier who sprinted into North Korea across the heavily fortified border between the Koreas more than two months ago arrived back in the U.S. early Thursday, video appeared to show.North Korea abruptly announced Wednesday that it would expel Pvt. Travis King. His return was organized with the help of ally Sweden and rival China, according to the White House. While officials have said King, 23, is in good health and the immediate focus will be on caring for him and reintegrating him into U.S. society, his troubles are likely far from over. King, who had served in South Korea, ran into the North while on a civilian tour of a border village on July 18, becoming the first American confirmed to be detained in the isolated nation in nearly five years. At the time, he was supposed to be heading to Fort Bliss, Texas, following his release from prison in South Korea on an assault conviction.He has been declared AWOL from the Army. In many cases, someone who is AWOL for more tha...

Iraq’s prime minister visits wedding fire victims as 2 more people die from their injuries

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:06:24 GMT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s prime minister on Thursday visited injured patients and the families of victims in northern Iraq days after a deadly wedding fire killed around 100 people, as two more people died from their injuries.Mohammed Shia al-Sudani arrived in Nineveh province early Thursday with a delegation of ministers and security officials, state television reported. He met with the wounded and family members of victims at Hamdaniyah Hospital and Al-Jumhoori Hospital.He later visited the Syriac Catholic Mar Behnam Monastery to express his condolences to victims.A health official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, told The Associated Press that two critically burned victims — a 30-year-old woman and a 4-year-old child — died from their injuries.Around 250 panicked guests surged for the exits on Tuesday night in the Haitham Royal Wedding Hall in the predominantly Christian area of Hamdaniya near Mosul after the ceiling panels above a pyrotechnic machi...

Cleanup of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate after climate protest to be longer and more expensive

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:06:24 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate will have to be cleaned at greater effort and expense than initially thought after climate activists sprayed orange paint on the German capital’s signature landmark earlier this month, a company that manages official buildings in the city said Thursday.Members of the Last Generation group used fire extinguishers filled with paint to spray all six columns of the gate on Sept. 17 — the latest in a series of eye-catching actions. It is best known for protests in which activists glue themselves to roads and block traffic, a polarizing tactic.The group’s priorities include getting Germany to stop using all fossil fuels by 2030 and take short-term measures, including imposing a general speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) on highways, to cut emissions more quickly.The cost of cleaning the gate was initially put at about 35,000 euros ($36,900). But the management company, Berliner Immobilienmanagement, made clear that it now ex...

Crews rescue person trapped on balcony in Scarborough high-rise fire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:06:24 GMT

One person needed to be rescued from a balcony as crews worked to put out an overnight three-alarm high-rise fire in Scarborough.The fire broke out around 1:30 a.m. Thursday at a building in the area on McLevin Avenue near Neilson Road.Officials say it started on the 9th floor and one person was rescued from a balcony after they became trapped. The occupant was rushed to hospital with minor injuries.Several others also needed to be helped to safety. No other injuries were reported.Toronto Fire advised the fire was out as of 5 a.m. but heavy smoke remained in the building.Toronto Fire Services say one person needed to be rescued from 9th floor balcony after a three-alarm fire broke out at a high-rise on McLevin Avenue in Scarborough on Sep. 28, 2023. CITYNEWS/Bertram Dandy

Rights watchdog accuses the World Bank of complicity in rights abuses around Tanzanian national park

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:06:24 GMT

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — A rights watchdog is accusing the World Bank of enabling the Tanzanian government’s violent expansion of a national park through financing from the global lender. The World Bank has failed to hold Tanzanian authorities accountable for serious rights violations, including extrajudicial killings and sexual assaults, relating to the expansion of Ruaha National Park in the south of the East African country, according to a new report by the Oakland Institute. The report by the California-based watchdog, which regularly monitors rights abuses against Indigenous communities, is the result of months of investigation that found evidence of wrongdoing by park rangers funded partly through the World Bank’s $150 million project known by the acronym REGROW. In October 2022, Tanzania’s government minister in charge of lands and human settlement announced a plan to evict people from five villages with a combined population of more than 21,000. Evictions are...

Miguel Cabrera’s career coming to close with Tigers, leaving lasting legacy in MLB and Venezuela

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:06:24 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — Miguel Cabrera sat in a gray chair beside his two stalls in the Detroit Tigers’ clubhouse early in the final week of his career, sorting through stuff to get shipped.Major League Baseball’s only Triple Crown winner since 1967 stuffed dozens of barely used cleats and a bunch of batting gloves in a cardboard box at his feet. Cabrera then put a slew of balls he had signed, each in a zip lock bag, in a tote. The bottle of wine, in bubble wrap, that the Oakland Athletics gave him last week along with his personal belongings are being sent to his home in Miami.Where’s he going to put it all?“I don’t know,” the 40-year-old Cabrera said with a shrug and a grin.For Cabrera — and baseball fans — there’s a lot to unpack from the career of one of the best hitters ever.Cabrera’s career will end Sunday afternoon against Cleveland at Comerica Park, where a sold-out crowd will include a few thousands fans paying for standing-room only tickets to ch...

Hail storm repairs could be slowed by roofing tile shortage

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:06:24 GMT

ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) -- Josh Herrington said the homes in the Cat Hollow neighborhood in Round Rock look like a war zone following Sunday night's hail storm. Herrington is the owner of Sixth Gen Roofing, and he and his team are in the process of helping homeowners who suffered roof and window damage. "The ice storm -- it was bad, it was bad, but it was a lot of clean up. This is going to be a lot of work," Herrington said. That work could be compounded because of a shortage in a certain material that goes into the production of roof shingles. Herrington said there is a lack of production on granular minerals, which serves as a protector from excessive heat for roof shingles. Cars, homes in Round Rock damaged after Sunday night hail storm How much damage could it be? Herrington said he expects there is a need of between three million and four million roofing shingles for damaged homes in the Austin area. "One of the firsts for me was seeing actual hail going through shingles a...