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The chairman of Hong Kong’s leading journalist group found guilty of obstructing a police officer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:00 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — The chairman of Hong Kong’s leading journalist group was found guilty of obstructing a police officer on Monday in a court case that sparked concerns about the city’s declining press freedom. Ronson Chan, chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association and a journalist of online news outlet Channel C, was arrested last September while he was on his way to a reporting assignment. He was accused of refusing to show the plainclothes officer his identity card upon request. Chan’s arrest fuelled concerns about the erosion of media freedom in Hong Kong after Beijing imposed a national security law to crush dissent following the city’s massive pro-democracy protests in 2019. The former British colony was promised to keep its Western-style civil liberties for 50 years when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997. Magistrate Leung Ka-kie on Monday ruled that Chan had deliberately obstructed the officer from carrying out her duty and failed to take out his ide...

A Taiwan golf ball maker fined after a fatal fire for storing 30 times limit for hazardous material

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:00 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan authorities fined a golf ball manufacturer 2.4 million New Taiwan dollars ($75,000) on Monday and warned of criminal charges for storing 30 times the legal limit of hazardous material and other violations after a major factory fire killed nine people and left one other missing.The mayor of Pingtung county said at a news conference that Launch Technologies Co. had 3,000 tons of organic peroxides on site, far more than the 100 tons of hazardous material that is permitted, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.Those responsible would be held accountable for public endangerment and negligent manslaughter, Mayor Chou Chun-mi said.Company officials could not be reached for comment.It’s unclear what caused the fire on Friday, but two explosions in the already burning building trapped firefighters and workers under rubble. Four firefighters were among the nine who died. More than 100 other people were injured.Organic peroxides, which are highly flamm...

Thousands of Armenians flee Nagorno-Karabakh as Turkish president is set to visit Azerbaijan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:00 GMT

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Thousands of Armenians streamed out of Nagorno-Karabakh after the Azerbaijani military reclaimed full control of the breakaway region while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was set to visit Azerbaijan Monday in a show of support to its ally. The Azerbaijani military routed Armenian forces in a 24-hour blitz last week, forcing the separatist authorities to agree to lay down weapons and start talks on Nagorno-Karabakh’s “reintegration” into Azerbaijan after three decades of separatist rule. While Azerbaijan pledged to respect the rights of ethnic Armenians in the region and restore supplies after a 10-month blockade, many local residents feared reprisals and said they were planning to leave for Armenia.The Armenian government said that 4,850 Nagorno-Karabakh residents had fled to Armenia as of midday Monday.“It was a nightmare. There are no words to describe. The village was heavily shelled. Almost no one is left in the village,” said one of the eva...

A trial opens in France over the killing of a police couple in the name of the Islamic State group

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:00 GMT

LYON, France (AP) — It wasn’t the deadliest attack in Europe linked to the Islamic State group, but it was among the most disturbing: One evening in 2016, an assailant killed two police officers in their family home, in front of their 3-year-old son.On Monday, a trial opens in a French counterterrorism court over the attack in the Paris suburb of Magnanville.The attacker, Larossi Abballa, was shot to death by police. According to court documents, he told police negotiators that he was responding to an IS leader’s call to “kill miscreants at home with their families.”A childhood friend of Abballa’s, Mohamed Aberouz, is going on trial for complicity to terrorism-related murder, complicity to kidnapping and terrorist conspiracy. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.The killings came amid a wave of attacks in France linked to the Islamic State group and had a lasting effect on police officers around France. Some moved, changed services or resigned to protect their love...

EU Commission blocks Booking’s planned acquisition of flight booking provider Etraveli

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:00 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s executive arm said Monday it is blocking leading U.S. online travel agency Booking from acquiring Sweden’s flight booking provider Etraveli Group because it would have allowed it to increase its dominant position on the market on the continent.The European Commission said it had warned Booking Holdings about its concerns but that the remedies offered by the company were not sufficient. Booking’s brands include Booking.com, Rentalcars, Priceline and Agoda.Following its investigation, the Commission said it found out the proposed 1.63-billion-euro ($1.8 billion) deal would have led to higher costs for hotels, and possibly, a negative impact on the price paid by consumers.“Bans are rare, and today’s decision is in fact the first merger to be blocked this year,” EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said.According to the European Commission, online travel agencies handle transactions worth more than 100 billion euros ($106 billion...

RYDER CUP ’23: A look inside the walls of the 11th-century Marco Simone castle

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:00 GMT

GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy (AP) — First came the castle. Then the golf course.The nearly 300,000 fans descending on the Marco Simone club for the Ryder Cup this week will be able to see the 11th-century castle with the same name from various points of the course — it’s wedged between the sixth and eighth holes and has a big Italian flag waving from its tower — but they won’t be able to visit it.That’s because it’s the private residence of fashion designer Lavinia Biagiotti Cigna, who owns and runs the golf club.Biagiotti Cigna’s parents bought the castle in 1978 — the year she was born — and then decided to build the surrounding golf course.While the golf course recently underwent an 11 million euro ($12 million) complete restyling in order to host the sport’s biggest team event, keeping up a 1,000-year-old castle is a job that never ends.“I don’t really feel like I own this place. I really feel I’m taking care of this place,” Biagiotti Cigna said in a recent interview with The Asso...

Biden administration announces $1.4 billion to improve rail safety and boost capacity in 35 states

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced Monday that it has awarded more than $1.4 billion to projects that improve railway safety and boost capacity, with much of the money coming from the 2021 infrastructure law.“These projects will make American rail safer, more reliable, and more resilient, delivering tangible benefits to dozens of communities where railroads are located, and strengthening supply chains for the entire country,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement.The money is funding 70 projects in 35 states and Washington, D.C. Railroad safety has become a key concern nationwide ever since a train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed and caught fire in East Palestine, Ohio, in February. President Joe Biden has ordered federal agencies to hold the train’s operator Norfolk Southern accountable for the crash, but a package of proposed rail safety reforms has stalled in the Senate where the bill is still awaiting a vote. The White Ho...

West Philadephia standout commits to UAlbany men

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:00 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Over the weekend the UAlbany men's basketball team made a splash on the recruiting trail. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! They landed a commitment from Ihmotep Institute Charter High School standout Ma'Kye Taylor. His length and versatile skillset caught the eye of Great Danes head coach Dwayne Killings, and Taylor believes that UAlbany just felt like the right fit. "When I was picking a college I was looking for where I was going to be more comfortable at," Taylor said. "I was looking for I would say the type of people I would be around for my next four years. I paid close attention to how players interacted with players, players interacted with coaches, coaches interacted with coaches and Albany seemed to give me that genuine aura that I was looking for," Taylor added. "They play through the fours a lot, so that's a plus for me being a forward that can dribble, pass, and create off the bounce, so jus...

Nagorno-Karabakh: the EU is providing additional humanitarian aid to conflict-affected people

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:00 GMT

The Commission is mobilizing €500,000 in additional humanitarian aid to support those affected by the escalation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh. Fleeing the violence, thousands of people are now displaced and in need of assistance. EU humanitarian aid will help the affected people cover their basic needs, while providing them also with shelter and psychosocial support. This emergency funding comes in addition to the €1.17 million of EU humanitarian aid allocated to the Nagorno Karabakh crisis earlier this year.Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič said: “The escalation of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh has had serious repercussions for civilians. In response, the EU is mobilising additional emergency humanitarian aid to support the people displaced. We are closely monitoring the situation on the ground and stand ready to offer more assistance. While the EU welcomes the ceasefire, I strongly urge all parties of the conflict to ensure unimpeded and immediate access to hu...

Bridge: Sept. 25, 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:00 GMT

“Avoidance” is declarer’s technique of preventing a “dangerous” defender — one who can make a damaging lead — from getting in.Today’s South opens 1NT, and North-South reach 3NT with a routine Stayman sequence. West leads a low heart, and East plays the ten. Declarer wins with the jack and knows that West is lurking with the A-Q and more hearts, and if East gets in, bad things may happen.South has eight top tricks: a heart in the bag, four clubs, a diamond and two spades. He needs a third spade and must set up dummy’s fourth spade without letting East win a trick.LUCKY LIESouth needs a lucky lie of the spades as well as correct play. At Trick Two he leads a spade, and when West follows with the four, South wins in dummy, returns a club to his hand and leads a second spade.If West plays the ten, declarer takes the king and leads a third spade to West. If West were to play the queen on the second (or first) spade lead, dummy would p...