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EU-UK friendship can survive post-Brexit rows, British foreign secretary says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:42 GMT

LONDON — The EU and the U.K. have finally reached a state of “close and friendly cooperation” which can survive future post-Brexit disagreements on hot-button issues like subsidies and migration, Britain’s foreign secretary said Monday.Delivering a speech to the EU-U.K. Parliamentary Assembly, James Cleverly said he always believed friendship between London and Brussels would be “the eventual outcome of Brexit” — even if it has taken both sides “a while to get here.”But he admitted it won’t all be plain sailing. Reeling off potential challenges, the U.K.’s diplomatic chief pointed to irregular migration; Britain’s decision to move away from the EU on industrial subsidies; and possible future divergence on artificial intelligence, semiconductors and cybersecurity.“Strong relationships and regular contact will help us understand each other, by building a spirit of mutual understanding and mutual confidence that will allow us to think creatively,” he said. “Now, when we work toget...

6 dead, 1 hurt after S. Carolina house fire, authorities charge man with attempted murder

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:42 GMT

GREEN POND, S.C. (AP) — Six people were found dead after a South Carolina house fire and authorities said they charged a man with the attempted murder of the lone survivor of the Sunday morning blaze.Authorities found the deceased victims and one person in critical condition at a home in Green Pond around 11 a.m., the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.The survivor was airlifted to a hospital from Green Pond, about 42 miles (67 kilometers) west of Charleston.The names and ages of the survivor and the six victims were not immediately released.“Today’s events that occurred in this quiet, nestled community of Green Pond are tragic,” Hiram Davis, a spokesperson for the family told WCBD-TV. Davis thanked law enforcement agencies on behalf of the family for their response and compassion and stressed that while the motive is unknown, staying vigilant in the community is key.“We should always be vigilant. We should always have an eye on our surroundings,” Davis said....

China’s defense minister and Russia’s navy chief meet for 1st military talks since Wagner revolt

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:42 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China’s defense minister reaffirmed the country’s military relations with Russia during a meeting Monday with the head of Russia’s navy, the first formal military talks between the friendly neighbors since a short-lived mutiny by Russian mercenary group Wagner. Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu told Russian Adm. Nikolai Yevmenov that China hoped for increased exchanges, joint exercises and other forms of cooperation that would take defense ties to “reach a new level,” the Chinese Defense Ministry said after the two met in Beijing.“The Chinese and Russian navies have close exchanges and frequent interactions,” the ministry quoted Li as saying. “It is hoped that the two sides will strengthen communication at all levels, regularly organize joint training, joint patrols and joint war games.”China operates the world’s largest navy by number of hulls and vastly outstrips Russia’s navy in both size and technical ability. The countries’ fle...

Crowds across France show solidarity at town halls targeted in rioting following police shooting

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:42 GMT

NANTERRE, France (AP) — Crowds gathered at town halls across France Monday to show solidarity with local governments targeted in six nights of unrest touched off by the police shooting of a 17-year-old.The riots, which seemed to be easing overnight into Monday, were driven by a teenage backlash in the suburbs and urban housing projects against a French state that many young people with immigrant roots say routinely discriminates against them. In all, 99 town halls have been attacked in the violence, along with other public buildings, according to the Interior Ministry.French President Emmanuel Macron was meeting Tuesday with mayors of 220 towns from across the country. Across France, 34 buildings were attacked overnight — many of them linked to the government — along with 297 vehicles. There has been little in the way of organized protests beyond a march last week for Nahel, the teenager of Algerian descent who was killed on Tuesday in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. Instead, the ange...

Stock market today: Markets on Wall Street nudge lower in mild trading ahead of July 4th holiday

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:42 GMT

TOKYO — Markets tipped lower Monday ahead of a holiday-shortened session with little corporate news or economic data expected until later in the week. Futures for the Dow fell 0.2% and the S&P 500 inched 0.1% lower.U.S. trading will close by 1 p.m. Eastern on Monday and markets are closed for Independence Day holiday. The bond market will close at 2 p.m., and will also remain closed Tuesday. Tesla shares jumped more than 6% before the opening bell after the electric car maker reported over the weekend that second-quarter deliveries rose 83% from a year ago. Sales spiked after the company cut prices and buyers took advantage of U.S. government tax credits.The Austin, Texas, car maker sold a record 466,140 vehicles worldwide from April through June, nearly doubling the 254,695 it sold during the same period a year earlier. Analysts polled by data provider FactSet expected Tesla to deliver 445,000 cars in the quarter.On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will release minutes from its m...

Feeling neglected by Scotland, some in the Orkney Islands mull rejoining Norway

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:42 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Sick of being ignored by far-away politicians, officials on Scotland’s remote Orkney Islands are mulling a drastic solution: rejoining Norway, the Scandinavian country that gave them away as a royal wedding dowry more than 550 years ago.Orkney Islands Council is due to debate options for “alternative models of governance” on Tuesday, including exploring the “Nordic connections” of the archipelago, which lies about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of the Scottish mainland.Council leader James Stockan said the islands have been failed by both the Scottish government, 300 miles (480 kilometers) to the south in Edinburgh, and the U.K. government in the even more distant London.“On the street in Orkney, people come up and say to me, ‘When are we going to pay back the dowry, when are we going back to Norway?’ There is a huge affinity and a huge deep cultural relationship there,” Stockan told the BBC. “This is exactly the moment to explore what is possible.”Long an impoverished...

Celebrity birthdays for the week of July 9-15

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:42 GMT

Celebrity birthdays for the week of July 9-15:July 9: Actor Richard Roundtree is 81. Singer Dee Dee Kenniebrew of The Crystals is 78. Actor Chris Cooper is 72. TV personality-turned-musician John Tesh is 71. Country singer David Ball is 70. Business leader Kevin O’Leary (“Shark Tank”) is 69. Singer Debbie Sledge of Sister Sledge is 69. Actor Jimmy Smits is 68. Actor Tom Hanks is 67. Singer Marc Almond of Soft Cell is 66. Actor Kelly McGillis is 66. Singer Jim Kerr of Simple Minds is 64. Singer Courtney Love is 59. Bassist Frank Bello of Anthrax is 58. Actor David O’Hara (“The District”) is 58. Actor Pamela Adlon (“King of the Hill,” “Louie”) is 57. Actor Scott Grimes (“ER,” ″Party of Five”) is 52. Singer-guitarist Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse is 48. Musician Jack White is 48. Actor Fred Savage is 47. Singer Dan Estrin of Hoobastank is 47. Actor Linda Park (“Star Trek: Enterprise”) is 45. Actor Megan Parlen (“Hang Time”) is 43. Singer-actor Kiely Williams of 3LW (“Cheetah Girls” films...

Sudan’s army calls for young people, others, to enlist in fight against rival paramilitary

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:42 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — The Sudanese army called Monday on young people and anyone else capable of fighting to enlist at the nearest military command for battle against rival paramilitary force.Sudan descended into chaos after fighting erupted on Apr. 15 between the military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo. Since then, over 3,000 people have been killed, the country’s Health Ministry said, while about 2.5 million people have been displaced, according to the U.N. The true death toll is believed to be much higher. “The commanders of the military divisions and regions have been instructed to receive and equip the fighters, and they must go to the nearest military command or unit,” the army said Monday morning on their official Facebook page.Monday’s call to arms comes just days after Burhan made a near-identical appeal during a televised speech, asking Sudan’s youth and those capable of fighting to support...

Amazon Indigenous are leaving rainforest for cities, and finding urban poverty

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:42 GMT

ATALAIA DO NORTE, Brazil (AP) — In 1976, Binan Tuku ventured to meet a Brazilian government’s expedition on the banks of the Itui River in a remote area of the western Amazon rainforest. After some initial suspicion, he and his father accepted machetes and soap in what was the beginning of the Matis tribe’s contact with the non-Indigenous world.Nearly 50 years later, Tuku’s own son Tumi exists far from the village of his father, seeking to carve out a living in the impoverished city of Atalaia do Norte. Instead of the traditional blowgun, Tumi held a pastry bag in his hands while working in a bakery, and his face bore none of the tattoos or wooden piercings characteristic of the Matis.“In the village, the quality of education is not as good as in the city,” said Tumi, 24, who said he hopes to go to college to study medicine or journalism. “I want to engage with non-Indigenous people, learn from the challenges I face, and perhaps one day return to my village to shar...

Kenya’s president lifts 6-year logging ban to create jobs. Environmentalists are concerned

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:42 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenyan President William Ruto has lifted a six-year ban on logging over the concerns of environmentalists. The president said Sunday it was “foolish” to have mature trees rotting in forests while local industries lacked timber.“This is why we have decided to open up the forest and harvest timber so that we can create jobs for our youth,” he said.Ruto became Kenya’s president in September. In 2018, while serving as deputy president, he announced a government ban on logging to protect water catchment areas and avert a looming drought.His administration’s first budget imposed a tax on all imported timber products, a move aimed at encouraging local manufacturing.Last year, he launched a plan to plant 15 billion trees in Kenya over 10 years as a way to combat climate change.During an address last month at the Global Citizen Festival in Paris, Ruto said his country was leading the way on taking action to prevent global warming. Green Africa Foundation Exe...