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China threatens to retaliate if McCarthy meets Taiwan leader

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:48 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China threatened retaliation on Wednesday if U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy meets with Taiwan’s president during her upcoming trip through Los Angeles. President Tsai Ing-wen left Taiwan on Wednesday afternoon on a tour of the island’s diplomatic allies in the Americas which she framed as a chance to demonstrate Taiwan’s commitment to democratic values on the world stage.Tsai is scheduled to transit through New York on Thursday before heading to Guatemala and Belize. She is expected to stop in Los Angeles on her way back to Taiwan on April 5, when a meeting with McCarthy is tentatively scheduled.The planned meeting has triggered fears of a heavy-handed Chinese reaction amid heightened friction between Beijing and Washington over U.S. support for Taiwan and trade and human rights issues. The spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhu Fenglian, denounced Tsai’s stopovers and demanded that no U.S. officials meet with her.“We firmly opp...

N. Carolina lawmakers scrap permit requirement to buy pistol

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:48 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina legislators repealed the state’s requirement that someone obtain a permit from a local sheriff before buying a pistol, as the Republican-controlled legislature on Wednesday successfully overrode one of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes for the first time since 2018.The House voted 71-46 to enact over Cooper’s objections in last week’s veto message the bill to eliminate the state’s long-standing pistol handgun purchase system, which among other things requires sheriffs to perform character evaluations of gun applicants. The Senate voted to override the veto on Tuesday.Cooper and Democratic lawmakers warned the repeal would allow more dangerous people to obtain weapons through private sales, which do not require a background check, and limit law enforcement’s ability to prevent them from committing violent crimes. But bill supporters say the sheriff screening process to buy a pistol is no longer necessary in light of significant updates to the nat...

Stocks rise on Wall Street as bank fears ease further

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:48 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rising with markets across Europe and Asia Wednesday as Wall Street shakes off a bit more of the fear that dominated it earlier this month.The S&P 500 was 1% higher in morning trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 219 points, or 0.7%, at 32,613, as of 10:20 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 1.4% higher. They followed similar sized gains in other markets around the world, and the S&P 500 is on track to close what’s been a tumultuous month with a modest gain. That’s despite the month being dominated by worries about banks and whether the industry is cracking under the pressure of much higher interest rates.By Wednesday, a measure of fear among stock investors on Wall Street was back down near its lowest point since March 8, the day before Silicon Valley Bank’s customers suddenly yanked out $42 billion in a panicked dash. It became the second-largest U.S. bank failure in history and sparked greater scrutiny of banks aro...

US to auction Gulf of Mexico oil under climate compromise

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:48 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Companies have offered bids on more than 2,600 square miles (6,700 square kilometers) of federal oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico in a sale mandated by last year’s climate bill compromise.Wednesday’s auction is the first in more than a year and is expected to draw interest from major oil companies such as ExxonMobil and Chevron. It could further test the loyalty of environmentalists and young voters who backed President Joe Biden in 2020 but were frustrated by this month’s approval of the huge Willow drilling project in northern Alaska.Developing the leases for sale in public waters in the Gulf of Mexico could produce more than 1 billion barrels of oil and more than 4 trillion cubic feet (113 billion cubic meters) of natural gas over 50 years, according to a government analysis. Burning that oil would increase planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions by tens of millions of tons, the analysis found.Oil prices fell sharply over the past year...

Vatican: Pope Francis goes to hospital for scheduled tests

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:48 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis went to a Rome hospital on Wednesday for some scheduled tests, the Vatican said.The Vatican provided no details other than to say the pontiff’s visit to the Gemelli hospital was “previously scheduled.”The 86-year-old pope spent 10 days at the Gemelli hospital in July 2021 following surgery for an intestinal narrowing. He had 33 centimeters (13 inches) of his colon removed. He said soon after that he had recovered fully and could eat normally, but in a Jan. 24 interview with The Associated Press said the diverticulosis, or bulges in his intestinal wall, had “returned.”The Associated Press

Militants kill 9 soldiers in attack on Colombia’s military

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:48 GMT

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Militants in Colombia killed at least nine soldiers and injured another nine in an attack early Wednesday on a military post in a troubled region near the country’s border with Venezuela, authorities said. The military gave no details of the assault in El Carmen in the state of Norte de Santander, but said a preliminary assessment indicated it was carried out by the National Liberation Army, or ELN, the country’s last active guerrilla group.It would be the most serious attack by the guerillas since November when they resumed peace talks with the government, and would complicate efforts by Colombia’s first leftist president, Gustavo Petro, to bring “total peace” to the nation of 50 million.Petro condemned the attack, and said in a tweet that those who carried it out were “absolutely far from peace and the people.” He said seven of those killed were soldiers doing compulsory military service and that two were officers. The commander of Colombia’s military, Maj....

UN atomic watchdog chief pursues Ukraine nuclear plant deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:48 GMT

DNIPRO, Ukraine (AP) — The head of the U.N.’s atomic energy watchdog returned Wednesday to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, reportedly saying he is working on a plan to protect Europe’s largest nuclear power facility “more locally” amid the war in the surrounding area.International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi crossed the war’s front lines for a second time to reach the plant, which is located in a partially Russia-occupied part of Ukraine where combat has intensified. The IAEA, which is based in Vienna, Austria, has a rotating team permanently based at the plant. Grossi told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday he feels it is his duty to ramp up talks between Kyiv and Moscow aimed at safeguarding the facility and avoiding a a catastrophic accident. He said a deal was “close.”Grossi met Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and said he would “most probably” head to Moscow in the coming days. However, Zelenskyy sai...

Taxi driver guilty after sexually assaulting passenger in Naperville

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:48 GMT

DUPAGE COUNTY, Ill. — A suburban taxi driver was found guilty Tuesday for sexually assaulting a woman in his cab.Sandeep Arora, 48, was found guilty on two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, two counts of criminal sexual assault and one count of criminal sexual abuse.On July 9, 2017, Arora picked up two women after they left an establishment in Naperville. After dropping one of them off, Arora drove away and sexually assaulted the other woman.After getting her clothes ripped off and bruising, Arora pulled over and sexually assaulted the woman a second time. She was able to free herself. The woman was able to hid in some nearby bushes and waited for a friend to pick her up. She reported the assault the following morning. An investigation led to Arora getting arrested. Man struck, killed in Northwest Side intersection His next court appearance is scheduled for June 15 for sentencing. He faces between 12 and 60 years in prison.

Aaron Hernandez’s brother accused of throwing brick at ESPN's HQ

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:48 GMT

BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — The brother of the late New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez is facing criminal and motor vehicle charges in Connecticut, accused of throwing a brick onto the ESPN headquarters campus and eluding police during brief pursuits in other towns.Dennis John Hernandez, 36, who also has been known as D.J. and Jonathan, was given a misdemeanor summons for breach of peace Thursday by Bristol police in connection with the ESPN incident, according to a police report.Hernandez, who played quarterback and wide receiver at UConn in the mid-2000s, went to ESPN in a car, possibly an Uber, and threw a bag containing a brick and a note onto the property, police said. He then left.The note said: “To all media outlets, It’s about time you all realeyes the affect media has on all family members. Since you’re a world wide leader maybe you could lead how media and messages are delivered brick by brick. Clean it up! Yours truly, Dennis J. Hernandez,” according to police.Hernande...

12-year-old girl missing on North Side

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:48 GMT

CHICAGO — A 12-year-old girl was reported missing Tuesday night on the North Side.Hailey Funches was last seen at around 9 p.m. in the 3800 block of West Foster Avenue.She was last seen leaving her residence on foot wearing a yellow shirt with a green dinosaur on the front, blue jeans and had no shoes on.Funches is 5'0, 95 lbs., and has black hair and brown eyes.If located, police ask residents to call 911.