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Jacinda Ardern to begin new role combating online extremism

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:19 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Jacinda Ardern, who stepped down as New Zealand’s prime minister in January, will begin an unpaid role this month combating online extremism.New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who took over as leader from Ardern, announced Tuesday he’d appointed Ardern as Special Envoy for the Christchurch Call. Hipkins said Ardern would begin the part-time role this month, right after she leaves Parliament and that she’d declined to accept any pay. He said the role would be reviewed at the end of the year.Ardern launched the Christchurch Call with French President Emmanuel Macron in 2019, two months after a white supremacist gunman killed 51 people at two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch. The gunman livestreamed the slaughter for 17 minutes on Facebook before the video was taken down. Christchurch Call’s goal is to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. More than 50 countries have since signed up to the ...

Palestinian stabs 2 Israelis in attack near army base

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:19 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — A Palestinian suspect stabbed two Israelis near an army base south of Tel Aviv on Tuesday in the latest incident in a yearlong spate of violence that shows no sign of abating. The Magen David Adom paramedic service said first responders treated two men for stab wounds in the incident on a highway near the Tsrifin military base. They were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment their injuries. Israeli media identified the two victims as soldiers. The suspect’s condition was unclear. Palestinians have carried out numerous attacks on Israeli security personnel and civilians in the past year as violence has surged.On Monday, Israeli troops killed two Palestinian gunmen during an arrest raid in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus. At least 88 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli or settler gunfire this year, according to an Associated Press tally. Palestinian attacks against Israelis have killed 15 people in the same period.The Associated Press

Credit Suisse shareholders get last crack at annual meeting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:19 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Once-venerable Credit Suisse is heading into a possible firestorm Tuesday as shareholders meet for what is shaping up to be their last crack at managers following a colossal collapse of the bank’s stock price over the last decade and as rival UBS is set to gobble up the 167-year-old Swiss lender at a bargain-basement price. In 2007, Credit Suisse shares fetched as much nearly 88 Swiss francs (dollars). Today, they’re trading at about 80 cents. As the stock skid worsened and jittery depositors pulled their money, Swiss government officials hastily orchestrated a $3.25 billion takeover by UBS two weekends ago. Political leaders, financial regulators and the central bank feared a teetering Credit Suisse could further roil global financial markets following the collapse of two U.S. banks.Crosstown competitor UBS has been known for a more conservative culture after surviving the 2008 financial crisis, thanks in part to a government bailout.The annual general meeting, ...

German climber killed in fall near Swiss resort of Zermatt

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:19 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — A German climber has died after falling some 500 meters (1,640 feet) in the Alps in southern Switzerland, police said Tuesday.The accident happened near the resort of Zermatt on Sunday, police in Valais canton (state) state in a statement. Authorities were alerted Monday that the 26-year-old man, who lived in Germany, was missing, and rescuers in a helicopter found his body on a glacier.The man had set out alone on Sunday morning to climb the Strahlhorn peak, police said in a statement. The accident happened on the Adlerpass, a mountain pass below the peak at some 3,900 meters (12,800 feet) above sea level. For reasons that weren’t immediately clear, the climber fell about 500 meters down a rock face on one side of the pass.The Associated Press

Finland set to join NATO, in blow to Putin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:19 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — Finland is set to officially become a member of NATO later on Tuesday and take its place among the ranks of the world’s biggest security alliance.Neighboring Russia has already warned that it will bolster its defenses near their joint border if NATO deploys any additional troops or equipment to what will be its 31st member country.Finland’s blue and white flag is scheduled to be raised among those of its partners outside NATO’s Brussels headquarters. Finland’s president, foreign and defense ministers will take part.The ceremony falls on NATO’s very own birthday, the 74th anniversary of the signing of its founding Washington Treaty on April 4, 1949. It also coincides with a meeting of the alliance’s foreign ministers.Turkey became the last NATO member country to ratify Finland’s membership protocol on Thursday. It will hand over the document officially enshrining that decision to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken before the ceremony.Finland will then give B...

Macron heads to China for delicate talks on Ukraine, trade

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:19 GMT

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron will muster all his diplomatic adeptness and political acumen on a three-day state visit to China where the war in Ukraine will be front and center, along with tough talks on trade.Macron is expected to warn China against sending weapons to Russia and instead ask that the country use its influence to support peace efforts. Beijing claims to hold a neutral stance in the war, but has also stressed its “no-limits friendship” with Russia. China’s President Xi Jinping last month met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.A top French official acknowledged that Paris isn’t expecting to see a major shift in the position of China’s, which has refused to criticize Russia for its actions in Ukraine.But France will push for initiatives helping ordinary Ukrainians and for possible avenues toward reaching a halfway solution to the war, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with the French presidency’s cust...

German Vice Chancellor Habeck arrives in Ukraine on surprise visit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:19 GMT

German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (pictured) arrived in Ukraine for a surprise visit. This was his first trip to Ukraine since the war started.According to Spiegel news magazine, there will be talks about the reconstruction of Ukraine which has been at war since Moscow invaded it in February 2022. Also, cooperation in the energy sector.The ministry spokesperson confirmed that Habeck arrived in Kyiv on Monday morning as minister for energy, and economy.However, the spokesperson declined to provide further information, citing security precautions.After initial criticisms of Germany's unwillingness to supply heavy weaponry Ukraine, Germany has now become a key military supporter of the country. Most recently, Germany provided Kyiv 18 Leopard 2 battle tank tanks. These are some of the most powerful weapons in the West's arsenal.During the conflict, Russia repeatedly attacked Ukraine's energy sector, sometimes leaving millions without power.Berlin was also affected by the war and had ...

Dear Abby: My mother-in-law told me her secret, and then died. Should I reveal it?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:19 GMT

DEAR ABBY: About 20 years ago, my mother-in-law confided something shocking to me.Some background: My husband has two sisters. One is a year older and looks just like him. They both resemble their dad. The younger sister looks nothing like her siblings or their dad.My MIL told me she and her husband stopped having sex after my husband was born. When I asked, “What about the younger sister?” she said she made a “mistake” with someone.We talked, and I suggested how important it was to tell her children about this, but she never did. She always told people the younger one looked so different because she was so many years younger than the other two.Both she and my father-in-law have passed away now.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: I have no money of my own because my spouse takes my whole paycheck Advice | Dear Abby: My neighbor lurks near my house and takes pictures. What should I do? Advice | Dear Abby: She dumped m...

Taiwan rejects China pressure ahead of House speaker meeting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:19 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan remained defiant ahead of the island president’s expected meeting with the U.S. House speaker on Wednesday, after China threatened retaliation multiple times in the past week. Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has been visiting the island’s remaining diplomatic allies in Latin America, Belize and Guatemala. The most politically sensitive part of her trip will be the meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles while she transits on her way back home. The visit — while important for Taiwan in demonstrating its overseas support — is fraught for both Taiwan and the U.S. because China views Taiwan as its territory and treats any dealings between U.S. and Taiwanese officials as a challenge to its sovereignty.Belize and Guatemala represent two of Taiwan’s 13 formal allies across the world, a number that has dipped as China has put pressure on and funneled money into isolating the island. Tsai’s Latin American trip comes j...

Exjefe de gabinete del gobernador de Maryland muere tras enfrentamiento con el FBI

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:19 GMT

El exjefe de gabinete de Maryland, Roy McGrath murió el lunes tras resultar herido en un enfrentamiento con agentes de las fuerzas del orden que ocurrió al no presentarse a juicio, según informó el abogado de su esposa. McGrath, en su día uno de los principales asesores de un exgobernador de Maryland, murió el lunes por la noche, según el abogado William Brennan. Larry Hogan, exgobernador de Maryland, revela no tener la intención de retar a Trump en la carrera republicana de 2024 Citarán como testigo al gobernador de Maryland en caso contra su exjefe de gabinete “Está absolutamente angustiada”, dijo Brennan por teléfono sobre su cliente, Lauran Bruner.El agente especial supervisor del FBI en Maryland, Shayne Buchwald, dijo en un correo electrónico que McGrath había resultado herido durante un tiroteo en el que participó un agente de la ley alrededor de las 6:30 p.m. en las afueras del suroeste de Knoxville (Tennessee)....