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Pakistan’s caretaker premier is to be sworn in as people celebrate Independence Day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:40 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar is to be sworn in Monday as Pakistan’s prime minister to head a caretaker national government that will oversee parliamentary elections.Kakar, who is comparatively new to politics, has been representing his Baluchistan province in the Senate since 2018.On Sunday, Kakar quit as the head of his small Baluchistan Awami Party and quit as a senator after being named by outgoing premier Shehbaz Sharif and opposition leader Raza Riaz to oversee the vote and run the day-to-day affairs of the government until the people elect a new government. It is normal practice in Pakistan to appoint a caretaker administration for the election period.Under the constitution, the election should take place in the next 90 days.The swearing-in is taking place as Pakistanis celebrate the country’s 76th Independence Day. But the day comes amid a deepening political turmoil, which started after the removal of former premier Imran Khan from power last year. Pakistan gai...

Chinese Defense Minister Li to visit Russia and Belarus in show of support despite West’s objections

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:40 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu is visiting Russia and Belarus in a show of support for those nations which the West has sought to isolate over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Li departed Monday on the six-day trip, during which he will deliver an address at the Moscow Conference on International Security and meet with defense leaders from Russia and other nations, the Defense Ministry said on its social media account, citing spokesperson Col. Wu Qian. Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov is due to speak at the conference on the topic of the “Majority World countries’ search for ways to development outside Western mechanisms, including strengthening multilateral associations of a new type,” Russia’s official TASS news agency reported. It said representatives from about 100 countries and eight international organizations had been invited to attend. The would “discuss various aspects of security in the conditions of the establishment of a mul...

South Africa’s unemployment is a ‘ticking time bomb.’ Anger rises with millions jobless

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:40 GMT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — As Lebohang Mphuthi works amid the chaos of boisterous children during a lunch break at the Omar H.S. Ebrahim elementary school in South Africa — the kids are pushing, shoving and spilling food everywhere — she can’t help but think how this is as far from her dream job as it can get.Four years after graduating with a degree in analytical chemistry, the only work the 26-year-old has found is as a student assistant at a public school in Pretoria. Her responsibilities include handing out meals to the children and limiting the chaos as best she can.Mphuthi’s story mirrors those of so many young South African graduates sitting at home jobless or trying to make ends meet doing fairly menial jobs in a country with a 33% official unemployment rate. It’s a figure badly at odds with the status of a nation meant to embody the aspirations of Africa and the developing world.“It is demotivating and frustrating,” Mphuthi said of her battle to make progress. “Y...

Far-right populist Javier Milei is the biggest vote-getter in Argentina’s presidential primary

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:40 GMT

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Far-right populist Javier Milei rocked Argentina’s political establishment Sunday by emerging as the biggest vote-getter in primary elections to choose presidential candidates for the October general election in a nation battered by economic woes.Milei, an admirer of former U.S. President Donald Trump, says Argentina’s Central Bank should be abolished, thinks climate change is a lie, characterizes sex education as a ploy to destroy the family, believes the sale of human organs should be legal and wants to make it easier to own handguns.Votes were still being counted late Sunday, but analysts agreed that the upstart candidate who gained notoriety — and a rockstar-like following — by angrily ranting against the “political caste” did much better than expected and is a real contender for the presidency in this South American country.With around 92% of polling locations reporting, Milei had around 30% of the total vote, according to official results. The ca...

Candidate registrations for Iran’s parliamentary elections hit record high

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:40 GMT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A record number of people registered to become candidates in Iran’s parliamentary elections scheduled for March, the Interior Ministry said Monday.The elections will be the first since nationwide protests rocked the country last year.Nearly 49,000 people filed paperwork seeking to run as candidates during a one-week registration period that ended on Sunday, the ministry website said.That number is more than three times the 16,000 registrations filed in the last election in 2020, when voter turnout was its lowest since 1979, with just over 42% of eligible voters casting ballots.There were no details on the registration of prominent political figures or pro-reform groups. The increase in filings was seen as a result of an easy online registration process.Some 14% of submissions were from women, an increase from 12% in 2020. About 250 current members of the 290-seat parliament also registered.Authorities in the coming weeks will verify the documents filed by w...

Iran arrests 9 members of Baha’i faith on charges of smuggling medicine and financial wrongdoing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:40 GMT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s intelligence ministry arrested nine members of the Baha’i faith on charges of smuggling medicine and financial wrongdoing, state media reported on Monday.State IRAN newspaper said the arrested people, mostly members of one family, had roles in smuggling medicine though a network of dozens of pharmacies. It said they bribed medics to send clients to the pharmacies and were involved in money laundering and tax evasion.Iran bans the Baha’i religion, which was founded in the 1860s by a Persian nobleman considered a prophet by his followers, and from time to time has arrested and prosecuted members of the faith on spying and security charges.Muslims consider the Prophet Muhammad the highest and last prophet.In 2013, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, urged Iranians to avoid all dealings with the Baha’i. Khamenei’s fatwa, or religious order, supported similar fatwas in the past by other clerics.In 2022, authorities arrest...

Recent graduates: New high in employment in 2022

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:40 GMT

In 2022, 82% of recent graduates (ISCED 2011 levels 3-8) aged 20-34 in the EU were employed. From 2014 to 2022, the employment rate for this group rose by 7 percentage points (pp), showing a consistent rising trend interrupted only by the COVID-19 pandemic.The employment rate in 2022 marked a new peak, surpassing the previous high of 81% achieved in 2018, a rate that had remained unchanged in 2019.Source dataset: edat_lfse_24The employment rate for recent male graduates has consistently been higher than that for recent female graduates. However, in 2022, the gap was narrowed down to 2 pp, marking the smallest disparity recorded in the eight-year span from 2014 to 2022. Meanwhile, the largest disparity between 2014 and 2022 was recorded in 2019 (4 pp). The disparities in employment rates may be explained by the nature of the fields studied, as there are differences in labour market demand. Women and men tend to study different fields - for example, a higher proportion of science...

Jill On Money: Note to the Fed — Time to pause

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:40 GMT

Nobody at the Federal Reserve has asked for my opinion, but here it is: Once again, it is time to pause on rate hikes.Related ArticlesBusiness | A megahost might run your Airbnb: Why it matters Business | 4 ways restarting student loan payments could impact economy Business | More cardholders carrying credit card balances in high rate environment Business | Women’s soccer games are way cheaper than men’s, so cheer them on Business | How climate change could make your home harder to insure I know that central bankers are terrified that inflation will rear its ugly head again — and admittedly, the July CPI report could show an increase in the annual inflation rate from June’s 3 percent.Adding to the Fed’s concerns is a rise in oil prices after Saudi Arabia’s announced production cuts, which has caused prices at the pump to jump by almost $0.30 per gallon over the past month.Fed officials do not want to be ...

The six most expensive reported home sales in Fremont the week of July 31

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:40 GMT

A house in Fremont that sold for $2.9 million tops the list of the most expensive residential real estate sales in Fremont in the past week.In total, six residential real estate sales were recorded in the area during the past week, with an average price of $1.3 million, $902 per square foot.The prices in the list below concern real estate sales where the title was recorded during the week of July 31 even if the property may have been sold earlier.6. $454,000, condominium in the 47100 block of Warm Springs BoulevardThe property in the 47100 block of Warm Springs Boulevard in Fremont has new owners. The price was $454,000. The condominium was built in 1982 and has a living area of 760 square feet. The price per square foot is $597. The condominium features one bedrooms and one bathrooms.Warm Springs Boulevard5. $640,000, condominium in the 100 block of Hackamore LaneThe property in the 100 block of Hackamore Lane in Fremont has new owners. The price was $640,000. The condominium was b...

Spain nervous ahead of Women’s World Cup semifinal, a match against tournament stalwart Sweden

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:40 GMT

SYDNEY (AP) — Spain failed to qualify for the first six editions of the Women’s World Cup, but once La Roja made the tournament in 2015 they’ve made a steady climb toward joining the global elite. Spain scored its first point with a draw in its World Cup debut. Four years later, Spain advanced to the knockout round before it was eliminated by the U.S. team that went on to clinch a second consecutive championship. Now in their third World Cup, the Spaniards have reached a new level and face Sweden in the first World Cup semifinal on Tuesday at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. It is Spain’s first semifinal match in a major tournament since the 1997 European Championships, and the reward for making it this far? A match against the second-ranked team in the world that has already eliminated the U.S. and Japan in this tournament. The Swedes are playing in a fifth World Cup semifinal: they were runners-up in 2003, finished third three times, and, just to note how cons...