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Brazil’s Lula upbeat on EU-Mercosur deal, calls for peace in Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:11 GMT

BRUSSELS — Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva raised hopes on Wednesday that a landmark EU-South America trade deal can be finalized this year, but stuck to his more ambiguous line on Russia’s war against Ukraine.Reaching a common position with Latin American countries that condemns Russia’s invasion is a priority for EU leaders, as the bloc hopes to strike a major trade and political cooperation agreement with the Mercosur bloc that comprises Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.Speaking to reporters in a hotel conference room following a two-day EU-Latin America summit, however, Luiz warned that “the world is getting tired” of the war and said that “a path toward peace” must be found.For the moment “neither [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy nor [Russian President Vladimir] Putin want to talk about peace now because they both think they can win,” Lula said. He reiterated his proposal to create a peace-orient...

Scott Morton pulls out, throwing EU into disarray

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:11 GMT

American economist Fiona Scott Morton has withdrawn from her appointment as the European Commission’s chief competition economist after a political backlash culminating in criticism from French President Emmanuel Macron about the choice of a non-EU candidate for the role.“Given the controversy that has arisen because of the selection of a non-European to fill this position, and the importance that the Directorate General has the full backing of the European Union as it enforces, I have determined that the best course of action is for me to withdraw and not take up the Chief Economist position,” Scott Morton said in a letter published by European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager on Twitter Wednesday morning.The Yale University professor’s former ties to Big Tech companies including Microsoft and Apple raised eyebrows, as she would have been in charge of advising on the Digital Markets Act, the EU law designed to tame those very companies. Scott ...

Manchester, NH man arrested for alleged sexual assault of a child

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:11 GMT

A Manchester, New Hampshire man was arrested in Sandwich last week as a result of an investigation into the reported sexual assault of a child in Manchester over a period of time, officials announced.James L. Aubuchont, 51, was arrested by the US Marshal Service with the assistance of the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and the US Forest Service.He was ordered held without bail on a charge of aggravated felonious sexual assault and violating his parole.Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Adrianne Davenport at 603-792-5549, or the Manchester Police Department at 603-668-8711.

Chicago White Sox can’t completely dig out of early hole in 11-10 loss to the New York Mets

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:11 GMT

Two runs were already in for the New York Mets in the first inning Tuesday at Citi Field.Chicago White Sox starter Lucas Giolito wanted to limit the damage.Mets catcher Francisco Álvarez had other ideas.Álvarez hit a two-run home run. Brett Baty followed with another homer and the Sox were down by five runs.The Sox couldn’t completely climb out of the huge hole, falling 11-10 to the Mets in front of 37,109.“I clearly didn’t have it tonight,” Giolito said. “It hurts because the whole team came to play. Battled all the way back. I just didn’t have feel and I didn’t make adjustments.“It was a very poor performance and I feel bad. We had a real chance to win this game if I was just half decent.”The Sox trailed by as many as seven before making a game of it late.“We battled all game long, just didn’t get there,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “I’m happy with these guys, the way they fought. I’...

Aaron Boone talks Yankees’ lifeless offense after losing to Mickey Moniak, Angels

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:11 GMT

ANAHEIM — Aaron Boone listed several reasons for pitching to the red-hot Shohei Ohtani during the seventh inning of the Yankees’ Monday night loss to the Angels. The one that raised the most eyebrows was Mickey Moniak.“The guy hitting behind him is really good, too,” Boone said of Moniak before Tuesday’s contest while reflecting on Ohtani’s seventh-inning at-bat, which resulted in a game-tying homer. “That guy’s in the middle of a really kind of burst on the scene year where the guy’s hitting .330 and well over a .900 OPS.”While Moniak, the first overall pick in 2016, is enjoying a breakout campaign, the mention of his name drew criticism because he’s hardly an established force like Ohtani. A career .239 hitter on his second team, this season has been Moniak’s first extended look in the majors, and his campaign hasn’t even reached 50 games yet.Boone, also citing the situation, chose to challenge the super...

Russia hits critical port facilities in Odesa after Kremlin halts grain deal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:11 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia unleashed intense drone and missile attacks overnight Wednesday, damaging critical port infrastructure in southern Ukraine, including grain and oil terminals, and wounding at least 12 people, officials said. The bombardment targeted the port city of Odesa, days after President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine for an attack on the crucial Kerch Bridge linking Russia with the Crimean Peninsula, which the Kremlin illegally annexed from Kyiv in 2014. Putin also pulled Moscow out of its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a wartime deal that enabled Ukraine’s exports to reach many countries facing the threat of hunger. Russian emergency officials in Crimea, meanwhile, said more than 2,200 people were evacuated from four villages because of a fire at a military facility.The blaze forced the closure of an important highway, according to Sergey Aksyonov, the Moscow-appointed head of the peninsula. He didn’t specify a cause for the fire at th...

Taliban use tasers, fire hoses and gun fire to break up Afghan women protesting beauty salon ban

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:11 GMT

Dozens of Afghan women protested a beauty salon ban Wednesday after the Taliban ordered their closure nationwide. Security forces used fire hoses, tasers and shot their guns into the air to break up the protest.The Taliban said earlier this month they were giving all salons in Afghanistan one month to wind down their businesses and close shop, drawing concern from international officials worried about the impact on female entrepreneurs. The Taliban say they are outlawing salons allegedly because they offer services forbidden by Islam and cause economic hardship for grooms’ families during wedding festivities.The ruling came from the Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. It’s the latest curb on the rights and freedoms of Afghan women and girls, following edicts barring them from education, public spaces and most forms of employment.In a rare sign of public opposition to Taliban orders, dozens of beauticians and makeup artists gathered in the capital Kabul to protest the ban.“We...

Ex-Venezuelan spy chief Carvajal extradited from Spain to U.S. on drug trafficking charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:11 GMT

MADRID (AP) — The former Venezuelan spy chief, retired Maj. Gen. Hugo Carvajal, wanted on charges of drug trafficking by the United States, is on his way from Spain to the New York on extradition orders, an official with knowledge of the case and his lawyer said Wednesday.A person at Spain’s National Court with knowledge of the extradition confirmed to The Associated Press that Carvajal had left the country. The person spoke anonymously because she was not authorized to speak publicly about the case.According to his U.S. lawyer, Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma, Carvajal is expected to land in New York later on Wednesday.For more than a decade, Carvajal advised the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez before breaking with his successor Nicolás Maduro. He had been fighting extradition to the U.S. since he was arrested in Spain in April 2019.Prosecutors in New York allege that Carvajal used his high office to coordinate the smuggling of approximately 5,600 kilograms (12,300 pounds) of coca...

At least 5 injured in Kenya anti-government protests over rising cost of living

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:11 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — At least five protesters were injured in Kenya Wednesday as police clashed with demonstrators who are calling for the government to lower the cost of living.The opposition has called for three days of countrywide protests starting Wednesday in a new wave of demonstrations aimed at forcing the president to repeal a finance law imposing new taxes.President William Ruto had vowed that no protests would take place in the country, saying he would take on opposition leader Raila Odinga “head-on.”Four protesters were injured in the capital, Nairobi’s Mathare area, according to a police officer who wished to remain anonymous as he was not authorized to speak to the media. The Associated Press team covered a man who was injured in Kibera slums.Businesses in Nairobi remained closed on Wednesday as police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters.Demonstrations were reported in several other parts of the country including the western counties of Kisumu, Migor...

Thai Parliament blocks leader of party that won election from being renominated for prime minister

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:11 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — The bitter battle to name Thailand’s next prime minister took a major turn Wednesday as Parliament voted to deny Pita Limjaroenrat, whose progressive Move Forward Party won a surprise victory in May’s election, a second chance to be confirmed for the post.Pita had assembled a coalition of parties holding a majority in the House of Representatives. But his nomination for prime minister was defeated in a joint vote of the House and Senate last week, with conservative military-appointed senators mostly refusing their support.A joint session debated Wednesday whether Pita could be nominated for a second time, and House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha then put the question to a vote. A motion to deny him a second chance was passed by a vote of 395 to 312 with eight abstentions. The meeting of Parliament was then adjourned with no immediate indication of when it would vote again on a new prime minister.It was the second blow suffered by Pita on Wednesday, after the Constitut...