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Sudan conflict: UK begins evacuation of British nationals amid cease-fire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:42 GMT

LONDON — Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the U.K. government “is coordinating an evacuation of British nationals from Sudan,” after a cease-fire was agreed between the warring sides there last night.“We have started contacting nationals directly and providing routes for departure out of the country,” Cleverly tweeted early Tuesday.An estimated 4,000 civilians now face a tense few hours, as they wait to be told to head to a military airfield just outside the capital Khartoum, and on to safety.A power struggle between Sudan’s military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemeti,” has plunged Sudan into fierce fighting. Around 500 people have died so far, with fighting across the African nation.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced overnight that the two groups had agreed to a 72-hour nationwide cease-fire, beginning at midnight.Pressure had been growing on the U.K. ...

Coronation gives tourism boost, but UK economy still reeling

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:42 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Kelly Curto is taking her first trip outside the U.S., and the die-hard fan of the British royal family is making it the one at the top of her bucket list — heading to London for King Charles III’s coronation.After arriving on May 5, the 44-year-old school bus driver from Long Island and a friend will head to the Mall, the ceremonial avenue to Buckingham Palace where the monarch’s pomp-filled procession will pass by the following day. That’s where they plan to spend the night if they can find a good spot to glimpse the gilded horse-drawn state coach, royals and thousands of soldiers filing past — despite splurging on a four-star hotel for their nine-day trip.“This is like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You get to be part of history,” Curto said. “Everybody around the world knows this family. Everybody around the world is going to be watching this coronation — and we get to be a part of that.” The coronation is luring royal enthusiasts f...

Pakistani police say electrical shorts caused deadly blasts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:42 GMT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police said Tuesday the twin blasts that struck a counterterrorism facility in the country’s northwest and killed 13 people the previous day were caused by electrical shorts and not a terror attack, as initially suggested.The short circuits occurred on Monday at a munition warehouse within the facility in Swat, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. Along with those killed, more than 50 people, mostly police officers, were wounded when the shorts ignited explosions, seconds apart. Initially, police said it could be an act of terrorism but an investigation later concluded that short circuits caused the explosions, according to a police statement released on Tuesday. Nasir Mahmood Satti, a district police chief, also confirmed there was no attack from the outside. Associated Press images from the scene showed destroyed cars and downed trees at the facility, which also houses a police station and the headquarters of a ...

Guatemala leader in Taiwan expresses ‘rock-solid friendship’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:42 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The president of Guatemala appealed to other governments to respect Taiwan’s sovereignty during an official visit Tuesday at a time when China’s ruling Communist Party is stepping up efforts to isolate the self-ruled island democracy Beijing claims as its own territory.President Alejandro Giammattei’s government is one of a dwindling number that have official relations with Taipei instead of Beijing. Legislators from the United States and Europe have visited to show support in the face of Beijing’s attempts to intimidate the island, but their governments have official relations with China, not Taiwan.Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war. Taiwan never has been part of the People’s Republic of China, but the Communist Party says it is obliged to unite with the mainland, by force if necessary.“I would like to appeal to the international community and the free world that we should strive to respect Taiwan’s sovereignty and ...

Hundreds gather in Turkey to remember WWI dead on Anzac Day

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:42 GMT

CANAKKALE, Turkey (AP) — Hundreds of people gathered by a beach near the former World War I battlefields on Turkey’s Gallipoli Peninsula on Tuesday to pay homage to soldiers from Australia and New Zealand who lost their lives in a disastrous campaign 108 years ago.The Anzac Day services began as the first light broke on the peninsula in northwest Turkey, with a mournful Aboriginal didgeridoo performance and the singing of hymns and solemn songs. The annual ceremonies mark the first landings of troops from the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps, known as Anzacs, at Gallipoli at dawn on April 25, 1915.The landings were part of a failed British-led campaign to take the Ottoman Empire out of the war. More than 44,000 Allied soldiers and 86,000 Ottoman soldiers died during the campaign that lasted for eight months.Around 1,700 people — dignitaries and others who made the annual pilgrimage — held a minute of silence to remember the fallen soldiers. The service also included wreath-layin...

Ex-UN head Ban Ki-moon calls for end to Myanmar violence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:42 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for an immediate end to violence in Myanmar after a surprise meeting with the military leaders of the violence-plagued Southeast Asian nation.Ban met Monday in the Myanmar capital Naypyitaw with the leader of the military government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, and other top officials. His mission was made on behalf of a group of elder statesmen that engages in peacemaking and human rights initiatives around the world. Ban is deputy chair of the group. which calls itself The Elders.A statement released Tuesday by the group quoted Ban as saying his meetings were “exploratory.” It said Ban, who flew to Bangkok from Naypyitaw Monday night, stressed in his talks the need to implement a peace plan by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United Nations to stop the violence between the military and the pro-democracy resistance forces following the army’s 2021 ouster of the civilian government l...

Cale Makar on hit that knocked Kraken’s Jared McCann out for at least Game 5: “I never want to injure guys”

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:42 GMT

SEATTLE — Kraken leading scorer Jared McCann will miss at least Game 5 of the first round after Cale Makar’s controversial hit Monday night, Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said.Hakstol disagreed with the officials’ decision to reduce Makar’s penalty to a two-minute minor after it was initially deemed a major.“I believe the puck is being caught by a fan as (McCann) is being run into the wall,” Hakstol said.Makar's called for a major, but after review it's reduced to a minor for interference pic.twitter.com/VqtkQGP58n— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) April 25, 2023Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said he hadn’t watched a replay of the hit yet, but he doesn’t expect the NHL to issue supplemental discipline to Makar, citing the importance of the penalty being reduced.“It’s unfortunate. I never want to injure guys,” Makar said. “Hopefully (McCann is) alright. At the end of the day, I didn’t feel like I tried to finish hi...

German public sector workers agree to wage deal with employers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:42 GMT

German public sector employees have reached a wage agreement with employers, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and the Verdi trade union announced on Saturday. This ends a dispute which has caused disruption in the transport sector of Europe's largest economy.Arbitration led to the agreement of around 2.5 million workers in this sector.The deal will see each worker receive €3,000 tax-free in monthly payments through February 2024. This is to offset inflation.It said that wages would rise by €200 per month starting in March 2024. In a second stage, the increase will be 5.5%.The contract will last for two years.Verdi had asked for 10.5% more, but said that it would begin a survey among its members, with the final decision coming from the wage commission on 15 May.Frank Werneke, Verdi's chief executive officer, said: "We have reached the pain threshold in our decision to make this compromission."The cost of living has risen dramatically in Germany this year, resulting in some of the most ...

Greek president approves PM request for 21 May election

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:42 GMT

Greece's president approved a request from Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to dissolve the parliament and hold general elections on 21 May as the country prepares for a vote which is unlikely to result in a clear winner.Mitsotakis revealed the date of the elections during a cabinet session in late March. His term ends officially in July. He told Katerina Sakellaropoulou, the president of Greece, on Saturday (22 April) that the parliament would be dissolved on 23 April."I wish us a peaceful and productive pre-election campaign, for the sake of our country," Sakellaropoulou said to the conservative premier at the start of a four week political campaign.The election will take place under a system of proportional voting. According to opinion polls, neither Mitsotakis’ New Democracy party nor Syriza, the main opposition party on the left, is likely to get the votes required for a parliamentary majority.Mitsotakis expressed his hope for full participation at the elections.A second vote...

The Bivalent Booster Is Now The Standard COVID Vaccine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:42 GMT

The bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccine will be the only one offered, in accordance with the recommendation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).The CDC and FDA said the recommendation comes in order to simplify the COVID-19 vaccination process, with Americans no longer needing to worry about getting the previously recommended monovalent mRNA vaccines.“At this stage of the pandemic, data support simplifying the use of the authorized mRNA bivalent COVID-19 vaccines and the agency believes that this approach will help encourage future vaccination,” Dr. Peter Marks of the FDA said. “COVID-19 continues to be a very real risk for many people, and we encourage individuals to consider staying current with vaccination, including with a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine. The available data continue to demonstrate that vaccines prevent the most serious outcomes of COVID-19, which are severe illness, hospitalization, and death.”Vulnerable pop...