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Britain officially joins an Asia-Pacific trade group that includes Japan and 10 other nations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:41 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Britain on Sunday officially joined an Asia-Pacific trade group that includes Japan and 10 other nations during a meeting in New Zealand.The trade bloc covers more than 500 million people and 15% of the world’s economy. For Britain, it represents the largest trade deal it has struck since leaving the European Union more than three years ago. Britain first announced in March it had reached an agreement to join the bloc, which was created in 2018, after more than two years of negotiations. It is the first new member to join the bloc, called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). It also includes New Zealand, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.“We are honored to become the CPTPP’s first new member and to join this extraordinary community of now 12 economies spanning Asia, the Pacific and now Europe,” said British Trade Minister Kemi Badenoch. “This is a modern a...

Putin says Russia has ‘sufficient stockpile’ of cluster bombs as Ukraine gets its own supply from US

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:41 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview published Sunday that Russia has a “sufficient stockpile” of cluster munitions, and warned that Russia “reserves the right to take reciprocal action” if Ukraine uses the controversial weapons.In his first comments on the delivery of cluster munitions to Ukraine from the U.S., Putin said that Russia has not used cluster bombs in its war in Ukraine so far. The use of cluster bombs by both Russia and Ukraine has been widely documented, including by The Associated Press and international humanitarian organizations, and cluster rounds have been found in the aftermath of Russian strikes.“Until now, we have not done this, we have not used it, and we have not had such a need,” he said, Rossiya TV reporter Pavel Zarubin published excerpts of the interview to his Telegram channel Sunday ahead of a scheduled broadcast Sunday night.The Pentagon said Thursday that cluster munitions provided by the United States had arrive...

2024 GOP candidates desperate to make debate stage are finding creative ways to boost donor numbers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:41 GMT

With six weeks until the first 2024 Republican presidential debate, some hopefuls are finding creative ways to boost their donor numbers and ensure they make it on stage.Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy rolled out a plan to let people who raise money for his campaign keep 10% of what they take in from other donors. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is offering $20 Mastercard or Visa gift cards in return for campaign donations of as little as $1. Businessman Perry Johnson is offering copies of his book in exchange for donations.The unusual efforts are in response to a Republican National Committee requirement that participants in the Aug. 23 debate in Milwaukee raise money from at least 40,000 donors across the country. That’s a tall task for some of the hopefuls who aren’t as well known as former President Donald Trump or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.It’s a recognition of the make-it-or-break-it opportunity that the debate stage provides for lower-tier candidates in a...

Iran’s morality police return after protests in a new campaign to impose Islamic dress on women

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:41 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian authorities on Sunday announced a new campaign to force women to wear the Islamic headscarf and morality police returned to the streets 10 months after the death of a woman in their custody sparked nationwide protests.The morality police had largely pulled back following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last September, as authorities struggled to contain mass protests calling for the overthrow of the theocracy that has ruled Iran for over four decades.The protests largely died down earlier this year following a heavy crackdown in which over 500 protesters were killed and nearly 20,000 detained. But many women continued to flaunt the official dress code, especially in the capital, Tehran, and other cities.The morality police were only rarely seen patrolling the streets, and in December, there were even some reports — later denied — that they had been disbanded.Authorities insisted throughout the crisis that the rules had not changed. Ira...

College students struggling with hunger face potential loss of food stamp benefits

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:41 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Raised on welfare by his grandmother, Joseph Sais relied so much on food stamps as a college student that he thought about quitting school when his eligibility was revoked.In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sais said, he missed an “important letter” and temporarily lost his eligibility in SNAP, the foundational anti-poverty program commonly known as food stamps. “There were times when I was taking a test and instead of focusing on the test, I’m focused on what I’m going to be able to eat tonight,” said Sais, who graduated from Sacramento State University with a degree in political science and journalism and is now a first-year graduate student at the same school.Sais, whose eligibility was restored earlier this year, is part of a largely hidden group that researchers and policymakers are still trying to address: full-time college students struggling with serious food insecurity. Radha Muthiah, president of the Capital Area Food Bank. calls it a hidden cr...

2 survivors rescued from rubble of collapsed apartment building in Naples, Italian media say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:41 GMT

ROME (AP) — A three-story apartment building collapsed Sunday in a seaside suburb of Naples, and at least two people were pulled out alive from the rubble as rescuers searched for any others who might be trapped, Italian media reported.Italian news agency ANSA said a woman was rescued from the debris of the building in Torre del Greco, which is 12 kilometers (about 7 miles) from Naples in southern Italy’s Campania region. Shortly after, Italian state TV said a second survivor was extracted.Police and firefighters scrambled over a mound of rubble in a search for additional survivors or any victims. It was not immediately clear how many people might have been in or near the building in the town’s center when it came down.Five squads of firefighters were deployed at the scene. The Associated Press

‘Catastrophe:’ Strong opposition to Lac-Mégantic rail bypass 10 years after tragedy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:41 GMT

LAC-MÉGANTIC, Que. — Raymond Savoie has lived all his 71 years in a small stone house, surrounded by farmland, that was originally built by his great-grandfather nearly 100 years ago in Lac-Mégantic, Que.But last month, he and his partner, Rita Boulanger, learned that their home and part of their land will be expropriated by the federal government on Aug. 1 for a project to divert trains from the community’s downtown, parts of which were destroyed in 2013 when an oil-laden train derailed and killed 47 people.At first he was told the house would be moved, or dismantled stone by stone and rebuilt, but he doesn’t believe them. “They want to put a bulldozer in it,” he said.The 12.5-kilometre rail bypass was supposed to help the town heal from the collective trauma of the disaster. But 10 years after the tragedy, work has yet to begin, and the bypass has become a source of division and anger rather than unity.Ottawa confirmed in mid-June that it would expropriate ...

5 people shot, 1 fatally, in Garfield Park drive-by: CPD

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:41 GMT

CHICAGO -- Four people were injured and one is dead after a drive-by shooting that took place in the city's Garfield Park neighborhood overnight. According to police, officers found multiple injured individuals near the 4000 block of West Washington Boulevard around 2:07 am. with gunshot wounds.Police said a 40-year-old woman sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the body and was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Prisoner on the way to jail breaks free from custody, carjacks 2 vehicles before being arrested in Wisconsin A 38-year-old woman sustained a gunshot wound to the buttocks and was transported to Stroger Hospital where she is listed in fair condition.A39-year-old man was shot in the arm and transported to Stroger Hospital where he is listed in fair condition. One victim told officers that the individual who fired shots was travelling in a car during the time of the shooting.There is currently no one in custody and police are investigating the...

Literary calendar for week of July 16

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:41 GMT

ZOE FISHMAN: Presents “The Fun Widow’s Book Hour” in conversation with Sherry Walling. 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 18, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.Savita Harjani (Courtesy of the author)SAVITA HARJANI: Retired Minneapolis lawyer launches “Postcards from Within: Random Ramblings of An Ordinary Human,” her memoir about caring for her dying mother in her native India for four years. The author came to the United States as a 20-year-old, earning her law degree at what is now Hamline-Mitchell Law School.  After her mother’s death in 2020, she returned to Minnesota. Her husband, Ramesh Harjani, is an electrical engineering professor at the University of Minnesota. Free. 6 p.m. Thursday, July 20, University of Minnesota Weisman Art Museum, 333 E. River Road, Mpls. Ticket information at eventbrite.com.LEBLANC/GOLDBERG: Courtney LeBlanc and Zach Goldberg of Minneapolis discuss “Her Whole Bright Life,” LeBlanc’s poetry collect...

Thousands without power in north St. Louis County after storms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:41 GMT

SPANISH LAKE, Mo. - Severe storms ripped through the region on Friday, leading to downed power lines, fallen trees, and damaged homes around north St. Louis County.Ameren crews have been busy since the storms, but thousands around Missouri remain without power as of Sunday morning. North county resident Robert Brown Jr. says he's lucky to have a backup generator after the storms, which packed heavy wind, rain and even some hail. Thousands without power in north St. Louis County after storms "I know it's God's will. I don't have control over it. I thank God for the improvements that I made and that I have the generator because I would have lost a lot of food," said Brown. A few blocks away at the Conoco gas station, owner Hanna Qumseya was without power into Saturday afternoon. Ameren reported more than 15,000 power outages in north county at its peak. "We just went and bought a generator to kind of try and speed things up until the actual power comes back on, but that's no succes...