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Biden, Modi and EU unveil rail and shipping project linking India to Middle East and Europe

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:10 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — President Joe Biden and his allies on Saturday announced plans to build a rail and shipping corridor linking India with the Middle East and Europe, an ambitious project aimed at fostering economic growth and political cooperation.“This is a big deal,” said Biden. “This is a really big deal.” The corridor would help to boost trade, transport energy resources and improve digital connectivity. It would include India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Israel and the European Union, said Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser.Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the project during the annual Group of 20 summit of the world’s top economies. It is part of an initiative called the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment. “We think that the project itself is bold and transformative, but the vision behind the project is equally bold and transformative, and we wi...

Clashes resume in largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, killing 3 and wounding 10

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:10 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Clashes resumed early Saturday at the largest refugee camp in Lebanon between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah group and militant Islamist groups, killing three people and wounding 10 others Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, discussed with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas the volatile situation in an attempt to end the fighting. Mikati called for an end to the fighting saying that what is happening in Ein el-Hilweh “does not serve the Palestinian cause and is harmful to the Lebanese state.”Sounds of gunfire and explosions could be heard in the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp and nearby areas on the edge of the southern port city of Sidon.The fighting resumed Friday, after a month of creative calm, forcing hundreds of people to flee for safety in nearby areas.Fatah had accused the militant Islamist groups of gunning down one of their top military officials on July 30. At least 20 people were wounded Friday.The Lebanese army said in a statement th...

Soccer star Achraf Hakimi urges Moroccans to ‘help each other’ after earthquake

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:10 GMT

AGADIR, Morocco (AP) — The status of Morocco’s soccer game Saturday night as part of African Cup of Nations qualifying was uncertain after an earthquake struck the country, killing more than 800 people.Morocco was scheduled to play Liberia at Adrar Stadium in Agadir.The earthquake struck late Friday night. It has killed hundreds of people and damaged buildings from villages in the Atlas Mountains to the historic city of Marrakech. Rescuers struggled to get through boulder-strewn roads to the remote mountain villages hit hardest.Star player Achraf Hakimi offered his condolences.“We are living a difficult moment for our fellow citizens. It is time to help each other to save as many lives as possible. My condolences to all who lost a loved one,” Hakimi wrote on Instagram.The Confederation of African Football did not immediately respond to an email about the status of the game.Agadir is roughly 170 kilometers (105 miles) southwest of the epicenter of Friday’s tremor — near the tow...

Powerful earthquake in Morocco kills more than 800, damages historic buildings in Marrakech

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:10 GMT

MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP) — A rare, powerful earthquake struck Morocco late Friday night, killing more than 800 people and damaging buildings from villages in the Atlas Mountains to the historic city of Marrakech. But the full toll was not known as rescuers struggled to get through boulder-strewn roads to the remote mountain villages hit hardest.People woken by the quake ran into the streets in terror and disbelief. A man visiting a nearby apartment said dishes and wall hangings began raining down, and people were knocked off their feet and chairs. A woman described fleeing her house after an “intense vibration.’’ A man holding a child said he was jarred awake in bed by the shaking.State television showed people clustered in the streets of Marrakech, afraid to go back inside buildings that might still be unstable. Many wrapped themselves in blankets as they tried to sleep outside.The magnitude 6.8 quake was the hardest to hit Morocco in 120 years, and it toppled buildings and walls in...

Cases of COVID-19 are on the rise – here's how you can still get free tests

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:10 GMT

(NewsNation) — COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths are climbing heading into the fall, and although free testing isn’t as widely accessible as it once was, low- or no-cost tests may still be available.The government’s program that mailed free tests through COVIDtests.gov has been suspended and as of June 1 is no longer accepting orders. Updated COVID-19 booster coming: What you need to know However, an estimated 10,000 Increasing Community Access to Testing (ICATT) sites continue to support testing. Testing at those sites remains free for people without health insurance.Other community-based testing sites can be located on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website.Health centers provide free or low-cost COVID-19 tests to people who meet certain criteria and may provide sliding fee discounts based on patients’ income and family size.Some insurance plans still reimburse for testing, according to CBS. Previously expired tests may still be usable, too.The expiration da...

Could Trump be blocked from ballot? 14th Amendment raises eligibility arguments

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:10 GMT

Donald Trump’s campaign for a second term alongside his prosecution for seeking to block the transfer of power has raised questions over whether the former president can be barred from the ballot under a 14th Amendment provision targeting those involved in insurrections.A handful of Colorado residents have launched a suit to remove Trump from the ballot there, a challenge that hinges on a clause in the 14th Amendment that states no person shall hold elected office who "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the United States. Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which helped file the suit on behalf of six Republican and independent voters, equated the provision to other qualifications for running for office. “The 14th Amendment says that anybody who swore an oath to support the Constitution and then engaged in insurrection is disqualified,” Bookbinder told The Hill. “The Constitution says you need to be 35 y...

A wet 7-Day Forecast

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:10 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Let's start today's discussion with some good news. First, rain and thunderstorms are in the forecast from today through at least Friday. Second, triple-digit highs are forecast only today and tomorrow.Friday's high at Camp Mabry was 107°, smashing the previous record of 102° in 2019. The high at Austin-Bergstrom was also 107°, easily besting the previous record of 103° in 1963.Most highs today will reach 101° to 105°. Today's record is 101° set in 2019. A Heat Advisory will begin at noon and last through 7 p.m. for 14 of our 15 counties. This is for highs up to 104° and heat index values approaching 109°.Gillespie County is the only county NOT under the Heat Advisory.Today's normal high is 93°Weekend forecastThe center of the upper-level high is over southwest New Mexico. It will continue to move further away from Central Texas leading to the lower temperatures this week. Highs in the 90s are predicted every day beginning Monday.Overnight showers and thunderstorms ...

Use your phone as a pocket tutor for study on the go

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:10 GMT

Autumn is edging closer, and the return to a more regular office schedule looms for many people — and with it, the waiting time for transportation, meetings and appointments. Games, reading, social-media scrolls or just zoning out are common ways to spend these spells, but if you want more mental stimulation, why not boost your brain with brief lessons in subjects that interest you? Here’s a guide to finding Android and iOS apps that turn your smartphone into a traveling pocket tutor.Learn a LanguageWeb-based academic courses and music lessons have boomed in the past few years, especially as remote learning became a part of pandemic life. Although Apple and Google have their own free translation apps, some people also found online language lessons useful. No one wants to hear you practice your French pronunciation on a commuter train, but several language-instruction apps offer free or inexpensive tutorials in vocabulary and grammar that you can do quietly or while wearing headphone...

Denver property owners may not start paying sidewalk fees until July under proposed delay

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:10 GMT

Denver homeowners and businesses facing the prospect of paying new fees to fuel a voter-approved sidewalk repair and construction program may get a temporary reprieve as city leaders consider delaying the start by six months.City Councilwoman Amanda Sandoval has filed a proposal that would delay the launch of the city’s voter-approved sidewalk repair program fee from Jan. 1 to July 1. She said Friday that the delay would allow more time for fine-tuning of the fee program by a city task force to ensure the charges are collected in an equitable way.But the delay also would mean that city residents yearning for city crews to begin upgrading ragged walks and rollways in some neighborhoods — and filling in sidewalk gaps elsewhere — may have to wait longer, too. And it would reduce the first-year take, estimated at $40 million, by half.The council’s land use and infrastructure committee is set to consider the six-month delay in the effective date of the program on ...

What It Means To Be An Invisible Asian In The Shadow Of Model Minorities

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:10 GMT

The author’s great uncle, former Prime Minister of Laos, Prince Boun Oum Na Champassak, standing behind former U.S. President John F. Kennedy and the last King of Laos, Sisavang Vatthana. Billingsley says due to pervasive stereotyping, many Asian Americans struggle to feel seen or heard — yet perceptions are changing.Growing up, some people saw me as part of the “model minority”.They assumed because I was Asian American, I was stereotypically well-off and driven — with parents who fit a certain mold. If you’re Asian American, people think you’re smart — that you have tiger parents and a career path planned out by the time you finish elementary school.The thing is, not everyone saw me that way. Being mixed with Southeast Asian, sometimes people expect the opposite to be true. The reality is that I’m an ethnically ambiguous child of mainly Chinese and Vietnamese parents from Laos.You might say I’m more of an “invisible Asian.” I was what comedian Ali Wong refers to as “half jungle As...