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Netanyahu leaves hospital as Israel faces a key vote – and a crisis – over divisive legal changes

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:33 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was released from the hospital Monday after an emergency heart procedure, facing an unprecedented national crisis ahead of parliament’s vote on the first major piece of legislation to remake the country’s justice system.Demonstrators, many of whom feel the very foundations of their country are being eroded by the government’s plan, stepped up their opposition, blocking a road leading up to parliament. Businesses shuttered their doors in protest of the vote.Driven by a governing coalition made up of ultranationalist and ultra-religious parties, the judicial overhaul has divided Israel, testing the delicate social ties that bind the country, rattling the cohesion of its powerful military and repeatedly drawing concern from even its closest ally, the United States.Efforts to find a last-ditch compromise were underway, with Israel’s President Isaac Herzog shuttling between the sides, including a meeting at the...

Iran targets e-commerce giant over photos of female employees without headscarves in new crackdown

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:33 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian authorities have shut down one of the offices of the country’s biggest e-commerce company and launched judicial procedures after it published pictures online showing female employees not wearing the mandatory Islamic headscarf, semi-official media reported.The move appears to be part of a new campaign launched last week to impose the Islamic dress code nearly a year after the morality police largely melted away in the face of widespread protests.Digikala, informally known as “Iran’s Amazon,” appears to have run afoul of the rules by posting pictures of a corporate gathering in which several female employees were not wearing the hijab.The company boasts more than 40 million active monthly users and hosts over 300,000 merchants. Iranians are largely cut off from international retailers like Amazon because of Western sanctions linked to the country’s disputed nuclear program.The website of Iran’s Hamshahri daily, which ...

Stock market today: Asian shares mixed as investors watch for Fed rate hike

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:33 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mixed on Monday, with Hong Kong’s benchmark sinking 2.2% following reports suggesting China’s leaders do not plan major stimulus measures to prop up slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy. U.S. futures edged lower and oil prices also fell. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise its federal funds rate on Wednesday to its highest level since 2001. Investors are hoping that might be the final increase of the tightening cycle because inflation has been cooling since last summer. The federal funds rate started 2022 at virtually zero. A meeting this week of the powerful Politburo of the ruling Communist Party later this week had raised hope for more help for the slowing economy. While reports Monday said that was unlikely, the country’s economic planning agency disclosed detailed measures Monday to encourage private investment, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The National Development and Reform Commi...

Macron promotes French interests on a trip to South Pacific where US-China rivalry is intensifying

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:33 GMT

PARIS (AP) — The French president is heading to the South Pacific to make France’s voice heard in a region shaping up as a prime geopolitical battleground for China and the U.S.President Emmanuel Macron’s trip to Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and New Caledonia comes as French forces take part in massive U.S.-Australian-led military exercises in the region. With French troops, citizens and resources spread across its Pacific territories, France wants to protect its own interests and project its power alongside like-minded democracies worried about China’s growing assertiveness.Macron starts Monday in the French archipelago of New Caledonia, trying to rebuild trust after voters rejected a string of independence referendums that exposed entrenched frustrations of native Kanaks and inequalities with the mainland, and divisions over management of the region’s rich nickel reserves. Negotiations are underway for a new status for the territory and its institutions. After Vanuatu, Macron’s...

Landslides block key roads in northern Pakistan, as the death toll from monthlong rains rises to 133

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:33 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Landslides triggered by torrential rains have blocked several key roads in northern Pakistan, stranding tourists and disrupting traffic, officials said Monday, as the death toll from weather-related incidents in the past month rose to at least 133.Thousands of tourists have thronged scenic tourist destinations in the north in recent days, ignoring warnings from the disaster management agency, which asked people last week to avoid unnecessary trips as ongoing monsoon rains can cause landslides and flash floods.Landslides caused by rain hit several roads in the northern districts of Chitral, Dir and Battagram in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday. Authorities were trying to clear roads to restore traffic in the mountainous areas, said Taimur Khan, a spokesperson for the provincial disaster management authority.At least 133 people have died in weather-related incidents across Pakistan since June 24 when monsoon rains began.Heavy rains have swollen t...

UN Command says it’s communicating with North Korea over detained US soldier

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:33 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The deputy commander of the U.N. Command said Monday it has started conversations with North Korea over an American soldier who ran into the North last week across the Koreas’ heavily armed border.Gen. Andrew Harrison said the process has started through communications line set under the armistice agreement that stopped the fighting of the 1950-53 Korean War. He said the well-being of Pvt. Travis King remains the command’s primary concern, but refused to provide more details, citing the sensitivity of the discussions. North Korea has remained publicly silent about King, who crossed the border last Tuesday while he was supposed to be heading to Fort Bliss, Texas. U.S. officials have expressed concern about his well-being and said previously that North Korea was ignoring their requests for information about him.The update came as South Korea’s military said a nuclear-propelled U.S. submarine arrived at a port on Jeju Island in the second deployment of ...

EU launches talks on €20 billion Ukraine military fund

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:33 GMT

The European Union's foreign policy chief on Thursday (20 July) proposed a €20 billion ($22.4bn) fund to pay for weapons, ammunition and military aid for Ukraine over four years, but the plan will need more scrutiny from EU governments before any decision is made.High Representative Josep Borrell (pictured) presented the proposal to EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels as part of an effort to put European support for Kyiv on a longer-term footing after more than a year of scrambling to respond to Russia's invasion.The proposal comes amid an international drive to give Ukraine long-term security assurances, as announced by members of the G7 on the sidelines of last week's NATO summit in Vilnius."We proposed the creation of a dedicated section under the European Peace Facility to provide up to €5bn a year for the next four years for the defence needs of Ukraine," Borrell told a news conference after the meeting."This is the evaluation of the needs and the cost of our long-term sec...

Seattle plays New York on 5-game road skid

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:33 GMT

Seattle Storm (4-18, 4-7 Western Conference) at New York Liberty (16-5, 10-3 Eastern Conference)New York; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EDTBOTTOM LINE: Seattle will look to end its five-game road skid when the Storm play New York.The Liberty have gone 8-3 at home. New York ranks second in the Eastern Conference in rebounding averaging 37.2 rebounds. Breanna Stewart leads the Liberty with 9.4 boards.The Storm have gone 2-7 away from home. Seattle is 3- when it wins the turnover battle and averages 14.1 turnovers per game.The teams meet for the fourth time this season. The Liberty won 80-76 in the last meeting on July 8. Stewart led the Liberty with 25 points, and Sami Whitcomb led the Storm with 19 points.TOP PERFORMERS: Stewart is scoring 22.7 points per game and averaging 9.4 rebounds for the Liberty. Sabrina Ionescu is averaging 17.2 points and 5.9 rebounds over the last 10 games for New York.Jewell Loyd is averaging 24.3 points and 3.3 assists for the Storm. Whitcomb is averaging 11.9 points a...

Sparks take on the Fever on 8-game skid

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:33 GMT

Indiana Fever (6-16, 4-9 Eastern Conference) at Los Angeles Sparks (7-15, 6-10 Western Conference)Los Angeles; Tuesday, 10 p.m. EDTBOTTOM LINE: Los Angeles will try to break its eight-game slide when the Sparks play Indiana.The Sparks have gone 5-6 at home. Los Angeles is third in the Western Conference at limiting opponent scoring, allowing 82.5 points while holding opponents to 46.5% shooting.The Fever are 5-9 on the road. Indiana is third in the Eastern Conference with 35.0 rebounds per game led by NaLyssa Smith averaging 9.7.The Sparks and Fever face off Tuesday for the first time this season.TOP PERFORMERS: Nneka Ogwumike is scoring 19.6 points per game and averaging 9.3 rebounds for the Sparks. Jordin Canada is averaging 10.8 points and 2.4 rebounds over the last 10 games for Los Angeles.Aliyah Boston is averaging 14.8 points and eight rebounds for the Fever. Kelsey Mitchell is averaging 14.8 points over the last 10 games for Indiana.LAST 10 GAMES: Sparks: 2-8, averaging 77.7 ...

Phoenix plays Atlanta, looks to stop road skid

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:33 GMT

Phoenix Mercury (6-16, 2-11 Western Conference) at Atlanta Dream (12-10, 7-7 Eastern Conference)College Park, Georgia; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EDTBOTTOM LINE: Phoenix will look to stop its seven-game road losing streak when the Mercury play Atlanta.The Dream have gone 5-6 at home. Atlanta leads the Eastern Conference in rebounding, averaging 37.3 boards. Cheyenne Parker leads the Dream with 7.4 rebounds.The Mercury are 1-10 on the road. Phoenix has a 1-10 record against teams over .500.The matchup Tuesday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams.TOP PERFORMERS: Rhyne Howard is scoring 19.0 points per game with 4.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists for the Dream. Allisha Gray is averaging 17.9 points and 4.1 assists over the past 10 games for Atlanta.Brittney Griner is averaging 18.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocks for the Mercury. Michaela Onyenwere is averaging 10.5 points and 3.6 rebounds while shooting 43.5% over the last 10 games for Phoenix.LAST 10 GAMES: Dream: 7-3, averagi...