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Dubai International Airport, world’s busiest, on track to beat 2019 figures before virus lockdowns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:14 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Passenger numbers at Dubai International Airport this year will eclipse the passenger figures for 2019, showing the strong rebound in travel after the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns that grounded aircraft worldwide, a top official said Wednesday. The airport, the world’s busiest for international travel and home of the long-haul carrier Emirates, has had 64.5 million passengers pass through its cavernous concourses through the third quarter of this year. That puts it on track to reach 86.8 million passengers for the full year, which would exceed its 2019 figure of 86.3 million passengers. It had 66 million passengers last year.The airport’s busiest year was 2018, when it had 89.1 million passengers.“So for the end of the year, current predictions, 86.8 million, a little bit shy of the pre-pandemic numbers,” Griffiths told The Associated Press in an interview at the Dubai Air Show. “But actually, hopefully, by the end of ...

Towns scores 33, sends Timberwolves past Warriors after early ejections in tourney game

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:14 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — When the NBA created the In-Season Tournament as a way to inject playoff-level intensity into regular-season games, the scuffle between the Golden State Warriors and the Minnesota Timberwolves that resulted in three early ejections on Tuesday night may not have been what the league had in mind.With the game still scoreless and not yet two minutes old, Golden State’s Draymond Green was ejected after putting Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert in a headlock. Warriors guard Klay Thompson and Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels, who got into a shoving match that resulted in Thompson’s jersey being ripped, were also tossed.Once the dust settled, Karl-Anthony Towns scored 33 points, sending Minnesota to a 104-101 tournament victory over Golden State. The Wolves have won seven straight games for their longest win streak since 2004.“We just found a way to win ugly in a game that was pretty ugly,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “All credit to (the Warriors), those guys, they wer...

McCoy helps Hawaii open season with 82-66 victory over Hawaii Hilo

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:14 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — Justin McCoy scored 15 points and Hawaii opened its season with an 82-66 victory over Hawaii Hilo on Tuesday night.McCoy made 6 of 11 shots with three 3-pointers for the Rainbow Warriors, adding six rebounds. Freshman Tom Beattie had 12 points and four rebounds off the bench. Noel Coleman scored 10.Charles Elzie III scored a career-high 23 to lead the Vulcans. He sank 8 of 15 shots with three 3-pointers. Kalique Mitchell pitched in with 15 points and nine rebounds. Amiri Crowder had 11 points off the bench on 5-for-7 shooting with a 3-pointer.___Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here___AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketballSource

Verhaeghe, Stenlund score 3rd period goals as Panthers beat Sharks 5-3

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:14 GMT

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Carter Verhaeghe and Kevin Stenlund scored 1:03 apart in the third period and the Florida Panthers rallied past the San Jose Sharks 5-3 on Tuesday night for their fifth straight win.Sam Reinhart scored his 12th goal, tied for second-most in the NHL behind Toronto’s Austin Matthews and Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor, who lead the league with 13. Reinhart also added an assist for his fifth straight multi-point game.Ryan Lomberg and Aleksander Barkov also scored for Florida, which beat San Jose for the 10th consecutive time.Matthew Tkachuk had two assists to extend his point streak to seven games.“I think everyone’s stepping up,” Verhaeghe said. “We have a lot of guys in and out of the lineup. Everyone’s playing well. … Every win is kind of a total team win. Everyone is contributing in a different way.”Tomas Hertl and Luke Kunin scored 1:10 apart earlier in the third to give San Jose a 3-2 lead. Hertl’s goal was the 206th of his career, tying him with ...

Hands off our Camembert! France kicks up a stink over draft EU recycling law

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:14 GMT

Former French President Charles de Gaulle warned years ago: “How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?” Brussels should have listened. French cheesemakers are rallying against a proposed EU recycling law, accusing Brussels of endangering one of the country’s most prized traditional foods. The draft law aims to phase out single-use packaging in favor of recycled materials. But French cheese producers fear the new regulation poses a threat to traditional packaging, such as Camembert’s distinctive wooden box.French media have seized on the cheesemongers’ concerns, accusing the EU of threatening France’s “gastronomic treasures,” saying that certain cheeses would inevitably lose their “geographic indication” seal and warning that up to 2,000 jobs could be affected.French Secretary of State for European Affairs Laurence Boone has joined the chorus of concerned voices, warning Brussels that it risks a PR disast...

EU agrees on first-ever law to curb methane emissions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:14 GMT

The European Union struck a deal on a law to tackle methane emissions from fossil fuels, paving the way to impose rules on the bloc’s foreign energy suppliers like the United States. MEPs and EU governments in the Council found agreement on the bloc’s first-ever methane regulation in the early hours of Wednesday morning, some two years after Brussels and Washington launched the Global Methane Pledge at COP26 in Glasgow. The law will force operators of fossil fuel infrastructure to measure and report methane emissions and to regularly check their sites for leaks of the powerful greenhouse gas. It also outlaws most cases of flaring and venting by 2027. The legislation also addresses imports, which make up about 80 percent of the EU’s oil and gas consumption — requiring companies importing oil and gas into the bloc to demonstrate that their supply chain has emissions monitoring standards equivalent to the EU’s from 2027. The Council and the Parliament requested the ...

In the news today: No Canadians on Rafah crossing list as Israel raids Gaza hospital

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:14 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…No Canadians on today’s Rafah crossing listNo more Canadians have been approved to leave the Gaza Strip on Wednesday via the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, as hundreds of people connected to Canada continue to wait for help to leave.A total of 356 Canadians, permanent residents and family members have been able to leave the besieged Palestinian territory so far.No one connected to Canada had been cleared to leave on Tuesday, and the last group of 10 people made it across on Monday. Israeli forces raided Gaza’s largest hospital early Wednesday, where hundreds of patients, including newborns, have been stranded with dwindling supplies and no electricity, as the army extended its control across Gaza City and the north.Trudeau in California for APEC summitPrime Minister Justin Trudeau is headed to California for three days of meetings at the Asia-Pac...

Bus accident leaves at least 30 dead and dozens injured in Indian-controlled Kashmir

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:14 GMT

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — At least 30 people were killed and nearly two dozen injured when a passenger bus slid off a Himalayan highway and rolled down a steep slope onto another road in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Wednesday, officials said.The 42-seater bus was on the way to southern Jammu city from Kishtwar town when it veered off the road and fell down about 660 feet (200 meters) on an older road in the mountainous region, said Harvinder Singh, a civil administrator.Residents and authorities rushed to the scene and a rescue operation was launched. Singh said the injured were taken to nearby health facilities. At least 10 in critical condition were transported to hospital in Jammu.The exact cause of the crash was not immediately known.India has some of the highest road death rates in the world, with hundreds of thousands of people killed and injured annually. Most crashes are blamed on reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and aging vehicles.Last year, a century-old cable suspen...

Canada’s former Afghan envoy suggests Ottawa send diplomats to Taliban-held country

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:14 GMT

OTTAWA — One of Canada’s former ambassadors to Afghanistan says it’s time to establish a diplomatic presence in Kabul, arguing Ottawa lacks a firsthand understanding of the Taliban-held country where Canadian troops fought for more than 12 years.“There are ways for us to be on the ground and to see for ourselves, and to act for ourselves and act directly to help Afghans — without lending direct support to the Taliban,” Arif Lalani said in an interview this week.“We should be able to decide for ourselves and inform others about what is really going on in Afghanistan. And the degree to which we can’t do that ourselves, I don’t think it does a service to anyone.”Ottawa recognizes the Taliban as a terrorist organization. The group overthrew a Western-backed government in August 2021, following the retreat of the United States military from its long-time presence in the country.Since then, the Taliban’s government has capped education...

Trudeau heads to Golden State for APEC summit in San Francisco

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:14 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is headed to California for three days of meetings at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in San Francisco. Trudeau will meet today with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, long a liberal-minded ally in the effort to combat climate change. Officials say he’ll attend an APEC reception later in the day hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden before a welcome dinner with tech leaders. Biden sits down today with Chinese President Xi Jinping in an effort to defuse a year of international tensions, a meeting widely seen as the focal point of the summit. Reports suggest the two leaders are working on a deal to resume bilateral military communications and keeping artificial intelligence out of their respective nuclear defence systems. Trudeau, meanwhile, will be aiming for tangible progress on policy priorities in the Indo-Pacific, during bilateral meetings with fellow APEC leaders.Federal officials say at least two bilateral economic initiatives w...