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Australia says Chinese relations won’t improve to past highs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:51 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia is working to stabilize relations with China but could not return to the thriving economic relationship with its biggest trading partner that existed 15 years ago, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Monday.Icy bilateral relations that deteriorated during the previous conservative Australian government’s nine years in power have shown signs of improvement since Wong’s center-left Labor Party was elected almost a year ago. Minister-to-minister meetings have resumed, China has recently lifted restrictions on Australian coal imports and Australia hopes a 3-year-old tariff barrier on Australian barley will be lifted within months.But Wong said that trade relations could not return to the level when conservative Prime Minister John was in power from 1996 until 2007. Trade was then separated from political and strategic priorities.“I have been very clear that we seek to stabilize the relationship,” Wong told the National Press Club. “I think...

Ex-leader Merkel to be decorated with highest German honor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:51 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Former Chancellor Angela Merkel is to be decorated with Germany’s highest possible honor on Monday in recognition of her near-record 16 years at the helm of the country.President Frank-Walter Steinmeier plans to bestow the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit for special achievement on the four-term chancellor, who will become only the third ex-leader to receive that level of distinction. The other two were Konrad Adenauer, West Germany’s first leader, and Helmut Kohl, who led Germany to reunification.Merkel, 68, was the first woman to lead Germany and the first chancellor who grew up behind the Iron Curtain in communist East Germany. She stepped down in December 2021 with a well-regarded record of leading Europe’s biggest economy through a series of crises, including the global financial crisis, the eurozone debt crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. She didn’t seek a fifth term and ended her tenure as post-World War II Germany’s second-longest ...

Asian shares rise despite economic growth, rate worries

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:51 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Asian markets rose Monday, although worries continued about economic growth and inflationary pressures.Traders are focused on companies’ upcoming earnings reports and worry about how inflation might affect moves by the Federal Reserve and the world’s other central banks on interest rates.Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 inched up nearly 0.1% to 28,514.78. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.3% to 7,381.50, while South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.2% to 2,575.91. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.7% to 20,793.06. The Shanghai Composite gained 1.4% to 3,385.61. “Markets suffer from more heat than light as hyper-sensitivity of Fed policy projections to U.S. data continues to infuse out-sized volatility,” said Tan Boon Heng at Mizuho Bank. China’s central bank kept the one-year medium-term lending facility rate unchanged at 2.75%, suggesting economic growth data to be released Tuesday won’t be too alarming. Stocks on Wall Street ended last week ...

Firefighters battle France’s 1st major forest blaze of 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:51 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Hundreds of firefighters are steadily wrestling under control France’s first major forest fire of the year, which has ripped through swaths of woods and scrub straddling the country’s southern border with Spain. Rescue services spokesman Arnaud Wilm told broadcaster FranceInfo on Monday morning that the blaze is being successfully contained and that its biggest flames have been extinguished but fire crews have yet to completely stop its spread and put it out.He said more than 500 firefighters remain on hand.The blaze erupted Sunday and burned on hundreds of hectares (acres) of land between Banyuls-sur-Mer and Cerbère on the Mediterranean coast, and spread across the border into Spain.The Associated Press

Sudan battles intensify on 3rd day; civilian deaths reach 97

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:51 GMT

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — Sudan’s embattled capital awoke Monday to a third day of heavy fighting between the army and a powerful rival force for control of the country, as the weekend’s civilian death toll rose to 97.Airstrikes and shelling intensified in parts of Khartoum and the adjoining city of Omdurman. Rapid, sustained firing was heard near the military headquarters, with white smoke rising from the area. Residents hunkering down in their homes reported power outages and incidents of looting.The clashes are part of a power struggle between Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group. The two generals are former allies who jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup that derailed Sudan’s short-lived transition to democracy.Both men have dug in, saying they would not negotiate a truce, instead engaging in verbal attacks and demanding the other’s sur...

Airbus, Air France face verdict over 2009 Rio-Paris crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:51 GMT

PARIS (AP) — A French court is ruling Monday on whether Airbus and Air France are guilty of manslaughter over the 2009 crash of Flight 447 en route from Rio to Paris, which killed 228 people and led to lasting changes in aircraft safety measures.Acquittal is likely, in what would be a devastating defeat for victims’ families who fought for 13 years to see the case reach court.The two-month trial left families wracked with anger and disappointment. Unusually, even state prosecutors argued for acquittal, saying that the proceedings didn’t produce enough proof of criminal wrongdoing by the companies.Prosecutors laid the responsibility primarily with the pilots, who died in the crash. Airbus lawyers also blamed pilot error, and Air France said the full reasons for the crash will never be known.Airbus and Air France face potential fines of up to 225,000 euros ($219,000) each if convicted. While that is just a fraction of their annual revenues, a conviction for the aviation heavyweights c...

‘They kicked our butt in every category’: Timberwolves thrashed by Denver in Game 1

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:51 GMT

DENVER — Chris Finch’s pregame comments Sunday proved to be prophetic. The Timberwolves coach liked that his team — which had to win its way into the playoffs via the play-in tournament after a stress-filled end-of-season run — entered the playoffs as a battle-tested squad.But he then noted the other side of the coin — perhaps Minnesota would realize its season was no longer on the line, and could take a breath. Regardless of of Sunday’s result, the Wolves would live another day.That ill-advised mindset would be about the best-case scenario for Minnesota as an explainer for its Game 1 debacle. The Timberwolves were run off the floor in every sense, falling 109-80 to the top-seeded Nuggets.“Way more physical than we were,” Finch said. “They played with more speed, more force, they kicked our butt in every category you that you possibly can imagine.”It was just Game 1 of a best-of-seven bout, but it was the type of obliterati...

France to witness 12th nationwide strike against Macron's pension law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:51 GMT

French unions called for workers to quit their jobs and join protest rallies on Thursday (13 April) for a twelfth national day of demonstrations against a bill which will make French employees work longer.Some trains may be cancelled and strikes can be expected among teachers, garbage collectors, refinery workers and garbage collectors at a moment when polls indicate that a large majority of voters oppose raising the retirement age from 64 to 64.However, industrial action is losing steam and the latest rallies have attracted fewer people that the record crowds of earlier this year which brought out millions of protesters on the streets.This latest wave of protests occurs a day prior to Friday's eagerly awaited verdict of the Constitutional Council regarding the legality and constitutionality of the bill.The government will have the right to promulgate the law if the Council agrees to some conditions. This will hopefully end the protests that at times have turned violent and coalesce...

LOCALIZE IT: Volunteerism decline straining local nonprofits

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:51 GMT

EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:Volunteerism has been woven into the fabric of American life since Benjamin Franklin encouraged his fellow Philadelphians to establish America’s first volunteer firefighting brigade, the Union Fire Company, in 1736.In 2021, American volunteers donated an estimated 4.1 billion hours to help their communities with an economic value of $122.9 billion, according to AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism. However, formal volunteer participation in America fell to 23.2% between 2019 and 2021 — a 7% decline that is the largest drop the U.S. Census survey has recorded since it began tracking it in 2002.Though volunteerism in America has been declining for decades, the rapid fall is further straining the nation’s social safety net, especially with nonprofits currently dealing with an increasing demand for its services, like food pantries.The Associated Press has produced a series of stories set to run beginning April 17 to coincide with Na...

Diamondbacks visit the Cardinals to open 3-game series

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:51 GMT

Arizona Diamondbacks (9-7, first in the NL West) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (7-9, fourth in the NL Central)St. Louis; Monday, 7:45 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Diamondbacks: Merrill Kelly (0-0); Cardinals: Jack Flaherty (0-0)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Cardinals -162, Diamondbacks +139; over/under is 8 1/2 runsBOTTOM LINE: The St. Louis Cardinals host the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday to start a three-game series.St. Louis has a 4-6 record in home games and a 7-9 record overall. Cardinals hitters have a collective .347 on-base percentage, the third-ranked percentage in the NL.Arizona has a 9-7 record overall and a 4-5 record in road games. The Diamondbacks have the seventh-ranked team batting average in the NL at .254.The matchup Monday is the first meeting this season between the two teams.TOP PERFORMERS:LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 5-5, .000 batting average, 3.74 ERA, outscored by four runsDiamondbacks: 6-4, .000 batting average, 3.99 ERA, outscored opponents by 10 runsINJURIES: Cardin...