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Relatives fear worst with four men and a boy missing after Mediterranean ship disaster

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:18:56 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Seeking to find lives better than they had in their war-scarred town in northeast Syria, four men and a 14-year-old boy from the Sheikhi family set out for Europe.Ignoring an older relative’s warnings, the group boarded a fishing boat from Libya to Italy, where they hoped to start crossing Europe on land and get to Germany. Instead of docking in Italy, the trawler capsized and sank Wednesday in thousands of feet of seawater, 75 kilometers (45 miles) off Greece. The trawler may have carried as many as 750 passengers. Hundreds remained missing early Friday, on the third and final day of search operations. It would be one of the worst Mediterranean shipwrecks in recent history if officials confirm relatives’ worst fears, as expected.Five members of one family were aboard the trawler, including Ali Sheikhi, 29. The father of three boys, he left behind his wife, and boys — ages 6, 5 and 2 — hoping to one day reunite in Europe and offer the children the good educ...

Greece’s search for hundreds of migrants feared dead in shipwreck enters final day

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:18:56 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s coast guard launched its final day of searching an area of the Mediterranean Sea where a large fishing boat packed with migrants sank and hundreds of passengers were missing and feared dead Friday.The round-the-clock search and rescue operation off the coast of southern Greece entered its third day with little hope of finding survivors or bodies since none have been located since Wednesday, when 78 bodies were recovered and 104 people were rescued.The fishing boat carrying the migrants was traveling from Libya to Italy. Greek authorities and European Union border protection agency Frontex tracked the boat before it capsized and sank early Wednesday. The trawler may have carried as many as 750 passengers, according to the International Organization for Migration, the U.N. migration agency. Most of the survivors were being moved Friday from a storage hangar at the southern port of Kalamata, where relatives also gathered to look for loved ones, to migrant...

Protesters in Senegal accuse police of using armed civilians to quell unrest

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:18:56 GMT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — As gunfire rang out at a protest in Senegal’s capital, a man wearing khaki pants and a T-shirt shot Cheikh’s childhood friend in the chest. The bleeding 21-year-old slumped against a wall, displaying his wound in disbelief. “We thought tear gas and grenades would be used against us. We had no idea they would shoot,” said Cheikh, who was inches away when the bullet struck his friend and rushed him to the hospital in an unsuccessful attempt to save his life. “As I watched him on the way there, I realized it was over.” His friend, Khadim Ba, was one of at least 23 people killed earlier this month in Senegal during the country’s deadliest clashes between police and protesters in decades, according to Amnesty International. Like Ba, several people were reported shot with live ammunition by men wearing civilian clothes who appeared to be fighting alongside the police, according to protesters and rights groups.Such “nervis,” a French word for “thugs” that ...

Chinese president Xi Jinping stresses US-China cooperation in meeting with Bill Gates

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:18:56 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping said the United States and China can cooperate to “benefit our two countries” in a meeting Friday with Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates ahead of a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a time of strained relations.The state broadcaster CCTV showed Xi saying he was happy to see Gates, who he called an “old friend,” after three years without meeting during the pandemic. “I believe that the foundation of Sino-U.S. relations lies in the people,” Xi said to Gates. “Under the current world situation, we can carry out various activities that benefit our two countries, the people of our countries, and the entire human race.”Xi gave no details but emphasized the potential benefits of cooperation that has been hampered by disputes over human rights, Taiwan, security and technology. Gates told Xi he was “very honored” to meet with Xi. The visits by leading foreign business people have coincided with efforts by the ruling Communist Part...

Palestinian leader Abbas ends China trip after backing Beijing’s crackdown on Muslim minorities

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:18:56 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas wrapped up a trip to China Friday after seeking economic aid and voicing support for Beijing’s repressive policies toward Muslim minorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. During his four-day visit, Abbas met with Chinese President and head of the ruling Communist Party Xi Jinping. The leaders then issued a joint statement endorsing Beijing’s domestic and foreign policies and repudiating Western concepts of human rights. In the statement, the Palestinian Authority said issues regarding China’s policy toward Muslims in Xinjiang have “nothing to do with human rights and are aimed at excising extremism and opposing terrorism and separatism.” “Palestine resolutely opposes using the Xinjiang problem as a way of interfering in China’s internal affairs,” the joint statement said. That echoes Chinese propaganda surrounding the detention of more than 1 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other Muslim minorities in prison-like...

IMF head welcomes Europe’s interest rate hikes in campaign against inflation

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:18:56 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The head of the International Monetary Fund on Friday praised the European Central Bank’s decision to raise interest rates for the eighth time in a row and its pledge to keep going as long as needed to bring down high inflation.Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the IMF welcomed both the ECB’s quarter-percentage point rate hike Thursday and President Christine Lagarde’s vow that the ECB is “not thinking about pausing.” The bank is trying to lower inflation from 6.1% to its goal of 2%.“Monetary policy should continue to tighten and then remain in restrictive territory for some time until inflation expectations are firmly anchored and inflation trends toward target,” Georgieva said.“We welcome yesterday’s decision of the ECB to tighten, we also welcome the communication that surrounded this decision,” she added.The central bank for the 20 countries that use the euro currency is pressing ahead with rate hikes even as the U.S. F...

$930 million in grants announced in Biden’s effort to expand internet access to every home in the US

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:18:56 GMT

The massive federal effort to expand internet access to every home in the U.S. took a major step forward on Friday with the announcement of $930 million in grants to shore up connections in remote parts of Alaska, rural Texas and dozens of other places where significant gaps in connectivity persist.The so-called middle mile grants, announced by the Department of Commerce, are meant to create large-scale networks that will enable retail broadband providers to link subscribers to the internet. Department officials likened the role of the middle mile — the midsection of the infrastructure necessary to enable internet access, composed of high-capacity fiber lines carrying huge amounts of data at very high speeds — to how the interstate highway system forged connections between communities.“These networks are the workhorses carrying large amounts of data over very long distances,” said Mitch Landrieu, the White House’s infrastructure coordinator, in a media Zoom call. “They’re the ones t...

Herschel Walker enrolls at University of Georgia after 2022 election loss

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:18:56 GMT

(The Hill) -- Former GOP Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker has re-enrolled at the University of Georgia, following his unsuccessful bid to unseat Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) last year.A university spokesperson confirmed to The Hill that Walker is enrolled as a student at the school where he played college football in the early 1980s. The former NFL star initially claimed during his Senate campaign that he had graduated from the University of Georgia with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. However, Walker later acknowledged that he left the university during his junior year to join a professional football league.Walker’s Senate bid was also marred by allegations shortly before the election from two women who claimed that the anti-abortion candidate had encouraged and paid for them to obtain abortions during their relationships. He denied the accusations. Supreme Court set to rule on affirmative action in college admissions. Here’s what to know Citizens for Ethi...

Carrie Fisher's last film to finally be released

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:18:56 GMT

Editor's Note: The video above is from the late actor's Walk of Fame star dedication.(WJW) -- The late Carrie Fisher is set to appear on the big screen for the final time."Wonderwell" was filmed in 2016, just weeks before Fisher's death at the age of 60.The film's distributor, Vertical, has acquired the rights to distribute the film in North America and the United Kingdom and Ireland, according to Deadline.LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 28: Actress Carrie Fisher signs copies of her new book "The Princess Diarist" at Barnes & Noble at The Grove on November 28, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 16: Carrie Fisher attends the European Premiere of "Star Wars" The Force Awakens at Leicester Square on December 16, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Fred Duval/FilmMagic)NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 10: Actress Carrie Fisher attends the 54th New York Film Festival 'Bright Lights' screening at Alice Tully Hall on October 10, 2016 in ...

Trump's promise of payback for prosecution follows years of attacking democratic traditions

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:18:56 GMT

As Donald Trump became the first former president to face federal charges, he and his supporters went through a familiar routine of mounting a victimhood defense in the face of unprecedented allegations of wrongdoing. But this time, the stakes are higher.Trump upped the level of his claims and threats as he faces the potential of years in prison if convicted on 37 charges of obstruction, illegal retention of defense information and other violations. Hours after pleading not guilty, Trump claimed he is being targeted by the special prosecutor, who is nonpartisan, for political reasons and vowed to retaliate against President Joe Biden if he is elected president in 2024. E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case against Trump will head to trial in January “There was an unwritten rule” to not prosecute former presidents and political rivals, Trump told supporters in a speech at his golf club in New Jersey. “I will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in th...