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5 questions that loom over Biden’s trip to Israel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:29 GMT

The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians took another catastrophic turn Tuesday, when hundreds of people were reportedly killed in a blast at a Gaza City hospital. It came within a day of President Biden’s anticipated arrival in Israel.Hamas has blamed the massive explosion on an Israeli airstrike. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have claimed rockets fired by Islamic Jihad were responsible. Neither version of events has been independently verified.Even before the latest tragedy, about 2,800 Palestinians had been killed in reprisals for a surprise Hamas attack on Oct. 7, which claimed the lives of about 1,400 Israelis. At least 30 U.S. citizens have been killed.The explosion Tuesday in Gaza City made an already bleak situation in the region even darker.Biden was to fly overnight to Israel in a show of support for the key U.S. ally. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has said the trip is intended “to demonstrate his steadfast support f...

Derrick Favors seeks an opportunity to return to the NBA with the Chicago Bulls

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:29 GMT

After falling out of the NBA for a year, Derrick Favors is getting back on the basketball court this season in Chicago.The longtime center signed a training camp contract with the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday. Coach Billy Donovan said the team plans to bring him full-time on the Windy City Bulls — the team’s G-League affiliate — for the 2023-24 season.“I’ve always had respect for him, just being in the West with him for that period of time when he was at Utah,” Donovan said. “He still obviously loves to play. Having a veteran guy around those guys will be very helpful.”Favors hasn’t played a game since Feb. 24, 2022 — a stark reminder of the brutal swiftness with which a player can fall off an NBA roster despite high expectations when they entered the league.The 6-foot-9 center was one of the most promising talents in the NBA when the New Jersey Nets selected him with the No. 3 draft pick in 2010. Favors made his NBA ...

Australian journalist says she was detained for 3 years in China for breaking an embargo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:29 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian journalist Cheng Lei says she spent more than three years in detention in China for breaking an embargo with a television broadcast on a state-run TV network.Cheng‘s first television interview since she was freed was broadcast in Australia on Tuesday almost a week after she returned to her mother and two children, aged 11 and 14, in the city of Melbourne.The Chinese-born 48-year-old was an English-language anchor for state-run China Global Television Network in Beijing when she was detained in August 2020.She said her offense was breaking a government-imposed embargo by a few minutes following a briefing by officials.Her treatment in custody was designed to “drive home that point that in China that is a big sin,” Cheng told Sky News Australia. “That you have hurt the motherland and that the state’s authority has been eroded because of you.” “What seems innocuous to us here is –- I’m sure it’s not limited to embargoes, but many other things ̵...

Stock market today: Asian markets edge lower as China reports slower growth in the last quarter

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:29 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares have fallen in Asia after China reported that its economy grew at a 4.9% annual pace in July-September, down from 6.3% in the previous quarter. U.S. futures also fell, while oil prices jumped $2.China’s National Bureau of Statistics said the world’s second-largest economy slowed in the summer as global demand for exports faltered and the ailing property sector sank deeper into crisis.The Chinese government has acted to help the economy with various policies, raising spending on building ports and other infrastructure, cutting interest rates and easing curbs on home-buying. But economists say wider reforms are needed to address longer-term problems, such as a fast-aging population and falling productivity, that are hindering growth. The weak global demand and the property industry remain the biggest shadows overhanging the economy in the near term, economists said.“The wider data on the property sector remained weak, although green shoots are appeari...

Europe is looking to fight the flood of Chinese electric vehicles. But Europeans love them

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:29 GMT

LONDON (AP) — When Laima Springe-Janssen was looking to replace her French-made gasoline-powered SUV with an electric car, she considered models from Volvo and Nissan.The Volvo extras she wanted would have busted her budget, while the Nissan lacked the “wow factor.” The Copenhagen, Denmark, resident ended up buying a compact SUV from China’s BYD. “I really, really love the car,” Springe-Janssen said. For the equivalent of about $50,000, the Atto 3 SUV came with “all these goodies” like a 360-degree dash cam, two years of free charging and an extra set of winter tires.Her husband likes it so much he’s considering buying another BYD to replace their other car, from Volkswagen’s Skoda brand.“I’m sorry, Europe. Go home,” she said. “China has a better offer.”Her enthusiasm underscores how Chinese automakers are winning over drivers as they make major inroads into Europe’s electric vehicle market, challenging long-established homegrown brands in an industry that’s key to the continent’s g...

Takeaways from Nuggets’ preseason loss to Clippers: Reggie Jackson looks more comfortable on offense

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:29 GMT

LOS ANGELES — The Nuggets lost 116-103 to the Clippers on Tuesday night in their fourth preseason game, the first in which Denver has rested its starters. The Clippers, meanwhile, played theirs.Here are our three takeaways from the loss.Mixed results for backup bigsWithout Nikola Jokic in the lineup, DeAndre Jordan struggled to contain Clippers center Ivica Zubac early in the game, as Zubac compiled eight points in the first seven minutes including an easy second-chance tip. Jordan’s night featured highs and lows: He turned the ball over five times, but he also shot 4 for 5, pulled in nine rebounds and amassed four assists in 21 minutes.Zeke Nnaji, still adjusting to the responsibilities of a full-time five, only grabbed five rebounds in 22 minutes. He tested his offensive game in his earlier minutes, putting the ball on the floor and driving at one point (he got by his defender but couldn’t finish in traffic) and taking an open three when Los Angeles invited him to. The...

Alexandar Georgiev helps Avalanche remain perfect with another stellar outing in Seattle

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:29 GMT

The Seattle Kraken upset the Colorado Avalanche in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a heavy dose of depth scoring and excellent goaltending.Colorado went to Seattle on Tuesday night and beat the Kraken with the same script. Alexandar Georgiev made 37 saves, including several critical ones in the first 40 minutes, and the critical goal came shorthanded from a fourth-line forward in a 4-1 victory.Seattle controlled play for large parts of the first two periods, but Colorado – much like it did in Los Angeles at the start of this trip – was much better defensively in the final period. The end result was a perfect three-for-three start on the road for the Avalanche, including wins against two Pacific Division clubs that expect to make the playoffs this season.The Avalanche has also now won 14 consecutive road games in the regular season, which ties an NHL record. The Avs will have a chance to set a new mark a week from Tuesday on Long Island.Here are some observations from the end of a...

Sakharov Prize 2023: The finalists 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:29 GMT

The finalists for the 2023 Sakharov Prize are women in Iran fighting for their rights, human rights defenders from Nicaragua and legal abortion activists, EU affairs.This year’s finalists for the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought were chosen in a vote by the foreign affairs and development committees on 12 October.The 2023 Sakharov Prize finalists Jina Mahsa Amini and the Woman, Life Freedom Movement in Iran Vilma Núñez de Escorcia and Bishop Rolando José Álvarez Lagos from Nicaragua Women fighting for a free, safe and legal abortion in Poland, El Salvador and the US Jina Mahsa Amini and the Woman, Life and Freedom Movement in IranJina Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, was visiting Tehran in September 2022, when she was arrested and beaten by the so-called moral police for wearing a hijab the “wrong” way.Her death a few days later sparked massive protests in Iran, with women at the forefront. Under the slogan “Woman, Life, Freedo...

Video appears to shows L.A. police cruiser hit another officer during chase 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:29 GMT

Video obtained by KTLA appears to show the moment a Los Angeles Police Department cruiser rushing to the end of a stolen vehicle pursuit in Sun Valley strikes a fellow officer running across the street. As the dash-cam video unfolds, it sounds like someone inside the police cruiser yells “heads up” just before the collision.  The officer running across the street is thrown forward into the air from the impact, lands on the wet pavement and slides several feet.  “I just hear helicopters then sirens,” Hector Morales said.  Morales, who witnessed the chaos, but did not see the officer go down said LAPD officers at the scene confirmed that it was one of their own vehicles that hit a fellow officer.  “I didn’t see that, but I hear that one of the fellow cops hit him,” Morales said.  The incident occurred on Oct. 13 just after 5 p.m. on Covello Street and Hollywood Way as police were in pursuit of a stolen black pickup truck.   Almost immediately af...

Bicyclist arrested on suspicion of brandishing weapon at driver in San Mateo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:29 GMT

SAN MATEO – A bicyclist was arrested on suspicion of brandishing a weapon at a driver last week in San Mateo, police said.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Fire destroys three vehicles, damages home in Daly City Crime and Public Safety | San Mateo: Baseball bat attack sends man to hospital Crime and Public Safety | San Jose man escapes from custody in San Mateo County; later found and arrested Crime and Public Safety | Half Moon Bay man arrested on suspicion of molesting child Crime and Public Safety | Redwood City: Case of mistaken identity ends in assault, four arrests The incident happened around 9:55 p.m. Friday, when the driver tried to pass a large group of bicyclists in the downtown area, the San Mateo Police Department said in a news release. The bicyclists surrounded the driver and started hitting her car.Police said one of the bicyclists walked up to the car yelling and lifted up his sh...