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Sri Lanka slashes fuel prices in welcome relief amid crisis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:12 GMT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s government on Wednesday announced significant cuts in fuel prices, providing welcome relief for many after a year of shortages and skyrocketing prices amid the country’s worst economic crisis.Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekara told reporters different categories of petrol and diesel will be sold at prices from 8% to 26% lower starting Wednesday midnight. He said the price reduction is in line with an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, which includes adjusting fuel subsidies and prices based on production costs and global oil prices.Sri Lanka earlier this month secured approval of a $2.9 billion IMF bailout program a key step in its recovery from a crisis brought on by the pandemic and other troubles. Last year, severe shortages of food, medicine and fuel led to street protests that forced then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign.In a related development, petroleum industry trade unions opposing ...

‘Significant concerns’: Fairfax Co. school leaders blast proposed history standards as excessive and inaccurate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:12 GMT

Fairfax County, Virginia, school officials are pushing back on the state’s highly-scrutinized proposed history and social science standards of learning, calling some of them misplaced at certain grade levels, inaccurate and, in some cases, missing critical information.Superintendent Michelle Reid and Rachna Sizemore-Heizer, chair of the school board, said in a letter sent last week that the latest proposed standards document, released in January, is “replete with historical and developmental errors and concerns and is lacking an inclusive telling of history with the full breadth of perspectives and experiences.”The addition of over 100 standards, they said, will require “rote memorization for the sake of content coverage” and will challenge teachers to cover more information without additional time to do so.More Local NewsMore Virginia NewsMore Fairfax County NewsMore Education NewsThe letter was sent to state Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera and Vi...

Distrito escolar de Florida revisa la película ‘Ruby Bridges’ por quejas de algunos padres

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:12 GMT

(CNN) — Una película sobre una estudiante negra de primer grado que integró una escuela primaria para blancos en el sur de Estados Unidos, está bajo revisión en un distrito escolar de Florida después de que un padre objetó el uso de insultos en la película y argumentó que podría enseñar a los estudiantes que “los blancos odian a los negros”, según funcionarios escolares y documentos obtenidos por CNN.Un padre de un estudiante de segundo grado en la escuela primaria North Shore en St. Petersburg presentó una queja formal el 6 de marzo solicitando la eliminación de la película de 1998 “Ruby Bridges” de la lista de películas aprobadas de la escuela. Esto se produjo después de que la película se mostrara a unos 60 estudiantes de segundo grado el 2 de marzo como parte de una lección del Mes de la Historia Negra, dijo a CNN Isabel Mascareñas, portavoz de las Escuelas del Condado de Pinellas.El padre, cuyo nombre está editado en la copia de la queja compartida con CNN, es...

Biden starts democracy summit with $690M pledge for programs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:12 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is opening his second Summit for Democracy with a pledge for the U.S. to spend $690 million bolstering democracy programs around the globe.The Biden administration wants to use the two-day summit that begins Wednesday to zero in on making “technology work for and not against democracy,” according to a senior administration official. Some 120 global leaders have been invited to participate.Biden frequently speaks of the U.S. and like-minded allies being at a critical moment in which democracies need to demonstrate they can out-deliver autocracies. The summits, something Biden promised as a Democratic 2020 presidential candidate, have become an important piece of his administration’s effort to try to build deeper alliances and nudge autocratic-leaning nations toward at least modest reforms.The new funding will focus on programs that support free and independent media, combat corruption, bolster human rights, advance technology that improves ...

Q&A: Where DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb stands

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:12 GMT

DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb speaks with DMV Download podcast host Luke Garrett. (WTOP/Luke Garrett)D.C. had a turbulent start to 2023 — from a forsaken criminal code, a sharp spike in car thefts and to the recent resignation of Deputy Mayor John Falcicchio following allegations of sexual assault.Meanwhile, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb has been settling into his new position as the top prosecutor in the nation’s capital.More DC NewsMore Local NewsThree months into his tenure, Schwalb went on WTOP’s “DMV Download” podcast to discuss where he stands on the issues facing the District and what he hopes to accomplish as attorney general. The following Q&A has been edited for clarity and brevity. Source

Una desafiante presidenta de Taiwán parte hacia Nueva York para iniciar un viaje por Centroamérica

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:12 GMT

Hong Kong (CNN) — Taiwán tiene todo el derecho a “conectarse con el mundo”, declaró este miércoles su presidenta, Tsai Ing-wen, al embarcarse en una misión diplomática a Centroamérica, que incluirá tránsito en Estados Unidos, y ya ha sido condenada por China.Tsai partió de Taiwán este miércoles para un viaje de 10 días en el que hará escalas en la ciudad de Nueva York y Los Ángeles además de visitas oficiales a Guatemala y Belice.“La presión externa no detendrá nuestra determinación de avanzar hacia la sociedad internacional”, dijo Tsai a los periodistas antes de despegar. “Estamos tranquilos, confiados, intransigentes y no provocativos”.El viaje ha llamado mucho la atención tras los informes de que Tsai se reuniría con el presidente de la Cámara de Representantes de EE.UU., Kevin McCarthy, durante una de sus escalas no oficiales en EE. UU.Taiwán aún tiene que confirmar dicha reunión.Honduras corta relaciones con Taiwán y se acerca a China, ¿cómo se beneficia Xiomara Castro?La...

13-year-old girl safely located after CBI alert

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:12 GMT

FEDERAL HEIGHTS, Colo. (KDVR) -- The Colorado Bureau of Investigation was searching for a 13-year-old missing out of Federal Heights, but she has since been located.She was last seen Tuesday at 3:31 p.m. walking eastbound across Huron Street north of 84th Avenue. CBI said she was found safely.

Florida Senate to vote on permitless carry bill

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:12 GMT

Floridians may soon no longer need a permit to carry a gun. The state Senate is set to take up the permitless carry bill on Wednesday, following the passage of a similar version in the House last week.The new law would allow gun owners to carry concealed weapons without the need for a previously required license and training. If the measure is approved by the Senate and signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida would join 26 other states that have already enacted permitless carry laws.Florida already has some of the most lenient gun laws in the country, including the “stand your ground” law that allows individuals to use deadly force in self-defense. However, the proposed permitless carry law would go even further in easing restrictions on gun ownership and use.The fate of the permitless carry bill now rests in the hands of the state Senate, with many eyes watching to see whether Florida will join the growing number of states that allow permitless carry or whethe...

Britain secures agreement to join Indo-Pacific trade bloc

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:12 GMT

LONDON — Britain will be welcomed into an Indo-Pacific trade bloc late Thursday as ministers from the soon-to-be 12-nation trade pact meet in a virtual ceremony across multiple time zones.Chief negotiators and senior officials from member countries agreed Wednesday that Britain has met the high bar to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), four people familiar with the talks told POLITICO.Negotiations are “done” and Britain’s accession is “all agreed [and] confirmed,” said a diplomat from one member nation. They were granted anonymity as they were unauthorized to discuss deliberations.The U.K. will be the first new nation to join the pact since it was set up in 2018. Its existing members are Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and Canada.Britain’s accession means it has met the high standards of the deal’s market access requirements and that it will align with the bloc’s sanit...

Heartbroken Nashville community grapples with school shooting as police uncover more details about the shooter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:12 GMT

Editor’s note: This story contains graphic descriptions of violence.(CNN) — As a heartbroken Nashville community grapples with the mass shooting that claimed the lives of three 9-year-old children and three adults at a private Christian school, police are uncovering more details about the 28-year-old shooter.The attack unfolded over 14 minutes Monday morning at The Covenant School, with the heavily armed shooter firing into the elementary school to gain access and killing six people before being fatally shot by responding police officers.The parents of the shooter, identified as Audrey Hale, told police they knew Hale had bought and sold one weapon and believed that was the extent of it, Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said Tuesday.But Hale, who was under care for an emotional disorder, had legally bought seven firearms that were hidden at home, Drake said. Three of those weapons, including an AR-style rifle, were used in the attack Monday.Police have s...