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One of Libya’s rival prime ministers warns militias against further clashes after 45 die

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:08 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — One of Libya’s rival prime ministers warned Thursday that his government would not tolerate any further militia fighting, days after the year’s bloodiest bout of clashes rocked the capital, Tripoli, killing at least 45 people.Violence ensued late on Monday between militiamen from the 444 brigade and its rival the Special Deterrence Force after Mahmoud Hamza, a senior commander of the brigade was held by the rival group at an airport in Tripoli, according to local media.The warning from Abdul Hamid Dbeibah — who heads the Tripoli-based government — came as Hamza was released and returned to his militia’s headquarters, according to footage aired by Libyan media late Wednesday.“We are used to the sound of clashes, but (coming near) civilians is forbidden,” said Dbeibah in a televised speech accompanied by tribal elders from eastern Tripoli, a district where both militias have a strong presence.During his 45-minute speech, the Tripoli-based prime minister also threatened to...

More than 30 stolen vehicles recovered, 3 arrested as police bust GTA car theft ring

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:08 GMT

Three men are facing more than 80 charges after police busted a multi-million dollar car theft ring in York Region, recovering dozens of stolen vehicles in the process.Investigators with York Regional Police, in conjunction with Peel Regional Police and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), began an investigation back in May 2023 and were able to identify three suspects.While executing eight search warrants, officers recovered 31 stolen vehicles valued at $2.8 million. Police also seized $30,000 in cash, police scanner devices, key re-programmers and more than 100 master keys.The trio of suspects are facing 83 charges including motor vehicle theft. The accused have been identified as:Ranvir Saggi, 24, of Richmond HillJasman Pannu, 21, of BramptonKuljeet Singh Sivia, 23, of Richmond Hill One of the suspects was out on bail for charges related to vehicle theft at the time of there arrest, according to police.The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with additional information is being...

China says it would welcome a visit by US commerce secretary after imposition of investment controls

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:08 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China says it would welcome a visit by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo following the imposition of foreign investment controls by her agency that have stung numerous Chinese companies. Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson Shu Jueting did not offer a date, but said the countries are in “close communication on arrangements,” according to reports Thursday. Media have speculated that a visit could come as early as later this month. Raimondo last met her Chinese counterpart, Wang Wentao, in Washington in May to discuss trade.President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Aug. 9 to block and regulate U.S. high-tech investment in China, reflecting the intensifying competition between the world’s two biggest economies. The order covers advanced computer chips, micro electronics, quantum information technologies and artificial intelligence. Senior administration officials said the effort is related to national security goals rather than economic interests and the cat...

More than a ton of endangered pangolin scales seized in Thailand

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:08 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai authorities said Thursday they have seized more than a ton of pangolin scales worth over 50 million baht ($1.4 million) that are believed to have been headed out of the country through a land border.The scales that cover a type of anteater were found Wednesday night in the northeastern province of Kalasin, and apparently were meant to be transported out through Mukdahan province, which shares a border with Laos, Thai police said at a news conference in Bangkok on Thursday.Two male suspects, who were on a truck with the scales, were arrested and charged with the illegal possession of carcasses of protected animals, according to Ariyapol Sinsorn, the deputy chief of the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division. The two men confessed to the charges, he said.The pangolin scales, which have an estimated price of around 40,000 baht ($1,129) per kilogram, are suspected to have been brought from Malaysia to Thailand, to be transported to Laos. From there, it wa...

Israeli troops kill a Palestinian militant in a gunbattle outside a West Bank bakery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:08 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli forces raided a home above a bakery in a militant stronghold in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, killing a Palestinian militant in a gunbattle in Jenin, a city that has seen some of the worst bloodshed in the current round of Israeli-Palestinian fighting.Violence has gripped the region since last spring when Israel launched near-nightly raids in response to a spate of deadly Palestinian attacks. It’s become the fiercest fighting in the West Bank in some two decades, and along with increased violence by radical Jewish settlers and settlement expansion by Israel’s far-right government, has fueled tensions in the region.Early Thursday, Israeli troops surrounded a building containing a bakery and a home. In a statement, the Israeli military said special forces were arresting two militant suspects when they came under fire, shot back and entered the building.The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the man killed as Mustafa al-Kastouni, 32...

Tim Scott will share the spotlight at massive South Carolina campaign event headlined by DeSantis

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:08 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Just a few days after the first GOP presidential debate of the 2024 cycle, two of the contenders will be hitting the same stage in front of the largest annual gathering of Republicans in early-voting South Carolina.Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had already been set as the headliner at the Faith & Freedom BBQ, hosted by Rep. Jeff Duncan on Aug. 28. On Thursday, Duncan told The Associated Press that Sen. Tim Scott — invited in his capacity as a South Carolina senator, not presidential hopeful — had also accepted an opportunity to speak, as he has done in years past.The event, which takes place in a massive civic center and attracts more than 2,000 attendees, comes five days after Scott, DeSantis and others in the broad GOP field are set to participate in the first debate of the 2024 cycle in Milwaukee. Former President Donald Trump, the current Republican frontrunner, has indicated he’s unlikely to attend and may hold a competing event of his own. The debat...

Iran’s foreign minister visits Saudi Arabia on first such trip in years as tensions ease

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:08 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister traveled to Saudi Arabia on Thursday, marking the first trip to the kingdom by Tehran’s top diplomat in years after the two nations reached a détente with Chinese mediation.The visit by Hossein Amirabdollahian comes as both Saudi Arabia and Iran try to ease tensions between their nations, which long have viewed each other as archrivals for influence across the wider Middle East. Challenges remain, however, particularly over Iran’s advancing nuclear program, the Saudi-led war in Yemen and security across region’s waterways. Amirabdollahian’s trip to Riyadh comes as the two nations are reopening diplomatic missions in each others’ countries. He was accompanied by Alireza Enayati, Iran’s new ambassador to the kingdom. The last Iranian foreign minister to visit Saudi Arabia on a public trip was Mohammad Javad Zarif, who traveled to the kingdom in 2015 to offer condolences for the death o...

Sha’Carri is back, Shelly-Ann never left: Women’s 100 is the race to watch at track worlds

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:08 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — When she stamped her name on the long, illustrious list of American sprint champions earlier this summer, Sha’Carri Richardson also set the stakes for the year ahead of her and the rest of the fast pack of 100-meter runners she’s going against.“I’m not back. I’m better,” she declared.Whether that is good enough to win gold medals starting this week at the world championships, then again less than 12 months from now at the Paris Olympics, comes down to whether she can finish in front of defending and five-time world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and the Jamaican’s teammate, Shericka Jackson.Jackson has the world’s best time this year (10.65 seconds), but has lost to Richardson in their only two head-to-head matchups in 2023. Fraser-Pryce is trying to match pole vaulter Sergey Bubka’s record for world titles in one individual event. Also in the mix is Marie-Josée Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast, who joins Richardson and Jackson...

Small plane crashes in Malaysia, with at least 9 bodies recovered

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:08 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A small aircraft crashed Thursday in a suburb in Malaysia’s central Selangor state, with at least nine bodies recovered, police said.Shah Alam district police chief Mohamad Iqbal Ibrahim confirmed that a jet has crashed. He said it appeared that all the passengers on the plane had perished but couldn’t give further details. Another police officer, who declined to be named as he isn’t authorized to speak to the media, said that at least nine bodies have been found. Civil aviation authorities said there were six passengers and two crew members on board the plane. The Malay Mail online news portal quoted eyewitnesses as saying the airplane exploded upon impact, with some of the debris from the crash hitting a motorcycle.The New Straits Times, an English-language newspaper, said on its website that the plane was believe to be en route from the northern resort island of Langkawi to the Subang airport in Selangor when it was believed to have encountered...

Schools reopening, traffic moving in signs of recovery from Maui fires

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:08 GMT

LAHAINA, Hawaii (NEXSTAR) — Public schools on Maui started the process of reopening and traffic resumed on a major road in signs of recovery a week after wildfires demolished a historic town and killed at least 111 people, while the head of the island's emergency agency said he had “no regret” that sirens weren't sounded to warn people about the onrushing flames.At least three schools untouched by flames in Lahaina, where entire neighborhoods were reduced to ash, were still being assessed after sustaining wind damage, Hawaii Department of Education superintendent Keith Hayashi said. Maui boat captain details rescue of two children during fire “There’s still a lot of work to do, but overall the campuses and classrooms are in good condition structurally, which is encouraging,” Hayashi said in a video update. “We know the recovery effort is still in the early stages, and we continue to grieve the many lives lost.”Maui County confirmed the death toll increased to 111. The county also ...