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1st Saudi envoy to the Palestinians in West Bank, Israeli minister in Riyadh amid normalization push

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:15:51 GMT

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s newly appointed envoy to the Palestinian Authority presented his credentials to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his first visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Tuesday, a move linked to American efforts to normalize ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel.The trip by nonresident Saudi ambassador Nayef al-Sudairi came just as Israel’s tourism minister became the first senior Israeli official to make a public visit to Saudi Arabia. In a clear sign that a landmark diplomatic deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia has gained momentum, Israel’s Tourism Minister Haim Katz on Tuesday led an Israeli delegation to Riyadh to take part in a conference hosted by the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Katz’s office described the visit as unprecedented for an Israeli minister and said he would hold discussions with officials from across the Middle East.Meanwhile the visit by al-Sudairi to Ramallah, the seat of th...

California, a liberal bastion, may give Donald Trump an unlikely boost in 2024

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:15:51 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Few corners of the U.S. may be less hospitable to Donald Trump than California, where he lost by more than 5 million votes in the 2020 election. But as the former president seeks to return to the White House, the liberal bastion may give him an unlikely boost.A state GOP rule change has opened the possibility that Trump could sweep each of the state’s 169 delegates on March 5, when California is among more than a dozen states participating in the so-called Super Tuesday contests. With Trump already leading his rivals in many state and national polls, a dominant performance in California could move him much closer to the GOP nomination.“This race is quickly consolidating,” said GOP fundraiser Charles Moran, a Trump delegate in 2016 and 2020. With a win in California, he added, “I truly think Trump could take the nomination on Super Tuesday — then this is over.”With less than four months before the Iowa caucuses officially kick off the GOP nomination process, the dy...

MPs have lost confidence in Speaker amid controversy over Nazi veteran invite: Gould

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:15:51 GMT

OTTAWA — Government House leader Karina Gould says she believes MPs have lost confidence in Speaker Anthony Rota after he invited a man who fought for the Nazis to attend a speech by Ukraine’s president.Gould says she “can’t see” how Rota will maintain the confidence of the Liberals, and it’s time for the Speaker to do the “honourable thing.”Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is also urging Rota to resign, following similar calls by the NDP and Bloc Québécois on Monday.All members of Parliament stood and applauded 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka last Friday during the official visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, without knowing the details of his past.Hunka is a veteran of the First Ukrainian Division, which was also known as the Waffen-SS Galicia Division or the SS 14th Waffen Division, a voluntary unit that was under the command of the Nazis.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is calling the mistake “deeply embarrassing,...

Stock market today: Wall Street drops as its September slump gets even worse

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:15:51 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is back to falling on Tuesday as its September swoon worsens.The S&P 500 was 1.2% lower in morning trading, coming off a rare gain and on track for its fifth drop in six days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 294 points, or 0.9%, at 33,712, as of 10:20 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.3% lower.Stocks have tumbled this month, which is on track to be Wall Street’s worst of the year, as the realization sets in that the Federal Reserve will indeed keep interest rates high for a long time. The growing understanding has sent yields in the bond market to their highest levels in more than a decade, which in turn has undercut prices for stocks and other investments.Treasury yields were holding relatively steady Tuesday following a mixed batch of reports on the economy. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.51% from 4.54% late Monday, though it’s still near its highest level since 2007.One report showed confidence among ...

To TikTok or not to TikTok? One GOP candidate joins the app even as he calls it ‘digital fentanyl’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:15:51 GMT

Republican presidential hopefuls have largely shunned TikTok, the hugely popular video-sharing app that some in both parties allege is a potential spy mechanism for China. But entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy recently became the first 2024 candidate to join the platform, which says it has over 150 million U.S. users. That’s even as he’s accused Beijing of pushing TikTok as “digital fentanyl” to Americans and wants the app banned entirely.“We’re in this to reach young people, to energize young people, and to do that, we can’t just hide,” Ramaswamy said in his first post earlier this month. “You can’t play in the game, and then not play in the game, so we’re here.”His competitors face the same conundrum. With U.S.-China tensions already running high, the Republicans running for president have all called for new economic and political measures to punish Beijing. Several major GOP candidates have said they want to ban TikTok. But they also want to reach the younger audiences tha...

UEFA moves toward partially reintegrating Russian teams and match officials into European soccer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:15:51 GMT

NYON, Switzerland (AP) — UEFA made two moves toward partially reintegrating Russia into European soccer on Tuesday despite the ongoing war in Ukraine.The European soccer governing body decided to try reintroducing Russian under-17 teams into its competitions this season. That’s an easing of a blanket ban on national and club teams from international play imposed within days of the Russian invasion starting in February 2022.UEFA said it was “aware that children should not be punished for actions whose responsibility lies exclusively with adults and is firmly convinced that football should never give up sending messages of peace and hope.”The UEFA executive committee decision was announced during a Women’s Nations League game in Armenia that was the first European game handled by Russian match officials during the war.Russian referees were not specifically banned by UEFA from its games but none were chosen until Vera Opeykina and three assistants were picked this month for the A...

Police: 5 injured after distracted driver causes crash in Northwest Indiana

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:15:51 GMT

HOBART, Ind. — A distracted driver caused a chain reaction crash on I-65 in Northwest Indiana Monday afternoon, police said.At around 3:45 p.m., authorities responded to a multi-vehicle crash that was blocking all southbound lanes of I-65 near the 254 mile marker.Indiana State Police located four vehicles at the scene and another on the right shoulder. Police believe a 39-year-old Merrillville man, driving a Dodge Caravan, was distracted and did not observe slowed traffic ahead.Police said he rear-ended a Chevy Malibu, which caused a chain reaction.The driver of the Malibu, a 40-year-old woman from Michigan City, had to be extricated from her vehicle. She was flown to the University of Chicago with serious but non life-threatening injuries. Driver injured after car crashes into Northwest Indiana basement Three juveniles inside the Caravan were taken to St. Mary's for pain and another driver was taken to another hospital with non life-threatening injuries.Neither drugs or alcohol a...

Prosecutor calls Delphi 'ritualistic' murder theory 'a fanciful defense for social media to devour'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:15:51 GMT

CARROLL COUNTY, Ind. — Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland has responded to Richard Allen's defense team's 136-page memorandum that not only asked for evidence collected during a search warrant to be thrown out, but laid out an alternative theory that linked the Delphi murders to a cult that “ritualistically sacrificed Abigail Williams and Liberty German.”McLeland fired back in new court filings by calling the alternative theory "a fanciful defense for social media to devour" that isn't supported by evidence. McLeland tore into the defense's entire 136-page memorandum, calling the large filing "colorful, dramatic and highly unprofessional." Attorneys for man charged in Delphi murders argue girls died in ritual sacrifice Chief amongst defense attorneys' targets was a search warrant served by investigators on Richard Allen's home in October 2022. The defense accused Sheriff Tony Liggett of lying about key information in order to have the search warrant signed by a judge. Mc...

Las Vegas woman who received ashes learns dog was not cremated, but still sitting in freezer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:15:51 GMT

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – A Las Vegas woman was startled to receive photos of her deceased dog months after she was sent what she believed were her beloved pet’s cremated remains.Natalie Smyers rescued two Yorkies — siblings Goobers and Tootsie — about five years ago. The pair quickly became part of her family, she said.At age 15, Goobers crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Smyers said she found him deceased in his bed in late March. Afterward, she called 1st Call Pet Cremation, a Las Vegas-based animal cremation service.“They were here in my home to pick him up within an hour,” she said, adding that she paid $300 for the service.Natalie Smyers rescued two Yorkies — siblings Goobers and Tootsie — about five years ago. The pair quickly became part of her family, she said. (Courtesy of Natalie Smyers)The company's website promises the following: “We will arrive directly to your home for a professional removal and transport to our crematory. Your pet will be returned to you in a standard urn with a c...

Gophers look to jumpstart Brevyn Spann-Ford after a meeting with P.J. Fleck

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:15:51 GMT

Similar to quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis after the North Carolina loss, Gophers tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford sat in coach P.J. Fleck’s office soon after the 37-34 overtime defeat at Northwestern on Saturday.“I think everybody — when you have a really tough loss like that — wants to know how they can play better and what they can do to be better,” Fleck told the Pioneer Press. “That is what (the meeting) was about.”For Spann-Ford, improvement hasn’t just been about the Northwestern game. The sixth-year senior from St. Cloud received big preseason praise — including plaudits of being the best tight end in the Big Ten — and he started off pretty well with five receptions for 45 yards in the opener against Nebraska.But in the last three games, he has six catches for a total of 18 yards. He has yet to reach the end zone. And Pro Football Focus has charged him with a team-high five dropped passes this season, including on a high and hard pass from Kaliakmanis in what would have been the go...