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Heavy rains and floods kill 6 people in Sri Lanka and force schools to close

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:03 GMT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Heavy rain triggered floods and mudslides and downed trees in many parts of Sri Lanka, killing at least six people and forcing authorities to close schools in some areas, officials said Friday.Strong monsoon rains have been pounding the Indian Ocean nation for more than a week, flooding houses, fields and roads.On Friday, a large tree fell on a moving bus in Colombo, killing five people and injuring five others, said Dr. Rukshan Bellana, a spokesperson for the capital’s main hospital.Separately, one person died when a rock fell on his house during a mudslide in Galle district, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of Colombo, the state-run Disaster Management Center said.The center said the floods and mudslides damaged hundreds of houses in 12 districts and affected more than 50,000 people, including 1,473 families who were moved to temporary shelters.The coastal district of Matara was the worst affected, with most parts flooded for more than a week. School...

Retired Australian top judge and lawyers rebut opponents of Indigenous Voice

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:03 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A former High Court chief justice and dozens of legal academics on Friday rebutted key arguments used in the public campaign against Australians creating an advocacy body for the Indigenous population.Robert French, who retired as Australia’s most senior judge in 2017, used a speech to the National Press Club to urge Australians to vote to enshrine in the constitution a so-called Indigenous Voice to Parliament at an Oct. 14 vote, the nation’s first referendum in a generation. The Voice is aimed at giving Australia’s most disadvantaged ethnic minority more say on government policies that effect their lives.“A vote in favor of the Voice is a new beginning and something in which this generation and generations to come should be able to take justifiable pride,” French said.Separately, 71 Australian university teachers of constitution law and other fields of public law signed an open letter published Friday that rebutted the argument that the Voice would be “ri...

Icy floodwaters burst through major dam in India’s northeast, killing at least 31 people

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:03 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — A flood that burst through a major hydroelectric dam in India’s Himalayan northeast killed at least 31 people, officials said Friday, as ice-cold water swept through mountain towns, washing away houses and bridges and forcing thousands of people to leave their homes.The flood began shortly after midnight Wednesday, when a glacial lake high in the mountains overflowed after a heavy rainfall. The waters cracked open a 6-year-old dam that was the largest in the Indian state of Sikkim, and then cascaded through towns in the Lachan Valley below.It was the latest deadly flood to hit northeast India in a year of unusually heavy monsoon rains. Nearly 50 people died in flash floods and landslides in August in nearby Himachal Pradesh state, record rains in July killed more than 100 people over two weeks in northern India.A report compiled by the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority in 2019 had identified Lhonak Lake as “highly vulnerable” to flooding that could ca...

Philippines protests after a Chinese coast guard ship nearly collides with a Philippine vessel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:03 GMT

ABOARD BRP SINDANGAN (AP) — A Chinese coast guard ship came within a meter (3 feet) of colliding with a Philippine patrol ship it was trying to block in the South China Sea, in an alarming incident that intensified fears that territorial disputes in the waters could spark a larger crisis.The Philippines on Friday strongly condemned the Chinese ship’s maneuvers near Second Thomas Shoal, which the Asian neighbors both claim and has been the scene of frequent confrontations.One other Philippine coast guard vessel was blocked and surrounded by Chinese coast guard and militia ships in the incident, which dragged on for about eight hours on Wednesday. A major clash in the disputed waters could potentially involve the United States, which has vowed to defend the Philippines, its treaty ally, if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under armed attack.Two smaller supply boats being escorted by the Philippine coast guard in the contested waters managed to breach the Chinese blockade...

Commission recommends carrying out risk assessments on four critical technology areas: Advanced semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum, biotechnologies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:03 GMT

On 3 October, the Commission adopted a Recommendation on critical technology areas for the EU's economic security, for further risk assessment with member states. This Recommendation stems from the Joint Communication on a European Economic Security Strategy that put in place a comprehensive strategic approach to economic security in the EU.This Recommendation relates to the assessment of one of four types of risks in that comprehensive approach, namely technology risk and technology leakage. The risk assessment will be objective in character, and neither its results nor any follow-up measures can be anticipated at this stage. In the Recommendation, the Commission puts forward a list of ten critical technology areas. These technology areas were selected based on the following criteria:Enabling and transformative nature of the technology: the technologies' potential and relevance for driving significant increases of performance and efficiency and/or radical changes for sectors, capab...

Trump respalda a Jim Jordan como presidente de la Cámara de Representantes en Truth Social

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:03 GMT

El expresidente Donald Trump dio su apoyo a Jim Jordan en un post en su cuenta de Truth Social durante la madrugada del viernes.“Será un GRAN Presidente de la Cámara, ¡y tiene mi completo y total respaldo!”. dijo Trump.El mensaje va en contra de las especulaciones de que el propio Trump consideraría la presidencia de la Cámara después de que miembros del Congreso, entre ellos la representante Marjorie Taylor Greene, apoyaran al ex presidente para el puesto.Jim Jordan es el Presidente del Comité Judicial republicano de Ohio. ¿Quieres ser el próximo presidente de la Cámara? Así es como podrías serlo La Cámara Baja está paralizada tras destitución de McCarthy; republicanos buscan nuevo líder Jordan dijo que hablo sobre su candidatura a ser el próximo portavoz con Donald Trump y que no apoyaría expulsar al representante Matt Gaetz, de Florida, republicano, incluso en medio del enfado de algunos legisladores después de que ...

MLB playoffs 2023: Verlander gets Game 1, all 8 teams prep for Division Series openers Saturday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:03 GMT

Justin Verlander is scheduled to start for the Houston Astros against former teammate Carlos Correa and the Minnesota Twins in Game 1 of their AL Division Series on Saturday. Houston manager Dusty Baker made the announcement Thursday, adding that left-hander Framber Valdez will pitch Sunday night in Game 2.After all four Wild Card Series ended in two-game sweeps Wednesday, the eight remaining playoff teams are prepping for best-of-five Division Series that begin Saturday. Correa and the AL Central champion Twins will be in Houston to face the defending World Series champion Astros, who won the AL West. Also in the American League, Texas plays at AL East champion Baltimore.In the National League, the young Arizona Diamondbacks square off against the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers, and the defending NL champion Philadelphia Phillies head to Atlanta for a playoff rematch with the major league-best Braves, who won their sixth straight NL East title this year.BETTING FAVORITESThe B...

Duelo de moda en la alfombra azul de los Premios Billboard 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:03 GMT

MIAMI – La alfombra azul de los Premios Billboard de la Música Latina 2023 fue el escenario de un duelo de la moda entre hombres y mujeres, en el que nominados, presentadores, nuevos artistas e influyentes ofrecieron elegancia, con algunas excepciones, y mucho negro.Entre los mejores vestidos se destacaron Danilo Carrera, el presentador de la gala, las artistas argentinas TINI y Nicki Nicole, y la cantautora colombiana Karol G. Los tres primeros iban en el color de la noche, y la bichota con un clásico vestido blanco de corte de sirena.“El negro es mi color favorito y quise ponerme algo que me hiciera sentir sexy y empoderada en una noche tan especial”, dijo a EFE Nicki Nicole, quien participa en dos números en la gala. Para “mi amiga”: Paris Hilton entrega a Karol G el premio Billboard Espíritu de la Esperanza La lista de ganadores de los Billboard de la Música Latina 2023 También de negro con pinceladas de bla...

Sunak, Meloni demand more urgency to combat migration

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:03 GMT

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her U.K. counterpart Rishi Sunak made a joint call for action against undocumented migration, urging other European countries to show the “same sense of urgency” as Britain and Italy to end what they call a “moral and humanitarian crisis.”In a joint opinion piece published Friday in the Times, the two leaders, from the far-right Brothers of Italy and Britain’s Conservative Party, said they are working together to stop thousands of migrants entering Europe through Italy and making their way to the U.K.“We’re proud that Italy and the U.K. are leading on this together, because in this, and many other areas, our perspectives and our goals are the same,” they write. “In fact, we are two of the closest friends in Europe today.”Migration is a “moral,” “humanitarian” and “European crisis,” Sunak and Meloni write, which claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people this year alone. “Now is the time for act...

Russia to lift fuel export ban amid supply fears

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:03 GMT

Seaborne exports of Russian diesel will resume just weeks after Moscow imposed an outright ban that sent energy prices soaring around the world.In a statement on Friday, the Russian government confirmed it “has lifted restrictions on exports of diesel fuel delivered to ports by pipeline.”The unprecedented measure was introduced on September 21 in response to shortages on the domestic market that had seen Russians queuing at the gas pumps despite the country’s massive refining industry.“Temporary restrictions will help saturate the fuel market, which will reduce prices for consumers,” the government said at the time. With consumer prices capped by law, enterprising businesses have apparently been sending more fuel abroad where it fetches far higher sums, at the expense of supplies back home.In a bid to prevent these so-called gray exports, Russia will instead introduce a windfall tax of 50,000 rubles — equivalent to $495 — per ton on sales of petroleum pro...