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Poland’s president approves law on Russia’s influence that could target opposition

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:17:20 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish President Andrzej Duda said Monday he will sign a bill that creates a powerful commission, ostensibly meant to investigate Russian influence in Poland but which critics view as a tool to remove from political life the political opponents of the ruling party, mostly notably opposition leader Donald Tusk.Parliament on Friday approved the law, proposed by the right-wing ruling party, that may affect the outcome of fall parliamentary elections in which the ruling Law and Justice party is seeking a third term. Experts say it violates Poland’s Constitution and the opposition has called on Duda to reject it. Duda said he was approving the bill because discussions on Russia’s influence on politics are being held in the U.S. and in some European countries. He said a commission for investigating Russia’s influences on European institutions and in individual countries should also be formed at the European Union level. Poland is to push for it at t...

Thousands evacuated as Philippines warns of flooding, landslides from approaching Typhoon Mawar

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:17:20 GMT

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine officials began evacuating thousands of villagers, shut down schools and offices and imposed a no-sail ban Monday as Typhoon Mawar approached the country’s northern provinces a week after battering the U.S. territory of Guam. The typhoon is packing maximum sustained winds of 155 kpm (96 mph) and gusts of up to 190 kph (118 mph) but is forecast to spare the mountainous region a direct hit. Current projections show the typhoon veering northeast toward Taiwan or southern Japan. Although it’s expected to slow down considerably, authorities warned of dangerous tidal surges, flash floods and landslides as it blows past the northernmost province of Batanes from Tuesday to Wednesday. Disaster-preparedness officials said the typhoon’s course could change abruptly and there was no room for complacency. “Even if the sun is up, the weather is so unpredictable nowadays and could change anytime so we should always stay on the side of safety,” Assistant ...

Uganda’s president signs into law tough anti-gay legislation with death penalty in some cases

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:17:20 GMT

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda’s president has signed into law tough new anti-gay legislation supported by many in this East African country but widely condemned by rights activists and others abroad.The version of the bill signed by President Yoweri Museveni doesn’t criminalize those who identify as LGBTQ, a key concern for campaigners who condemned an earlier draft of the legislation as an egregious attack on human rights. But the new law still prescribes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” which is defined as cases of sexual relations involving people infected with HIV as well as with minors and other categories of vulnerable people.A suspect convicted of “attempted aggravated homosexuality” can be imprisoned for up to 14 years, according to the legislation. Parliamentary Speaker Anita Among said in a statement that the president had “answered the cries of our people” in signing the bill. “With a lot of humility, I thank my colleagues the Members of Parli...

Stock market today: Markets mostly higher after Biden-McCarthy deal on US debt

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:17:20 GMT

World shares were mostly higher Monday after President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached a final agreement on a deal to raise the U.S. national debt ceiling, though the measure requires approval by Congress. Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Sydney and Shanghai advanced while Hong Kong fell. Markets in London and Seoul were closed for a holiday and U.S. markets will be closed Monday for Memorial Day.The agreement on the U.S. debt eased what had been a potentially huge threat to markets worldwide. Biden and McCarthy worked over the weekend to try to ensure enough support in Congress to pass the measure before a June 5 deadline and avert a disruptive federal default.“Markets are so far reacting cautiously. Buoyed, but cautious,” Clifford Bennett, chief economist at ACY Securities, said in a commentary.“This agreement merely rolls the issue to potentially more politically friendly times post the Presidential election in two years. Nothing is certain in this regard, and it is po...

Websites linked to Iran’s presidency hacked with images of exile group’s leaders

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:17:20 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A series of websites linked to Iran’s presidency bore the images of two leaders of an exiled opposition group Monday, with others showing the pictures of Islamic Republic’s supreme leader and president crossed out. An internet account describing itself as a group of hackers claimed responsibility for allegedly taking down websites. The account GhyamSarnegouni, whose name in Farsi means “Rise to Overthrow,” previously claimed hacking websites associated with Iran’s Foreign Ministry earlier this month. Iranian state media and officials did not immediately acknowledge the apparent hack. However, Associated Press journalists accessing the sites found them defaced with images of Massoud Rajavi, the long-missing leader of the Iranian exile group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, and his wife Maryam, who is now the public face of the group.One site bore the slogan: “Death to Khamenei Raisi- Hail to Rajavi.” Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Kh...

Authorities in Thailand seize more than a ton of crystal methamphetamine thought bound for Australia

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:17:20 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Law enforcement officials in Thailand said Monday they seized more than a ton of crystal methamphetamine in a southern province last week that they believed was bound for Australia.Officials from police and the Narcotics Control Board announced that the 1.2 metric tons (2,646 pounds) of the drug, also known as “ice,” likely came from Thailand’s northern border region, which is part of the Golden Triangle where the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet. Myanmar is a major producer of methamphetamine, which over the past decade has become the dominant illegal drug in Southeast Asia for both domestic consumption and export, supplanting opium and its refined product, heroin. Decades of political instability have made Myanmar’s frontier regions largely lawless and exploited by drug producers and traffickers.The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime warned in a report in May last year that the production and trafficking of synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine is burgeoning...

Spanish prime minister calls early general election after battering in regional vote

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:17:20 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called a early general elections for July 23.Sánchez made the surprise announcement Monday, a day after his Socialist party took a serious battering in local and regional elections.Prior to Sunday’s debacle, Sánchez had insisted that he would ride out his four-year team, indicating that elections would be in December.The Associated Press

Hong Kong court rejects publisher Jimmy Lai’s bid to terminate his national security trial

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:17:20 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong court on Monday rejected a jailed publisher’s request to terminate his national security trial, pressing ahead with a landmark case seen as part of Beijing’s crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement. Jimmy Lai, the 75-year-old founder of the now-defunct newspaper Apple Daily, faces up to life in prison if convicted under a Beijing-imposed national security law. His lawyers earlier filed an application to halt the trial, raising concerns that his case was being heard by three judges approved by the city’s leader, instead of a jury.When Hong Kong returned to China in 1997, it was promised that trials by jury, previously practiced in the former British colony, would be maintained under the city’s constitution. But in a departure from the city’s common law tradition, the security law allows no-jury trials for national security cases. On Monday, Judges Esther Toh, Susana D’Almada Remedios and Alex Lee unanimously rejected Lai’s r...

IAEA team in Japan for final review before planned discharge of Fukushima nuclear plant water

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:17:20 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — An International Atomic Energy Agency team arrived in Tokyo on Monday for a final review before Japan begins releasing massive amounts of treated radioactive water into the sea from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, a plan that has been strongly opposed by local fishing communities and neighboring countries.The team, which includes experts from 11 countries, will meet with officials from the government and the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, and visit the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant during their five-day visit, the economy and industry ministry said.Japan announced plans in April 2021 to gradually release the wastewater following further treatment and dilution to what it says are safe levels. The release is expected to begin within a few months after safety checks by Japanese nuclear regulators of the newly constructed water discharge facility and a final report by IAEA expected in late June.The plan has faced fierce protests from loc...

UN agencies warn of starvation risk in Sudan, Haiti, Burkina Faso and Mali, call for urgent aid

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:17:20 GMT

ROME (AP) — Two U.N. agencies warned Monday of rising food emergencies including starvation in Sudan due to the outbreak of war and in Haiti,Burkina Faso and Mali due to restricted movements of people and goods.The four countries join Afghanistan, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen at the highest alert levels, with communities that are already facing or projected to face starvation or otherwise risk a slide “towards catastrophic conditions.”The report by the World Food Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization calls for urgent attention to save both lives and jobs. Beyond the nine countries rating the highest level of concern, the agencies said 22 countries are identified as “hotspots’’ risking acute food insecurity.“Business-as-usual pathways are no longer an option in today’s risk landscape if we want to achieve global food security for all, ensuring that no one is left behind.” said Qu Dongyu, FAO Director-General.He called for immediate action in the agricultural se...