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First asylum seekers moved to barge off UK south coast

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:03:49 GMT

LONDON — The British government has moved a first cohort of asylum seekers onto a barge docked off the Dorset coast as part of a concerted push to deter people from traveling to the U.K. by small boats.The first asylum seekers arrived on the 222-room Bibby Stockholm barge, which is set to house up to 500 people, on Monday, a U.K. government official, not authorized to speak on the record, confirmed. The U.K. government has pushed ahead with the controversial plan amid pressure to find an alternative to housing asylum seekers in hotels, a strategy the Home Office says is costing £2.3 billion a year. Earlier on Monday the Home Office minister Sarah Dines told Sky News that “luxurious hotel accommodation” has been “part of the pull” for criminals trafficking people to the U.K. Housing people on the Bibby Stockholm barge sends “a forceful message that there will be proper accommodation, but not luxurious,” she said.“There have been promises made abroad by the organized criminal ga...

Philippines accuses China of firing water cannons at its ships in South China Sea

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:03:49 GMT

(CNN) — The Philippines has accused Chinese Coast Guard ships of firing water cannons and making “dangerous maneuvers” at its ships in the South China Sea.“The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) strongly condemns the China Coast Guard’s (CCG) dangerous maneuvers and illegal use of water cannons against PCG vessels,” the PCG wrote in a statement shared on its official Facebook account Saturday.PCG vessels were escorting ships carrying supplies to military troops stationed in Ayungin Shoal, also known as Second Thomas Shoal, in the Spratly Islands chain, known in China as the Nansha Islands.China calls the shoal Renai Reef.In a response issued on Sunday, China accused the Philippines Coast Guard (PCG) of trespassing in its waters.“Two Filipino supply vessels and two coast guard vessels illegally intruded into the waters adjacent to Renai Reef in China’s Nansha Islands,” Gan Yu, spokesman for the China Coast Guard, said according to the statement published on its website.“China coast gu...

NTSB investigating helicopter collision that left 3 dead while battling Southern California fires

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:03:49 GMT

(CNN) — National Transportation Safety Board investigators are headed to the spot where three people were killed after two helicopters collided in midair Sunday while fighting a fire in Southern California, an agency spokesperson told CNN on Monday.The helicopters were among six aircraft responding to the Broadway Fire, which began Sunday after a structure fire spread to nearby vegetation in Cabazon, a community in Riverside County some 90 miles east of Los Angeles, CalFire Southern Region Chief David Fulcher said Sunday night.A Bell 407 helicopter and a Sikorsky S-64E helicopter collided in the air, the NTSB spokesperson said.“The first helicopter was able to land safely nearby,” Fulcher said during a news conference. “Unfortunately, the second helicopter crashed, and tragically all three members perished.”Those killed – a contracted pilot, a CalFire division chief and a CalFire captain – are the first victims of California’s 2023 fire season, according to data&...

WWE’s SummerSlam pulls in $7M in sponsorship revenue, up 23% from a year ago

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:03:49 GMT

WWE’s sponsorship revenue for SummerSlam rose 23% from a year ago to $7 million, the most for any event outside of WrestleMania. The Saturday event in Detroit also brought in huge merchandise sales, up 60% from a record set in 2021. It was the best performance in company history for any premium live event outside of WrestleMania. Sponsorship revenue for this year’s WrestleMania doubled to more than $20 million, a record for any WWE event. Sponsors for the event, which was headlined by Roman Reigns facing Jey Uso, included Slim Jim, C4 and Rocket Mortgage.WWE’s events continue to attract strong numbers on social media as well. Its SummerSlam content generated more than 100 million video views across all platforms, led by Samantha Irvin announcing Logan Paul’s win against Ricochet, which drew 30 million views in less than 24 hours. Views on TikTok jumped 500% from a year earlier. Federal law enforcement agents executed a search warrant and served a federal grand jury...

Stock market today: Wall Street rises to regain some momentum after last week’s lull

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:03:49 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are rising Monday as Wall Street regains some momentum following a pause in its big rally for the year so far.The S&P 500 was 0.6% higher in early trading, coming off its first losing week in the last four. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 258 points, or 0.7%, at 35,324, as of 9:40 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% higher. Berkshire Hathaway rose 2.4% after the company run by famed investor Warren Buffett reported stronger profit and revenue for the spring than analysts expected. Pharmaceutical company Viatris also rose after its results topped forecasts It climbed 4.2%.The stronger-than-expected reports helped offset a 9.3% drop for Tyson. The company’s results for the latest quarter fell far short of analysts’ expectations, and Tyson said it would close four chicken facilities as it tries to cut costs. Corporate profits have been mostly beating forecasts as the season for reporting results from April through June enters it...

Japan raises concerns over Iran’s nuclear enrichment and drone supplies to Russia for Ukraine war

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:03:49 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan expressed concern on Monday over Iran’s advancing uranium enrichment program and the Middle East country’s suspected supplying of combat drones to Moscow for Russia’s war on Ukraine. Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi raised the two issues during talks with his visiting Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, the foreign ministry in Tokyo said. A statement from the ministry said Hayashi appealed for Iran to act constructively in the matter but did not elaborate.Iranian drones have been a key element of Russia’s continued war on Ukraine. Tehran has offered conflicting accounts about the drones — first denying Iran has supplied them to Russia and later claiming the unmanned aircraft were only sold before the Russian invasion. However, the number of Iranian-made drones used in the conflict shows a steady supply of the bomb-carrying weapons. In June, the White House said Iran was providing Russia with materials to build a drone ma...

An Indigenous leader has inspired an Amazon city to grant personhood to an endangered river

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:03:49 GMT

GUAJARA-MIRIM, BRAZIL (AP) — On the banks of the Komi Memem River, the activity never ceases: women go down the embankment from Laje Velho village carrying basins to wash clothing, while men embark in small canoes on hunting and fishing expeditions. At day’s end, it’s the children’s turn to dive into its tea-colored waters.The river, named Laje in non-Indigenous maps, is vital to the Oro Waram, one of the six subgroups of the Wari’ people, who have inhabited the Western Amazon for centuries. However, this immemorial relationship is under increasing threat. The relentless expansion of soybeans and pastures encroaches on their land, while land-robbers promote illegal deforestation. To protect themselves, the Wari’ people are resorting to a new strategy: the white man’s law. In June, the municipality of Guajara-Mirim passed a groundbreaking law proposed by an Indigenous councilman that designates the Komi Memem and its tributaries as living entities with rights, ranging from maintainin...

The Mega Millions jackpot has soared to $1.55 billion. Here’s how hard it is to win

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:03:49 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — There’s no shaking it. Your chances of winning the lottery are extremely slim. After no big winner Friday night, the Mega Millions jackpot climbed to an estimated $1.55 billion. If someone wins it all on Tuesday, when the next Mega Millions drawing takes place, the prize would one of the largest in U.S. lottery history.But don’t plan on entering a new tax bracket anytime soon. The odds of winning a Mega Millions jackpot — no matter the size — stand at about 1 in 302.6 million. Because of the almost impossible chance of winning big, experts stress that you shouldn’t spend all your money on lottery tickets. If you choose to play, it’s important to be mindful of what you can afford — and maybe consider other places to put your money, even if it’s just a few dollars at a time.Lottery tickets are “definitely not good investments,” Matthew Kovach, an assistant professor in Virginia Tech’s economics department told The Associated Press last month. “They’re not even investme...

2 people are fatally shot on a fifth day of protests in the South African city of Cape Town

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:03:49 GMT

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Two people were fatally shot on a fifth day of violent protests in the South African city of Cape Town on Monday sparked by a dispute last week between minibus taxi drivers and authorities.A person was killed and three others were wounded in a shooting near the Cape Town International Airport after a group of protesters pelted a car with stones and the driver responded by firing shots at them, police said. The shooting happened while minubus taxis blockaded a road near the airport, police said.Police said the shooter would be investigated for murder and attempted murder.A man died of multiple gunshot wounds in a separate shooting that police said they believed was also related to the protests.The unrest on the outskirts of South Africa’s second-largest city followed an announcement last Thursday of a weeklong strike by minubus taxi drivers, who are angered at what they call heavy-handed tactics by police and city authorities in impounding some of...

8-year-old Chicago girl fatally shot by man upset with kids making noise, witnesses say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:03:49 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — An 8-year-old Chicago girl riding a scooter was fatally shot in the head by a man who was upset over noise, witnesses said.“It just didn’t make sense. None of it made sense,” a neighbor, Megan Kelley, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “Everybody in the community would just tell him they are just kids having fun playing. Just let them be.” The shooting happened Saturday night in Chicago’s Portage Park neighborhood. Police were at the suspect’s apartment building Sunday, interviewing people and collecting evidence.“Before he shot her, he had said something about them being too loud,” Kelley said.After the shooting, the gunman was tackled by the girl’s father and shot during a struggle, according to a police report. He was taken to a hospital.Stuffed animals and sunflowers were placed at the base of a tree near the shooting scene.“With great sadness, we are devastated at the loss of another young life,” the Chicago school district said in a ...