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US, Japan, Philippines agree to strengthen security ties amid tensions over China, North Korea

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:22 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — The national security advisers of the United States, Japan and the Philippines held their first joint talks Friday and agreed to strengthen their defense cooperation, as Washington and its partners reinforce their alliances to adapt to growing tensions over North Korea, China and Ukraine, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.Sullivan said he and his Japanese and Philippine counterparts discussed the “turbulent regional security environment and how we can collectively work to enhance peace and stability” in areas including freedom of navigation and economic security.Sullivan, Takeo Akiba of Japan and Eduardo Ano of the Philippines said in a joint statement that they emphasized the importance of enhancing three-way cooperation, building on alliances between Japan and the U.S. and between the Philippines and the U.S. to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, especially in the Taiwan Strait.Sullivan said the “path-breaking” new trilatera...

A US nuclear-powered sub arrives in South Korea, a day after North Korea resumes its missile tests

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:22 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The United States deployed a nuclear-powered submarine capable of carrying about 150 Tomahawk missiles to South Korea on Friday, a day after North Korea resumed missile tests in protest of the U.S.-South Korean live-fire drills.The USS Michigan’s arrival in South Korea, the first of its kind in six years, is part of a recent bilateral agreement on enhancing “regular visibility” of U.S. strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula in response to North Korea’s advancing nuclear program, according to South Korean officials.With the deployment of the USS Michigan, the U.S. and South Korean navies are to conduct drills on boosting their special operation capabilities and joint ability to cope with growing North Korean nuclear threats, the South Korean Defense Ministry said in a statement.It said the U.S. submarine arrived at the southeastern port city of Busan but didn’t say how long it would stay in South Korean waters.The USS Michigan is one of the biggest s...

Lawyer: Detained man, Gadhafi’s son, suffers deteriorating health 2 weeks into hunger strike

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:22 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — A son of Libya’s leader Moammar Gadhafi is suffering deteriorating health during the second week of a hunger strike to protest his detention in Beirut without trial, his lawyer said Friday.Hannibal Gadhafi is only drinking small amounts of water, his lawyer Paul Romanos said, adding that his client is suffering from weakness and muscle pains.“Had it not been for his solid will, he would not have been able to continue,” Romanos said about Hannibal Gadhafi. He added that a doctor is doing a daily checkups for the detainee, who has been also suffering from back pain that turned out to be an inflammation in the spine. Romanos said earlier this month that the back pain is due to being held in a small room where he cannot move freely or exercise.Hannibal Gadhafi has been detained in Lebanon since 2015 after he was briefly kidnapped from neighboring Syria, where he had been living as a political refugee. He was abducted by Lebanese militants demanding information on the where...

Amazon’s $1.7 billion deal to buy Roomba maker iRobot gets UK approval

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:22 GMT

LONDON (AP) — British antitrust regulators cleared Amazon’s purchase of robot vacuum maker iRobot on Friday, but the $1.7 billion deal still faces scrutiny in the United States and Europe.The Competition and Markets Authority said it decided not to escalate its initial investigation because it concluded that the deal would not result in a “substantial lessening of competition” within the United Kingdom. Amazon said it was pleased with the result. “We look forward to similar decisions from other regulators soon,” the company said in a statement.Consumer groups have voiced concerns that Amazon’s purchase of Bedford, Massachusetts-based iRobot, which makes the popular Roomba robotic vacuum cleaners, would widen the e-commerce giant’s dominance in the smart home market.The acquisition is still facing a review in the U.S. by the Federal Trade Commission amid worries about Amazon’s growing market power. It’s also under scrutiny by the European Union’s executive arm, which open...

Heather Mack expected to plead guilty in murder of mother in Bali

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:22 GMT

CHICAGO — The woman accused of murdering her mother in Bali is expected to plead guilty Friday.Heather Mack, 27, was convicted in Indonesia in 2015 of being an accessory to Sheila von Wiese-Mack’s murder with her then-boyfriend in a bid to gain access to a $1.5 million trust fund. Mack, then 18 and pregnant, covered her mother’s mouth in a hotel room while Tommy Schaefer bludgeoned Wiese-Mack with a fruit bowl, prosecutors say.The body of Wiese-Mack was found badly beaten and stuffed inside a suitcase at an Indonesian resort island.Mack spent seven years in prison in Indonesia before she was deported. She was arrested at O'Hare Airport in 2021 shortly after returning to the U.S., and charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Chicago Police Board fires sergeant in charge of Anjanette Young raid In November of 2022, Mack lost custody of her daughter whom she gave birth to while in prison in Indonesia. A Cook County judge ordered that the child be placed...

Texas bans transgender women, girls from collegiate athletics

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:22 GMT

(The Hill) - Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Thursday signed legislation prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing in collegiate athletics, building on a 2021 law that requires public school sports teams through high school to be designated by students’ sex assigned at birth.Texas’s Senate Bill 15, also known as the state’s “Save Women’s Sports Act,” mandates that intercollegiate athletes participate only on sports teams matching their “biological sex" which the legislation defines as that which is “correctly” stated on a student’s original birth certificate.The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which oversees post-secondary education in the state, has been tasked with drafting and adopting rules that ensure compliance with state and federal laws regarding the confidentiality of student health and medical information.The new law, which will take effect in September, makes it simpler for college students in Texas to sue their schools if they continue allowin...

Semi collides with bus carrying seniors to casino in Canada, killing 15

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:22 GMT

TORONTO (AP) — A bus carrying seniors to a casino collided with a semi-trailer truck at a highway intersection in a rural part of the Canadian province of Manitoba Thursday, killing 15 people and injuring 10 more, police said.Rob Hill, Commanding Officer of the Manitoba Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said the bus was carrying 25 people and authorities in Manitoba were deploying all their resources to the scene. Ten people were taken to hospitals.TV broadcasters aired images of what looked like a large van or bus smoldering in a ditch near a transport truck with a smashed engine on a road. The pavement was littered with debris — broken glass, a large bumper and what looked like a walking aid. Seven blue and yellow tarps were stretched out.RCMP Supt. Rob Lasson said “as of right now the drivers of both the bus and truck are alive and in hospital." He did not say if they were among the 10 listed as injured. The dead were mainly seniors.Lasson said the bus was heading south and there wo...

96.4% of Americans had COVID-19 antibodies in their blood by fall 2022

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:22 GMT

(The Conversation) - Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, were present in the blood of 96.4% of Americans over the age of 16 by September 2022. That’s according to a serosurvey – an analysis testing for the presence of these immune defense molecules – conducted on samples from blood donors.A serosurvey like this one helps researchers estimate how many people have been exposed to any part of the coronavirus, whether via vaccination or infection. Both can trigger the generation of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. And by identifying which kind of antibodies someone has in their blood, researchers can break down the 96.4% into different types of immunity: infection-derived, vaccine-derived and hybrid.COVID-19 vaccines used in the United States are based on only one part of the virus – the spike, or S, protein. Researchers can tell that a person has been vaccinated and has not been infected if their blood has only anti-S antibodies that target ...

FOUND: Search underway for missing North Side man

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:22 GMT

CHICAGO -- A 58-year-old man who was missing since Monday has been found. The man was reported missing from the 1300 block of West Winona Street on Chicago's North Side on Monday, June 12. Search underway for missing elderly man who may need medical attention

Celebrating 100 years, what you may not know about the Texas State Parks system

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:22 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- For 100 years, the Texas State Parks system has invited millions of visitors to recreate in its parklands and experience the state's natural beauty up close. All year long, Texas State Parks officials will host events commemorating the centennial, with plans on how to invite the next generation of explorers into the next 100 years.The history of the Texas State Parks systemThe creation of the state parks system dates back in Gov. Pat Neff who, in 1923, appointed a Texas State Parks Board to help determine and locate sites for future parks, per Texas Parks and Wildlife Department documents.Texas Gov. Pat Neff appointed a Texas State Parks Board in 1923 to assist with the development of a state parks system. (Courtesy: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department)In 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt directed the National Park Service to assist state parks systems as part of the New Deal program. The Civilian Conservation Corps helped employ citizens during the Great De...