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Live updates | More Palestinians fleeing combat zone in northern Gaza, UN says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:04:37 GMT

The pace of Palestinian civilians fleeing the combat zone in northern Gaza has picked up as Israel’s air and ground campaign there intensifies. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Wednesday that about 15,00 people fled on Tuesday, compared to 5,000 on Monday and 2,000 on Sunday.The densely populated northern area of Gaza, specifically Gaza City and adjacent crowded urban refugee camps, are the focus of Israel’s campaign to crush Hamas, the militant group that has ruled Gaza for 16 years. The war, now in its second month, was triggered by the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel.The number of Palestinians killed in the war passed 10,300, including more than 4,200 children, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said Tuesday. In the occupied West Bank, more than 160 Palestinians have been killed in the violence and Israeli raids. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the fighting, and 242 ...

Voters in Ohio backed a measure protecting abortion rights. Here’s how Republicans helped

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:04:37 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A proposal to enshrine abortion rights in Ohio’s Constitution was approved in a statewide election Tuesday, with a significant number of Republicans joining with Democrats to ensure the measure’s passage.The Associated Press has called the race, with votes cast in favor of proposal winning with about 56% of the vote, compared with about 44% for votes cast in opposition — a lead of approximately 232,000 votes as of the latest tally.Known as “Issue 1,” the proposal would amend the state Constitution to establish the right to “make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions” on matters including abortion, contraception and fertility treatment. It would also allow for abortions to be banned once it has been established that the fetus can survive outside of the womb, unless a physician determines that continuing with the pregnancy would endanger the patient’s “life or health.”Tuesday’s vote followed a similar path as an August ballot measure election that would have...

US plans to build a $553 million terminal at Sri Lanka’s Colombo port in rivalry with China

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:04:37 GMT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The U.S. announced a $553- million project Wednesday to build a new, deep-water shipping container terminal in the Port of Colombo as it competes with China in international development financing.The project, financed with private loans, is billed as providing critical infrastructure for the South Asian nation with the potential to “transform Colombo into a world-class logistics hub at the intersection of major shipping routes and emerging markets,” according to the U.S. International Development Finance Corp. The DFC’s commitment of $553 million in private loans for the West Container Terminal will “expand its shipping capacity, creating greater prosperity for Sri Lanka — without adding to sovereign debt — while at the same strengthening the position of our allies across the region,” said DFC Chief Executive Officer Scott Nathan. The U.S.-backed financing comes at a time when Sri Lanka is struggling to recover from a dire financial and economic...

Ivanka Trump set to testify in civil fraud trial, following her father’s heated turn on the stand

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:04:37 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Her father gave caustic testimony. Her brothers each spent more than a day on the witness stand.Now it’s Ivanka Trump’s turn to face questioning in the civil fraud trial that is publicly probing into the family business. Ex-President Donald Trump’s eldest daughter, who has been in his inner circle in both business and politics, is due on the stand Wednesday, after trying unsuccessfully to block her testimony. Unlike her father and her brothers, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., she is no longer a defendant in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit. James alleges that Donald Trump’s asset values were fraudulently pumped up for years on financial statements that helped him get loans and insurance. The non-jury trial will decide allegations of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsifying business records — but Judge Arthur Engoron already has resolved the lawsuit’s top claim by ruling that Trump engaged in fraud. That decision ...

Governments plan more fossil fuel production despite climate pledges, report says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:04:37 GMT

Despite frequent and devastating heat waves, droughts, floods and fire, major fossil fuel-producing countries still plan to extract more than double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than is consistent with the Paris climate accord’s goal for limiting global temperature rise, according to a United Nations-backed study released Wednesday.Coal production needs to ramp sharply down to address climate change, but government plans and projections would lead to increases in global production until 2030, and in global oil and gas production until at least 2050, the Production Gap Report states. This conflicts with government commitments under the climate accord, which seeks to keep global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). The report examines the disparity between climate goals and fossil fuel extraction plans, a gap that has remained largely unchanged since it was first quantified in 2019.“Governments’ plans to expand fossil fuel production are undermini...

Want to tune in for the third GOP presidential debate? Here’s how to watch

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:04:37 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — It’s time for the third Republican presidential debate, and there’s going to be an even smaller lineup onstage than the last gathering.Here’s all of the information on how to watch:What time is the Republican debate? The two-hour debate will start at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday. It’s being moderated by NBC’s Lester Holt and Kristen Welker, as well as nationally syndicated Salem Radio Network talk show host Hugh Hewitt.What channel is the Republican debate on?NBC says the event will air on its television, streaming and digital platforms, including streaming on NBCNews.com. As with the other two debates, the Republican National Committee has partnered with Rumble — a video-sharing platform popular with some conservatives — to livestream this one, in lieu of the network’s YouTube channel. RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said earlier this year this was a decision aimed toward “getting away from Big Tech.”Where is the Republican debate?The setting for the third GOP ...

Can Nikki Haley take a big step forward? What to watch during the Republican debate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:04:37 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Five Republicans will appear on stage Wednesday night in Miami for the GOP’s third presidential primary debate. The group is the smallest to qualify for the debate stage so far, but it’s unclear whether the increased airtime for the shrinking group will fundamentally change the 2024 Republican presidential nomination fight. Donald Trump remains the overwhelming front-runner in the race. He has decided to skip this debate, as he has the first two, citing his big polling advantage. Almost exactly one year after he launched his 2024 campaign, a clear Trump alternative has yet to emerge.Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was expected to fill that role earlier in the year, is stuck in a fierce fight for second place. He’s betting that a strong debate performance — two days after winning the endorsement of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds — will help convince a skeptical GOP that he has fully recovered from his early stumbles. Nikki Haley, the former United Nations amb...

Third GOP debate will focus on Israel and foreign policy, but also on who could beat Donald Trump

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:04:37 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war are expected to be prominent in Wednesday’s third Republican primary debate, as a narrowing field of candidates seeks to cut into Donald Trump’s lead without being able to challenge the former president in person.Trump will again skip the debate in Miami, instead holding a rally in a nearby suburb. He says he won’t participate due to his large lead in national and early state polls.With voting set to start in leadoff Iowa in January, no one has thus far been able to shake Trump’s dominance of the Republican primary. Many of the candidates have gone after each other hoping to break out as a viable alternative to the former president, emphasizing their differences on foreign policy but also ripping Trump for his criticisms of the Israeli prime minister and claims that a group attacking Israel was “very smart.”Republican strategist David Kochel, who has advised several past presidential campaigns, said despite Trump...

CMA Awards set to honor country’s superstars and emerging acts and pay tribute to Jimmy Buffett

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:04:37 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The CMA Awards are back Wednesday to honor the top artists in country music, with Lainey Wilson, Jelly Roll, Ashley McBryde and Morgan Wallen among the acts hitting the stage.Wilson is the leading nominee for the second year in a row, competing for entertainer of the year along with Carrie Underwood, Chris Stapleton, Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs.Stapleton, Dan + Shay and the War and Treaty are among the performers scheduled to take the stage at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. The show airs live on ABC beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern and will stream the next day on Hulu.Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning will host the ceremony, which will feature a musical tribute to the late singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett.Wilson is up for nine awards, including her collaborations with HARDY (“Wait in the Truck”) and Jelly Roll (“Save Me.”) Rapper-turned-singer Jelly Roll, who earlier this year topped the CMT Music Awards, has five nominations, including best new arti...

India bars protests that support the Palestinians. Analysts say a pro-Israel shift helps at home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:04:37 GMT

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — From Western capitals to Muslim states, protest rallies over the Israel-Hamas war have made headlines. But one place known for its vocal pro-Palestinian stance has been conspicuously quiet: Indian-controlled Kashmir.Indian authorities have barred any solidarity protest in Muslim-majority Kashmir and asked Muslim preachers not to mention the conflict in their sermons, residents and religious leaders told The Associated Press.The restrictions are part of India’s efforts to curb any form of protest that could turn into demands for ending New Delhi’s rule in the disputed region. They also reflect a shift in India’s foreign policy under populist Prime Minister Narendra Modi away from its long-held support for the Palestinians, analysts say.India has long walked a tightrope between the warring sides, with historically close ties to both. While India strongly condemned the Oct. 7 attack by the militant group Hamas and expressed solidarity with Israe...