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Taiwan leader’s US meeting plans draw Chinese threat

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:58 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China threatened “resolute countermeasures” over a planned meeting between Taiwan’s president and the United States House speaker during an upcoming trip through Los Angeles. Diplomatic pressure against Taiwan has ramped up recently, with Beijing poaching Taipei’s dwindling number of diplomatic allies while also sending military fighter jets flying toward the island on a near daily basis. Earlier this month, Honduras established diplomatic relations with China, leaving Taiwan with only 13 countries that recognize it as a sovereign state.President Tsai Ing-wen framed the trip as a chance to show Taiwan’s commitment to democratic values on the world stage, as she left Taiwan Wednesday afternoon to begin her 10-day tour of the Americas. “I want to tell the whole world democratic Taiwan will resolutely safeguard the values of freedom and democracy, and will continue to be a force for good in the world, continuing a cycle of goodness, strengthening the resilience of ...

Paris trash strike ends, pension protest numbers shrink

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:58 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Sanitation workers in Paris are set to return to work Wednesday amid heaps of trash that piled up over their weekslong strike as protests against French President Emmanuel Marcon’s controversial pension bill appeared to be winding down.Trash mounds of up to 10,000 tons along the French capital’s streets — matching the weight of the Eiffel Tower — have become a striking visual symbol of opposition to Marcon’s bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64.Clean-up crews were set Wednesday to start picking up debris from streets following fresh anti-pension reform protests a day earlier. The powerful CGT union representing sanitation workers said its three-week-long strike was over Wednesday. They will join others who were legally requisitioned to earlier to help with the clean-up.“It’s good that the trash is collected. It’s very unsanitary, and some residents already have trouble with rats and mice. It can be dangerous if it’s left too long,” said artist Gil Franco, 73.Th...

Mass shootings seldom shift partisan policies despite outcry

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:58 GMT

Public outrage is swift following mass shootings, such as the killing of six people at a Christian elementary school in Nashville. Sorrow and sympathy are widespread. But what comes next from policymakers is likely to depend on which political party is in charge of a state. Don’t expect new gun controls in Republican-led states, such as Tennessee or Texas.But when similar tragedies occur in Democratic-led states, more gun limits are likely — even if they already have restrictive laws.Mass shootings generally don’t seem to change a state’s basic political makeup.“Democratic-led states tend to focus more on firearm restrictions whereas Republican-led states do not and often emphasize lessening regulations on guns,” said Jaclyn Schildkraut, executive director of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium at the Rockefeller Institute of Government. The fact that responses seem predicated by Republican and Democratic labels is perhaps an indication of the nation̵...

Sri Lanka slashes fuel prices in welcome relief amid crisis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:58 GMT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s government on Wednesday announced significant cuts in fuel prices, providing welcome relief for many after a year of shortages and skyrocketing prices amid the country’s worst economic crisis.Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekara told reporters different categories of petrol and diesel will be sold at prices from 8% to 26% lower starting Wednesday midnight. He said the price reduction is in line with an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, which includes adjusting fuel subsidies and prices based on production costs and global oil prices.Sri Lanka earlier this month secured approval of a $2.9 billion IMF bailout program a key step in its recovery from a crisis brought on by the pandemic and other troubles. Last year, severe shortages of food, medicine and fuel led to street protests that forced then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign.In a related development, petroleum industry trade unions opposing ...

‘Significant concerns’: Fairfax Co. school leaders blast proposed history standards as excessive and inaccurate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:58 GMT

Fairfax County, Virginia, school officials are pushing back on the state’s highly-scrutinized proposed history and social science standards of learning, calling some of them misplaced at certain grade levels, inaccurate and, in some cases, missing critical information.Superintendent Michelle Reid and Rachna Sizemore-Heizer, chair of the school board, said in a letter sent last week that the latest proposed standards document, released in January, is “replete with historical and developmental errors and concerns and is lacking an inclusive telling of history with the full breadth of perspectives and experiences.”The addition of over 100 standards, they said, will require “rote memorization for the sake of content coverage” and will challenge teachers to cover more information without additional time to do so.More Local NewsMore Virginia NewsMore Fairfax County NewsMore Education NewsThe letter was sent to state Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera and Vi...

Distrito escolar de Florida revisa la película ‘Ruby Bridges’ por quejas de algunos padres

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:58 GMT

(CNN) — Una película sobre una estudiante negra de primer grado que integró una escuela primaria para blancos en el sur de Estados Unidos, está bajo revisión en un distrito escolar de Florida después de que un padre objetó el uso de insultos en la película y argumentó que podría enseñar a los estudiantes que “los blancos odian a los negros”, según funcionarios escolares y documentos obtenidos por CNN.Un padre de un estudiante de segundo grado en la escuela primaria North Shore en St. Petersburg presentó una queja formal el 6 de marzo solicitando la eliminación de la película de 1998 “Ruby Bridges” de la lista de películas aprobadas de la escuela. Esto se produjo después de que la película se mostrara a unos 60 estudiantes de segundo grado el 2 de marzo como parte de una lección del Mes de la Historia Negra, dijo a CNN Isabel Mascareñas, portavoz de las Escuelas del Condado de Pinellas.El padre, cuyo nombre está editado en la copia de la queja compartida con CNN, es...

Biden starts democracy summit with $690M pledge for programs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:58 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is opening his second Summit for Democracy with a pledge for the U.S. to spend $690 million bolstering democracy programs around the globe.The Biden administration wants to use the two-day summit that begins Wednesday to zero in on making “technology work for and not against democracy,” according to a senior administration official. Some 120 global leaders have been invited to participate.Biden frequently speaks of the U.S. and like-minded allies being at a critical moment in which democracies need to demonstrate they can out-deliver autocracies. The summits, something Biden promised as a Democratic 2020 presidential candidate, have become an important piece of his administration’s effort to try to build deeper alliances and nudge autocratic-leaning nations toward at least modest reforms.The new funding will focus on programs that support free and independent media, combat corruption, bolster human rights, advance technology that improves ...

Q&A: Where DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb stands

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:58 GMT

DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb speaks with DMV Download podcast host Luke Garrett. (WTOP/Luke Garrett)D.C. had a turbulent start to 2023 — from a forsaken criminal code, a sharp spike in car thefts and to the recent resignation of Deputy Mayor John Falcicchio following allegations of sexual assault.Meanwhile, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb has been settling into his new position as the top prosecutor in the nation’s capital.More DC NewsMore Local NewsThree months into his tenure, Schwalb went on WTOP’s “DMV Download” podcast to discuss where he stands on the issues facing the District and what he hopes to accomplish as attorney general. The following Q&A has been edited for clarity and brevity. Source

Una desafiante presidenta de Taiwán parte hacia Nueva York para iniciar un viaje por Centroamérica

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:58 GMT

Hong Kong (CNN) — Taiwán tiene todo el derecho a “conectarse con el mundo”, declaró este miércoles su presidenta, Tsai Ing-wen, al embarcarse en una misión diplomática a Centroamérica, que incluirá tránsito en Estados Unidos, y ya ha sido condenada por China.Tsai partió de Taiwán este miércoles para un viaje de 10 días en el que hará escalas en la ciudad de Nueva York y Los Ángeles además de visitas oficiales a Guatemala y Belice.“La presión externa no detendrá nuestra determinación de avanzar hacia la sociedad internacional”, dijo Tsai a los periodistas antes de despegar. “Estamos tranquilos, confiados, intransigentes y no provocativos”.El viaje ha llamado mucho la atención tras los informes de que Tsai se reuniría con el presidente de la Cámara de Representantes de EE.UU., Kevin McCarthy, durante una de sus escalas no oficiales en EE. UU.Taiwán aún tiene que confirmar dicha reunión.Honduras corta relaciones con Taiwán y se acerca a China, ¿cómo se beneficia Xiomara Castro?La...

13-year-old girl safely located after CBI alert

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:58 GMT

FEDERAL HEIGHTS, Colo. (KDVR) -- The Colorado Bureau of Investigation was searching for a 13-year-old missing out of Federal Heights, but she has since been located.She was last seen Tuesday at 3:31 p.m. walking eastbound across Huron Street north of 84th Avenue. CBI said she was found safely.