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Pakistan says its planned deportation of 1.7 million Afghan migrants will be ‘phased and orderly’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:51:36 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan will carry out its recently announced plans to deport all illegal immigrants, including 1.7 million Afghans, in a “phased and orderly manner,” the foreign ministry said Friday. The statement is likely meant to assuage international concerns and calm fears among Afghan refugees in Pakistan after Islamabad’s unexpectedly said Tuesday that all migrants — including the Afghans — without valid documentation will have to go back to their countries voluntarily before Oct. 31 to avoid mass arrests and forced deportation. This sent a wave of panic among those living in this Islamic country without papers and drew widespread condemnation from rights groups. Activists say any forced deportation of Afghans will put them at a grave risk. Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the spokesperson for Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Friday the new policy is not aimed at Afghans only. “We have been hosting Afghans refugees generously for the past four decades” when millions ...

Lebanese army rescues over 100 migrants whose boat ran into trouble in the Mediterranean

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:51:36 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — The Lebanese army rescued more than 100 migrants Friday after their boat developed technical problems in the Mediterranean off the coast of the northern city of Tripoli, state-run National News Agency reported. No one was hurt in the incident.The agency said the boat that was carrying 125 people, all of them Syrians except for one Lebanese, called for help after they faced problems while near the Palm Islands in Lebanese territorial waters. The boat was towed to port in Tripoli where some of the migrants received first aid, the agency added.The army said in a statement that the migrants included eight women and 24 children. For years Lebanon had been a net recipient of refugees from the region, but since the small nation’s economic meltdown began in October 2019, thousands of Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians have been attempting the dangerous trip across the Mediterranean to reach Europe in search of stability and opportunities.Lebanon has some 805,000 U.N.-registere...

Iowa Democrats announce plan for January caucus with delayed results in attempt to keep leadoff spot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:51:36 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Iowa’s Democratic Party announced Friday it will hold a caucus on Jan. 15 but won’t release the results until early March, attempting to retain their state’s leadoff spot on the presidential nominating calendar without violating a new national party lineup that has South Carolina going first for 2024.Iowa Republicans have already scheduled their caucus for that day, which falls on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. But while the GOP’s caucus will kick off voting in the party’s competitive presidential primary, Democrats will only meet in person then to participate in down-ballot races and deal with nonpresidential party business. Democrats’ presidential contest will instead be held by mail throughout January and February, with party officials not releasing the results until Super Tuesday on March 5. “We believe this delegate selection plan is definitely a compromise,” Rita Hart, chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, said on a conf...

Myanmar’s top court declines to hear Suu Kyi’s special appeals in abuse of power and bribery cases

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:51:36 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s Supreme Court on Friday declined to hear special appeals from the country’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi against her convictions in six corruption cases where she was found guilty of abusing her authority and accepting bribes, a legal official said.The 78-year-old Suu Kyi, who was arrested when the army toppled her elected government in February 2021, is serving prison sentences totaling 27 years after being convicted of a string of criminal charges mostly brought by the military.Her supporters and independent analysts say the charges, all of which have been contested by Suu Kyi and her lawyers, are bogus and an attempt to discredit her and legitimize the military’s seizure of power.She initially received sentences totaling 33 years but Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the military government, granted her clemency in five cases and reduced her sentence by six years as part of a broader amnesty for more than 7,000 prisoners to mark a Buddhist religi...

Nobel Peace Prizes awarded to Iranian women 20 years apart trace tensions with the West

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:51:36 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Nobel Peace Prize awarded to an Iranian women’s rights activist signaled international support for democracy efforts in the Islamic Republic, and hope that the country might change from the inside. That was 20 years ago and the winner, Shirin Ebadi, faced harassment that ultimately forced her to flee the country. On Friday, the Norwegian Nobel Committee gave its prestigious Peace Prize to Ebadi’s colleague, Narges Mohammadi, who has been in and out of prison for over a decade because of her activism. The awards serve as bookends to a period in which Iran and the United States have seesawed between confrontation and possible reconciliation over restraining Tehran’s nuclear program, with tensions soaring ever since the collapse of a 2015 deal. Over those two decades, women’s rights have moved to the forefront of protests in Iran.Iran’s economy has been in tatters for years because of sanctions imposed by the West, an...

S&P/TSX composite index down in late morning trading as U.S. markets rise

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:51:36 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index fell in late-morning trading, led down by utilities stocks, while U.S. stock markets moved higher.The S&P/TSX composite index was down 65.95 points at 19,071.86.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 81.45 points at 33,201.02. The S&P 500 index was up 9.67 points at 4,267.86, while the Nasdaq composite was up 50.16 points at 13,269.99.The Canadian dollar traded for 73.07 cents US compared with 72.82 cents US on Thursday.The November crude oil contract was down four cents at US$82.27 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was up 11 cents at US$3.28 per mmBTU.The December gold contract was up US$13.20 at US$1,845.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was up eight cents at US$3.63 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD) The Canadian Press

German prosecutors say witness evidence so far doesn’t suggest a far-right leader was assaulted

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:51:36 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — German prosecutors said Friday that testimony from witnesses hasn’t revealed any indication so far that a co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany party was assaulted at an election rally, German news agency dpa reported.Tino Chrupalla was given medical treatment and then taken to a hospital shortly before he was due to speak at an election rally in Bavaria on Wednesday. Chrupalla’s party, known by its German acronym AfD, said at the time that he was hospitalized after a “violent incident.”Chrupalla was discharged from a hospital in Ingolstadt on Thursday and all scheduled election campaign events in Bavaria were canceled.Prosecutors said that after witness questioning, there is “no basis” for information contained in a preliminary letter from a hospital doctor, which indicated that Chrupalla may have been jabbed with a needle from a syringe while taking selfies in the crowd before walking towards the stage where he was due to give a speech.“The w...

Bears trade Chase Claypool to the Dolphins

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:51:36 GMT

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — In the end, Chase Claypool's time with the Bears ended up lasting less than a year.The team is trading the wide receiver to the Dolphins along with a 2025 seventh round pick in exchange for a 2025 sixth round pick.After being inactive the last two games, the Bears have traded wide receiver Chase Claypool along with a 2025 seventh round pick to the Dolphins in exchange for a 2025 sixth round pick..@WGNNews pic.twitter.com/j7W9aaw4pr— Larry Hawley (@HawleySports) October 6, 2023This move comes after Claypool was inactive the last two games and was told to stay away from the team this past week as the Bears prepared for the Commanders. The Friday before the Broncos game, the receiver had been critical of his usage in the Bears' offense.It's a tremendous disappointment for the team and general manager Ryan Poles, who gave up the Bears' second round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft - which ended up being the 32nd overall - to the Steelers for Claypool in November...

IRS places lien on Giuliani property over unpaid taxes: filing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:51:36 GMT

*Related video above: Former President Donald Trump speaking before his recent trial. (The Hill) -- The IRS placed a $550,000 lien on former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s South Florida condo in August over unpaid taxes, according to newly revealed court filings.The lien, first reported by The Daily Mail, underlines Giuliani’s tenuous financial situation as he reportedly struggles to pay off mounting legal fees.The property is just three miles from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach. Giulaini, who previously worked as an attorney for Trump, attempted to sell it for more than $3 million in 2019 but could not find a buyer.In July, he also listed his New York City apartment for $6.5 million.The Hill has reached out to Giuliani for comment.Giuliani spokesman Ted Goodman told CNN that he has an agreement with the IRS to pay off the tax debts.The former New York mayor faces multiple criminal and civil suits related to his actions following the 2020 election, inc...

'Turkey lady' cited over confrontation while helping birds cross street in Colorado

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:51:36 GMT

THORNTON, Colo. (KDVR) — A Colorado woman and neighborhood bird herder known as the "turkey lady" received a disorderly conduct citation Wednesday following an altercation with another woman.Mary Ann Strauch, of Thornton, said she was helping the turkeys cross the road near her home at York Street and 124th Avenue when a driver sped around her and nearly hit her. Ghost town discovered on Colorado’s Western Slope Strauch said she tapped the back of the car with a stick she uses to herd turkeys across the road, and the woman got out and confronted her."She got really irate and jumped out and started yelling at me,” Strauch said. “And she insisted on calling 911 and having the police come out. And then we were all detained out here about 2 and a half hours.”Thornton Police confirmed that both women were cited for disorderly conduct. "It was very upsetting, and I think it was really unnecessary and uncalled for,” Strauch said.Mary Ann Strauch, known in Thornton as the "turke...