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Southeast Asia nations hold first joint navy drills near disputed South China Sea

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:23 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The Association of Southeast Asian Nations began its first joint naval exercise on Tuesday at a time when several member countries are responding more strongly to increasing Chinese assertiveness in the area.The non-combat drills, named ASEAN Solidarity Exercise, include joint maritime patrol operations, search and rescue operations, and humanitarian and disaster relief, Indonesian military chief Adm. Yudo Margono said.He said the five-day exercise in Indonesia’s Natuna waters aims to boost military ties among the ASEAN nations and enhance interoperability. The drills also involve civilian groups involved in humanitarian relief and disaster prevention.ASEAN nations have taken part in naval exercises before with other countries — including both the United States and China — but this week’s drills are the first involving just the bloc and are being read by many as a signal to China.China’s “nine-dash line,” which it uses to demarcate its claim to most o...

At UN, Biden looks to send message to world leaders – and voters – about leadership under his watch

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:23 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden will use his annual address before the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday to make the case to world leaders — and the 2024 U.S. electorate — that he’s reestablished U.S. leadership on the world stage that he says was diminished under former President Donald Trump.White House officials said Biden would make a robust case to members of the world body to continue to back Ukraine’s effort to repel a nearly 19-month old Russian invasion that has no end in sight.Biden previewed his thinking in a pair of fundraisers on Monday evening, telling supporters that he stood up to Vladimir Putin’s invasion, and questioning whether Trump, the 2024 GOP presidential frontrunner, would have even attempted to help Ukraine stop the Russian land grab if he were in power.“I will not side with dictators like Putin. Maybe Trump and his MAGA friends can bow down but I won’t,” Biden told supporters at a Broadway fundraiser.There will be notable absences as the president...

Hermoso criticizes Spanish soccer federation and accuses it of threatening World Cup-winning players

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:23 GMT

MADRID (AP) — The player in the middle of the controversy that engulfed Spanish soccer after she was kissed on the lips by an official has accused the country’s soccer federation of trying to intimidate the World Cup-winning players by picking them for the national team even though they asked not to be called up.Jenni Hermoso, who said she did not consent to the kiss by former federation president Luis Rubiales during the World Cup awards ceremony last month, said in a statement early Tuesday that the federation’s decision to call up nearly half of the 39 players who said they would not play for the national team as a protest was “irrefutable proof” that “nothing has changed.”The players had said they wouldn’t come back until their demands for deep reforms and new leadership in the federation were met, but new coach Montse Tomé on Tuesday picked 15 of the players who helped Spain win its first Women’s World Cup last month.Tomé left Hermoso off the list “as a ...

Former Belarusian operative under Lukashenko goes on Swiss trial over enforced disappearances

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:23 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — A former member of Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenko’s special security forces was going on trial Tuesday in Switzerland over the enforced disappearances of political opponents in the late 1990s — seen as a landmark case of international justice. Yuri Harauski, a former member of a military unit known as SOBR, exited a tinted-window van wearing a hood as he entered the courthouse in the northern city of St. Gallen. Activists have said the two-day trial marks a pivotal moment in international justice that could trigger prosecutions abroad of other Belarusian officials — including Lukashenko. The court case was brought under a rarely applied legal principle known as universal jurisdiction, under which foreign courts can prosecute severe crimes that happened in other countries.Harauski will be tried over the enforced disappearances of Yuri Zakharenko, a former interior minister who was fired by Lukashenko in 1996; opposition leader Viktor Gonchar; and publisher A...

No winner for Powerball, jackpot climbs to $672 million

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:23 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — Better luck next time. No one won Monday night's Powerball jackpot, and the total has climbed to $672 million.There were no $2 million winners, and a $1 million ticket was sold in Massachusetts.Monday's numbers were: 2, 21, 26, 40, 42, and red Powerball 9. The Power Play was 3X. The next Powerball drawing will be Wednesday at 10:59 p.m. ET.At that size, this jackpot ranks as the 10th-largest in Powerball. It’s also the third-largest of 2023 — in February, there was a $754.6 million jackpot won by a ticket in Washington, and in July, a California ticket landed a $1.08 billion prize. Both of those prizes rank among the largest in the game’s history.Here are the 10 largest Powerball jackpots on record:$2.04 billion: Nov. 7, 2022 (California)$1.586 billion: Jan. 13, 2016 (California, Florida, Tennessee)$1.08 billion: July 19, 2023 (California) $768.4 million: March 27, 2019 (Wisconsin)$758.7 million: Aug. 23, 2017 (Massachusetts)$754.6 million: Feb. 6, 2023 (Washington)...

COVID-19: Commission authorizes second adapted vaccine for member states' autumn vaccination campaigns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:23 GMT

The Commission has authorized the Spikevax XBB.1.5-adapted COVID-19 vaccine, developed by Moderna. This is another important step in the fight against the disease. It is the third adaptation of this vaccine to respond to new COVID variants.Health and Food Safety Commission Stella Kyriakides (pictured) said: “With COVID-19 and seasonal influenza co-circulating this autumn and winter, vaccination remains our most effective tool against both viruses. I encourage those concerned, especially those aged 60 years and above, persons with weakened immune systems and underlying health conditions, to get their booster dose with the latest updated vaccines targeting the variants that are currently spreading as soon as possible. We all need to continue being vigilant and help protect each other.”The European Medicines Agency (EMA) carried out a stringent evaluation of the vaccine under the accelerated assessment mechanism. Following this evaluation, the Commission authorised the adapted vaccine ...

Bridge: Sept. 19, 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:23 GMT

“My short-term memory isn’t what it used to be,” one of my club’s seniors said to me.“Is that your only problem?” I asked.“Well, my short-term memory isn’t what it once was.”Today’s declarer forgot the auction from a few minutes earlier. When West’s bid of one diamond came around, South bid a direct four spades, expecting North to hold a few points. West led high diamonds, and South ruffed the third diamond and led a trump. East took the ace and returned a trump.South next led a heart to dummy’s ace and a heart back to his jack. West’s queen won for down one.OPENING BIDSouth had a lapse. East had not responded to the opening bid and had shown the ace of trumps. He couldn’t have the queen of hearts. South should cash the ace of clubs and run his trumps.At the end, dummy has the queen of clubs and A-7 of hearts, and South has his three hearts. West must save his king of clubs so only two hearts. South ...

Horoscopes Sept. 19, 2023: Jimmy Fallon, stick to the truth

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:23 GMT

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Kevin Zegers, 39; Alison Sweeney, 47; Jimmy Fallon, 49; Trisha Yearwood, 59.Happy Birthday: Discipline will help you achieve things, but don’t let it stifle your creativity. Emotions will brew, and although keeping your secrets safe and sound is favored, sharing essential information with those close to you is necessary. Keep the conversation flowing. Having a willingness to adopt change that keeps you updated is vital to your success. Stick to the truth and complete your mission. Your numbers are 9, 17, 26, 32, 38, 44, 49.ARIES (March 21-April 19): Emotional matters will cost you if you lack realism. Sidestep joint ventures and proceed alone to maintain control. Being able to do things your way will give you limitless energy and enthusiasm to outmaneuver anyone who tries to get in your way. 3 starsTAURUS (April 20-May 20): You’ll gravitate toward serious people pursuing a similar mission. Don’t get consumed in someone else’s dre...

Word Game: Sept. 19, 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:23 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — PHARMACY (PHARMACY: FAR-muh-see: A place where medicines are compounded or dispensed.)Average mark 19 wordsTime limit 35 minutesCan you find 25 or more words in PHARMACY? The list will be published tomorrow.YESTERDAY’S WORD — WEDLOCK weld woke deck dock dole dowel lewd lock lode lowed owed clew clod code coed coke cold cole cowed cowlTo purchase the Word Game book, visit WordGameBooks.com. Order it now for just $5 while supplies last!RULES OF THE GAME:1. Words must be of four or more letters.2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” are not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible.4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.Contact Word Game creator Kathleen Saxe at [email protected].

Ask Amy: We made it through this horrible wedding, and then we learned the couple’s secret

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:23 GMT

Dear Amy: Your recent answer to “Disgruntled Guest” regarding a destination wedding inspired me to write.For those who want to have a destination wedding, my suggestion is to focus on each other and the moment. Come home afterward and have a gathering with family and friends.My wife and I attended a formal beach wedding. Sand was blowing and we couldn’t hear the officiant over the waves. Afterward, we attended a formal dinner and ate the worst food ever.We attended out of obligation, an obligation I wish we’d never agreed to. It was five days of enforced partying with a small group of people we wouldn’t choose to vacation with. (We gave the couple a very generous gift, as well.)Then we learned that they were married by a judge months before their destination wedding.A few months after the destination wedding, they had a very large formal gathering again, and more money was forked out.It was the Never-ending Wedding!– Never AgainDear Never Again: I’m picturing a marrying ...