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Rahul Gandhi, Indian opposition leader, reinstated as lawmaker days after top court’s order

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:08 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s Parliament on Monday reinstated top opposition leader Rahul Gandhi as a lawmaker three days after the country’s top court halted his criminal defamation conviction for mocking the prime minister’s surname.His reinduction as a member of Parliament is likely to strengthen the opposition’s effort to corner Narendra Modi’s government ahead of a no-confidence motion this week over deadly ethnic violence that has roiled India’s northeastern state of Manipur for more than three months.A fierce critic of Modi and his main challenger in the 2024 polls, Gandhi was ousted from Parliament after his conviction by a magistrate’s court in March. The Supreme Court stayed his conviction Friday, which means it is temporarily halted while the court goes into Gandhi’s appeal in detail before issuing a final ruling.The court’s order also means that Gandhi will be able to contest next year’s general elections unless a final court decision goes against him.The defamation case invo...

A firefighting helicopter crashed in Southern California while fighting a blaze, officials say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:08 GMT

CABAZON, Calif. (AP) — A firefighting helicopter crashed in Southern California on Sunday while fighting a blaze in Riverside County, emergency officials said.The helicopter was performing work under contract with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, fire captain and spokesman Richard Cordova said.Sheriff’s deputies responded at 7:20 p.m. PDT to an air emergency in the area of Pipeline Road and Apache trail as crews were battling the Broadway fire near Cabazon, according to a post by the Riverside County Sheriff’s office on X, formerly known as Twitter.The department is still investigating the crash and whether other aircraft were involved, Cordova said. Details were not immediately available on the number of injuries or fatalities.The Associated Press

At least 4 Syrian soldiers killed in suspected Israeli airstrikes around Damascus

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:08 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Israeli airstrikes hit areas around Damascus early Monday, killing at least four Syrian soldiers, Syrian state media reported.Syrian state television, citing a military source, said four other soldiers were also wounded while the strikes caused “some material damage.”Israeli authorities did not immediately comment.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-linked war monitor, said the strikes targeted weapons and munitions warehouses and positions of Iran-backed militias around Damascus. They say at least six were killed and seven others wounded. The Observatory said the strikes mark 22nd time Israel has struck Syria this year.Israel, which has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment next door, has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in government-controlled parts of neighboring Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges them.Israel has also targeted the international airports in Damascus and the northern Syrian city of Aleppo several times over th...

Cambodia’s king appoints army chief Hun Manet as successor to his father, long-ruling Hun Sen

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:08 GMT

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s king on Monday formally appointed army chief Hun Manet to succeed his father and long-ruling Prime Minister Hun Sen as the nation’s leader later this month after their party sealed victory in a one-sided election last month.The royal decree signed by King Norodom Sihamoni and shared to the public by state social media means the 45-year-old Hun Manet is officially the incoming leader and will take office Aug. 22 when the new National Assembly adopts the new cabinet.The appointment came after Cambodia’s electoral body on Saturday announced the final results of last month’s election. The polls that gave Hun Sen’s party a mandate for the next five years were criticized by Western governments and rights groups as neither free nor fair because the main credible opposition party was barred from participating.Hun Manet won his first seat in Parliament in the July election, and the handover from his father is part of a larger, generati...

Iran opens registration for candidates in next year’s parliament election, the first since protests

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:08 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran on Monday began registering candidates for parliamentary elections in March, which will be the first since nationwide protests rocked the country last year.Iran has held regular presidential and parliamentary elections since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. But a clerical body vets candidates — disqualifying any seen as disloyal to the Islamic Republic — and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say on all major policies.Iran saw months of nationwide protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was being held by the morality police for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code. The protests escalated into calls for the overthrow of the ruling clerics, marking one of the biggest challenges to their four-decade rule.The protests largely died down after authorities launched a fierce crackdown in which more than 500 protesters were killed and nearly 20,000 were detained. Last month, the morality p...

Tory Lanez to be sentenced for shooting Megan Thee Stallion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:08 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rapper Tory Lanez could get a long prison term at his expected sentencing Monday after f elony convictions for shooting and wounding hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion in the feet.Los Angeles prosecutors are asking a judge to hand down a 13-year sentence to the 31-year-old Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson.They wrote in a sentencing memorandum that along with the crimes for which he was convicted, Lanez has re-traumatized Megan with social media posts about the case that emboldened many among his more than 2 million followers to attack her.Megan may appear in court Monday to give a victim impact statement, or may have one read for her in her absence.Lawyers for Lanez said in their own sentencing memo that he should get only probation and be released from jail to enter a residential substance abuse program.They say the evidence that led to his conviction was “questionable at best” and that his lack of remorse should therefore not be a factor in his sentenci...

Prison probably isn’t the end of the political road for Pakistan’s ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:08 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan’s popular opposition leader, is now an inmate at a high-security prison after being convicted of corruption and sentenced to three years.It’s the most dramatic twist yet in months of political and legal wrangling between Khan and his political rivals since he was toppled in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022.Khan’s party said it will appeal what government critics describe as a flimsy case, aimed at removing the former cricket star from politics ahead of a general election meant to be held this fall. The government defended the conviction as lawful and denied that Khan is a victim of political persecution.If the conviction stands, the 70-year-old Khan would be prohibited by law from running for office or leading Pakistan Tehreek e-Insaf, the party he founded in the 1990s. However, polls indicate a strong election showing for PTI, and Khan’s imprisonment could further boost its standing....

Evacuation order, alerts issued for Mayo and other areas in Yukon due nearby wildfire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:08 GMT

MAYO, YUKON — Residents of the Village of Mayo are under an evacuation order and others in central Yukon are under an alert as a wildfire inches closer to the small communities.The Yukon Emergency Measures Organization says it issued the evacuation order for Mayo, located just over 400 kilometres north of Whitehorse, at 1 p.m. Sunday due to hazards to life posed by the Talbot Creek wildfire burning about seven kilometres south of the village.About two hours later, the organization issued an evacuation alert for the Village of Keno and Hecla Mine, located slightly north of Mayo, saying they are not under threat of the same wildfire but should be prepared to leave if the flames come closer.The order in Mayo covers all properties from kilometres 35 to 66 along Yukon Highway 11, known as the Silver Trail. “Evacuating a community of any size is never easy,” said fire information officer Mike Fancie with the Government of Yukon. “Everybody in Mayo is doing the best they ...

Philippines summons Chinese ambassador over water cannon incident in disputed sea, official says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:08 GMT

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine government summoned the Chinese ambassador on Monday to convey a diplomatic protest over the Chinese coast guard’s use of a water cannon against a Filipino supply boat in the disputed South China Sea, a Philippine official said.The Philippine military on Sunday condemned the Chinese coast guard ship’s “excessive and offensive” use of a water cannon to block a Filipino supply boat from delivering a new batch of troops, food, water and fuel to the Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed waters.The United States, the European Union and their key allies including Australia and Japan expressed support to the Philippines and concern over the Chinese ship’s actions. Washington renewed a warning that it is obliged to defend its longtime treaty ally if Filipino public vessels and forces come under an armed attack including in the South China Sea.The tense confrontation on Saturday was the latest flare-up in the long-seething territori...

Ex-Minneapolis officer faces sentencing on a state charge for his role in George Floyd’s killing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:08 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The last former Minneapolis police officer to face sentencing in state court for his role in the killing of George Floyd will learn Monday whether he will spend additional time in prison.Tou Thao has testified he merely served as a “human traffic cone” when he held back concerned bystanders who gathered as former Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes while the Black man pleaded for his life on May 25, 2020. A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s killing touched off protests worldwide and forced a national reckoning of police brutality and racism.Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill found Thao guilty in May of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. In his 177-page ruling, Cahill said Thao’s actions separated Chauvin and two other former officers from the crowd, including a an emergency medical technician, allowing his colleagues to continue restraining Floyd and prevent...