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Biden hosts Philippines leader Marcos as China tensions grow

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:42 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is set to host President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines for White House talks Monday as concerns grow about the Chinese navy’s harassment of Philippine vessels in the South China Sea. Marcos’ visit to Washington comes after the U.S. and the Philippines last week completed their largest war drills ever and as the two countries’ air forces on Monday will hold their first joint fighter jet training in the Philippines since 1990. The Philippines this year agreed to give the U.S. access to four more bases on the islands as the U.S. looks to deter China’s increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan and in the disputed South China Sea.Meanwhile, China has angered the Philippines by repeatedly harassing its navy and coast guard patrols and chasing away fishermen in waters that are close to Philippine shores but that Beijing claims as its own. Before departing for Washington on Sunday, Marcos said he was “determined to forge ...

Russia missile attack on Ukraine injures 34, damages homes

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:42 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched its second large salvo of missiles at Ukraine in recent days early Monday, damaging buildings and wounding at least 34 people in the eastern city of Pavlohrad but failing to hit Kyiv, officials said. Air raid sirens began blaring across the capital at about 3:45 a.m., followed by the sounds of explosions as missiles were intercepted by Ukrainian defense systems. Eighteen cruise missiles were fired in total from the Murmansk region and the Caspian region, and 15 of them were intercepted, said Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi. The head of Kyiv’s city administration, Serhii Popko, said all missiles fired at the city were shot down, as well as some drones. He didn’t provide further details, but said more information would be available later. The attack follows Friday’s launch of more than 20 cruise missiles and two explosive drones at Ukraine, which was the first to target Kyiv in nearly two months. In tha...

Fraught U.S-Israel ties on display as Knesset reconvenes

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:42 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli lawmakers reconvene Monday after a month-long parliament recess, resuming the fight over a contentious government plan to overhaul the judiciary that has split Israelis and drawn concern from Israel’s most important ally, the United States.The tensions will be on full display when the highest-ranking Republican politician in the U.S., House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, addresses the Knesset later Monday.Israel’s government has portrayed McCarthy’s visit as a nod to bipartisan U.S. support for Israel as it marks 75 years since its creation. Critics say the rare honor given to McCarthy — he’s only the second House speaker to address the Knesset, after Newt Gingrich in 1998 — is a pointed jab at Democratic President Joe Biden. Biden has publicly voiced concern about the legal overhaul and, largely because of it, has so far denied Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a typically customary invitation to the White House after his election win late last year.M...

Millions snap up new Germany-wide public transit ticket

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:42 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Public transit companies in Germany say more than 3 million people have already snapped up a new ticket being launched Monday that allows them to use all local and regional trains, buses and metros across the country for 49 euros ($53.90) a month.The new Germany Ticket is intended to encourage people to ditch their cars in favor of more environmentally friendly forms of transportation. It follows on from an experimental 9-euro ‘all you can ride’ ticket that proved to be success last year, but which officials said wasn’t financially viable.The new ticket is considered a revolution in Germany’s fractured public transit system where dozens of regional companies offered myriad different fare options that baffled many travelers.The Germany Ticket will be valid for almost all forms of public transport apart from long-distance intercity trains. Cross-country travel will still be possible using regional trains, significantly reducing costs for some people who used to pay...

Missouri judge to rule on strict trans health care limits

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:42 GMT

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri judge is expected to rule Monday on whether a strict, first-of-its-kind rule in the U.S. on gender-affirming health care can take effect, or if the new rules will remain unenforced as a legal challenge seeking to overthrow them plays out in court. The rule, which requires documented gender dysphoria for three years and more than a year of therapy, was scheduled to kick in last Thursday. But transgender Missourians and health care providers sued to block it, claiming Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey sidestepped the GOP-led Legislature and acted beyond his authority in attempting to regulate gender-affirming health care under the state’s consumer-protection laws.St. Louis County Circuit Judge Ellen Ribaudo on Wednesday temporarily delayed the rule’s effective date as she considers blocking its enforcement throughout the court battle. The rule will require people to have experienced an “intense pattern” of documented gender dysphoria for t...

Regional talks on Syria’s fate kick off in Jordanian capital

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:42 GMT

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Regional leaders met in Jordan Monday to discuss Syria’s return to the Arab fold and a Jordanian proposal to reach a “political solution” to the Syrian conflict.The talks, attended by the top diplomats of Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Egypt, kicked off with a meeting between Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, followed by a meeting of all the ministers.A Jordanian foreign ministry spokesman said the meeting came as a follow-up to talks with the Arab Gulf countries, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt that were held in Saudi Arabia last month. The spokesman added that those countries aimed to build on their contacts with the Syrian government and discuss a “Jordanian initiative to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis.”Syria was ostracized by Arab governments over President Bashar Assad’s brutal crackdown on protesters in a 2011 uprising that descended into civil war. However, in recent years, as Assad consolida...

Regulators seize First Republic Bank, third bank to fail in two months

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:42 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Regulators seized troubled First Republic Bank early Monday and sold all of its deposits and most of its assets to JPMorgan Chase Bank in a bid to head off further banking turmoil in the U.S.San Francisco-based First Republic is the third midsize bank to fail in two months. It has struggled since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and investors and depositors had grown increasingly worried it might not survive because of its high amount of uninsured deposits and exposure to low interest rate loans.The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said early Monday that First Republic Bank’s 84 branches in eight states will reopen as branches of JPMorgan Chase Bank and depositors will have full access to all of their deposits. A guide to the latest banking crisis Regulators worked through the weekend to find a way forward before U.S. stock markets opened. Markets in many parts of the world were closed for May ...

GasBuddy: Albany prices continue to rise

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:42 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Average gasoline prices in Albany have risen 1.2 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.73/g on Monday, according to GasBuddy's survey of 546 stations in Albany. Prices in Albany are 24.6 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and stand 56.8 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 5.3 cents in the last week and stands at $4.07 per gallon. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Albany was priced at $3.44/g on Sunday while the most expensive was $3.89/g, a difference of 45.0 cents per gallon. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $2.66/g while the highest was $4.15/g, a difference of $1.49/g.The national average price of gasoline has fallen 6.3 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.58/g today. The national average is up 8.2 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 59.6 c...

Siena Men's Tennis brings home first MAAC title

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:42 GMT

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The Siena Men's Tennis team won the MAAC tournament championship for the first time in program history last weekend. The Saints defeated rival and top-seeded Fairfield to get the job done. Something head coach Jeff Osborn believes no one saw coming. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! “To come into the finals and win it 4-0, I don’t know if anybody would’ve predicted that, but the kids came focused that day, and you could see it right from the start,” Osborn said.The Saints overcame a 0-3 deficit in the semifinals and had to go through Quinnipiac and Fairfield, whom they lost to in the regular season. It's coach Osborns second title at Siena, and he said the road to get here was not easy."We’ve talked about this for the entire year," said Osborn. "We’ve had both these teams, we lost to both teams earlier in the season and you know we had Fairfield, we wanted Fairfield very badly I can tell you that...

Colorado mandates audit of halfway houses for first time in 20 years

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:42 GMT

Colorado’s halfway houses will get an independent financial audit for the first time in 20 years, after a ProPublica investigation found a lack of oversight contributes to a system where more people end up incarcerated than rehabilitated.A new state law directs Colorado’s Division of Criminal Justice to hire a third-party auditor to evaluate the finances of halfway houses every five years, including the costs imposed on residents of the facilities. The findings of the first audits will be presented to lawmakers by July 1, 2025.“The goal is to make sure (halfway house programs) are working the way they were intended and to evaluate if they have the funds to meet those expectations,” state Rep. Emily Sirota, a Denver Democrat who co-sponsored the bill, told ProPublica. “We need the necessary data to assess that.”There are three ways people typically arrive in Colorado’s halfway houses: Some are sentenced by a judge to community corrections in lieu of jail or prison; others are finishi...