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Kenyan opposition lawmakers say the Haiti peacekeeping mission must be approved by parliament

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:34 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenyan lawmakers said Wednesday that parliamentary approval is required before the deployment of police to the Kenya-led peacekeeping mission in Haiti to combat gang violence that was approved by the U.N. Security Council this week.Opposition lawmaker Anthony Oluoch told a session of Parliament’s lower house that the conditions for foreign deployment hadn’t been met under the National Police Act.He also said that the country’s security needs “ought to take first precedence before any foreign commitments,” alluding to the internal attacks by the East Africa-based al-Shabab extremist group, which has links to al-Qaida.Another lawmaker, Junet Mohamed, said the matter should be tabled in Parliament for approval “before any police officer leaves the country” for what he called a “dangerous mission,” citing Kenyan police officers’ inexperience in combating local crime.The Kenya-led peacekeeping mission to Haiti was approved in a U.N. Security ...

Tennis player apologizes for hitting a chair umpire with ball in Shanghai Masters qualifying

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:34 GMT

SHANGHAI (AP) — Australian tennis player Marc Polmans has apologized for hitting a ball into the face of the chair umpire during final round qualifying at the Shanghai Masters, which led to him being immediately disqualified.Polmans, ranked 140th, had match point against Italy’s Stefano Napolitano in the second set on Tuesday when he missed a volley and then hit the ball in anger as it bounced back from the net. His errant hit narrowly missed the ball person before hitting chair umpire Ben Anderson in the face. Anderson was apparently not seriously injured.“An update from me – the umpire, Ben, has accepted my apology for my actions,” Polmans posted on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. “He knows it was unintentional, and I shanked the ball on the frame in frustration in the heat of the moment.“We both move on. It was a high-pressure situation and I should have reacted better.”The Australian joins Denis Shapovalov, Novak Djokovic and former British player Tim Henman ...

Jannik Sinner wins China Open. Iga Swiatek advances to quarterfinals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:34 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Jannik Sinner won his third title of the year by beating third-ranked Daniil Mevedev 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) Wednesday at the China Open.The 22-year-old Italian had not beaten Medvedev in their six previous meetings, but he quickly found his rythym from the baseline to earn his ninth tour title.“Daniil, thanks for letting me win at least one match,” Sinner joked during the trophy ceremony. “We have had some very tough battles, especially this year. Thanks for making me a much better player. I have been training a lot to beat you.”Along with his trademark clean groundstrokes, Sinner relied on his serve, winning more than 70% of his second-serve points and attacking from the net.Medvedev came into Wednesday’s final looking for his 21st career title and sixth of 2023. His next stop will be the Shanghai Masters, where he is seeded second.In the women’s tournament, second-ranked Iga Swiatek dropped only two games and advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Magd...

Pakistani army says 2 people were killed when a Taliban guard opened fire at a border crossing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:34 GMT

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A Taliban guard opened fire at civilians at a border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing two people, including a 12-year-old boy, the Pakistani military said. Another child was wounded in the shooting at the Chaman border crossing in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province. The military said in a statement that Pakistani troops “exercised extreme restraint” to avoid more casualties in the shooting. The army did not say anything on the Afghan Taliban guard’s possible motives for opening fire and there was no immediate comment from Afghanistan’s Taliban government. Pakistan has asked the Afghan Taliban authorities to investigate the “irresponsible and reckless act, apprehend and hand over the culprit to Pakistani authorities,” the military also said. On Tuesday, Pakistan announced a major crackdown on migrants who are in the country illegally, many of them from Afghanistan, and said it would expel them starting next month. The expulsions wou...

Meet this year’s MacArthur ‘genius grant’ recipients, including a hula master and the poet laureate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:34 GMT

A scientist who studies the airborne transmission of diseases, a master hula dancer and cultural preservationist, and the sitting U.S. poet laureate were among the 20 new recipients of the prestigious fellowships from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, known as “genius grants,” announced on Wednesday.MacArthur fellows receive a grant of $800,000 over five years to spend however they want. Fellows are nominated and endorsed by their peers and communities through an often yearslong process that the foundation oversees. They do not apply and are never officially interviewed for the fellowship before it’s awarded.Each year, the foundation calls the new class of fellows in advance of the public announcement and fellows described being shocked and stunned by the news after receiving a call from an unknown number, which they had sometimes initially ignored. Ada Limón, who recently began her second term as the country’s poet laureate, said she first missed a call the d...

A man charged with voter fraud in Florida blames rivalry between Trump and DeSantis supporters

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:34 GMT

THE VILLAGES, Fla. (AP) — A man has been charged with forgery and fraud after authorities say he cast a ballot in Florida for his deceased father in the 2020 election, though the suspect says the charges were motivated by a local, internal GOP political rivalry between former President Donald Trump advocates and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis supporters.Elections officials in Sumter County did not count the ballot because it was postmarked four days after the father died in mid-October 2020, according to a criminal complaint brought by William Keen, the Sumter County elections supervisor. An examination of the father’s ballot showed the signature on resembled that of his son’s and not any of the father’s previous ballot signatures, the complaint said.Robert Rivernider was arrested and charged last week with felony forgery of a public record and fraud, according to court documents. He has since been released from custody.Reached by telephone Wednesday, Rivernider said he planned to ...

Rudy Giuliani: ‘I have never had an alcohol problem’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:34 GMT

Former Trump lawyer and adviser Rudy Giuliani vehemently denied having a drinking problem Wednesday, following a report from the New York Times detailing the former New York City mayor’s drinking habits.“I do not have an alcohol problem. I have never had an alcohol problem,” Giuliani said during a press conference in Concord, New Hampshire in response to questions about the Times report.“[If] I have an alcohol problem, I should be in the Guinness Book of World Records,” Giuliani said, citing his various accomplishments and his job history as evidence refuting the report.“Nobody could have achieved that if they did [have a drinking problem]. … I was working 24 hours a day. It’s a big damn lie,” Giuliani told reporters, who had gathered outside Merrimack County Superior Court to hear the former mayor announce his plans to sue President Joe Biden over a comment Biden made about him during the 2020 presidential race.According to the Times, those close to Giuliani have be...

Scalise and Jordan launch bids for House speaker after McCarthy ouster

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:34 GMT

(CNN) — House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Rep. Jim Jordan both jumped into the race Wednesday to become the next House speaker, setting up a fight to replace Kevin McCarthy after his historic ouster.House Republicans are even more bitterly divided in the aftermath of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ouster and his decision not to run again. It remains to be seen whether the conference can coalesce around a viable successor to the California Republican.The stakes are extremely high as Congress faces down a looming shutdown deadline in mid-November. The House is essentially paralyzed while it lacks a speaker.Republicans are slated to hear from speaker candidates at a forum next Tuesday, setting up the next possible House-wide speaker vote next Wednesday, October 11.Jordan and Scalise are on a growing list of possible McCarthy successors. Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern, who chairs a conservative group known as the Republican Study Committee said Wednesday he is still looki...

Moderna’s flu-Covid combo vaccine elicits ‘strong’ immune response in Phase 1/2 study, company says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:34 GMT

(CNN) — In a Phase 1/2 clinical trial, Moderna’s combination vaccine appeared to elicit “strong” immune responses against both influenza and Covid-19 and was found to be safe, the company announced Wednesday.The investigational vaccine, named mRNA-1083, was developed to offer some protection against both flu and Covid in a single shot, and in Wednesday’s announcement, the company said that it plans to begin a Phase 3 trial of mRNA-1083 among adults 50 and older this year.The ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trial involves comparing safety and immunogenicity results from a standard flu shot in adults ages 50 to 64 against results from the combination vaccine in adults ages 65 to 79. For both age groups, mRNA-1083 was also compared against the updated Covid-19 vaccine.Moderna announced that in the Phase 1/2 study, mRNA-1083 appeared to achieve antibody titers similar to or greater than both the licensed flu shot and the updated Covid-19 vaccine. The t...

Nichols College president accused of sexting former student at Coast Guard Academy resigns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:34 GMT

(CNN) — A retired US Coast Guard captain stepped down as president of a college in Massachusetts on Tuesday after CNN revealed that he had been accused of sexual misconduct involving several students he taught at the prestigious Coast Guard Academy a decade ago.Glenn Sulmasy, who had been president of Nichols College since 2021, resigned amid an ongoing investigation by the college, which was prompted by CNN’s report. That story detailed how Coast Guard attorneys in 2016 recommended that Sulmasy be prosecuted in a military court-martial for conduct unbecoming an officer and willful dereliction of duty even though he had retired from the service months earlier. The proposed charges stemmed from hundreds of sexually suggestive texts he exchanged with an academy student, according to a memo obtained by CNN.Coast Guard leaders rejected the prosecution recommendation despite attorneys warning that failing to do something would be viewed as the academy “sweeping the case under the ru...