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Honduras will seek ties with China, spurning Taiwan

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:19:17 GMT

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Honduras President Xiomara Castro announced Tuesday that her government will seek to establish diplomatic relations with China, which would imply severing relations with Taiwan. The switch would leave Taiwan recognized by only 13 countries as China spends billions to win recognition for its “One China” policy.Castro said on her Twitter account that she instructed Honduran Foreign Affairs Minister Eduardo Reina to start negotiations with China and that her intention is “expand frontiers freely in concert with the nations of the world.”Castro said during her presidential campaign in 2021 that she would look for ties with China if elected, but once in power, her government backtracked on those comments. In January 2022, the foreign affairs minister told The Associated Press that Honduras would continue strengthening ties with Taiwan and that establishing a diplomatic relationship with China was not a priority for Castro.Reina, the Foreign Affairs Minister, ...

Clashes erupt in Pakistan as police try to arrest Imran Khan

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:19:17 GMT

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Clashes between Pakistan’s police and supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan persisted outside his home in the eastern city of Lahore on Wednesday, a day after officers went to arrest him for failing to appear in court on graft charges.The police operation triggered clashes between Khan’s supporters and police in the country’s major cities, including Karachi, Islamabad, the garrison city of Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Quetta and elsewhere in Pakistan.For the past 18 hours, police were firing tear gas at the house as the 70-year-old opposition leader’s supporters hurled rocks and bricks at the officers. The upscale area of Zaman Park where Khan lives was under siege since Tuesday. The government was sending additional police to tackle the situation after hundreds of Khan’s supporters showed unexpected perseverance.Early Wednesday, Khan emerged from his house to meet with his supporters, who faced tear gas and police batons the w...

New Mexico enacts law to keep guns away from children

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:19:17 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a bill Friday that makes it a crime to store firearms in places that children could access.The new law takes effect on June 16. Earlier this year, a 6-year-old student in Virginia shot his teacher, which added to debates across the country about gun control and school safety.The New Mexico bill would make it a crime to store a firearm in a way that negligently disregards the ability of a child or teenager under age 18 to access it. Criminal charges could be brought only if the minor later brandishes or displays the firearm in a threatening way, or uses it to kill or injure someone. The proposal would establish both misdemeanor and felony crimes, with penalties of up to 18 months in prison.Criminal provisions do not apply if a child accesses a gun with authorization of a parent or guardian for lawful purposes including hunting and recreation. The law also includes exceptions when a child accesses a gun for self-defen...

Not magic: Opaque AI tool may flag parents with disabilities

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:19:17 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — For the two weeks that the Hackneys’ baby girl lay in a Pittsburgh hospital bed weak from dehydration, her parents rarely left her side, sometimes sleeping on the fold-out sofa in the room.They stayed with their daughter around the clock when she was moved to a rehab center to regain her strength. Finally, the 8-month-old stopped batting away her bottles and started putting on weight again.“She was doing well and we started to ask when can she go home,” Lauren Hackney said. “And then from that moment on, at the time, they completely stonewalled us and never said anything.”The couple was stunned when child welfare officials showed up, told them they were negligent and took their daughter away.“They had custody papers and they took her right there and then,” Lauren Hackney recalled. “And we started crying.”More than a year later, their daughter, now 2, remains in foster care. The Hackneys, who have developmental disabilities, are struggling to understand how taking t...

How Washington came to rescue US banks

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:19:17 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — After the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters started furiously working the phones to find out what was going on with the failed lender — and what would happen to its panicked depositors.Waters, former chair of the House Financial Services Committee, had her doubts that another bank would step up as a savior and buy the defunct institution.“Banks don’t just wake up and say: ‘Oh, there’s a problem with another significant bank and they’ve collapsed. Let’s just take it over,’’’ she said.So began a frenetic weekend of nonstop briefings with regulators, lawmakers, administration officials and President Joe Biden himself about how to handle the demise of the nation’s 16th-biggest bank and a go-to financial institution for tech entrepreneurs. At the core of the problem was tens of billions of dollars — including money companies needed to meet payrolls — sitting in Silicon Valley Bank accounts that were not protected by f...

Why US troops remain in Iraq 20 years after ‘shock and awe’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:19:17 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Twenty years after the U.S. invaded Iraq — in blinding explosions of shock and awe — American forces remain in the country in what has become a small but consistent presence to ensure an ongoing relationship with a key military and diplomatic partner in the Middle East.The roughly 2,500 U.S. troops are scattered around the country, largely in military installations in Baghdad and in the north. And while it is a far cry from the more than 170,000 U.S. forces in Iraq at the peak of the war in 2007, U.S. officials say the limited — but continued — troop level is critical as a show of commitment to the region and a hedge against Iranian influence and weapons trafficking.A look at America’s evolving role in Iraq:HOW DID IT START? The U.S. invaded Iraq in March 2003 in what it called a massive “shock and awe” bombing campaign that lit up the skies, laid waste to large sections of the country and paved the way for American ground troops to converge on Baghdad. The i...

Warnock’s campaign chief sees lessons from Dems in Georgia

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:19:17 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — When Quentin Fulks went back home to Ellaville, Georgia, last year, people kept telling him how proud they were to watch a native son lead Sen. Raphael Warnock’s reelection bid. Then came the caveat: They still weren’t going to vote for his boss.“I didn’t take it personally,” Fulks recalled with a laugh. If anything, growing up Black in a majority white county where Donald Trump won 79% of the vote helped Fulks understand what Democrats had to do to win in a historically conservative state.As a campaign manager, that meant framing Warnock as the deal-making, results-driven incumbent and building an operation that went beyond the Democratic strongholds of Atlanta and other cities to connect with Republican-leaning voters throughout the state — even before Republicans nominated Herschel Walker and gambled on his complicated personal history. “In a tough environment, we chose to communicate with those voters,” Fulks told The Associated Press. “And it set us apart, ...

Austin FC falls 3-2 on aggregate to Violette AC in CONCACAF Champions League 1st round

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:19:17 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Violette AC came into Austin shorthanded with a 3-goal advantage from the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League opening round and withstood an onslaught to advance in the tournament 3-2 on aggregate Tuesday at Q2 Stadium.Austin FC midfielder Sebastian Driussi scored twice for a 2-0 match win, but Verde needed a third to force penalty kicks, and another would have given them the win outright when combining the scores from the two matches. Violette AC won the first match on March 7, 3-0 in the Dominican Republic, where five Violette starters were left behind for Tuesday's game due to visa issues. Violette had to sign four new players to field a full team for the game and only had three substitutes available.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com/newslettersAustin fired 35 shots to Violette's six, and Verde peppered Violette's goal with 10 shots on goal. Violette AC go...

PD: Texas man facing additional charges after smearing 'fecal matter' on detention officer, jumping out of moving ambulance

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:19:17 GMT

McALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A McAllen man is facing additional charges after smearing fecal matter on a detention officer's face and leaping out of a moving ambulance, documents stated.Jose Luis Velasquez Jr. was arrested on charges of harassment of a public servant, resisting arrest and escaping from custody, according to Hidalgo County Jail records.A probable cause affidavit obtained by ValleyCentral shows that on March 8, someone called police to the 2700 block of Cedar Avenue in reference to two men wanting to kill him. When officers arrived, they located the caller, identified as Velasquez who was shaking with a knife in his hand. 3 men accused vandalizing South Padre Island hotel Officers noted that Velasquez was shaking and sweating with his eyes wide open and dilated pupils, the affidavit stated.Police say a pat down on Velasquez revealed a meth pipe in his back pocket. They say he told them he had smoked meth an hour before. Velasquez was taken into custody and trans...

Kim Gardner files response to attorney general suit

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:19:17 GMT

ST. LOUIS - A spokesperson from the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office announced Tuesday night that circuit attorney Kim Gardner had filed her motion in response to the attorney general's lawsuit. Her filing denies wrongdoing and asks the courts to dismiss the lawsuit. Last month, a judge said Gardner had until Tuesday's deadline to respond; if not, she would face a judgment by default.Gardner faced multiple criticisms and challenges after a horrible crash caused 17-year-old Tennessee volleyball player Janae Edmondson to lose both of her legs. The driver accused of the accident, 21-year-old Daniel Riley, was out on bond in a robbery case and had multiple bond violations.Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey had filed a petition to remove Gardner from office in February. Bailey said she failed to do her duties.Gardner responded to the accusations, saying she would not step down and defend her action in the Riley case.This is a developing story. FOX 2 will give ...