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Thailand’s king reduces prison term of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to a single year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:49:47 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s king on Friday reduced the prison term of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from eight years to one year following the divisive politician’s return from 15 years of self-imposed exile.The decision by King Maha Vajiralongkorn was published Friday in the Royal Gazette, making ii effective immediately.Thaksin was prime minister from 2001 to 2006, when he was ousted by a military coup. He fled Thailand in 2008 when he faced prison time on charges he described as politically motivated.He returned to Thailand last week and was immediately sent to prison, but was quickly transferred to a state hospital because of what was described as his frail health.The Associated Press

Israeli forces raid a West Bank town, sparking a firefight that kills a Palestinian teacher

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:49:47 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military on Friday raided a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank, besieging an apartment and sparking a gunfight with local militants that killed an apparently uninvolved Palestinian teacher, his family and Palestinian health officials said. It was the latest in a series of Israeli army raids in the occupied territory that have resulted in a high Palestinian death toll.Israeli security forces stormed into a town near Tubas, northeast of the Palestinian city of Nablus, and surrounded a house where militants were believed to be holed up. Israeli soldiers called on the wanted militants through loudspeakers to surrender, residents said. When the gunmen refused, the Israeli military launched soldier-fired missiles and grenades at the building to try to force them out. Videos showed giant plumes of smoke billowing from the apartment. But the gunmen refused to surrender themselves and managed to flee the wrecked house, the local branch of the Palestinian ...

Two women injured after jumping from 2nd floor to escape Scarborough house fire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:49:47 GMT

Two women are in hospital after jumping from a second floor to escape a house fire in Scarborough on Friday morning.The one-alarm fire began around 2:30 a.m. at a residence on Homestead Road, near Kingston Road and Lawrence Avenue East.Police tell CityNews two women were taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries after they jumped from a second story window onto the roof of a parked vehicle below. One of the women landed on the windshield of the vehicle.The fire was quickly put out. Officials say it started in the back of the home.There is no word on the cause of the fire. The investigation is ongoing.

A 98-year-old German man is charged as an accessory to murder at a Nazi concentration camp

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:49:47 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A 98-year-old man has been charged in Germany with being an accessory to murder as a guard at the Nazis’ Sachsenhausen concentration camp between 1943 and 1945, prosecutors said Friday.The German citizen, a resident of Main-Kinzig county near Frankfurt, is accused of having “supported the cruel and malicious killing of thousands of prisoners as a member of the SS guard detail,” prosecutors in Giessen said in a statement. They did not release the suspect’s name.He is charged with more than 3,300 counts of being an accessory to murder between July 1943 and February 1945. The indictment was filed at the state court in Hanau, which will now have to decide whether to send the case to trial. If it does, he will tried under juvenile law, taking account of his age at the time of the alleged crimes.Prosecutors said that a report by a psychiatric expert last October found that the suspect is fit to stand trial at least on a limited basis. German prosecutors have brou...

China’s new national map has set off a wave of protests. Why?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:49:47 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — China has upset many countries in the Asia-Pacific region with its release of a new official map that lays claim to most of the South China Sea, as well as to contested parts of India and Russia, and official objections continue to mount. What is the map, and why is it upsetting people so much?WHAT IS CHINA CLAIMING? China’s Ministry of Natural Resources released the new “standard” national map on Monday, part of what it has called an ongoing effort to eliminate “problem maps.” In it, China clearly shows its so-called nine-dash line, demarcating what it considers its maritime border, claiming almost the entirety of the South China Sea. The current, and other recent iterations of the annual map, include a 10th dash to the east of Taiwan. In the far northeastern corner of China on the border with Russia, it shows Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island, an island at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri rivers, as Chinese territory, even though the countries signed an agreement...

Stock market today: Global shares trade mostly higher ahead of a key US jobs report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:49:47 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were trading mostly higher Friday as investors looked toward a U.S. jobs report being released later in the day. France’s CAC 40 edged up nearly 0.1% in early trading to 7,321.92, while Germany’s DAX was little changed at 15,948.02. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.5% to 7,477.41. U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures up 0.3% to 34,878.00. S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% to 4,525.75. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.3% to finish at 32,710.62. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.4% to 7,278.30. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.3% to 2,563.71. The Shanghai Composite added 0.4% to 3,133.25.Trading was halted in Hong Kong because of an approaching typhoon. Schools and businesses were shut as an official warning was issued about Super Typhoon Saola. Hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed. Later Friday, the U.S. government will report employment data for August. The strong job market, along with consumer spending,...

The Red Cross says 43 bodies have been collected in a week from clashes in a disputed Somali city

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:49:47 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The International Committee of the Red Cross says 43 bodies have been collected in the past week from the front line of the latest fighting in a disputed city in Somaliland.The ICRC in a statement Friday said a further 110 wounded people have been taken to hospitals in the past week by the Somali Red Crescent Society amid clashes that have continued for months in and around Las-Anod. The statement did not identify the dead or those to blame.Somaliland separated from Somalia three decades ago and has sought recognition as an independent country. Somaliland security forces have been fighting clan militia who wish to be part of Somalia, whose Puntland state for years has disputed Las-Anod with Somaliland.Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the fighting. It is not known how many hundreds of people have been killed in total. The ICRC reported “widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure” in Las-Anod, the capital of the Sool region.Somaliland’s government...

Groundbreaking for Albany County solar project

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:49:47 GMT

COLONIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Groundbreaking for the Albany County Solar Project in Colonie kicks off on Friday starting at 10:30 a.m. Albany County Executive Dan McCoy, Legislature Majority Leader Dennis Feeney, the New York Power Authority, Colonie Town Supervisor Peter Crummey, Calibrant Energy, Siemens, Capital Region BOCES, Shaker Heritage Society, and other elected officials will be in attendance. Get the latest news, weather, sports and more delivered right to your inbox! The groundbreaking will take place at the corner of Watervliet Shaker Road and Airline Drive. There is no timetable for when the project will be completed.

Sussex County sweeps Tri-City at Joe Bruno

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:49:47 GMT

TROY, NY (NEWS10) - The Tri-City ValleyCats (53-39) scored more runs on Thursday (four) than they had in their previous three games (three), but ultimately fell 5-4 to the Sussex County Miners (52-40) at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium. The ValleyCats were swept for only the second time all year, which has both occurred against Sussex County. Get the latest news, weather, sports and more delivered right to your inbox! However, Tri-City’s magic number to clinch its first playoff berth since 2018 is down to three after the Québec Capitales swept the New York Boulders on Thursday. The ‘Cats hold a one-game lead in the standings for the second wild card spot in the Frontier League East Division over both the Boulders and the Miners.Tri-City opened the scoring in the second. Jakob Goldfarb doubled off Tyler Thornton. Oscar Campos singled Goldfarb to third. Tanner Smith brought in Goldfarb with a single to give the ValleyCats a 1-0 lead.Goldfarb picked up his second hit of the day in the ...

Shaker Bison enter 2023 with youth and hunger to win

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:49:47 GMT

LATHAM, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The Shaker Blue Bison are stampeding into the 2023 season after making a run to the Class AA Super Bowl last year. Get the latest news, weather, sports and more delivered right to your inbox! The Blue Bison will have a lot of youth, with only three players returning from last season. In addition, they're in the midst of a quarterback battle and haven't named a starting quarterback for week one.Despite these realities, head coach Greg Sheeler and company are excited about getting ready for the season and earning everything on and off the field."We'll be playing ball like we always do. Great defense, running the ball, great hustle, great discipline," said Sheeler. "That's what we strive for every year, whether we meet those expectations we'll see, but that's what we're striving for. Every year we try to build a culture of consistency, so we graduated a lot of seniors last year. It's a new group's time, so we don't have any sense of entitlement. Nobody had a ...