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Deal ‘with the devil’: Meet the Cubans who’ve joined Russia’s war on Ukraine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:42 GMT

What César really wanted was to get out of Cuba. A bartender struggling to make ends meet in Havana, he tried last year to reach Miami in a rickety boat but was forced to abandon the attempt when he was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard.He’s now preparing a second escape attempt: with a direct flight to Moscow. His ticket has been paid for by a Russian recruiter but it comes with a hefty price tag nonetheless: As part of the deal, he will have to join the Russian army and fight in Ukraine.“If this is the sacrifice I have to make for my family to get ahead, I’ll do it,”  said César, who turned 19 this year and whose name has been changed to protect his identity.“You can be a nuclear physicist and still die of hunger here,” he said. “With my current salary I can barely buy basic things like toilet paper or milk.” He said he hoped he would be allowed to work as a paramedic.The news of Cuban fighters in Ukraine splashed across global headlines earlier this month when Havana annou...

Writers Guild and Hollywood studios reach tentative agreement to end strike. No deal yet for actors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:42 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Union leaders and Hollywood studios reached a tentative agreement Sunday to end a historic screenwriters strike after nearly five months, though no deal is yet in the works for striking actors.The Writers Guild of America announced the deal in a joint statement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the group that represents studios, streaming services and production companies in negotiations.“WGA has reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP,” the guild said in an email to members. “This was made possible by the enduring solidarity of WGA members and extraordinary support of our union siblings who joined us on the picket lines for over 146 days.”The three-year contract agreement — settled on after five marathon days of renewed talks by WGA and AMPTP negotiators that was joined at times by studio executives — must be approved by the guild’s board and members before the strike officially ends.In a longer message from the gu...

Oil prices have risen. That’s making gas more expensive for US drivers and helping Russia’s war

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:42 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Oil prices have risen, meaning drivers are paying more for gasoline and truckers and farmers more for diesel.The increase also complicates the global fight against inflation and feeds Russia’s war chest. That poses problems for politicians as well as the people having to spend more to get to work, transport the world’s goods or harvest fields.Here are things to know about the recent increase — and where prices might be going:WHY HAVE OIL PRICES RISEN?Above all, Saudi Arabia’s decision to cut back how much oil it sends to global markets has pushed prices higher.The world’s second-largest oil supplier has slashed production by 1 million barrels a day since July and decided this month to extend the cut through the end of the year.Russia, Saudi Arabia’s ally in the OPEC+ oil producers’ coalition, also extended its own cut of 300,000 barrels a month through 2023.Simply, tighter supp...

Lucas: Biden leaves cities hanging on migrant aid

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:42 GMT

Iran, yes, New York, no.That just about sums up President Joe Biden’s attitude when it comes to providing aid to New Yorkers who are being dragged under by the hordes of illegal immigrants who have invaded the city.Biden did not even meet with New York Mayor Eric Adams during his four–day visit to the city and the United Nations.His message to New York and Mayor Eric Adams was: Get lost.Be warned, though, as New York goes so goes the country.Biden politically cannot and will not come up with funds to bail out cities and states that have been overwhelmed with five million illegal immigrants from around the world thanks to his open border policy.To do so would be an admission that he is responsible for purposely opening the once secure border to let the flood of illegals in as well as for the deadly fentanyl that many of them carry into the country,And while he will talk about protecting the border of Ukraine, he will not utter a word about protecting the borders of the U.S.If B...

Stock market today: Asian world shares mostly lower after Wall St has its worst week in 6 months

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:42 GMT

Shares in Asia were mostly lower on Monday, with Tokyo the only major regional market to advance, after Wall Street wheezed to more losses with its worst week in six months. U.S. futures and oil prices edged higher. Worries over China’s property sector, a U.S. government shutdown and the continued strike by American autoworkers were weighing on investor sentiment. Germany’s DAX fell 0.6% to 15,458.86 while the CAC 40 in Paris also dropped 0.6%, to 7,143.79. Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.6% to 7,637.55. The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow industrials were up 0.1%.Troubled property developer China Evergrande sank nearly 22% after announcing it was unable to raise further debt due to an investigation into one of its affiliates, a predicament that might imperil plans for restructuring its more than $300 billion in debt. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.8% to 17,729.29, while the Shanghai Composite index declined 0.5% to 3,115.61. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.9...

London’s top cop seeks protections for police as armed officers protest murder charge for colleague

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:42 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The head of London’s police force is calling for increased legal protections for officers who use force in the line of duty after more than 100 officers refused to carry guns to protest murder charges filed against one of their colleagues.The revolt by specially trained firearms officers has raised concerns about the Metropolitan Police Service’s ability to respond to some incidents, and the military has agreed to provide backup for counterterrorism operations. Fewer than 10% of London police officers carry guns.Police Commissioner Mark Rowley wrote to Home Secretary Suella Braverman late Sunday welcoming her decision to review the rules governing armed police and calling on her to “let the police police.” Braverman, whose department oversees policing, announced the review earlier in the day.“We rely on officers who are willing to put themselves at risk on a daily basis to protect the public from dangerous criminals including terrorists,’’ Rowley said. “Officers need s...

On the campaign trail, New Zealand leader Chris Hipkins faces an uphill battle wooing voters

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:42 GMT

NEW PLYMOUTH, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins was on the campaign trail Monday visiting an art gallery when his guide asked him what he pictured when he looked up at a towering wooden sculpture.“I was actually just contemplating that,” Hipkins replied. “And I don’t really have a readout of it.”His response seemed to reinforce a criticism of Hipkins — that it’s hard to know what he’s passionate about, what his vision is in politics. But it perhaps also spoke to the unpretentious, Everyman image that Hipkins likes to project. He appeared more at ease earlier in the day when he’d been talking about home insulation with tradespeople and handing out sausages at a barbecue event to promote renewable energy. With less than three weeks until New Zealand’s Oct. 14 general election, the campaign stop in New Plymouth was another chance for Hipkins to woo voters. Opinion polls put his Labour Party significantly behind the more conservati...

Toymaker Lego to stick to its quest to find sustainable materials despite failed recycle attempt

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:42 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s Lego said on Monday that it remains committed to its quest to find sustainable materials to reduce carbon emissions, even after an experiment by the world’s largest toymaker to use recycled bottles did not work.Lego said it has “decided not to progress” with making its trademark colorful bricks from recycled plastic bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate, known as PET, and after more than two years of testing “found the material didn’t reduce carbon emissions.”Still, the toymaker remains “fully committed to making Lego bricks from sustainable materials by 2032,” it addedTwo years ago, the privately-held group which makes its bricks out of oil-based plastic, started researching a potential transition to recycled plastic bottles made of PET plastic, which doesn’t degrade in quality when recycled.It had invested “more than $1.2 billion in sustainability initiatives” as part of efforts to transition to more sustainab...

The chairman of Hong Kong’s leading journalist group found guilty of obstructing a police officer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:42 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — The chairman of Hong Kong’s leading journalist group was found guilty of obstructing a police officer on Monday in a court case that sparked concerns about the city’s declining press freedom. Ronson Chan, chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association and a journalist of online news outlet Channel C, was arrested last September while he was on his way to a reporting assignment. He was accused of refusing to show the plainclothes officer his identity card upon request. Chan’s arrest fuelled concerns about the erosion of media freedom in Hong Kong after Beijing imposed a national security law to crush dissent following the city’s massive pro-democracy protests in 2019. The former British colony was promised to keep its Western-style civil liberties for 50 years when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997. Magistrate Leung Ka-kie on Monday ruled that Chan had deliberately obstructed the officer from carrying out her duty and failed to take out his ide...

A Taiwan golf ball maker fined after a fatal fire for storing 30 times limit for hazardous material

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:42 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan authorities fined a golf ball manufacturer 2.4 million New Taiwan dollars ($75,000) on Monday and warned of criminal charges for storing 30 times the legal limit of hazardous material and other violations after a major factory fire killed nine people and left one other missing.The mayor of Pingtung county said at a news conference that Launch Technologies Co. had 3,000 tons of organic peroxides on site, far more than the 100 tons of hazardous material that is permitted, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.Those responsible would be held accountable for public endangerment and negligent manslaughter, Mayor Chou Chun-mi said.Company officials could not be reached for comment.It’s unclear what caused the fire on Friday, but two explosions in the already burning building trapped firefighters and workers under rubble. Four firefighters were among the nine who died. More than 100 other people were injured.Organic peroxides, which are highly flamm...