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Hong Kong changes law to slash directly elected council seats, undermining democratic challenges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:09:31 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong lawmakers on Thursday passed an amendment to a law to eliminate most directly elected seats on local district councils, the last major political representative bodies chosen by the public, shutting down further democratic challenges in the city. The changes include slashing the proportion of directly elected seats in the municipal-level organization being from some 90% currently to just about 20% — even lower than the level when these bodies were first set up in the 1980s, when Hong Kong was ruled by Britain.The rest of the 470 seats will be filled by members appointed by the chief executive, rural committee chairpersons and others elected by local committees that are packed with pro-establishment figures. All incoming councilors will be vetted by a committee to ensure “patriots” are administering Hong Kong. A performance monitoring mechanism will be introduced for “sanctioning misconduct” of councilors. The electoral overhaul reflects Beijing’s increasing...

French justice is working overtime and the mood is stern after thousands of teen arrests

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:09:31 GMT

CRETEIL, France (AP) — At 19, he was the oldest of the group of teens accused of lobbing Molotov cocktails at the police station of their suburban hometown. “Why?” the judge asked Riad, who was taken into custody after he was identified in video surveillance images of the group from June 29, the second night of nationwide unrest following the police shooting of another suburban teenager outside Paris. “For justice for Nahel,” Riad said. Slumped and slightly disheveled after five nights in jail, he said he didn’t know about the peaceful march organized by Nahel Merzouk’s family. He explained the cellphone photo of him holding a Molotov cocktail was “for social media. To give an image.”In all, more than 3,600 people have been detained in the unrest across France since the death of Nahel on June 27, with an average age of 17, according to the Interior Ministry. The violence, which left more than 800 law enforcement officers injured, has largely subsided in recent days...

An EU mission in Gaza once represented hope. Today, it is a symbol of a sputtering Western vision

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:09:31 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — It’s been 16 years since the borders of the Gaza Strip slammed shut after Hamas militants seized control of the territory.The takeover forced the European Union to withdraw monitors who had been deployed at a Gaza border crossing to help the Palestinians prepare for independence. Yet the EU has regularly renewed funding for the unit since then, most recently late last month.The continued existence of the unit known as EUBAM is an extreme example of the West’s willingness to keep pumping hundreds of millions of dollars a year into the moribund vision of a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.Proponents say this approach remains the best chance for securing an eventual peace deal. Critics argue that opting for such costly conflict management helps keep a 56-year-old Israeli military occupation in place and allows Europe and the U.S. to avoid making the hard political decisions needed to end the conflict. This week’s deadly Israeli raid of a Wes...

Why does France take the risk of arming Armenia, an ally of Moscow and Tehran?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:09:31 GMT

Information has been circulating for several weeks that France is helping Armenia to arm itself and provide itself with Mistral anti-aircraft missile systems. It was the Ukrainian secret service that revealed the pink post: "After persistent promises, France has decided to supply Armenia with lethal weapons, sources from the Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) said. According to the Telegram channel AZfront, the first batch of 50 armored personnel carriers will arrive in Armenia very soon," writes Sebastien Boussois.Landlocked between Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Russia, Armenia has two major allies from a geostrategic and economic point of view and who have strengthened their support since the start of the war in Ukraine: Russia and the 'Iran. While France is in the Minsk group, which should impose a certain form of neutrality on it to facilitate negotiations for the peace process between Azerbaijanis and Armenians, it is now arming Yerevan. As for the Armenian diaspo...

Sustainable economic growth through gaming

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:09:31 GMT

On a worldwide scale, economic growth has seen a significant boost from the benefits introduced by the gaming industry.You can't confine gaming to pure entertainment value. Gaming is a major contributor to sustainable economic growth by creating new job opportunities and promoting entrepreneurial startups. It's a key player in promoting sustainable economic growth and shows promise to continue being so in the future.Gaming and digital economy A particularly notable driving force in boosting economic growth is the growing online gaming trend.  Online casino gaming, in particular, is more popular due to increased accessibility and game diversification. People can enjoy all the buzz from their favourite casino games with brilliantly designed online gaming experiences right from their own smartphone devices in their homes. Geographical location and personal limitations are no longer boundaries to enjoying the casino gaming experience or even playing games like roulette online for real m...

Exclusiva: Zelensky dice que quería que la contraofensiva empezara “mucho antes” para adelantarse a las defensas rusas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:09:31 GMT

(CNN) — La contraofensiva ucraniana se ha visto “ralentizada” por las atrincheradas defensas rusas, declaró el presidente de Ucrania, Volodymyr Zelensky, a CNN en una entrevista exclusiva emitida este miércoles, añadiendo que desearía que las entregas de armas occidentales le hubieran permitido comenzar “mucho antes”.Hablando con Erin Burnett de CNN en Odesa, Zelensky dijo que en algunas zonas del país su ejército no puede “ni siquiera pensar en comenzar” los ataques, porque no tiene “las armas pertinentes.”“Estoy agradecido a EE.UU. como líderes de nuestro apoyo”, dijo a Burnett a través de un traductor, “pero les dije, así como a los líderes europeos, que nos gustaría comenzar nuestra contraofensiva antes, y necesitamos todas las armas y el material para ello. ¿Por qué? Simplemente porque si empezamos más tarde, irá más despacio”.El líder ucraniano añadió que las dificultades en el campo de batalla estab...

The hottest week on Earth: Global heat at unofficial record high for second day in a row

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:09:31 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The hottest week on Earth: Global heat at unofficial record high for second day in a row.Source

Quiénes eran las víctimas del tiroteo masivo en Filadelfia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:09:31 GMT

(CNN) — Se suponía que Ralph Moralis llevaría a su hija al altar este fin de semana.En cambio, menos de una semana antes de uno de los días más importantes de su vida, un hombre armado lo mató a tiros cuando comenzó a disparar al azar contra vehículos y peatones en el suroeste de Filadelfia en la noche de este lunes.Cinco personas murieron, incluido Moralis, de 59 años, y dos niños resultaron heridos, dijeron las autoridades.“Ralph era un buen tipo, no solo porque era de la familia. Cualquiera que lo conociera sabía que era bueno”, dijo Tyrique Glasgow, su primo. “Me enseñó a hacer lo correcto en mi vida”, añadió.Tiroteo en Filadelfia deja al menos cinco muertos: el sospechoso bajo custodia llevaba un rifle AR-15, dijo la PolicíaGlasgow estaba de compras con su hija este lunes cuando, sin saberlo, condujo hacia el área donde acababa de estallar la violencia. Vio a una multitud de policías con sus armas en la mano, pero dijo que no le dio mucha importanc...

Zelenskyy on his way to Bulgaria

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:09:31 GMT

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is en route to Bulgaria to meet Sofia’s political leaders. Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov confirmed the news of Zelenskyy’s visit Thursday, details of which had begun to leak out earlier this week.Denkov said that Zelenskyy will land around 10 a.m. His program includes a potentially fraught meeting with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, who is hostile to arming Kyiv.Zelenskyy’s visit will focus on discussions about weapons to Ukraine and cooperation on nuclear power station supplies.Bulgaria’s parliament also was expected to pass a declaration of support for Ukraine to join the NATO military alliance.

Russia bombards Ukrainian city near Polish border, killing 4

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:09:31 GMT

Russia launched a deadly barrage of Kalibr cruise missiles at Lviv in western Ukraine, Kyiv’s air defense forces said Thursday morning. Four people were killed and another 34 were injured in the strikes, Lviv Governor Maksym Kozytskyy said. The city lies just 80 kilometers from Ukraine’s border with Poland. Although Ukrainian air defense managed to shoot down seven cruise missiles, the remaining three — as well as debris — wrought devastation on a city that hosts thousands of refugees from other cities and towns in Ukraine affected by war.More than 30 residential buildings and the premises of the local polytechnic university were damaged or destroyed, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi told journalists at the scene.“This [is] probably the biggest attack on the civil infrastructure of Lviv since the start of [the] full-scale invasion,” Sadovyi said, adding that the level of destruction in the residential sector is so significant that locals have been displaced.Russia launched...