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Russia faces a tough fight to regain its seat in the UN’s top human rights body

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:28 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia faces a tough fight to regain a seat in the U.N.’s premiere human rights body in Tuesday’s election in the General Assembly, which voted last year to suspend Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine.The 193-member assembly will be electing 15 members to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, with candidates put forward by the U.N.’s five regional groups.Russia is competing against Albania and Bulgaria for two seats allotted to the East European regional group, and Moscow’s U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, accused the United States on Monday of leading a campaign to prevent their return to the council.“The main phobia of our American colleagues today is electing Russia to the Human Rights Council,” Nebenzia told a Security Council meeting called by Ukraine on last week’s strike by a Russian missile on a Ukrainian soldier’s wake in a small village that killed 52 people.The United States and others have sent letters to many of the 193 members of the General A...

European Parliament aims to forge stronger ties with Kazakhstan

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:28 GMT

Roman Vassilenko and David McAllister. Photo credit: MFA’s press serviceKazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Roman Vassilenko held meetings with members of the European Parliament (MEPs) during his working visit to Strasbourg. The discussions centered on future cooperation with the European Union (EU) legislature and the forthcoming report evaluating the 2019 EU Strategy for Central Asia, currently under preparation by members of the European Parliament’s Committee for Foreign Affairs (AFET), reported the ministry’s press service on 4 October, writes Aiman Nakispekova in International.The Kazakh delegation met with several key figures, including AFET Chair David McAllister, Chair of the Delegation for Cooperation with Central Asia and Mongolia (DCAS) Tomáš Zdechovský, Rapporteur for Central Asia Karsten Lucke, Rapporteur for Kazakhstan Klemen Grošelj. They also engaged with members of the Conference of Delegation Chairs of the European Parliament (CPDE), Juozas Olekas and Andrius Kubilius...

All westbound lanes blocked on Richmond-San Rafael Bridge after big rig catches fire

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:28 GMT

(KRON) -- All westbound lanes on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge were blocked Monday night after a big rig truck struck a toll booth, according to California Highway Patrol's traffic log. According to the log, the big rig hit the booth just before 10 p.m. Both the truck and the toll booth caught fire, according to the traffic log. This is a developing story. Stick with KRON4 for updates.

MLB playoffs 2023: Braves rally, Diamondbacks push Dodgers to brink; AL Division Series resume

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:28 GMT

Austin Riley and the Atlanta Braves rallied late to even their NL Division Series with Philadelphia.Mookie Betts and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in big trouble against Arizona.Held hitless into the sixth inning, the Braves erased a four-run deficit for an improbable 5-4 victory over the Phillies on two-run homers by Travis d’Arnaud and Riley and a game-ending double play for the ages Monday night.Just like that, the best-of-five series is all tied up. Game 3 is Wednesday in Philadelphia.In Los Angeles, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and the surprising Diamondbacks made quick work of another opposing starter, beating the Dodgers 4-2 behind Zac Gallen for a 2-0 lead in their NLDS.The young Diamondbacks, who earned the final National League wild card despite losing their last four regular-season games, improved to 4-0 in these playoffs — all on the road against division winners.They’ll try for a stunning sweep of the 100-win Dodgers when the series shifts to Phoenix for Game 3 on Wednesday.Follow...

Asia qualifying for 2026 World Cup set to kick off with the continent’s lowest-ranked teams

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:28 GMT

Asia is set to start its 2026 World Cup journey, giving the lower-ranked teams such as Afghanistan, Bhutan and Pakistan a chance to grab some attention and secure matches against soccer’s continental heavyweights.The Asian Football Confederation’s 20 lowest-ranked teams compete in two-leg, home-and-away series on Thursday and next Tuesday, with the 10 winners advancing to the second round of the qualifying group stage.Afghanistan, ranked 158th, takes on No. 183 Mongolia. Getting to the next stage, where each team will have six games, is not just valuable financially but also in terms of experience.“It’s very important for us to get past Mongolia into the second round as we would play India, Kuwait and Qatar,” Afghanistan coach Abdullah Al-Mutairi told The Associated Press. “We need as many games as possible, and these are strong teams, but we have the quality to show what we can do.”With little in the way of domestic soccer in Afghanistan, Al-Mutairi has tapped into the countr...

Israeli military says Gaza’s parliament and civilian ministries are legitimate targets in its offensive against Hamas

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:28 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli military says Gaza’s parliament and civilian ministries are legitimate targets in its offensive against Hamas.Source

Powerball: el premio mayor sube a US$ 1.730 millones y estos son los números ganadores del 9 de octubre

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:28 GMT

(CNN) — Una vez más, no hubo ningún ganador del premio mayor en Powerball después del sorteo de este lunes por la noche.La Asociación de Lotería Multiestatal dice que el próximo gran premio será de aproximadamente US$ 1.730 millones, el segundo premio mayor de lotería en la historia de Estados Unidos, superado sólo por el premio Powerball de US$ 2.040 millones ganado hace casi un año.Los números ganadores de este lunes fueron 16-34-46-55-67, con un Powerball de 14.El Powerball no se ha ganado desde el 19 de julio, cuando se reclamó un premio de US$ 1.080 millones. Esta es la primera vez en la historia del juego que dos premios mayores consecutivos superarán los US$ 1.000 millones.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.Source

Live updates | Austria suspects 3 of its dual citizens are among those kidnapped by Hamas

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:28 GMT

VIENNA — The Austrian government says three Austrian-Israeli dual citizens may be among the people kidnapped by Hamas during its attack on Israel.The Foreign Ministry in Vienna said on Tuesday that the three were in southern Israel independently of each other. It said that there is no official confirmation that they were abducted and noted that the situation on the ground is still very unclear.Several countries have said their citizens were killed or apparently abducted in the attack.AID AGENCIES TALK TO EGYPT ABOUT WAYS TO SECURE HUMANITARIAN CORRIDORSCAIRO — The United Nations and other aid agencies were talking with Egypt to send humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza through the Rafah crossing point between the strip and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, an Egyptian official and aid worker said Tuesday. They said Egyptian authorities have contacted Israel and the United States to secure humanitarian corridors in Gaza amid Israel’s unrelenting bombardment of the strip.Both the official and...

Afghans still hope to find survivors from quake that killed over 2,000 in western Herat province

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:28 GMT

ZINDA JAN, Afghanistan (AP) — Clinging to hope that finding survivors was still possible, Afghan rescuers and villagers kept digging through rubble on Tuesday in western Herat province, three days after one of the deadliest earthquakes in the region left more than 2,000 dead. Elsewhere in Herat, people were digging graves for their loved ones killed in Saturday’s 6.3 magnitude quake. On a barren field in the district of Zinda Jan, a bulldozer removed mounds of earth to clear space for a long row of graves.The epicenter was about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of the city of Herat, the provincial capital, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Several of the aftershocks have been strong, including one on Monday that again caused residents of the city to rush out of their homes.“It is very difficult to find a family member from a destroyed house and a few minutes to later bury him or her in a nearby grave, again under the ground,” said Mir Agha, from the city of Herat who had joined hun...

Auto workers begin strike at GM plants in Canada, as talks continue

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:28 GMT

TORONTO (AP) — Auto workers walked off the job at three General Motors facilities in Canada early Tuesday after failing to reach agreement with the automaker. Their union, Unifor, represents more than 4,200 workers at the plants. They had warned they would begin a strike if no agreement was struck with GM by midnight local time. “We made some progress throughout the day, but sadly not enough,” Unifor President Lana Payne told reporters. She said the union was still speaking with the company, but there was “a lot of ground that needed to be covered to reach a tentative agreement.” The action came after Unifor workers ratified a new three-year labor contract with Ford late last month. They are seeking a similar agreement with GM. “This strike is about General Motors stubbornly refusing to meet the pattern agreement. The company knows our members will never let GM break our pattern — not today — not ever,” Payne said. She said GM was not meeting the union’s demands for pensions, ...